The giant serpents atop the four pillars opened their mouths simultaneously, spewing clouds of mist so faint they were nearly transparent. The examinees all felt their consciousness blur, and by the time they came around, they found themselves in a lush, verdant valley surrounded by rolling hills and scattered patches of dense woodland.
Wei Yuan stood near the foot of a hill. The terrain ahead was rather open, though with distinct undulations. Behind him rose a hill roughly twenty zhang high—quite tall in this small world, and the commanding height of the immediate vicinity. As military treatises stated, this was ground over which armies must contend.
Without hesitation, Wei Yuan sprinted up the hill to get a clear view of his surroundings. As he ran, light flashed across him, and his clothes transformed into a dark yellow martial outfit. Reaching the crest, he could see dozens of examinees within his field of vision, each separated by dozens of zhang. It appeared that upon entering the illusionary realm, all the examinees had been scattered, none knowing where they would appear.
Their attire was divided into two colors: either azure or dark yellow, grouping them into teams by dress.
Just then, armor of varied styles suddenly appeared on several examinees.
An illusionary treasure chest materialized before Wei Yuan's eyes as well. Inside, one side held several suits of armor of different designs, while the other held various weapons. The armor and weapons looked only palm-sized, but the moment Wei Yuan reached out and took one, it would turn into a real object and don itself onto him. The chest's lid also had a compartment set with a single pill. This pill could replenish stamina and treat minor injuries; when to use it was entirely up to the examinee.
Before Wei Yuan could select his equipment, two pillars of light shot skyward, one in the north and one in the south. Beneath each pillar stood a hill—these were the strongholds the two teams had to defend. If a stronghold was captured and held by the opposing side, that team would be judged defeated.
With the teams divided and strongholds revealed, the examinees sprang into action. Those clad in different colors began massing toward their respective strongholds. Gathering beneath the northern red pillar of light were all azure-clad disciples, while under the southern golden pillar stood yellow-clad examinees. When examinees from opposite sides crossed paths along the way, most merely exchanged cold glares and brushed past each other, never fighting in transit.
Wei Yuan watched for a while and understood that this was the "way of gathering numbers" Li Zhi had spoken of. Even before the martial test, Li Zhi had already chosen his people and organized a squad, ready to immediately rally and form up at the southern stronghold upon entering the illusionary realm, resolving victory through military formations.
Yet Li Zhi was not the only capable person. The opponent in the north was not in the least inferior to him, assembling even more examinees, though there was no telling how many plants from the opposing side were hidden in either force.
In the blink of an eye, the main bodies of both forces had completed their assembly. Yet dozens of examinees remained scattered across the center of the testing ground, each looking utterly bewildered. One glance was enough to tell they were like Wei Yuan—cast aside by both factions. A few sharper ones finally caught on and hurried toward the team matching their clothing, but most remained standing stupidly in the middle, at a loss for what to do.
Wei Yuan did not immediately choose weapons or armor, intending to see what both sides planned before deciding.
This hill was considered high for the vicinity and offered a good vantage, taking in more than half the battlefield; only the base camps to the north and south remained indistinct. Visibility was limited in this world; one had to cross the central zone to see the enemy base camp's deployment—evidently an intentional design of the illusionary realm.
The hill Wei Yuan occupied sat on the western edge of the illusionary realm. Behind it lay a dense forest, through which a rising curtain of light was visible—the boundary of the illusionary realm. Rolling hills covered much of the north and south, but within the flat central terrain rose a patch of elevated ground, several zhang higher than the surrounding area, another piece of contested ground.
Just then, a dozen or so examinees charged out from both the north and south. Clad in light armor and moving agilely, they fanned out and advanced toward each other.
Watching from afar, Wei Yuan verified this against the military strategies he had studied: These are scouts. Indeed, both sides must first survey the terrain, environment, and enemy deployments before deciding on a strategy.
When scouts from opposite sides occasionally encountered each other, they cautiously brushed past without coming to blows.
The rules of the martial test were vague, but one thing was certain: the longer one survived, the higher the score. Anyone with half a brain knew that dying right at the start would certainly yield a poor mark.
As Wei Yuan watched the movements of both sides, an azure figure suddenly rushed up the hill as swift as a galloping horse. This azure-robed disciple was lean and slight, clad in leather armor and carrying a longsword, glaring ferociously at Wei Yuan. Seeing that Wei Yuan had neither weapons nor armor yet, he had clearly developed killing intent.
Wei Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, watching the man in silence. He was still observing the situation, but if someone came looking for an early death, Wei Yuan did not mind obliging.
However, the man took one look at Wei Yuan, who stood a head taller than him, and felt his heart quiver. In the end, he did not dare strike; he merely shot Wei Yuan a venomous glare before running down the hill to scout toward the south.
No sooner had the azure-clad examinee left than another examinee in yellow ascended the hill. He also carried a longsword. Glancing at the color of Wei Yuan's robes, he said politely, "Senior Brother, if you don't have a team yet, you might consider meeting Senior Brother Li Zhi. With your bearing, you should be able to secure a position in the ranks."
Without waiting for Wei Yuan to reply, the man said, "Take care, Senior Brother," and continued scouting toward the north.
In a short while, four scouts from each side passed before Wei Yuan.
It could not be helped; this hill was simply too conspicuous, and any scout passing near had to climb up and look. The azure team naturally harbored killing intent toward Wei Yuan, and the yellow team was not much better. Yet upon seeing Wei Yuan's height and build, the scouts from both sides tacitly chose to turn a blind eye to him.
Even counting the Red Tide Sect, the recruitment quota for this joint examination was only equal to half the total number of examinees. Those like Wei Yuan who visibly lacked even a team belonged to the group already effectively eliminated in advance. Meanwhile, being a scout was at least a minor post, a step above the common foot soldiers in the battle formations; thus, the scouts still felt they had a shot at a spot, and none wished to tangle with an unaffiliated nobody like Wei Yuan at this stage.
At this point, Wei Yuan felt he had observed enough, so he summoned the equipment chest once more. From the start of the martial test until now, Wei Yuan had seen more than thirty examinees, and eight or nine out of ten carried longswords. Zhang Sheng had once taught him basic weapon lore, in which his appraisal of the sword went: The sword is the weapon of the Son of Heaven, possessing both elegance and majesty, but its symbolic significance far outweighs its practical power. When mortals clash on the battlefield, anyone who uses a sword is an idiot.
Yet evidently, the vast majority of examinees favored this weapon of the Son of Heaven.
And so, Wei Yuan reached out and took hold of the spear.
Once removed from the chest, the spear immediately lengthened to one zhang two chi. Its spearhead was one and a half chi long, with two half-chi prongs extending out crosswise where it met the shaft. The spearhead and shaft formed a seamless whole, inscribed entirely with archaic patterns, forged from an indiscernible material.
The moment the spear entered his grip, Wei Yuan's arms sank. The weapon was remarkably heavy, weighing several tens of jin; even with Wei Yuan's physique, wielding it freely would require sixty to seventy percent of his strength.
Chapter 15