Secret Realm Trial.
As the most crucial part of the entrance examination, it differentiates numerous graduating students into various tiers, assigning each a different fate and future. What is the core of such a critical and important assessment?
Is it combat power?
No, or rather, combat power is only a part of it, a basic part.
The Secret Realm Trial assesses a Beast Master's comprehensive response capability when in dangerous, difficult, and especially unknown environments!
Every year, for the Secret Realm Trial of the entrance examination, the organizations responsible for the assessment points always rack their brains to set up an unknown scenario that is basically unfamiliar to all new Beast Masters, and even Professional Beast Masters.
This scenario could be a foreign land, a secluded island overseas, a barren wilderness, or even a secret underground laboratory of an international evil criminal organization.
Then, the Spirit Beasts in the trial scenario might also be demonic creatures or monsters.
They are usually rare types that no one recognizes, or even newly discovered, unnamed mutated types.
The Azure Star has countless species of Spirit Beasts and demonic creatures, and they are constantly changing and increasing.
With different living environments and other conditions, even Spirit Beasts of the same species can, over time and with different living environments, evolve into two or even multiple different species of Spirit Beasts.
If known Spirit Beasts, familiar to everyone, were used for the Secret Realm Trial assessment, it would be fine for ordinary students who can't even pass the first half. But for the elite students who can pass the first half and are qualified to participate in the Secret Realm Trial assessment, it would basically be an open-book exam.
If everyone knows the weaknesses and how to deal with the dangers, then how can a gap be created?
Therefore, only by using unknown Spirit Beasts and demonic creatures, unfamiliar to the public, can it be considered a closed-book exam.
Only then can a true gap be created between geniuses.
...
Secret Realm Space.
Lin Chuan did not immediately emerge from his hiding spot in the shadow of the wall. Instead, he continued to crouch, hidden for ten minutes.
Only after confirming that he could no longer hear the 'click-clack-clack' of the puppet's footsteps around him did he slowly and cautiously emerge from his hiding place, then move closer to where the girl who had made the sound was located.
When Lin Chuan arrived at the scene, the place was already empty; nothing was left.
There was no Terror Puppet, nor the screaming girl, only a scene of disarray after a battle.
This is good!
Lin Chuan carefully inspected the traces at the scene.
There were bloodstains remaining, still warm. This was not human blood, but Spirit Beast blood. The air also still carried a scorched scent.
The Spirit Beast of the screaming girl should have been a Fire Attribute Spirit Beast.
Moreover, that Spirit Beast was severely wounded and bled during the battle.
Lin Chuan rubbed the dust in his hand and then more carefully checked the surrounding traces.
The girl's chaotic footprints were concentrated in one area, indicating that she was very flustered and frightened at the time. The footprints did not extend in any direction, meaning the girl did not escape. So, there is only one answer: she must have had her first layer of life shield shattered and been eliminated and teleported out.
The facts were exactly as Lin Chuan judged.
Qinghe City Beastmaster Association, front plaza.
One after another, teleportation lights appeared, and panicked young men and women returned here.
Seeing these people eliminated less than half an hour into the opening, Shi Kuanshan and others remained expressionless, saying nothing, not even glancing at them twice.
Such a sight is seen every year; it's just a group of people who have just embarked on the path of a Beast Master but are destined not to go far.
Staff members stepped forward to guide these eliminated individuals, who went from panic to realizing their situation and becoming disheartened, away from the scene.
A total of nearly 1000 people were eliminated. Upon receiving the report from his subordinate, Shi Kuanshan nodded slightly, in a good mood.
The number of people eliminated within the first half hour was roughly one-fifth of the total.
Such a result was quite good compared to previous years, which were usually one-fourth.
It should be noted that the difficulty of this year's Secret Realm assessment was slightly higher than in previous years.
This also means that the quality of Beast Master education within the Qinghe City area is getting higher and higher, and the average level of graduating new Beast Masters increases year by year.
This is his achievement as the President of the Qinghe City Beastmaster Association!
It is also the best reward for the countless staff members who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes during this period, providing logistical support for new Beast Masters!
Secret Realm Space, Lin Chuan's side.
He was still continuing to investigate the traces at the scene.
As Wood Attribute Spirit Beasts, Guoguo and Sakura are very sensitive to Wood Attribute energy.
However, after searching and investigating the battle scene again and again, they did not find any trace of Wood Attribute energy.
"There's no Wood Attribute energy remaining in the environment?"
Lin Chuan frowned. That Terror Puppet earlier, no matter how he looked at it, seemed like a Wood Attribute Spirit Beast.
Not knowing the specific name of that puppet Spirit Beast, Lin Chuan temporarily called it a Terror Puppet based on its appearance.
"So, that Terror Puppet might not be a Wood Attribute Spirit Beast?"
Lin Chuan pondered, rubbing his chin again, deep in thought.
"Hmm, it's also possible that Wood Attribute isn't its main attribute, but a sub-attribute, and the skills it uses are of other attributes."
Lin Chuan continued to speculate in his mind.
Lin Chuan is now very confident in his own strength.
From the end of the Xiao Qingkong Cup until now, in this one month and one week, Guoguo and Sakura have both reached level 19, and the energy feedback from leveling up has also raised his Beast Master level to 7.
As for skills, they have all been maxed out with his cheat-like skill points.
They are basically all Expert Grade, including Guoguo's Bomb Fruit. Guoguo has even successfully comprehended the advanced version of Bomb Fruit, the Mother-Child Bomb Fruit, which can perform carpet bombing.
Well, Sakura's Assistance is currently only Normal Grade.
The inheritance material for Assistance is too rare; Lin Chuan hasn't seen a second one to this day. Sakura can only practice by herself. Furthermore, the proficiency of the Assistance skill is more dependent on comprehension, on that selfless state of mind.
And, the key point is!
Sleeping, this skill, whether for Guoguo or Sakura, has already been leveled up to Master Grade by Lin Chuan's cheat-like skill points!
Master Grade Sleeping not only has recovery efficiency that has caught up to Expert Grade Rooting plus Photosynthesis.
More importantly, Master Grade Sleeping allows you to sleep with your eyes open!
Sleeping with eyes open is a common idiom.
More accurately, the main consciousness enters a state of sleep, allowing the instinctive subconscious to take over the body, a situation roughly equivalent to sleepwalking.
It won't affect normal daily actions, and when battle is needed, the main consciousness can be instantly awakened.
This means that Guoguo and Sakura, as long as they are not in a battle that requires high-intensity confrontation with a clear main consciousness, can sleep with their eyes open anytime, anywhere, to recover themselves.
All in all, Lin Chuan is now very confident in his own strength.
But even with such confidence, Lin Chuan would not casually challenge an opponent whose situation was unknown.
The content of the assessment clearly states to survive for 48 hours here.
Since it's clearly stated, it means that within these 48 hours, something will definitely happen in this unknown town that will make it difficult for examinees to survive, forcing them to be eliminated.
Survival, this is the first priority of the assessment! It is the main quest that must be achieved!
And the score beads can only be considered side quests for bonus points.
Lin Chuan plans to play it safe first and let others test the waters.
After observing the situation clearly and ensuring he can successfully complete the main quest of surviving for 48 hours in this trial Secret Realm, he will then decide on his actions accordingly.
As for the score beads.
Lin Chuan's eyes flickered. The Secret Realm Trial does not restrict any means of obtaining score beads.
Then, it's very simple.
...
Su Da.
A graduating student from Qinghe City's Third Imperial Beast Middle School.
He couldn't compare to the top tier, but Su Da considered himself a first-rate genius, and the facts were not far off.
In the Xiao Qingkong Cup, he had bad luck and encountered Li Zeyu in the second round of draws, being instantly eliminated.
However, in the subsequent Little Qinghe Cup, he successfully achieved a good result of reaching the top 16, and if he had been luckier, he might have made it to the top 4.
Su Da thought that with his strength, as long as his luck wasn't too bad, he could at least make it into the first tier in the Secret Realm Trial. Even if he couldn't get into the Eight Great Academies, he could get into a first-class Imperial Beast University, and becoming a Professional Beastmaster in the future was promising.
However, sometimes, when a person is unlucky, they even choke on water.
Su Da's luck backstabbed him once again.
As soon as he was teleported in, he unluckily fell between three Terror Puppets and was suddenly surrounded and attacked.
Fortunately, Su Da's strength was good; his two contracted Spirit Beasts managed to withstand the attack. If it had been most other examinees, they would have been instantly eliminated without a doubt.
However, even though he held on, Su Da didn't get a good result.
One of his two contracted Spirit Beasts was directly injured and lost its combat capability.
The remaining Spirit Beast, though it successfully led him out of the encirclement, was also exhausted, with almost zero combat power.
The critical problem arose!
The Secret Realm Trial allows each examinee to carry a maximum of 3 Spirit Beast items.
Most examinees would choose to carry 2 bottles of healing potions and 1 bottle of abnormal status removal potion as their setup.
However, he was among the small percentage!
He planned to gamble big and chose to carry 3 bottles of burst potions.
These were potions that temporarily lowered defense while increasing attack and agility.
Therefore, he had no healing methods whatsoever!
This meant that he had almost no combat capability left and could only cower and hide, relying on luck to survive. If he could miraculously last for 48 hours until the assessment ended and he was teleported out, he would at least get the minimum survival points.
However, fate seemed to be playing a joke on him.
Not content with just kicking him hard, the Goddess of Fortune was now coming to trample and kick him again.
At his lowest point of combat power, he encountered the person he least wanted to meet.
Looking at the handsome young man emerging from the shadow of the building in front of him, accompanied by two Flower Leaf Leaves, and adorned with a green vine armor, like an elf, Su Da's lips trembled slightly. He wanted to say something but ultimately did not.
If his main Spirit Beast still had combat power, he could have completely shaken off Lin Chuan.
After all, the well-known analyst Weng Xiang said that Lin Chuan had no burst skills and wasn't good at pursuing enemies.
However, the problem now was that his main Spirit Beast had already lost its combat capability, and his other Spirit Beast was also exhausted from leading him out of the encirclement of the three Terror Puppets.
Now, even if Lin Chuan wasn't good at pursuing enemies, he couldn't escape.
And once he fell into Lin Chuan's healing shield and poison attrition battle, not to mention him, even Li Zeyu would have to kneel.
Resignedly, Su Da took out his small pouch, about to hand over the score beads inside to Lin Chuan, so he could have a dignified exit.
However, something unexpected happened to Su Da!
Lin Chuan did take his small pouch, but he only took the blue 30-point score bead from it and threw back the remaining 2 green and 3 white beads along with the small pouch.
Su Da: ???
Lin Chuan played with the blue score bead in his hand, then put on a harmless expression and chuckled:
"You should know me, having read the analysis by Weng Xiang. You know, I don't have burst skills and I'm not good at chasing, so it's impossible for me to hunt everywhere like Li Zeyu."
"So, I plan to change the way I earn score beads."
"Hmm, I see both of your Spirit Beasts are quite injured."
"How about this, you release your Spirit Beasts, and I'll heal them for you."
"This blue score bead will be the healing fee."
Su Da: !!!
Frozen, Su Da somewhat doubted his ears, his mouth slightly agape, his face full of disbelief.
What, what, what is this!?
Healing!?
Lin Chuan wants to heal him!?
Taking a deep breath, Su Da forced himself to calm down and recall what Lin Chuan had just said.
No burst skills, not good at chasing.
Indeed, looking at it this way, it would be impossible for Lin Chuan to hunt everywhere like Li Zeyu; the efficiency would be too low.
Then, what Lin Chuan said about changing the way to earn score beads also made perfect sense.
Moreover, even if Lin Chuan was just playing a prank, deceiving him, or toying with him, he had no ability to resist now, did he?
Treating a dead horse as if it were alive, Su Da released his severely injured initial Spirit Beast, Shadow Leopard, and also made his Blazing Hound, which was guarding him, come closer.
Lin Chuan, on his side, had Sakura step forward to release Healing Aroma for Su Da's two Spirit Beasts.
A pleasant-smelling, emerald green gas instantly enveloped Su Da's two Spirit Beasts.
Visibly, the injuries on the surface of Su Da's two Spirit Beasts were recovering, and their weakened spirits gradually perked up.
Expert Grade Healing Aroma!
"Um, um, I'm also quite injured and tired. Can I have some too?"
Su Da blushed, embarrassed.
Lin Chuan chuckled but nodded slightly. Sakura extended the Healing Aroma gas towards Su Da, enveloping him as well.
As if in boundless nature, surrounded by birdsong and the fragrance of flowers, Su Da immediately felt comfortable all over.
Ten minutes later, Su Da and his two Spirit Beasts were fully recovered and invigorated.
At this moment, Su Da was too excited to speak.
He had been in despair, thinking that his trial assessment was over, that he would be eliminated, unable to get into his desired Imperial Beast University, and that he would face a life of failure.
He didn't expect!
He didn't expect!!
Meeting Lin Chuan wasn't despair, but hope!
Lin Chuan was simply his godfather, giving him another chance to challenge the Secret Realm Trial!
After kicking him down, the Goddess of Fortune didn't come to kick him again, but to reward him with her jade feet!
Su Da was moved to tears of gratitude, and he took out two more green score beads, forcefully stuffing them into Lin Chuan's hand.
"Boss, boss!"
"Thank you so much, I really can't thank you enough, you truly saved my dog life!"
"Take these two green score beads too, you must accept them!"
"Boss, if you don't take them, you're looking down on me!"
"I'll just keep three white ones myself, and I'll go earn more score beads elsewhere!"
Saying this, Su Da suddenly gritted his teeth.
"Those three puppets, daring to ambush and surround me without martial ethics, just you wait, Grandpa will go dismantle you right away!"