A few days later, the final class ranking matches began.
Lin Hao looked at the crowd, packed three layers deep, and almost laughed out loud.
It was just a college entrance exam, why were so many people here?
There hadn't been this many spectators for the previous matches. He slowly looked up and saw the hovering live-streaming machines, a hint of annoyance flashing across his face.
These were the instruments used by the higher-ups to monitor them.
Not very advanced, though.
Some high-ranking official was hiding by these monitors, watching them as if they were performing animals.
There were many people like him from impoverished planets.
Clearly, many spots were reserved for their own people, yet every year they pretended to offer fairness to everyone in the country.
How many people from impoverished planets had studied Imperial History? Weren't they all busy making a living from an early age?
And among these people, who could own their own mecha? It was estimated that the resources of an entire planet wouldn't be enough to pay for a noble child's foot.
Lin Hao found the spectacle of this competition laughable.
He knew everything already, but he still had to participate in this game for the nobles to watch.
So what if he was considered their toy?
He sauntered to the center of the arena and looked at the radiant pride of the heavens, chatting and laughing without any sense of crisis.
Suddenly, he felt the urge to trample them all under his feet.
But the thought flashed through Lin Hao's mind and he immediately dismissed it.
His objective had already been achieved. He just needed to achieve a middling record in this competition.
As long as he could get into that class and be in the same class as Qin Mohan, his mission would be complete.
Speaking of Qin Mohan, why hadn't he seen him?
Lin Hao turned his head, searching for the young man with premature white hair.
He wondered what kind of powerful mental strength it would take for a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy to have white hair.
He wanted to spar with that powerful mental force user and see if he was stronger than Ye Xue, who always tormented him.
Thinking of the white-haired boy, Lin Hao's mind flashed to the young man he had rescued a few months ago outside.
Come to think of it, Qin Mohan bore some resemblance to that rescued boy.
He wondered if they had any familial connection.
And what about the rescued child now?
"Ahhh, is this who is going to be my junior? So handsome!"
"To be honest, the quality of the handsome guys in this batch is really good."
"Look quickly at the silver hair, isn't that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
He had originally intended to ignore the chattering crowd around him, but when he heard the words "silver hair," he, like the screaming crowd, directed his gaze to the podium.
He saw a boy with a perfect physique appear in front of the crowd. A gentle breeze caressed his silver hair, and even wearing glasses did not diminish his stunning beauty.
Lin Hao was momentarily stunned by the boy on the podium.
He was completely different from the one who had appeared before him and Hu Tu at that time.
It was hard to say exactly how he was different.
"I wish I could make His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cry beneath me, it would definitely be incredibly beautiful, ahhh."
Yes, that was the feeling.
The girl next to him, unconcerned about the opinions of others, blurted out what was in her heart.
And Lin Hao, upon hearing this, actually felt it was quite right in his mind.
Although he felt his current psychology was not right, after much consideration, he couldn't figure out what was wrong.
The thought lasted for about ten seconds before Lin Hao ignored it. He was slowly planning how to fight in order to achieve a middle-ranking position.
"Ahhh, the white-haired boy is looking at me, so cute, so tsundere."
Lin Hao rubbed his battered ears and quietly moved aside. As he casually looked up, he seemed to have made eye contact with Qin Mohan on the stage.
However, Lin Hao quickly dismissed this thought.
How could he possibly make eye contact with him so coincidentally?
Lin Hao continued to walk aside with a amused smile.
After an unknown amount of time, the once crowded area instantly split into two teams.
One was the team of scholars with strong mental powers, and the other was the team of martial artists, to which Lin Hao belonged.
In the previous round, there were nine major teams, with twenty-seven martial artists appearing.
As Lin Hao had predicted a few days prior, only ten students advanced to the scholar team.
And those who advanced were all the individuals on Zhao Jianye's small booklet.
Oh.
Lin Hao cast a meaningful glance at that group, then looked at the crowd he was in.
Twenty-seven people.
As long as his rank was somewhere in the middle, he wouldn't be eliminated.
Perhaps he could just spar with a few people.
Hmm.
While Lin Hao pondered who would be a suitable opponent, he realized that if he had to find someone to spar with, he shouldn't pick someone too weak to be at the bottom, nor too strong to be at the top.
So who should he choose?
Lin Hao rubbed his forehead with a headache and turned his head, searching for his opponent.
First, he couldn't choose Hu Tu, because this person was listed as one of the strong contenders in the booklet. If he faced him, he would definitely be among the top few in the class.
Then, his future actions would be closely watched by others, and the risk factor would be too high.
Just as Lin Hao was searching for his opponent, Hu Tu, who had been listlessly counting ants nearby, looked up and made brief eye contact with Lin Hao for a second.
Why was such a simple sparring session turning into such a long speech?
Couldn't they just start fighting?
With only twenty-seven people, it could be over in a few minutes. Why couldn't they just finish and go play games?
So boring.
And none of those people were any good. They surrendered before the warm-up even began. The only person he was looking forward to now was his friend—Lin Hao.
He hoped his martial and mental prowess would surprise him as much as his gaming skills.
The long speech finally ended.
These few people were teleported to a remote planet without any preparation time.
Although it seemed like teleportation, it was actually a simple combat simulation scenario.
Lin Hao looked at the scene before him, a scene he had played countless times, and his eyes almost rolled out of his head.
This was the exact scene Ye Xue often used to train him.
The scene was divided into five parts, five equal sections.
They corresponded to wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and snow.
Each part had different damage and bonuses, which provided significant advantages for single-attribute mental power.
Of course, this didn't apply to Lin Hao, a level three mental power "waste."
Because no matter which map he was teleported to, the damage and bonuses were the same for him.
In the center of these five sections was the key to passing the level: a key guarded by a simulated divine beast. Defeating the beast or obtaining the key meant successfully passing the level.
Was the Empire that poor?
To use such a cliché map.