Asura Star was an extremely harsh planet. Although it had a normal atmosphere capable of sustaining human life, the temperatures were extreme—plummeting to over 100 degrees below zero at night and soaring to nearly 80 degrees during the day. The cold was lethal, the heat could char a person alive. It was a hellish planet, utterly unfit for human habitation.
Thus, it became a place for exiling death-row prisoners. If they wanted to survive, they had to transform the environment, eventually turning it into a life-sustaining planet suitable for humans.
Though the process was slow, it was still a form of recycling, wasn't it?
This was the examination site of the Cosmic University: Asura Star!
The star in Asura Star's system had a mass over ten thousand times that of the Sun, with radiation so intense that an ordinary person's skin would directly develop cancer and die in such an environment.
Only these interstellar cultivators, brimming with vitality, could move freely in such harsh conditions.
"Everyone, assemble immediately on the mothership's plaza!" A voice rang out. Feng Lin and the other ten thousand-plus examinees quickly gathered, all aware they were no longer in the solar system.
"We have arrived at Asura Star!" General Jeros bellowed. "The exam lasts only ten days. You are allowed to bring only one bottle of nutrient fluid and one flask of water. No tools are permitted. Basic information about Asura Star has been transmitted to your identity chips—you can review it anytime. The more biochemical monsters you hunt, the higher your score. I warn you: Asura Star is a remote planet used for exiling death-row prisoners, with no connection to the interstellar network. In the cold, dark universe, the first priority for humans is survival. So your most important task is to survive. Those who can survive are the strong. Otherwise, no matter how high your score, death renders it useless! Now, are there any students who wish to withdraw from the exam? This is your last chance. Choose to withdraw, wait on the mothership for the exam to end, and we'll send you back to the solar system. Otherwise, we take no responsibility for life or death!"
No one backed down.
This was the norm!
The Cosmic University recruited only ten thousand out of trillions upon trillions of interstellar humans. The competition was fierce, and the mortality rate was extremely high.
Everyone had the right to choose not to take the exam, but only once. If they decided to participate, there was no turning back.
None of the ten thousand-plus examinees from the solar system withdrew.
How many chances in life were there to fight?
Since they dared to apply to the Cosmic University, they had already made up their minds. Faced with the moment, they wouldn't give up.
After all, once they gave up, there would be no next opportunity.
This was also a test of the Cosmic University regarding one's true heart and courage.
"Excellent! Truly the top talents of the solar system, with extraordinary courage! Since none of you wish to withdraw, I wish you good luck! I hope you achieve great results!" General Jeros looked at their resolute eyes, nodded, and was very satisfied. "Now, the exam officially begins. Depart!"
The hatch of the starry mothership opened, and the many examinees rode small spacecraft, breaking through the atmosphere to land on Asura Star.
At that moment, it was morning on Asura Star. The sunlight was scorching, with temperatures reaching a full 62 degrees!
Intense heat and rolling waves of hot air swept in, threatening to roast anyone alive!
Feng Lin immediately closed his pores to prevent water loss.
Such high temperatures would cause an ordinary person to suffer heatstroke and die instantly. Only these robust examinees could endure it.
They landed on a mountain peak as smooth as a stone platform.
As the examinees filed out one by one, the spacecraft rose again and returned to the starry mothership.
Feng Lin memorized the coordinates of this location, knowing it was the assembly point after the ten-day exam ended. Then, the spacecraft would bring the survivors back to the mothership.
At that moment, many examinees scattered in all directions, familiarizing themselves with Asura Star's environment, hunting biochemical monsters to earn higher scores.
"Feng Lin!"
Suddenly, a loud roar made many students' eardrums ache.
Seven or eight figures quickly surrounded him. The leader was unmistakably the man from Mars, radiating intense hostility toward Feng Lin, now approaching with a menacing demeanor.
Feng Lin ignored him and swiftly left.
"Stop him!" Another angry shout.
Feng Lin's pace didn't slow; instead, he fully activated his movement technique, turning into a blur as he shot forward.
Seven or eight figures closed in from both sides, trying to intercept him.
"Get out of the way!" Feng Lin barked, charging straight ahead without changing course, slamming into them hard.
The group hadn't expected Feng Lin to be so ferocious. They felt as if a tank had run them over, sent flying backward with cries of pain.
The man from Mars, leading his group, arrived too late, only able to watch Feng Lin's rapidly retreating figure, helpless and left in the dust.
Ever since getting off the spacecraft, Feng Lin had sensed the Martian's ill intentions and stayed on guard.
It wasn't fear, just a matter of avoiding trouble.
He wasn't foolish enough to stand there, wait for a confrontation, and then fight back—a plot that had long gone out of style in ancient Earth web novels. In the interstellar era, who would be that naive?
Feng Lin had only one thought now: hunt biochemical monsters and claim the throne of the solar system's king.
Breaking away from the main group, he endured the scorching heat and sped across Asura Star's surface.
The ecological structure of Asura Star was bizarre, covered in black trees as hard as iron, an unknown strange species. The black forest was eerily silent.
"Ahhh!..."
"Monsters!"
"Go all out! Or we'll all die!"
...
Suddenly, a burst of screams shattered the silence.
Feng Lin's eyes narrowed. He turned to look and saw a group of examinees huddled together in the distance, thrown into chaos, seemingly attacked by some strange creature.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
Strange sounds also came from the black forest.
Feng Lin's senses sharpened. He saw octopus-like monsters leaping out from the woods, charging straight at his face.
What the hell?
His psychic power surged instantly, forming invisible hands that crushed these face-hugging creatures in midair.
They exploded like fireworks in the sky, their foul bodily fluids splattering onto the ground, corroding it with a sizzling sound.
The blood was strong acid!
One stone stirred a thousand waves.
The once-silent forest erupted into chaos. More octopus-like creatures poured out like birds, dense and dark, blotting out the sky.
Feng Lin condensed his psychic power into blades, slaying these small monsters one by one. Acid rain fell from the sky, the acidic monster blood corroding the ground into pockmarked holes, even dissolving stone. If it landed on a person, the result would be disastrous.
Slither, slither, slither!
The sound of an animal moving swiftly through the jungle drew closer rapidly.
Screech!
Four sharp, piercing cries, filled with cold, savage fury.
Four massive black figures appeared silently, surrounding Feng Lin from all sides, blocking every escape route. Their eyes fixed on him, full of greed and hunger, as if they had already claimed their prey, eager to pounce and devour him, chewing him to pieces.
They were four hunched, humanoid monsters, over three meters tall, with black compound eyes, mouths full of sharp fangs, hideous and ferocious, their bones protruding from their bodies.
A thick tongue darted rapidly in and out of their wide mouths, dripping foul saliva that corroded the ground with a hiss. Behind them, tails covered in bony segments whipped around, smashing rocks on the ground to dust with terrifying force.
Feng Lin found them oddly familiar.
These weren't biochemical monsters at all.
They were clearly...
Xenomorphs!