The college entrance exam is a grand event in the Great Xia Nation.
To ensure students receive adequate rest, cities across the nation begin implementing nighttime noise management a month before the college entrance exam.
Some high-end residential communities even hire specialized sonic-type Ability Users.
As soon as 9:00 PM arrives, they use their abilities to isolate all external noise from the community.
On the day of the college entrance exam, the protection for the candidates reaches an even more rigorous level.
Not only is traffic control implemented on the roads, but there are also armed soldiers and squads of Ability Users patrolling back and forth at major intersections to prevent any emergencies.
Because of this, the forty-odd buses carrying candidates for the Martial Arts college entrance exam traveled smoothly through the city and quickly entered the military zone located in the suburbs.
The buses then pulled into an open clearing, and the students disembarked one after another.
Around the clearing, every three meters stood a soldier, holding a firearm with a tall and straight posture.
The sternness on their faces left no doubt that if anyone dared to charge the formation, they would surely be met with a hail of bullets!
At the very front of the clearing was a temporarily constructed podium.
Behind the podium was an area enclosed by chain-link fencing.
Inside the area were the ruins of a broken town; this area was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Between the ruins, the dark shadows of fierce beasts occasionally flickered past, accompanied by the sounds of their snarls and roars.
"Phew, that's our exam site."
"Holy crap, I think I just saw a One-Horned Rhino!"
"A One-Horned Rhino? No way, this year's exam questions can't be that insane, can they?"
"..."
The Ruined Town within the military zone was originally named Weiyuan Town, a small town under the jurisdiction of Jiangcheng.
It was overrun by a Beast Tide decades ago and became a wasteland.
Although it was later reclaimed by the military, its value for reconstruction was low since it was already in ruins, so it simply became a training ground for the stationed troops.
However, on June 7th of every year, this place is used as an exam site for the Martial Arts college entrance exam.
Of course,
The types of fierce beasts placed inside are not as random as they are during regular military training; they are determined by the examiners of the Jiangnan Province Martial Arts college entrance exam.
All Martial Arts college entrance exam sites in the prefecture-level cities under Jiangnan Province use the same combination of fierce beasts to ensure absolute fairness.
The species and strength of the fierce beasts determine the difficulty of the Martial Arts college entrance exam.
Generally speaking, no powerful fierce beasts appear on the outskirts of the Ruined Town.
There are only common fierce beasts like Shadow Cats and Iron-Haired Pigs.
However, in previous years' exams, rare and powerful fierce beasts like One-Horned Rhinos and Arm Blade Tigers have also appeared on the outskirts.
But this also means that the difficulty of that year's Martial Arts college entrance exam is higher than usual, and the risk of death is also greater.
Consequently, after seeing the One-Horned Rhino in the Ruined Town through the chain-link fence, many people's faces turned pale, and they felt like they were falling apart.
"So what if it's a One-Horned Rhino? If you can't even handle a beast of this level, you won't amount to anything even if you're lucky enough to get into an Ability University!"
A loud voice suddenly rang out from among the students, drowning out their chatter.
This was a young man wearing a light green battle suit, looking like an ancient swordsman, carrying a long sword in his hand.
His aura was also somewhat similar to a wandering hero—open yet sharp—and his eyes gave off a powerful sense of pressure, like an eagle's.
Many students turned their heads in anger, wanting to argue.
But upon seeing it was him, they immediately fell silent, too timid to speak.
This scene made Astret feel curious. He looked at a tall boy next to him who was carrying a blade and shield, and asked:
"Who is this guy? Why is he talking so big?"
The tall boy was named Liu Jie, who had awakened a C-rank Strengthening-type ability: Gigantification.
After using his ability, his body could swell to more than twice its size, and his strength would increase accordingly.
In Class 5, besides his best friend Zhang Hao, Astret had the best relationship with him.
"Who else could it be? It's Zhou Mingyang, the 'Breeze Sword' from First High School."
Liu Jie pouted.
"So it's him."
Astret suddenly realized.
Jiangcheng First High School was the high school with the deepest educational heritage in all of Jiangcheng.
Not only did it have genuine Ability User courses, but it also arranged actual combat with fierce beasts from time to time.
The students it produced were each more fierce than the last; almost all of the top ten candidates in the Jiangcheng Martial Arts college entrance exam came from First High School.
And this Zhou Mingyang was one of the most outstanding students of First High School!
He possessed the B-rank Elemental Wind-type ability 'Ethereal Gale'.
When using his ability, he could not only condense wind blades but also reduce air resistance, greatly increasing his running and attacking speeds.
'Ethereal Gale' was considered top-tier among all the awakened abilities in Jiangcheng.
Moreover, Zhou Mingyang was one of the few candidates in Jiangcheng who had broken through from an Awakener to an Ability User.
Before the college entrance exam, he was a popular candidate for the Jiangcheng Martial Arts Top Scholar and had even earned the title of 'Breeze Sword'.
Ordinary candidates naturally didn't dare to provoke such a powerful Ability User.
"Not bad, practicing the sword requires this kind of indomitable spirit!"
In the crowd, the principal of First High School saw this scene and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.
Soon, all the students from the forty-odd buses entered the clearing and lined up neatly by school and class.
In front of each class, their respective homeroom teachers were there to accompany them.
At this moment, a middle-aged man in a military uniform stepped onto the podium at the front of the clearing.
This man was tall, with a long scar on his right cheek.
With just a sweep of his gaze, the students across the clearing who had been whispering immediately shut their mouths.
If Zhou Mingyang's gaze only made people feel a sense of pressure, this officer's gaze was like that of a fierce beast, making people feel heart-stopping dread!
"He's definitely an Ability User of Tier 2 or higher,"
Astret thought silently to himself in the line.
"I am Wang Haiyang, the commander-in-chief for this Jiangcheng Martial Arts college entrance exam. Before the exam begins, I will reiterate the points of attention."
"This Martial Arts college entrance exam will start promptly at 9:00 AM and end at 9:00 PM, with a total duration of 12 hours."
"The exam location is the Ruined Town behind me. Like previous exams, the Ruined Town is divided into the outskirts, the middle, and the core area."
"The outskirts are filled with unranked fierce beasts. The middle area contains peak unranked fierce beasts and Tier 1 fierce beasts."
"The core area is entirely composed of Tier 1 or higher fierce beasts, while the deepest core is occupied by high-level Tier 1 and Tier 2 fierce beasts."
Commander-in-chief Wang Haiyang's voice echoed across the clearing; he didn't use a microphone, yet his voice reached every student's ears clearly.
"Outskirts, middle, core, and deepest core—this is actually just like a math exam; different areas correspond to different difficulties."
"The deepest core, occupied by high-level Tier 1 and Tier 2 fierce beasts, is equivalent to the final question on a math exam, specifically reserved for top students to tackle."
A smile appeared on Astret's face in the queue.
If it were before, he would have only dared to kill fierce beasts in the outskirts at most.
But now, he not only had the confidence to enter the core area but could even explore the deepest core!
"Killing different types and levels of fierce beasts will earn you different points."
"The higher the tier and the stronger the beast, the more points you get for killing it."
"However, you should all act within your capabilities and choose the area that suits you to kill fierce beasts."
"Alright, we will now begin distributing resources."
On the podium, Wang Haiyang waved his right hand, and several squads of soldiers stepped out from the side while a large truck drove over from the distance.
The truck's cargo doors opened, revealing rows of black tactical backpacks.
Under the distribution of the soldiers, every candidate received a tactical backpack.
There were three items in the backpack.
One was a smartwatch, used to record the number and species of fierce beasts killed and accumulate points.
It also contained a map of the Ruined Town to confirm the candidate's position.
Another was compressed energy bars, three in total, which could quickly replenish physical energy after consumption.
The final item was a Safety Ball, which was a silver-white metal ball.
Once activated, it could form a high-voltage power grid around the user that ordinary fierce beasts could not break through.
Of course, once the Safety Ball is used, it means the college entrance exam has ended early for that person.
Astret put the smartwatch on his wrist, placed the three energy bars in the tactical backpack and slung it over his back, and hung the Safety Ball at his waist.
This way, in the event of danger, he could activate the Safety Ball at the fastest speed to protect his life.
Most other students also chose this configuration.
However, even with the Safety Ball, it didn't mean absolute safety.
After all, in the process of fighting these fierce beasts, life and death can be decided in an instant, sometimes too fast to even use the Safety Ball..."}],