Never before had the Foundation Establishment Examination allowed spectators. In Zhang Yu’s opinion, this was to protect student information, preventing examinee details from being leaked.

“But what does this mean now?”

“Are they announcing the examination results to the entire world?”

Frowning, Zhang Yu surveyed the surrounding audience stands, suddenly noticing the bizarre figures populating them. Some were cartoon characters, others game avatars, and a few even resembled mere emoticons. Only a handful appeared as actual humans.

Zhang Yu mused, “Are they watching remotely via the internet?”

Shortly after Zhang Yu arrived at the examination arena, Ye Lingxiao also appeared. He too was slightly taken aback upon seeing the audience.

At the same time, the voice of the True God, Huang Zichou, resonated directly in the ears of Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao.

“No need to be nervous, both of you. These spectators are all from various universities in the Second Layer of Kunxu, not from the First Layer.”

“After observing your competition, they will report back to their respective schools and departments, offering you better opportunities when you apply to universities in the future.”

“This is a special opportunity that the God Department has secured for you, allowing you to shine in this final examination arena and gain more development prospects when you ascend to the Second Layer.”

As for whether being watched would affect the examinees’ performance, that was not a consideration for Huang Zichou and the other Gods.

What powerful individual is never observed?

If someone becomes too nervous due to the observation and performs poorly, ultimately missing out on the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate, it can only mean that the examinee’s aptitude and talent are insufficient.

Hearing Huang Zichou’s words, both Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao were invigorated.

Zhang Yu felt he understood. The admission officers from above had descended to select outstanding talents, right?

“If I manage to snatch the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate in this examination, will several of the Top Ten universities compete for me, offering even better conditions?”

Thinking this, Zhang Yu became increasingly excited. Accompanied by the surging of qi and blood within his body and the rise in his body temperature, he looked forward to the upcoming examination even more.

Huang Zichou, seeing Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao visibly more animated, thought to himself, “The benefits are indeed for you.”

“But it’s also to collect some entrance fees, open a betting pool, and recoup some of our losses.”

“These two kids ate so much in the last round, it depleted a considerable portion of the examination budget.”

Then, Huang Zichou continued to say, “In addition to this benefit, the winner of this examination will receive a three-million-dollar interest-free loan, a choice of one expert-level cultivation technique, and the opportunity to be assigned a specific teacher upon entering university.”

“The loser will also receive a three-million-dollar interest-free loan, an expert-level cultivation technique, and additional points for the future Foundation Establishment Examination.”

After listening, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Assigned a specific teacher?”

Zhang Yu had heard from Fu Ji that choosing the right teacher was crucial after entering university.

In the Second Layer of Kunxu and above, the master-disciple relationship was more important than family background for most people.

Zhang Yu glanced at Ye Lingxiao beside him, noticing his slightly excited demeanor. He knew this must be a great reward; otherwise, a wealthy person like Ye Lingxiao wouldn’t be so moved.

Next, Huang Zichou spoke about the competition rules for the final round of the Foundation Establishment Examination.

“This final round of the Foundation Establishment Examination consists of three trials.”

“The focus of the examination is not only on your current strength but also on your potential after Foundation Establishment. It is to select who among you has the greater qualification to achieve Foundation Establishment first…”

As Huang Zichou explained the rules of the examination, two emoticons were conversing in the audience stands.

A smiling face said, “See that one? He is Ye Lingxiao. When you are sent down to the First Layer to oversee the Oasis Group next month, Ye Lingxiao will assist you in the Oasis Group.”

Beside the smiling face was a crying-laughing face, who replied, “Oh? So, this must be the Ye Lingxiao who will secure the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate today?”

The “Smiling Face” nodded and said, “The average intelligence and learning ability of the students in the First Layer are indeed a bit lacking, but there aren’t no talents. This Ye Lingxiao is not bad.”

“Moreover, the Ye family behind him has some influence in the First Layer. They are not from poor families, so they are more likely to follow the rules.”

“When he represents the Ye family to assist you, you must remember…”

The “Smiling Face” was interrupted by the “Crying-Laughing Face,” who said, “Mom, I know. Don’t worry, I will treat them with respect and kindness and won’t bully them.”

The “Smiling Face” sighed and said, “I’m not afraid of you bullying them; I’m afraid of you being deceived by them.”

“Son, you are too kind-hearted and easily treat your subordinates too well.”

“You must remember one thing: these people below are like the dogs you used to raise. If you treat them too well and feed them too much, they will think they can sit at the same table as you, come up with ideas they shouldn’t, and even try to bite you.”

“You must learn to keep them hungry, feed them yourself, and know how to keep them in check, letting them fear you.”

“Remember, you are there to control them, not to befriend them…”

Listening to the “Smiling Face’s” long speech, the “Crying-Laughing Face” was both amused and exasperated, “How could I be deceived?”

The “Smiling Face” said, “The last time you used a Legal Murdering Certificate, you didn’t kill anyone and paid the passersby so much money…”

The “Crying-Laughing Face” said helplessly, “I don’t kill people in the first place.”

“Have you ever seen me kill anyone since I got the Murdering Certificate?”

“That time, I was temporarily short of Taoist materials and wanted to take a few limbs from passersby to cast spells. To avoid misunderstanding from the True Gods, I used the Murdering Certificate. As for paying afterward, that was to buy the local’s flesh…”

The “Smiling Face” sighed, “You paid too much. Just a few limbs, but you paid the price for killing someone.”

“If your dad was here, he wouldn’t have paid that kind of money. You are still too soft… Son, you have a Murdering Certificate. You are not illegally murdering; you are legally murdering. You can get a discount when paying compensation, especially since you are killing people without registered residences, which are even less valuable.”

“If you continue to waste money like this, not knowing how to use discounts and offers, all our family’s money won’t be enough for you to squander.”

In the examination arena, Huang Zichou had finished explaining the examination content and rules for the first trial.

To assess their physical potential, they would be temporarily granted a Divine Spiritual Root in this trial.

The Divine Spiritual Root, surpassing Human Spiritual Root, Earth Spiritual Root, and Heaven Spiritual Root, was recognized as military-grade power and had been exclusively used by the military and some special government departments.

Hearing that he could temporarily use the Divine Spiritual Root in this examination, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but feel a slight stirring in his heart.

“As expected, the Foundation Establishment Examination has a high standard.”

“To be able to use the Divine Spiritual Root in the examination…”

The specific content of the assessment was to compare how much performance Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao could elicit from the Divine Spiritual Root.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “According to the examiner, to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm, one needs to implant the Spiritual Root into the dantian, transforming the Spiritual Root into one’s new organ during the breakthrough, promoting the sublimation of mind and body, and ultimately stepping into the Foundation Establishment realm…”

Zhang Yu had long known that to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm, in addition to a Grade 10 Dao Heart and 60 points of mana, the most important thing was the Spiritual Root.

In Huang Zichou’s description, during the process of breaking through Foundation Establishment and planting the Spiritual Root, the stronger the physical body, the fewer the hidden injuries, damages, imperfections, and even impurities and toxins… the more performance can be elicited from the Spiritual Root, and the stronger the power after breaking through Foundation Establishment.

Huang Zichou thought to himself, “High school students in the Qi Refining stage often use all means to improve their cultivation, using many methods to force out their potential in order to improve their grades.”

“In this process, it is easy to leave too many hidden injuries and toxins in the body, reducing their potential and damaging their foundations.”

“Often, two people who seem to have similar physical strength will have vastly different achievements after Foundation Establishment due to this reason…”

“This Divine Spiritual Root trial is to test for this aspect.”

The reason for using the Divine Spiritual Root was that, in the eyes of the True Gods, the upper limit of the Heaven Spiritual Root was still a bit low, and they were worried that they wouldn’t be able to measure the difference between the two.

At the same time, two black long boxes were delivered in front of Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao.

Zhang Yu opened the box and saw a set of black combat clothing in front of him.

Huang Zichou introduced, “This is a military-use external Spiritual Root, the Divine Spiritual Root Combat Suit. All additional functions have been removed, leaving only the most basic Divine Spiritual Root.”

“As long as you put it on, the Divine Spiritual Root will enter your body, providing you with a continuous stream of mana and stamina…”

Hearing this, Zhang Yu put on the black combat clothing. The black top and pants enveloped his entire body.

In the next moment, he felt like the clothes had come to life, with countless tendrils seeming to connect to his skin, sticking to it like glue.

Huang Zichou continued, “By channeling mana into this Divine Spiritual Root Combat Suit, you can activate the Divine Spiritual Root within.”

As Zhang Yu poured mana into the combat suit, the entire suit suddenly tightened, further conforming to his body.

At the same time, the spiritual qi in the air seemed to let out a thunderous roar, swarming towards him like a tsunami.

Endless spiritual qi poured into the combat suit and transformed into pure mana, merging with the mana Zhang Yu poured into the clothes, like an external mana cycle, continuously replenishing Zhang Yu’s mana.

In addition, an endless stream of spiritual qi was converted into essence and injected into Zhang Yu’s body, replenishing his stamina.

In just a breath, Zhang Yu felt his mana and stamina return to their peak.

And on the sleeve of his combat suit, a number of 0.03 suddenly appeared.

This represented that he was currently only utilizing 0.03 of the Divine Spiritual Root’s power.