The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Hidden Location- Exoplanet T- 980)

The remaining weeks seemed to pass by quickly as the constant training and sparring kept Sophie extremely busy.

Her greedy Frostwing egg also seemed to enjoy her qi as it would absorb a significant amount every time Sophie would place her palm on its surface.

She had achieved some degree of success using the Rsychosis martial art, but it was limited to making her figure blur slightly when moving towards the eyes of opponents.

It would still be a long time before she became able to replicate and create life-like illusions.

Circulating qi in this strange new pattern as well as constantly shifting her movements in a fight was quite draining both physically and mentally so this technique was treated as a trump card.

Fortunately, she had picked up some additional cultivation techniques to enhance her fighting prowess during the exam.

She had even managed to win one spar against Astrid!

But only by two points.

…...and with Rachel and her teaming up.

Site 13 was the closest testing site to Gaia, so their exam was going to begin much earlier when compared to the other sites.

And it would start as they stepped foot on the exoplanet.

There was a grand total of roughly one million students aboard the transport vessel so the students would be teleported in batches to different locations on the exoplanet.

The entrance exam would be in the form of a survival free-for-all fight where students would be constantly eliminated until only the top one thousand remained.

This exoplanet was fully under the control of the exam monitoring team and had been modified with mechanical barriers to slowly push the candidates into smaller zones as time went on.

It would be impossible to make it to the cut off mark without eliminating at least several other participants or having impressive stealth skills.

Students would start off on equal footing and needed to fight others for weapons, supplies and food stock.

In addition, the exoplanet was home to all manner of fearsome beasts and monsters that would provide an additional challenge for the poor students.

"Next in line please!" came a loud call.

Sophie and her friends were currently lined up to get clearance for entry into the transporter.

Each student would need to be scanned to prevent the smuggling in of banned weapons or goods.

They could not start the entrance exam with weapons, but supply crates could be found in hidden locations.

In addition, for safety purposes, each student would be provided a barrier device that would coat their body with an absorbance gel in the event of a fatal attack.

This was considered an elimination and the student whose device triggered would be transported back to the ship.

Communicators and wristbands were also forbidden to prevent coordinated team ups.

"How are you all feeling?" Rachel asked.

Sophie just gave a weak smile and nervously rubbed her hands together.

The closer their position in the line reached to the scanner also corresponded to her increasingly strong sense of worry about the impending month of trials.

"I'm ready to kick some ass!" came a confident growl from Astrid who bared her fangs in excitement.

Qiana was quietly standing behind the trio and no one could tell what she was thinking.

The line shortened and soon it was Sophie's turn.

"Please step on the zone to your left," the security worker lazily spoke.

Sophie stepped on a metallic plate and a harsh green light swept up and down her body for a few minutes.

Great importance was placed on this entrance exam so multiple sweeps were implemented as a precautionary measure.

A robotic arm extended down from the ceiling and placed a metallic device on the side of her hips which would serve as the barrier deployer.

The worker glanced at the control panel on the side and gave an okay sign, so Sophie headed towards the transport door.

"Good luck guys!" Sophie turned around to give a quick wave.

Astrid and Rachel waved back with broad smiles and even Qiana raised her hand slightly.

[Arriving at Exoplanet – T-980]

[Please disembark]

A cloud of white particles formed into the figure of Sophie as she landed on the surface of the exoplanet without any trouble.

"Always carefully observe the terrain to look for any noteworthy threats or features," the voice of Katarina echoed in her mind.

Sophie calmed herself down and carefully gazed at her new environment.

She was in the middle of a meadow with soft gentle grass below her feet. Tall trees stood proudly in the distance as a dense jungle appeared to be surrounding this patch of grass.

There were twenty large crates in the middle of the meadow as well as one hundred raised stone platforms that encircled the loot.

Several of these platforms were occupied by students who were showing tense expressions on their faces.

There was also a holographic screen above the crates but Sophie was too far away to make out the words.

Why were they just standing still?

What was preventing them from fighting one another?

Question after question entered Sophie's mind as she shifted uneasily from side to side.

A mechanical voice soon interrupted Sophie's state of concentration,

[Stand on one of the raised platforms and wait until the entrance exam officially begins.]

Sophie looked up and realised that there was a small robot hovering in the air above her and showing a flashing arrow towards the platforms.

Some students were on platforms next to others while some were standing on spots without any neighbours.

Sophie was unsure if all the spots would be filled but quietly walked towards a platform on the north-eastern side that seemed to be occupied by the least number of competitors.

The holographic screen that was floating above the supply crates was showing a thirty-minute countdown that was slowly ticking down.

There was only one word to describe what would happen after the countdown ended…

Bloodbath.

One could not know the contents of what was inside of the crates, but the supplies would certainly not be enough for all the participants present on the platforms.

There were other crates hidden around the exoplanet but who would be willing to take the chance to find one at random.

Cultivators with weapons would have a great advantage against those without.

All the students present needed to rush for a crate and protect their supply from being stolen by their competitors.

Sophie carefully observed the ground of the meadow, but the land was flat without any spaces to hide or terrain to take advantage of.

The other students on the stone platforms came from a variety of different races, there were the fierce Mendolesa, cheerful Servies as well as humans and a couple of hybrids.

Naturally, it was impossible to tell which of the figures were actually members of the Quafes race in disguise.

[ 10 minutes remaining….]

More figures stumbled out of the transporter and were directed to one of the empty spots on the stone platforms.

[5 minutes remaining….]

Each platform was now occupied by a student and the atmosphere became more and more tense as bloodlust filled the air.

Sophie scanned each figure and was left disappointed as it appeared that none of her roommates were placed in this section of the exoplanet.

[2 minutes remaining…]

Sophie took a few deep breaths and started circulating qi around her body in a familiar pattern.

[30 seconds remaining…]

Various runes, techniques and skills were being activated in advance as the students intensely focused on the ticking clock.

[The University Entrance Exam…. will now begin!]

Sophie's figure blurred and soon vanished from the spot as she activated her movement skill to the highest level.

It was time to show off her abilities!