Suddenly, someone finally found the source of the voice.
Right above them, there were enormous stars floating, and from a distance, they could faintly see pitch-black human figures. The voices actually came from the figures within these stars!
"Host, these people are probably the demigods here to watch the spectacle," said Xiao Yi gravely.
"No wonder I felt as if even my memories were being pried into. In front of these people, it seemed as if not even the slightest secret existed." For the first time, Fang Jueyu felt a deep fear from his soul; these demigods were far stronger than he had imagined.
"Why are they all inside the stars?" Fang Jueyu couldn’t help but ask.
"Of course, it is to harness the power of these stars to strengthen themselves," explained Xiao Yi. "The birth of a star contains the primordial mysteries of the universe. If you can connect with a star, you can borrow its energy at any time and even strengthen it through star fusion. The standard for becoming a demigod is to refine a star!"
"What the heck? Refine?" This concept was completely beyond Fang Jueyu’s understanding. If someone could use the energy of a star, they would wield energy capable of destroying worlds. As for how this refining works, perhaps this is the so-called ’The end of science is theology’?"
Those demigods really seemed to be here just to watch the fun, merely floating far above and looking down at everything below — today’s main event wasn’t about them.
Not long after, more and more human figures appeared in the sky; dozens of stars hung in the sky, and even this expanse of land was scorched red, with temperatures rising by hundreds of degrees. Fortunately, these Martial Artists were extraordinarily powerful and had no serious problems under the protection of Cosmic Source Power.
"The quality of this batch of candidates is much higher than the last!"
"Yes, indeed, as there are millions who have reached the peak of Source Energy User level."
"It seems about time!" At that moment, another voice came, and a dazzling white star appeared right in the center of those dozens of stars. This one star’s mass was perhaps greater than these dozens of stars combined!
"This star is more than twice the size of an ordinary class-one star!" said Xiao Yi. "This is possibly the headmaster of Cosmic Federation School, likely one of the top super-strong demigods!"
The appearance of the white giant star suddenly doubled the surrounding temperature, and many students were already starting to struggle.
"Let’s begin!" The voice echoed through the sky again, and suddenly, millions of fiery plumes appeared in the sky, seeming to want to incinerate all living things on this land.
"This isn’t fire!" Fang Jueyu didn’t feel any heat from these fiery plumes. As he grabbed randomly, a stream of information suddenly appeared in his brain:
Congratulations on standing out from your own universe nation to attend this Cosmic Federation School entrance exam!
This entrance exam selects a total of 32.5 billion young talents from across the universe, of which only one hundred thousand students will gain the final admission slots.
Among the participants in this exam, there are Martial Artists at the fifth level of Source Energy User and those at the peak of Source Energy User. You might feel the power gap is immense and that there is no hope for you, but rest assured that this exam is filled with opportunities and hope!
This exam will take place in a cosmic secret realm known as the ’Root Universe’ for a period of three years. Your performance in the exam will be recorded on the marks on your bodies and fed back to the school internally.
When the ’Root Universe’ was mentioned, Fang Jueyu noticed Xiao Yi showing an unusual emotional disturbance.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..." At this moment, the whole ground began shaking, and under the astonished gazes of everyone, a massive projection suddenly appeared in the sky, with one hundred thousand empty slots now waiting to be filled.
The exam performance would be represented through a scoring system, and the top one hundred thousand scorers would receive entry into Cosmic Federation School.
If you die during the exam, although you won’t truly die, you will be penalized by having your points halved.
Finally, students receiving these one hundred thousand slots will receive credit rewards based on their ranking!
The exam format has no restrictions.
The exam rules were stated very clearly, but nothing was mentioned about the so-called ’Root Universe,’ leaving everyone unsure of what kind of place it was.
"I didn’t expect this exam to be conducted in the Root Universe..."
"Oh, Xiao Yi, do you know about this secret realm?"
"Of course, everyone knows about the Root Universe, but as for information about this secret realm, even I know very little. It’s practically top secret!"
"Host, do you remember what I once said about the origin of this universe?"
"Yes, you said our current universe might have been born from a prehistoric war."
"Correct, that prehistoric universe was compressed to almost nothing due to the current universe’s expansion. However, due to certain reasons, some spatial fractures appeared, preserving a part of that prehistoric universe, which became the secret realm known as the ’Root Universe.’"
"Is this place dangerous?"
"Extremely perilous!" Xiao Yi replied. "It’s a vast continent that once had incredibly prosperous civilizations and nations. If you’re lucky, you might find treasures left from the Root Universe’s civilization, even opportunities for breakthroughs!"
"But that place is inhabited by numerous ferocious beasts that migrated from the current universe. They’ve thrived there, making it a very dangerous place. Some Martial Artists have even discovered traces of prehistoric creatures within. Even demigod experts have yet to fully explore this secret realm and have fallen there!"
"This is insane," Fang Jueyu felt an inexplicable pressure. "But isn’t this a real world? How can we survive if we die inside?"
"Hehe, Host, don’t underestimate the power of a demigod. The marks on your bodies act like a signal. Once you die in the secret realm, in a short period, demigods can lock onto your soul and reverse your death, rebuilding your flesh and bones."
"What the heck... I’ve decided to believe in metaphysics from now on and never trust science again." Fang Jueyu thought to himself that if he uttered such words on Earth, he’d probably be tied up as a heretic and burned!
"Have you gone through all the rules?" a voice echoed in their ears once more. "Now, the entrance exam officially begins!"
"Boom!" At this moment, countless ships transporting the students took to the air. A multitude of advanced energy barytes was thrown into the energy system, followed by beams of pure energy shooting from all directions toward a monument standing in the center.
"Such intense energy!" The runes on the monument illuminated with a dense green glow under the energy beams.
As the stele became fully surrounded with green light, the gathered energy spread outwards like a ripple.
"Everyone, hold on tight!" Bernard hurriedly shouted.
Amidst the chaos, the four of them grasped each other’s arms.
"Boom!" Everyone turned into balls of light and rushed into the monument.
With the dissipation of the green light, the vast square was now deserted.
"Is it really okay to go to such a dangerous place?" The exchanges continued to resonate among the demigods in the sky. "They don’t know that dying in the Root Universe, even if we can bring them back, they will never be able to break through to become a Transcender, and we may lose many excellent talents."
"We have no time. This is the best place to trigger their potential!"
"Indeed, we don’t have another ten thousand years to wait."
The sighs lingered on for a long time.