I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield

Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Black Crow Mask, Assessment Begins

The next morning, Dongfang Mingyu took Qin Tian to a special building.

"This is the selection venue for examiners."

Dongfang Mingyu showed the family crest and led Qin Tian into the open arena.

As they stepped through the gate, a chilling aura of killing intent surged towards them. Qin Tian’s pupils slightly constricted—nine arenas arranged in a circular pattern lay across the ground like giant beasts, each with a diameter of several hundred meters. The surfaces shone with a deep purple-black luster, and intricate patterns resembling solidified magma flowed with a bizarre metallic sheen under the morning light.

"These arenas are cast from Meteorite Iron Profound Crystal,"

Dongfang Mingyu explained softly, seeing Qin Tian staring at the arena surface, "They can withstand the full force attacks of Tier Seven Spiritualists. The self-healing feature of the surface can repair any cracks within ten minutes."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a blinding flash of lightning burst from one of the distant arenas. Two figures collided like meteors, sending shockwaves that scattered rocks from the ground. Yet, the seemingly fragile arena surface only rippled like a spider’s web and restored itself in less than half a minute.

Carved with grotesque glutton patterns, the bronze pillars surrounding the arenas, each suspending a translucent Spirit Crystal at the top, interwove a faint blue light into a dome, enveloping the entire arena in a soft glow.

In the corner of the viewing area, dozens of gilded seats were arranged methodically, the runes engraved on the backrests flickering intermittently, evidently set up as protective arrays to withstand the aftermath of battles.

Beside the arena, an elderly man in white stood with his hands clasped behind him. When a man wearing a white crane mask fell to the ground spitting blood, the elder instantly appeared in the middle of the combatants. His seemingly withered hand clamped down on the attacker’s wrist like an iron claw.

"The battle is over, Flame Fox wins," the elder declared the result.

The woman behind the Flame Fox mask had an exquisite figure. After the elder announced the result, she stepped back, turned her head towards Qin Tian and Dongfang Mingyu for two seconds, then jumped off the arena, disappearing before them.

The elder waved his hand, releasing a green spiritual light that fell upon the White Crane, instantly healing his injuries.

"This is a Longxiang Seven-leaf Pill, which can enhance your physique and heal injuries. Consider it a gift for participating in this examination."

The elder offered a pill to the White Crane.

The White Crane held the pill silently for a moment, then stood up, bowed to the elder, and left.

After they left, Dongfang Mingyu stepped forward, warmly calling out:

"Grandmaster Yue."

"Mingyu, what brings you here?"

The elder asked with a smile, clearly having a good relationship with Dongfang Mingyu.

"Grandmaster Yue, let me introduce you. This is Qin Tian, invited by my grandfather to participate in the examiner selection for the Genius Battle," said Dongfang Mingyu.

"Qin Tian, this is my grandfather’s friend, Dongfang Yue."

"Hello, Mr. Dongfang Yue."

Qin Tian slightly bowed in respect.

"So it was Yunhai who recommended you,"

Dongfang Yue looked Qin Tian up and down, asking, "Mingyu, did you bring the introduction letter?"

"Yes, I have it."

Dongfang Mingyu took out a letter from his bosom, saying:

"The Elder Council has already stamped and signed it."

Dongfang Yue glanced at it, nodded, and said:

"Good, let’s officially enter the selection process. Qin Tian, what is your spiritual ability level?"

Qin Tian replied truthfully, "Tier Four Three Stars."

Tier Four

Both Dongfang Mingyu and Dongfang Yue were somewhat surprised.

It was well known that within the contest, there were Tier Four Spiritualists, and all the examiners were without exception Tier Five or above.

After all, to pose a threat to the geniuses, or even eliminate them, the examiners’ spiritual ability level must be strong.

Tier Five was the minimum standard.

However, Eastern Cloud Sea must have known this, and yet he still recommended Qin Tian, which showed that in his heart, Qin Tian’s combat strength was by no means as simple as it seemed.

"Come over and choose a mask first,"

Dongfang Yue took out a box full of various animal masks.

At this moment, Dongfang Mingyu’s eyes flickered; among the examiners, there were also levels, with C-level being the lowest and A-level the highest, and the examiner’s level could be distinguished from the masks.

C-level examiners’ masks were all animal-based, such as White Crane, Flame Fox, Ferocious Tiger, etc., and were the most numerous.

B-level examiners wore special Zodiac attire and golden masks, and thus, the number of B-level examiners was only twelve.

A-level examiners were even rarer, with no more than five such examiners in each annual event, usually just three.

A-level examiners could almost crush every contestant in terms of hard strength, so contestants could only defeat A-level examiners by forming alliances.

The higher the examiner’s level, the more precious the guarded prizes, and the more generous the rewards received at the end of the event.

Grandmaster Yue directly took out animal masks, evidently categorizing Qin Tian as C-level.

Of course, this was reasonable.

After all, the spiritual ability level was Qin Tian’s weakness.

Qin Tian swept his spiritual power over the masks, and all the mask shapes appeared in his mind. After thinking for two seconds, he pulled out a Black Crow mask.

The Black Crow mask was crow-shaped overall, made of pure black metal with a chilling glow. The beak was sharply chiseled, and the eye positions were hollow rhombus grids, with edges slightly upturned, exuding an aura of aloofness. The sides of the mask extended into narrow crow feather patterns, and the jaw was fastened by three silver pins, conveying a killing aura through its simple design.

After putting on the mask, his vision was surprisingly clear, with no obstruction at all from the mask. Moreover, there was an odd fluctuation on the mask surface, which could block any spiritual probing, protecting the true face of the examiner from being revealed.

"Interesting~"

Under the mask, Qin Tian’s lips curled slightly.

"Next, you need to randomly draw an opponent."

Dongfang Yue projected a screen in front of the two, with names like Violent Ape, Blue Cat, Black Panther quickly switching in the middle, and a button-like symbol at the bottom of the screen.

Qin Tian stepped forward and lightly tapped the symbol.

Swish

In almost an instant, the page froze, leaving only one name.

White Elephant!

"White Elephant, I remember this lad,"

Dongfang Yue recalled briefly and said to Qin Tian, "Your luck is somewhat unfortunate. Among many examiners, White Elephant is one of the stronger ones, with great strength while being moderately agile."

In light of his friendship with Dongfang Yunhai, he gave Qin Tian a bit of information about his opponent. Technically, this could be considered a violation, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Ultimately, victory still depended on the strength of both sides and would not be significantly affected by a few simple words.

Power type Spiritualist

Qin Tian nodded slightly. Knowing the opponent’s characteristics in advance allowed him to make appropriate tactical preparations, slightly increasing his chances of winning.

Next, Dongfang Yue informed White Elephant about being challenged, asking him to arrive at the venue promptly.

Half an hour later, a towering and burly voice echoed in the venue, with a height of at least over 2.2 meters, wide shoulders, bulging muscles, holding dual hammers, and wearing a White Elephant mask on his face.

White Elephant immediately noticed Qin Tian with the Black Crow mask, and a surge of robust momentum erupted as if a mountain were pressing down on Qin Tian. A deep, heavy voice resonated throughout the venue.

"You are the one challenging me?"

Clang~~

At that moment, an overwhelmingly powerful Sword Intent soared into the sky, slicing through the heavy momentum lingering in the venue.

Standing on the arena, Qin Tian lifted his Battle Sword, the tip pointing directly at White Elephant, and softly uttered:

"Come!"