The First Round(1)

Chapter 44: The First Round(1)

There were six masked cultivators, and they each had disks in their hands, matching the color of their robes. The six colors were red, yellow, silver, blue, green, and gray.

The next moment, the six masked cultivators placed the disks on the ground in a circular position. They then sat down near their disks in a meditative posture and took out shining spirit stones.

The step was known to students, so they weren't surprised by what was happening in the center.

Since it was the first time for Fang Yuan to see that, he looked curiously. The shining spirit stone started to dim while lights corresponding to the color of the disk emerged.

In only a few moments, six energy pillars of different colors appeared. The six masked cultivators stopped transferring energy to the disks and stood up. They then took out a randomly shaped metal fragment from their respective space rings.

The fragments combined to form a circle, which was placed in the center of the six pillars.

The circular device suddenly lit up, and an opaque barrier appeared around the six pillars. The masked cultivators had completed their work at that moment, so they immediately disappeared from the venue.

The next moment, with a booming sound, a cultivator flew to the center. All the students looked up in the sky and found a middle-aged man slowly descending to the ground.

The man was wearing a white robe with the pattern of invigilator imprinted near chest. He had a gentle smile as he landed on the ground.

"Dear students, I am Duan Chengqiu. On behalf of the federation, I welcome all of you to the annual examinations."

"Let's not waste any time and start the first round right away."

"I have a list with all your names, so once I call your name, just come to the center and stand in the center of the pillars."

"Since there are 234,896 students participating in the competition, this round will take seven days to complete. The round will begin at sunrise and will end at sunset."

"Now that I have explained the round, Hao Jin, come forward."

Fang Yuan couldn't help but frown after hearing the man. Many cities were competing together, so there was bound to be a high number of participants.

He didn't understand how seven days would be enough for the first round, as one student on average took around a minute. The first round was the simplest, as there would only be testing of spiritual roots and elements.

Unless the Federation had significantly improved the testing device, seven days didn't make sense for more than 200,000 students.

***

Hao Jin was an average-looking boy with tall height and bulky features. He was shocked when he was called out. He immediately looked at his admission form and frowned since his serial number was 700098723. The highest number of students competing from a single city in a year was around three million, so the serial number was eight digits, while the prefix number denoted the city serial. It was done randomly, and that year Green Bear City was assigned number 7.

Looking at the serial number, Hao Jin was to test his spiritual roots and element at 98,723rd position, which clearly wasn't first.

"Hao Jin, come forward. This is the last call."

Hao Jin didn't dare to waste any more time thinking about the reason for the situation when he heard the warning and immediately rushed toward the center.

"Walk to the center."

Duan Chengqiu ordered with the same gentle smile.

Hao Jin nodded and entered the opaque barrier. It was the same situation as it was before the emergence of the opaque energy barrier. He then stepped onto the circular glowing device.

The next moment, a rush of energy appeared on the device and flowed through numerous pores in Hao Jin's body. Before Hao Jin could understand what was happening, the situation returned to normal.

Following that, a blue projection screen appeared in front of him. It contained his face and his data. At the end, there was a box asking for him to tick it, confirming that it was him.

Hao Jin tapped on it, and the content of the screen immediately changed.

A graph of six colors appeared in the projection, with some taller and some shorter.

Out of all six colors, the red color was the tallest and was thirty-eight units, while the gray color wasn't there, making it zero.

Hao Jin nodded since that was his elemental data. Except for the element of fire, he was weak with all other elements as shown on the graph, with the second highest element being green, the element of wood, which was only seven units.

At the end of the projection, there was another box. Once Hao Jin touched it, the projection disappeared and the circular device dimmed down.

Ding!

At the same time, a ringing voice rang in Hao Jin's ears. He understood what the voice wanted to convey, so he walked out.

Duan Chengqiu didn't even glance at him and called out another name.

Fang Yuan's serial number was 70000087, so he patiently waited for his turn. As he had expected, the Federation had significantly improved the testing device, as Hao Jin only came after ten seconds.

Time flew by and hours passed in a flash. Fang Yuan couldn't help but frown, as when he was ready to be called on and go forward, the man called out another name.

He thought the man had made a mistake and would be called out next time, but the scene repeated itself, and another name was called out.

Fang Yuan wasn't the only one feeling such since the serial number had been completely overturned. The student who received the first sequence was still to be called upon.

Students wanted to complain, but Duan Chengqiu acted oblivious to it and kept calling students. Those students who had done the testing could leave the venue. Since the result wasn't being published to everyone, there was no point in waiting, so the students left.

Fang Yuan wanted to rush forward and argue with the man since if there was no sequence to the name-calling, his name could come anytime in the seven days, forcing him to come here every day and stand till sunset.

(Chapter End)