Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

FT1205 Ecological Experimental Star, Nameless Mountain Range.

Wang Chen crawled out of the shelter, raised his wrist, and activated his personal terminal, which displayed rows of messages on the screen.

Two more hours until the Advanced Martial Examination deadline.

He glanced back at the burrow he had lived in for nearly five days and pushed rocks into it, sealing it off completely.

Then he set off for the assembly point.

Using navigation information provided by the space battleship in near-Earth orbit, Wang Chen trekked for about an hour before arriving at the transport ship landed on the desert wasteland.

There were already other examinees gathered there.

Three hours later, the transport ship, loaded with third-year students, took off and delivered everyone back to the carrier ship.

The massive carrier's cabin was bustling with activity. After five days of trials, the examinees all appeared weary, yet most had expressions of excitement and elation on their faces.

No matter their performance, the experiences on the Ecological Experimental Star over the past few days were unforgettable!

Many students' armor was riddled with scars—claw marks and bite traces left by mutated creatures, clearly indicating intense battles.

In contrast, Wang Chen's armor was clean and unblemished, not even a scratch. He was an absolute anomaly.

Some examinees noticed this and looked at Wang Chen with eyes full of disdain and ridicule.

They assumed Wang Chen had hidden away for five days, avoiding combat to last until the exam ended—a coward afraid of fighting!

But Wang Chen, being who he was, saw through the thoughts of these peers at a glance.

He did not care. Choosing a random empty seat, he sat down without any intention of interacting with others.

"Tch!"

One examinee sneered and muttered loudly, "Acting all high and mighty!"

His voice was loud enough for everyone nearby to hear clearly.

Several students chuckled, then gazed at Wang Chen with cryptic looks.

As if he were some kind of alien.

Wang Chen sensed the unusual gazes around him. Calmly adjusting his posture, he opened his backpack and pulled out a blade segment of a Grey Armored Beetle.

The surroundings instantly fell silent.

The blade segment Wang Chen just pulled out was thick and long, covered in sharp serrated teeth—a sight that made onlookers' hearts tremble!

Wang Chen took a dagger and forcefully sliced open the blade's casing, extracting a piece of crystal-clear, snow-white insect meat. He sprinkled fine salt over it and began eating it as if he were alone.

Witnessing this scene, some examinees couldn't help but gulp, shocked to their cores.

They thought Wang Chen was a coward afraid of combat, but this blade segment he casually used as food fully revealed what kind of man he truly was!

Many withdrew their gazes, fearing direct eye contact with Wang Chen.

"Grey Armored Beetle?"

At that moment, a supervising teacher walked over and sat next to Wang Chen. "Looks quite fresh!"

Wang Chen took out another blade segment from his backpack. "Want some?"

Fresh, no doubt—it was only yesterday that he cleared out a Grey Armored Beetle nest.

The insect meat was too much to finish—absolutely too much!

"You know this counts as bribery, right?"

The supervisor chuckled. "According to the rules, I'm definitely not allowed to accept. I only came to remind you: report all trophies promptly; never hide them."

To prevent resource wastage, examinees in the Advanced Martial Examination could use their trophies for personal consumption or take them back to their residential stars after reporting them.

Of course, strict biological quarantine procedures were required. Concealing trophies was a serious offense.

This supervising teacher kindly reminded Wang Chen out of goodwill.

The exam rules had already been explained to all examinees in advance.

Wang Chen nodded. "Got it. Thanks, teacher."

"Good work."

The supervisor pat his shoulder and then left.

Every examinee's exam is monitored in real time, and the exceptional ones garner focused attention.

Over the past five days, Wang Chen's performance had shocked many.

This was why the supervising teacher made the effort to remind him specifically!

The examinees present weren't stupid; they instantly realized Wang Chen's exam results must be extraordinary. Otherwise, he wouldn't receive such special treatment.

Complex emotions stirred among the group—resentment, envy, jealousy.

Some even tried to approach Wang Chen to talk, but Wang Chen simply finished eating his insect meat, closed his eyes, and adopted an "not interested in socializing" stance, deterring them.

A day later, Wang Chen, along with tens of thousands of third-year examinees, returned to the Azure Star Cluster.

When he arrived back at his dormitory at the Third Intermediate Academy of Long Sea City, it felt like a dream, a bit surreal.

But that feeling only lingered in his mind for a moment; Wang Chen quickly adjusted his mindset. First, he went to the bathroom for a thorough hot shower, then lay down on his bed and slept soundly.

This body was not yet supremely strong, and such a physically taxing, faraway examination beyond the Star Gate left accumulated exhaustion that needed release.

The next day, he woke up fully recharged!

Wang Chen processed all the blade segments he had brought back, using the dormitory's electromagnetic stove to prepare fragrant roasted insect meat.

The taste was so delicious that he almost swallowed his own tongue.

After eating and drinking to his heart's content, he began practicing the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method.

Though he lacked the aid of Vajra Ghee, the energy provided by Grey Armored Beetle meat was enough to meet the consumption requirements for the First Layer of this body refinement technique.

His progress and improvement were almost visible to the naked eye.

At this rate of cultivation, it wouldn't take long for Wang Chen to step into the Second Layer—the Jade Bone Realm.

But the problem was that the insect meat he brought back was limited, and he finished it all in one meal.

After cultivation, Wang Chen donned his access device and entered the Star Sea network to browse for related products.

Ecological Experimental Stars weren't all managed and operated by the Empire. In fact, the majority were owned by corporate conglomerates or noble families.

After all, constructing and operating an ecological experimental star involved costs so enormous that ordinary people couldn't even fathom them!

Commercial exploitation of mutated creatures had been ongoing for hundreds of years, spawning various products.

However, the Empire imposed strict controls over products derived from mutated creatures. Even if privately owned planets produced them, transactions had to adhere to regulations, and buyers needed specific qualifications.

In just a few days, Wang Chen would receive his adult citizenship certification, enabling purchases of lower-grade mutated creature products.

The problem was these products were extremely expensive.

For example, one kilogram of quick-frozen Grey Armored Beetle Spinal Meat cost a whopping 3,800 Star Currency—and wasn't even eligible for free shipping!

Wang Chen browsed several e-commerce sites, muttering "Damn!" to himself.

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