Chapter 9: Trial in the Ruins
At 4:30 in the morning, the alarm lights inside the shelter lit up, casting a faint, cold white glow across the entire corridor.
There was no piercing siren, only the low, steady prompt from the broadcast system, echoing cyclically between the floors, notifying all candidates participating in the assessment to get up on time and assemble at Assembly Point Number Three.
The doors of the compartments opened one after another, and the sound of footsteps echoed continuously in the corridor. Everyone was fully dressed, carrying only the small emergency kit stipulated by the Military Affairs Bureau. Inside were simple hemostatic dressings, a small bottle of calming medicine, and a silver signal alarm the size of a fist. No one spoke loudly; a layer of solemnity hung over every face. After a night of rest, some had built up their strength, while others had been unable to sleep all night, their eyes filled with heavy bloodshot veins.
Lin Yan slung the emergency kit over his back, put away his temporary identity card and assessment voucher, and followed the crowd out of the shelter.
Assembly Point Number Three was located in a large open space on the perimeter of the Military Affairs Bureau. Dozens of candidates had already lined up here. Several heavy military transport vehicles were parked on one side of the field, their thick armor and sealed compartments specifically designed to transport candidates to the ruins of the old defense zone. Armed garrison soldiers and several assessment instructors, including Lu Ling, stood at the edge of the field, quietly counting the number of arrivals.
Lu Ling held a tablet, scanning the queue back and forth. His steady voice pierced through the cool morning air. "Roll call complete. Forty-seven people in total. Remember the assessment rules; I'll state them one last time. The Sea of Consciousness assessment will be completed at the temporary inspection station at the entrance of the ruins. Only those who pass can enter the ruins area. Private fighting is strictly prohibited within the ruins. If you encounter a danger you cannot handle, press the signaler immediately. The garrison squad will arrive at once, but pressing the signaler means your assessment is directly judged as a failure."
"All candidates, board the vehicles."
The candidates boarded the transport vehicles one by one. There were no seats inside the compartment; everyone could only sit on the ground against the walls. The compartment was sealed and dimly lit, and the vehicle constantly jolted as it drove. No one spoke; the compartment was filled only with the ebb and flow of breathing. Many people clutched the signal alarm in their hands tightly, their fingertips turning white, their tension having reached its peak.
The vehicle drove all the way toward the old defense zone of the city wall. After passing through several security checkpoints and the maintenance fortifications inside the city wall, it finally stopped in front of a massive expanse of broken walls and ruins.
The ruins of the old defense zone were right before their eyes.
This area had once been a frontline camp outside the city wall twenty years ago. After the tide of scaled beasts broke through the defenses, the entire area was completely destroyed. Collapsed reinforced concrete buildings were piled up in a chaotic mess, with broken steel bars piercing through the crumbling walls like white bones. The ground was covered with rubble and deep pits, and a large number of low alleys, basements, and ventilation pipes crisscrossed, forming a massive natural labyrinth. The air was filled with the damp, fishy smell of mud, mixed with a faint, eerie, and putrid stench unique to the scaled beasts.
A temporary workstation was set up on the perimeter of the ruins, with a large number of detection instruments and psychic fluctuation monitoring equipment neatly arranged. Garrison soldiers had set up a cordon around the area.
The first step was the Sea of Consciousness potential assessment.
Candidates stepped forward one by one according to their numbers, placing their heads near a hemispherical psychic detector. The instrument would release psychic disturbances layer by layer, from weak to strong, continuously impacting the tested person's Sea of Consciousness. The monitoring screen would capture the stability of the Sea of Consciousness in real time. Once the fluctuations exceeded the standard, the instrument would trigger an alarm and directly judge them as eliminated.
The first few candidates took the test one after another. Some easily withstood all the gradient disturbances and passed smoothly; some had violent fluctuations in their Sea of Consciousness at medium intensity, their faces turning pale, and were signaled by the instructor to withdraw. A teenager, when the disturbance reached the third stage, trembled violently all over and fell to his knees in agony from a splitting headache. Staff members immediately stepped forward to help him away; he had failed the assessment.
Soon, it was Su Qin's turn. She stood in front of the instrument, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth to steady her mind. At the third stage of disturbance, cold sweat seeped from her forehead, and her body swayed slightly, but her Sea of Consciousness never collapsed, and she barely obtained the passing mark. She let out a long breath and stepped aside to wait.
"Number thirty-seven, Lin Yan."
Lin Yan walked slowly to the detector. Following the staff's instructions, he placed his head close to the hemispherical device.
The instrument started. The first stage of faint psychic ripples slowly washed over him. It was like a gentle breeze on a lake, with almost no sense of oppression. The second stage followed closely, with a feeling of dense needles pricking the surface of his consciousness—precisely the kind of fluctuation he had repeatedly practiced resisting on the rooftop of the shelter. At the third stage, the pressure suddenly spiked. Countless invisible needles began to pierce his Sea of Consciousness frantically, trying to disrupt his thoughts.
On the monitoring screen beside him, the curve representing the stability of his Sea of Consciousness remained flat, without the slightest violent fluctuation.
Lu Ling stood behind the monitoring screen, his eyes moving slightly as he glanced at Lin Yan a few more times. He had seen countless candidates; most showed obvious fluctuations at the third stage. Very few could maintain such a stable state of Sea of Consciousness.
The disturbance continued upward, reaching the fourth stage. This was already the maximum threshold for the Sea of Consciousness assessment in this assessment. An invisible heavy pressure slammed down onto his consciousness, like a boulder pressing against his mind. Many waiting candidates nearby, even just indirectly affected by the overflowing fluctuations, instinctively furrowed their brows.
Lin Yan's mind remained firm. The mental fortitude honed by years of Jianghu battles was fully displayed at this moment. The psychic impacts from the outside world surged endlessly, but the core of his Sea of Consciousness remained immovable. No matter how the chaotic currents washed over him, his true heart did not waver.
A few seconds later, the instrument stopped releasing the disturbance. A green passing indicator popped up on the monitoring screen.
"Pass," the staff member announced.
Lin Yan stepped back into the waiting queue. Su Qin saw that he had passed smoothly and quietly nodded to him, a hint of envy in her eyes.
Of the forty-seven people who participated in the Sea of Consciousness assessment, only thirty-one obtained the qualification to enter the ruins after the first round of testing. The remaining sixteen either had their Sea of Consciousness collapse on the spot or could not bear it and gave up midway, stopping right there.
Lu Ling stepped forward and spoke solemnly to the remaining candidates. "The Sea of Consciousness test is over. Next is the comprehensive wilderness test in the ruins. The assessment lasts for six hours. You need to find three signal coordinate points within the ruins area according to the guide markers. Only if all markers are collected and you return to the exit assembly point within the time limit will you pass the assessment."
"Remember, there are residual low-level scaled beasts in the ruins, and the distribution of psychic turbulence is uneven. The concentration of turbulence in some deep pits and underground tunnels is extremely high. You have a locator in your emergency kit; the instructors can see your position in real time. Once you press the signaler, the locator will immediately send a distress signal."
"Don't try to be a hero. Coming out alive is always the top priority."
As his words fell, the broken iron door at the entrance of the ruins slowly pushed inward. The pitch-black, deep alleys quietly awaited this group of candidates to step in.
"Enter in batches, with a thirty-second interval."
The candidates stepped into the ruins one by one. The collapsed walls blocked out the sunlight, and the light inside instantly dimmed, with only sporadic dappled spots leaking down from the broken gaps overhead. The collapsed walls divided countless forked paths, and the ground was covered with rubble. Every step required caution against the deep pits and exposed steel bars beneath their feet.
The moment Lin Yan stepped into the ruins, he immediately slowed his pace, fully spreading out his senses.
His ears captured the faint sounds around him, his nose distinguished the changes in the intensity of the putrid stench in the air, and at the same time, he sensed the strength of the psychic turbulence drifting in the air. In areas with high turbulence concentration, the eerie and oppressive feeling in the air would noticeably intensify, which was also the most likely place for scaled beasts to lurk.
He was not in a hurry to find the coordinate points. He first leaned against a crumbling wall for a brief pause, observing the two forked paths ahead. The left passage was relatively open, but there was an entrance to an underground tunnel in the distance, where the psychic fluctuations were significantly stronger. The right alley was narrow, piled with broken stones, and had limited visibility. It was not easy to be ambushed, but the pace of advance would be very slow.
As he was pondering the route, faint footsteps came from behind. Su Qin quickly caught up and said in a low voice, "I plan to take the narrow alley on the right. The underground tunnel is too dangerous; scaled beasts love to hide in the dark underground. Do you want to travel together and watch each other's backs?"
Lin Yan thought for a moment and nodded gently. Traveling in pairs, with one guarding the front and the other watching the rear, would allow them to cover each other in case of emergencies, which was a bit safer than moving alone.
The two moved slowly forward along the narrow, rubble-strewn alley, the gravel under their feet constantly making faint friction sounds. Above the collapsed walls, stones occasionally fell with a clatter due to the vibrations. The silence around was terrifying; they could only hear each other's breathing and the faint, low roars coming from deep within the ruins.
It was the cry of a scaled beast. It was still far away, but it was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
"Careful, there's a turn ahead." Su Qin lowered her voice and raised her hand to signal Lin Yan to stop.
Most of the wall at the corner had collapsed, forming a semi-enclosed blind spot in the shadows. The putrid stench in the air suddenly grew stronger. The turbulence also rose slightly here, and an invisible sense of oppression enveloped them. The two simultaneously lightened their breathing and slowly leaned against the wall, peeking around the corner.
In the shadows, a scaled beast nearly half the size of a human, covered in wet, grey-black hard scales, was lying on the ground with its head buried between its paws, resting. Its appearance was like a giant lizard, with translucent psychic glands on both sides of its head—the organs that released psychic turbulence. It had not yet detected anyone approaching.
A low-level scaled beast.
Su Qin's breathing instantly became extremely light, and she instinctively gripped the short blade in her emergency kit, her palms breaking out in a cold sweat. Once this scaled beast was startled, it would immediately release a psychic shock to interfere with their Seas of Consciousness, and then pounce to kill.
Lin Yan raised his hand, signaling Su Qin to stay where she was and not make a sound. His gaze quickly swept the surroundings, looking for a detour. A direct frontal fight was not the optimal choice; their goal was only to reach the coordinate point, and there was no need to fight to the death here.
There was a waist-high break in the wall on the left, which could lead to another branch path behind the scaled beast. However, the stones above the break were not stable, and if one was not careful while climbing over, falling rubble would startle the monster.
Lin Yan used an extremely low volume and lip-read to Su Qin: I'll go first, you follow, keep it light.
He lowered his body, his toes lightly touching the rubble, trying to minimize the sound as he slowly moved toward the break in the wall. The stealth techniques from his years in the Jianghu were fully utilized at this moment. Every step controlled his center of gravity, avoiding loose stones, approaching the break silently.
He raised his hand and gently supported a loose stone above, slowly moving it aside to prevent it from falling while he climbed over. Then, he nimbly flipped over the break. When he landed, his knees bent slightly to absorb the impact, making not a single sound.
He turned around and raised his hand to signal Su Qin. Su Qin held her breath and carefully climbed over the break in the same manner. The two successfully bypassed the sleeping scaled beast and continued toward the first signal coordinate point.
Passing through this alley, the view ahead opened up slightly. In the center of the ruins, a broken high-rise pillar lay diagonally across the road. The faint blue light of the coordinate signal was flashing right behind the pillar.
The first marker point had arrived.
End of Chapter
There was no piercing siren, only the low, steady prompt from the broadcast system, echoing cyclically between the floors, notifying all candidates participating in the assessment to get up on time and assemble at Assembly Point Number Three.
The doors of the compartments opened one after another, and the sound of footsteps echoed continuously in the corridor. Everyone was fully dressed, carrying only the small emergency kit stipulated by the Military Affairs Bureau. Inside were simple hemostatic dressings, a small bottle of calming medicine, and a silver signal alarm the size of a fist. No one spoke loudly; a layer of solemnity hung over every face. After a night of rest, some had built up their strength, while others had been unable to sleep all night, their eyes filled with heavy bloodshot veins.
Lin Yan slung the emergency kit over his back, put away his temporary identity card and assessment voucher, and followed the crowd out of the shelter.
Assembly Point Number Three was located in a large open space on the perimeter of the Military Affairs Bureau. Dozens of candidates had already lined up here. Several heavy military transport vehicles were parked on one side of the field, their thick armor and sealed compartments specifically designed to transport candidates to the ruins of the old defense zone. Armed garrison soldiers and several assessment instructors, including Lu Ling, stood at the edge of the field, quietly counting the number of arrivals.
Lu Ling held a tablet, scanning the queue back and forth. His steady voice pierced through the cool morning air. "Roll call complete. Forty-seven people in total. Remember the assessment rules; I'll state them one last time. The Sea of Consciousness assessment will be completed at the temporary inspection station at the entrance of the ruins. Only those who pass can enter the ruins area. Private fighting is strictly prohibited within the ruins. If you encounter a danger you cannot handle, press the signaler immediately. The garrison squad will arrive at once, but pressing the signaler means your assessment is directly judged as a failure."
"All candidates, board the vehicles."
The candidates boarded the transport vehicles one by one. There were no seats inside the compartment; everyone could only sit on the ground against the walls. The compartment was sealed and dimly lit, and the vehicle constantly jolted as it drove. No one spoke; the compartment was filled only with the ebb and flow of breathing. Many people clutched the signal alarm in their hands tightly, their fingertips turning white, their tension having reached its peak.
The vehicle drove all the way toward the old defense zone of the city wall. After passing through several security checkpoints and the maintenance fortifications inside the city wall, it finally stopped in front of a massive expanse of broken walls and ruins.
The ruins of the old defense zone were right before their eyes.
This area had once been a frontline camp outside the city wall twenty years ago. After the tide of scaled beasts broke through the defenses, the entire area was completely destroyed. Collapsed reinforced concrete buildings were piled up in a chaotic mess, with broken steel bars piercing through the crumbling walls like white bones. The ground was covered with rubble and deep pits, and a large number of low alleys, basements, and ventilation pipes crisscrossed, forming a massive natural labyrinth. The air was filled with the damp, fishy smell of mud, mixed with a faint, eerie, and putrid stench unique to the scaled beasts.
A temporary workstation was set up on the perimeter of the ruins, with a large number of detection instruments and psychic fluctuation monitoring equipment neatly arranged. Garrison soldiers had set up a cordon around the area.
The first step was the Sea of Consciousness potential assessment.
Candidates stepped forward one by one according to their numbers, placing their heads near a hemispherical psychic detector. The instrument would release psychic disturbances layer by layer, from weak to strong, continuously impacting the tested person's Sea of Consciousness. The monitoring screen would capture the stability of the Sea of Consciousness in real time. Once the fluctuations exceeded the standard, the instrument would trigger an alarm and directly judge them as eliminated.
The first few candidates took the test one after another. Some easily withstood all the gradient disturbances and passed smoothly; some had violent fluctuations in their Sea of Consciousness at medium intensity, their faces turning pale, and were signaled by the instructor to withdraw. A teenager, when the disturbance reached the third stage, trembled violently all over and fell to his knees in agony from a splitting headache. Staff members immediately stepped forward to help him away; he had failed the assessment.
Soon, it was Su Qin's turn. She stood in front of the instrument, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth to steady her mind. At the third stage of disturbance, cold sweat seeped from her forehead, and her body swayed slightly, but her Sea of Consciousness never collapsed, and she barely obtained the passing mark. She let out a long breath and stepped aside to wait.
"Number thirty-seven, Lin Yan."
Lin Yan walked slowly to the detector. Following the staff's instructions, he placed his head close to the hemispherical device.
The instrument started. The first stage of faint psychic ripples slowly washed over him. It was like a gentle breeze on a lake, with almost no sense of oppression. The second stage followed closely, with a feeling of dense needles pricking the surface of his consciousness—precisely the kind of fluctuation he had repeatedly practiced resisting on the rooftop of the shelter. At the third stage, the pressure suddenly spiked. Countless invisible needles began to pierce his Sea of Consciousness frantically, trying to disrupt his thoughts.
On the monitoring screen beside him, the curve representing the stability of his Sea of Consciousness remained flat, without the slightest violent fluctuation.
Lu Ling stood behind the monitoring screen, his eyes moving slightly as he glanced at Lin Yan a few more times. He had seen countless candidates; most showed obvious fluctuations at the third stage. Very few could maintain such a stable state of Sea of Consciousness.
The disturbance continued upward, reaching the fourth stage. This was already the maximum threshold for the Sea of Consciousness assessment in this assessment. An invisible heavy pressure slammed down onto his consciousness, like a boulder pressing against his mind. Many waiting candidates nearby, even just indirectly affected by the overflowing fluctuations, instinctively furrowed their brows.
Lin Yan's mind remained firm. The mental fortitude honed by years of Jianghu battles was fully displayed at this moment. The psychic impacts from the outside world surged endlessly, but the core of his Sea of Consciousness remained immovable. No matter how the chaotic currents washed over him, his true heart did not waver.
A few seconds later, the instrument stopped releasing the disturbance. A green passing indicator popped up on the monitoring screen.
"Pass," the staff member announced.
Lin Yan stepped back into the waiting queue. Su Qin saw that he had passed smoothly and quietly nodded to him, a hint of envy in her eyes.
Of the forty-seven people who participated in the Sea of Consciousness assessment, only thirty-one obtained the qualification to enter the ruins after the first round of testing. The remaining sixteen either had their Sea of Consciousness collapse on the spot or could not bear it and gave up midway, stopping right there.
Lu Ling stepped forward and spoke solemnly to the remaining candidates. "The Sea of Consciousness test is over. Next is the comprehensive wilderness test in the ruins. The assessment lasts for six hours. You need to find three signal coordinate points within the ruins area according to the guide markers. Only if all markers are collected and you return to the exit assembly point within the time limit will you pass the assessment."
"Remember, there are residual low-level scaled beasts in the ruins, and the distribution of psychic turbulence is uneven. The concentration of turbulence in some deep pits and underground tunnels is extremely high. You have a locator in your emergency kit; the instructors can see your position in real time. Once you press the signaler, the locator will immediately send a distress signal."
"Don't try to be a hero. Coming out alive is always the top priority."
As his words fell, the broken iron door at the entrance of the ruins slowly pushed inward. The pitch-black, deep alleys quietly awaited this group of candidates to step in.
"Enter in batches, with a thirty-second interval."
The candidates stepped into the ruins one by one. The collapsed walls blocked out the sunlight, and the light inside instantly dimmed, with only sporadic dappled spots leaking down from the broken gaps overhead. The collapsed walls divided countless forked paths, and the ground was covered with rubble. Every step required caution against the deep pits and exposed steel bars beneath their feet.
The moment Lin Yan stepped into the ruins, he immediately slowed his pace, fully spreading out his senses.
His ears captured the faint sounds around him, his nose distinguished the changes in the intensity of the putrid stench in the air, and at the same time, he sensed the strength of the psychic turbulence drifting in the air. In areas with high turbulence concentration, the eerie and oppressive feeling in the air would noticeably intensify, which was also the most likely place for scaled beasts to lurk.
He was not in a hurry to find the coordinate points. He first leaned against a crumbling wall for a brief pause, observing the two forked paths ahead. The left passage was relatively open, but there was an entrance to an underground tunnel in the distance, where the psychic fluctuations were significantly stronger. The right alley was narrow, piled with broken stones, and had limited visibility. It was not easy to be ambushed, but the pace of advance would be very slow.
As he was pondering the route, faint footsteps came from behind. Su Qin quickly caught up and said in a low voice, "I plan to take the narrow alley on the right. The underground tunnel is too dangerous; scaled beasts love to hide in the dark underground. Do you want to travel together and watch each other's backs?"
Lin Yan thought for a moment and nodded gently. Traveling in pairs, with one guarding the front and the other watching the rear, would allow them to cover each other in case of emergencies, which was a bit safer than moving alone.
The two moved slowly forward along the narrow, rubble-strewn alley, the gravel under their feet constantly making faint friction sounds. Above the collapsed walls, stones occasionally fell with a clatter due to the vibrations. The silence around was terrifying; they could only hear each other's breathing and the faint, low roars coming from deep within the ruins.
It was the cry of a scaled beast. It was still far away, but it was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
"Careful, there's a turn ahead." Su Qin lowered her voice and raised her hand to signal Lin Yan to stop.
Most of the wall at the corner had collapsed, forming a semi-enclosed blind spot in the shadows. The putrid stench in the air suddenly grew stronger. The turbulence also rose slightly here, and an invisible sense of oppression enveloped them. The two simultaneously lightened their breathing and slowly leaned against the wall, peeking around the corner.
In the shadows, a scaled beast nearly half the size of a human, covered in wet, grey-black hard scales, was lying on the ground with its head buried between its paws, resting. Its appearance was like a giant lizard, with translucent psychic glands on both sides of its head—the organs that released psychic turbulence. It had not yet detected anyone approaching.
A low-level scaled beast.
Su Qin's breathing instantly became extremely light, and she instinctively gripped the short blade in her emergency kit, her palms breaking out in a cold sweat. Once this scaled beast was startled, it would immediately release a psychic shock to interfere with their Seas of Consciousness, and then pounce to kill.
Lin Yan raised his hand, signaling Su Qin to stay where she was and not make a sound. His gaze quickly swept the surroundings, looking for a detour. A direct frontal fight was not the optimal choice; their goal was only to reach the coordinate point, and there was no need to fight to the death here.
There was a waist-high break in the wall on the left, which could lead to another branch path behind the scaled beast. However, the stones above the break were not stable, and if one was not careful while climbing over, falling rubble would startle the monster.
Lin Yan used an extremely low volume and lip-read to Su Qin: I'll go first, you follow, keep it light.
He lowered his body, his toes lightly touching the rubble, trying to minimize the sound as he slowly moved toward the break in the wall. The stealth techniques from his years in the Jianghu were fully utilized at this moment. Every step controlled his center of gravity, avoiding loose stones, approaching the break silently.
He raised his hand and gently supported a loose stone above, slowly moving it aside to prevent it from falling while he climbed over. Then, he nimbly flipped over the break. When he landed, his knees bent slightly to absorb the impact, making not a single sound.
He turned around and raised his hand to signal Su Qin. Su Qin held her breath and carefully climbed over the break in the same manner. The two successfully bypassed the sleeping scaled beast and continued toward the first signal coordinate point.
Passing through this alley, the view ahead opened up slightly. In the center of the ruins, a broken high-rise pillar lay diagonally across the road. The faint blue light of the coordinate signal was flashing right behind the pillar.
The first marker point had arrived.
End of Chapter