February 5th, the Third Star Ring national college entrance exam was about to begin.
The candidates from the Eight high schools of the Four Major Cantilevers gradually arrived at their respective High School Sanctuaries, and Su Fu followed the crowd to the Perseus High School Sanctuary.
Most people stood silently in the solemn sanctuary square, occasionally whispering in small groups.
Even before it started, Su Fu already felt the tense and serious atmosphere.
She found a spot to stand, looked up, and silently scanned the surroundings.
Although the number of candidates was still considerable, it was quite different from what she had imagined.
She remembered that during the Fourth Star Ring exam, the crowds had been massive—thousands upon thousands of people densely packed.
‘Now…’ Su Fu quietly estimated in her heart, ‘there are probably only around a thousand here, about half as many as before. It seems that as the star rings ascend and one moves closer to the core, the so-called ‘high-level citizens’ become fewer and fewer.’
‘It really is a pyramid structure—wide and crowded at the base, thinning out as you go up, but with increasingly abundant resources.’
But then she thought again, ‘it might not be quite right. The Third Star Ring is actually the middle tier. Compared to the lower tiers, the number of people does decrease.’
But who knows if the top-tier noble clans might be having a lot of children?
After all, the resources are abundant and they can afford it.
Otherwise, all those StarNet gossip stories wouldn’t be filled with all sorts of illegitimate sons and daughters.
Speaking of which, she still didn’t know what type of exam this would be.
Su Fu thought, ‘according to Teacher Zhuge Yan, the Shen Yan AI would dynamically adjust the difficulty based on the candidates’ levels.’
If there weren’t so many Second Star Ring candidates, the Third Ring exam might be set in some extreme environments.
But now, she guessed maybe… it was the most difficult disaster-type map in the physics category?
Yet for some reason, she felt a bit uneasy inside.
Anyway, it couldn’t be harder than the disaster maps, right?
***
Meanwhile, not far from the main exam site at the Perseus Divine Derivation Core, a group of staff busily debugged exam data while Shen Yan was undergoing final checks and adjustments.
At this moment, the gate suddenly opened, and a staff member entered, respectfully turning back to guide the way to the left: “Minister Kong, this way.”
Kong Ying nodded slightly and followed the guide into the core area.
Inside the core, a group of bigwigs often seen in the news had already gathered.
The moment she entered, all eyes turned toward her.
“Kong Ying, you’re here,” an elderly man with a kindly face greeted her.
“Please sit here.”
He was Mo Xingyuan, the head of the First Cantilever Education Department of the Third Star Ring.
“Minister Mo,” Kong Ying’s expression softened.
Before her was a conference table that could seat twelve, and the seat Mo Xingyuan indicated was number twelve, right beside him.
Kong Ying approached and greeted him proactively, “Long time no see. How have you been recently?”
Minister Mo smiled warmly and replied, “I’m fine. How about you? How do you feel working in Northern Polaris? If you ever want to develop in the Third Star Ring, you’re always welcome.”
Kong Ying smiled faintly without answering definitively.
Mo Xingyuan didn’t mind and turned to introduce those around him.
“This is Luo Qiu, the admissions officer from the Heavenly Road Branch Campus.”
He pointed to seat number two, where a woman in blue, quite elegant, nodded lightly.
“Hello.”
“This is Professor Casanova from the Eternal Gate Branch Campus.”
Casanova was dressed in a suit and wore black glasses.
He stood and bowed slightly, “Long time no see, Ms. Kong Ying.”
Kong Ying had attended university in the Second Star Ring, and was somewhat well-known.
Casanova was from the same cohort, and the two had some past interactions.
“And this is Director Xiao Lingxi of the Ring of Radiance Branch Campus.”
Xiao Lingxi looked young like Kong Ying, with a somewhat cool and reserved aura.
“Minister Kong, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Kong Ying responded accordingly.
Then Minister Mo introduced the remaining invigilators: two admissions officers from the Second Star Ring’s outer belt universities, Song Yuqing from the Source of the Milky Way Branch and Qi Feng from the Primordial Scar Branch.
Also present were Pei Zhengyuan, Minister of the Second Cantilever Education Department; Xiao Zheng and Cheng Yuntian from the Third Cantilever.
The representative from Kunlun Academy was supposed to attend but the seat remained empty.
She roughly tallied it: five of the six major Second Star Ring universities were present—Heavenly Road, Eternal Gate, Ring of Radiance, Source of the Milky Way, and Primordial Scar.
The only one missing was Kunlun Academy.
Along with the four Cantilever Education Ministers, herself, and the absent Xia Linyuan, it made exactly twelve seats.
At that moment, Minister Pei Zhengyuan suddenly laughed, “Looks like Lin Yuan isn’t coming this time. Maybe he was crushed by the Fourth Star Ring exam.”
“Well, it’s no surprise he didn’t come,” said Third Cantilever Minister Xiao Zheng as he looked toward Kong Ying.
“With the results Odinson achieved, I wouldn’t have the face to show up either.”
“Yes,” Pei Zhengyuan shook his head with a sigh.
“And I guess their admission rate over there is probably doomed this year. Odinson, who was originally the top candidate from the Fourth Star Ring with potential to make it into the Second Ring, now has his mindset completely shattered.The ace is basically useless now. That doesn’t look good in the Education Department’s annual assessment. In the past, South Polar Star’s results were always more outstanding, both in the number of high scorers and overall admissions, far exceeding Northern Polaris.But this year…”
They exchanged a glance, “Minister Kong Ying might have the upper hand.”
With such a strong candidate, it would surely boost Minister Kong’s education evaluation for this year.
They felt a bit envious.
Why did Su Fu have to be from Northern Polaris?
This comment piqued the curiosity of the Second Star Ring university admissions officers nearby.
Luo Qiu looked over and asked, puzzled, “Odinson? The one from the Northern noble family?”
“He should be a top performer in the Fourth Star Ring, right? Could he have underperformed this time?”
Pei Zhengyuan and Xiao Zheng exchanged looks before Xiao Zheng explained, “He performed normally. More precisely, this time Northern Polaris really stole the spotlight.
“Minister Kong’s candidate Su Fu directly took first place in the Fourth Star Ring national college entrance exam.”
For universities in the Second Star Ring, admissions weren’t based solely on exam results but also comprehensive evaluations, which was why they had come to the Third Ring exam site.
“Su Fu…?” Xiao Lingxi showed some interest.
After all, the Seven Great Clans held an overwhelming advantage over others.
How could someone beat them?
Everyone instinctively began looking through Su Fu’s profile.
“Indeed, impressive. No defeats on her record. She even passed an S-Class Instance…”
“Quite outstanding. I wonder how she compares to Third Star Ring candidates? We should keep an eye on her.”
“Yes…” Kong Ying was also curious about which university Su Fu would ultimately choose.
She looked up at the person on the projection screen, calmly waiting for the exam to start.
Just Kunlun Academy wouldn’t be enough—lacking faculty and resources.
Zhuge Yan’s strength was decent, but he was busy with Tai Xuanzi’s matters and probably couldn’t spare much attention.
So, according to Zhuge Yan’s thinking, Su Fu would most likely take the joint training path?
Kong Ying looked at the five admissions officers and said, “The best choice would undoubtedly be Heavenly Road.”
Her gaze swept past the empty Kunlun Academy seat as she thought, ‘the only surviving Chinese Divine lineage candidate taking the exam, and they don’t even show up? That could only mean Tai Xuanzi was off suppressing something again.’
Recalling Tai Xuanzi’s last condition, her brows involuntarily furrowed.
How long had it been since the last suppression operation?
Wasn’t this frequency a bit too high?
Every suppression meant some abnormal activity had reached a critical point, requiring the direct involvement of a powerful director.
And only Tai Xuanzi could be called upon for such tasks…
At that moment, others began discussing the candidates in this exam.
Qi Feng said, “This year’s candidates can be roughly divided into three categories. First are the top 100 outstanding candidates from the Fourth Star Ring, now distributed across the four Cantilever exam sites.”
“They have rich combat experience, having fought tooth and nail to climb up, with strong adaptability. Their tactics are flexible and varied, able to seize opportunities to turn the tide.”
“Especially the first-place candidate, who scored a million points in the Fourth Star Ring exam. That says it all.”
“Indeed,” Luo Qiu mused, “especially considering the difficulty of this year’s Fourth Star Ring exam wasn’t low, and this set a new historic high score.”
She silently added Su Fu to her watch list.
Qi Feng nodded and continued, “Second are the local Third Star Ring candidates, about a thousand in number. They are the main force in this exam. Though individually weaker than the Second Star Ring candidates, their numerical advantage is significant. If they cooperate and form alliances, their teamwork would be a major asset.”
“After all, many come from the same school and have already developed tacit understanding.”
“As for the third category…” Qi Feng glanced at his data, “these are candidates from the Second Star Ring. Though fewer in number, their individual strength is undoubtedly top-tier.”
“They have received more systematic and comprehensive training from an early age. Whether it’s divine power control, abnormal situation response, or the possession and use of various Divine Artifacts, their overall quality surpasses other candidates by a large margin. More importantly, most of them have unique bloodline abilities or secret family techniques, advantages ordinary candidates can hardly approach.”
“The three types of candidates each have their strengths,” Xiao Lingxi summarized.
“Fourth Ring candidates have rich practical experience; Third Ring candidates have alliance advantages; Second Ring candidates have overall dominance.”
She sighed, “This exam will likely be quite intense.”
Professor Casanova suddenly became curious and said, “Speaking of intensity, the environment plays an important role. The exam map type is also crucial. What do you think the Third Star Ring exam map will be this time?”
Everyone thought for a moment before Second Cantilever Minister Pei Zhengyuan spoke first, “Considering the overall level of candidates, it should be a disaster-type map.”
“Very likely.”
Third Cantilever Minister Xiao Zheng nodded, “Disaster maps are the hardest type during the entire high school stage. The environmental threats are greatly amplified, anomalies become extremely troublesome, and survival becomes the primary objective.”
“But mere survival won’t bring good results. Overall, the difficulty is quite high. In fact, if it weren’t for so many outstanding Second Star Ring candidates, with only Third Ring candidates, the environment might be extreme but not so difficult.”
“But now, the Shen Yan AI will definitely set the difficulty to the maximum.”
Luo Qiu suddenly said, “So, most likely extreme cold glaciers, hellfire regions, eternal night sandstorms… those?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Most likely.”
“Or volcanic eruptions, floods…”
In any case, the exam will test candidates’ strength and their ability to respond on the spot.
At that moment, First Cantilever Minister Mo Xingyuan suddenly said, “The above analysis ignores an important factor. That is, the known candidate strength matches reality. In other words, there are no candidates hiding their true strength, playing dumb, or ‘acting like a pig to eat the tiger’. “If there were some extremely outstanding candidates among them, the overall difficulty of the exam would be raised directly.”
Upon hearing this, everyone reacted.
“That’s true. What if some candidates like to hide themselves?”
“Who knows how many people hide deeper than the ocean?”