CRACK!

Lightning streaked across the sky.

A moment later, a light drizzle began to fall. Looking into the distance, a blue ring of light had begun to slowly shrink.

The students within its range scrambled out of their hiding spots the moment the ring appeared, searching for their next refuge.

"It’s been four hours! The survival circle is starting to shrink!"

Lin Yi leaped down from a tree, loudly reporting the current situation.

"A lot of students who didn’t get out in time were eliminated just like that."

He was a little excited.

In just that short time, at least twenty students had been eliminated!

"Let’s head up the mountain first!"

Chen Che looked up.

It was called a mountain, but it was really just a large hill, about a hundred meters high, with only a single stone staircase leading straight up.

But this was the highest point on the Six Continents.

It was also the final safe zone.

The summit was a relatively wide platform surrounded by Black Tortoise Stone railings. When they walked up, they saw that six or seven students had already arrived. However, as if by unspoken agreement, no one was fighting. Instead, they kept their distance from one another, meditating and cultivating.

They all looked surprised to see Chen Che and Lin Yi arrive, but no one said a word.

One person, however, nodded at him.

Chen Che recognized him as well; he was a student from Yan Jun’s class. He gave a slight nod in return as a greeting.

"Including us, that makes nine people..."

Lin Yi glanced around and whispered, "If we just wait here until time’s up, will we pass the exam?"

"It’s not that easy. The closer it gets to the end, the more intense the competition will become."

Chen Che shook his head.

If the students had been holding onto a sliver of hope at the beginning, that was about to change. As the survival circle shrank, the competition would only grow fiercer.

"All the remaining students will rush here to fight for this final survival spot until only the last ten are left."

"Then what do we do?" Lin Yi’s smile vanished.

"Still, there’s no safer place than here. Right now, everyone should be heading this way. The terrain outside is complex, and you never know what you’ll run into," Chen Che said casually, then simply sat down cross-legged.

In any case, he was determined to stay.

Seeing that Chen Che wasn’t leaving, Lin Yi had no choice but to stay as well. With his level of strength, he’d be eliminated the moment he went down the mountain.

"Then let’s stay!"

He sighed, pulled two cans of food from his pocket, and handed one to Chen Che. Seeing the surprised look on his face, he casually explained, "The exam rules said we couldn’t bring cultivation items, but they never said we couldn’t bring mortal supplies."

"Qi Fengzhu even brought two self-heating hot pots. If you hadn’t taken him out, we could be eating hot pot right now."

Chen Che was speechless.

The other students caught the scent and looked over with envy.

After running around all morning, they were starving. ’Why didn’t I think to bring some food?’

The student from Yan Jun’s class was practically drooling. Unfortunately, he didn’t know them well enough and couldn’t bring himself to ask for a bite.

After finishing the can, Chen Che sat down quietly to conserve his energy and maintain his peak condition.

Time ticked by, second by second.

「About half an hour later.」

Chen Che’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Someone’s coming!"

Before anyone else could react, they heard the sounds of a fierce battle from the base of the mountain, even some cursing, but it all died down quickly.

Lin Yi rushed to the cliff’s edge, leaned over to look, and after a single glance, his expression changed drastically as he shouted:

"Old Chen, the students from Fifth Middle School are fighting dirty! They’ve teamed up..."

"What?"

Hearing this, the other students couldn’t sit still either. They all rushed to the railings to look.

They saw a large group of students heading their way in a formidable procession. Whenever they encountered other examinees, they would simply "ask" them to leave. If anyone refused, the group would swarm them on the spot. No one in their path could stop them.

"Holy shit, isn’t that cheating?"

Everyone looked at each other, their minds racing.

Their teachers had, at most, only advised them to avoid fighting with classmates or schoolmates to conserve energy.

But as it turned out, Fifth Middle School had actually organized their top students into a single unit to sweep through the examination grounds.

Under everyone’s gaze, the group set foot on the summit. Ignoring the stunned expressions on the others’ faces, one of them announced directly:

"Sorry!"

"Fifth Middle School is claiming this platform. Students from other schools, please leave."

...

"Senior, does this kind of behavior violate the exam rules?"

Seeing the students from Fifth Middle School team up, the middle-aged examiner asked cautiously.

In recent years, the issue of top students from the same school forming cliques to eliminate others in competitions had caused some controversy in society. Many questioned whether it was a form of cheating, but the Immortal Sect had never responded.

He never expected to see it happen in the examination area under his jurisdiction.

"Are there any explicit rules in the combat exam that prohibit forming cliques?"

Li Tingyu chuckled.

"But isn’t it unfair for the many to fight the few?" the examiner asked.

"That loophole was left intentionally. In fact, it’s not just for students from the same school. If you have the ability, you can even win over students from other schools. What is a combat exam? It’s about using every aspect of the environment, all available resources, and that includes other people..."

"The weak form cliques to make themselves stronger. The strong form cliques to make themselves even stronger."

Li Tingyu let out another light laugh and said:

"Otherwise, why do you think ’Companions’ is ranked second among the Four Greats of Cultivation: Dharma, Companions, Wealth, and Land?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged examiner had an epiphany.

"I’ve learned something new!"

...

"On what grounds?"

The moment the words fell, a chorus of curses erupted on the mountaintop.

One student actually tried to reason with them:

"We were clearly here first... Why should we give it to you? Don’t you understand the principle of first-come, first-served? According to the rules, you’re the ones who should be leaving!"

His words were immediately met with a wave of support.

"I’d rather die than go down this mountain!"

"Exactly! Don’t you get the first-come, first-served rule?"

Chen Che couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

’There’s a fine line between naive and stupid.’

’They’re acting in unison, which is clearly a tactic arranged by their school. Why would they be willing to reason with you?’

"Not leaving, are you?"

A stout student tilted his head as he looked at them.

The moment he finished speaking, he shot forward, throwing a punch at the student who had spoken up.

This stout student was about five-foot-nine and burly, likely weighing over two hundred pounds. But his speed was unexpectedly fast. Like a charging polar bear, his fist reached his opponent’s face in the blink of an eye.

The student who had tried to reason with them had somehow managed to get his hands on a Shield.

He reacted quickly, forming a Seal Technique.

WHOOSH!

The Shield expanded in an instant, growing to two meters in size to protect his front.

"CLANG!"

With a tremendous noise, the Shield was shattered on the spot. A fist broke through it and slammed directly into the student’s chest, sending him flying backward through the air.

"A Body Cultivator!"

someone exclaimed in shock.

The student who tried to reason hit the ground and tumbled over and over. Before he even came to a stop, three Flying Swords followed up, piercing his body and causing him to dissolve into a flash of white light, disappearing from the spot.

"Who else?"

The stout student’s voice, like the roar of a vicious tiger, echoed across the summit.