Douluo: Brains Over Bloodline

The middle-aged female officer continued to size up Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan was dressed casually, clearly having entered the Endless Mountain Range in this attire.

The fact that he could enter the camp in such a relaxed state spoke volumes about his physical condition.

Although she felt Xu Yuan had a high probability of passing, the middle-aged female officer still gave him the necessary reminders.

Xu Yuan glanced over and noticed an array of weapons and equipment before him. Many were modern soul-guided weapons, including ray guns and soul cannons, among others. He could only identify about a third of them.

Without hesitation, Xu Yuan stepped forward to the melee weapons section and picked out a sleek black alloy spear.

Xu Yuan knew that although soul power couldn't be used in the testing area, it was similar to the Dragon Valley—only soul power was restricted, while blood essence could still be utilized normally. His Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear, being a blood essence martial soul, could still function as usual.

Therefore, for him, the choice of weapon didn't matter much.

"You've chosen arrogance. Follow me," the middle-aged female officer said with a tone of disappointment, shaking her head slightly before turning and leading Xu Yuan to the testing site.

She brought Xu Yuan to a large, conical building at the center of the camp. It was the tallest structure there, standing about fifty meters high.

Entering from the side, Xu Yuan saw other soldiers dressed uniformly in white military uniforms. On their chests was the emblem of the Snow Spirit Eagle. The lowest rank visible on their shoulders was that of a second lieutenant—no enlisted soldiers were present.

The middle-aged female officer led Xu Yuan to an elevator. As the elevator doors opened, Long Yuxue's voice suddenly rang out.

"Wait a moment."

Long Yuxue had already removed her heavy coat and was now wearing a crisp, white uniform without a single wrinkle. Her golden epaulets accentuated her tall, commanding figure.

"Major," the middle-aged female officer saluted.

Long Yuxue returned the salute with a fist-to-chest gesture.

Her tall, slender frame and striking beauty were accentuated by her well-developed physique. With one powerful thump of her chest, there was a noticeable ripple. Xu Yuan inadvertently caught a glimpse, causing his lips to twitch slightly.

"I'll personally oversee his evaluation. You may return," Long Yuxue said.

"You're handling it personally?"

"I reviewed his journey into the mountains, so I'll take charge of his evaluation," Long Yuxue explained.

The middle-aged female officer didn't ask further questions, saluted, and walked briskly out of the elevator.

The elevator doors closed, and it began its descent.

Moments later, the doors opened to reveal a metallic corridor. Following the corridor inward and taking a left turn, Long Yuxue led Xu Yuan into a room.

The room resembled the entrance to the Spirit Ascension Platform in the Spirit Pagoda—a place Xu Yuan was quite familiar with as a frequent visitor.

His gaze fixed on the instruments within the room.

Long Yuxue moved to the control panel, her hands flying across the keyboard. Two glass pods slowly opened.

"Have you been to the Spirit Ascension Platform?"

"Yes."

Long Yuxue nodded. "Your evaluation will be similar. The task is simple—protect me until the evaluation ends."

Inside the pod, Xu Yuan experienced the same sensation as entering the Spirit Ascension Platform.

His mind went blank for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a snowy field, holding the spear he had selected from the warehouse earlier.

Long Yuxue's eyes repeatedly glanced at the spear in Xu Yuan's hand. She had already looked at it several times earlier.

Now that they were officially in the evaluation, she finally couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and "kindly" remind him: "We're about to enter that area where soul power can't be used. That spear of yours might not perform as you imagine."

Long Yuxue pointed ahead. There was a massive pit, bottomless and shrouded in darkness. An indescribable aura rose from below, sending involuntary shivers through the spirit.

Seeing no reaction from Xu Yuan, Long Yuxue didn't say more.

"Follow me and jump down."

Taking the lead, she walked to the edge of the pit and leapt down.

Xu Yuan's task was to protect Long Yuxue, so he naturally couldn't lose sight of her. He followed closely behind, jumping down after her.

This was a cavern with uneven walls that didn't appear to be man-made. After falling about a hundred meters, their descent was halted by a large net.

Once their bodies stabilized, next to the net were circular openings of varying sizes. The largest opening was ten meters wide, while the smallest was just over two meters—large enough for a normal-sized soul master to pass through.

Long Yuxue climbed toward one of the openings, and Xu Yuan followed closely behind, spear in hand.

"From this point onward, we could encounter danger at any moment. Your job is to ensure my safety as we delve deeper. The deeper we go, the better your evaluation score will be."

Long Yuxue gave her final reminder. Before Xu Yuan could nod, she had already charged forward.

Xu Yuan's lips twitched.

Her reckless behavior would certainly increase the difficulty of protecting her.

The two ventured deeper into the opening, and Xu Yuan released his spiritual power to sense their surroundings.

"You can still use your spiritual power?" Long Yuxue asked in surprise.

"Of course," Xu Yuan replied matter-of-factly, as if saying, "Didn't you say soul power couldn't be used here? Spiritual power isn't soul power."

In reality, he was well aware that most soul masters shouldn't be able to use spiritual power here. While it wasn't completely suppressed like soul power, it was still heavily restricted.

This was due to the influence of different world laws.

The environment here simulated the real Abyssal passage.

Within the Abyssal passage, the Abyss was dominant, and its laws almost entirely suppressed the Douluo Plane's power system, which was why soul power couldn't be used.

Spiritual power was similarly affected.

Most soul masters' spiritual power was closely tied to their soul power, with every bit of growth often fed by their soul power.

Xu Yuan was different. His spiritual power was cultivated through visualization meditation, especially under the refinement of stellar energy. His soul power, derived from fully refined primordial stellar energy, was on par with his spiritual power.

Ordinary soul masters' soul power belonged to the Douluo Plane, making it suppressible by the Abyss.

However, soul power cultivated from fully refined primordial stellar energy was different—it could be considered universal cosmic energy, resistant even to suppression by the Abyss.

Thus, Xu Yuan could still use his spiritual power.

Long Yuxue remained silent.

Xu Yuan understood the principle, but she didn't.

Now that Xu Yuan had already used his spiritual power, she couldn't dwell on her confusion any longer, lest she expose her lack of knowledge and feel embarrassed.

Of course, she would still ask later, as this could have significant implications for the Blood God Legion's resistance against Abyss invasions. But such matters were complicated, and she wasn't prepared to inquire here.

Xu Yuan extended his spiritual power to sense the presence of living beings.

He stepped forward, shielding Long Yuxue behind him, and thrust his spear.

The surrounding energy stirred, naturally forming a spear aura along the spear.

The spear aura shot out, piercing fiercely into the cave wall.

A shriek echoed in response.

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