The sensors inside the device were frighteningly hot. Secretary Liu pulled his hand back, and smelled a burnt odor from his fingertips.
Ruan Chen didn't fail to mobilize her mental energy; she simply burned the instrument!
Secretary Liu grabbed her hand, turned it over to look at her palm, and saw a red, swollen burn.
He didn't even bother to care what was wrong with the machine. He quickly turned on the water pipe, grabbed Ruan Chen's hand and rinsed it under cold water, scolding, "Are you in pain? Didn't you say anything?! There's an assessment tomorrow. Where's your school hospital? I'll take you there to get some medicine."
Ruan Chen finally recovered from that dazed state and whispered, "Thank you, teacher."
Secretary Liu glanced at her and was startled by Ruan Chen's bloodshot yet empty eyes.
Ruan Chen's back was soaked with cold sweat. What seemed like fifteen seconds to others felt like half a lifetime to her.
Stars took shape and exploded in her mind, and intersecting timelines formed an impenetrable net before her eyes. It was as if all the familiar yet unfamiliar things flashed before her eyes like slides.
Finally, an aged voice from the depths of her soul roared, abruptly pulling her back to reality.
With a hoarse voice, Ruan Chen asked, "Teacher, what's wrong with me?"
When Secretary Liu looked at her again, Ruan Chen had returned to normal, though her eyes held a hint of unease.
"I will report the issue to the research institute for discussion, but I can confirm that you have qualified for the trial."
On the list, he put a checkmark next to Ruan Chen's name, but there was a bright red question mark in the level column.
"The trial manual has been sent to your email. Go back and take a look, get some rest, and I'll be waiting for you tomorrow." Secretary Liu said meaningfully, "Do your best."
The next day, at the training grounds.
The assessment was scheduled to start at 8:00 AM, but all eleven people on the list arrived very early.
Despite being called a training ground, it was actually just an ordinary room with twelve chair-like machines inside—the training manual called them simulators.
Everyone arrived by 7:30.
Ruan Qin and Ruan Yunhan took the initiative to greet Secretary Liu.
"Teacher, we met at the First Affiliated Hospital last year, do you remember?"
Secretary Liu looked at the two of them carefully. "I remember."
But he didn't say much.
Undeterred, the two continued to ask, "Why are you personally overseeing the assessment this year? In previous years, it was always the admissions office staff."
Secretary Liu wasn't stupid; she immediately understood what the two were trying to subtly ask.
However, he had a very bad impression of the two of them.
Not only was Ruan Yunhan's guaranteed admission revoked due to her personal remarks, but Ruan Qin's decision to give up his guaranteed admission at this time was tantamount to refusing to give up his place at the First Affiliated Hospital.
But the Ruan family actually had the audacity to use their connections to get these two people into the assessment list?
When Secretary Liu first heard about this, he was prepared to put Ruan Yunhan and Ruan Qin on the hospital's blacklist, but Nan Jing stopped him.
The reason is simple.
"We need to find Ruan Chen some equally matched opponents, or... a whetstone?"
Secretary Liu gave a mysterious smile. "You should have met Nan Suo before, right? He arranged for me to come. Among you students are people Nan Suo is interested in."
Ruan Yunhan and Ruan Qin understood.
Besides the two of them, who else has Nan Jing met?
Apart from the two of them with level seven spiritual power, there were only level five and level four spiritual power in this batch, which was not worth Nan Jing's personal attention.
But both of them had a question in their minds: was Nan Jing concerned about one person... or both?
Someone mustered up the courage to join in and said, "Teacher, everyone's here, shall we start early?"
Since they were all teenagers, they joined in the clamor, "Teacher, shall we begin?"
"Anyway, there were only eleven of us yesterday. Now that you've seen everyone, let's begin. We can't wait."
"Exactly, I've practically memorized the user manual."
Secretary Liu gestured with his hand, "Calm down, there's another student... Oh, here he comes."
With a steamed bun in her mouth, a sip of soy milk on her little finger, and her eyes still half-asleep, Ruan Chen staggered into the classroom.
Silent Han smiled; he knew it wouldn't be that simple.
Ruan Yunhan and Ruan Qin's faces immediately darkened.
Everyone saw it; Ruan Chen couldn't even muster his mental energy yesterday!
No matter how talented she is, if she can't use her mental power, it means she'll never be able to control those powerful weapons, sophisticated instruments, or engage in profound research... she'll still be a useless person.
Ruan Yunhan had already assumed the identity of Director Nan Jing's personal student and asked directly, "Teacher, is there a mistake?"
Secretary Liu was too lazy to indulge her behavior. "This is the decision of the First Affiliated Hospital. Are you questioning the First Affiliated Hospital?"
Ruan Yunhan choked for a moment, then lowered her head, "I wouldn't dare."
She was already gritting her teeth in her heart. If he dared to give her a hard time, she would definitely make him suffer once she entered the hospital!
"Now that everyone's here and eager to get started, let's begin."
"Everyone has already read the trial manual, so I'll just summarize it briefly again."
"Once you enter the simulator, your mental experience will be sent to the real trial grounds. There, all you have to do is use all available resources to persevere until the trial ends—a total of twelve hours."
"In the Trial Grounds, you will no longer be classmates, but enemies. The number of enemies you kill will determine your final score, which will also determine whether you can enter the Rising Star Class."
"Students who are 'killed' will return to reality; this trial will not cause you any harm."
"The secret to persevering to the end is not just the level of your mental strength, but also your character, the degree of control you have over your mental strength, and your survival skills."
"Good luck, let's begin."
Meanwhile, the First Academy Research Institute.
Researchers, professors from the First Academy, students with authority, big shots who have been keeping a low profile and burying themselves in research for years, highly skilled technical talents, rare level 10 mental strength experts... a whole bunch of people sat in front of the big screen, waiting to watch the show unfold.
This is considered an annual tradition of the four major academies.
The students undergoing the assessment endured twelve miserable hours in the trial grounds, while outside they ate sunflower seeds, drank beverages, placed bets, and tried to recruit others.
After a slight dizziness, Ruan Chen opened her eyes and found herself in a... primeval rainforest.
She almost thought she had returned to the island of exile.
This should be a scene created by a simulator.
The whereabouts of the others are unknown.
Ruan Chen wandered around casually, and the feeling of his spiritual body in the virtual environment created by the simulator was very realistic—he could feel the heat and humidity, as well as the pain.
She heard screams and pleas for mercy.
"We're in the same class! Let's team up! Will teaming up work? As long as you don't kill me..."
Ruan Chen yawned listlessly.
I didn't get enough sleep.
In front of the large screen in the hospital.
Nan Jing squinted for a while, then turned to the person next to him and asked in a low voice, "Professor Chen, Lao Shen, Researcher Lin, have you seen that girl Ruan Chen?"
Shen Yu, sitting upright in his military uniform, said coolly, "You bet a lot of money on that girl who won first place? Do you see the 42-meter-tall Wangtian tree in the middle of the field? She's about 18 meters away."
Nan Jing nodded approvingly, "Smart, knowing to observe the terrain first. No wonder I have high hopes for her. Operator, switch the camera to see what Ruan Chen is doing... what is she playing with?"
The zoologist behind him adjusted his glasses. "The tricolor lancehead viper is highly venomous."
At this moment, Ruan Chen was comfortably leaning against a huge tree branch, playing with the venomous snake in his hand, pondering in his little brain what would happen if his spiritual body were bitten...
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