Chapter 25 Challenging Your Weaknesses

When Achen passed the first test, the whole family looked on with a sense of entitlement.

Seeing this scene, Jin Ding gained a new understanding of this group of people.

If a seven-year-old child can have such fighting power, it's impossible for others to be any worse.

It seems that their true strength cannot be judged solely from the aura they exude.

Lele's talent wasn't bad, but it wasn't top-tier either, so what she summoned wasn't a divine beast puppet, but a demonic beast puppet.

Lele had never studied the "Ling Shu" or understood the human body's meridians, but she was skilled at crafting artifacts, and puppets were a type of artifact.

She didn't know much about puppets, but she had two mechanical beings in her family, so she knew their weakness was in their joints.

Although the joints of the puppet beasts are different from those of the human body, you can find their weakest joints by probing them a few times in close combat.

In the end, Lele spent less than an hour disassembling the four puppet beasts into parts.

Because the puppet beast she encountered was much weaker than the divine beast puppet that Achen encountered, she didn't fare so badly. Her clothes were torn, and she had some scratches on her arms and thighs before she passed the level.

Jin Liu also passed the test, but he passed because he was the youngest among the Twelve Golden Armor Guards. When everyone was bored, they would grab him and train him, which is how he developed super combat power far exceeding his own aptitude.

As he walked out of the examination room, he assumed that Achen and Lele were either eliminated or still struggling inside.

As a result, they found the two of them outside the square, busy watching the other candidates' battles, and discussing them with disdain as they watched.

"How could that pretty young lady be so clumsy? She got headbutted by that stupid bull three times in a row, and her skirt is almost torn to shreds!"

"Exactly! How could she not have noticed that the ox's front knee joint is the most vulnerable? If that joint is dislocated, the ox won't be able to stand up!"

“Sigh! Aunt Lele, you can’t really blame her for being stupid, she just doesn’t understand the puppet’s weaknesses,” Achen said.

"That's true. I wonder if the last two tests will be difficult. If they're in areas we're not familiar with, we might not pass," Lele said worriedly.

"Don't worry, you two. I heard that this creativity test will first give you the opportunity to learn, and then let you innovate based on that."

"As long as your innovative idea is correct, even if you can't complete it, you'll still pass." Jin Liu leaned over to comfort him.

"Auntie Lele, don't worry, I believe in you, you can definitely do it!" Achen gave her an encouraging hug.

Lele blushed a little when her seven-year-old nephew comforted her.

She felt she should be more confident. After all, she had been following her innovative older sister for eight years. Could she really not pass even a small assessment?

Candidates: A small assessment? Haha! The pass rate for the first stage of the Shifang Academy's assessment is less than 5%, and the final pass rate is only about 0.3%.

Ah Chen and Lele were actually fearless because they were ignorant, as they had not inquired about the details of the academy's assessment beforehand.

Fortunately, they came with a try-it-and-see attitude. Even if they didn't pass, they wouldn't lose anything. At worst, they could just go back to their hometown with Yu Shan. Whether they studied the book or not didn't matter.

The first test was scheduled for two hours. If a candidate failed to defeat the puppet beasts within the time limit, it would be considered a failure, even if the candidate could still persevere.

While the other candidates' parents and relatives were still gathered there watching their children's performance, Yu Shan and his group had already found an open space and sat down together to have lunch.

Today's lunch is a portable meal, the takeout box of which was ordered by Feather Fan in Bran City.

Considering that plastic products are impossible in the cultivation world, she chose a bamboo lunchbox. It can be washed and reused after use, and most importantly, it can be stacked to save space.

The spirit rice was steamed by Hua Jingyishu in the middle of the night, and the side dishes were also from the recipe that Yu Shan wrote for him last night. He followed the procedure strictly, and although it was his first time, the dishes were cooked quite well.

Today's side dishes are snowflake fish fillets, deep-fried eggplant, cucumber salad, and garlic-flavored greens.

Of course, the ingredients for these dishes are all spiritual plants rich in spiritual energy, and they taste much more delicious than the ingredients from the Flowing Light Galaxy.

That's why, even though Hanakage Itsuki, a novice, is far inferior to Zuo Shan in skill, he doesn't taste bad.

Matt was in charge of serving food to everyone from four bowls. No one made any special requests; after all, this wasn't home, and being able to eat at all was already a blessing.

Jin Ding and Jin Liu were also invited to have a fast food meal, and both of them praised it highly.

They even thought that it would be great if this mission never ended, so they could keep enjoying delicious food with Yu Shan and the others.

Moreover, as of now, no danger has been detected in this mission.

With food and drink provided and no fighting involved, I'd be happy to take on a mission even if it meant paying me!

Moreover, they had previously sent a message to Manager Feng, reporting that they had paid out of their own pockets to forge the lottery, and Manager Feng clearly stated that he would reimburse them through the company account.

**

The second test began, and just like before, each person entered an empty room.

After Ah Chen went inside, he saw three circles on one of the walls, with the words "Attack," "Defense," and "Support" written inside.

It seems that this is to let the test takers make their own choice and select a program that suits them.

Realizing that his greatest strength was actually mental attacks, Achen decided to choose the one he was least good at—support.

This is a challenge for myself. I remember my mother once said: The hardest person to defeat is oneself.

He felt that this sentence should be followed by a suffix: the hardest thing for a person to overcome is their own weakness.

After clicking the "Assist" option, five circles appeared on the front wall, with the following words written inside: Weapon Refining, Alchemy, Talismans, Formations, and Planting.

Ah Chen had witnessed Aunt Lele's weapon crafting, Uncle Bo's potion-making, and his mother's planting. He had also seen teleportation arrays, but he had never seen talismans before.

So he chose talismans.

The room instantly transformed, and a desk appeared before him, upon which lay a stack of golden, ethereal papers and several calligraphy brushes of different styles.

"First, we will test your skill in talismans. Please draw a basic talisman. If you don't know how, please select an empty circle." The prompt sounded in my ear.

Two circles appeared on the wall in front of Achen, one empty and the other solid green.

Without hesitation, Achen chose the empty circle. The notification sound remained silent for several seconds, as if it were the first time he had encountered this situation.

At the same time, Chang Jingsheng, the academy tutor responsible for inspecting the examination rooms, received a telepathic message:

"In the second test, among the candidates who chose the 'talisman' test, there was one candidate who did not know how to make talismans. The assessment settings did not include a solution for this option. Can the assessment still proceed?"

"Is this candidate an idiot? How could anyone choose a subject they know absolutely nothing about as an assessment option?" Chang Jingsheng said, frustrated.

However, the academy did not stipulate that candidates were not allowed to choose this option, which was indeed an oversight on their part.

However, since the oversight has already occurred, it is too late for him to fix it now. He can only take the person out of the pre-set assessment space and conduct a manual interview instead.

Achen was unaware that he would become the first candidate in the history of Shifang Academy to force the instructors to change the system assessment to a manual assessment.