Chapter 77 (2/3): A Class Exam Paper, Yaochi Feast

Years of experience told them such ‘hidden sixes’ were everywhere.

“But the probability is quite small,” Xiao Lingxi frowned, “First, not just anyone can pretend to be weak. Second, hiding strength in previous exam papers requires extremely strong control. Let alone hiding for three years, which isn’t something done overnight.”

“Besides, there are so many people in the exam site; relying on one or two hidden candidates won’t significantly affect the difficulty. To reach that level, at least four or five top geniuses would have to hide simultaneously. And those hidden candidates must be far stronger than ordinary geniuses, or the effect is limited.”

Saying this lowered the probability infinitely, making it almost negligible.

“That makes sense,” Luo Qiu laughed.

“I don’t think there can be so many hidden dragons and crouching tigers appearing at the same time. If they’ve hidden so long without being discovered, they would succeed at whatever they do.”

Everyone burst into laughter at this teasing remark.

Only Kong Ying’s expression was somewhat complicated.

She looked at Su Fu on the screen and thought, no one else mentioned it, but this one definitely counted.

***

Meanwhile, inside the Perseus High School Sanctuary.

Su Fu stood in the line, thinking about how the exam sites for the Second and Third Cantilevers were preparing.

She, Lin Mingxi, and Jiang Qingyu were all assigned to different exam sites—what a coincidence.

She also wondered what the exam map would be this time, and whether they could contact each other during the exam.

If it really was an extreme disaster map, it would be quite difficult.

And that uneasy feeling in her heart hadn’t dissipated yet.

If only Lin Mingxi were here, maybe he could predict what was going on.

Her thoughts wandered, “Could it be because this exam paper is very difficult?

“Or…”

Her gaze swept over the crowd, “There are some pretty strong opponents among them?”

At that moment, someone in the crowd happened to turn back, locking eyes with her—it was Lin Mo.

Lin Mo smiled slightly at her.

A thought suddenly arose in Su Fu’s mind: ‘Wait, Lin Mo said she was third place before, so who were first and second?’

By rights, Perseus High School in the Third Star Ring should be the strongest high school.

That meant these top students were definitely smart and strong, both in divine power control and combat will.

Wouldn’t that mean there would be a group of tricky and stubborn opponents like Bai Yu?

She sighed, realizing she had to be extra cautious.

Then there were those noble children from the Second Star Ring.

From afar, she saw them gathered on the other side of the sanctuary, with everyone else instinctively giving way, forming a huge vacuum around them.

Their posture was composed, their expressions relaxed, and most importantly, whether on their necks, hands, or backs, they carried powerful Divine Artifacts.

It was like a rich and resourceful aura blowing right at her.

Beside them stood a few butler-like figures, respectfully waiting for any orders.

‘As expected of the Second Star Ring noble families…’ Su Fu sighed inwardly. ‘So many Divine Artifacts. Makes me jealous.’

But among the crowd, the most eye-catching was a young man standing right in the center.

Even among the noble scions, he stood out like a crane among chickens.

Especially since his clothes were embroidered with a full moon pattern.

Su Fu’s mind stirred as she recalled: that was Yuelun Yuan, the head of the Moonwheel family.

The most ostentatious noble family of all.

Just then, as if sensing her gaze, he suddenly turned his head.

Yuelun Yuan glanced around casually, giving a rough scan.

The vast number of Third Ring candidates occupied most of the sanctuary space, most of them nervous but eager.

In contrast, the few dozen Fourth Ring candidates in the corner seemed out of place.

How to say it—he hadn’t expected there to be people poorer than the Third Ring.

It was obvious from their cramped demeanor.

Oh, there was one who didn’t seem cramped.

He glanced faintly, then withdrew his gaze.

Logically, he shouldn’t waste his attention on these people.

But he simply couldn’t find where the sudden unease in his heart was coming from.

“If it’s not those idiots who came with me,” Yuelun Yuan frowned in thought, “then this feeling can only come from someone here.”

But the divine insight he’d been given was fleeting, and now he couldn’t grasp any clue.

“Or…” he narrowed his eyes, “maybe it’s not a person, but the map itself giving off this threat?”

He felt a bit annoyed.

Impossible.

He had seen countless maps, even disaster-type instances, and none should give him such a strong sense of crisis.

Unless… this exam map exceeded the disaster category?

That would be really troublesome.

This meant that among these candidates, besides himself, there was a group of deeply hidden ‘old sixes’.

Only that could raise the exam difficulty so high.

Unlike those idiots, he came to the Third Star Ring not because he couldn’t get into a Second Ring university.

On the contrary, with his strength, he could easily get admitted to the two universities in the outer belt of the Second Star Ring.

But his goal didn’t stop there—he aimed to break into the top academy in the Second Ring, Tianqiong Path.

Only by entering the Tianqiong Path Branch Campus would he have even the slightest chance of making it to the three main academies located at the heart of the universe, in the Core Area.

So he came to the Third Ring.

Rather than fighting tooth and nail with those twisted geniuses in the Second Ring, exhausting himself for scraps, it was better to come to the Third Ring and easily claim first place.

Even if others looked down on him for taking a shortcut, so what?

The benefits in hand were what truly mattered.

He was absolutely confident he could sweep everything in the Third Ring exam.

Because the gap between the Second and Third Rings wasn’t just about resources and training systems—it was a huge chasm in mythological understanding.

At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed above the Sanctum, the voice of the Shen Yan AI:

[“The large-scale unified higher education exam for the entire Third Star Ring is about to begin.”]

[“Please prepare yourselves, candidates.”]

Immediately, all sounds inside the Sanctum fell silent.

Everyone tensely looked up as the divine power of the Eight Divine Systems surged into the Sanctum.

A colossal pillar of divine power lit up, shooting straight into the sky before enveloping the entire Sanctum.

The college entrance exam—the ruthless competition that filtered out geniuses—was finally about to begin.

Regardless of commoner or noble, all would answer this exam paper simultaneously.

Those pillars of divine power intertwined, their colors dazzlingly brilliant.

Su Fu suddenly felt the Sanctum and crowd before her blur, as if enveloped by a layer of radiant light.

The next moment, after a flash of familiar white light, she found herself in Shen Yan Space.

[“Third Star Ring College Entrance Exam Assessment Space has been constructed”]

[“Candidate, welcome to the college entrance exam assessment space.”]

[“Assessment Subject: Third Star Ring Large-Scale Unified Higher Education Exam”]

[“Please select your [Divine Pantheon of Faith] for this exam.”]

Su Fu noticed this time the Shen Yan Space felt a little different—no longer a blinding white background, but a universe sparkling with stars.

In the center of this starry sky, eight thick pillars of light rose from the depths of the Starsea, surrounded by many smaller light pillars.

It looked even more magnificent, and there were more niche divine systems to choose from than in the Fourth Ring.

“I choose the Chinese Pantheon.”

[“Ding!”]

The familiar advertisement time arrived, and the Egyptian Pantheon’s pillar lit up.

From it emerged a tall deity.

The deity had a human body and a jackal’s head, eyes glowing red like blood moons, wrapped in bandages, holding a golden staff.

Su Fu recognized him instantly: the Egyptian God of Death, Anubis.

Death god, guardian of souls, guide of the underworld.

The top of his staff was an eye that slowly rotated.

At that moment, Anubis let out a roar, and the space behind him instantly transformed into a vast desert.

Magnificent pyramids towered in the distance, and the Nile River flowed quietly.

But unlike before, behind him appeared images of divine summoners.

One follower stood beside a corpse, gently waving a hand to summon the soul of the deceased, revealing secrets from their life.

Another summoned countless spirits on the battlefield to serve them.

Another wielded a golden scale to judge the weight of souls, sparing no one—not even death itself.

Anubis’s deep voice resonated: “I can grant you dominion over the undead, insight piercing the veil of death, and even the power to briefly reverse death itself.”

“You will become a walker between life and death, an envoy between the underworld and the living realm. You will be permitted to enter the gates of passing, to glimpse the secrets of death…”

The god’s voice lingered in the space, full of temptation.

Su Fu gasped inwardly, ‘Not again—the ads have evolved this far?’

Not only showcasing the god’s power, but now even cases of divine summoners?

And at the end, the god personally painting a tempting picture?

Truly shocking.

In fact, she had seen Anubis’s divine summoners before—probably in the Heavenly Prison dungeon, when a candidate directly constructed an underworld channel to swiftly extract Klaus and the others.

To be honest, she was a little envious.

Such spatial divine skills were essential for causing trouble or escaping.

In some ways, they were even more useful than teleportation.

Because they used the Underworld Channel—a separate space—no need to worry about being cut off or issues during escape.

Moreover, Anubis wielded the Divine Authority of Death, controlling death itself, which meant infinite possibilities.

The most obvious advantage was that his divine summoners had an unusually low mortality rate.

Manipulating death at will was incredibly tempting.

“So, I choose the Chinese Pantheon.”

[“Candidate Su Fu, Kunlun Academy, Student ID F01, has confirmed choice of Chinese Pantheon”]

[“Exam paper loading…”]

[“Exam paper loaded”]

[“Your A-phase exam paper is: Jade Pool: Peach Banquet. Randomly selecting from the [Chinese Pantheon] divine pool…”]

Su Fu: “???”

What was that?

Did she see it wrong?

“Jade… Jade Pool?”

“Peach Banquet?”

Her voice trembled, “How could it be Jade Pool?”

Wasn’t the hardest exam supposed to be the disaster-themed maps?

How did it jump straight to a Sanctum ruin?

She wanted to report it—the difficulty was way out of bounds.

Disaster exams were tough because of extreme environments and abnormal creatures.

But they were conventional enough without any messy divine powers, fully manageable.

Sanctum ruin exams were entirely different.

Those places were directly connected to gods.

Once gods were involved, any abnormality related to them was beyond the ability of ordinary candidates to handle.

Difficulty maxed out.

Su Fu felt numb, her voice shaky.

“Not to mention it’s not just any Sanctum ruin… But an A-rank one… The Heavenly Court series!”

The Heavenly Court exams were notoriously difficult.

They were the residences of gods in Chinese mythology.

The gods there were immensely powerful, wielding countless divine authorities.

Abnormalities born in such places were inevitably influenced by gods, often bearing traces of divine characteristics.

Just like the Linggan Great King in the Guanyin of the Southern Sea dungeon, borrowing Guanyin’s power.

“Unlike the D-rank Guanyin dungeon, which was just a ferry crossing, this is Jade Pool—the core area of the Heavenly Court, home to the Queen Mother of the West.”

Su Fu’s vision darkened.

Not to mention the four characters in the exam name: “Peach Banquet.”

A-rank… Jade Pool… and a banquet.

She didn’t dare imagine how terrifying the abnormalities inside would be.

“Has the Central Education Department gone mad?” Su Fu never expected they could be this extreme.

“An exam of this level… even students from the Second Ring would struggle.”

Extreme, indeed.

***

Meanwhile, inside the Perseus Central Control Room.

The ten proctors erupted in uproar the moment they saw the exam paper info.

“A-grade Sanctum ruin? Jade Pool?” Minister Mo Xingyuan of Department One suddenly stood up, his face grave.

“What’s going on here?”

“This must be a mistake, right?” Minister Xiao Zheng of Department Three frowned deeply.

“A-grade Sanctum ruins, especially large-scale maps, have always been used as Second Ring exams—plenty of margin for those students. But these are Third Ring candidates. The difficulty clearly exceeds the limit.”

Mo Xingyuan rubbed his throbbing temples.

“If the Third Ring exam difficulty has already risen to A-grade Sanctum ruins, then what will the Second Ring exams be like?”

Everyone exchanged nervous glances, their scalps tingling.

Is the Education Department crazy?