Chapter 170: Second Round Grouping, Ye Lingxiao's War Intent

Deng Bingding looked at the twenty remaining students before him and encouraged them: "I have already granted all of you the usage rights to the cultivation methods you just learned."

"This is a promotion reward prepared by the Heavenly Court to motivate the examinees in the first layer."

"I hope you will remain humble and persistent, continue to strive diligently, and bravely fight on the path of immortality, so that in the future you may reach greater heights and serve both the Heavenly Court and your respective sects…"

After encouraging the students present, Deng Bingding proceeded to discuss the next round of examinations.

"The next round of exams will take place on October 15th, at the same location."

"However, unlike this comprehensive examination, the second round will be a specialized test. Each of you must choose one of the four tracks to participate in: Dao Heart, Mana, Physical Fitness, or Martial Arts."

"You were kept here precisely to arrange your registration…"

Under the guidance of the True God, the students present promptly took out their phones and logged onto the registration website.

According to Deng Bingding, after this reform of the Foundation Establishment Exam, there were slight changes to the registration process for the four tracks.

Each student could register for two tracks. This allowed for adjustments based on the students' total scores from the first round, particularly when some tracks had too few or too many participants.

In essence, the purpose was to better discover talent in the first layer, ensure a more balanced distribution of participants across the four tracks, and prevent too many strong candidates from being eliminated by crowding into a single track.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu's brow furrowed slightly: "Register for two?"

"But Ah Zhen and I only discussed one track."

"I hope these adjustments won't end up putting Ah Zhen and me in the same track!"

Zhang Yu wanted to consult with Bai Zhenzhen, but the True God had just prohibited examinees from communicating with each other.

This clearly meant they were expected to complete their registration independently at this moment, after being informed of the rule changes.

"Then it all depends on the chemistry between Ah Zhen and me."

According to their original agreement, Zhang Yu would apply for Physical Fitness, and Bai Zhenzhen would apply for Martial Arts.

Now that a second registration option was available, Zhang Yu had to choose between Dao Heart and Mana.

"Dao Heart or Mana?"

Recalling his performance in the first Mana examination, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly: "Unknowingly, because I've neglected to continue training my mana control, Ah Zhen must be better than me in this aspect now, right?"

Considering this, Zhang Yu chose Dao Heart for his second option.

A few moments later, as the participants one by one completed their registration, all the data appeared before the True Gods.

Deng Bingding nodded: "As expected, Yun Jing and Ye Lingxiao chose different tracks? It seems they also have a tacit understanding."

Huang Zichou remarked: "It would be a great pity if these two ended up in the same track, regardless of who was eliminated."

Deng Bingding's gaze then swept over the registration choices of the third, fourth, and fifth highest scorers, and he said, "Let's begin the adjustments."

In Deng Bingding's view, the first thing to confirm, naturally, were the tracks for Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing, who ranked first and second.

This was simply because the strength of these two individuals vastly surpassed that of the other 18 students present.

Deng Bingding thought to himself: "Wherever Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing are placed, those two tracks will have their winners."

After some discussion, the True Gods assigned Ye Lingxiao to the Physical Fitness track he registered for, and Yun Jing to the Martial Arts track he registered for.

Next, they continued to group students from highest to lowest score, specifically trying to separate the top ten contestants from Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing as much as possible.

With the True Gods' high-speed mental processing within the network, the assignments for each track in the second round of exams were quickly finalized.

Huang Zichou glanced at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's positions and thought to himself: "These two are a bit unlucky."

He saw that Zhang Yu had been assigned to the Physical Fitness track, and Bai Zhenzhen to the Martial Arts track.

From the True Gods' perspective, with Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing present, the Physical Fitness and Martial Arts tracks were practically "death groups," where all contestants except for Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing were destined to be eliminated.

Huang Zichou thought: "However, even if Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are eliminated this year, they can still take the exam again next year."

"Although these two poor individuals have amazing potential and seem to have mysterious backing, they still lack a year of cultivation time. It's better for them to go back, accumulate for a year, and then return."

He knew that the main objective of this Foundation Establishment Exam reform was to identify and promote more talent upwards.

Therefore, assigning lower-scoring contestants as much as possible to the groups with Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing, and distributing the remaining high-scoring contestants to the other two groups, was the most logical choice.

And for contestants like Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, who could participate in the Foundation Establishment Exam again next year, the examiners felt it wouldn't be a pity if they were eliminated in the next round.

As the True Gods concluded their discussion, a light screen immediately appeared before the 20 students present, displaying the groupings for the next round of exams.

Observing the grouping results, some let out a sigh of relief, some looked tense, and others wore expressions of helplessness; their reactions varied.

What Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen checked first, of course, was whether they had been assigned to the same track.

When they saw they were in the Physical Fitness and Martial Arts tracks respectively, both let out a small sigh of relief.

However, when they then discovered their opponents in their respective tracks, their expressions instantly became serious.

"Number 23?" Zhang Yu looked at Ye Lingxiao and thought to himself: "Am I going to compete against this guy?"

Recalling Ye Lingxiao's performance in today's three exams, Zhang Yu cursed inwardly: "Damn it… This guy must be cheating, right? His cheat must be even bigger than mine!"

"Rich and cheating, Number 23, you truly deserve to die."

At this moment, Zhang Yu genuinely wished Ye Lingxiao would be run over and killed when he left.

But he knew that was impossible; setting aside whether a car could kill him, the protective forces around him were certainly extraordinary.

"Yu Shu, Yu Shu, in the end, you're still not strong enough."

"If only you were a bit more powerful, would I need to worry like this?"

"Ultimately, I'll have to rely on myself to upgrade you."

Initially, Zhang Yu thought Yu Shu was his cheat.

Later, after repeatedly improving his strength through his own efforts, Zhang Yu felt that Yu Shu was merely his potential.

Now, thinking that he still had to find a way to hunt evil gods and upgrade Yu Shu, he felt as if *he* was Yu Shu's cheat.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen looked in Yun Jing's direction: "This person is Number 11, right? Damn it, they actually put me with him? This must be rigged!"

"Could his family just suddenly go bankrupt?"

Bai Zhenzhen irritably ran her fingers through her hair, thinking: "The Martial Arts exam will eventually involve real combat, right? To defeat this guy…"

She began to meticulously recall Yun Jing's performance in today's three exams, committing every detail to memory.

Yu Xinghan looked at the Physical Fitness group he was assigned to. Although he frowned slightly, he wasn't overly discouraged.

After all, he had psychologically prepared himself not to expect to secure a Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate this year, so reaching this stage was already quite good.

"Alright," Deng Bingding announced. "Everyone has seen the list. That concludes things for today."

"Please return and prepare well for the next round of exams."

With that, Deng Bingding pointed towards the passage from which everyone had arrived, indicating they could now leave.

As Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen walked towards the passage, they noticed Ye Lingxiao had, at some point, begun walking beside them.

Upon noticing Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen beside him, Ye Lingxiao exchanged glances with them and nodded, seemingly in greeting.

Not far away, Dai Xingzhi watched this scene and thought: "Ye Lingxiao actually initiated a greeting with them? Indeed, he considers them to be on the same level."

Recalling how he had secretly looked down on Zhang Yu's outsider status when they first entered together, Dai Xingzhi couldn't help but give a bitter, helpless smile: "Ah, it's truly good to be rich. Even outside the Immortal Capital, you're still formidable."

After exchanging glances with Zhang Yu, Ye Lingxiao spoke: "Were today's exams not worth your full effort?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yu's spirit suddenly tensed. He thought to himself: "What does he mean? Is this some kind of bullying language from the Immortal Capital? Is he mocking my poor performance today?"

Ye Lingxiao continued: "However, in the next round of competition, you won't succeed unless you use your full strength."

"I look forward to our contest then."

"So... see you at the peak."

The "peak" Ye Lingxiao referred to was the second layer of Kunxu.

After all, from his perspective, given Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's demonstrated abilities, even if they didn't pass the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate, there would be no problem for them to enter the second layer in the future.

Watching Ye Lingxiao disappear into the large black hole beneath his feet, Zhang Yu saw the fighting spirit expressed in the other's eyes.

The next moment, he and Bai Zhenzhen also fell into the hole, transported back to the station's restroom.

"That guy…" Zhang Yu thought to himself: "He wasn't being sarcastic, was he?"

Zhang Yu clenched his fist slightly: "Don't worry, in the next exam, I'll definitely surprise you."

Back at the station, looking at the gloomy night sky, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen dared not linger in the Immortal Capital. They quickly bought tickets and soon left the high-consumption city.

As the train started, just as Zhang Yu began to feel a bit relaxed, the ritual sounded again.

"Sigh." With a sigh, Zhang Yu could only go to the adjacent corridor and practice the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen.

Seeing Zhang Yu like this, Bai Zhenzhen cursed inwardly: "Still grinding?"

Having just gone through three exams, Bai Zhenzhen felt utterly exhausted and had no inclination to continue cultivating.

However, thinking of the opponents she and Zhang Yu would face in the next round of exams, Bai Zhenzhen could understand Zhang Yu's feelings.

"Yu Zi must be feeling very anxious right now."

"Ah, but rushing won't help."

"At least, having just finished the exams, we should rest on the train first…"

Just as Bai Zhenzhen was thinking this, her phone vibrated.

"Hello?"

From the other end of the line came a gentle yet polite female voice: "May I speak with Miss Bai Zhenzhen?"