65: Chapter 65: The Mysterious Star River Guide! The hidden level is now open!

Relying on the buffs from [Berserk], Wei Donglai's next two waves went very smoothly.

He even kept up the momentum, clearing five waves in a row.

However, by the 18th wave, he was faced with two Level 16 elite monsters.

The duration of the [Berserk] trait had expired. Wei Donglai immediately felt the pressure, finding it difficult to quickly burst down the higher-level monsters.

He instantly judged that with his current damage output, he likely wouldn't be able to earn bonus points for this wave.

Wei Donglai was decisive and immediately changed his strategy.

No longer pursuing violent bursts, he began to output damage steadily and surely to ensure his survival.

In fact...

Considering the impact of his cooldowns, he deliberately dragged this wave out to 4 minutes and 30 seconds before finally killing the monsters.

During the 19th wave, he followed the same pattern and narrowly cleared the stage.

Before the 20th wave arrived...

The cooldown for [Berserk] had just finished, so he activated it once more.

His heart filled with confidence.

"I've been holding back for nearly half an hour just for you!"

"Die, monsters of the final stage!"

...

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd...

On the screen, Zhang Jian killed the 20th wave's BOSS monster at the 4 minute and 58 second mark, triggering a wave of exclamations from the scene.

Only 2 minutes later...

Sun Yu also successfully cleared the stage.

10 minutes later, Wei Donglai successfully cleared it as well.

Among the others, the fastest was Wang Fei's team, who were still struggling in the 18th stage.

Even so, this had already greatly invigorated Xiao Jiuming's spirit.

Three peerless Prodigies who could clear 20 waves solo!

Long Province this year could definitely be called the strongest in recent years!

With such results, he wondered if...

Just as the thought crossed his mind...

The venue suddenly went pitch black.

"What's going on? A power outage?"

"Lord Xiao, is there a malfunction?"

Just as someone cried out, traces of light appeared in the hall again.

However, it wasn't from the energy lamps overhead, nor was it natural light from outside.

Instead, fragments of starlight slowly drifted down.

The entire floor where the meeting room was located was suddenly enveloped by a deep starry sky. Countless stars swirled across the dome, as if a star map of the Universe had been projected there.

Several ribbons of light descended from the sky, weaving together at the seating area below the screens.

The figure of a young man draped in a star-patterned robe abruptly appeared.

Xiao Jiuming immediately stood up with a respectful expression.

The others in the hall were also in a flurry, standing up and bowing one after another.

One young representative was representing his academy for the first time and didn't understand the significance of this scene.

After being reminded by an old professor, he scrambled to his feet in a panic.

In his haste, he accidentally knocked over his teacup, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering in fear.

However, no one cared about his clumsy state; they were all looking at the same place.

At that moment...

An urgent voice came from the communicator in front of Xiao Jiuming.

"Warning! Warning! Detected an intrusion by a mysterious power exceeding the city's formation defense. Please take precautions!"

Xiao Jiuming picked up the communicator and responded.

"Confirmed to be our high-level personnel. Warning lifted."

The communicator returned to silence.

The people below, however, looked excited.

They spoke in unison.

"We greet the Galaxy Reception Envoy!"

The starlight gradually dissipated, and the face of the man in the star-patterned robe became clear.

He was a handsome young man, yet his brow held a composure far beyond his years.

Every gesture he made carried a restrained pressure.

The most striking feature was his eyes; stars seemed to swirl deep within his pitch-black pupils, making people afraid to look directly at him.

Some of those below with insufficient strength even had bodies that were trembling slightly.

Facing everyone's respect, he only gave a slight nod.

"It has been a long time, everyone. Please, be seated."

After saying that, he sat in the vacant seat.

Xiao Jiuming was the first to sit, followed by the row of Long Province officials.

The admissions representatives below, starting from the Nine Supremes, gradually calmed their hearts and sat back in their seats.

The Reception Envoy only glanced casually at the screen, lingering slightly on Zhang Jian's name before losing interest.

The hall was silent; no one dared to discuss anything further.

They simply watched the fighting figures of the examinees on the screen, quietly waiting for the results.

Not until the displayed time at the top of the screen reached 1 hour and 40 minutes...

"All examinees have completed the basic stages."

"A total of 6 teams/individuals successfully cleared 20 waves."

Xiao Jiuming walked to the front of the screen, nodded to the Reception Envoy first, and then pressed a red button.

This signified that the hidden stage would be activated.

The giant screen also changed, shifting from the original 100 small screens to six medium-sized screens.

The examinees' perspectives on the screen were different, but the environment they were in and the BOSS they faced were identical.

The Survival Challenge has officially begun!

In the footage, every BOSS instantly launched an attack against their respective teams.

The ultra-strong true damage output was simply a slaughter for those fragile classes.

Just a few seconds after the battle began...

A pure damage-oriented team consisting of three rare and two top-tier classes was picked off one by one by the BOSS and cleared from the field.

A few more seconds passed.

Another team with three top-tier and two rare classes only managed a few moments of stubborn resistance before the entire team was defeated.

But fortunately, every member of the team still added 10% to their total score based on their survival time.

It could be considered a gain.

At this point, the screen divided again, becoming four sections.

From left to right, they were Zhang Jian, Sun Yu, Wei Donglai, and Wang Fei's team.

Regarding this result, the other three were fine; they had been at the top of the leaderboard from the beginning, so everyone was mentally prepared.

However, the fact that Wang Fei's team could ultimately clear the stage left many people below incredibly surprised.

"That team led by a support actually lasted until now? Truly remarkable!"

"Taking rare or even common-tier classes into the hidden stage... this is the first time I've seen this!"

"This Wang Fei has truly become famous in a single battle!"

While the people watching outside were like this, the person in the field was even more emotional.

Yan Han kept running, listening carefully to Wang Fei's voice in his ear.

"Xiao Han, run to the left, keep an eye on your distance from Shitou and the others."

Yan Han didn't stop his pace, quickly glancing to the left out of the corner of his eye.

He immediately adjusted his direction.

He only stopped when he reached the formation position Wang Fei had arranged before the battle.

Turning his head to look at Wang Fei, who was currently tanking the BOSS head-on, Yan Han felt heartfelt admiration.

Ever since he joined this team...

From the very beginning, he had intended to use the methods he had discussed with his companion Han Yu before the match.

He thought that by relying on the power of his Frost Apostle class, he could use the others to increase his own contribution ratio.

The result was not only an unexpected rejection, but he also unexpectedly saw others exerting combat power far beyond his own under Wang Fei's leadership.

It left him deeply shocked.

At first, when he lowered his head and admitted his mistake, it wasn't necessarily without the thought of feigning compliance while waiting for an opportunity.

But as he gradually integrated into this team, he felt a long-lost sensation.

Everyone's attitude toward him changed from keeping a respectful distance at first, to barely being able to cooperate, to now sharing life and death together.

Wang Fei's way of addressing him had also changed from 'that mage' to 'buddy,' and now to 'Xiao Han'.

The tone became more and more intimate, and he enjoyed it.

Even his normally arrogant self had been conquered by Wang Fei's formidable strength and kind character, and he had taken the initiative to recognize him as his Big Brother.

Aside from these two points, what moved him most about Wang Fei was actually his humility.