Celestial Human Diagram

After he finished speaking, Chen Bitong looked at the five people in the field, including Chen Chuan. "If no one is withdrawing, then the assessment begins now."

The five of them stood motionless, their expressions grim.

Of course, no one would withdraw. Those who had made it this far, while not necessarily the absolute best, all possessed a certain degree of strength and had ample confidence in themselves.

Besides, just participating in the training program’s final assessment was a significant addition to one’s record. Even if they didn’t pass, getting this far was proof enough of their strength, already putting them far ahead of the other trainees.

Chen Bitong waited a moment. Seeing that no one spoke, he nodded. "Then let’s begin."

As he spoke, Chen Chuan saw the surrounding scenery gradually dissolve, transforming into a barren wasteland.

He glanced around and found himself standing on a mudflat almost devoid of tall grass or trees. There were, however, plenty of low, scattered shrubs, and his view stretched far into the distance.

He had experienced many scenarios during his training before, but they had all been in places with complex terrain and dense vegetation. He had rarely seen a setting like this. It seemed this assessment would be exceptionally different.

Chen Bitong stood a short distance in front of him and said, "Captain Chen, you are different from the others. You were in the first group to enter the training program, and you are also someone who has persevered until the very end. Therefore, your assessment will be stricter."

I will have you enter a simulated area, and you will not know beforehand what might appear there.

Some things you will have seen before in training, while others will be completely new to you. I will score you based on the choices you make and the creatures you eliminate.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll remind you again now: the Defense Department is paying attention to this simulation. I hope you will treat it with the utmost seriousness.

Because the degree of realism in this simulation is very high, it is quite possible that you will sustain some level of injury. If you wish to give up halfway through, you just need to declare your forfeiture."

Chen Chuan responded seriously, "Teacher Chen, I understand."

"Then let’s start now," Chen Bitong said, turning to face a certain direction. "Walk in this direction and don’t stop until the simulation ends."

After speaking, his figure vanished.

Chen Chuan glanced ahead and began walking forward along the soft, sticky mudflat.

Golden light shone upon patches of wet, winding, muddy water mixed with various grasses, clumps of earth, and gravel. The scene resembled an overturned painter’s palette.

He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly noticed countless black dots appearing ahead, accompanied by a loud DRONING sound. A huge flock of vicious-looking birds was heading straight for him.

He took one look and understood. ’No wonder they chose this open area, with a mudflat that traps my feet. It’s so I can’t easily escape. Unless I forfeit, I have to stay here and deal with these things.’

’Well, let’s see what they’ve got.’

He plunged his Snow Monarch Blade into the mud. With a SHING, driven by the motion of his body, the blade slid free from its Sword Scabbard, reflecting a sharp, cold glint under the sky’s light.

「Half an hour later.」

Gu Haiting and two other trainees walked out of the training grounds and went to the waiting lounge.

This assessment was truly difficult; they had only lasted that long.

Gu Haiting sat down on a sofa, asked an attendant for a cup of tea, and began sipping it leisurely.

Although he was out a bit early, he didn’t feel it was much of a pity. Aside from learning a few things, he had come here to connect with Chen Chuan.

So far, both objectives had gone rather smoothly. He had reached a cooperative agreement with Chen Chuan, and in his training, he had managed to last until the final assessment.

He glanced toward the training grounds. Now, only Yu Lie and Chen Chuan had yet to come out.

’I wonder who will last until the very end.’

Although Chen Chuan was stronger than Yu Lie, it was easy to tell from the conversation of the two trainees across from him that the content of the assessment was different for everyone, tailor-made for each individual’s circumstances. That made it very hard to predict the outcome.

Two hours flew by as they waited.

Gu Haiting was a little surprised. This had already exceeded the daily simulation time limit. He figured the City Government must have allocated extra resources for this assessment.

’Looks like they’re taking this really seriously.’

A little while later, Yu Lie walked out. He scanned the room and, seeing that Chen Chuan was not among those present, involuntarily clicked his tongue in annoyance before going to sit down and wait on the side.

Meanwhile, inside the simulated scene, Chen Chuan was still trekking forward. Along the way, he had been endlessly slaying all sorts of ferocious creatures that attacked him.

Furthermore, the terrain had changed multiple times, each shift adding to the difficulty.

He felt that he must have already passed the normal time limit, yet there was no sign of the simulation stopping.

Suddenly, a few tiny insects drifted past him. He didn’t ignore them; instead, his gaze shifted to observe them carefully.

Creatures from the Merging Land seemed to have no clear growth limits. Within a group, there were always some individuals that appeared to possess the trait of infinite growth.

You never knew what those massive organisms were at first; they might have started as just a small bug you could crush underfoot at any moment. But after many transformations, they could very well become something unimaginable.

This trait was even more pronounced in the simulated scenarios. Anything he encountered now could potentially undergo an unknown transformation. He had already experienced this no less than twice on his journey so far.

There were other things that, while not transforming directly, could attract a large swarm of their own kind if disturbed in the slightest. He couldn’t relax his guard for a single moment and needed to be constantly aware of sudden changes in his surroundings.

In fact, according to what Chen Bitong usually said, the real Merging Land might not be this intense, but if one ventured deep into unexplored territory, the level of danger would likely be no less than what he was facing now.

As he continued forward, he suddenly felt a slight tremor in the ground. He immediately froze. About twenty meters ahead, a section of the earth began to bulge upward.

His gaze was fixed on the spot. ’Looks like a big one’s coming this time.’

BOOM! The earth burst apart, and a huge, hard-shelled insect with shaggy sensory bristles burrowed out from underground.

It was grayish-black overall. Eight pairs of thick limbs supported its heavy body. Transparent, membranous wings were pressed firmly against its back and sides. It looked to be about four meters long, and beneath its cold Compound Eyes were enormous pincer-like mandibles.

As it emerged, the earth all around it churned, and more, smaller insects of a similar appearance burrowed out. As far as the eye could see, this activity was happening over a range of several kilometers.

He had never seen this type of creature before, but he could tell it was an Insect Lord—a Mutated specimen that had evolved from within a colony.

’Based on my estimation of the resource time, this is probably the final focus of the assessment.’

He knew nothing about this type of creature’s attack methods or characteristics. In the real Merging Land, the best course of action would be to retreat. But this was an assessment, and retreat was not an option. He could only choose to face it head-on.

He stuck the Snow Monarch Blade into the ground, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a handful of stones. After a slight pause, he flicked his wrist and hurled them at the creature!

The stones smashed against its outermost hard shell and shattered into dust, leaving only a few shallow marks. This was a testament to the hardness of the insect’s carapace.

However, he hadn’t thrown them to cause damage, but rather to make a simple judgment based on the impact marks, which would allow him to formulate a sound strategy.

This method wasn’t something taught by Chen Bitong; it was a technique he had figured out himself after clashing with all sorts of organisms over the past few days.

At that moment, the smaller insects that had burrowed from the mud began to beat their wings and fly toward him. As if to give him a more direct impression of their power, any plants on the ground were instantly devoured as the insects passed over them.

This kind of colony was one of the most difficult types to deal with. Not only was there a large Insect Lord, but there was also a countless swarm. A single careless move would mean failure and elimination.

Chen Chuan’s eyes were calm. He brought his arms around in a guarding posture as his Essence Blood surged, tensing the Mutated Organization throughout his body.

WHOOSH! The swarm descended densely upon him, completely covering him in a matter of breaths, leaving only the vague outline of a human figure visible.

The rest of the insects continued to surge forward, and in no time, they had piled up into a thick ball of bugs, a ball that was continuously expanding.

When the insects became so numerous that the newcomers could no longer cling on and were about to fall off, a vibration suddenly emanated from within.

It was as if a ripple had spread out. The swarming, crawling insects suddenly froze, then, like a collapsing sand pile, they all fell away with a SWOOSH, revealing the figure within.

Chen Chuan reached up and brushed away the last few stray insect corpses from his body.

His eyes were bright, and he was completely unscathed. Even the hat and Protective Clothing he wore were not torn.

This was a state of complete realistic simulation, so if his gear wasn’t bitten through here, it meant it would hold up against them in reality as well.

This method of attracting the swarm and then killing them all in one go with a shockwave was taught to him by Chen Bitong.

Because killing the insects one by one was both inefficient and a waste of stamina, luring them in and using Power to annihilate them all at once was the most effective way. The prerequisite, however, was that the Fighter themselves had to be able to withstand it.

Mess up the ’central blossom’ tactic, and you’re the one who ’blossoms’ apart.

At this moment, however, he saw the Insect Lord ahead of him strike a pose. Its membranous wings spread out to either side, while membranes on the sides of its thorax and abdomen also expanded and began to vibrate rapidly.

At the same time, he was struck by an intense feeling of danger. An invisible ripple seemed to wash over him, and for a moment, it felt as if countless fine needles were stabbing into him. Not just the surface of his body, but even his internal organs and Mutated Organization began to tremble violently, as if they were about to be torn apart.

As for the smaller insects that had gathered nearby, they began to drop from the sky in droves, ultimately forming a huge, fan-shaped area covered in a dense layer of insect corpses several fingers thick.

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