In a secluded cave outside the trial grounds.
The high-ranking officials of the Spirit Power Association gathered here, standing solemnly around a table.
On the table was a panoramic overhead view of the entire trial grounds.
Countless small dots of various colors were moving slowly across it.
When some of these dots collided, a portion of them immediately disappeared, leaving only a few still active.
The colors of these dots were divided into gray, blue, green, red, and white.
This was not a classification by school, but by the talent test level during the entrance examination.
White talent represented the strongest, followed by red, green, blue, and gray as the lowest.
"This test is our last stand. We must quickly identify geniuses who possess both true talent and combat ability, and then protect and nurture them."
"Only in this way can we withstand the threat of the encroaching night!"
Zheng Hao, the president of the Spirit Power Association, said with a grave expression.
"Indeed. Since the last spiritual tide outbreak, although the attacks have decreased, we have still had geniuses disappear continuously."
"After investigation, they were not assassinated, but actively evaded our surveillance and defected to the encroaching night."
"According to our deductions, it's very likely that the encroaching night offered greater and more tempting conditions, which led them to defect willingly."
"Therefore, to prevent the continued loss of talent, we must find those truly worth nurturing and concentrate all our resources on them. Only then can we secure a foothold in this battle for talent."
"Moreover... besides the encroaching night, the military is also coveting our position. The situation is not optimistic!"
Assistant Jiang Chenchen waved her hand, and information on recently missing persons, as well as a talent reserve trend chart for the Spirit Power Association, appeared before everyone.
The missing personnel were listed densely, filling the entire screen, and it would take a long time to scroll through.
The talent reserve trend chart showed a sharp decline.
"Heh, why do you need us school students to participate in selecting talent? Are we just punching bags for the students from those four major academies?"
The principal of the tenth-ranked prestigious high school said sarcastically.
"Your school is not weak. After this event, if luck is on your side, you might still discover a few geniuses."
"If we're talking about punching bags, then we, the unrated universities, are the true punching bags!"
A pockmarked man snorted.
He was the chairman of the United Association of Ordinary University Directors.
Because there were too many ordinary universities, and many principals had too low a strength to even qualify for this meeting, they had elected the strongest, the pockmarked man, to attend on their behalf.
"Who is a punching bag is irrelevant. The key is our talent reserve. If the Spirit Power Association falls, the military alone will be unable to contend with the encroaching night and the demon spirit army behind it!"
"The reason the demon spirit army has been slow to act is precisely because they are waiting for the Spirit Power Association to collapse. That's all."
Tang Houde pushed up his glasses and said.
"Actually, if you ask me, you don't need to conduct such pointless selections. If you ask me, just nurturing this one person would solve all problems!"
"He's the man chosen by Yan!"
Xu Linna said fiercely, crossing her arms.
"Who? One person can solve this crisis?"
Everyone was astonished.
If it hadn't been Xu Linna speaking, they might have burst into laughter.
"There, it's him!"
Xu Linna said, tapping lightly on the map.
An inconspicuous golden dot was moving slowly on it.
"Golden talent? Never heard of it!"
"Isn't this the guy your Phoenix Academy admitted under special circumstances? I heard his academic performance was mediocre. His collection value is probably greater than his actual strength!"
"Regardless, it's likely that this boy with golden talent will be eliminated!"
As they spoke, someone pointed to a cluster of black dots not far from the golden dot.
Black represented demon spirits.
The golden dot seemed completely unaware of the approaching danger, moving towards a large group of demon spirits.
"A demon spirit group of this scale, even a whole class of geniuses might not be able to retreat unscathed! And he's only one person?"
"I've paid attention to this golden dot before. Every time he encountered other talented contestants, he actively avoided them, so he probably doesn't have much ability."
"Let's wait and see. The result will be known soon anyway!"
With their own thoughts, everyone focused their gaze on the map of the trial grounds.