"Results of the entrance examination?"
Zhang Xuan frowned in bewilderment.
Weren't the only two results of the entrance examination pass and fail? What did the other party mean by comparing their results?
Just as Zhang Xuan was just about to ask the other party to elaborate, a powerful voice reverberated throughout the entire field.
"Quiet down!"
Everyone immediately stopped their chatter and raised their heads to look over. Following which, they saw an elder floating in midair.
"Saint…"
Zhang Xuan's body stiffened.
He could clearly feel the fundamental difference between his flight ability and the other's. The other party's flight ability was based on the world's recognition instead of a forceful levitation through the skillful utilization of zhenqi.
It was just like the difference between a flying bird and a balloon. The latter levitated due to the fundamental laws of physics whereas the former was dependent on the flapping of its wings. The moment it grows tired and stops its movements, it would immediately plummet to the ground.
Just like the flying bird, the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps required its user to continuously pump zhenqi into the technique in order to maintain flight. The elder before him clearly didn't belong to the same class, so the only explanation left was that he had reached Saint realm.
With a warm gaze from above, the elder said, "I am Mo Zhu, an elder of Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. I will be the chief invigilator for this entrance examination!"
"He is Elder Mo?" a freshman in front of Zhang Xuan exclaimed agitatedly, upon hearing the elder's introduction.
"Is Elder Mo very famous?" another freshman asked in confusion.
"Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy is famed for its Ten Great Master Teachers. The Ten Great Master Teachers are all 6-star pinnacle master teachers, as well as the ten most authoritative elders in the academy. They oversee everything that happens in the academy… and Elder Mo is one of them. Do you think that he is famous or not?" the first freshman said with a hushed voice.
"Ten Great Master Teachers?" The second freshman widened his eyes in shock.
Those who had heard of the Master Teacher Academy would surely have heard of the Ten Great Master Teachers as well. This title was determined via a selection process among the master teachers in Hongyuan Empire and the surrounding Tier 1 Empires once every fifty years. As the title was conferred directly by the superior Conferred Empire Master Teacher Pavilion, the title was official and possessed true authority.
As such, the Ten Great Master Teachers possessed exceptional standing, and even the emperor of Hongyuan Empire would have to pay respect to them in the capacity of a student. They were also entitled to the most valuable of resources of the Master Teacher Pavilion.
There was no student who didn't take pride in becoming the student of any of the Ten Great Master Teachers…
He'd thought that such a formidable master teacher would surely be far away from him, but who knew that he would meet one before he had even officially enrolled into the academy?
The first freshman exclaimed agitatedly, "Indeed. Of the Ten Great Master Teachers, Elder Mo specializes in beast taming. But still, to think that he would invigilate the entrance examination personally…"
The Ten Great Master Teachers were legendary figures that most master teachers grew up admiring. Seeing the real person in the flesh, they could hardly curb the agitation they were feeling.
Even Brother Yu's eyes were glowing with excitement upon seeing Elder Mo.
"I believe everyone should already know the topic of the examination. I have placed many spirit beasts in Leiyuan Peak ahead of us!"
Interjecting into everyone's moment of excitement, Elder Mo continued with a warm smile, "All of those spirit beasts are aggressive beasts who have a track record of harming the innocent on numerous counts. I have confined them to the peak, and you are free to hunt them down as you like. As long as you slaughter a Transcendent Mortal 4-dan pinnacle spirit beast and procure its inner core, I will consider you to have passed the examination!"
"Transcendent Mortal 4-dan pinnacle spirit beast?"
"Aggressive beasts who have a track record of harming the innocent?"
"This examination sounds extremely hard…"
Elder Mo's description was brief, but as master teachers, they were able to understand the crux of the matter in an instant. Within an instant, their excitement was replaced with unease.
Due to the superior physique that spirit beasts were born with, their fighting prowess was extraordinary. A Transcendent Mortal 4-dan pinnacle spirit beast could fight a Consonant Spirit realm master teacher on equal grounds, and even if things turned out to be disadvantageous, it was likely that it would be able to escape safely.
Given that most of the freshmen involved in the examination were at Clarifying Turbidity realm pinnacle, it would be difficult for them to clear the examination!
Not to mention, considering the aggressive nature of the spirit beasts, they were bound to be difficult opponents to deal with. There was a vast difference between a spirit beast with vast fighting experience and a spirit beast with no fighting experience whatsoever.
'It is no wonder why most parties have chosen to form an alliance…' Zhang Xuan thought in realization.
He had been thinking that it was bizarre how the various parties chose to ally themselves with others for a mere hunt. After all, coordinating with another party was an extremely troublesome task. However, from the looks of it now, if they didn't do so, there was a good chance they could end up being surrounded and killed by the spirit beasts.
To think that even an entrance examination would be so dangerous… At this instant, Zhang Xuan suddenly recalled what Luo Qiqi had previously said about the Master Teacher Academy. It was indeed a competitive place where only those who could adapt would survive.
"The time limit is a single day. In other words, before sunset, you must return with the inner core in your hand. Only by fulfilling this criterion will you be considered to have cleared the examination! Otherwise… this will spell the end of your fate with the academy."
Elder Mo continued, "Also, I would like to warn everyone that the cultivation of the spirit beasts on the peak isn't just limited to Transcendent Mortal 4-dan. There are 5-dan, 6-dan, and even 7-dan spirit beasts there. Thus, you should be careful not to be slaughtered by the spirit beasts while hunting them down!"
The examinees had been informed of this in advance, so they weren't too surprised by Elder Mo's words.
Fighting prowess wasn't all there was to a master teacher. Master teachers were expected to be all-rounders who were capable in all fields, and this test sought to assess this.
After a moment of silence, a freshman suddenly asked, "Elder Mo, if we manage to slay a Transcendent Mortal 5-dan or 6-dan spirit beast, how will the results be tallied?"
"Good question!" Elder Mo stroked his beard. "We will be using a points system to gauge your result in the examination, and those who score higher will get to come under the tutelage of better teachers in the academy. In fact, if you perform outstandingly, there is a chance that you might win the favor of the elders!"
"Win the favor of the elders?"
Everyone's breathing hastened.
To be an elder in the Master Teacher Academy, one had to be a 6-star master teacher at minimum. Under the guidance of such a teacher, one's capability would surely soar.
At the same time, one would also be entitled to the best resources and highest standing.
"As for how points will be allocated, that's simple as well. It's a cumulative scoring system," Elder Mo said.
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"Cumulative scoring system?" Everyone was slightly confused.
"That's right. You will be scored based on the tier of the spirit beasts you kill. A Clarifying Turbidity realm pinnacle spirit beast will award you with 1 point. A Consonant Spirit realm primary stage spirit beast will award you with 10 points, intermediate stage 20 points, advanced stage 30 points, and pinnacle 40 points! As for Cosmos Bridge realm spirit beasts, a primary stage spirit beast will award you 100 points, intermediate stage 200 points… so on and so forth!"
Elder Mo paused then said, "The more points one scores, the better one's results will be. Alternatively, one can also choose to share one's points with another to help them clear the examination.
"For example, if ten people work together to kill a Consonant Spirit realm primary stage spirit beast, these ten points can be equally distributed among them to allow the ten people to clear the examination together!"
"We can also clear the examination by killing a Consonant Spirit realm primary stage spirit beast in groups of ten?"
"That's great…"
Upon hearing the news, the eyes of the weaker freshmen immediately lit up, and they clenched their fists in agitation.
With their current strength, killing a Transcendent Mortal 4-dan pinnacle spirit beast was extremely difficult for them. However, if they could coordinate with other master teachers and share the points earned, that would be a different story.
"It is for the purpose of driving away the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe that master teachers were born. To fulfill the responsibility we bear, not only must we be strong, we must also stand united and trust one another, working together to overcome all odds. This is crucial for the prosperity of mankind!" Elder Mo explained, knowing everyone's thoughts.
Hearing those words, the crowd couldn't help but nod in agreement.
'Master Teacher' didn't refer to an individual but an entirety. Only through teamwork and mutual trust would master teachers be able to bring out greater might.
"Alright, I shall move on to the rules of the examination now."
With a stern expression that seemed to be warning the freshmen against trying their luck, he said, "In this examination, you are not to attack other examinees and steal their inner cores. In other words, you cannot lay your hands on other master teachers for the purpose of obtaining even more points. Once caught, you will be stripped of your enrollment qualification, and you will never be accepted into the academy for life!"
As Elder Mo spoke of his punishment, his voice suddenly grew so heavy that it felt as if the sky itself was pressing down on them, and the air felt so viscous that even breathing was a difficulty.
A Saint raged; the world shattered.
Just the slightest expression of his displeasure was sufficient to deprive all Transcendent Mortal realm cultivators of their will to defy him.
"We aren't able to attack other examinees and steal their inner cores?"
"Wasn't that allowed in the past?"
"It seems they removed that section from the examination due to the potential acrimony it could induce among peers!"
"Sigh, I was still thinking of stealing other people's inner cores to obtain a better result, but from the looks of it now… that is out of question!"
…
Spirit beasts were intelligent creatures. With so many people marching up the mountain to eliminate them, they would surely have hidden themselves well. As such, how could they be found easily?
Thus, quite a few of the stronger examinees had intended to prey on the weaker examinees to steal the fruits of their labor. Upon hearing that such behavior was not allowed, disappointment immediately surfaced on their faces.
However, an even larger proportion of the examinees heaved a sigh of relief.
Defeating a spirit beast was no easy feat; there was a good chance they might be severely injured in the midst of doing so. If the product of their hard work was stolen by others, they would surely burst into tears.
"Elder Mo, I would like to ask if master teachers can use their tamed beasts to hunt down the spirit beasts?"
This time, it was Senior Feng who asked the question.
Upon hearing Senior Feng's words, everyone's eyes immediately fell upon Zhang Xuan.
After numerous days of trading cultivation techniques for spirit beast inner cores in the bazaar, he had become known by a large portion of the freshmen. Most of them were aware that he had tamed a half 9-dan Great Violetwing Beast.
If that fellow were to use the Great Violetwing Beast to hunt, who would be a match for him?
Overwhelming strength paired with the capability of flight, there would be no one who could compete with him!
"A tamed beast can be considered as part of the strength of a master teacher as well. However, examinees will only be allowed to use their tamed beast once throughout the competition. Other than the first inner core hunted by a tamed beast, any subsequent inner cores procured through such a method will not contribute to the examinee's score."
Being able to tame a spirit beast could be considered as a person's own strength as well. Nevertheless, if one were to rely completely on their tamed beast, that would be contrary to the purpose of the examination.
"Only once? That's good!"
Hearing those words, Senior Feng heaved a sigh of relief.
If Zhang Xuan could only use his tamed beast once, it would be impossible for him to win against Brother Yu.
After explaining the issue regarding the tamed beast, Elder Mo surveyed the surroundings and said, "Alright, are there any other questions? Do raise them so as to avoid infringing on the rules and losing your qualification!"
"Elder, what about grade-5 formation plates?" another freshman asked.
"The same rule applies for anything that is beyond one's cultivation realm. Just like tamed beasts, it can only be used once!" Elder Mo said.
Several more questions were asked, and Elder Mo answered each of them patiently.
Hearing the various rules and regulations of the examination, it was clear that the academy had put a lot of effort into planning the examination in order to accurately assess the strength of each examinee.
Seeing that there were no more questions, Elder Mo gestured to Leiyuan Peak and said, "Alright. If there aren't any more questions, the examination starts now. You can proceed up the mountain now!"
"Yes!"
Hearing the instructions, the thirty thousand participating freshmen immediately charged up to Leiyuan Peak.
The earlier they arrived, the higher the chance they would be able to successfully find and hunt a spirit beast. Thus, none of the examinees were willing lag behind the others.