After leaving the teleportation channel, he indeed found other students, mostly senior students who had also passed the assessment.
He didn't see anyone familiar, so he didn't wait and walked forward alone.
Moving further, many students triggered mechanisms, and quite a few let out screams of pain.
He was also attacked by hidden weapons. Several hidden arrows shot towards him from the dense woods, and he casually knocked them away.
More and more mechanisms followed, and those who reacted even slightly slower were directly eliminated.
He realized that this stage was designed to test a person's reaction speed. Those with slow reactions were easily injured.
He couldn't help but worry about Lin Tan. This guy was a farming lord; he wondered if he could pass under such circumstances.
But everyone had their own fate. Even if he couldn't pass, there was nothing he could do.
Although some students were injured, he didn't see any students die along the way. He figured the academy wouldn't really kill students. These injuries were not fatal and could be healed with medicinal drugs.
He also discovered a very important issue: others seemed unable to retrieve anything from their territories, and even spatial equipment was unusable.
He had been wondering why those senior students were carrying so many things. It turned out they already knew this place was under a restriction, preventing anything from being taken out of their territories or spatial equipment.
However, when he communicated with his territory, he found that this restriction had no effect on him. Even if he teleported into his territory immediately, there was no problem.
This was the cheat.
No matter how many restrictions were imposed, they were useless against a cheat.
Knowing that this stage was just a test of reaction, he began to sprint forward. He either dodged the mechanisms or violently broke them. Even if these mechanisms hit him, they couldn't break his defenses at all, so his expression was relaxed, as if he were strolling.
He quickly broke through the second stage and saw that the path ahead was set with formations.
As he walked in, he found the gravity had doubled. He wondered if this stage was testing their endurance or stamina.
This level of gravity was nothing to him. He walked forward quickly, surpassing many senior students. They all glanced at him.
The gravity path was quite long. The further he went, the greater the gravity became, eventually reaching ten times gravity. Fortunately, this ten times gravity was only for a hundred meters. With effort, others could still pass.
The people on the mountaintop naturally saw the students passing the stages. Zhou Yan was not the first to pass the level.
There were still many people faster than him. After all, the entire academy was full of hidden talents, and the senior students were well-prepared. He could only be considered an outstanding freshman.
The instructors here were all paying attention to the students they favored. Among them, an instructor in white also noticed Zhou Yan.
After checking Zhou Yan's profile, he was quite surprised: "A white-level ordinary lord, not only scored 750 points but also possesses such strength, surpassing yellow and purple lords, comparable to orange lords. This is indeed interesting."
"Teacher Yang, who are you observing?" Teacher Zhang Hongguang asked with a smile, looking at Teacher Yang Junming.
Upon hearing the voice, Yang Junming quickly switched the screen, and the profile changed to another person. He replied, "This Zhuge Kaiming looks quite good. Teacher Zhang, don't try to snatch him from me later."
Hearing this, Zhang Hongguang's eyes immediately darted to the student. He then remembered the name. A student favored by Yang Junming must have extraordinary potential, so he was determined to win him over.
"Teacher Yang, what are you saying? I, Old Zhang, am not that kind of person. I'm interested in Ye Bufan. This guy's strength is formidable," Zhang Hongguang replied quickly.
"Ye Bufan, this student is indeed excellent. He is the second-place finisher this year and a direct descendant of the Ye family's Dragon King lineage in the capital. However, the competition is fierce. I think his sister, Luo Yushuang, is quite good. Teacher Zhang, you might consider her," Yang Junming replied with a smile.
"Oh, Ye Bufan has a sister? I didn't know that. Her surname is Luo, is she a cousin?" Zhang Hongguang clearly didn't know about this.
Hearing this, Yang Junming chuckled inwardly. It was great that the other party didn't know about this. If he could send this troublemaker to Old Zhang's class, he wouldn't have a peaceful year.
Yang Junming quickly pulled Zhang Hongguang aside and said, "You wouldn't know this, but Luo Yushuang is Ye Bufan's full sister. Think about who Ye Bufan's mother is, and you'll understand."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hongguang suddenly understood. "Right, only a woman like that could make the children of the Dragon King family change their surname."
Yang Junming chuckled inwardly and said, "This information is just between you and me. When you choose Ye Bufan, you can't snatch Luo Yushuang from me. I've taken a liking to her."
"Of course, I, Old Zhang, am the most righteous," Zhang Hongguang replied.
Zhang Hongguang already had a plan in mind. If he didn't try to snatch them, he wouldn't be Zhang Hongguang. Descendants of the Dragon King family would undoubtedly have exceptional talent. He had already decided to snatch Ye Bufan, Luo Yushuang, and that Zhuge Kaiming, all favored by Yang Junming, for his own class.
Watching Zhang Hongguang leave, Yang Junming's lips curved slightly. He thought to himself, "Old Zhang, you always compete with me for students. This time, I'll give you a 'good seedling'."
He wasn't lying. Although Luo Yushuang was a troublemaker, her talent was no less than her brother's.
However, when it came to diligence and effort, ten of her couldn't compare to Ye Bufan.
If not for her high talent, it would have been questionable whether she could even get into the four major academies.
There were ten introductory instructors, and there was competition among them. The instructors whose classes produced students with better achievements received more resources.
Therefore, they had to first identify students with high potential before selecting them.
They more or less understood the senior students, so they paid more attention to the freshmen.
Teacher Yang Junming's judgment had always been excellent. He had won the Best Introductory Instructor award for five consecutive years, making others envious and eager to surpass him.
Yang Junming's keen insight was due to his habit of collecting student profiles. He had already thoroughly researched other outstanding students.
However, he had no information about Zhou Yan, who had exceeded his expectations.
He always felt that someone who exceeded expectations like this was either a fleeting meteor or a brilliant sun. He didn't mind taking this small planet into his hands to see if it was a meteor or a sun.
The students had no idea that their actions, every move, were being watched by the instructors. Every stage they passed, every performance in the assessment, was being monitored.
There were many assessment stages, and each stage had a specific purpose for the evaluation; they were not set up randomly.
The instructors could also see the students' basic skills from these stages. Most students performed well, as they were all top students nationwide, and even the worst among them wouldn't be too bad.
The fastest individuals had already cleared five stages and were now advancing to the sixth.
However, among all these stages, the last one was the most challenging.
Many instructors were discussing how difficult the final stage would be.
They knew that Elder Huan Ye Luosha, Chu Luoyan, was not a soft-hearted person. She wouldn't lower the difficulty just because the participants were freshmen.
Some instructors even wondered if two hundred students would be able to pass this year, given the immense difficulty of the assessment.
But that was that. There was nothing they could do.
They were just instructors, with the sole right to select students.