Chapter 29: Assessment

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Assessment

「In the central tent of the Fallen Jiao Icefield gathering point, late on the first night.」

"Manager Lin, here is the situation report for the first day!"

Lin Jiangang took the stack of papers from the staff member and began to look through them.

"323 people entered, and 266 made it to the gathering point on the first day. These numbers aren’t bad at all!"

Lin Jiangang was satisfied with these numbers. As for the students not on the list—whether they had torn up their Teleportation Talismans, chosen to spend the night on the Icefield, or something else entirely—it wasn’t his concern.

The directive from the city was to select as many outstanding talents as possible this year, with the subsequent goal of making a push for the top ten in the National Mystic Realm College Entrance Exam.

And Lin Jiangang’s task in this mock exam was to appropriately increase the difficulty to further screen the most outstanding students.

Continuing to read, Lin Jiangang came to the "Exceptional Talents" section, which had been compiled by the staff.

"A team that can turn in ten Soul Energy Items on the first day... The core of this team, their organization and strength, are indeed quite good. And these teams that turned in soul beast carcasses, all with four members or fewer, their coordination and strength are also decent."

At first, as he scanned the "Exceptional Talents" section, Lin Jiangang merely acknowledged that they were ’not bad’ without offering further praise or paying much attention. But as he continued reading, the delight on his face grew more and more apparent.

Turned in a week’s worth of Soul Energy Items in one go!

Got a soul beast pet!

A five-person team turned in three soul beast carcasses!

And at least five students who broke through to the Soul Pupil realm!

Before the mock exam began, the data Lin Jiangang received from the city indicated that besides First and Second Middle School, which each had two Soul Pupils participating, the other schools had either one or none at all.

But now, no fewer than 19 Soul Pupils appeared in the report. Lin Jiangang had full confidence in the accuracy of the data; the staff had no reason to falsify it.

So, Lin Jiangang naturally focused his attention on these newly promoted Soul Pupils.

"A Frost Spider?! Impossible!"

After spotting a particular entry, Lin Jiangang practically flung the papers in his hand and shot the staff member a questioning look. ℯℯ𝑙.

"Manager Lin, about the Frost Spider... are you by chance referring to Li Heng from Thirteenth Middle School?" the staff member asked calmly, not at all nervous.

But Lin Jiangang was far from calm. He continued to press in disbelief, "Killing a Frost Spider with a single sword strike, completely unscathed?! Setting everything else aside, do you think a newly promoted Soul Pupil has that kind of speed and power? Or do you think a Frost Spider’s freezing venomous silk is just for show? Forget a Soul Pupil; if they’re not careful, even a Soul Warrior could... Wait! You kept the Frost Spider’s carcass, right? Bring it out, quickly."

Lin Jiangang had every reason to be angry. The Frost Spider was a venomous soul beast, much faster than ordinary ones, and was thus classified as a Tier One Middle-Grade Soul Beast. An average Soul Pupil would give it a wide berth, and a newly promoted one wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight!

According to the report, this Li Heng hadn’t been registered as a Soul Pupil before entering the mystic realm, which meant he had just advanced.

A newly promoted Soul Pupil killing a Tier One Middle-Grade Soul Beast without a scratch?

That was too ridiculous to even be a joke!

But considering the staff member was unlikely to make such a mistake, he decided to inspect the Frost Spider’s carcass.

The staff member was already prepared. Almost at the exact moment Lin Jiangang asked for the Frost Spider, he retrieved its carcass from a Space Stone.

Lin Jiangang walked over immediately, his eyes fixed on the Frost Spider, which had been split in two.

「Half a minute later.」

"This Li Heng... either he concealed his Soul Pupil Realm, in which case he must have been a Soul Pupil for at least three months—no! Maybe he was already a Soul Pupil six months ago... or this Li Heng’s talent for the Sword Way is high! Extremely high!"

Lin Jiangang quickly reached a conclusion. The clean, decisive wound was indeed from a single, killing blow. And he could tell it was a sword wound!

Listening to his manager’s conclusion, the staff member tactfully remained silent. He knew at this point that the report he submitted had been accepted by Lin Jiangang, and he hadn’t made any professional errors.

"Keep an eye on all the exceptional talents. As for this Li Heng, if he continues to perform well, we can consider him for the top ten in this exam."

"Good work! Keep this file safe! You’ve worked hard today, go get some rest."

Lin Jiangang sent the staff member off to rest, then fell silent, alone with his thoughts.

That student, Li Heng from Thirteenth Middle School, had left a profound impression on him.

Whether he had been a Soul Pupil for six months already or possessed immense talent in the Sword Way, either case made him a genius!

And as long as a genius like that didn’t meet an untimely end or throw their life away, their future achievements would be anything but low!

Besides Li Heng, Lin Jiangang had also noted other students with excellent performances—some even better than Li Heng’s. But the sword wound on that Frost Spider was simply breathtaking!

Suddenly, Lin Jiangang felt that not only could he complete the task given to him by the city, but there was a high probability he would exceed expectations.

He just wondered how long this group of outstanding students could last in the Fallen Jiao Icefield, and how far they could go.

At that moment, Li Heng was completely unaware that he was under close scrutiny. He was watching two teams not far away who were arguing and looked ready to come to blows.

Li Heng wasn’t far from them and could roughly hear the cause of the dispute. It seemed a boy from one middle school had invited a girl from another, triggering a conflict between their two teams.

"This is so boring!"

Bai Shasha had been resting with her eyes closed, nearly asleep, but was awakened by the argument. She glanced at the students who were already drawing their weapons not far away and commented coldly.

Li Heng hadn’t been sleepy at all. Seeing that Bai Shasha was awake and seemed a bit grumpy about it, he offered some comfort, "They’re just young and full of teenage energy. But since you’re up, want to watch with me? Looks like a fight might break out soon."

Bai Shasha was a little confused by Li Heng’s suddenly wise-beyond-his-years tone. She thought to herself, ’Aren’t we all teenagers?’

However, Bai Shasha didn’t ask any more questions and instead turned her gaze to the group of students, who looked ready to explode at any moment.

After all, a fight was about to start, and with both sides hurling profanities and trading insults about each other’s mothers, it was a wonder any of the surrounding students could sleep.

As the commotion grew louder, more and more students woke up, their attention now fixed on the confrontational group.

But no one intervened. Even though it was disrupting their rest, everyone who woke up just stared, content to watch the show.

It wasn’t that everyone was scared or didn’t want to get involved; it was simply unnecessary.

They still had to explore the Icefield the next day, so it was better to save their energy and stamina and just mind their own business. Besides, exploring a mystic realm was stressful enough; occasionally being a spectator and watching some drama was a good way to relax their Spirit.

Secondly, and most importantly, although this was a mystic realm, it was still part of an exam. There were "proctors" on site. Even if they wanted to intervene, it wasn’t the students’ place to do so.