In the team's code of conduct, intelligence always takes top priority.

Karun did not believe that the organizers of the selection would design all the regulations flawlessly. In fact, he could clearly see that this selection was rough in every aspect.

After passing the security check, any behavior would not be considered cheating and would be allowed.

Inside the black vortex above, the sound of an iron cage colliding could be heard clearly. Without surprise, the second and third batches of trial subjects were also lined up behind.

After receiving the captain's command, Aisley immediately lowered her head and began searching on her own arms.

The most useless, the most useless... it's here!

Aisley placed her fingertips on that small totem and chanted:

"My most sincere friend - Xianti!

Now, I request your help, hoping that your power can be transmitted to me and help me through this danger."

As soon as she finished speaking, Aisley's eyes became hollow, and then a white light emanated from her left arm, revealing the illusion of a white bird.

Its eyes were azure blue, its feathers pure white, and its figure elegant. Its appearance seemed to be an interpretation of divinity.

The reason Aisley chose it was that this flying creature named Xianti, besides being good-looking, had no other purpose.

It usually appeared in ceremonies to embellish them, serving as a mascot.

Therefore, according to the captain's request, Aisley summoned it first.

At this moment, Aisley was controlling this illusion, or rather, she was guiding the Xianti illusion in the air. After circling in the air for a while, Xianti flew directly into the black vortex above.

Not long after, a scream of despair was heard, followed by a loud explosion. Several feather illusions flew out of the black vortex and slowly dissipated.

Obviously, the sacred Xianti had completed its divine mission.

Perhaps the organizers inside the black vortex did not expect such a thing to happen, but after a brief astonishment, they immediately killed the audacious bird that dared to fly in and steal the questions.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Aisley regained her gaze, took a deep breath, and coughed several times while covering her chest.

"Behind the cage of Makka, there is also the illusion beast Zogai, and behind it is the illusion beast Redina. I saw the illusion beast Puxien who was being caged!"

Aisley turned her head to look at Karun, swallowed her saliva, and continued shouting:

"I also saw another silver gate. Xianti sensed a terrible sealing aura, it's... a sealed space!"

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Aisley's role was much greater than Karun had anticipated. Even with just the information she provided, she had already brought tremendous help to the team, even if she didn't do anything else in the future.

Since childhood, she had been in the research institute with her parents, interacting with those rare monsters. She was extremely familiar with the world of monsters, not just from reading about them in a guidebook, but from touching them, living with them, and maybe even witnessing her parents dissecting them.

Originally, Karun expected Aisley to tell him what the monsters behind were like, so he could deduce their possible abilities and make preparations in advance.

But since Aisley had called out their names one by one, it proved that she "knew" them.

This directly eliminated the need for him to guess and allowed him to obtain specific information about the next trial targets from Aisley.

It was equivalent to turning the closed-book exam into an open-book exam.

After Makka, there were probably three more illusion beasts. If there were still more than two teams on the field at that time, they would have to take out the soul-based artifacts from the Order of the Divine Order's sealed space and use their effects as checkpoints.

At this moment, the black vortex above disappeared.

Karun knew that it was patched in time.

Because although the small teams were separated by their respective barriers, their vision was connected, so what happened here in the third team would definitely be seen by the other teams, and there might be all sorts of consequences.

Even in extreme cases, it was possible to directly throw teammates into it.

After all, they couldn't treat the young participants the same way they treated the big white bird.

Instead of allowing more unexpected events and uncertainties to occur, it was better to close the black vortex that was originally used to create an atmosphere first, and when the time came, release the illusion beasts directly.

"Illusion beast Makka, its true form is a giant eyeball-like existence. Its body structure is soft yet tough, capable of achieving high levels of flexible defense. It also secretes a hallucinogenic toxin on its skin. Its abilities are deep hypnosis and mental vortex."

Aisley stated her understanding of the illusion beast Makka.Karun immediately made a new adjustment: "Wentura, when Makka appears, you control it. Bart, after Wentura controls Makka, you attack. Blanch, provide mental defense for Wentura and Bart!"

"Yes, captain!"

"Yes, captain!"

Karun looked at Mars and said, "You continue to set up the formation."

"Yes, captain."

"Eisley, you rest."

"Yes, captain."

Blanch began to chant, casting a layer of black protection on Wentura and Bart.

Under the second round of chanting, a shape of an umbrella appeared behind the two.

The former was a purification cloak, and the latter was a soul umbrella.

After a while, the black vortex appeared again, and a monster with a height of two floors and a shape resembling a large eyeball fell from the vortex.

Wentura opened his hands, and his body was instantly covered with a layer of crystal stones. His originally small figure began to expand at this moment, reaching a height of two meters, and his physique also showed muscle-like effects due to the accumulation of crystal stones.

"Order - Guardian Wall!"

This was not a very advanced spell, and Karun often used it. But when Wentura used it, the summoned wall actually extended directly from his arms. In the order spell, he incorporated his own factors, so his wall was silver.

Not only that, the two huge walls summoned seemed to be embedded on his arms. Before Makka landed, the two huge walls directly sandwiched it in mid-air!

This scene looked funny but it had actually happened.

Karun had long anticipated that Wentura's ability in the soul aspect was not his strong suit, but because he had spent almost every day in the torment of pollution from birth until now, his soul was much tougher than an ordinary priest, which allowed him to pass the regional selection.

However, the true manifestation of his strength was in his body.

He had overcome his own pollution and used it to step on the pollution that caused him pain, gaining higher abilities.

When the young man earnestly used his own power, he, who was originally shy, became like a raging giant.

Makka, who was trapped, instinctively tried to break free, but Wentura's arms remained motionless, and the huge walls holding Makka also remained motionless.

Makka's huge eyes instantly turned red. In an instant, Wentura, Bart, and Blanch, who were closest to Makka, were all rendered in red.

Even Karun, Mars, and Eisley, who were standing far away, noticed the change in their vision.

Blanch began to retreat, opening up her own safe distance according to the actual situation. However, she continued to provide mental defense for Wentura and Bart during the retreat. The two black umbrellas kept rotating above their heads, neutralizing the mental influence from Makka.

Seeing that Makka had been successfully controlled, Bart leaned forward, his arms hanging down. With a fierce swing, a small section of white bone spikes appeared from the palms of his hands, with clear carvings on his bones.

It was hard to imagine how these runes were carved into the bones, and Bart had endured great pain for this.

After a brief chant, two black curved knives appeared in Bart's hands.

Karun, who was closely watching the battle from behind, understood clearly that Bart had "transformed" his bones into a kind of holy artifact. This not only strengthened his body, but also served as a basis to enhance his spellcasting level.

Originally, Bart should have leaned more towards the warrior system of Dark Moon Island, but what he wanted was not just that.

With a flash of his figure, Bart appeared above Makka, and the two black curved knives directly stabbed towards Makka's body.

Two identical copies of Blanch appeared on both sides of her body. In an instant, the three Blanches chanted together, providing support for themselves, Bart, and Wentura in a new round of empowerment.

Actually, Blanch's actions were a bit slow. She should have acted earlier, but Bart's movements were faster than she expected. Of course, it could also be that Bart was too fast and missed the timing with Blanch.

In any case, the coordination between the team members was not familiar enough.

"Buzz!"

The black curved knives pierced Makka's body, but they couldn't break through its skin. However, before Makka's skin could sink to offset the attack power, Bart's elbows trembled, and the force was retracted. The two curved knives did not continue to press down, but retracted a short distance. Then, Bart's arms suddenly stabbed again after retracting.He already understood the defensive characteristics of Makka and naturally wouldn't treat his own attacks as a one-time deal. Instead, he adopted a high-frequency and high-vibration method to continue applying pressure.

"Oooh..." Makka let out a painful howl, and its skin began to crack. Its proud soft skin defense lost its effectiveness against Bart's targeted attacks.

However, small pores appeared on its skin, and green smoke spewed out.

But at this moment, the protection from Brunch had arrived. It wrapped around Bart's body, helping him counteract the effects of the mental poison mist, allowing him to continue his attacks.

Under the almost berserk state of Makka's poison mist and mental attacks, they were unable to break through the defense set up by Brunch for his teammates.

"Roar!"

Ventura let out a roar, and his body seemed to grow even larger. His arms also became stronger, and the two huge guardian walls became bigger and harder.

His feet slightly spread apart, and he began to exert even greater force to squeeze Makka. This not only further stabilized it but also made its skin tighter due to the all-around pressure, enhancing Bart's attack.

Seeing this, Karun couldn't help but sigh in his heart. These three people were truly geniuses.

In essence, they were the same as himself. While their peers were steadily improving their cultivation, they had already begun to dig deeper horizontally, developing their own potential while laying the foundation for their future development.

This was the biggest difference between Richard and them. The previous Richard, with his carefree personality, would never be so ruthless to himself.

Fortunately, Richard's father had started helping him catch up on his studies.

Karun couldn't help but feel emotional. It would be great if these young people were all part of his team.

So far, only Ventura himself could be recruited, while Bart and Brunch had backgrounds in the Knight Order. It was truly a pity.

If Captain Neo saw this team of geniuses, he would be envious.

The situation here was basically stable, and they only needed to wait for Bart's continuous pressure to eventually break Makka's limit. Then they could resolve this battle. That's why Karun didn't make a move.

He looked up first, towards the statue of Augurev on the high ground. He believed that the true higher-ups were observing this trial through the eyes of the statue. So his Darkmoon Blade and Sea God's Armor...

They could be used, but not too obviously.

Although he had developed a method to conceal the forms of these two techniques, he still didn't want to take risks in this matter.

Karun looked towards the direction of the other teams. Everything needed to be compared.

With only half the manpower, they had suppressed Makka tightly. They just needed to spend time to resolve the battle. This didn't mean that Makka was weak. In fact, several teams around them had been tossed around by the giant eyeball Makka, putting up a decent fight.

Without the initial setup or this personnel configuration, facing Makka's mental attacks, poison mist secretion, and soft skin defense would truly give people a headache.

But Karun noticed that the first team had already finished the battle. All six members of the team were sitting cross-legged, adjusting their state.

So fast?

In another direction, the seventh team also finished the battle.

These were the two teams that finished the battle the fastest.

However, the second target, the phantom beast Zogai, did not appear above the first and seventh teams.

So they had to wait until the other teams finished their battles before starting the second round.

In other words, the sooner they finished the battle, the more time they would have to rest.

Even though he understood this rule, Karun still had no intention of making a move because he already had a plan in mind.

Finally, with the sound of the burst of the skin ball, Makka's body finally couldn't withstand the pressure and burst open.

Although Karun's team didn't have the shortest time, the Makka that fell into their hands definitely died the most aggrieved death.

It didn't even touch the ground and was directly suspended in mid-air until its death.

"Ventura, Bart, retreat and rest. The second phantom beast won't appear until the other teams have dealt with their targets. Brunch, you rest too. Don't waste your energy accelerating their recovery. Use this time to rest."

"Yes, Captain."

The three of them responded and all retreated towards the formation.

At this time, Mars finally completed his formation arrangement, but at Karun's request, the formation did not start operating and remained silent."The Phantom Beast Zogai, when considered as an adult, is more than twice the size of Maka. It looks like an octopus with many tentacles. Its psychic power is much stronger than Maka's. Each of its tentacles can serve as a launching point for psychic attacks. Moreover, it can spit out venom with a contaminating attribute."

"Contamination?"

"Yes, Captain. However, its venom can be extracted and used as a precious ingredient for potions."

Karun nodded and asked Esli, "Have you rested well?"

"I have rested well, Captain."

"Stretch out your arms and let me see."

"Alright, Captain."

Esli rolled up her sleeves and presented her arms to Karun.

Karun observed for a moment, pointed at a fire lizard totem, and said, "Summon it later."

"Captain, it's not strong... Besides its inherent flames, it has no other means of attack. If it weren't for the fact that it can't fly, I wouldn't have summoned Xindi just now, but would have summoned it directly."

"That's fine, don't worry."

At this time, all the squads had finished their battles, and two of them were eliminated in the first round.

One squad had half of its members caught in a psychic vortex and couldn't wake up, leading to internal strife under Maka's control.

The other squad failed to break through Maka's defense and was defeated one by one.

The former chose to end the selection voluntarily, while the latter was terminated by the organizer. In an instant, the barrier where the squad was located shrank, sealing the two Makas.

The remaining squads, whether they were straightforward, leisurely, or in a mess, all completed the first round.

Next, 18 squads entered the second round.

Above, black clouds appeared. Due to the operation of the third squad at the beginning, the countdown could only be conducted with black clouds.

Bart, Ventula, and Blanche all stood up. Karun said, "You continue to rest and recover. Mas, set up another array to build a psychic bridge."

After giving the order, Karun glanced at Esli and signaled her to come with him.

Karun arrived under the black cloud, with Esli standing behind him.

In an instant, a huge crack appeared in the black cloud, and a giant octopus fell from the crack. With a "boom", it arrived in this barrier.

The Phantom Beast Zogai, after landing, raised its twelve tentacles and let out a piercing roar.

Karun put his hands behind his back, a faint black mist surrounded him, and he floated off the ground.

In a blink of an eye, hundreds of chains flew out from Karun's side, locking every tentacle of Zogai, including its head.

"Boom!"

Another booming sound echoed, and the previously arrogant Phantom Beast Zogai was firmly suppressed on the ground by the dense black chains.

Seeing this, Esli's eyes widened.

Similar expressions appeared in the eyes of the other team members who were resting behind.

"Summon." Karun reminded.

"Oh, yes, Captain!"

Esli began to summon, and soon, the phantom of a fire lizard appeared. It was burning with flames. After crawling onto Zogai's body, the flames were also transferred to Zogai, causing continuous damage. Occasionally, white smoke from the melted parts overflowed from the top of Zogai's head, but it was too subtle compared to Zogai's huge body.

Zogai let out an angry growl, not knowing whether it was frustrated because it couldn't move or because it was attacked by such a thing.

Esli reminded again in a low voice, "Captain, its attack power is not very high."

Karun nodded calmly and said, "No rush, let it burn slowly."