178: Selection begins
Shen Yi was meditating in his dorm when he heard someone push the door open. He opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Zitao, who resembled a pig's head, and didn't recognize him for a moment.
After asking a few questions, he covered his face, unsure of what to say.
He patted Jiang Zitao's shoulder, returned to his own bed, and resumed meditating.
Jiang Zitao didn't say anything either, looking utterly dejected, but he never doubted the method Shen Yi had mentioned. He just felt that he himself wasn't adaptable enough.
The next day, he skipped classes and stayed in the dorm to study his notes.
In the evening, Xu Yingshi contacted Shen Yi, informing him that the selection for Outer Courtyard students would begin tomorrow morning.
He also had to participate. After telling him the important details, she left, saying that she also had her midterm exams to attend.
Shen Yi arrived at the selection entrance early in the morning. He heard that this selection wasn't just about strength; the selection criteria varied each year.
The selection venue was a place similar to a virtual game. A total of one hundred students were selected this time.
A teacher led the participating students to the training room.
He had them enter the training pods in the physical training room individually.
Shen Yi skillfully entered a training pod. As the helmet was placed on his head, a prompt appeared.
"Please enter your student ID."
After entering his student ID, the scene before him changed.
He appeared on the same arena as before, but this time, there was no option to match opponents.
"Please eliminate the appearing fierce beasts within thirty minutes. Abilities cannot be used. Note: The shorter the kill time, the higher the score."
"Please select your weapon."
After selecting his weapon, two fierce beasts appeared on the arena before him.
"Asia Earth Dragon Beast?"
Shen Yi recognized the appearing fierce beasts. He had encountered them during previous special training; they had exceptionally strong physiques.
As soon as the two Asia Earth Dragon Beasts appeared, they charged directly at Shen Yi.
The two Asia Earth Dragon Beasts attacked him from front and back. One of them opened its mouth, and a terrifying ball of flame flew towards him.
Just as he was about to dodge, he felt a gust of wind behind him.
He instinctively ducked, and a huge tail flew past, grazing his scalp.
The flames directly engulfed his body.
"Bang!"
The body enveloped in flames shattered directly. Shen Yi slowly reformed his body not far away.
The body in the flames was merely an afterimage of Shen Yi. His speed was incredibly fast. After perfecting his marksmanship last time, he himself also became more agile.
When he exerted his full strength, his speed was already imperceptible to the naked eye.
Gripping the spear with one hand, he assumed a starting stance. The two Asia Earth Dragon Beasts, seeing their attack missed, launched another assault.
"Clang!"
A metallic sound rang out. The spear in Shen Yi's hand, at an extremely fast speed, accurately pierced into the eye of one of the Asia Earth Dragon Beasts.
Sparks flew. The eyelid was incredibly tough. The spear tip only left a white mark when it struck.
"This selection is truly formidable."
He knew the selection for entering the Inner Courtyard was formidable, but he hadn't expected it to be this formidable.
Indeed, those who could enter the Inner Courtyard could no longer be described as geniuses; they were all monstrous talents.
Having missed his attack, he turned and retreated.
The two Asia Earth Dragon Beasts pounced on him. Shen Yi used all his strength.
He forcefully swung at the two fierce beasts, creating a sonic boom.
"Boom!"
The two fierce beasts were directly sent flying.
The scales on the parts of their bodies that were struck shattered, and blood gushed out.
The blood made them even more furious, and they charged at Shen Yi again.
However, his speed was even faster. He directly circled behind the two fierce beasts and aimed the spear tip at the wound on one of them.
"Rip!"
Half of the spear shaft pierced into its body. With a forceful twist, this Asia Earth Dragon Beast let out a scream.
He released his weapon, grabbed the tail of this fierce beast, and pulled his body back with force, lifting its entire body.
Holding its tail, he swung it like a meteor hammer, throwing it towards the other one.
His more than one hundred points of strength were now evident. This was simply not something a normal Fourth-Tier Ability user would possess.
In just a few minutes, the two fierce beasts turned into a white light and disappeared from the arena.
"Congratulations on passing the first stage. Please prepare; the second stage will begin soon."
The prompt sounded again.
Then, the scene before him changed, and he appeared in a void.
"Second stage: Mental strength test. The longer you endure, the higher your score."
As soon as the prompt ended, the previously void space began to emit an inexplicable pressure.
At first, Shen Yi didn't feel any discomfort. After about five minutes, he vaguely felt a bit strained.
And while resisting the pressure, various fierce beasts appeared before his eyes.
After the fierce beasts appeared, they pounced on him. Shen Yi prepared to resist.
The weapon in his hand passed directly through the bodies of these fierce beasts. These fierce beasts were not physical and could not be attacked at all.
However, the attacks of the fierce beasts could attack his soul.
Each attack brought him unprecedented pain.
At first, it was like ants gnawing.
Gradually, as more and more fierce beasts appeared, the pain grew more intense.
None of his attack methods could harm the fierce beasts. Every attack made him wish he were dead.
At this point, ten minutes had passed, and the fierce beasts seemed endless.
"Ding!"
"Soul power detected. Absorb?"
In Shen Yi's mind, the system's voice sounded.
At this moment, he could no longer hear the system's prompt. The pain of soul injury was indescribable.
"Soul power detected. Absorb?"
The system prompted again.
"Host did not respond. Defaulting to absorb."
Then, every time a fierce beast attacked Shen Yi's soul, the system absorbed the soul power of that fierce beast into his body.
His mental strength was rapidly increasing. Although he could absorb these soul powers, it did not alleviate his pain.
Originally, his mental strength was only 75 points. Now, every time he absorbed a soul,
His mental strength increased by one point.
In just five minutes, his mental strength had already broken through to one hundred points.
The rapid increase in mental strength also brought corresponding side effects to his body.
It made his head ache terribly, as if countless red-hot iron nails were stirring in his brain.
Shen Yi could do nothing at this moment but lie passively on the ground, rolling in pain.
At the school's student testing area, several teachers were watching the screens.
"Training Pod 288 has a problem."
A staff member next to him said to the teacher.
Upon hearing this, several people hurried over. One of them asked, "What happened?"
"Training Pod 288 detected a large amount of fierce beast soul power disappearing."
"Hmm??"