Li Yang was completely unaware that she had accidentally exposed a loophole in the practical exam.
She was preparing to increase her mental strength.
With too little “life” in hand, spending it was inevitably a struggle.
She only had three years in total.
Should she invest one year at a time, or use it all at once?
The latter might yield greater benefits, but if her mental strength surged too rapidly and caused any abnormal reactions, that would be troublesome.
After all, she was still in the special isolation zone, nestled in a large tree.
It was better to take it one year at a time.
Li Yang decided to proceed steadily.
Even if the gains were smaller, the isolation zone was vast, with all kinds of plants and shrubs.
“Consume one year of lifespan to increase mental strength.”
You spent a year reading.
Due to the dull and tedious content of the books, you constantly felt the urge to go out and exercise.
Your mental strength increased to 45 points.
She had only gained 5 points of mental strength.
Li Yang was not discouraged and continued to invest her lifespan.
You spent another year reading.
Your aversion to studying intensified, and the words before your eyes seemed like gibberish.
Your mental strength increased to 46 points.
Li Yang: “……”
Two years of lifespan, and her mental strength had only increased by 6 points.
It was even less efficient than when she had previously improved her physical strength, which had naturally increased along the way.
Was there a pattern to this?
Li Yang pondered for a while but found it difficult to decipher.
The longevity system relied on “simulated events” to improve both physical and mental strength.
A year was not a short time.
As long as random events occurred, they would affect the final outcome.
“Well, beginnings are always difficult…”
Li Yang recalled that when she first tried to improve her physical strength, she had struggled due to her poor talent.
Her initial mental strength wasn’t high either.
Once the number increased, things should improve.
Might as well go all in she couldn’t use this year to improve her physical strength anyway.
There was no point in saving it.
What if she had a big gain tomorrow?
Her lifespan limit was only ten years.
If it exceeded that, but she couldn’t store it, wouldn’t that be a waste of “life”?
Li Yang consumed another year of lifespan.
You spent another year reading.
Though you were quite slow-witted, your perseverance in tackling a single book finally paid off.
You fully comprehended it, and your mental strength increased to 60 points.
Li Yang: “!”
She ignored the phrase “slow-witted” and was thrilled by the 14-point surge.
This was great a breakthrough!
Li Yang summoned the system panel and admired her stats with satisfaction.
Name: Li Yang
Lifespan: 1 year / 10 years
Physical Strength: 90
Mental Strength: 60
Note: Only 1 year of lifespan remaining.
Please harvest plants as soon as possible to obtain more lifespan.
Li Yang was quite pleased with her 60 mental strength points.
She didn’t know if it was just psychological, but she suddenly felt more alert, as if she could stay awake all night without getting tired.
Of course, sleeping was still necessary.
There was another assessment tomorrow.
Before sleeping, Li Yang checked her surroundings again.
After confirming there was no danger, she draped her coat over herself and closed her eyes to rest.
June wasn’t too cold, but the isolation zone always carried a damp and eerie chill.
Especially at night, when distant howls echoed through the air, adding an extra layer of eeriness.
Li Yang remained half-asleep throughout the night.
Yet, when she woke up the next morning, she felt completely refreshed, not the least bit drowsy.
Was it because of the increased mental strength?
60 mental strength points really made a difference.
The military academy’s minimum requirement was 65 points.
That 65 physical strength points were already considered exceptional for an ordinary person.
So, 60 mental strength points should place her among the highly energetic individuals.
Li Yang jumped down from the tree and began her mission to collect more “life.”
This practical exam was amazing.
She only regretted that it lasted only three days she wished it could be thirty!
To avoid retracing her steps, Li Yang sketched a rough map.
The isolation zone was vast, but each team’s designated area should be limited.
She wasn’t greedy her goal was to clear all the safe points for Group 8 within the three days.
After walking for twenty minutes, she arrived at what she had labeled as Safe Point No. 7.
This area contained a small lake.
As long as she didn’t get too close to the lake, the surroundings were relatively safe.
Just as Li Yang was about to conduct a thorough search an approach she had learned from yesterday’s experience, where only by disturbing the small shrubs could they be forced to reveal themselves
Huh!
Li Yang blinked and realized she could now see a clearer “faint glow.”
The description felt a bit awkward because the light was so weak that “faint glow” was the only way to describe it.
But to Li Yang, it had indeed become clearer.
Yesterday, she could vaguely see it, but only after the mutated plants revealed themselves.
Yet now, this small shrub was three meters away from her, camouflaged exceptionally well, with no visible abnormalities.
However, the faint glow enveloped the entire shrub, as if it had been marked.
Li Yang: “…Could it be because my mental strength has increased?”
She walked over without making a sound, her eyes looking elsewhere.
Then, suddenly, she swung her axe at the shrub.
The small shrub reacted quickly, springing up abruptly and revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Li Yang, already well-practiced, struck the creature right in its gaping mouth.
With a series of cracking sounds, the ugly shrub was split in half.
System: Lifespan +1 month.
Li Yang easily disposed of the mutated plant and felt incredibly refreshed.
Brilliant.
If she had known earlier that increasing mental strength had this benefit… Oh, wait, even if she had known, it wouldn’t have helped she didn’t have extra lifespan to spend on increasing her stats.
On the second day, Li Yang’s efficiency improved significantly.
On the first day, she had to conduct a meticulous search, often mistakenly killing a bunch of “three-minute” creatures.
But by the second day, it was as if she had activated radar scanning.
As long as she located the safe zones, she could effortlessly hunt down the mutated plants.
Yesterday, she had only managed to harvest 30 mutated plants throughout the day.
Yet by just this morning, she had already taken down another 30.
Her efficiency had doubled!
Li Yang’s lifespan was back up to four years.
Isolation Zone Control Room
The examiners found it impossible to ignore Li Yang her ranking on the leaderboard was simply too eye-catching.
With 60 points, she was already far ahead.
And now, by the second morning, she had surged to 120 points!
The second-place contestant, Zhong Qian, had also reached 60 points.
But how had he earned his score?
After thoroughly studying the “Entry Guide,” Zhong Qian carefully set up ambushes for potential first-rank mutated creatures.
He had accumulated his score by hunting ten first-rank low-tier mutated animals and one first-rank mid-tier mutated animal.
Zhong Qian came from an elite family, with a physique value of 93 points.
Having received rigorous combat training from a young age, he possessed formidable combat skills.
Yet, even with such an advantage, he only had 60 points half of Li Yang’s score!
The enormous gap made some examiners uneasy.
One of them commented, “Is it really fair for Li Yang to gain such a high score just by hunting non-ranked plants?”
In comparison, Zhong Qian had put in immense effort, while Li Yang seemed to be exploiting a loophole…
The chief examiner turned to him and asked, “Do you think she doesn’t deserve 120 points?”
The examiner who spoke up gave an awkward smile.
“It just feels a bit inflated.”
The chief examiner pointed at Group 8’s screen and replayed Li Yang’s entire morning at double speed before saying:
“First, she thoroughly studied the ‘Entry Guide’, which allowed her to accurately identify safe zones proving her caution and analytical skills.
“Second, her mental strength far surpasses ordinary people, giving her a heightened perception of star energy, which enables her to quickly locate non-ranked plants.
“Finally, her growth rate is astounding.
“Yesterday, she didn’t have this level of efficiency.
“But today, she doubled her performance!”
The other examiners watched the replay in silence.
Initially, they thought Li Yang’s hunting seemed too easy.
But after reviewing the footage, they had no choice but to shut up.
Just as the chief examiner had said her seemingly effortless hunting actually highlighted her overall strength.
She was quick-witted, bold yet strategic.
Not only did she have an impressive 90-point physique, but she also had a high mental strength.
Otherwise, how could she so effortlessly locate non-ranked plants?
Even if Zhong Qian tried to do the same, he likely wouldn’t be as efficient as her.
The chief examiner looked at the screen, sighed softly, and said,
“She’s an orphan with no connections.
“She can only start by hunting non-ranked mutated creatures to train herself as much as possible.”
The statement made all the examiners suddenly understand.
Of course.
They had lived privileged lives for too long and had forgotten the struggles of the underprivileged.
Li Yang was not Zhong Qian.
Zhong Qian had been exposed to low-ranked mutated creatures from childhood, which gave him the confidence to use first-rank creatures for training during the exam.
But Li Yang didn’t have that kind of privilege.
If she recklessly challenged a first-rank creature, that would be true foolishness.
Yet, she did not waste her opportunity for growth.
Instead, she chose non-ranked plants to hone her skills.
With that realization, the examiners no longer felt her score was unfair.
Li Yang had earned 120 points through her own ability.
Non-ranked plants existed in the isolation zone for everyone, and anyone could have hunted them but no one else had the insight to do so.
That was the difference.
A truly great Star Guardian didn’t just need a strong physique.
They needed exceptional awareness and an unstoppable drive.
And this girl, standing before them, had all those qualities.
After realizing how beneficial increased mental strength was, Li Yang no longer hesitated to spend her lifespan.
She poured three more years into the system, raising her mental strength to 75 points.
The increase was slightly lower than expected.
Unfortunately, she had randomly triggered a ‘Brain Inflammation’ event, causing her mental strength to plummet.
It was just like when she had tried to increase her physique but ended up breaking her leg some unlucky events were simply unavoidable.
It wasn’t until the afternoon of the second day that Li Yang finally encountered other members of Group 8.
Walking toward her was the round-faced girl, Xu Wenpei, whom she had spoken to before.
Xu Wenpei spotted Li Yang and nearly dropped her jaw in shock.
The two people walking with her were also staring at Li Yang in disbelief.
The contrast between the four of them was staggering.
Xu Wenpei’s group consisted of three people her, another girl, and a boy.
Without exception, all three of them had lost their initial fresh and polished appearance.
They looked like they had rolled through the mud their clothes were unrecognizably filthy, their hair was caked with dried dirt, and their faces, while mostly clean, bore faint scratches.
Then there was Li Yang.
She was still wearing her plain yellow school uniform from Huangcheng No. 1 High School.
Though slightly wrinkled and dirtied with fallen leaves, she was far from the exhausted and battered state the others were in.
She was clean, bright, and completely composed.
The two groups stared at each other in mutual shock.
Xu Wenpei blurted out, “Why are you…” completely unharmed?!
Li Yang asked back, “Why are you…” so miserable?!