Chapter 82: Full Marks (2)
After half an hour, Su Yu was finally done adapting to his newfound connection to external source qi and walked out of the room. The head proctors had ultimately not entered the room. It was unknown if Old Xie had stopped them or they were simply waiting for the examination to be over before approaching Su Yu.
There were very few people in the final test venue. Only students at the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm and above were present. In the past years, the examination would have been over before reaching this part. This year was an exception.
In the massive room, there were only two students.
Su Yu and Wu Lan.
In truth, Wu Lan had not intended to join this test as she wanted to save her energy for the cultural research examination. But since Su Yu was participating, Wu Lan followed out of curiosity.
As an eighth-stage Source Opening cultivator, she was qualified to enter the room even if she wasn't going to take the test. There were five proctors present. All five were head proctors, also the heads of their respective delegations.
Old Xie, Bureau Head Sun, commander of Devil Subduing Army, leader from the Great Xia War Academy, and Wu Wenhai. All five were Skysoar cultivators. The group was composed of the strongest cultivators present in the city excluding those from the cultural research academy.
The capital placed great importance on the yearly examinations. That was also the case for the various academies. If it was a bigger city, there would even be delegates from the smaller academies in attendance as well. In comparison, Nanyuan's composition was rather lacking as their ordinary proctors were only in the Infinite Strength Realm.
When Su Yu and Wu Lan entered, the gazes of all five proctors landed on them. Su Yu could feel some pressure from the gazes. He realized that all five of them were Skysoar cultivators.
In a place like Nanyuan, apart from during major operations, one would rarely see five Skysoar cultivators appearing together. This was also Su Yu's first time facing five Skysoar cultivators at the same time.
When Old Xie conversed with him previously, the old man had been rather friendly and calm. Thus, Su Yu had not felt any pressure from him. But with five Skysoar cultivators focusing on him, he felt like they could see through all his secrets.
Bureau Head Sun smiled and said, "Su Yu, are you going to take the practical combat test for the ninth-stage Source Opening Realm?"
"Yes."
"You have just advanced so I suggest that you only take the test for the eighth-stage. That is already enough for you to place first even though you won’t be a high-tier student. If you're not planning to enter a war academy, there is no need to take the test for the ninth-stage, right?"
"I still want to try." Su Yu seriously said, "Since I'm already at the ninth-stage, I am willing to give the test a shot."
Only by getting a high-tier evaluation would he be able to get the 20 extra merit points. Since some of his trump cards had already been exposed, he might as well do more to get the free 20 merit points.
That was worth as much as four drops of source qi liquid. He would need to kill two Infinite Strength cult members to get the same reward. He would need to waste a lot more time and energy to earn that many points outside of this examination.
"Then we'll begin the test for the ninth-stage." Bureau Head Sun did not bother trying to talk Su Yu out of it. "The test for the ninth-stage isn't easy. You will face a third-stage Great Strength city guard. He will not hold back. If you can last a minute facing him, you will pass the test. Of course, you'll only pass the test instead of getting full marks for that.
"If you can last three minutes, you will get full marks. Then again, just passing is enough to get you a high-tier evaluation. You can get 100 marks for each stage. For the eighth and ninth-stage, you stand to earn 200 marks. Even if you do only enough to pass, you can get around 180 marks."
"I see." Su Yu answered with a heavy tone.
He needed to last at least one minute against a third-stage Great Strength cultivator. Even though he had killed a late-stage Great Strength cultivator before, that was an ambush. The opponent back then wasn't even aware of his strength. He had never met such an opponent head on before.
The five proctors would be in charge of giving him scores while the two combatants would fight without holding back. His life was in no danger since the five proctors wouldn't allow a student to die here. However, they wouldn't do anything to protect him from injuries.
Wu Lan was watching curiously. She just couldn't understand why Su Yu was doing all this. Was he really trying to enter a war academy? If he got himself injured, he might be forced to skip the examination in the afternoon. She did not understand how valuable 20 merit points were to Su Yu.
It was fine giving up if he didn’t have the ability to get them. But since he had the ability, why shouldn't he try? For Wu Lan, 20 merit points were nothing. But that was not the case for Su Yu. That wasn't a small wealth for him. That was a gigantic wealth for him, enough wealth to satisfy many of his needs.
...
A few minutes later.
A city guard walked in with a wooden saber in hand. He grimly announced, "Nanyuan city guard, Zhao Yunsheng is here. I vow to not hold back during this test and embarrass the city guards. I will not partake in bribery and fraud. May the five head proctors serve as my witness."
It was basically impossible for a Great Strength cultivator to hold back without exposing himself to five Skysoar cultivators. Furthermore, the mayor was present as well. That was even more of a deterrent for the city guard against trying anything stupid.
He didn't even know Su Yu so he wouldn't do something so risky for the sake of a stranger. After taking a deep breath, Su Yu lifted a wooden saber from the rack nearby.
"Nanyuan Secondary School, Su Yu."
"Begin the test."
With Bureau Head Sun's order, Zhao Yunsheng stomped forth and swung his wooden saber. Su Yu did not dare to take the attack directly. He hurriedly moved out of the way. Zhao Yunsheng ignored what Su Yu did and continued swinging. He was faster and stronger, so eventually, Su Yu was forced into a corner. With a roar, he swung his saber as well.
Boom!
The quality of the wooden sabers were excellent. The clash did not damage them. Su Yu was forced to take several steps back with his palms feeling like they were going to be torn apart by the impact of the collision.
"Third-stage Great Strength Realm..."
Su Yu's eyes turned solemn. This opponent was much stronger than him. With one exchange, he determined that he wasn't this opponent's match. After that single exchange, even his organs were hurting somewhat.
Zhao Yunsheng continued attacking, swinging his saber rapidly while Su Yu was retreating. He demonstrated his excellent foundational skill and struck Su Yu's right arm before Su Yu could intercept the swing. The pain nearly caused Su Yu to drop his saber. He could feel his right arm swelling. He hastily retreated while grimacing in pain.
None of the proctors said anything. Su Yu had just reached the ninth-stage. It was natural that he wasn't the match for this city guard. They only wanted to see if he could last one minute.
The city guard swung his saber again, aiming for Su Yu's legs this time. When Su Yu jumped, a smile appeared on the city guard’s face. His leg shot out and kicked Su Yu midair.
Boom!
Su Yu was sent flying before crashing into the ground. His face was bruised and he was seeing stars in his eyes. The gap between them was too big. Su Yu was far less experienced than this opponent. When the city guard swung his saber, he had already predicted that Su Yu would jump. Generally, jumping during battle was a bad idea if one was below the Skysoar Realm.
If this was the battlefield, Su Yu would have been dead. The proctors shook their heads. Su Yu was too young. Even as someone who had actually witnessed blood before, he was still too inexperienced compared to the city guard.
To the side, Wu Lan was taking joy in Su Yu's plight. She was kind enough to advise him against taking the test earlier but he was stubborn. And now, he was suffering from his choice.
...
Su Yu scrambled back up and rolled away to avoid another incoming attack. He didn't mind a little bit of suffering. He was a tenacious person. Things were still not so bad that he had to give up.
He hadn't even used any of his many trump cards. When he heard the sound of the saber being swung, he made another roll on the ground. He felt some wind above his head as the saber swung by, cutting a few strands of his hair.
Zhao Yunsheng attacked continuously. Before long, Su Yu was forced to the corner of the ring. It was still not one minute yet. The gap between the ninth-stage Source Opening Realm and the third-stage Great Strength Realm was too big. Su Yu had just reached the ninth-stage and he was clearly not a match for this opponent.
Not far away, Bureau Head Sun softly said, "His combat skill is still lacking. But that's understandable because he has freshly broken through. I'm afraid he won't be able to pass this test. He is quite a lot weaker than some of our ninth-stage Source Opening cultivators in the capital..."
He was getting ready to stop the test. Right that moment, a look of hesitation appeared on Su Yu's face. But he quickly made up his mind. Before Bureau Head Sun could stop the match, Zhao Yunsheng swung his saber toward the empty space beside Su Yu. In his eyes, Su Yu was right in front of his saber.
Meanwhile, Su Yu's saber glowed as he swung it out. With a loud boom, Zhao Yunsheng was sent flying alongside a bunch of wood shavings. Su Yu's saber had broken from the strike.
He stood there panting for breath while source qi converged around him. The proctors looked at each other but none of them said anything. Su Yu remained silent with his head lowered, not knowing what to say. He had cheated.
Sure, he had used his own willpower and Divine Character, so strictly speaking, he was allowed to use them. But this was a war academy test. Using the ability of a cultural researcher in this situation was the same as cheating.
He had first distracted Zhao Yunsheng with an illusion before attacking with the Lightning Source Blade. As a result, he won against the third-stage Great Strength cultivator. However, he had also lost. He wouldn't be a match relying on only his physical cultivation. In fact, if he relied only on his physical cultivation, he wouldn't even be able to last a minute.
To the side, Wu Lan was dumbstruck. What happened? She didn't manage to see things clearly. She also didn't understand what happened. Su Yu only saw that Su Yu was on the verge of defeat before he suddenly attacked and won against a third-stage Great Strength city guard. How...did he do that?
The proctors kept looking at each other in silence. After a while, Old Xie coughed and said, "How...do we judge this?"
How were they supposed to judge a test where the examiner was defeated?
Wu Wenhai laughed and said, "The test does not restrict willpower usage, right?"
Old Xie nodded, "No. That is his own ability. On the battlefield, a combatant is allowed to use everything to stay alive. However..."
The leader from the Great Xia War Academy hesitated slightly and said, "In terms of pure physical cultivation, he's not good enough. But he has still defeated the examiner. And it is true that we have not restricted the usage of willpower. Such things have happened during the past years as well. However, it is still very rare for a student to actually defeat the examiner."
Old Xie gave it some thought and said, "He used more than willpower. That final swing is probably the Lightning Source Blade. That's a profound-grade martial technique. This kid can be considered a genius for mastering the first move at the Source Opening Realm. Let's give him full marks."
The middle-aged man from the Great Xia War Academy nodded, "Sure. Let's give him full marks. But we won't be giving him bonus marks."
Bureau Head Sun smiled, "Sure. After all, he did cheat somewhat. But if the cultural research academies find out that you guys are claiming that the usage of Divine Character is cheating...hehehe..."
Everyone was speechless. He was the one who had used the word cheat, not them! This was not the first time examiners were defeated. Usually, the student would be given bonus marks in such cases. But Su Yu had not defeated his opponent with his true physical cultivation. It was hard to judge since he had utilized his willpower.
The proctors reached a decision and awarded him full marks for the test.
200 marks!
By the time they made their decision, Su Yu had finished recovering. A ninth-stage Source Opening cultivator wasn't supposed to be able to defeat a third-stage Great Strength cultivator. He realized that he had indeed overestimated himself earlier. He had grown too confident from his mastery over the Lightning Source Blade.
It was obvious that he was far from strong enough to face such an opponent. Nevertheless, he didn't feel too bad since his willpower and the Divine Character were part of his strength as well.
"Oh well. A win is a win."
Su Yu smiled. A victory was a victory. His willpower was something he had gained through hard work as well. Why did he have to care too much about how he obtained the victory?