24: Entrance Examination

"Brother Le, I'm so scared!"

"Tang Wei and that b... gold-digging woman, they clearly insulted me, but I didn't dare say a single word."

"I'm not afraid of death, but I'm afraid they'll shamelessly target my Family, I..."

Li Yang grew more distressed as he spoke, eventually breaking into tears.

Xu Le patted him on the shoulder.

This sort of thing was truly difficult to offer advice on.

The Tang Family was an Aristocratic Family of the Ninth District. In ancient times, they were the kind of existence even an emperor wouldn't dare offend lightly; any words of comfort he offered would be hollow and weak.

"Thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west bank"—that kind of reversal was almost impossible in this world.

How could an individual's talent compare to an Aristocratic Family?

Unless... one had a cheat!

Li Yang cried for a while, then wiped away his tears. After releasing his emotions, he recovered significantly.

"Brother Le, you didn't record that just now, did you?"

"No."

Xu Le knew he was putting on a brave face but didn't expose him. He had experienced this kind of emotion in his previous life; the only solution was to figure it out for oneself.

Leaving the dungeon.

As the two turned to leave, a mocking voice rang out from behind them.

"Since you're already here, are you really going to slink away like a coward without even trying?"

Tang Wei held the Thunder Spear, his face full of confidence.

With Xiang Ying and three S-rank Professionals from his Family, he had easily secured second place in the overall rankings and received the Monkey Spirit's blessing.

"What's up? Your daddy's leaving, and you, my son, want to see me off?"

Xu Le's retort was merciless.

Because of Li Yang and thoughts of his previous life, his mood was also extremely foul.

Tang Wei's face instantly turned green: "You're looking for death!"

"That's right! How about a trip to the Life and Death Stage? Do you dare?" Xu Le narrowed his eyes, his heart carrying a blade, his killing intent chilling.

Tang Wei was about to agree instinctively, but jolted awake by the stimulus of killing intent, he feigned disdain: "A mere F-rank Contractor... if I went onto the Life and Death Stage with you, word would get out that I'm a bully picking on someone smaller."

"Heh! A coward is a coward. You have a mountain of excuses; save them for your postgraduate exams!"

Xu Le looked at him with contempt and turned to leave.

Seeing Xu Le's back disappear, Tang Wei finally gathered his courage.

"Don't let me run into you at tomorrow's Entrance Examination, or I'll beat you every time I see you!"

Xiang Ying hugged Tang Wei's arm and leaned her head against him: "Brother, that person is just so reckless and shameless. Don't let him ruin your health with anger."

Tang Wei's anger hadn't subsided as he mocked coldly: "You seem to know him quite well."

"No, I don't." Xiang Ying explained with a sob, looking like a pear blossom bathed in rain.

"Fine, if you say so."

Tang Wei was extremely impatient, but his eyes were filled with chilling killing intent... The next day.

June 18th.

The Nine Great Districts held the unified university Entrance Examination for graduating students.

When Xu Le arrived at the school, he found that this year's examination venue was completely different from previous years.

Previously, the exam was divided into three days.

Scoring was based on profession, Rank, attributes, and skills, followed by a simulated combat exam at the end.

Today, however, was entirely different.

Not only was the venue set up on the playground, but the ground was covered in dense white lines.

After looking for a moment, he realized it was a Teleportation Array.

The exam director personally announced the difference between this year's exam and previous ones.

"Students, the biggest difference between this year's exam and previous ones is that there is no attribute or profession assessment; instead, it's actual combat."

"The battlefield is in the Fallen Zone! That is, the world outside the Contaminated Zone!"

"Your score will be the overwhelming tide of Magic monsters."

"I suggest that students with insufficient strength give up immediately."

"Sometimes, giving up is wiser, more precious, and requires more courage than persevering!"

"You have ten minutes to consider: persevere or give up."

"Students who choose to give up, please leave immediately."

After speaking, he left the rostrum directly.

The students below instantly erupted!

The Fallen Zone!

Legend has it that even Level 60 S-rank Professionals aren't safe there. How could a bunch of Level 10-something rookies like them dare to go?

Is this an exam?

This is clearly murder!

Some people grinned and mocked silently.

There were nearly a million candidates in the Ninth District. Not to mention killing half, even if only one-tenth died, that would be 100,000 people. Who could bear the responsibility for such a massive crime?

It must just be a test of their courage.

Li Yang was a bit apprehensive and asked softly: "Brother Le, do you think what the director said is true?"

"It should be!" Xu Le nodded.

"Then are we still taking the exam?"

"As you wish, but I'm definitely taking it!"

Xu Le didn't try to persuade Li Yang; this was his personal choice, and he wasn't certain he could protect him.

'The Fallen Zone! I've wanted to try it out for a long time!'

Xu Le's heart was racing; he wished he could step onto the Teleportation Array right now to fight and level up.

"I'll go too!" Li Yang considered for three minutes, his eyes red. "This is the last chance in my life to change my fate. I don't want to be like yesterday, not even daring to talk back after being insulted. It's too pathetic."

Time slowly passed.

Many students began to leave the playground.

With leaders emerging, more students followed suit.

Even the students who previously thought it was just a test of courage became unsure—it seemed the crime of disqualifying hundreds of thousands of candidates wasn't small either.

More and more people left.

Ten minutes were up.

When the exam director stepped onto the rostrum again, he shook his head in disappointment.

"This Examination center originally had 1,352 candidates. I thought fewer than 10 would remain, but I didn't expect there would still be nearly 200!"

"I don't know whether to praise you for being stupid, or praise you for being stupid."

"Fine! Since you're willing to die, I'm willing to bury you!"

"This is a Death waiver for voluntary participation in the Entrance Examination. Sign your names; you're all adults now."

With a wave of his hand, nearly 200 Death waivers landed in everyone's hands.

Someone broke down on the spot.

"I'm just a student. I just want to take an exam. What crime have I committed? Why do you want to kill me?"

The exam director looked cold and shouted sternly: "Ten minutes have passed. If you don't sign, then get lost to the teaching building behind us and be a deserter. Don't get in my way!"

"The staff is responsible for registration. Anyone who becomes a deserter now will have 2 Credit points deducted."

Someone broke down and cried.

They just wanted to take a chance.

If their Credit points were deducted, any decent job would be out of their reach; it was even more terrifying than a criminal record in his previous life.

However, precisely because of this, those who stayed behind fully realized the seriousness of the situation, finally faced reality, and left.

Only 58 people ultimately remained standing on the field.

After Xu Le and the others signed their names, the exam director sent staff to give everyone a Mechanical bracelet.

"This is a Teleportation bracelet. When the exam has been underway for 30 minutes, or for students who have earned over 100 points, you can press the bracelet to stop the exam if you encounter danger."

"The exam duration is 72 hours. After 72 hours, you will be automatically teleported back."

"Now you can form teams freely. Within three minutes, you must step onto the Teleportation Array."

Xu Le sent a team invitation to Li Yang, which Li Yang immediately accepted.

The two walked casually into the Teleportation Array, waiting for the unified teleportation three minutes later.