Chapter 187: Numerous Thoughts (2)
At the same time, Liu Hong was muttering to himself that the modification of the test had been proposed a long time ago. But the Marks of Culture were left behind by Mountainsea experts so regular cultivators weren’t able to modify them. The pavilion elders were all too mysterious and busy, so none of the elders had taken any action after the recommendation.
But now, an elder had actually appeared during a normal monthly examination. Was this really a coincidence? Or was the elder here for some specific students? While Liu Hong was thinking, the students continued withdrawing one after another.
Only one student from the junior class was left, and that student was struggling to remain. Having walked 15 meters, that student was pretty impressive. In fact, that result was even better than the result of a majority of the intermediate class students.
When Liu Hong looked over, he nodded. This student would be promoted to the intermediate class after this monthly examination. It was an impressive achievement to be promoted into the next class in only one month.
Generally, only Mental Tempering Stage students could walk 20 meters. It was either that or outliers like Su Yu who was able to walk far relying on the strength his two Divine Characters gave him despite not being in the Mental Tempering Stage.
...
18 meters, 19 meters...
Su Yu increased his pace. The pressure on him was getting stronger and stronger. Not only was the strength of his willpower tested, but its tenacity was tested as well. The longer he stayed, the greater the pressure.
About eight senior class students had walked over 20 meters thus far. Gradually, Su Yu pulled apart from the other intermediate class students. Eventually, there were no longer any students walking alongside him.
He looked at public square #1 curiously. Someone there happened to be looking his way as well. It was Lin Yao. With a pale face and a gloomy expression, he clenched his teeth and continued walking.
He had just discovered that he hadn't even walked as far as Su Yu. His motivation instantly surged as he pushed himself to go further. That was also the case for Hu Zongji.
These two were probably the ones to feel the most threatened by this. Hu Zongji had been believing that Su Yu's high-high evaluation was a fluke. He had been confident that he was better. Now, he was finally feeling the pressure.
For some reason, Xia Huyou looked completely relaxed in the test. Sure, he might be wobbling as he walked, as though? he might withdraw at any moment, but he was able to keep walking forward. He was even able to look around him curiously. It was clear that this fellow was still not at his limit yet.
While the students were pushing themselves, Liu Hong heard a voice transmission. He hurriedly nodded. The voice transmission came from the previous elder. That person had not left. He was observing in secret.
Liu Hong said, "Current first place of the senior class, Xia Chan at 25 meters."
"Current first place of the intermediate class, Su Yu at 22 meters."
"The test for the junior class is officially over. Sun Fei placed first with a result of 16 meters."
"Everyone else, keep going. Even the weakest top 100 student can walk over 40 meters. I hope you guys will not be too far behind them."
The moment he said those words, a few senior class students increased their pace. This was too humiliating. Su Yu had actually walked 22 meters!
...
After about three minutes, Liu Hong continued announcing, "First place of the senior class, Xia Chan at 29 meters."
"Su Yu of the middle class, 25 meters. The test is over for everyone in the middle class except Su Yu."
Su Yu was the sole remaining student on public square #2. Meanwhile, there were around 50 students remaining on public square #1. A majority of them had walked over 20 meters.
Su Yu walked silently as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. This was quite difficult. During the entrance examination, he had walked 27 meters relying on his Divine Characters. Today, he wasn't using any Divine Character. He had relied entirely on his willpower.
Of his three Divine Characters, the kill character was still somewhat damaged. However, he could still use it if he wanted. It would simply be weaker than its undamaged form.
"29 meters..."
Su Yu looked at Xia Chan and her steady steps. He couldn't help but be impressed. Her willpower was much stronger than his.
He didn't know if she had used any Divine Characters yet, but she didn't seem pressured even after walking 29 meters. Sure enough, this woman was one of the obstacles in his path of cultivation. He couldn't allow himself to be defeated by her!
…
After three more minutes.
"Xia Chan, 33 meters."
"Su Yu, 28 meters."
Huang Yao also joined in, "Hu Zongji is out at 24 meters."
"Wang Zhiqiang withdraws at 25 meters."
The moment those words were said, the faces of Hu Zongji and the other student turned red in embarrassment.
They were the two who had been making snide remarks about Su Yu earlier, resulting in Wu Lan losing her temper. If the teachers had not arrived when they did, the two would probably have a hard time dealing with her. But now, they were thoroughly humiliated.
Huang Yao was definitely doing this deliberately. Weren’t these two the loudest when it came to questioning the Nanyuan examination? Well, let’s see if they could continue doing so after this.
Huang Yao added, "The Mark of Culture is probably undamaged this time. Of course, if you don't believe it, you are free to go and experience it yourself."
Nobody said anything.
After a short moment, the intermediate class students started booing the two students. They looked down on the two. They might not be as good as these two, but they still felt great seeing those two getting slapped in their faces by their own words. Served them right!
The two felt terrible. Both of them had actually grown decently during the past month. They hadn't been able to walk this far during the entrance examination. Otherwise, they would have gotten high-high evaluations as well.
But they were not the only ones improving. In the senior class, walking a result of 25 meters wasn't too bad, but it wasn't excellent either.
Nobody noticed that Wu Lan was already starting to struggle when she suddenly gained a new burst of strength upon hearing Huang Yao's announcement. No! She would not allow herself to be humiliated like that too!
She was afraid that Huang Yao would announce her result next. She had just reached 25 meters. She had improved considerably, but this was basically Wang Zhiqiang's result. Just a moment ago, she had been shouting insults at them. If she ended up getting the same result as them, it would be too embarrassing.
And an even bigger portion of her motivation came from Su Yu. He had improved yet again! Wu Lan clenched her teeth and looked completely rejuvenated. She would not allow herself to be embarrassed in public. But in truth, not many people were paying attention to her.
...
"Xia Chan, 36 meters."
"Wan Mingze, 35 meters."
"Hu Qiusheng, 34 meters. Zhao Shiji, 34 meters. Zheng Yunhui, 33 meters. Su Yu, 32 meters..."
Once again, the results were announced. This time, Su Yu and Xia Chan weren't the only ones announced. Rather, the names of those who had walked past 30 meters were all announced.
Liu Hong nonchalantly said, "Everyone is doing well. Keep going. At present, none of you have shown the potential to enter the top 100. The gap between you and the top 100 students is still quite big."
Even the weakest top 100 student could walk 40 meters. And this test only measured one's willpower and Divine Characters. A top 100 student would also have a far stronger physical body and martial techniques. Simply put, not one of these new students were ready to enter the Top 100 Ranking.
Liu Hong was not surprised by Su Yu's result. That kid seemed to have reached the Mental Tempering Stage. That was far faster than he had expected.
At that moment, Wu Lan, who had walked 27 meters, finally stopped. She looked completely discouraged. She was defeated yet again. This time, she wasn't defeated by Su Yu alone. Instead, she had lost to a lot of people. A piece of trash. Maybe she should call herself that too. In the eyes of those people, she was probably a piece of trash.
...
"They're really quite impressive."
Su Yu’s eyes were glowing while his blood character was shining brightly inside his head. He was using his blood character to battle the willpower pressure. The character had been pushed to its limit and he had managed to walk 32 meters. But when he looked at the senior class, he saw that there were even more incredible students there.
"Good. This is good. I was afraid that I won't have any motivation to push myself more, but it looks like there are really quite a lot of geniuses around."
Next, the lightning character lit up. Su Yu took another step forth. The willpower pressure crushed down on him, but his steps remained steady. He did not think that he was any less talented than any of these people.
At that moment, Huang Yao's voice rang out, "Lin Yao, stopping at 30 meters. Not bad."
He did not forget to give Lin Yao a small praise. This was indeed a decent result. But Lin Yao wasn't happy at all. In fact, he had a dark expression. Back during the entrance examination, he had been able to walk quite far as well. He wouldn't have gotten a high-tier evaluation otherwise. His result today was an improvement of his previous result, but it wasn't too big.
Of course, he would still be happy with his result if there was no Su Yu around. But he had actually lost to Su Yu.
After leaving the Mark of Culture's range, he looked at Su Yu. When he saw the light Su Yu's body was emitting, he frowned and said, "He's at the Mental Tempering Stage already?"
He was able to see it. In fact, almost all the Mental Tempering Stage students had noticed it. Su Yu had entered the Mental Tempering Stage. At that moment, Su Yu erupted with another burst of strength and took more steps forward. Before long, his lightning character started weakening. Su Yu cursed and had the two Divine Characters fuse.
He had attempted this fusion several times and nothing had gone wrong before. Thus, he did not mind trying even though he knew that character fusion could be very dangerous. After the two characters fused, he took a few more steps forward.
Liu Hong, who was keeping the Mark of Culture active for Su Yu, was shocked by the burst of power. Inwardly, he rejoiced that he had taken the lesson from Huang Yao's punishment and had used a lot of his willpower on this Mark of Culture, ensuring that it would have sufficient energy to keep running properly.
How did that kid suddenly grow so energetic? He was clearly at his limit just a moment ago.
"Xia Chan, 38 meters. Wan Mingze, 37 meters. Su Yu, 36 meters."