Chapter 78: Be More Sincere (1)
One gaze after another landed on them. Even if Su Yu was someone with a stronger mental fortitude than his peers, he still felt uncomfortable. What was this reaction? Could Nanyuan not produce a genius? They were standing on Nanyuan’s soil!
Nanyuan was not without talents! Nanyuan was not a place filled with trash. It only appeared weak because of the low source qi density here, rendering it an unsuitable place for cultivation.
All his schoolmates had worked hard in their cultivation as well. Which of them was lazy in their cultivation? Even someone like Chen Hao had been spending seven or eight hours every day on his cultivation. The only thing restricting them was their environment, nothing else.
Su Yu did not show his displeasure. He knew that those people wouldn't understand. He also knew that nobody would pity them. Nanyuan being weak was a problem for the locals. They could only blame themselves for being born here.
These people from the capital would simply tell them to go to the capital if they were so unhappy with their environment. After all, nobody was stopping them from leaving. This was perhaps the perfect example of a "let them eat meat" situation, a phrase spoken by an ancient emperor when being told that the peasants had no rice to eat.
Su Yu calmed his agitation. In truth, he also disliked hearing these people repeating over and over again that small cities can also produce geniuses. The term "small city" was being used repeatedly.
Even if they meant well, Su Yu still felt uncomfortable listening to it. Nanyuan was his hometown. A local could always talk bad about their hometown, but it was unacceptable for outsiders to come and look down on them with all those thoughtless remarks. The proctors weren't looking at him with malice, but for Su Yu, their gazes felt as uncomfortable as having a bone stuck in his throat.
"This is my first time riding a beast..." Su Yu suppressed his emotions and smiled, "Don't mind me if I do anything wrong."
He then stomped his foot on the ground and jumped onto the back of a cloudrush horse. After grabbing onto the fur on the back of the beast, Su Yu slapped the back of the beast and urged it forward. He was able to stay on the beast with his legs clamped tightly around its torso. Even after riding a full circle on the field, Su Yu still didn't look like he was going to fall.
Nearby, many students started talking to each other, "The cloudrush horse seems to be frightened. It's running too fast. A student won't receive full marks without properly stopping the beast, right?"
A proctor heard the question and answered, "Of course. Marks will be deducted if a student can't stop properly."
The moment the proctor said that, Su Yu lightly patted his mount's neck. The cloudrush horse started slowing down before fully stopping. It then lowered its body, allowing Su Yu to jump down. With a smile on his face, Su Yu said, "Wow, that was easy. I'll admit that I was kind of afraid earlier because I've never seen these beasts before."
The students did not have that big of a reaction to Su Yu's performance, but the proctors couldn't resist getting a second look at Su Yu. Old Xie's eyes flickered as he stood there in silence. A middle-aged man who was the leader of the Great Xia War Academy's delegation walked over and looked at Su Yu. A smile appeared on his stern face.
Old Xie saw the newcomer as well. He smirked and said, "This is a descendant of a Devil Subduing Army veteran. He won't be yours."
The newcomer did not seem to mind. He calmly said, "He's merely someone who has seen blood before. There's nothing special about that. We have plenty of students like this in the academy. Only your Martial Dragon War Academy will treat someone like this as treasure. I'll wait and see before doing anything."
Earlier, the cloudrush horse had been frightened by Su Yu's sudden movement so it had been running frantically. That angered Su Yu, and he unintentionally released some killing intent toward the beast. Someone who had killed before was different from someone who hadn't.
As a beast, the cloudrush horse was able to sense the threat of death. Thus, it obediently stopped when ordered. The students did not realize all that, but the proctors were able to see everything clearly.
The middle-aged man said, "Eighth-stage Source Opening Realm. This is actually very good for a student from Nanyuan. But from your words earlier, you seem to believe that he can obtain a high-tier evaluation?"
Old Xie was all smiles as he replied, "It doesn't matter. He won't be joining your academy."
"Xie Qi, stop being so cautious toward me." The middle-aged man smiled, "The Martial Dragon War Academy sees us as its rival, but the rival of the Great Xia War Academy has never been the Martial Dragon War Academy."
Old Xie nonchalantly said, "We'll first surpass you. Then we'll surpass the cultural research academy. Look at your garbage performance. Physical cultivation has been stronger than willpower cultivation for centuries. But that changed after your generation took over the reigns. Are you not embarrassed?"
The middle-aged man frowned, "If it wasn't for the Martial Dragon War Academy competing over students and resources with us all these years and the prefect's bias, we wouldn't have been weakened so much that the cultural research academy was able to surpass us."
"Yes, blame others for your incompetence." Old Xie said with disdain, "Why was the Martial Dragon War Academy built back then? Are you pretending to not know? The war academy was stagnant and the quality of students was dropping each year. Fewer and fewer experts were produced yearly despite the large amount of resources used by your academy. Because of that, no new generation has risen to take over the mantle from the older generation. If it was up to me, your academy should have been shut down long ago."
"Why don't you repeat those words at the Breachsea House?"
"What about it?" Old Xie replied unyieldingly. "What are you going to do about it? You guys are only good at using the previous generation to threaten us. But have you forgotten that they have gained their strength over a period of three hundred years? They did not gain their strength during the decades you guys were running the academy.
"Just wait. Our recent students are as good as your students. Before long, there will be a new number one war academy in Great Xia. As for the Great Xia War Academy, you can change your name to Garbage War Academy."
The middle-aged man's eyes turned sharp as he stared at Old Xie. Not to be outdone, Old Xie stared at him as well.
After a short while, the middle-aged man snorted, "Do you believe that he can become a high-tier student? I doubt so. I've seen his results. He did decently in the previous tests to get a total of 250 marks. Including the 50 marks from this test and the 100 marks from his merit points, he has a total of 400 marks."
"But there are still the eighth-stage, archery, and practical combat tests to go through. There are 200 marks to grab there and he will need to get full marks in all three to accumulate just enough marks to become a high-tier student."
Old Xie smiled, "So? He'll get full marks in them."
"Can he get full marks in the archery test?" The middle-aged man asked, "How many times has he used a bow before? Nanyuan has always been weak. Their middle schools aren't the best either. Are you sure he can get full marks?"
Old Xie wasn't too sure either. However, now wasn't the time for him to show weakness so he smiled and said, "I believe in him."
The two glared at each other for a while before the middle-aged man decided to ignore the stubborn and delusional old man.
Suddenly, Old Xie shouted, "Su Yu, this fellow from the Great Xia War Academy is looking down on you. He said that you will never be able to get a high-tier evaluation. As someone from the military, we can't swallow this insult. During the archery test later, score full marks and shut his mouth!"
Su Yu looked over and saw that the two were glaring at each other. An idea appeared in his mind as he asked, "Teacher, will high-tier students receive any special rewards?"
"Huh?" Old Xie blanked out slightly. He answered, "You will naturally be rewarded after entering the academy. You will receive special support..."
"I'm referring to this examination. Will I get special rewards for being a high-tier student?"
Old Xie thought for a bit before answering with a smile, "There is no such policy in the Martial Dragon War Academy. However, the Great Xia War Academy is rich. Each year, they willingly waste an untold amount of resources. If you manage to become a high-tier student, they probably won't mind giving you a couple hundred drops of source qi liquid."
"..."
The hostile atmosphere instantly vanished.
The middle-aged man from the Great Xia War Academy glanced at Old Xie before indifferently saying, "Xie Qi, since you're so confident, why don't you dip into your pocket as well? If I'm remembering things right, as a head proctor, you will receive a payment of 50 merit points and five drops of Skysoar blood essence. Why don't you take something out to encourage the young man?"
"..."
Old Xie cursed inwardly. As far as he was concerned, he was a poor guy who was having difficulty getting by. Although the Martial Dragon War Academy was backed by Xia Longwu, they were not as rich as the Great Xia War Academy. After all, the Great Xia War Academy had existed for hundreds of years. There was no comparing the two.
But then again, Su Yu probably...wouldn't be able to get a high-tier evaluation, right? After all, he still needed a lot of marks for that. He needed to get full marks in all subsequent tests. A single moment of carelessness would result in a reduction of his score.
With so many people looking at them, Old Xie couldn't do anything that would embarrass the Martial Dragon War Academy.
At that thought, he smiled and said, "I'm poor. After all, I'm not as good at money making as you. Su Yu, how about this? I'll give you 10 merit points if you manage to become a high-tier student. Consider that my gift to congratulate you. As the son of a Devil Subduing Army veteran, we're family. I don't mind parting with the little wealth I have for you."
"..."
What a miser!
Countless people were cursing inwardly. It was rather unlikely for Su Yu to actually get a high-tier evaluation yet this fellow was still being so miserly. Were 10 merit points really that much?
There was a 99 percent chance he wouldn't even need to give that reward out! In that case, couldn't he offer a bigger number to protect the reputation of his academy?
Old Xie hurriedly changed the topic, "I'll give you 10 merit points. This fellow will give you 10 merit points as well. Both of us will be paying out of our own pocket. Whoever dares to claim the points as expenses will call the other person granddaddy. What do you think?"
"..."
The middle-aged man couldn't be bothered to give a reply. Old Xie took that as a tacit agreement. In truth, he didn't really expect Su Yu to be able to claim the promised rewards. This was merely a joke for him.
However, Su Yu seriously asked, "Teacher, are you serious?"
"..."
Old Xie was speechless. Did this kid really think that he could get the promised 20 merit points?
"Of course. It's only 10 merit points. I can't give you more, but I can get 10 merit points easily by killing a random Infinite Strength enemy. Why would I lie to you?"
Su Yu nodded and stopped asking. He started calculating. If he couldn't get full marks for the next tests, he would try to break through into the ninth-stage before the examination was over.
He was not very far away from breakthrough. As a brand new ninth-stage Source Opening cultivator, he was confident he could get at least 30 marks for that stage even if he couldn't get the full 50 marks. With that, it wouldn't be hard for him to get a high-tier evaluation.