Chapter Twenty-Four: The Entrance Exam (Part 3)

Chapter 24: The Advancement Exam (Part 3)

July 3rd, 2119. Under the luminous screen at the center of Muyang City, countless parents and examinees waited, their faces tense and eyes fixed on the display—though, at this moment, the screen was merely broadcasting an advertisement.

The city’s tallest building bore a clock, its striking chimes—dong, dong, dong—echoing as noon arrived, just as on every other day. No one paid the clock much attention, but its sound seemed to pound in every heart.

Suddenly, the advertisement vanished, replaced by a sweeping blue hue across the screen, and then a name appeared. The lively central square fell into an eerie silence, until someone called out:

"Shalong!"

"It’s Shalong, the son of the Desert King from Wildsand Main City." Shalong’s name stood at the very top of the screen, with three smaller panels below showing the ranking lists for the main city and its territories. Shalong, of course, was ranked first.

After the first name appeared, a flood of names began to roll across the screen, refreshing rapidly, but none could unseat Shalong from the top spot. The screen was divided into four sections: the largest, at the top, showed the overall rankings of all examinees—only the top 500, constantly updated by the Arya System. Below it, three smaller panels displayed the top 100 examinees from each of the three main cities and their subordinate regions.

"Look—Sea Princess is number one now!"

Excited onlookers announced every fresh update. In truth, there was no need for most examinees to check their scores here; only those from the main cities ever made it to the leaderboard. The rest came out of curiosity, just to see who claimed first place.

In the Wildsand Main City’s lord’s manor, a boy, still somewhat youthful, scowled in anger.

"Xing Qingning, I’ll remember you."

Beside him, a man in a gold-threaded robe, gently stroked the boy’s head. "Long’er, one setback doesn’t mean anything. I want you to defeat her in the practical exam."

The boy nodded silently.

Ten minutes had passed, and with the scores from the main cities and most towns already uploaded, only data from a few remote regions remained to be tallied.

Ye Bai had already received his score: 195, ranking 230th in Green Forest Main City. He smiled—this was as he had expected, though his ranking was slightly lower than hoped. All in all, it was satisfactory.

The crowd in the city center gradually dispersed. Now, only the scores from the remote districts were left—students from those areas were largely ignored, as none had any real chance of making it into the top thousand. The screen continued its steady refresh, but few people remained.

In the main city of the Furious Sea, a girl in a coffee-colored dress and her close friend were choosing clothes of various styles on the street. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they playfully squabbled; not far off, the luminous screen loomed.

"Qingning, looks like you’ve got first place in the bag this time."

The girl behind her reached out to grab the plump girl’s ample chest.

Qingning swatted her hand away, scowling. To others, she always wore a cold, aloof expression, like a frosty goddess—yet to her friend, she became an incorrigible rogue.

Xing Qingning smoothed the hair on her forehead and straightened the folds of her dress, smiling gently. "Mier, don’t get complacent. The written exam has always been the strong suit of those from the remote regions. Don’t underestimate them."

Fifteen minutes were nearly up, and the updates on the screen had slowed. But in the final moments, third and tenth places were unexpectedly overtaken.

Standing beneath the screen, Xing Qingning’s smile faded. She murmured the names of those who had shot ahead: "Huyan Jiayi, Cao Xiaoseng."

In a large guard station somewhere, a woman in a white dress glanced at her final score and smiled knowingly. In another place, a young man in a bathrobe slept soundly.

Ye Bai was just about to leave when the screen refreshed again. He smiled, unsurprised. Every year, a few students from far-off places shone in the written exam, but in this world, strength was what truly mattered. Who knew if these two were new stars or just fleeting meteors?

But for now it didn’t concern him. All Ye Bai needed to do was pack his things at home and wait for tomorrow’s main city trials. As soon as the scores were released, an email arrived:

"Dear examinee Ye Bai, congratulations. You have passed the first stage of the exam. Please take the Silverwing train at your local station tomorrow at 9 a.m., and proceed to Green Forest Main City for the second round of exams."

At the bottom was Arya’s official seal. The Silverwing train was specifically designed to connect the three main cities—for these cities guarded the three forbidden zones, and before the Silverwing, ordinary people could never travel from one main city to another in their lifetimes.

The main cities were separated by vast, perilous lands, swarming with mutated beasts and unfathomable dangers; even Master-level Stellar Core Warriors could not guarantee safe passage. Perhaps only the three Kings could come and go as they pleased.

Speaking of the Silverwing, one could not ignore the Blackwing. There was only one Blackwing train in the world, connecting the three main cities. It was said to be jet-black, its hull etched with wing-like markings, with a rocket-shaped engine and a streamlined body—like a king of the night, ceaselessly shuttling between the cities.

The Blackwing’s pitch-dark body was forged from a second-refined version of carbon sulfide alloy mixed with unique metals from the Undersea Abyss, rendering it nearly indestructible. The Silverwing was built from leftover materials and scrap from the Blackwing’s construction.

Thus, the Silverwing’s role was to transport people from the towns to the main cities.

Upon entering his home and logging onto his neural interface, Ye Bai found a flood of messages from Fatty, all inquiring about his results. He opened a video call.

"Well? Did you make it, Leaf?"

Seeing Li Fei’s anxious face, Ye Bai couldn’t help but laugh.

"You look more nervous than I do. I made it—230th. I’ve already been notified to go to the main city tomorrow."

Li Fei finally sighed in relief, patting his chest.

"I passed too—299th! How about that?" As he spoke, Li Fei waggled his eyebrows at Ye Bai.

Ye Bai opened the fridge, took out a drink, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. "What do you mean, 'how about that'? If you didn’t always sleep in class, you could have ranked around 250. If you hadn’t passed, Uncle Li would have broken your legs for sure."

He estimated that if Li Fei had paid more attention in class, he’d have ranked much higher.

There was a rustling, rubbery sound from the other side, and Li Fei’s voice faded in and out.

"It’s good that we both passed. Now we can go to the main city together. I’d be a little scared to go alone—after all, that’s where the geniuses and monsters are."

"Alright, enough chat—I’m still working out. See you tomorrow." Heavy breathing came through, then the screen went dark.

Seated on the sofa, Ye Bai scanned through the rankings on his neural display twice, but couldn’t find Xiao Mo’s name. As the granddaughter of the Wood King of Green Forest, she should surely have made the list. In fact, none of the Wood King’s direct descendants appeared in the rankings, even though the princess of Green Forest and the prince of Wildsand held first and second place respectively.

Ye Bai shook his head, pondered for a moment about Xiao Mo, then went to make dinner.

The next morning, he rose at eight and went to the train station, having told Ye Mu about his plans the previous evening.

At first, Ye Mu was thrilled at the thought that their dream of a big house was one step closer, but the joy was quickly replaced with sadness at the prospect of being left behind again. She barely touched her food and went to bed early.

Ye Bai understood—his sister resented being left alone as, one by one, their mother and brother went away. But there was nothing he could do; life inside the walled city and outside it were worlds apart.

For now, the world’s turmoil was kept at bay by the three Kings—but this was a world for the young, and it was their turn to strive, for no one knew what the future would bring.

He went into his sister’s room. Mo’er was already asleep, sprawled out as usual. He tucked her in, placed their mother’s card under her pillow, and quietly left.

What he didn’t see was, just as he left, a tear glimmered at the corner of Mo’er’s eye.

The train station was bustling, as always.

Today, parents waited with their children for the train, and as mothers tearfully bade farewell, fathers scolded them for their weakness, insisting that children must go out and make their own way.

Amidst all this, only two boys—arms slung over each other’s shoulders—walked up from a distance, laughing and chatting, bringing a breath of life to the somber crowd.

It was Ye Bai and Li Fei—both loners. One had no one to see him off; the other preferred it that way.

A distant train whistle sounded, and in a flash of silver, the train slid to a halt before the crowd. The breeze it brought cut through the sweltering summer heat with a hint of coolness.

The doors, shaped like wings, slowly opened, and a voice issued forth.

"All examinees who have passed, please present your exam passes to board. You have ten minutes. In ten minutes, the train will depart for its next stop: Yang City."

The whistle sounded again, and with it, Ye Bai left the place he had called home for more than a decade.