College Final Examinations

The **College Final Examinations** is the 3rd event that occurs in the novel.

The College Final Examinations would determine who would be nominated to enter the Astral Sage College. As the most elite college in the Xia Kingdom, it was the holy grail for many young men and women. No power in the Xia Kingdom dared to look down upon the ability and status of the Astral Sage College. Before the Xia Kingdom had been founded, there had been other dynasties. These dynasties had come and gone, and still the Astral Sage College endured, a testament to its deep-rooted power. There were also rumors that there were King Stage experts in the Astral Sage College.

The College Final Examinations would encompass all of the middle and high schools, and each would be able to send their 20 finest students to compete for places at Astral Sage. The number of places varied year on year, but generally speaking, the top 10 were more or less guaranteed to make it in, while things were less certain for the remaining.

## Rules

The Astral Sage College has announced that fifty students from the Tianshu Province will be selected to join them during this round.

As per the previous round, the top ten in the College Final Examinations will automatically receive the opportunity to join the Astral Sage College. The remaining forty positions will be distributed amongst the top ten academies. The academies in the eighth, ninth, and tenth position will be allocated one slot each. fifth, sixth, and seventh will receive two slots. Third and fourth will receive five slots, with second place receiving six slots. Finally, the top academy will receive fifteen slots.

## Participants Ranking (Pre-Exam)

1. First place, Southwind Academy, Lu Qing'er, upper seventh-grade ice resonance. Suspected to be at the Ninth Seal Stage. Beauty and strength coexist in this female. She has never lost a single battle in Southwind Academy.
2. Second place, Eastpool Academy, Shi Huang, upper seventh-grade lightning resonance. Suspected to be at the Ninth Seal Stage. Likey the only person able to compete with Lu Qing'er. Has the potential to be number one in the final examinations.
3. Third place, Dawn Academy, Xiang Liang, lower seventh-grade fire resonance, Eighth Seal Stage. An elite student nurtured with all of the resources at Dawn Academy's disposal. His strength is not to be underestimated.
4. Fourth Place, Southwind Academy, Song Yunfeng, lower seventh-grade Crimson Eagle resonance, Eighth Seal Stage. During Southwind Academy's preliminary examinations, he was victorious in all rounds save two. One was a loss against Lu Qing'er and the other a draw against Li Luo.
5. Fifth Place, Dusklight Academy, Chi Su, lower seventh-grade Poison Ivy resonance, Eighth Seal Stage.
6. Sixth Place, Zenith Academy, Zong Fu, lower seventh-grade water resonance, Eighth Seal Stage.

## Announcement

"Good day, my students from the Tianshu Province. I am Mentor Anlie, a teacher from the Astral Sage College. Thank you for being here. Without further ado, let me explain how this year's examination rankings will be graded: a point-based system!"

"When the examination begins, all of you here will go through two rounds of evaluation tests. How well you fare in these two evaluations will determine your basic points. Students are forbidden from mutually assisting each other during these two evaluations, but anything after that is fine. Being able to snatch someone else's crystal tiles and basic points will serve as the great divider! Of course, one cannot take their fellow academy mates' tiles and points. Your destination will be in the southwest side of Whitespirit Mountain. That location contains the ruins of an ancient city, also known as Whitespirit Ruins. When you arrive, you will naturally understand the rules."

## First Phase - Testing the Fundamentals

In this phase, participants will test their fundamentals. The challenges will be divided into two rounds, where participants will accumulate basic points according to their personal performance.

### First Round

In the first round, participants had to fight a horde of four-winged bats. By defeating the bats, the participant would gain a certain amount of base points, for a total of 100 points, however when injured, their points would be deducted accordingly.

**Main performances:**

* Lu Qing'er, Shi Huang and a few others were ranked at the top with a total score of 100 points.
* Li Luo, Zhao Kuo and Yu Lang had a total score of 0 points.

### Second Round

"This stage is about harvesting Spectral Face Fruits."

A special type of plant known as the Spectral Face Demon Ivy grew in the dark forest. It had an aggressive, violent nature and loved to strangle any life form that drew near to it. It would bury the corpse in its roots and feed on the meat to nourish itself.

After a Spectral Face Demon Ivy matured, it would bear a Spectral Face Fruit. The goal of the second round was to gain a Spectral Face Fruit. Those who obtained one would be awarded with foundational points.

**Main performances:**

* Lu Qing'e and Shi Huang were the most outstanding. These two had beaten their respective demon ivies with pure strength to take their Spectral Face Fruits.
* Li Luo, Yu Lang, and Zhao Kuo each managed to get a fruit, totaling 100 points.

### Post-Round Rankings

 2
 17

## Final Phase - Elimination Round

The rules were simple. When there were ten people left in Whitespirit Ruins, the College Final Examinations would be declared over. Points would then determine their placings.

### Final Round Notable Results

 Lu Qing'er
 Li Luo
 Lu Qing'er
 Shi Huang

**Note\*: Lu Qing'er managed to defeat Xiang Liang, Chi Su, and Zong Fu, but was defeated by Shi Huang.**

## Trivia

* Li Luo used resonance art, Water Shadow Art to hide himself and his companions from the four-winged bats, however they hid so well that they failed to score a single point in the round.
* Lu Qing'er managed to defeat Xiang Liang, Chi Su, and Zong Fu, who banded together to ambush her, using her trump card, but was defeated by Shi Huang who used all three as flesh shields to contract her secret technique.
* Li Luo initially intended to be discreet, but after Shi Huang publicly humiliated Zhou Kuo to force Li Luo to hand over Lu Qing'er who was injured, anger overtook him and he resolved to teach Shi Huang a lesson by eliminating him from the top 10.
* Of the top participants, second place Shi Huang and fourth place Song Yunfeng were eliminated from the top 10 and dark horse Li Luo, who no one expected anything, became the undisputed first place.