The price for the inter-academy tournament was something contributed to by all the academies, which showed how much importance everyone put on the competition that served to showcase the combat ability of all the academies during peace times. The prize would naturally not be meager.
The first was a prize in terms of status. The ones who obtained the first three places after participating would forever be recorded, and once those who were recorded down graduated, they would get special considerations, regardless of if they were looking for jobs or other alternatives.
The next was a material prize. This time the tournament was offering an Eternal Fruit as the prize. Only the academy that wins in the end would get it. Chen Yu gave a very detailed introduction to the Eternal Fruit — the fruit came from a tree on Planet Norma, and needed over a thousand years to bear fruit. Because it was so hard to find, even on Planet Norma, other than a small number of people who had it kept, most of the time no one could afford it.
The Eternal Fruit has something grown with the purest of energies; it has many benefits, such as being able to cure any injury, and could even bring someone back from the dead. It was also a core material for many sorts of Legend-ranked equipment. It could also be eaten directly, and the fruit would increase the energies in one’s body, which were also known as basic attributes, and the increases were very substantial.
Other than that, there were also many pieces of equipment as prizes, but comparatively, it was obvious that the Eternal Fruit was the real prize.
Xiao Lin did not mind it much; putting aside Legend-ranked equipment or the restorative abilities of the magic fruit, permanently increasing basic attributes basically made it a Shard of Creation. Of course, Xiao Lin knew that to those that could not have a Shard of Creation, it was a very attractive prize, especially since everyone now knew how hard increasing basic attributes was later on.
However, Gu Xiaoyue’s enthusiasm toward the fruit was unexpected. Xiao Lin thought about it, and felt like she wanted it for the ability to cure any injury. If the fruit could cure her lifespan that was shortened by her genes, then it would be a very happy ending.
No matter what, to him, there was now one more reason he could not lose the inter-academy tournament, Xiao Lin thought to himself silently.
That detail did not affect Xiao Lin’s usual training arrangements. After returning from Dawn City, a month had passed and they quickly neared the monthly examination.
Due to how special the last monthly examination was, Xiao Lin had tried to get some inside information. However, the president told him plainly that it would only be a regular examination this time. They were currently transitioning between deans, and no one was willing to do anything special at that time. The president sighed at that, because he realized that, ever since Xiao Lin entered the academy, Xiao Lin only participated in a normal monthly examination a very limited number of times.
“Don’t underestimate the monthly examination. Every result is recorded, and it will be a key part of your experiences in the future. Sometimes, you need a big enough backing to convince others.”
The president’s words were a bit subtle, but Xiao Lin understood them. It meant that some people were getting unhappy with his special treatment. As an SS-rank talent holder, the dean’s treatment of him was not inappropriate, but as the highest of secrets, most people would not know of the fact. With the dean currently critically ill, the old man was no longer around to suppress it, so nasty rumors naturally started to spread. Even though the president did not tell him in detail, Xiao Lin had some idea of it.
However, they might call it a regular monthly examination, it was still going to be different from the last semester. When the monitors tried to get the basic report of the monthly examination from the student union a few days before the exam as usual, they were rejected. The first-years quickly knew of a new ruling. Since most of the students were growing at a very good rate, in order to ensure the quality of the training that the monthly examination provided, from the current semester onward, they would stop providing reports for the monthly examination.
The reports were originally a benefit that was supposed to last for the whole first year, but it had suddenly been stopped after half a semester. Many of them were naturally unhappy, but as usual, other than voicing their dissatisfaction on the forums, they could only swallow it down.
However, there were some people who mocked on the forums, indicating that the common students had been represented by certain people, and since certain people increased their skills too quickly, it had pulled up the overall level of the entire year by too much, and it was obvious that the higher-ups did not want their examinations to be too easy, so the reports were naturally gone.
Those reports usually included data like the number of opponents, their ranks and even the skills they could use. They even had the tasks and maps on them. That way, they could have more targeted preparations, such as preparing equipment that was better against magic if they knew that the opponents were skilled in magic.
However, they no longer had that, and even if the monthly examination itself did not change, the difficulty had definitely increased. Xiao Lin could only smile bitterly, somewhat feeling like he had something to do with the change in arrangements. The president was not causing him any trouble, but it was as if the president was hinting to him that, if he wanted his results to be even more convincing, then he naturally did not need any benefits.
No matter how much everyone else complained, the monthly examination arrived two days later as scheduled.
Right before the examination started, everyone received the introduction to their tasks.
[Task Name: Forest Survival Battle]
[Task Explanation: With classes as your units, survive in the Forest of Death for thirty days. After thirty days, the task will automatically end.]
[Reward: Those who survive all thirty days will get 1000 redemption points and 50 credits.]
That was the description of the task. Everyone exchanged looks after listening to it. Compared to how complicated the last few monthly examinations were, it was decidedly ordinary. There were no optional tasks, nor were there any foes to defeat. They just needed to survive for thirty days. That seemed way too simple.
As a monitor, Xiao Lin had received the notification on the examination a few hours ago from the student union. In the public hall, he waved his hand with a strange expression, motioning for everyone to remain silent. After that he said, “Oh, I also need to tell you something else. There are two special rules to this task. The first is that no one is allowed to bring any tools, equipment or weapons into the examination. After that, other than the basic rewards, every object that you obtain in the simulated environment will be given to you by the school after the examination ends!”
“What does that mean?” The bald group leader, Zhou Feng, asked after pausing.
“It means that this examination will have unlimited possibilities,” Xiao Lin said.
“And even more dangers.” Gu Xiaoyue added.
Xiao Lin smiled. “That’s right, danger follows opportunity. I’m anticipating this examination quite a bit. Alright, everyone put down their equipment as the rules say. We’ll prepare to be transferred in ten minutes!”
