The group chatted as they pointed at the remaining individuals on the projection spheres, discussing which departments they would best suit.
It was evident that the quality of this year's special recruits was considerably high, with their combat methods and awareness being quite decent.
However, their speed was considerably slower compared to Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan.
It wasn't until over 50 minutes later that Lu Yuan, ranked third, finally wore down the Soul Armor of World Annihilation and successfully cleared the dungeon.
His talents in Gale Tide and area-of-effect crowd control were exceptionally useful, but he seemed somewhat lacking in one-on-one combat.
He had at times been sent rolling across the ground by the Soul Armor of World Annihilation's heavenly lightning, looking quite battered.
Fortunately, the time saved in the earlier minor monster stages was enough to secure Lu Yuan's third-place position.
Lu Yuan let out a sigh of relief as he emerged from the dungeon.
The heavenly lightning that had rained down when the Soul Armor of World Annihilation went berserk was truly terrifying.
It was fortunate that he persevered; otherwise, a single strike might have rendered him numb, significantly prolonging his clear time.
Lu Yuan scanned his surroundings at the exit of the arena's secret realm, only to find no one nearby.
A smug smile crept onto his lips.
Am I first?
If it weren't for the eyes of the crowd, Lu Yuan would have loved to throw his head back and laugh loudly to express his excitement.
This felt truly exhilarating!
Was this the so-called fortune after narrowly escaping disaster?
However, Lu Yuan knew that at such moments, it was crucial to maintain his composure and grace.
Thus, Lu Yuan affected an air of nonchalance, dusting off his clothes and standing silently by the secret realm's exit.
Listening to the hushed whispers of the spectators around him, Lu Yuan felt they must be praises and commendations, which only amplified his sense of exhilaration.
Hmph, those two so-called heroes of Black Dragon Abyss were indeed just famous names.
This time, I've truly slapped the faces of those who deified Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan!
Unfortunately, Lu Yuan couldn't hear what the spectators were discussing; otherwise, he might have lost his composure.
"What is this guy doing? Standing there all full of himself, and not even the department heads came to greet him..."
"That's obvious. Ran Shen and Luo Qingyan both far surpassed the conventional times, which is why the department heads paid attention to them."
"His nearly an hour is within the normal speed for special recruits in previous years, so the department heads wouldn't come."
"Uh... so since he doesn't see anyone around, he doesn't think he's first, does he?"
"If that's the case, I'm going to die laughing..."
"Definitely! Look at his confident demeanor; he's so full of himself, even his mother wouldn't recognize him!"
"Alas, to think we're both humans. And then look at Ran Shen's perspective; the gap is truly immense."
"That arrogant smile is truly irritating... but the thought of him being severely proven wrong makes me unable to hold back my laughter."
"..."
After waiting in his self-perceived elegant composure for about a minute, Lan Ruoqiu's figure appeared.
Following her was Qin Tian.
Their times were very close, though Qin Tian had used slightly more elixirs, which might affect his score to some extent.
Lu Yuan smiled and clasped his hands towards them:
"Miss Lan, Brother Qin, congratulations to you both."
"It seems the three of us will be the top three in this freshman competition's dungeon trial."
Lan Ruoqiu and Qin Tian were both taken aback.
After looking around and confirming that no one else was present, especially Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan, they relaxed their furrowed brows.
Qin Tian also smiled:
"I can only say that my strength is still slightly inferior to Brother Lu and Miss Lan."
"Congratulations to you both."
Lu Yuan laughed heartily:
"You are too kind..."
"Our rankings have all seen significant improvement, which is clearly a cause for shared joy."
"Especially since we've left certain people far behind!"
Qin Tian nodded and looked up at the fifty projection spheres in the sky.
As his gaze swept across the spheres, Qin Tian's smile almost vanished.
This was because Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan's faces were not among the fifty spheres representing the fastest clear times!
Doesn't that mean their rankings have completely tanked?
At this moment, Wan Meng, Bai Ziye, Lin Zhaofan, Lu Qianqian, and others who ranked slightly lower also completed their dungeon trials and gathered in the arena to discuss.
Upon learning that no one had seen Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan, they were somewhat surprised but quickly came to terms with it.
After all, even if commoner disciples temporarily led them, the scions of wealthy families, with their superior talent, would eventually be overtaken by the scions of wealthy families, who possessed abundant wealth and endless resources.
This was very common on Blue Star and didn't surprise them too much.
However, Xu Sheng, who ranked around tenth, looked rather displeased.
He was unsure what had happened with Lin Ran, as Lin Ran's figure was nowhere to be seen among the top contenders.
If this was the case, recruiting Lin Ran to his family's banner would likely face considerable pressure.
Unless he could ascend to the position of family head prematurely.
Xu Sheng was the most talented individual to emerge from the Jiangdong Xu family in the past few centuries.
With his SSS-grade talent, "Warrior's Dance," combined with the Jiangdong Iron Wall bloodline power passed down through generations of the Xu family, he was an apex-level existence in both offense and defense.
Wielding a greatsword, he had easily carved his way through the highest difficulty Soul Armor Tower.
The only issue was that due to his current cultivation level not being high, Xu Sheng's area-of-effect capabilities were quite lacking, significantly slowing his clear time.
This was why Xu Sheng's speed was not as rapid.
However, the competition for the family head position wasn't solely based on talent and strength; the most crucial elements were influence and leadership.
In these two aspects, Xu Sheng, as the third son, was still unable to compare with his two elder brothers.
He had initially considered finding powerful, unattached allies like Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan as external reinforcements...
But if they performed poorly, they wouldn't pass the family council's approval!
This was truly troublesome.
More and more people were filling the arena now, but Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan's figures were still nowhere to be seen.
This caused the smiles of Lu Yuan and the others to widen, while Xu Sheng's anxiety grew.
Finally, as all the projection screens gradually faded and the freshman competition's dungeon trial was about to conclude, Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan still had not appeared.
Only then did many who had been waiting to see Lin Ran embarrassed begin to sense that something was amiss...