Three hours later, the bus drove out of Jinghai Base City and entered the desolate and dilapidated buffer zone.
Under the lead of eight teachers, all the students of Class 17 got off the bus and quickly lined up.
"All of you will be splitting into groups." The form teacher, Xiao Jinsheng, coughed. "We plan to split you guys into eight groups. Each group will have four students, and you will be led by a teacher. Now, we will allow you to freely form your own groups. Those who don't have a group will be assigned one by me."
The eight teachers—including Xiao Jinsheng—were all teachers who taught combat, machinery, and other classes. They were very strong and had basically reached the highest limit for non-Awakened. Bai Xiaowen knew this because of his Insight.
Take form teacher Xiao Jinsheng for example. His total attributes were 20.5, having Basic Combat Level 5 (Maximum), Basic Machinery (Single-handed Sword) Level 5, and Basic Throw Level 5.
Unfortunately, Xiao Jinsheng had never been able to pass the Awakened test. In fact, he was not the only one. The other seven teachers were in the same situation, and they were stuck at the quasi-Awakened threshold.
The Awakened test was carried out in the Spiritual Realm. Quests would be automatically generated for them.
If he failed the first time, the difficulty of the second test would increase greatly. If he also failed the second time, the difficulty of the third test would increase to a terrifying level, and so on.
Xiao Jinsheng had failed twice. When he entered the Spiritual Realm for the third time and saw the despairing test mission, he immediately chose to withdraw. From then on, he gave up on advancing to an Awakened and found a job as a teacher at Crimson Fire No.1 Middle School where he taught for more than 20 years.
The scene was chaotic. The students of Class 17 called out to their friends and deskmates whom they had close ties with and quickly formed teams of four.
Bai Xiaowen wanted to join a team with members that he was familiar with, but when he turned to look at the few classmates he was more or less familiar with, he noticed that they maintained an indifferent attitude toward him, and they even glanced in Zhou Yi's direction. He instantly understood what was happening.
These students were not fools. They did not have a deep relationship with Bai Xiaowen, so they were unwilling to offend Zhou Yi for his sake.
Bai Xiaowen fell silent. He did not want to embarrass himself by approaching them and asking if he could join their group.
"There are still four students who don't have a team?" Xiao Jinsheng nodded and said, "All right then. Zhou Yi, Wu Xiaoyan, Jiang Wen, and Bai Xiaowen, you'll be on the same team. I'll lead this team."
Zhou Yi grinned. "I have no objections."
Bai Xiaowen remained silent. It was obvious that only the four of them were left. Whether they agreed or not, they had no choice but to become one team.
"All right, the one-week actual field combat training begins now. The eight teams have their own destinations. Within a week, you need to clear the area of all monsters before you can return. I hope that all students can improve from this training." Xiao Jinsheng waved his hand outward and barked, "Prepare and set off!"
Bai Xiaowen opened his tactical backpack, took out a steel crossbow, and hung it on his waist. He tied a machete diagonally behind his back and tightened his pants. Both the steel crossbow and the machete were mechanized and mass-produced weapons. They did not contain any psionic particles, so their lethality could not compare to psionic equipment.
Such equipment was either handmade by blacksmiths or dropped from monsters. Machine assembly lines could not produce it. Of course, psionic equipment was also quite expensive.
After Bai Xiaowen was done, Jiang Wen approached him with a shy smile. "Hello, Bai Xiaowen."
Jiang Wen had fair skin and an oval-shaped face. Although her beauty was not in the same league as Li Shuyi, she was still considered a pretty girl. When the students were splitting into teams, many boys had invited her to join their team, but for some reason, she rejected all of them.
"Hello, Jiang Wen. We'll be teammates for the next week."
When Bai Xiaowen saw the shy smile on Jiang Wen's face, he instantly understood and smiled brightly at her. She was another girl who had fallen for his charms.
The boys who had just been rejected by Jiang Wen looked over with resentment-filled eyes.
"It's really unfortunate to have a weak teammate like you." Zhou Yi saw that Bai Xiaowen was flirting with girls again and was displeased. He walked over with Wu Xiaoyan in tow and looked at Bai Xiaowen provocatively. "I hope you won't be a burden to our team."
"Mind your own business." Bai Xiaowen could not take it anymore.
"You…" Zhou Yi was infuriated.
"That's enough, stop arguing! It's time to set off!" A plump figure approached them. Xiao Jinsheng had a rusty iron sword hanging from his waist and a row of steel flying daggers in his back. He was dressed in red, making him look like a mighty crab.
"Open the map. Our destination is Area 8, called the Plague Rat Cave!"
Xiao Jinsheng's stubby finger suddenly swiped across the map. "We have to trek 13 kilometers on foot. We will inevitably encounter some monsters along the way. However, the monsters wandering in the buffer zone are less threatening. The four of you will turn to practice. In any case, we have to reach the Plague Rat Cave before dark!"
The eight teams spread out in different directions like eight arrowheads in the vast plains and wasteland.
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"Jiang Wen, Mutated Cockroaches are the weakest type of monsters. Don't be frightened by their appearance!"
Xiao Jinsheng shouted, "In the actual combat test for the college entrance examination, there are monsters that are even more disgusting than Mutated Cockroaches. Do you want to score zero in the actual combat class? Hurry up and go!"
A Mutated Cockroach was a cockroach that had been magnified dozens of times. Its shell was shiny, and it had long tentacles and sharp appendages. Its hideous appearance was definitely the natural enemy of girls.
Bai Xiaowen looked at Jiang Wen sympathetically. Xiao Jinsheng had ordered them to take turns battling monsters, and Jiang Wen was ranked third. Fortunately, she encountered a lone mutated cockroach.
Jiang Wen's oval face turned even paler after she heard Xiao Jinsheng urging her. She screamed and kept pulling the trigger of the steel crossbow, shooting continuously at the Mutated Cockroach.
Thud! Thud! Thud! The Mutated Cockroach was forced to retreat. Sparks even flew from its black shell.
"Weakness! Their weakness is their eye! Where are you aiming at?" Xiao Jinsheng roared, "Do you think you're holding spiritual equipment? Come on, you're only holding a mass-produced ordinary steel crossbow. If you don't attack their weakness, you won't be able to kill even the weakest mutated beast!"
Soon, Jiang Wen's crossbow missed its target. The mutated cockroach was unharmed. It waved its limbs and charged at Jiang Wen.
Jiang Wen's mind went blank when she saw the ugly Mutated Cockroach charging at her.
Despite seeing that the Mutated Cockroach was about to pounce on Jiang Wen's legs, no one stepped in to help. Zhou Yi and Wu Xiaoyan looked like they were watching a show. Bai Xiaowen sighed inwardly and pulled out a machete from his back. He aimed at the gap between the Mutated Cockroach's neck and carapace and slashed.
With a clang, sparks flew everywhere.
Bai Xiaowen's attack missed its target. However, Bai Xiaowen was strong enough to smash the Mutated Cockroach into the ground.
Bai Xiaowen swung his machete again. This time, he slash through the gap between the Mutated Cockroach's head and carapace. He decapitated it cleanly and then kicked the disgusting headless body away.
Even if the Mutated Cockroach did not have a head, it would not die immediately. However, without the ability to eat, it could not survive for long.
Bai Xiaowen received a notification.
"The battle is over. Strength: 4, Precision: 2, Continuity: 3, Evaluation: Good."
"Your proficiency in basic machinery (Single-handed Sword) has increased."
"Basic Machinery (Single-handed Sword) has been upgraded to Level 3!"
Bai Xiaowen's single-handed sword skill had been stuck at Level 2 for a long time. He had been practicing for a long time but had not gotten a breakthrough. He did not expect to get a breakthrough after killing a Mutated Cockroach.
Through actual combat training in the wild, the increase in proficiency was indeed astonishing. It was much better than dull training.
Jiang Wen was filled with gratitude. "Bai Xiaowen, thank you so much."
Bai Xiaowen waved his hand. "You're welcome."
"Tsk, you're a busybody." Zhou Yi, who was not far away, pursed his lips.
Wu Xiaoyan whispered, "But Bai Xiaowen's attacks seemed very powerful earlier."
Zhou Yi said disdainfully, "What's the use? It's just a cockroach. I can crush it with one stomp."
Xiao Jinsheng coughed and concluded, "All right, Jiang Wen, I'll let it go this time. You must know that the opportunity for actual combat is hard to come by! Let's continue!"
Along the way, the five of them encountered some wandering monsters. There were buck-toothed, bloodthirsty carnivorous rabbits, fragile skeletons who had crawled out of graves and infected with undead aura, and the famous plague rats. Xiao Jinsheng and Bai Xiaowen took turns to train their skills.
Jiang Wen's performance was much better than the first time and she received Xiao Jinsheng's praise.
Before dark, the team finally arrived at Area 8, in front of the Plague Rat Cave.