As Gu Xiao picked up her pen, a thought suddenly crossed her mind: perhaps she could break this anti-cheating measure.
Being a dual-bodied soul, she could answer questions on Gu Xiao's side while Jing Yuan searched for answers.
Of course, she wouldn't need to.
Whether it was the written exam or the martial arts exam, Gu Xiao was quite confident in herself.
Complex thoughts flashed through her mind, and Gu Xiao began to concentrate fully on answering the questions.
Time flowed by, minute by minute, and in the blink of an eye, the written exam was over.
A soft female voice suddenly echoed through the space, "The written exam for the Professional Trial has concluded. We are now collecting the papers."
As the last word faded, the exam papers on the students' desks vanished, making it impossible to continue answering.
It was already twelve o'clock, but the Professional Trial wouldn't give candidates a chance to go out for food or rest.
The worst of the candidates who came to participate in the Professional Trial were initial Soldier-level professionals.
Even a physically fit ordinary person wouldn't be harmed by missing a meal, let alone a professional who had already embarked on the path of cultivation.
So, after the written exam, the scene before the candidates' eyes changed directly, and in an instant, they found themselves in a steel city.
Once all the candidates had come to their senses, a yellow prompt panel appeared before them.
"This Professional Trial is a battle royale mode. The trial will end when only the last one hundred candidates remain. Additionally, the trial simulation location is a lower-tier planet of the Mechanical Race. Candidates must also resist threats from the Mechanical Race while undergoing the trial."
At the bottom of the yellow panel was a countdown, and when it reached zero, the martial arts exam would officially begin.
The Mechanical Race was one of the major powerful races in this universe, and their relationship with Azure Star was extremely hostile.
When Azure Star first entered interstellar civilization, the first cosmic civilization it encountered was the Mechanical Race.
That was also the first time Azure Star civilization witnessed the cruelty of cosmic survival laws; it was only a hair's breadth away from being completely destroyed.
In terms of technology, the Mechanical Race had a powerful innate advantage; their technological development was completely incomparable to Azure Star, which had just entered interstellar civilization.
The first battle between Azure Star and the Mechanical Race could be described as overwhelming; as soon as they met, all of Azure Star's space warships had their control seized by the Mechanical Race.
What followed was the self-destruction of Azure Star's space fleet. By the end of this battle, Azure Star's fleet hadn't even managed to harm a single weakest member of the Mechanical Race.
Unlike other races in the universe, the Mechanical Race only needed various resources from planets; alien slaves had no reason to exist for them.
Therefore, every time the Mechanical Race conquered a planetary civilization, they would conduct a bloody purge of the creatures on it.
In front of the Mechanical Race, most of the technology that Azure Star people were proud of became useless.
They could only use the most primitive firearms and ammunition, but these things could only cause limited damage to the Mechanical Race.
If it weren't for the eventual awakening of professionals, Azure Star civilization would have been lost.
Even so, out of the hundreds of large and small countries on Azure Star initially, only four remained.
A lower-tier planet refers to the classification of civilizations on a planet; on a planet of this level, there will be no powerhouses exceeding the Captain-level.
"Click, click."
As the yellow panel disappeared, a friction sound of mechanical parts came, and a white sphere not far from Gu Xiao began to deform.
A gentle breeze swept through, and green wind elements enveloped Gu Xiao, like a small tornado.
When the tornado dissipated, Gu Xiao's appearance had undergone significant changes.
Her originally light golden long hair turned grayish-green, and a pair of fox ears, similar in color to her hair, grew on her head.
Her clothes also changed; a dark green tight-fitting inner layer, with a white trench coat over it, and green cloud patterns interwoven at the hem.
A leg ring was also tied above her left knee and on her thigh, and she wore brown combat boots.
Gu Xiao raised her hand and clenched it; dense wind elements gathered in her right hand, a hurricane exploded, and a long-handled double-bladed battle axe appeared in her hand.
"Buzz!"
The white sphere had completed its transformation, becoming a silver-white mechanical spider. Its mechanical body undulated, emitting buzzing sounds, and its eight spider compound eyes glowed with a crimson light.
After a series of changes, an energy cannon appeared where the mechanical spider's mouthparts were, and a small red energy sphere gathered at the muzzle, emitting a sizzling electromagnetic sound.
However, the energy beam stopped abruptly before it could be fired. Gu Xiao took a step forward, transforming into a wisp of breeze, and swung her battle axe, directly splitting the mechanical spider in two. Sparks flickered at the fractured cut, and its blue glowing eyes dimmed instantly.
The strength of this mechanical spider was not weak; it was considered an excellent among Soldier-level, and many candidates would probably have a hard time against it, but Gu Xiao's strength was too great.
Even without considering her strength at the same rank, in terms of cultivation realm, Gu Xiao absolutely crushed it.
"Buzz!"
"Buzz!"
"Buzz!"
As the mechanical spider fell, more mechanical activation sounds rang out, and more white spheres on the street transformed into mechanical spiders.
A dozen mechanical spiders, without needing any communication, immediately made strategic adjustments. Several mechanical spiders leaped up, pouncing on Gu Xiao from various directions, attempting to block all her escape routes.
Immediately after, the remaining mechanical spiders began to charge their beam cannons, intending to blast this human who had suddenly trespassed into their territory into smithereens.
An ordinary candidate might actually have met their end here, and even those candidates who had cultivated to the Officer-level would likely be in a very difficult situation when faced with such circumstances.
But this had nothing to do with Gu Xiao; she gently stomped her foot on the ground, spiritual power surged, and a fierce wind suddenly appeared, directly sweeping up the mechanical spiders that were pouncing on her.
At the same time, a powerful suction force emanated from Gu Xiao's location, pulling in all the mechanical spiders that were hiding in the distance and shooting.
[Wind Body]
Instead of directly eliminating these mechanical spiders, Gu Xiao put away her battle axe and moved with the wind, speeding towards the outskirts of the city.
An entire city of mechanical aliens, even if Gu Xiao had broken through to the Captain-level, would eventually exhaust her to death over time.
Escaping the Mechanical Race city, this was probably the first test of the trial for the candidates.
If they couldn't pass this first hurdle, there would be no need to participate in the subsequent battle royale.
Gu Xiao had a premonition that this initial stage would eliminate many people.
Her speed was incredibly fast, like a swift wind streaking across the sky. Any mechanical aliens attempting to intercept her or those who were closer to her along the way were all swept up by the hurricane surrounding her.