Monthly Exam, Yangxing Realm

Divine Character College. Intermediate class. Su Yu was late. This was the first time he had been late since becoming class monitor. Today was the monthly examination! On such an important day, Su Yu had arrived late. The instant they saw him, the massive classroom fell dead silent! "Monitor... what happened to you?" Seeing Su Yu pale-faced and hollow-eyed, looking as if he had suffered cultivation backlash, some students seemed to piece things together! The next moment, someone shouted angrily, "It's all because of Lin Yao!" "That bully went too far!" "The monitor must have over-cultivated and injured his sea of will just so he wouldn't embarrass our intermediate class!" "Damn that Lin Yao!" "Monitor, are you alright?" "..." Many students stood from their seats and walked over to Su Yu, feeling furious and indignant on his behalf. Why push himself so hard! Liu Yue also stepped forward, helpless and aching for him. "Su Yu, even if you lose, it's fine. If you lose the Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, there will be other opportunities in the future. Why torture yourself like this?" "Yeah!" Liu Wu, who was on fairly good terms with Su Yu, said in frustration, "Monitor, pushing yourself like this will get you hurt!" Su Yu's head was still somewhat fuzzy. Gradually clearing up, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Who said I tortured myself over Lin Yao? Am I crazy? I never put Lin Yao in my eyes at all. I simply overexerted myself capturing a divine character with my willpower. That "Kill" divine character was truly terrifyingly strong! It was vastly more powerful than his first two divine characters. He had fought it all night until daybreak. If his willpower weren't remarkably resilient, he wouldn't have been able to subdue the "Kill" divine character last night, let alone hold out until morning. "I'm fine..." Su Yu forced a smile. "I'm really fine. I just burned through a bit too much willpower, that's all. I'll recover soon. It has nothing to do with Lin Yao!" Raising his voice slightly, Su Yu said, "Everyone, stop bringing up Lin Yao. Lin Yao is, after all... cough, cough... his student. Please, everyone, don't make things unpleasant over my business." "..." Everyone suddenly came to their senses! Right, Lin Yao was Liu Hong's student! A genius teaching assistant! If they kept cursing Lin Yao, wouldn't they offend Liu Hong? Originally, Liu Hong had left a decent impression on them, but they had only seen him once in the past month. Without seeing him for so many days, everyone had almost forgotten about him. Only now did they remember that Liu Hong was their head advisor! Even though Su Yu said so, someone still muttered under their breath, "What's there to be afraid of! He's disgusting to begin with. If we offend him, so be it—what's there to fear!" "Exactly! Monitor, your teacher is also a genius teaching assistant, ranked even higher than him... Isn't he just a bully? As if we don't know—the academy's Single Divine Character Faction has always oppressed the Multiple Divine Characters Faction..." Most students in the intermediate class had not yet apprenticed under a master. Right now, factional ties were very faint among them. At least, no one was actively steering or influencing them. Unlike the advanced classes, where most students already had teachers who might belong to the Single Divine Character Faction. Thus, factional divisions were faint in the intermediate class, but much heavier in the advanced class. As everyone chimed in back and forth, a soft cough sounded outside the door! Wang Ming! Head instructor of the Divine Character College's intermediate classes. Standing beside Wang Ming was the very man everyone had just been talking about—Liu Hong. Liu Hong swept a glance over Su Yu, slightly surprised. Even if this kid had read the willpower text last night, he shouldn't look like this. Could the pressure of a Shanhai Realm willpower text have been too great for him? Did he read too deeply and lose track of himself? He looked so thoroughly drained that an outsider might wonder what on earth he had been doing last night. With their arrival, the classroom quieted down. Su Yu returned to his seat as well. There were nearly six hundred students in the class, and every student was required to take the monthly examination. Wang Ming walked to the front and said, "Teaching Assistant Liu Hong and I will be proctoring today's monthly exam together. This is also the freshmen's first monthly exam, so I hope everyone will perform at their best!" "You all know the rules!" "The top ten of the monthly exam will receive rewards, while the bottom ten will face penalties..." "The exam is divided into three major sections: cultural courses, willpower, and divine characters." After speaking, Wang Ming looked toward Liu Hong. "Teaching Assistant Liu, would you like to say a few words?" Liu Hong smiled, looked at the crowd, and said slowly, "Just perform normally, everyone. The first exam won't be too difficult, so there's no need to be nervous. In addition, let me add one thing: the top three in the monthly exam earn the right to challenge students from the advanced classes. If you win, you can enter the advanced classes to study without needing to consider whether you've reached the Yangxing Realm." "You can challenge, or you can forfeit! You may challenge anyone from among the bottom ten of the advanced class's monthly exam, and they are not allowed to refuse. Anyone else... has the right to decline!" Hearing this, many students looked at Su Yu. Someone suddenly asked, "So if you don't make the top ten, you can't challenge?" "Correct!" Liu Hong smiled. "This is also how the academy protects weaker students, giving them better opportunities and room to grow..." Everyone looked at Su Yu again! Someone blurted out, "Monitor, you're not in good shape today. You probably won't make the top three, so we... won't hold back!" Seeing that Su Yu was in poor condition and might even be injured with an issue in his sea of will, they suddenly all wanted to push Su Yu out of the top three! That way, their monitor wouldn't have to challenge that guy. Su Yu felt helpless inside. Were they being kind, or screwing him over? First place came with ten merit points! Besides, if he didn't make the top three, he was finished—those two had a whole 1,300 merit points waiting for him. Su Yu put on a smile and said, "Everyone, just do your best on the exam. Don't let your thoughts wander because of me. Score whatever you can. The academy keeps a record of examination scores. I know some of you said earlier that you'd let me reach the top three without taking the exam..." Su Yu turned serious. "Don't do that! Don't delay your own futures because of me! Do what you're supposed to do. Otherwise... I really won't have the face to stay in the intermediate class anymore!" "If I don't make the top three, that's my own problem. If I do, great; if I don't... then I'll just try again next month!" Su Yu chuckled. "So please, under no circumstances should you go easy on me. Truly, going easy on me would be the greatest disrespect! I'm considered a genius, right? I'm the only top-high entrant in our class. If I can't even reach the top three and have to rely on everyone holding back for me... I might as well drop out. It'd be far too humiliating, and I have my pride too!" Su Yu said this half in jest. Hearing him, students who had originally planned to throw their exams straightened up. Right—doing well on the exam was the greatest sign of respect for the monitor! Su Yu added, "Also, you all must do well. I'm the class monitor, after all. If the students in our class perform poorly... it means I haven't done my job, and my merit points will be docked..." Su Yu grinned. "Teaching Assistant Liu is right here. If my merit points get docked later, you'll have to compensate me!" "Who says the monitor isn't doing his job?" Liu Wu shouted loudly. "The monitor is the first one in the classroom every day and the last one to leave! If anyone dares dock the monitor's merit points, see if the six hundred-plus students in our class agree to it!" "That's right!" "..." On the podium, Liu Hong maintained his smile as though he hadn't heard a thing. *Little punk, pulling that trick on me.* *A bit too green!* Once they had finished talking, Liu Hong cleared his throat softly to cut them off, smiling. "Now that everything that needed to be said has been said, it's time for the exam! This morning is cultural courses. The monthly exam tests your degree of progress, so... as for the languages you already mastered and were tested on during the Higher Academy Examination, we won't test those again. There's no point!" "The primary focus is evaluating your rate of progress this past month. Therefore, the cultural courses exam covers the corresponding language courses and divine character basics you enrolled in..." "The rules are similar to the Higher Academy Examination. Each course is worth ten points. The maximum score isn't decided by me, but by you! Which courses and how many courses you enrolled in this month determines your maximum score!" Liu Hong smiled faintly. "This is the academy. We teach according to aptitude. However much capability you have, that's how many points you can take. No one stopped you from signing up for only a single course, but if you do, your maximum score is ten points, and you can't blame anyone if you score poorly!" With that, he looked at Su Yu. "Student Su Yu, you signed up for a total of fifteen courses this month. Be mindful of your trade-offs and your exam time. Don't end up scoring twenty or thirty points out of a maximum of a hundred and fifty. That would be embarrassing!" He added, "Seeing that you're not in great shape, you can forfeit if you don't feel up to taking it!" Su Yu looked up, his face pale, yet his smile remained. "Teacher, I will do my best!" Seeing his smile, Liu Hong paused slightly. *You little brat!* *Why are you mimicking me!* *Smiling while talking to me makes me feel unnerved.* "Good, then. Do your best, and don't cheat. If you think you can cheat under my nose... you're welcome to try!" ... The exam papers were soon handed out. Different papers were distributed according to the courses the students had enrolled in. At the Civilization Academy, there were no standardized exam papers. How many points one could score was entirely up to the individual. There was a floor, but no ceiling, because this was an unfair era where the gap between geniuses and the mediocre was vast. Some in the class enrolled in very few courses, perhaps only two or three. Others enrolled in many. Su Yu, for instance, had enrolled in so many out of necessity because he attended every single class. Taking the exam papers, Su Yu felt dizzy. He had truly depleted too much willpower last night! On top of that, he hadn't had time to recover, and his head was still splitting with pain. Still... it was fine. He was somewhat used to it. Back when he had nightmares every night, the next day would often be like this, yet he had still gone to school. Once he was used to it, it was manageable. It was just that he hadn't experienced this in a while, making it rather uncomfortable. Fifteen exam papers: twelve on basic language courses, three related to divine characters. Massaging his temples, Su Yu began writing his answers. ... On the podium, Liu Hong watched for a while before casually strolling out of the classroom. Ahead was the examination room for the advanced class. They were also testing today! Walking over, Liu Hong glanced through the window. Almost all of this year's geniuses were here. The Divine Character College was the most powerful college in the academy, gathering talents in droves. Xia Chan, Wu Lan, Zheng Yunhui, Xia Huyou, Lin Yao, as well as Wan Mingze of the Wan family, Zhao Shiqi of the Zhao family, Hu Qiusheng of the Hu family, and Hu Zongqi whom Su Yu had met on the road... Many people! Of course, Liu Hong wasn't looking at them, but at several others. Strange students! Several elders who originally hadn't planned to take disciples this year had suddenly taken in a few students in secret. Once the news spread, it had shocked the entire upper circle! Those students were all very mysterious. Rumor had it they were hidden gems and treasured geniuses kept under wraps by their respective families, only revealed this year due to the establishment of the Myriad Races Academy. Right now, some of those students were sprawled on their desks sleeping. Some stared blankly up at the ceiling! And someone was... cracking melon seeds? Liu Hong frowned, thinking to himself, *Treasured family geniuses kept under wraps... How come I never heard about the existence of such people?* *Could it be that past years also had such geniuses, but none of them ever showed up in the Great Xia Prefecture later on?* *These fellows... feel a bit off!* Cynical and indifferent! Not arrogant, not overbearing, but whenever they saw anyone, they wore an expression of... total disinterest! Even when looking at Liu Hong, they merely nodded politely with no further reaction. "Turbulent times bring all sorts out of the woodwork!" Liu Hong stared at them a bit longer. As if sensing his gaze, a chubby boy turned toward the window, saw Liu Hong, and bared his teeth in a grin! A few breadcrumbs were still stuck to his teeth; he had just been snacking. Liu Hong said nothing and slowly stepped away. As soon as he left, several cynical fellows in the classroom began conversing via voice transmission. "Screw this, I'm quitting. I'm leaving. They're actually making us take a monthly exam... I haven't taken an exam in decades, and they're making us take one!" "Tell me about it. It's so boring, I want to go back to sleep!" "Don't fool around. I still want to go back to my research. Wan Tiansheng said whoever dares run off will suffer. That bastard..." They bantered back and forth, while the proctoring instructor up front noticed nothing. Even though the proctor saw them slacking off, he couldn't be bothered to intervene. Take it or don't! While chatting, the old fellows passed judgment on the students: "Look, the Xia family's Xia Chan is quite impressive. Truly a monstrous genius. I just don't know why she took Zhou Mingren as her teacher. Is Fatty Xia in cahoots with Zhou Mingren?" "Who knows? Xia Chan doesn't resemble Fatty Xia at all. That Xia Huyou kid, on the other hand, looks a bit like Fatty Xia. I even suspected Fatty Xia was in disguise. Fortunately, I ran into Fatty Xia just two days ago..." "Xia Huyou is the Prefecture Lord's own son, don't talk nonsense. A grand-nephew resembling Fatty Xia... isn't out of the question. Say that in front of the Prefecture Lord, and see if he doesn't hack you to death with his saber!" "Ahem, stop spouting nonsense, shut up! That Xia Huyou kid disliked martial arts since he was little and loved doing research. He spent seven or eight years around Fatty Xia, so it's only natural he resembles him!" "Don't mention the Xia family; not a single one of them is good. Wan Mingze, on the other hand... doesn't take after Wan Tiansheng. Wan Tiansheng was peerlessly domineering in his youth, so why does this kid seem so gloomy?" "He's not Wan Tiansheng's direct grandson, just his brother's grandson. Isn't that normal?" "True. Over at the Hu family, Hu Qiusheng is rather interesting. Feels much stronger than Hu Wensheng..." The old folks judged them one by one. Finally, they came to Wu Lan. Mentioning her, someone transmitted, "This little girl actually has good talent, she's just a bit... foolishly haughty! She looks down her nose at everyone. If I weren't wary of her great-aunt, I would've slapped her flying long ago. Last time she looked at me, her nostrils were practically pointed to the sky!" "Ahem, how old are you, still holding a grudge against her!" someone laughed. "She looks at everyone that way. Once she experiences more of the world, she'll grow out of it. Her heart isn't bad, she's just a bit silly." They all laughed, though externally each maintained an impassive expression—sleeping, eating, doing whatever they were doing. After chatting a bit more, they brought up Su Yu. "What do you think of Bai Feng's apprentice?" "Haven't met him, no idea what his deal is." "Challenging Lin Yao—think he has a chance?" "Lin Yao... Lin Yao might not win. That Bai Feng kid isn't stupid; he's shrewd as hell. If there really were no chance, he probably would have stepped in long ago. Leaving things alone like this means he probably has confidence." Then someone said, "Forget those students. Let's talk about Liu Hong. Not only did this guy suddenly become the freshmen head advisor, he also visited a secret realm recently and broke through to the eighth stage of the Tengkong Realm. Now he isn't even in secluded cultivation, just wandering around the academy all day long. What's this kid up to?" "Who knows? That kid... didn't look like good news from the start! Just now he was sneaking peeks from behind, staring right at us. I suspect he's onto something. Let me warn you, whoever gets their identity exposed... hehe, you'll be the ones losing face, not me! If anyone gets exposed, just imagine: several elders playing young, pretending to be grandsons and granddaughters... Hehe, you might as well go die!" "How about we secretly club him from behind and send him into seclusion with injuries so he stops staring at us all day?" "Get lost, do it yourself if you want, I'm not doing it!" As they bantered, someone soon said with a chuckle, "Regarding Su Yu's challenge against Lin Yao, that Xia kid opened a betting pool. That old crook Fatty Xia is a piece of work, always plotting to dock our pay. Why don't... we place a bet?" "A betting pool? What are the odds!" "Betting on Su Yu to win pays 1 to 1.5. Betting on Lin Yao to win pays 1 to 1.1. The pool is already quite large. I heard the bets on Lin Yao winning have reached at least a thousand merit points, and it hasn't even started yet." "That much?" "Should we bet on Su Yu? An upset would be best; that's where the profit is. The Xia family has money and can afford the payout!" Just as several elders were preparing to bet on Su Yu, someone said faintly, "Why bet on Su Yu? We take it all! Once the pool gets big enough, we bust the whole operation, declare it an illegal transaction, and sweep it all clean! Why pick sides? Who are we? Elders! Shanhai Realm experts! Why play a binary game with kids? We... sweep the board!" "..." At that moment, the elders fell dead silent. One after another, they looked toward the elder who had spoken! *You're ruthless!* *Impressive, truly impressive. Everyone else was thinking of placing a fun bet, but you want to raid the whole thing. You're not even human!* Unexpectedly, this elder added, "After shutting it down, we arrest Xia Huyou, fine him heavily, and make the Xia family pay ransom. Hehe... sweeping the board isn't enough; we have to make Fatty Xia bleed a little more!" "Fatty Xia would pay?" "He's a penny-pincher. Would he spend money on ransom? I bet he wouldn't care in the slightest!" "What are you thinking!" The elder suggesting they sweep the board sneered darkly. "Of course Fatty Xia won't care. Xia Huyou is the Prefecture Lord's son anyway, who would dare harm him? We can't do anything to him either. But... that's as elders! Who are we right now? We're students!" The elder chuckled, "We're students. Everyone's in the Yangxing Realm... Don't worry, we'll beat up Xia Huyou every other day, and beat up Xia Chan on the alternating days. If Fatty Xia doesn't pay up, we'll beat them every single day!" "..." Several elders looked at him with some disdain. *Shameless!* *He really treats himself like a student!* *Has he no shame?* Still, you had to admit—an eye for an eye, a grudge for a grudge! Fatty Xia's descendants, Old Hu's descendants, Old Zheng's descendants... could all be beaten! Elders naturally couldn't take action, but as students, there was no problem whatsoever. ... While the elders plotted misdeeds, Su Yu slogged through his exam in a daze. Many students had already finished, while Su Yu only barely completed his papers right as the bell rang. Liu Hong had already returned. By now, he had graded many exam papers. Once Su Yu finished, Liu Hong extended his hand, grabbing the papers out of the air. Scanning through them, he looked at them for a moment before speaking: "120 points. Mediocre. You did poorly on a few subjects. You clearly could have answered correctly, yet you wrote the wrong things!" Su Yu kept quiet. As he wrote, he had genuinely become muddled. "For cultural courses, you're ranked third. First place is Wang Yun with 140 points. "Second place is Qian Hong with 130 points. You and Hu Ming are tied for third with 120 points..." Liu Hong had a strong memory and directly called out the students' rankings. Su Yu had taken many courses, but others had taken quite a few as well. Partly spurred by Su Yu—since their class monitor attended every class, some students signed up for as many as they could. Su Yu said nothing. 120 points barely kept him in third place. It wasn't over yet! "This afternoon will test willpower and divine characters!" Liu Hong said impassively, "Just like the Higher Academy Examination, it will be tested within the range of the civilization chronicle. Scoring is simple: your current score minus your Higher Academy Examination score will be your monthly exam score! The academy values your capacity for progress, not resting on your laurels and waiting to die. Some people might even end up with negative scores!" Negative scores! He was clearly referring to Su Yu! During the Higher Academy Examination, Su Yu had scored 270 points in this section by advancing 27 meters. If he did worse than before, he would end up with a negative score! The Civilization Academy did this to ensure students continued to make progress rather than backslide. Speechless, Su Yu couldn't be bothered to argue. With a rest at noon, he would be back on his feet. Did Liu Hong really think he was ruined? I won't let you have your smug satisfaction! This afternoon, I'm definitely scoring high just to infuriate you! ... With the morning exams over and Su Yu not in top form, he didn't join the other students' noisy chatter and returned early to rest. After taking a nap and waking up, Su Yu headed to the filter room to cultivate once more, when he suddenly noticed... something was different! Inside the filter room. Su Yu blinked, somewhat uncertain, and curious. Had he... broken through? He really wasn't sure! Before this, he knew his willpower existed and could even sense his sea of will, but today, he noticed a slight difference. If before he merely sensed it, now... he could practically see it! If the stage before the Yangxing Realm was somewhat idealistic and relied on one's own imagination, today, he seemed to truly see the existence of his willpower! Su Yu stared at his clothes. Gradually, a change appeared on the fabric, looking as if pierced by a needle—no, it really was pierced! With a soft *poof*, a small hole appeared on his clothes! In Su Yu's eyes, he could see a semi-transparent needle piercing through his clothes. Others might not be able to see it, or perhaps only those in the Yangxing Realm could perceive it. Su Yu could perceive it and see it now because the needle had been condensed from his own willpower. "I really reached the Yangxing Realm?" Su Yu stared blankly. Didn't they say reaching the Yangxing Realm had a small hurdle? Why hadn't he felt anything! He had just stepped straight into the Yangxing Realm? How strange! Blinking, Su Yu still couldn't figure it out. Could it be due to the excessive willpower consumption from last night? Was this the rebound? After all, reading a willpower text written by a Shanhai Realm expert was a form of willpower contest, not to mention he had battled a divine character all night. "Yangxing Realm..." Su Yu muttered. The next moment, a thought struck him! Cultural weapons! *Does that mean I can use cultural weapons now?* *Holy crap!* *I feel like I'm going to become extremely powerful!* "Also, now that I'm in the Yangxing Realm, it seems I can officially begin the cultivation courses of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction..." Once in the Yangxing Realm, there were so many things he could do. Su Yu felt a faint stirring of anticipation. Soon, he thought of Lin Yao and Chen Qi... *Now that I'm in the Yangxing Realm, aren't you two going to die a miserable death?* "Just like that, I reached the Yangxing Realm..." Amidst his joy, Su Yu felt a subtle sense of disappointment. Where was the promised hurdle? Where was the promised bottleneck? Why wasn't there any! It felt awful. Without a hurdle, without a bottleneck, breaking through brought zero sense of accomplishment! Seeing that it was almost time for the afternoon exam, he had no time to dwell on his disappointment. He had to take the exam first and tell his teacher about the breakthrough afterward. He still felt a bit bummed—completely devoid of the thrill of a breakthrough. Seriously, he had looked forward to this for so many days, all for nothing!