42: Chapter 42: On the Eve of the Assessment, the Absolute Elite Team Takes Shape

On the other side of Tianhai Star, at the Lin family ancestral residence.

The lights in the council hall remained on throughout the night.

A scout dressed in grey robes knelt in the center of the hall. On the intelligence light screen before him, the full recording of Wang Pingan's inter-school exchange battle was playing.

In the recording, five hundred Heavy Immortal-Martial Legion subjects were advancing in formation. Their Black Iron Shields linked into a wall, and flashes from their crimson flame sabers sliced out from the gaps between the shields, crushing Gu Jianbai's three hundred sword cultivators step by step.

Lin Boyuan, the Third Ancestor of the Lin family sitting in the main seat, watched the recording three times.

After finishing the third viewing, he reached out and turned off the light screen.

"Is this all?"

The scout kowtowed: "Reporting to the Third Ancestor, this is all the video material currently available. Wang Pingan's weekly assessment recordings from within the school have also been included in the intelligence package."

Lin Boyuan leaned back in his chair, his fingers gently tapping the armrest.

He was one of the three Tier 4 Deity ancestors of the Lin family, of the same rank and generation as the Wang family's Third Ancestor Wang Xuanyue, and they had been fighting on Tianhai Star for decades.

The Wang family and the Lin family were the two strongest families on Tianhai Star. They competed for almost every benefit, from resource mines to the Federal Education Bureau's resource allocation quotas.

Last year, the Federal Education Bureau allocated an additional batch of key training resources to Tianhai Star. The Wang family took sixty percent, while the Lin family only received forty percent. The reason was that the Wang family had two more high-level awakeners in that year's cohort than the Lin family.

If Wang Pingan achieved a high ranking in this year's Nova Assessment, federal resources would tilt further toward the Wang family.

It was a zero-sum game.

For every point the Wang family gained, the Lin family lost one.

Lin Boyuan flipped through the attached intelligence analysis, his gaze falling on the two keywords: "Heavy Immortal-Martial Legion of about two thousand" and "Xianwu Meat Grinder Array."

"Two thousand Heavy Infantry, plus the Artillery Battalion and Cavalry, at most three thousand combat-ready subjects."

Lin Boyuan's tone was flat.

"The equipment is good, and the formation is decent, but he is ultimately just a newcomer at the Divine Being stage. The cultivation cap for his subjects is stuck at Qi Refining Stage 9 and Body Forging Stage 9. He won't be able to make any big waves."

The scout lowered his head in agreement: "Wang Pingan's trump cards are now clear; the upper limit of his legion has been determined."

Lin Boyuan nodded, then changed the subject.

"But we absolutely cannot let this person secure a ranking."

"He is an A-plus evaluation, Immortal-Martial Dual Cultivation, and follows a Combat Path. Once he breaks into the top ranks in the Seventeen Stars assessment, at least seventy percent of the key resources from the Federal Education Bureau for Tianhai Star will fall to the Wang family."

"We already suffered a loss last year; we cannot yield again this year."

The scout asked for instructions: "Please advise, Third Ancestor."

Lin Boyuan did not answer directly but opened another encrypted communication record.

A strange family emblem appeared on the light screen: a pattern of an iron wolf with its mouth open, with a frontier planet three star-region jumps away from Tianhai Star in the background.

Tianlang Star.

Tianlang Star was known for its beast-kin civilization among the seventeen life-bearing planets in the Xuanyuan Star Region. The talented newcomers there generally followed the path of beast taming and heavy-armored beast Cavalry, with an exceptionally fierce combat style.

"I made my move half a month ago."

Lin Boyuan pulled up a summary of the communication record, which was marked with three large source power transfers.

"The Wu family of Tianlang Star owes me a favor. They have an A-grade talented awakener this year named Wu Tie, who follows the Heavy-Armored Wolf Cavalry path."

"I have already spoken with the Wu family. In the plane fragment battle during the preliminary round, Wu Tie will prioritize targeting Wang Pingan."

The scout hesitated slightly: "Third Ancestor, the Federation strictly monitors malicious encirclement and killing during the assessment. If word leaks out..."

Lin Boyuan waved his hand to interrupt: "Resource competition within the plane fragments is survival of the fittest. Whoever grabs the resources gets them. The Federation's rules only forbid interference from outside forces; they do not forbid students from attacking each other inside."

"Wu Tie attacking Wang Pingan is to seize resources, not for the Lin family. This is completely legal under the rules."

"As for the favors and source power, those are private dealings between the two families and have nothing to do with the assessment."

The scout kowtowed: "The Third Ancestor is far-sighted."

Lin Boyuan turned off the intelligence light screen and took a sip from his teacup.

"Wang Pingan's biggest problem is that his subjects' cultivation cap is too low. Qi Refining Stage 9 and Body Forging Stage 9 cannot fight hard battles."

"Although Wu Tie's wolf Cavalry isn't large in number, their individual combat power is outstanding. A single Iron-Spined War Wolf is enough to tear through the defenses of ordinary Qi Refining Stage 9 troops."

"As long as we deplete thirty percent of Wang Pingan's legion in the fragments, he won't have the energy to compete for high-value resource points."

"If he doesn't get a ranking, federal resources will naturally not tilt toward the Wang family again."

Lin Boyuan put down his teacup, his gaze falling on the dark night sky outside the window.

"Pass the word down: the Lin family descendants participating this year should also be careful to avoid Wang Pingan in the fragments."

"We don't need to do it ourselves; Wu Tie will solve it for us."

The scout received the order and withdrew.

The council hall fell silent again.

Lin Boyuan sat in the main seat, a confident curve on his lips.

He was looking at the recording of the inter-school exchange battle, analyzing the combat power limit of the two thousand Heavy Immortal-Martial Legion members.

What he didn't know was that since that recording was filmed, more than fifty years had passed in Wang Pingan's Divine Kingdom.

He didn't know about the Foundation Suppression Method.

He didn't know about the existence of one thousand Extreme Realm elites.

He didn't know that Wang Pingan still had C-grade portable psionic shields and mountains of strategic reserves.

He didn't know that the SSS-grade talent, Master of Time, had never appeared in any intelligence report from start to finish.

Tianhai City, Wang family main estate.

The stone door of the secret chamber opened, and Wang Pingan walked out.

The spiritual light in the corridor shone on his face. His eyes were different from before he entered the secret chamber.

It wasn't a sharpness exposed, but a calm that was hard to shake.

Nearly thirty thousand subjects in the Divine Kingdom had been cultivating, multiplying, and training for over fifty years. The faint divine origin generated was fed back to Wang Pingan through the Divine Core.

His physique was a layer denser than five days ago, and his perception was a notch sharper.

There was no spiritual energy leaking from his body, no surging blood and qi, but as he walked through the corridor, the spiritual patterns of the protective formations on both sides flickered slightly.

Those were the traces of the Extreme Realm legion's baleful aura, seeping into his body through the Divine Core's feedback.

Wang Pingan walked out of the estate gate.

The morning sun shone on his face; the sky over Tianhai City was cloudless.

He raised his hand and glanced at his watch.

Nova Assessment, today.

A silver-black school bus was parked at the gate of the estate, with the emblem of Tianhai No. 1 High School printed on the side.

Several students who had already arrived were standing next to the bus; they were all seed players from Tianhai No. 1 High School participating in the assessment this year.

Wang Jincheng was there too.

He wore a black battle robe, and the spiritual energy of the Thunder Pool faintly flickered at his cuffs. His aura had improved by more than one level compared to a month ago.

Seeing Wang Pingan walk out of the estate, Wang Jincheng's gaze lingered for two seconds.

He didn't speak, just nodded imperceptibly.

Wang Pingan returned the same gesture.

There was no need for pleasantries between them, nor for harsh words.

On the battlefield of the Nova Assessment, the results would explain everything.

Wang Qingyan had arrived three minutes before Wang Pingan and was standing by the steps of the school bus, organizing the spiritual herb formula data in her watch.

Seeing Wang Pingan approach, she walked up quickly.

"Your batch of medicine and supplies have arrived, right?"

"They have."

Wang Qingyan stared at Wang Pingan's face for two seconds: "What exactly were you doing in seclusion for these five days? Why does it feel like your entire aura has changed?"

Wang Pingan didn't answer this question, just reached out and patted her shoulder.

"Your spiritual herbs were a huge help. Once the assessment is over, I'll double the final payment for you."

Wang Qingyan was stunned for a moment, then raised an eyebrow: "Double? I'll hold you to that."

Zhao Yang poked his head out of the school bus and winked at Wang Pingan.

"Big Brother! Did the last batch of spiritual wheat and Red Flame ore powder I gathered for you yesterday arrive? To help you clear out the stock, my dad cleaned out the grocery store's inventory and almost put in the shop's deposit as well."

"It arrived." Wang Pingan boarded the school bus and sat down next to Zhao Yang.

"I'll reimburse your dad for the principal later."

Zhao Yang scratched his head: "That's not necessary, mainly... why did you buy so much stuff? The amount of supplies you hoarded, my dad said it's enough to feed ten thousand people for a year."

Wang Pingan watched the estate gate receding outside the bus window.

"You'll know today."

The school bus rose into the air and flew toward the center of Tianhai City.

There were twelve students from Tianhai No. 1 High School on the bus, three of whom were A-grade or above: Wang Pingan, Wang Jincheng, and Wang Qingyan.

No one chatted.

Everyone was silently adjusting their state.

Tianhai City Center, Federal Virtual Star Net Connection Center.

A giant domed building stood in the very center of the city. The surface of the dome was covered with a silver-white Star Net transmission array, and every few seconds, a blue beam of light shot into the sky.

The school bus landed at the entrance of the Connection Center.

Wang Pingan was the first to step off the bus, looking up at the domed building.

Plane fragment battle.

Physical entry, supply disconnection.

Talents from seventeen life-bearing planets gathered in one place to grab resources, grab points, and grab federal key training quotas.

He had three thousand combat subjects, one thousand Extreme Realm elites, fifty Psionic Heavy Cannons, five hundred Heavy Cavalry, mountains of logistical reserves, and a C-grade portable psionic shield.

He didn't know about the Lin family's underhanded move.

But he didn't need to know either.

No matter who stood on the other side, his strategy had never changed.

Push through.

Crush them.