First Impressions of the Academy

After steadying his mindset in his room, Su Yu headed downstairs. *** In the dining hall. Zhou Hui had already started eating, surrounded by several new students, while others trickled in one after another. It wasn't just their group; at several nearby tables, upperclassmen also seemed to be leading small groups of new students. "Over here!" Zhou Hui waved at Su Yu. When he walked over, she teased with a smile, "Go grab some food yourself. Don't tell me you don't even know how to feed yourself?" Su Yu smiled and said nothing, heading to the side to get his food. The dining hall was buffet-style. By the time he returned with his tray, Zhou Hui was almost finished. The other students had also drifted downstairs. Zhou Hui gestured for them to eat while watching them, saying between bites, "In past years, some genius students arrived at the academy completely helpless! "Thinking the academy belonged to their family, bossing seniors around, some even demanded that upperclassmen scoop rice for them..." Zhou Hui giggled. "Fortunately, none of you are that stupid. Otherwise... I'd have struck it rich!" The students stared at her blankly. What did she mean? "Dummies, does anyone work for free?" Zhou Hui lowered her voice. "You're all witnesses—I'm not the type of senior sister who scams people. Look around you. If any upperclassman scoops rice for a new student in a bit... hehe, that freshman's in for bad luck! "According to academy rules, effort demands recompense! If someone does work for you, you have to pay them. The starting rate is one merit point. A ruthless one might demand three to five points, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't refuse—who told you to act like you don't have hands and feet!" Zhou Hui giggled. "Just wait and see, it's bound to happen. Some freshmen are too foolish and arrogant, acting like the academy is their family estate!" The expressions of Su Yu and the others shifted slightly. Were people really that ruthless? Fortunately, none of them had the nerve to ask Zhou Hui to do chores for them. A petite girl beside Su Yu asked with lingering fear, "Senior Sister, when you offered to help carry my luggage earlier, were you going to charge me?" "Of course!" Zhou Hui answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I saw everyone else could manage their bags while you were wobbling with yours, so wasn't I supposed to offer help? Don't worry, your senior sister isn't ruthless. For just one merit point, I would've carried it straight to your room!" "..." The petite girl wore a look of profound relief. She had carried it up herself out of embarrassment to trouble her senior, but now it turned out she had saved a merit point. To students, one merit point was far from negligible. Even for those from wealthy backgrounds, merit points weren't meant to be squandered like this. Carrying a piece of luggage was equivalent to tens of thousands of coins! Who could bear that kind of cost? Su Yu did not dwell on that and asked quietly, "Senior Sister Zhou, do upperclassmen get rewards for welcoming new students?" "Right. One trip, one merit point!" Zhou Hui chuckled. "It's quite a lot! Many people fight for it and still don't get a slot. Only students in our Character Cultivation class have a shot at snatching it. It's easy, safe, and doesn't take much time. Earning one merit point usually isn't that simple." With that, Zhou Hui looked at the group with a smile. "Are there any high-tier students among you?" The petite girl cautiously raised her hand. "I am." Zhou Hui's eyes lit up. "You're high-tier? Then you get a hundred merit points upon enrollment as a reward?" Seeing the gleam in her eyes, the petite girl shrank back slightly in fear, but still nodded. "Mm, I heard there's a hundred-point reward..." "Junior Sister!" Zhou Hui's eyes shone brightly. "Have you ever considered lending it out? A hundred points loaned for three months, and you get back a hundred and ten! You won't be using them right upon entering anyway, so keeping them on you is a waste! You can lend them to me, and I'll loan them out for you. After three months, I'll return a hundred and ten points—a net profit of ten merit points!" "..." Su Yu and the others were dumbfounded! People from the big city sure knew how to play the game! Even students from other cities wore dazed expressions. The Civilization Academy sure knew how to operate! The petite girl was nearly scared to tears and hurriedly said, "I can't. I need to exchange for some original cultivation manuals; I have to use them." "Aiya!" Zhou Hui beamed. "You really don't know how to calculate. Oh well, I won't pressure you. Anyway, if you can't spend it all later, you can consider lending it to me. I'll leave you my comm number in a bit." Then she glanced at the others at the table and smiled. "The rest of you, feel free to consider it as well! Of course, some of you might also be high-tier students, but since the files don't show it, I won't bother prying. "Don't worry, nobody dares embezzle your merit points. This is the Civilization Academy. There's definitely interest. You have no idea how many people in the academy are short on merit points. A short-term turnover, and it'll be paid back in no time..." Su Yu couldn't help asking, "Senior Sister, are merit points really that hard to earn here at the academy?" "Of course!" Zhou Hui said helplessly, "We aren't warriors, and our physical strength isn't high, so we can't take certain missions. Plus, there are plenty of ungraduated seniors at the academy. Jobs like translation or assistant work never reach us—they're snapped up in the blink of an eye!" Zhou Hui sighed. "I've been at the academy for six years and reached Character Cultivation, but even at this stage, there are barely any decent missions available. Why else would I come welcome freshmen? Nowadays, reading willpower texts costs merit points, attending classes costs merit points, even eating and sleeping cost merit points..." Zhou Hui said with a look of utter defeat, "Life is simply unlivable." Hearing her lament so miserably, everyone felt a chill of sympathy. Was it really that miserable? Su Yu also asked with concern, "Then is there no way to earn merit points?" "Of course there is!" Zhou Hui grumbled, "Didn't I say so? There are plenty of missions—assisting alchemists with pill concoction, assisting beast tamers in raising monster beasts, assisting divine character masters with chores—all of those yield merit points. "Those who are strong and confident can challenge the academy's Top 100 Rankings. Make it onto the Top 100 Rankings, and you get a monthly merit point stipend!" "Top 100 Rankings?" Su Yu paused slightly. Beside him, the petite girl chimed in, "I know about that! Senior Sister, is that the ranking list for the Character Cultivation stage?" "You could say that." Zhou Hui smiled. "Only those in Character Cultivation can get on that list, and only the strongest among them! Anyone past thirty isn't allowed on the rankings, and Tengkong Realm graduates aren't allowed either. It's meant specifically to reward active students." The petite girl added, "Senior Sister, my aunt mentioned this before, but I plan to pursue the alchemist path. My combat strength definitely won't be high, so how could I get on the rankings?" "That's simple!" Zhou Hui smiled. "The Top 100 Rankings is mainly for practical combatants. In fact, alchemists, talisman masters, and weaponsmiths all have their own rankings. You can get onto those lists too; they just aren't as famous as the Top 100 Rankings." Glancing at the eager faces of the new students around the table, Zhou Hui chuckled. "Don't even dream about it! Think about how many people are in the Civilization Academy. Barely a handful graduate each year. Under thirty, at least a thousand students each year fail to graduate and stay behind, while others leave the academy... Over more than a decade of accumulation, there are over ten thousand students!" Just among students under thirty, there were more than ten thousand. Many who couldn't take it had already left the academy; otherwise, the number would be even greater. Zhou Hui laughed. "And there isn't just one Character Cultivation class; every department has them. All told, there are about five thousand Character Cultivation students under thirty in the academy. Out of those, only a hundred make the list... You little freshmen can forget about it!" "There are that many in Character Cultivation?" A boy at the table exclaimed in astonishment, "Isn't that way too many?" "You call that many?" Zhou Hui scoffed. "There are tons of Character Cultivation cultivators, and that doesn't even count those over thirty! Once your willpower fullness reaches 50%, you enter Character Cultivation. New students usually reach it in a year or two. But once you hit Character Cultivation, people linger there for a long time. The academy still has a large batch of seventy- and eighty-year-olds in Character Cultivation!" Zhou Hui shook her head and sighed. "Reaching the Tengkong Realm is too hard. Last year, the academy had sixty-two graduates, and only sixteen were under thirty! The rest were all over thirty! And that's considered good; the vast majority have zero hope of reaching Tengkong in their lifetimes." The group fell instantly silent. Zhou Hui soon smiled again. "Don't worry. If it really doesn't work out, you can always switch lines of work. Take me, for example—if I can't reach Tengkong by thirty, I'll leave the academy and forge my own path! "With our strong willpower, switching over to the warrior path will let us blast through the Qianjun and Wanshi Realms pretty quickly. Once you reach Wanshi, you can easily find a decent job anywhere." One student couldn't resist asking, "Senior Sister, how old are you?" Zhou Hui shot him a dangerous look. "Asking that question is very dangerous, you know?" Then her smile returned. "I'm fine, though. I've been at the academy for six years and I'm twenty-four this year. Asking me is no big deal, but if you ask those senior sisters who've hung around the academy for decades... you'll be in for a world of hurt!" The students laughed, and the atmosphere eased considerably. Everyone had been tense before, but Zhou Hui was talkative and lacked the cold aloofness of other seniors, making her easy to chat with. Su Yu and the others could see that the surrounding tables were eerily quiet. Some upperclassmen just ate by themselves, completely ignoring the new students. Clearly, this was just a mission to them. They were only responsible for leading the way, nothing more. They spoke only if they felt like it, otherwise paying no mind to the newcomers. Su Yu cared most about merit points, so he asked again, "Senior Sister, I heard attending classes also costs merit points. Is it very expensive?" "Of course!" Zhou Hui explained, "Not all of them. Some foundational subjects don't cost merit points, but once specialized knowledge is involved, especially the composition of willpower texts, the merit points become terrifying! Zhou Hui said wincing, "For example, a teaching assistant's class where they compose willpower texts live on site costs at least five merit points per class! A junior researcher costs ten points! As for intermediate and senior researchers, you can't afford them at all. In fact, they rarely teach freshmen anyway. Even for those in Character Cultivation, they only teach geniuses; otherwise, they won't waste time instructing us. "Visiting the library or the Cangshu Pavilion also requires merit points." Su Yu asked in surprise, "The library and the Cangshu Pavilion are different?" "Of course they're different! The library holds ordinary books, whereas the Cangshu Pavilion holds the true essence—original manuals of all races, or willpower texts written by human powerhouses. Some might have expired, but they're still far more precious than ordinary books." Zhou Hui sighed. "The library, the Cangshu Pavilion, classes, cultivation, pills, weapons, talismans... all of these cost merit points. Not to mention secret realms! The few secret realms open at the academy cost an appalling number of merit points just for a single entry. I've been here six years and have only entered once..." Zhou Hui gnashed her teeth. "And even that cost me several years of savings, sending me right back to poverty before enrollment! Why else would I bother coming to pick up you freshmen?" Everyone felt sympathetic dread. How miserable. Here, it felt as though survival was impossible without merit points. It was terrifying. One student murmured, "Fortunately, when I left home, my dad gave me thirty merit points..." The moment those words were spoken, Zhou Hui's eyes locked onto him, glowing with excitement. "Classmate, how about lending them to me?" "..." Everyone was speechless. This senior sister really wasn't picky—she would hit up anyone who had points. Seeing the student keep silent, Zhou Hui sighed. "Forget it, stingy! Still, thirty merit points... aren't worth much! In a few months, you'll discover that this amount of merit points... is far too little!" Zhou Hui shook her head and added, "Besides, since you didn't earn them yourself, your merit rank hasn't increased. There are things you simply can't exchange for, no matter how many merit points you hold. Take secret realm qualifications—even if you have merit points, you might not be allowed in. "Even for the most ordinary open secret realms, your accumulated merit points must exceed thirty before you can enter." Zhou Hui shook her head. "For higher-level secret realms, your accumulated merit points might even need to reach a hundred. Just think about it—before reaching Tengkong, where on earth would you accumulate a hundred merit points!" Su Yu quickly tallied up how many accumulated merit points he had. For the All-Races languages, he had only received 18 accumulated merit points. On his previous mission, he had earned 10 accumulated merit points. Taking first place in the exam had granted him 40 points in total, but 20 of those were a bonus reward and didn't count toward accumulated merit points. That made 48 accumulated merit points. This time, there would be rewards as well, more than 40 points, which would put him close to 90 accumulated merit points. Su Yu breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Fortunately, his accumulated total was rather high. Even if a hundred accumulated merit points were required, he was close to the threshold. The academy doing this actually gave students from ordinary families a chance. Everyone needed accumulated merit points, meaning their opportunities to enter secret realms were practically equal. Even if large clans had no shortage of merit points, without enough accumulated points, their members couldn't enter. And once a student had accumulated enough, those from ordinary backgrounds would likely have earned enough merit points on their own to afford entry. "This rule actually restricts members of the great clans..." Su Yu understood a little better now. At the academy, one ultimately had to rely on oneself. Clan background was useful, but perhaps not as decisive as imagined, thereby diluting the influence of major clans. Zhou Hui didn't care what Su Yu was thinking and continued, "It's too early to tell you all this; you'll figure it out yourself after some time! When you first enter the academy, your main tasks are mastering fundamental knowledge, selecting your field of study, and choosing a teacher... Of course, that's the treatment for geniuses." Zhou Hui shrugged. "If you aren't a genius, then behave and attend large lecture classes. If you want private tutoring, you'd better have merit points." Saying that, she looked toward the petite girl and beamed. "Liu Ke, you're a high-tier student, so a researcher is bound to take you in. Do you have a target in mind? If not, how about I recommend one to you?" The petite girl, Liu Ke, said somewhat timidly, "No need, Senior Sister. I already have a teacher." "What a pity!" Zhou Hui wore an expression of regret. "If I successfully introduced you to a teacher, I could have earned a few merit points. Such a shame!" With that, she looked around at the other students and smiled. "Are there any other high-tier students among you? Mid-mid or above works too. High-tier students are a minority after all, but for mid-mid and above, there's a strong chance of securing a teaching assistant as a teacher. I can introduce you to the ones that suit you best. If both sides hit it off, I get a small cut too." To Su Yu's right, a boy raised his hand. "Senior Sister, I was evaluated at mid-mid. Can I find a suitable teacher to mentor me?" "There's hope!" Zhou Hui nodded. "We'll talk privately later. There aren't many new students this year. Although they claimed a reduction of five hundred spots, in reality, people were stuffed in through all sorts of backdoors, plus a bunch went to small cities to take the exam. The actual enrollment is roughly the same as past years, around two thousand students. "Low-tier students make up the majority—at least twelve hundred or more. Mid-tier students number five or six hundred, and the rest are probably high-tier..." As she spoke, Zhou Hui added, "The academy issued new regulations this year with requirements for researchers, so around a hundred researchers might be accepting students, taking in several hundred people. Mid-tier students actually have a shot..." Su Yu waited for her to finish before chiming in, "Senior Sister, if a new student isn't taken in by anyone this year, will there be opportunities later?" "Yes!" Zhou Hui giggled. "Your senior sister is going to try her luck this year too, to see if I can find a teacher! But teachers don't like taking older students..." Zhou Hui began sighing again. "They say we're slick old hands whose edges have been worn smooth. But they don't consider what choice we had! If nobody took us in when we enrolled, didn't we have to grind away slowly? If we weren't tough old hands, we wouldn't have cultivated to this point. Honestly, we can only take it one step at a time!" With that, she turned to Su Yu and said, "Su Yu, you're from Nanyuan. I heard Nanyuan had a high-tier student this year..." Saying this, Zhou Hui blinked! What was the name of that high-tier student from Nanyuan again? As upperclassmen, they rarely paid attention to such things. New students might care about one another, but why would seniors care? No matter how formidable a newcomer was, what did it have to do with them? The other new students didn't know either, though Liu Ke suddenly shot Su Yu a curious glance. Su Yu? Was it him? High-tier students generally only paid attention to fellow high-tier students. Unless someone was close, who cared about those ranked below them? Liu Ke was high-tier, so she naturally took an interest in the other high-tier students of this year. Although there was no complete list, Nanyuan had only one—a solitary individual. She seemed to have heard about him. What was his name... Su something? Su Yu? Meanwhile, Zhou Hui's gaze shifted slightly. The other students from Nanyuan didn't seem to have arrived yet. In fact, the ordinary students from several nearby cities hadn't arrived either. Su Yu seemed to be the only person here from Nanyuan! Wait... was this kid that very high-tier student? "Is it him?" Zhou Hui's eyes gleamed faintly. Since Su Yu hadn't spoken up, she didn't call him out, but her demeanor grew somewhat warmer. She smiled and said, "Junior Su Yu, make sure you take down my comm number in a bit. Reach out if you need anything! Things like finding a teacher, viewing materials, getting intel on the academy's geniuses, the Top 100 Rankings, and the like... feel free to come to me anytime. Cheap! No merit points required—cash settlements work too!" "Same goes for the rest of you!" After saying that, Zhou Hui suddenly produced several booklets from the bag she carried, smiling. "Now that you're at the academy, you really ought to buy a copy of the *Great Xia Civilization Academy General Handbook*. It's cheap and practical!" Liu Ke grew interested and hurriedly asked, "Senior Sister, how much is one copy?" "Not expensive at all—500 coins a copy!" Zhou Hui smiled. "This is the newest edition! These are updated regularly. The old editions aren't worth anything, while a ruthless senior might charge you one merit point for a new edition, and itching with curiosity, you'd have no choice but to buy it, right?" Several nodded. That was true enough. Everyone was especially curious about things like the Top 100 Rankings. Zhou Hui flipped open a page and casually pointed to it. "This is the section on the academy's strongest teaching assistants. Look, ranked first is Xia Yuwen. Some of you might know him, but who is second? Who is third? "Interested? "Also, this is the freshly released student ranking—who is the strongest among students under thirty? "This is the academy's junior researcher ranking—who is the strongest among junior researchers? "..." "This is..." Every time Zhou Hui pointed something out, their hearts stirred. The next moment, the students' interest was piqued, and they pulled out cash to buy! Su Yu was tempted too. He was very curious about this, knowing even less than the others. Even though it stung a bit, he took out 500 Anping coins and bought a copy. With a dozen students each taking a booklet, Zhou Hui held the cash, her face blooming into a wide grin. These things cost thirty coins each to produce, so this was more than ten times the profit! A pity she wasn't leading many students. And her heart wasn't ruthless enough! Just as she had said, she was considered kind-hearted. Over there, a new student suddenly cried out, "Three merit points for one copy? That's way too expensive!" "Take it or leave it!" Over there, a senior male student replied dismissively, "That's just what it costs. It involves internal materials of the Civilization Academy—do you think it's that simple? I took risks to bring these out too!" At that moment, several older students at neighboring tables clicked their tongues in secret. *Damn, that's ruthless!* Some of them only took cash, while others only charged one merit point. This guy was far too unscrupulous, demanding three points right off the bat—it was highway robbery! Naturally, nobody exposed him. Although this guy was unscrupulous and seemed poised to make a tidy profit... he'd better watch out. Once these freshmen grew powerful in a few years, they might come looking to settle scores—it wouldn't be the first time. How much you earned wasn't just about the present; you had to consider the future. Zhou Hui felt a twinge of envy too, but didn't dwell on it. If you crossed a petty genius student who grew strong years later, they could make life miserable for you over just those few merit points. Heh... just wait for misfortune! While she didn't mind, Su Yu and the others suddenly looked at her with gratitude. They felt as though they had made out like bandits! The other guy was charging three merit points a copy—worth tens of thousands, perhaps impossible to buy even for fifty or sixty thousand coins—whereas they had only paid 500 coins. Nothing hurt quite like comparison! What they had thought was expensive a moment ago now suddenly felt like an incredible bargain! Several of them gingerly tucked their booklets away, lest anyone find out they had bought them for so cheap. Zhou Hui chuckled inwardly. This was good too. There were at least two high-tier students in this group. It was best that they harbored no resentment, and perhaps she might even leave a good impression. She had made money and earned goodwill. Regardless of whether they would remember down the line, she had built a shred of rapport. As for the senior student next door, he probably didn't care about these freshmen. Fleecing them one by one was enough for him; in a few years, they might leave anyway. If they couldn't reach Tengkong, why would they stay at the academy? "Go back and take your time reading it. Tomorrow, I'll come pick you up and take you to the dormitories. Oh, right—high-tier students can stay in the Character Cultivation Garden. If you have the chance, I advise you to take it. Otherwise... hehe, those ordinary dorms will annoy you to death!" Zhou Hui said through gritted teeth, "Eight people to a room! You're reading, someone else is practicing martial arts; you're practicing martial arts, someone else is taking a bath; you're taking a bath, someone else is reading... You'll go insane!" Su Yu's expression shifted slightly. Was it really that bad? Eight people to a room! This was cultivation, not mere daily living, and the greatest taboo in cultivation was being disturbed! At this moment, Su Yu suddenly felt depressed. *Does this mean I have to stay in the Character Cultivation Garden?* Fifty thousand coins! His entire net worth didn't even amount to that much! Zhou Hui had actually been observing him in secret. Seeing his reaction, she smiled inwardly. Sure enough, this was probably the high-tier student from Nanyuan. Not bad at all—she had actually received two high-tier students this time. Even though she was merely receiving freshmen once, building a good relationship was bound to yield benefits. Zhou Hui felt secretly smug. Acting cute with the researcher assigning tasks had paid off after all, landing her a rather fine roster.