Douluo Continent: The Book of Witness and Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 165 Opening Assessment - Survival

With the construction progress of the Panlong Realm line stuck, the Soul Guidance Department students held a rare gathering on the Panlong Realm line.

They were people who saw each other every day, so there was no social interaction or formalities. Lin Zhengze, as the temporary leader of the Soul Guidance Department, immediately asked Long You a question.

"Fighting is inevitable. It's unacceptable to abandon the resources right in front of us and buy them from other human cities. Our economic situation can't afford it, and we can't afford to waste any more of our time."

However, I still don't want to acquire these rare metals through a full-scale war. One reason we initially abandoned the idea of ​​retaking the North Frost City ruins was because I proposed a more impressive floating city concept, but we can't deny that what ultimately convinced us to build the floating city was the sheer number and strength of the sandworm swarm.

Our strength has not significantly improved compared to a month ago, so the most we can do is engage in localized warfare.

“We are well aware of this, but we want to know if there are any good ways to make us less passive when fighting underground.”

"Pheromone, or a sufficient number of mineral decoys."

"I understand what 'decoy' means, but what is pheromone?"

"Uh···"

Long You dug himself a hole by speaking too quickly. The term "pheromone" was one that Long You had seen in his previous life. It generally refers to special substances that can have a specific effect on a particular species, but the fact that Long You could only utter such a vague concept shows that he really only had a superficial understanding of it.

In this state, if Long You wanted to explain what pheromones were to other Soul Guidance Department students, it would be like trying to enlighten others while being confused yourself—a complete waste of effort.

"Don't worry about what pheromones are. We can't get our hands on that right now. Let's go find a caravan and buy some rare minerals instead."

If all these minerals are ground into powder and scattered elsewhere, then those places where finished rare metals are stored should experience a brief period of vacancy.

"If we're fast enough, we should be able to avoid encountering the sandworm swarm. Since these finished rare metals are the sandworms' excrement, they probably won't care even if they all disappear."

“Alright, I’ll take care of this. There have been quite a few caravans coming to Ironmont City recently, and I have a good relationship with them. I’ll have them help me search for some rare minerals. This shouldn’t take too long, about a week.”

"A week? That's perfect. School's started now, and we need to prepare for the entrance exams. Everyone wasted a lot of time online in Panlong Realm during this break. Hopefully, your real-world soul power level and practical skills haven't declined."

As students of Shrek Academy, they don't need to worry about final exams, but the opening assessment is an insurmountable hurdle. Since the launch of Panlong Realm, rumors have circulated within the academy about reforming the assessment methods.

No one knows how the new school entrance exams will be conducted or what kind of tests they will encounter. Tests of combat ability are the most unpredictable things. Even Soul Masters, who are known for their versatility and adaptability to various environments, will encounter situations that they are not good at dealing with.

If you're unlucky enough to encounter terrain or combat styles that you're not suited to, you really can't guarantee your assessment results.

With the events on the Panlong Realm line temporarily concluded, Long You began to focus on improving his soul power level. After experiencing three instances of soul power depletion, Long You felt he was on the verge of breaking through to level 50 in soul power.

After a holiday, Da Bai and Xiao Muyang returned to Long You and Bei Bei's shared dormitory. Now, Long You has an additional task: to create a storage soul tool capable of holding living beings.

Big White didn't mind; as a member of the Emerald Swan clan, its size was limited. However, Little Twilight was almost the size of an adult tiger, and the small dormitory space simply couldn't accommodate it.

Considering that he would need to take Xiao Muyang home during future holidays, Long You decided to upgrade his storage soul tool, turning it into a Poké Ball. As for whether it would be a Red/White Ball, a Luxury Ball, or a Master Ball, Long You couldn't guarantee it.

Long You managed to make room for Xiao Muyang and lay down next to him. Xiao Muyang, with its dual attributes of spirit and fire, was like a heater, warm and soft, making it an excellent pillow.

The next day, the first day of school, Long You saw Huo Yuhao as she left the dormitory building. A familiar voice suddenly entered Long You's mind.

{You're amazing, kid! How did you know a girl named Wang Dong'er would come looking for Yuhao?}

Both were heading to the Soul Guidance Department's teaching building, so Long You and Huo Yuhao were naturally going the same way. After receiving Tianmeng's mental message, Long You managed to control the trembling at the corner of his mouth.

With a blank expression, he thought to himself: "You are already highly regarded by the God Realm because of Yuhao. Now you have also dragged Bingdi into it. Do you think the God Realm will not pay attention to Yuhao?"

The focus now isn't on Wang Dong'er, that unfortunate girl who was used; the focus is on how you refused her when she was definitely going to bring up the matter of the Spirit Fusion Technique.

Of course, I rejected her using the same trick I used when you kicked her out of the dorm at the start of the semester. Although Yuhao is a bit obsessed with martial soul fusion skills, he thinks what I said makes sense.

Yuhao himself came from a place like the Duke's mansion, so he already had a negative view of those powerful forces. Now that I've analyzed the pros and cons with Yuhao, he won't be tempted.

"That's fine. The affairs of the God Realm are too complicated; Yuhao should avoid getting involved if possible."

This brief exchange took place between Long You and Tianmeng without Huo Yuhao's knowledge. However, there was no need to hide the rest of the conversation from Huo Yuhao.

"Yuhao, you stayed in the inner courtyard during the holidays. Didn't the Martial Soul Department try to seduce you?"

"Seduction? They talked to me about it, but Dean Qian directly rejected it. To be honest, I myself don't want to go to the Martial Soul Department; that place is too rigid."

"Staying in the Soul Guidance Department is fine, but your Ice Emperor Martial Soul is the ultimate ice martial soul, so your cultivation speed might be quite slow. Try to show your face in front of Dean Qian more often and get him to give you some good stuff."

As for the experience of cultivating ultimate attribute martial souls, ask Dean Qian about it whenever you have time. Even if Dean Qian doesn't know, you have to beg and plead to get him to ask for you.

Even the most powerful soul tools require sufficient strength in terms of martial soul and soul power; otherwise, you simply cannot use those high-level soul tools.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Long, I know what to do. Bingdi has regained consciousness. As long as Bingdi and Brother Tianmeng work together, my soul power cultivation speed will increase significantly."

Moreover, my vacation on Poseidon Island in the Inner Court was not without purpose. Under the aura of the Tree of Life, I could feel my physical attributes improving, and the amount of soul power circulating in my meridians increasing further.

I also met a senior student from the inner court. Her martial soul had a defect. Although she had been trying to awaken her martial soul consciousness, she hadn't been able to do so successfully, perhaps because of the defect.

If this senior student wants to continue cultivating, she must filter her energy with Extreme Ice every now and then. While assisting her, I also benefit; my soul power is purified.

"Inner Court Senior Sister? Ma Xiaotao? This one tormented your Senior Brother Xu Sanshi quite a bit before, all for the sake of cultivation."

Alright, we've arrived. I wonder what the assessment content will be today?

No sooner had Long You and Huo Yuhao stepped into the Soul Guidance Department's teaching building than they received a group message from the academy on their phones.

All Soul Guidance Department students, assemble in Panlong Classroom within fifteen minutes. The opening assessment for this semester will focus on survival.

——Soul guidance system

Seeing the word "survival," Long You felt a wave of helplessness. In Long You's understanding, assessments themed around "survival" were the most grueling.

Because you don't know how long you'll have to persevere to succeed, endless perseverance is endless torture. It tests both your ability to fight on and your mental fortitude.

Upon logging in, Long You was immediately pulled into a special space. In front of him was a large, unique rotating wheel, which began to spin the moment he entered.

Just as Long You was trying to see the contents of the turntable clearly, the turntable suddenly stopped spinning and disappeared from Long You's sight.

{The trial space map has been selected, the trial participant has entered, and the trial has begun.}

The jet-black words flashed by quickly, and Long You, who was completely focused, barely managed to make out the words in front of him. He immediately summoned his battle armor and released a level 5 soul-guided defensive shield (active type).

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Long You felt that something was off about the progress and process. But even if he sensed something was wrong, Long You didn't have time to investigate it now.

Countless tall stone pillars sprang out from around Long You, and small magical beasts with pointed heads (Long You had never seen or recognized them, so he called them magical beasts) kept emerging from these stone pillars.

"bang bang bang"

Before Long You could react, the Soul Guidance Defense Shield, whose protective capabilities were comparable to the fifth Soul Skill of a Soul King-level defensive Soul Master, had already begun to ripple, looking as if it was about to be breached.

To engage in combat without even having time to observe the battlefield is to fight blindly, which is a major taboo in combat.

There wasn't enough time to unleash the Soul-Guided Powered Mech, so Long You could only mentally command Xiao Yan to use the Thunderous Might and Lightning Flash Soul Skills.

A thunderous blast cleared the area, and a flash of lightning allowed Long You to briefly escape the battle.

A second later, the lightning surrounding Long You disappeared. Although the surrounding area was still filled with dense stone pillars, and although pointed monsters had begun to emerge from these pillars, Long You had finally bought himself time to observe his surroundings and to prepare himself fully armed.

As light and shadow appeared, transforming from illusion to reality, and amidst the mechanical "armor fusion" sound, Long You appeared in the chest cockpit of the Soul Guidance Power Mech. The thick metal protection surrounding him gave Long You a greater sense of security.

However, the situation is still far from optimistic. These pointed magical beasts are capable of flight, so Long You cannot fly away in his soul-guided power mech.

As things stand, Long You has no other means of survival besides enduring the damage head-on. Fortunately, even if he does endure it, the soul tools he is equipped with, as well as the level eight energy bottles installed in his soul-powered mech, are enough for him to fight for a long time.

The regional Thunder Hell Soul Guidance Device was released before the surrounding pointed demonic beasts could converge and attack, giving Long You another chance to catch his breath.

After two consecutive lightning attacks, Long You finally understood that while these pointed-headed monsters possessed considerable attack power, their defensive capabilities were only average, especially their resistance to lightning-attribute attacks.

Considering that although there are many of these pointed monsters, each one is not small, it is not necessarily necessary to use a regional area-of-effect soul tool that consumes more soul power.

Under the cover of the regional Thunder Hell Soul Guidance Device, Long You first set up nine heavy machine gun Soul Guidance Devices that fired energy bullets, and then placed four twin-mounted Soul Guidance Cannons slightly behind the heavy machine guns.

After that, Long You set up a force field defense soul tool between the heavy machine gun and the soul-guided cannon, creating an egg-shaped energy shield for himself.

It took Long You five minutes to build up a preliminary defense system for himself. The Thunder Hell Soul Tool was then extinguished and retrieved by Long You.

After the pointed-headed monsters disappeared from Thunder Hell, they quickly rushed up, only to be met with a barrage of energy bullets (cannonballs). Seeing that his safety was not in immediate danger, Long You began to activate various detection soul guides.

[Huh? The detection soul tool installed on the soul-guided power mech can't detect the area around this stone pillar? This detection soul tool has a detection radius of ten kilometers!]

Damn it, a direct breakthrough on the ground is probably impossible, but I don't want to take to the air! This stone pillar is over a hundred meters high, and both my experience and my spiritual intuition are telling me not to take to the air.

Should I try to break through from below? These pointed magical beasts can fly, but they might not be able to move underground. However, with such tall stone pillars, there must be a lot buried underground. What if there are magical beasts like sand worms underground as well?

I won't send down burrowing-type soul-guided probes to scout and clear a path, so as not to disturb any magical beasts that might exist underground. However, if I were to attempt to travel underground, and there were indeed these pointed-headed magical beasts there that would gather and attack when disturbed, then I would be in serious trouble.