Priest Moran stood on a slightly raised moonstone at the front of the clearing. Beside him, apart from the instructors seen earlier, there were two more elves, exuding a deeper aura and clad in silvery-white light armor, wearing the insignia of the High-level Guards of the Moon Mark Clan.

Their eyes were sharp as eagles, quietly scanning the candidates below, an invisible pressure spreading out.

"This selection aims to reinforce the outer guard of Miss Lyrandella with fresh blood," Priest Moran’s voice clearly reached everyone’s ears, "A total of thirty will participate, but only the best nine or even fewer will remain. The selection consists of three rounds, with unqualified candidates eliminated each round. Now, begin the first round, the Moon Resonance and Will Trial."

The first round of testing was simple and direct, yet it targeted the core of the Dark Elves’ power.

The candidates were required to sit cross-legged in the center of the clearing, facing the Su Lun Moon high in the sky, as it so happened to be the Silver Moon period.

What they needed to do was delve as deeply as possible into a meditative state to guide the moonlight energy into their bodies, refine their fighting spirit, and resist the ubiquitous mental whispers mixed with ancient ritual powers in the trial forest.

The test began. Thirty strands of moonlight fighting spirit, either strong or weak, lit up one after another, reflecting the silvery glow falling from the sky.

Duke also closed his eyes, initiating the Moonlight Breathing Technique.

He needed to control the intensity of the resonance, showing enough potential and stability without appearing too astonishing.

Most of his mind was focused on maintaining his disguise, while a sliver of his consciousness sensed and resisted the so-called mental whispers.

These whispers were not concrete sounds but a disturbance acting directly on the spiritual plane, sometimes like distant screams of battle, sometimes like whispers in the dark, and at times evoking fragments of painful memories of homeland destruction and clan dispersal deep within the heart.

For those who had truly experienced the pain of defeat as routed soldiers, this interference was especially intense.

But given Duke’s current formidable spiritual power, this level of mental interference was nothing and could not cause him substantial harm.

Time passed bit by bit. Duke maintained stable energy fluctuations throughout, his breathing long and deep, his expression calm, as if those whispers were merely breezes brushing past his ear.

He noticed that several fighting spirit glows around him had already started to fluctuate violently, and some candidates let out painful groans, their faces pale, clearly severely disturbed by the mental whispers, unable to maintain their meditative state.

About one standard time of the Dark Elf Plane later, Priest Moran’s voice rang out again: "Stop."

The candidates slowly opened their eyes, many with sweat trickling down their foreheads and eyes still bearing a trace of fatigue or the aftermath of a struggle.

In contrast, Duke appeared relatively composed, with only a slight disturbance in his aura, which quickly settled back down.

The two High-level Guards stepped forward, their gaze like lightning, swiftly scanning each candidate, focusing on their mental state and the speed at which their fighting spirit settled.

Moments later, one of them softly reported a few words to Priest Moran.

"First round, eliminate eight people." Priest Moran announced, his voice lacking emotion.

The eight candidates looking the worst, with the most erratic fighting spirit fluctuations, were forlornly led away from the clearing by the instructors.

Twenty-two remained.

"Second round, the comprehensive test of stealth, tracking, and counter-tracking." Priest Moran pointed to the deep trial forest behind him, "You will be divided into pairs, forming eleven groups. Each group will receive a simplified map and an objective item, a small piece of specially crafted moonlight stone emitting faint moonlight waves’ initial hidden location.

Your task is to find your group’s target moonlight stone within two standard times, under the premise of not being discovered and marked by the hunters, and bring it to the designated gathering point.

There are ten experienced Level 2 hunters lurking in the forest, who will actively search for and attempt to mark you. Anyone marked is deemed to have failed the task. If either member of a group is marked, the entire group is eliminated. Finally, they will be evaluated based on arrival time, whether they have the moonlight stone, and the number of times they have been discovered."

The grouping was quickly completed.

Duke’s partner was a stout elf warrior named Gang Yan from the Stone Root Clan, known for his strength but seemingly not skilled in stealth, making it a disadvantageous combination.

Duke slightly furrowed his brow. If he were on his own, he was confident he could accomplish the task relatively well.

But now, being randomly grouped, he also had to ensure the teammate could complete the task.

He quickly understood the intention behind the assessment. They were to become Miss Lyrandella’s guardians, and naturally, all assessment criteria were according to the standards of a guardian.

After retrieving the map and initial information, they had very little time to communicate.

Gang Yan appeared a bit impatient: "Ying Ye, I’ve heard you’re good at stealth. I’ll follow you, find the stone, and I’ll clear the way!"

Duke quickly glanced at the map, sensed the energy environment in the forest, and the faint presence of hunters, quickly devising a plan in his mind.

"Gang Yan, your strength is our advantage, but stealth is not. We can’t act together; the target is too big." He said in a low voice, "You take the relatively open path marked on the map to lurk, most likely attracting hunters’ attention there. Be as careful as possible, and the later you’re discovered, the better.

I will take the longer route, maneuver from this side with denser shadows, attempting to find and return the target directly. If I succeed first, I’ll signal you. If you are discovered first, maneuver as much as possible to buy me time."