Early the next morning, 104 awakening students from the four Star Apprentice classes of Guangchuan Fourth Middle School gathered on the school playground. Everyone's mood varied—some were anxious, some hopeful, others worried...
All the students carried a backpack provided by the school, and in their hands were various weapons like retractable knives, guns, sticks, and clubs.
The Dean of Instruction at Fourth Middle School, Zhao Kang, handed out locators to everyone, featuring a map and points display among other complex functions. Su Yuan checked his and found that it was number 388, while Jiang Jun's next to him was 389.
"It seems like the students from First to Twelfth Middle School who are participating in the trial all have consecutive numbers." Su Yuan pondered to himself.
Zhao Kang called out, "If you're ready, get on the bus. Teacher Yang Jun from Class One will lead everyone there. This trial is a test of endurance; everyone should ensure their safety as much as possible."
Yang Jun took over, "Come on, everyone, get on the bus!"
Over a hundred students arranged by Yang Jun boarded the three coaches parked alongside the playground and headed towards the Rainforest Secret Realm in Guangchuan City.
In a suburb on the west side of Guangchuan City, there was a station of the City Guard, modest in height, with guards of not insignificant strength stationed at the entrance.
Buses were parked at the empty lot in front of the station's buildings, each bearing the insignia of various schools like "First Middle School," "Second Middle School," and so on.
Indeed, this was the entrance to the Rainforest Secret Realm, and most of the students from various schools had already arrived.
Before long, the three coaches from Fourth Middle School also arrived one after the other. Yang Jun led Su Yuan and the over one hundred students off the bus and followed a City Guard into the station.
Less than ten minutes into the station, the Fourth Middle School group reached a spacious plaza, which was bustling with teachers and students from many schools.
"Look, more people have arrived."
"This time it's Fourth Middle."
"I've heard Fourth Middle has someone who was specially recruited by Wanzhou Academy, who is it?"
"Wanzhou Academy? Really?"
"Yes, it's true, that tall guy over there—see him?"
"Him? Seems like someone not to be messed with."
"Well, he's alright, but I don't think he's as good as Fang Kun from First Middle."
...
As soon as the group from Fourth Middle arrived, the students on the plaza couldn't help but start whispering among themselves, with the focus of their discussion naturally being on Chen Jiu Jun, the highly conspicuous special recruit from Wanzhou.
Upon hearing the murmurs, Chen Jiu Jun sneered disdainfully.
Yang Jun arranged for the Fourth Middle students to line up, "We have a while to wait as Seventh and Eleventh Middle Schools have yet to arrive. Let's just wait a bit. Everyone stay quiet and adjust your condition."
Not far away, in the First Middle School group, Lv Xinghen asked Fang Kun, "Kun, do you think you can beat this Chen Jiu Jun?"
Apart from the specially recruited Fang Kun, Guangchuan First Middle School had another star talent who was at Star Apprentice Ninth Rank, none other than this Lv Xinghen. He had accompanied Fang Kun to Shuzhou for the special recruitment selection but wasn't chosen.
Fang Kun replied casually, "Hard to say, I haven't seen him in action. But he probably advanced to Ninth Stage less than a month ago, so I should have a certain advantage in terms of Realm."
Seeing Fang Kun's gaze continuing to drift amongst the Fourth Middle group, Lv Xinghen expressed his confusion, "What are you looking for?"
"Nothing much."
Fang Kun withdrew his gaze but inwardly furrowed his brows.
What is Zhuang Xun playing at? Did he not say there was another expert? In all of Fourth Middle, only Chen Jiu Jun is at Ninth Stage; where is this other so-called expert? Could it be some kind of bluff?
While Fang Kun was puzzled, it never occurred to him that the expert Zhuang Xun mentioned was merely at Eighth Stage...
After a long while, the teams from Seventh and Eleventh Middle Schools finally arrived one after the other.
At that moment, a line of military personnel dressed in City Defense uniforms approached from deeper within the station. The man at the forefront, with his imposing stature and stern complexion, caused a barely perceptible fluctuation of Star Power which made the breathing of Su Yuan and the other students slightly more hurried, just by drawing nearer.
"So strong!"
Not only Su Yuan, but everyone could feel the power of this person.
The teachers leading the teams from various schools enthusiastically greeted him.
"Captain Xiao!"
"Captain Xiao, it's been a while."
"..."
The squad leader of Guangchuan City Guard, a Gold Middle Stage Star Card Master, Xiao Yong!
Xiao Yong nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd before he turned to a City Guard responsible for tallying and asked, "Is everyone present?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Good," Xiao Yong looked over the teachers and students, "then no more chatter, come with me."
Xiao Yong turned and headed deep into the garrison, with the teachers promptly summoning their students to form lines and follow.
After moving forward for nearly twenty minutes, the thousand or so teachers and students followed Xiao Yong to a deep area of the garrison, in front of a silver light gate that spanned several meters and was made of energy.
Xiao Yong slowly said, "This is the entrance to the Secret Realm, and it is now open. According to the rules, teachers will wait outside, while students can line up and pass through in turn.
This trial is under my supervision, and whether or not you have clarified the rules of the trial, there are some points I want to emphasize again.
Once you enter the Secret Realm, you will appear randomly somewhere inside, and then you must begin killing Star Beasts."
"After killing a Star Beast, remember to use the locator in your hands to take a snapshot of the beast's corpse. It will record your kill points, and we will rank the trial based on the points recorded in the locator at the end."
Here are the points for Star Beasts:
Star Apprentice Sixth Stage: 20 points,
Seventh Stage: 30 points,
Eighth Stage: 50 points,
Ninth Stage: 100 points,
Bronze Early Stage: 1000 points!
Bronze Middle Stage: 2000 points!
Bronze High Stage: 4000 points!
Additionally, the points for Elite Star Beasts are three times that of ordinary Star Beasts!
Lastly, the trial will last for two days and one night, concluding tomorrow afternoon at six o'clock.
If you encounter life-threatening danger during this time, you can press the red button on your locator, and our team will come to support you immediately.
However, once you press the red button for help, it also means that you have failed this joint trial. Do you understand?"
The students responded loudly, "Understood!"
The killing points for Star Beasts of various levels are the same as in previous years; the students in the field were already aware of this.
It's worth noting that a Star Apprentice Ninth Rank Star Beast is worth 100 points, while a Bronze Early Stage Star Beast jumps to 1000 points, increasing by a whopping ninefold!
The point system is set up this way not only because Bronze-level Star Beasts are extremely strong but also for two other reasons.
One is to force students who wish to rank higher to actively hunt Bronze-level Star Beasts, better demonstrating their own strength.
The other is to widen the points gap between students, preventing some from overwhelming with quantity by killing a large number of Star Apprentice level Star Beasts to climb the ranks.
All things considered, the joint trial still encourages students to challenge powerful Star Beasts.
Seeing the students respond, Xiao Yong gestured with a wave of his hand, "Then let's begin."
The entrance to the Secret Realm with the silver light gate is quite wide, allowing over a dozen people to enter at a time.
One by one, figures stepped into the silver light gate, and within a short ten minutes or so, all the hundred students had disappeared...
"The trial assessment has been fully entrusted to our squad. Now we must begin our work, and all teachers, please wait outside."
Xiao Yong left two members behind to take the teachers to the waiting room while he led the remaining team into the Secret Realm as well.