Chapter 183: Monthly Examination, Mental Tempering Stage (2)
After staying in front of the classroom for a short while, Liu Hong leisurely walked out. He was heading toward the senior class. The senior class was also taking the monthly examination today.
Outside the classroom, he looked through the window and saw that all the geniuses this year were present. As the largest faculty in the academy, the Character Faculty was filled with talented students.
Xia Chan, Wu Lan, Zheng Yunhui, Xia Huyou, Lin Yao, Wan Mingze from the Wan Family, Zhao Shiji from the Zhao Family, and Hu Qiusheng from the Hu Family. Hu Zongji, who Su Yu had encountered on his way to the academy, was also in the senior class.
There were a lot of them. But Liu Hong's attention was not on these geniuses. Instead, his attention was on some other students. There were a few abnormal students in the class this year.
A few of the pavilion elders who had not intended to accept students this year had suddenly accepted a few students. The news shocked the higher ups of the academy. And the students they had accepted were all extremely mysterious.
It was rumored that these were the hidden trump cards of the various families. This year, they had all appeared due to the Foreign Student Faculty.
Of the abnormal students, one was sleeping on the desk. One was staring blankly at the ceiling. One was...snacking on sunflower seeds.
Liu Hong frowned before muttering to himself, "These are the hidden trump cards of the various families? Why haven't I heard of them before this? Have they been accumulating these geniuses for a few years without letting them enter the academy? Something feels off about these fellows."
They seemed completely fearless and had no respect for anyone else. They weren't exactly arrogant and domineering, but they were dismissive of everyone. Even when they met Liu Hong, they would only give him a perfunctory nod and nothing else.
"Looks like troubled times are really upon us. All sorts of people are appearing nowadays."
Liu Hong continued staring at the weird students. One of them seemed to have sensed his gaze. The chubby young man turned his head and looked at Liu Hong before flashing a wide smile at him.
Liu Hong could see the breadcrumbs on the fatty's teeth. This fellow was definitely eating during the test. Liu Hong did not say anything and walked away. After he left, the abnormal students started conversing through voice transmission.
"I'm not doing this anymore. Why do we need to sit for the monthly exam as well? It has been decades since I last took an exam. Why do I need to do this?"
"Yeah. This is so boring. I want to go back and sleep."
"I still need to go back to my research. But Wan Tiansheng warned that if any of us dares to run off, that person would suffer. That bastard..."
The instructor in the class was completely oblivious to the ongoing conversation. He could see that those students weren't taking the test seriously, but he couldn't be bothered to do anything about it. The students would have to be responsible for their own results.
As the fake students conversed, they started talking about the students like zoo animals. One of them said, "Look at Xia Chan from the Xia Family. She's not bad at all. No wonder she's one of the freaks. But how did she get accepted under Zhou Mingren? Is Fatty Xia colluding with Zhou Mingren?"
"Who knows? But Xia Chan is really very different from Fatty Xia. Xia Huyou resembles Fatty Xia more. I almost suspected that Fatty Xia is the one pretending to be Xia Huyou. Good thing I saw Fatty Xia two days ago so I'm now sure that they're not the same person."
"Xia Huyou is the prefect's son. Don't mess around. It's not surprising that Fatty Xia's grandnephew resembles him. Be careful with what you say. If the prefect hears this, you might need to watch out for his blade."
"Cough, cough. Stop talking nonsense. Shut up. Xia Huyou has never liked cultivating since young. Instead, he likes researching. And he had even stayed at Fatty Xia's place for about eight years. It's normal for him to resemble Fatty Xia."
"Let's stop talking about those from the Xia Family. None of them is a good person. As for Wan Mingze, he doesn’t resemble Wan Tiansheng at all. Wan Tiansheng was quite a domineering person in his youth. Why does this kid feel all gloomy and sinister?"
"It's not like he's from Wan Tiansheng's direct line. He's the grandson of Wan Tiansheng's elder brother. It's not weird that they don't resemble each other."
"True. As for the Hu Family, this Hu Qiusheng kid is quite interesting. He looks more promising than Hu Wensheng..."
The old fogeys continued commenting about the students.
Eventually, they started talking about Wu Lan. One of them said, "This girl is quite talented, but she's somewhat...silly and arrogant. She always lifts her head loftily and shows her nostrils to others. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm afraid of her grandaunt, I would have sent her flying with a slap long ago. The last time she looked at me, she was practically facing me with her nostrils."
"Cough, cough. How old are you already? Don't take a little girl seriously," someone teased. "She's like that no matter who she's facing. This is only a phase. After gaining more experience, she will change. She isn't a bad person. She's just somewhat silly."
They started laughing through their voice transmission, but none of them were physically laughing. From the outside, nothing seemed to have changed. The one who was sleeping was still sleeping. The one who was eating was still eating. After a while, their topic of conversation reached Su Yu.
"What do you think about Bai Feng's student?"
"I never met him. I don't know."
"Do you think he has any hope against Lin Yao?"
"Lin Yao might really lose. Bai Feng isn't dumb. He's very shrewd. If there is really no chance, he would have gotten involved already. Since he's ignoring the whole challenge, he must be confident in his student."
"Alright. Forget about those students. Let's talk about Liu Hong. Why did he suddenly apply to be the head counselor? Also, he has recently entered a secret grotto and entered the eighth-stage Skysoar Realm. After that, he stopped cultivating and spent his time walking around in the academy. What is that kid planning?"
"Who knows? That kid is obviously a bad guy. He has been spying on us from behind earlier. I think he's suspecting something about us. Hehe, if any of you end up discovered by him, you would be the one to lose face, not me. Imagine if news of a bunch of pavilion elders acting young and pretending to be students spread. Tsk tsk. You wouldn't be able to show your face in the academy anymore."
"Shall we beat him up him secretly and force him to enter seclusion due to injuries? That way, he won't be able to keep spending his time observing us."
"Piss off. Do that yourself if you want. I'm not doing something so embarrassing." Another person laughed and said, "That little fatty from the Xia Family is taking bets for Su Yu's match with Lin Yao. Since Fatty Xia has been trying to cut our salary, why don't we place some bets as well?"
"Bets? What are the odds?"
"1.5 if you're betting on Su Yu and 1.1 if you're betting on Lin Yao. The pot has been growing. I heard that at least 1,000 merit points have already been placed on Lin Yao. And this is just starting."
"What?"
"So are we betting on Su Yu? We can only earn more if there is an upset, right? And the Xia Family is rich enough to pay us even if we win big."
Someone else said, "Why bother betting? We're going to eat the entire pot. Wait until the pot grows large and we'll raid it for illegal betting. The entire pot would be ours. Why bother placing bets? Who are we? We are pavilion elders! We are Mountainsea experts! Why bother playing with those kids? We're taking everything!"
"..."
.
The other elders sank into silence. They all looked at the one who had spoken with admiration. What a ruthless elder. They couldn't help but to admire him. They were planning to place bets and win a little bit of money, but that fellow intended to take everything. What a scumbag.
The elder added, "After the raid, we can also arrest Xia Huyou and fine him. Get the Xia Family to pay the fine for his release. Hehe...eating the entire pot is not enough. We need to get Fatty Xia to spit out some money too!"
"Would Fatty Xia pay?"
"He's too stingy. Would he actually pay? I think he'll just ignore us."
The same elder said, "You don't understand. Of course Fatty Xia won't pay. It's the prefect's son anyway. Who would dare to do anything to Xia Huyou? Us elders can't touch him too. But who are we right now? We're now students!"
He grinned and said, "We're all Mental Tempering Stage students. It's fine. We'll just give Xia Huyou a beating every few days. We'll do the same to Xia Chan as well. If Fatty Xia refuses to pay, we'll beat them up every single day."
"..."
The other elders looked at him with disdain. What a shameless guy. Was he really treating himself as a student? How shameless. Then again, that was quite a good idea. This way, they would be able to have their payback against those who had offended them before.
Fatty Xia's juniors, Old Hu's juniors, Old Zheng's juniors...all those people could be beaten up! Sure, they couldn't touch those juniors as elders. But they were now students!
...
While the elders were busy scheming.
Su Yu was taking the test with a dazed mind. A lot of students were able to finish their test early, but he only managed to barely finish before the time was up. Liu Hong was already back in the classroom.
Many of the papers had already been marked. After Su Yu was done with his, the papers flew toward Liu Hong with a wave of his hand. After a quick scan at the papers, he said, "120 marks. An average result. You did poorly in a few of the languages. You could've answered some of the questions correctly, but for some reason, you got them wrong."
Su Yu did not say anything. His mind was still in a bad state.
"For the culture test, you place third. Wang Yun has the first place with 140 marks. Qian Hong is in second place with 130 marks. You and Hu Ming are in third place with 120 marks."
Liu Hong was able to directly list the placing of the students from memory. Su Yu wasn't the only student who had signed up for many classes. Some of them had only signed up for so many classes because of Su Yu. They were inspired after seeing how hard Su Yu worked.
Su Yu was silent. He had barely gotten into the top three with 120 marks. However, this was not over yet.
"The willpower and Divine Character test will be held in the afternoon." Liu Hong indifferently said, "Like the entrance exam, you will be taking the test within the range of a Mark of Culture. It's easy to score too. The score you get later minus your score during the entrance exam will be your final score. The academy cares more about your growth, not what your elders have given you prior to this. Therefore, some of you might even end up with a negative score."
Negative score! Liu Hong was clearly talking about Su Yu. He had walked 27 meters to get 270 marks during the entrance examination. If he couldn't perform better this time, he would receive a negative score. The academy was doing this to encourage their students to keep growing.
Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to give Liu Hong a response. He would be able to recover after taking a short rest before the afternoon. Did Liu Hong really think that he would stay in this condition for the entire day?
Su Yu would absolutely not allow Liu Hong's wish to come true! He swore to get a high score in the afternoon and anger Liu Hong to death.
...
After the morning examination was over, Su Yu did not spend any time with his fellow students and went back to the research center directly due to his bad condition. After a short nap, he went to the filter room for a short cultivation session. It was there that he noticed something different about himself.
In the filter room.
Su Yu blinked his eyes in confusion. Had he...broken through? He was really unsure. Prior to this, he had been able to vaguely sense his willpower. But today, he was sensing something different.
Rather than sensing his willpower, he seemed capable of seeing it now. Prior to the Mental Tempering Stage, most students were forced to imagine the presence of their willpower. But today, he was able to see his willpower with his eyes.
When he focused on his sleeve, he saw something piercing through it. In his vision, a transparent needle had pierced through his sleeve. It was said that only upon reaching the Mental Tempering Stage would one be able to properly sense the existence of willpower.
And now, Su Yu was able to clearly see his own willpower. That transparent needle was something he had formed with his willpower.
"Did I really reach the Mental Tempering Stage?"
Su Yu was completely stunned. Wasn't it said that there was a bottleneck before reaching the Mental Tempering Stage? Why hadn't he felt anything? He had reached the Mental Tempering Stage just like that?
Weird.
Su Yu blinked in confusion. Was his advancement due to his excessive exhaustion the previous night? His willpower had finally grown after a rest? After all, reading a Mountainsea willpower text was a form of willpower tempering. Additionally, he had also spent the night taming a Divine Character.
"I'm at the Mental Tempering Stage..."
Su Yu muttered to himself. Suddenly, he recalled something.
Cultural weapon!
Could he use cultural weapons now?
Holy shit!
Had he suddenly grown much stronger than before?
"Since I've reached the Mental Tempering Stage, I can start learning the teachings of the multiple character faction, right?"
He would have a lot more things to do after reaching the Mental Tempering Stage. He was looking forward to it, but he soon thought about Lin Yao and Chen Qi. Since he had reached the Mental Tempering Stage, wouldn't those two lose terribly against him?
"So I reached the Mental Tempering Stage just like this?"
Su Yu was happy, but he was also disappointed. Where was the promised bottleneck? Where was it? Why was there no bottleneck? How sad. He felt no sense of accomplishment breaking through like this.
When he checked the time and saw that the afternoon examination was drawing near, he forced himself to stop feeling sad. He would go take the examination before telling his teacher about his breakthrough.
He was still feeling quite upset, though. He had been looking forward to crushing his bottleneck for quite a while. Alas, no bottleneck had appeared for him. All that anticipation had been for nothing.