The First Summoner - Chapter 98

However, the youths whose aptitude fell below Earth rank could only turn the tables through the intelligence test and the combat test!

Dean Xuanyun declared in a deep voice, “All applicants, enter the field.”

At his words, the applicants streamed out of the waiting area and into the center of the martial field.

More than eight thousand youths gathered there. The sight was so overwhelming that the spectators could barely tell one person from another without looking closely.

The crowd began discussing the intelligence test.

“Last year’s intelligence test was a written exam, but this year it’s an illusion trial! That sounds much harder.”

“I’m more curious about what kind of illusion they’ll enter. How long will it take them to break free? And can those geniuses with Heaven-rank aptitude pass the intelligence test?”

As the discussion grew heated, Hong Xian and the other academy elders arrived on the raised platform and looked down at all the applicants below.

Elder Hong Xian summoned a square white crystal. It began spinning rapidly, gradually radiating a faint halo.

The elders then joined forces to gather their spiritual power and channel it into the white crystal. Finally, Elder Hong Xian formed the totemic hand seal for the illusion.

Hum!

The moment the totem appeared, the illusion array was complete!

In an instant, brilliant white light burst from the crystal and enveloped all eight thousand youths below.

One after another, they collapsed to the ground.

Before long, every last one of them had fallen. The scene was so shocking that many spectators stared in alarm. Some truly thought something had happened to them. Only after Dean Xuanyun explained that they had lost consciousness because their minds had entered the intelligence trial’s illusion did the crowd relax.

To protect the youths, Dean Xuanyun laid a powerful barrier over the martial field, preventing anyone from suddenly barging into the area.

Someone could not help asking, “Dean Xuanyun, when will they wake up? And what exactly is the illusion testing them on?”

Without changing expression, Dean Xuanyun replied, “They will wake when they break through the illusion. As for what it contains…”

“Everyone, look!” He slowly raised a hand, and an image appeared in midair.

It showed the setting inside the illusion!

Someone asked in confusion, “Dean Xuanyun, why can we only see the setting? Where are the applicants?”

Dean Xuanyun answered, “Their consciousness exists only within their own individual illusions. They cannot share a single illusion, so what each of them experiences cannot be displayed for everyone to see.”

The crowd understood.

Indeed, all eight thousand youths had their own illusions. If those experiences were displayed, would that not require more than eight thousand separate images?

That was simply impossible!

All the spectators could do was wait patiently.

Soon, fifteen minutes had passed, yet no one had awakened.

The bored crowd decided to find something to occupy themselves.

Someone suggested, “Why don’t we guess how long it will take the first person to break free?”

“What’s the fun in just guessing? Let’s place some bets!”

“All right!”

“Come on, come on! I bet someone will wake up after two hours…”

…

Fifteen minutes earlier, when Shen Yan opened her eyes again, her gaze sharpened slightly.

Three branching paths lay before her, each leading in a different direction. The ground on the left was covered in volcanic ash and cooled lava, the center path in sand, and the path on the right in solid ice.

They presumably led to a volcano, a desert, and a glacier.

Shen Yan looked behind her. A bottomless precipice blocked any retreat, which meant she could only choose one of the three paths and go forward.

Remembering something, she tried to contact Ninefold and the flood dragon Wuying, but received no response. Evidently, only her consciousness could exist within this illusion.

She knew it was an illusion, but she had no idea how to break it.

Three paths…

Shen Yan’s eyes narrowed. What was the key?

She did not choose immediately. Meanwhile, most of the other applicants had already set out along one of the paths, with no option but to grope their way forward.

Shen Yan turned and studied the bottomless precipice several more times.

Suddenly, she spotted a blooming Immortal Bud Blossom on the cliff face opposite her. It was nearly impossible to see without looking carefully: the cliff was dimly lit, and the flower itself was gray.

She crouched and examined it for a while longer. Apart from that single Immortal Bud Blossom, there were no other spirit plants or signs of life anywhere on the cliff. That proved the flower had to be an important clue.

She had read many books on spirit plants. They said the Immortal Bud Blossom was an Earth-rank spirit plant that generally grew around the edges of volcanoes.

Did that mean she should choose the volcanic path on the far left?

Shen Yan rose and decided to investigate the volcano first.

The closer she drew, the more scorching the heat became.

Soon, she reached the foot of the volcano. Small jets of flame spurted from it, and countless gray Immortal Bud Blossoms grew all around its base.

They were identical to the flower on the cliff.

Shen Yan still could not fathom how to break the illusion—until the corner of her eye caught a patch of ground that appeared to have been dug up before.

Her eyes flickered. She hurried over to inspect it.

Now she understood.

She returned the way she had come as fast as possible and looked at the lone Immortal Bud Blossom on the cliff face. It was some distance away and would not be easy to pluck, especially since she could not fly.

She tried summoning the Spirit Phoenix Divine Sword.

To her surprise, it appeared.

Shen Yan carefully surveyed the cliff. Then she drew the sword, sprang lightly from the ground, and drove the blade into the rock for support. With an ear-piercing clang, she reached out with her free hand and plucked the blossom.

Once it was in her grasp, she yanked the sword free, planted one foot against a stone jutting from the cliff, and used the leverage to leap back to where she had started.

She put away the sword and carried the Immortal Bud Blossom to the volcano.

Then she buried it in the disturbed patch of earth.

At that very instant—

The blossom erupted with such dazzling light that Shen Yan raised an arm to shield her eyes.

The next moment, a clamor filled her ears. She slowly opened her eyes to blue sky, white clouds, and the crowd at the Western Region martial field.

Sitting up, she found the ground littered with people sprawled in every undignified position imaginable.

“She’s awake! She’s awake!”

The spectators immediately noticed Shen Yan stirring. Shock crossed their faces. Less than thirty minutes had passed since the applicants entered the illusion, yet she had already broken free!

“That’s Shen Yan—the genius with Transcendent Heaven-rank aptitude!”

“I can’t believe she took first place in the intelligence test too!”

“I underestimated her. Shen Yan really is the greatest dark horse here!”

The dean and elders of Western Region Academy regarded Shen Yan with admiration. In truth, this illusion trial was neither especially difficult nor especially easy.

It tested intelligence, speed of reaction, resourcefulness, keen observation, and judgment. Anyone capable of breaking through the illusion had proven their intelligence.

There were three tests—aptitude, intelligence, and combat. Passing any two would give an applicant the chance to qualify for the second stage of the examination.