17 Castor Xia Wanlong

"What, she's one of the Ten Masters of Mountain and Sea?!"

"No way, seeing one of the legendary Ten Masters of Mountain and Sea as soon as we arrive?"

"Hey, hey, hey, did you guys get the point? She said she's in the third seat, the top three of the 10!"

Such whispers rang out from the crowd of thousands.

Sha Buru looked left and right, and could only foolishly ask Ouyang Yuan for help. "Brother Yuan, what are the Ten Masters of the Mountain and Sea again?"

Bai Wushang likewise perked up his ears. Because of the temporary change of the academy, he hadn't learned much about the academy, and some things weren't clear to him.

Ouyang Yuan rolled his eyes. Seeing his three little friends all looking at him expectantly, he could only helplessly say, "There is an outstanding talent ranking in the Mountain and Sea Academy, recording the 50 strongest masters of the academy, and those who can be the best of them to climb to the top 10 are called the Ten Masters of Mountain and Sea, each with their own title."

"Are they strong?" asked Sha Buru, scratching his head.

"More than strong!" said Ouyang Yuan somewhat fervently, his tone sounding a bit urgent. "The status of the Ten Masters of Mountain and Sea in the academy is even above that of the ordinary instructors. After all, the combat power of the ordinary instructors is only at the early complete form, and the combat power of the top-ranked of the Ten Masters might be middle to late complete form, overpowering countless instructors!

"More importantly, the Ten Masters of Mountain and Sea Committee formed by the Ten Masters of Mountain and Sea is a unique executive body directly subordinate to the dean. According to the rank of the 10 seats, they enjoy various varying degrees of privileges, and are even able to influence many things related to the operation of the academy!

"In a way, the will of the Ten Masters of the Mountain and Sea represents the will of the academy, understand?" Ouyang Yuan finished in one breath, then whirled around, and gazed with a slightly longing gaze at the golden-skirted woman on the stage, murmuring, "Tsk, tsk, this curvaceous figure, this graceful and classy temperament, what kind of blooming beauty is hidden under the mask…"

"Shoo… shoo…"

Above the stone pillar, the pterodactyl suddenly raised its head and hissed twice. The sound was not loud, but it radiated in all directions like a sound wave, as if there was a terrifying oppressive feeling above the soul, shocking everyone into shutting their mouth. It was silent in an instant.

Dragon might?!

Bai Wushang was startled, and noticed Milky Way on his chest also being startled awake and poking her head out to quietly survey the outside.

|ᴥ-́)✧

"I will be fully responsible for this year's freshman's trial. I hope everyone listens well. Do not interrupt, and save the questions together for last. Do not disobey, or…"

Xia Wanlong absently patted the wing of the pterodactyl, which understood in a second, grunted heavily, and raised its head to look at the crowd viciously with the feeling of "whoever dares to make trouble, prepare to die."

Nodding in satisfaction, Xia Wanlong turned on the holographic screen on her wrist, fiddled with it a few times, and began the official pronouncement.

"This freshmen trial has a core theme that revolves around only one thing—contracting pets!

"I know that you all must be excited now that you've become official masters, and can't wait to have your first pet companion. I can understand that, and the Academy can understand your feelings even more! So, the academy has prepared the mystic realm Sea Island for this purpose, specifically to give everyone a chance to contract a pet.

"In the mystic realm Sea Island, the total number of species of transcendent creatures exceeds 50,000. There are ordinary species that can be found everywhere in the wild forest and precious species that are particularly rare in the world. Whether it is demonic beasts, devils, ghosts, bone species, or insects… In short, it will definitely be able to meet your needs!"

Xia Wanlong's voice was quite charming. The control of the intonation and rhythm of her speech were also very well placed, which immediately mobilized the sense of anticipation of the whole audience, and made them listen very carefully.

"But then, I'm sure you've heard about the purpose of the academy's founding. All the resources here are only open to the best of the best; the rest of the losers, we don't want them! This trial is not only for everyone to take in their beast pets, but it's also a game of survival. Anyone who doesn't reach the passing mark in the trial will be directly expelled from the academy. No one will be spared!

"I will now state the details of the trial.

"This trial will take the form of grouping the 2,578 new students present, randomly and equally divided into 26 groups and dropped into 26 separate areas of the mystic realm Sea Island.

"Everything the participants encounter in the mystic realm, be it treasures, old pills, or transcendent creatures, can be freely hunted for as long as you are capable, and the academy doesn't place too many restrictions.

"Trials, in principle, allow cooperation and also encourage competition. Still, maiming and death are strictly forbidden, and violators are not only directly expelled, but also face accountability from the institution's senior management at their peril.

"The trial will last for a total of 15 days. Each participant must dress lightly, and is prohibited from carrying any protective gear, potions, storage rings, and a host of other aids. Also, all functions of the watch will be temporarily blocked.

"Before entering the mystic realm, the academy will give each participant a dimensional backpack with replacement clothing, as well as an elite dagger, a unique scent bag, and a distress talisman.

"Special scent pouches will protect the participant from active attacks by transcendent creatures for the first five days; distress talismans can be crushed in times of crisis, and automatically activated as barriers to guard one's body.

"Note that the trial is immediately terminated after using the distress talisman, and an instructor will take the participant directly out of the mystic realm.

"Before termination, if the pet contract has been completed, the participant will meet the minimum passing standard, and be considered to have passed the test; if the contract has not been completed, the participant will fail, and be directly expelled.

"The perfect participants who successfully contract a pet and stay alive for 15 days until the end of the trial will be given an additional reward by the academy, receiving 10 points of mystic energy each!

"Okay, this was the detailed description of the trials provided by the academy, so let's move on to the questions. Raise your hand if you have any questions." Xia Wanlong leisurely played with a strand of green silk, her tone relaxed but unquestionable. "Remember, think before you ask. I'll only answer three questions!"

Countless hands were raised here and there in the crowd, and even Ouyang Yuan actively participated.

"That little guy over there with the glasses and the yellow hair, what are your questions?"

Xia Wanlong casually pointed to a freshman.

The yellow-haired boy who had been pointed at looked around to make sure it was him, and stammered in some disbelief as he spoke, "What is mystic energy?"

Xia Wanlong's slender hand playing with the green silk froze for a moment, and even her voice instantly turned icy.

"I told you, think before you ask. This is a question that I'm sure at least half of the 2,000 or so first-year students in the room will be able to answer for you. You wasted a precious opportunity to ask a question!" Xia Wanlong's gaze seemed to have a penetrating quality, firmly fixing on the yellow-haired boy as she frankly said, "If I sensed correctly, your initial soul power is only at the early Spiritualist level. It's not even an easy task for you to complete a pet contract, yet you're asking questions about the reward for a perfect pass. Isn't that a bit overly ambitious?"