Chapter 237: The Trial Begins!
Chapter 237: The Trial Begins!
This was not difficult.
Seeing Wang Che agree promptly, twenty Thunder Message Seeds voluntarily flew into the Insect Net.
This scene left Little Caterpillar full of confusion.
Twenty was not too many; bundled inside the Insect Net, they looked like a large balloon from afar.
Because of the conditional exchange,
the Thunder Message Seeds were unusually quiet this time.
This made Little Caterpillar a bit uncomfortable.
Before, these Thunder Message Seeds would have resisted fiercely and struck with lightning.
Little Caterpillar was already prepared.
Unexpectedly, the Thunder Message Seeds were so calm this time.
But that was fine—Little Caterpillar enjoyed the ease.
“This is a bit conspicuous.”
Wang Che said, “Little Caterpillar, bring them all into your Soul Domain Space. They are friends now.”
Little Caterpillar was a bit reluctant, but after thinking about it, since they were friends, it was okay to let them rest in its home.
So, it brought the Thunder Message Seeds into its Soul Domain Space.
Wang Che carried the Magnetic Sword on his back, and together with Little Caterpillar, headed towards the entrance of the Thunderous Soul Earth.
There was a faint purple film outside the Thunderous Soul Earth.
It resembled some kind of barrier shield, and the terrain inside looked like wasteland.
Legend had it that this terrain formed from the remains of a Thunder-Element Transcendent Soul Pet belonging to a Soul Pact Master who died in a great battle long ago, slowly taking shape over time.
There were over a dozen entrances.
The entrances had special checks to prevent Professional Soul Contractors from disguising as students or bringing special Soul Pets in their Soul Domain Spaces, which could disrupt the competition environment.
Like a security check, it was enough to detect the situation of the Soul Rings.
Wang Che chose an entrance, handed his trial card to the Guard Soldier, and passed through the check.
Then…
Beep, beep, beep, beep…
The Guard Soldier immediately frowned and looked at Wang Che:
“Hmm… student, it seems there’s a group of Thunder Message Seeds in your Soul Ring. What’s going on?”
“Don’t tell me they’re all your Soul Pets?”
“No, they’re wild Soul Beasts.” Wang Che coughed lightly. “I have a good relationship with them. They wanted me to take them into the Thunderous Soul Earth to have a look.”
“Wild Soul Pets are that close to you?” The Guard Soldier looked somewhat suspicious.
It was probably the first time he encountered such a situation. The Guard Soldier thought for a long time, reported to his superior, and then replied to Wang Che:
“There are no weak Soul Beasts like Thunder Message Seeds in the Thunderous Soul Earth. Bringing so many in would be a burden. These Thunder Message Seeds can’t help you. There’s no need to do this.”
“But I promised them I would take them in,” Wang Che said. “Besides, these Thunder Message Seeds won’t disrupt the competition environment, right?”
“They won’t,” the Guard Soldier said after a few seconds of thought. “But since they’re wild Soul Pets, you must ensure their safety.”
“Otherwise, taking them in recklessly is not allowed.”
“I can ensure their safety,” Wang Che said.
“Sorry,” the Guard Soldier smiled. “Student, that won’t do. Based on your information, you’re only a first-year student. Even with two Soul Pets, given your Soul Power Level, we don’t think you can guarantee the safety of these twenty Thunder Message Seeds.”
“The Soul Beasts in the Thunderous Soul Earth are all frenzied and very strong.”
“So, you can’t bring them in.”
Hmm, Wang Che had expected this situation.
Sure enough, there were no Thunder Message Seeds in the Thunderous Soul Earth.
But this wasn’t a problem.
Wang Che took out a certificate, opened it, and handed it to the Guard Soldier.
The Guard Soldier was startled. After looking at it for a few seconds, his pupils shook.
“Can I bring them in now?” Wang Che asked.
“Yes,” the Guard Soldier said after a few seconds of silence, returning the certificate to Wang Che.
Wang Che nodded and walked toward the boundary entrance.
“What’s the matter with you?” another Guard Soldier who was checking other students’ information scolded when he saw this. “Letting a student bring so many wild Soul Beasts in is not good for him or those Soul Beasts. Who will be responsible if something happens?”
“But I have no right to stop him,” the Guard Soldier said. “I’d better report this to my superior.”
After saying this, he walked into the nearby base stationed there.
Inside the base, many staff members were observing.
There were various devices projecting screens in mid-air.
These screens showed the internal scenes of the Thunderous Soul Earth, transmitted via the Cloud Sky Navigation Star.
The competition and exploration had already begun.
“The Thunderous Soul Earth has five layers… I wonder if these students will get to see the scenery of the Fifth Layer.”
“I don’t think so. Starting from the third layer, there are Cloud Storm Heavenly Thunders. These Heavenly Thunders are at least two or three levels stronger than ordinary Heavenly Thunders and have powerful effects. The Fifth Layer even has Meteor Heavenly Thunders, one of the strongest types of Heavenly Thunders. It’s unlikely that any student from North River Continent can reach the Fifth Layer.”
“From the second layer, there are Soul Beasts over 1,500 years old. The Soul Beasts in the Fifth Layer are around 4,000 years old. Just getting to the third layer is already quite an achievement.”
“Hard to say. There are a few third-year students from Northern River University who have already passed the Professional Soul Contractor examination.”
“That impressive? Passing the Professional Soul Contractor exam in their third year?”
“…”
Upon entering the base, the Guard Soldier heard many conversations.
Besides the base officers, there were also professors from the North River Soul Pet Research Center and principals from various universities in North River.
He quickly walked up to the nearest middle-aged officer and reported in a low voice.
“Oh, which school is he from?” The middle-aged officer was surprised after hearing the report.
“Forest Sea Academy.”
The middle-aged officer immediately went to Principal Gu of Forest Sea Academy and said:
“Principal Gu, your school is impressive. You actually have a student with the black booklet from the Ninth Department of Soul Land Research and Investigation? That’s a certificate only researchers from the Ninth Department have.”
Principal Gu was slightly stunned, thinking, “I didn’t know we had such a student.”
The Ninth Department of Soul Land Research and Investigation was not something just anyone could join.
To obtain a researcher’s certificate, one had to pass an audit and personally investigate any Soul Land in the War Zone, making a useful contribution to that Soul Land to become an official Soul Land researcher.
These researchers were top-notch in strength, knowledge, insight, and all aspects.
And they had high authority.
“Is that so?” Principal Gu smiled. “What’s the student’s name?”
“My goodness, you don’t even know?” The middle-aged officer chuckled. “Principal Gu, I heard your school recruited a talented student from Xiyue Continent. They say your school snatched this genius? Look, Principal Nan is staring at you.”
“Steal? Don’t talk nonsense!” Principal Gu stroked his beard. “He came on his own. I think he felt that our Forest Sea Academy was more suitable for him.”
“Nonsense! With your Forest Sea Academy, I think it completely limits his progress!” The slightly plump Principal Nan, who looked kind and friendly, laughed immediately. “What a waste of a genius. You’ll see in this Competitive Trial!”
“It’s already been two months. Just look at how you’ve held him back!”
“That might not be the case,” said Principal Gu.
The middle-aged officer watched the two argue and didn’t interfere for a while.
“Ahem, you’re getting off track…” The middle-aged officer looked at Principal Gu.
“Oh, oh, sorry, sorry. What was that student’s name again?” Gu Shanhe asked.
“Wang Che.”
“…” Gu Shanhe was stunned for a moment, a bit surprised but also not entirely unexpected.
“How could the Ninth Department of Soul Land Research and Investigation issue a certificate to a student? How could a student pass the researcher assessment?” Another university principal exclaimed in surprise.
“I forgot to mention, it’s an honorary researcher certificate,” the middle-aged officer added. “It probably doesn’t require an assessment. It’s a certificate given to those who have made contributions to Soul Land and have certain honors.”
“So that’s how it is. He must have strong backing,” the principal remarked with admiration. “No wonder he’s the champion of the Xiyue Continent Qihang Cup. Old Gu, placing such a genius in your school, and in the Agricultural Planting Major, is really a waste.”
“You should be sensible and transfer him to one of our academies.”
“…” Gu Shanhe.
“We’ll talk after the Competitive Trial,” Gu Shanhe said.
In truth, he was feeling a bit uneasy.
Because over the past two months, Wang Che’s cultivation life had been too ordinary.
According to the instructors who taught him, there was nothing left to teach him.
This showed that his abilities in all areas were very high.
What he lacked was cultivation resources and environment.
Martial Soul couldn’t help him.
Soul Pet couldn’t help him either.
Forest Sea University really couldn’t offer him much.
So, over the past two months, Gu Shanhe had also been worried that Wang Che hadn’t made much progress and that the academy’s environment and resources were limiting his development.
Even if his agricultural planting skills were very high, and he could even cultivate Soul Plants, so what?
Cultivating Soul Plants required a lot of energy and time.
At the beginner stage, even if Wang Che could cultivate Soul Plants now, how many could he cultivate in two months?
How many resources could that translate into?
Not to mention pharmaceutical and Dietary Meal aspects—Wang Che was just a student. No matter how high his agricultural planting skills were, he couldn’t be proficient in those two areas as well.
From the point exchange records, Wang Che had only exchanged for about a dozen low-level Soul Plant seeds and some ordinary crops.
After that, he didn’t even use points for exchanges anymore.
The small quantity indicated a slow cultivation speed. Otherwise, he would have exchanged for more later.
He also exchanged for a few Ten-Year Soul Skills?
What use could those be?
For him at this stage, agricultural planting provided resources too slowly. With such a peaceful two months, his strength probably hadn’t increased much.
Gu Shanhe was actually considering the words of the other principals.
Although he was excited about Wang Che choosing Forest Sea Academy, he didn’t want to bury a genius.
‘If his performance in this Competitive Trial is average, I should consider letting him transfer to another academy. I can’t hold him back,’ Gu Shanhe thought to himself.
——
“Is this the first layer of Thunderous Soul Land?” Wang Che looked around.
Two words could describe it: Barren Land.
Thunderous Soul Land had five layers.
It was a small Soul Land, and the Soul Beasts here had a Soul Power Cultivation that wouldn’t exceed ten thousand years at most.
Scattered rocks, withered trees, barren soil, and rolling thunderclouds.
It was desolate and rundown.
Faint electric currents filled the air, and from time to time, waves of Soul Power came from afar.
Although it was considered small compared to other Soul Lands, Thunderous Soul Land wasn’t actually small.
Just in the first layer, Wang Che couldn’t see many students around.
There were many students participating in the Competitive Trial.
“I’ll take a look around the first layer first.”
Wang Che observed for a while.
The first layer looked barren, but in fact, it had many rare materials.
The upper layers surely had even better things, but they were also more dangerous.
“There’s a Heavenly Thunder area in the distance. Let’s go take a look.”
Before long, Wang Che found an area where Heavenly Thunder strikes were concentrated.
These Heavenly Thunder strikes were much larger than those in the Inner Layer of Thunder Roar.
“This is a good place for cultivation.”
Wang Che decided to go over and let Magnetic Sword taste these Heavenly Thunder strikes.
As he approached.
“Oh, it’s a herd of Thunderhorn Rhinos…”
Wang Che looked into a large pit hundreds of meters in diameter.
A herd of Thunderhorn Rhinos, each about five to six meters tall, were bathing in the thunderous light inside.
These Thunderhorn Rhinos had a cultivation of around a thousand years. They were massive, with purple-brown skin as tough as steel armor, and a lightning-shaped horn on their foreheads.
There were more than thirty of them.
“It’s occupied.”
Wang Che frowned slightly.
Thunderhorn Rhinos were medium-small Soul Beasts with astonishing defense and powerful thunder attacks.
These Thunderhorn Rhinos had taken over this area and were absorbing the power of the Heavenly Thunder.
They were clustered together, especially around the center.
Many students took one look from a distance and left quickly.
This wasn’t something they could handle.
Group Soul Beasts like these were very troublesome to deal with.
Especially in their enraged state—if you got too close, the charge of thirty Thunderhorn Rhinos could crush you into paste.
Even if they knew there might be something valuable at the center guarded by the Thunderhorn Rhinos, they didn’t dare to go down easily.
“You do it, or should Magnetic Sword do it?”
Wang Che released Magnetic Sword and looked at Little Caterpillar.
Little Caterpillar glanced over and called out to Magnetic Sword.
It wasn’t much of a challenge. Let Little Swordie handle it.