Chapter 74 - 72: The Hunt Begins

"Because you’re handsome." Su Tong’Er blinked.

"..."

Jiang Ye’s face was expressionless, clearly this wasn’t the reason.

Su Tong’Er covered her mouth and chuckled, then with her hands behind her back said, "Oh well, truthfully, I was just disgusted with Wanyao Yang just now."

"As for forming a team... it’s up to you, I don’t want to drag along two tag-alongs anyway."

Su Tong’Er yawned, "However, I might join Wanyao Yang’s team, and then I might eat you guys first."

"..."

She’s really quite the witch!

Jiang Ye cursed inwardly.

Beside him, Lin Yushu had a peculiar expression too, this little witch’s personality was really unpredictable.

"That’s it, I’m leaving."

Su Tong’Er clapped her hands and left the hall with her white silk-clad legs.

"Brother Jiang." Lin Yushu whispered, "We should probably not team up with her, right?"

He felt this woman was too dangerous.

"You really believed her?" Jiang Ye laughed, "She never truly intended to join forces with us, she didn’t even mention a meeting point."

Lin Yushu suddenly understood.

Cyan Yang City had hundreds of Starry Sky Corridors.

Su Tong’Er not mentioning a meeting place clearly showed she never truly intended to team up from the start.

Lin Yushu instead breathed a sigh of relief, "So, where do we meet at dawn?"

"Corridor 21."

Jiang Ye opened his wristband map, casually selecting a marked cross.

"Alright."

Lin Yushu nodded, "See you at dawn, I’ll head back to the hotel to rest first."

"See you at dawn."

...

Moments later, Jiang Ye walked out of the building and returned to the passenger seat of Zhang Jianwu’s car.

"Action starts at dawn, I’ll head to Corridor 21..." Jiang Ye reported his schedule to Zhang Jianwu.

Zhang Jianwu nodded, "When do you plan to rest?"

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, "Fight till exhaustion."

To be able to kill 1000 Shadow Race, Jiang Ye’s schedule was extremely tight.

He planned not to rest for the next five days.

"Let’s eat first." Zhang Jianwu said, "Then rest till dawn, I’ll wake you."

"Alright."

The car drove onto the road.

...

It’s not just Jiang Ye, nearly all the thousand candidates swiftly found places to rest.

Recharging their energy.

Everyone knew... the next five days would inevitably be a grueling endurance test.

And just as all the candidates coincidentally fell into slumber.

Examination Bureau Building.

In a high-level meeting room, several individuals with extraordinary presence were gathered.

Among them, a woman in a black cheongsam, with a seductive figure, was Tang Huochan who Zhang Jianwu had contacted earlier.

"In this Preparatory Star Profession assessment, there are a total of 1001 candidates."

The silver-haired man at the head seat stated calmly, "Ignore the university students, focus on observing high school students with potential."

"If anyone excels in the upcoming Shadow Hunting task, they can be admitted early."

"Yes." Everyone responded.

Tang Huochan also opened her work tablet in front of her, receiving the candidates’ data files.

She searched for a moment, quickly finding a student’s file.

"Jiang Ye." Tang Huochan looked at the tablet.

Regarding the student recommended by Zhang Jianwu, she felt a slight curiosity.

"Hmm?" Quickly, Tang Huochan frowned.

"It’s an Original Talent?"

Tang Huochan wrinkled her brow, this was quite surprising.

Star Professionals typically don’t accept Original Talent.

Though there’s no such rule for Preparatory Star Profession, it’s rare to see Original Talent participate in this assessment.

This assessment has always been a stage for geniuses.

The student recommended by Zhang Jianwu being an Original Talent? This was absurd.

Tang Huochan carefully reviewed this file, soon her bright eyes flashed with understanding.

"I see..."

"Nearly 500 points improvement in just one year?"

"An unusually fast progression."

"Suspected Martial Bone awakening?"

Seeing these details on the tablet, Tang Huochan nodded slightly, understanding the reason.

"Tang." The silver-haired man on the main seat noticed her expression and asked, "What’s the matter?"

"Nothing." Tang Huochan gently shook her head.

Regarding Jiang Ye, she planned to observe him first.

Though this student’s progress was swift, based on current data, the likelihood of passing the assessment was extremely low.

Early admission? Not possible.

Of course, she still held a glimmer of expectation.

If Jiang Ye could truly exhibit strength far surpassing his own, even if not better than others, she would recommend prioritized admission.

In that case, it would be her chance to showcase herself to her superiors.

As an examiner, spotting talent, picking excellent seeds, is the most important job metric.

...

Time flowed by.

Soon, it was midnight.

In a hotel room, Jiang Ye awoke punctually from the Martial Arts Celestial Ladder.

He dressed, equipped his gear.

"Director, I’m heading out." Before leaving, Jiang Ye bid Zhang Jianwu farewell.

He stepped out.

Under a dark, windy night.

Jiang Ye glanced at the time, his figure flickered, transforming into a shadow as he headed towards Corridor 21.

Soon after he left the hotel.

A figure appeared on the rooftop, silently watching Jiang Ye as he departed.

At the same time.

In every corner of Cyan Yang City, figures emerged, speeding towards nearby Starry Sky Corridors.

"Dang—"

A midnight bell rang out from somewhere, echoing across the city.

This marked the official start of the hunt!

...

Corridor 21.

Located near a market in Cyan Yang City.

At this moment, the market had been completely sealed off, with powerful guards from the Shadow Hunting Bureau stationed at the entrance.

When Jiang Ye arrived here, four other candidates were already waiting at the door, all female.

"Brother Jiang." Lin Yushu also arrived.

"Brother Lin." Jiang Ye nodded to him.

The four girls glanced at the two of them briefly, then quickly looked away.

"They’re from An City."

"Ignore them."

The four were a team, indifferent to Jiang Ye and Lin Yushu from An City.

Lin Yushu wasn’t bothered, he greeted them anyway, "Ladies, once we’re inside, we’re comrades, let’s look after each other."

Silence.

The four girls didn’t spare him a glance.

Finally, the leader, a white-clothed swordswoman, spoke indifferently, "We’re competitors, not comrades."

In her eyes, there was undisguised disdain.

An City’s best, An City No.1 High School, barely ranked top fifty in West Mountain Province.

To them, these two bumpkins from An City were nowhere close to being their comrades.

Lin Yushu chuckled, not minding at all.

Rejected by beauties was something he was long used to.

Jiang Ye was even less concerned with the thoughts of these irrelevant people, calmly waiting.

A minute later, two more male candidates arrived.

The Shadow Hunting Bureau guards at the market gate, seeing the time had come, promptly turned the nearby button.

"Rumble~!"

The sealed gate slowly opened.

Woo! Woo!

An alarm sounded, accompanied by an icy, bone-chilling wind howling through the crack in the door.