Chapter 89: Kind People Are Too Cute (1)
Order had been restored outside the examination building.
However, there were a lot more city guards around. The Martial Dragon Guards were also keeping watch not far away.
Zhou Tianqi and company were not stripped of their qualification to take the examination so they were staying around. However, all of them had unsightly expressions. They ignored Su Yu and walked away before making calls on their communicators.
These were all kids. Since they had encountered trouble, they naturally had to call their parents.
...
Su Yu ignored everyone and found a silent corner to wait for the examination to start. He was still feeling gloomy over the 20 merit points lost. He had broken through to the ninth-stage Source Opening Realm just to earn that 20 merit points. He had even used a drop of source qi liquid for that. But now, all those points were gone. It was understandable why he was distressed.
Not far away, a smile formed on Wu Lan's face, but she quickly caught herself and hid the smile. Even after losing 10 million dollars, she still seemed to be in a good mood. Why? Because Su Yu's face was too unsightly.
Su Yu's expression was so ugly that...when Zhou Tianqi accidently looked over, his heart thumped. He even wondered if he got the punishment wrong. Instead of him and his friends, Su Yu was the one punished, Su Yu was the one fined 10 million dollars, and Su Yu was one of those taking the exam where only one out of three could pass.
And when Su Yu met Zhou Tianqi’s gaze, Su Yu's eyes were filled with fury. His eyes seemed to be saying that this wasn't over.
That made Zhou Tianqi recall Su Yu's previous threat. He wasn't afraid of Su Yu. This was merely a nobody from a small city. But for some reason, his heart chilled. This person's threat suddenly felt much more dangerous than Wu Lan’s.
Wu Lan's threat was mostly empty. She would probably forget it before long. But Su Yu was probably going to hold a grudge if they didn't deal with him soon.
He naturally wouldn't be bothered about someone unimportant holding a grudge against him. But someone who had been accepted as a student of an assistant researcher and a genius physical cultivator could really bring him trouble after joining the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.
When Zhou Tianqi ended the call, he stopped looking at Su Yu. His emotions were complicated. Previously, his conflict with Su Yu was merely an insignificant event. But after this, a feud had started for real. He wondered if things would get troublesome in the future.
Su Yu wasn't the only person unhappy with him. The others were also somewhat resentful toward him. Although everyone had agreed to provoke Su Yu, he was the one taking the lead in that. Now that something had happened, these people would need to pay a high price for it. They might resent Su Yu, but they would also blame him.
Zhou Tianqi's head ached.
They stopped conversing among themselves.
.
The silence continued until the examination was about to start. One of them gloomily said, "My father made use of his connection. He suggested that those with a repeat chance can choose to give up this exam. The other families will pay for it while the ones with the repeat chance can retake the exam in the capital. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until next year."
The so-called repeat chance was basically the same thing as what Su Yu had. All the academies had a list of outstanding students that could be given a second chance. Those on the list would have the repeat chance, something that granted them the ability to retake the examination in the same year instead of waiting until the next year.
The capital had higher requirements on their students. Although these eight were decent students, not all of them were good enough to obtain that privilege.
The same student continued, "My father is contacting your families. All of us are suffering together, not just one or two of us. We better work together to ensure that all of us can get into the academy this year. Bureau Head Sun is only in charge of Nanyuan's examinations for now. His position does not represent the capital. Therefore, we still stand a chance if we repeat the exam in the capital..."
Repeat the exam? Their expressions changed. Would they be able to pass the examination if they repeated it? Would taking it in the capital guarantee that they could pass? If they gave up on the examination here, would they really be able to make it through the repeat examination in the capital?
When Zhou Tianqi saw that some of them were looking at him, his face fell. Clearly, he was one of those expected to give up on this examination and take the repeat examination instead.
Out of the eight of them, only two would be able to pass this examination. Six would fail. But they might not even have six repeat chances among themselves. That meant that some of them would definitely fail to enter an academy this year. Those people would be forced to either wait until next year or join a different academy instead.
Zhou Tianqi and the others did not say anything. Their parents were the ones who were going to be making the decision. This was already out of their hands. Since the incident involved the Talent Fostering Bureau, they could not resolve it alone.
...
Shortly after, a proctor walked out of the building and shouted, "Students, enter the building."
The examination was starting.
The students started walking to the building. When Su Yu started walking, the students around him parted to let him through. He was a big deal. A big deal who had reached the ninth-stage Source Opening Realm, placed first in the war academy examination, and defeated nine geniuses at their own game. It was better for them to stay away from him.
Su Yu didn't mind. This would only make things easier for him.
Wu Lan and the group of eight from the capital received the same treatment. But unlike Su Yu, they received looks of pity from the other students. These were miserable people who had all been screwed over by Su Yu.
...
Like the morning examination, there were five main venues for this examination. However, there were fewer students in this examination. This time, Su Yu was assigned the third floor. There were only around 200 students in the room with him.
He also saw a lot of familiar faces such as Liu Yue, Wu Lan, and Zhou Tianqi in the room. When Su Yu looked around him, he judged that the allocation wasn't completely random. All of the more promising local students were all in this room.
There were also a lot of guest students here. These guests were probably those with good results at school as well. Zhou Tianqi and his group were all present in the same room.
There were five proctors in the room, consisting of Bureau Head Sun, Researcher Huang from the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, an old researcher from the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy, Wu Wenhai, and the Devil Subduing Army commander.
The proctor composition was similar with the morning examination, with the war academy teachers replaced by cultural research academy researchers. From this composition, one could see the rank of the different cultural research academies in Great Xia.
The Great Xia Cultural Research Academy was the number one academy while the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy was the number two academy. The number three academy was the Daoseeking Cultural Research Academy, a rather well-known academy as well.
Bureau Head Sun had regained his calm. He looked at the students and said, "The cultural research academy exam is different from the war academy exam. There is no time limit. If you want, you can spend several days here.
"The first test is the language test. Unlike the war academy exam, there is no limitation here.
"A total of 120 languages were taught in the various middle schools. All 120 languages will be present in your papers. You can answer them as you wish. You need to get 8 out of 10 questions correct to get a pass for each language. Each passed language will grant you 10 marks. If someone here knows all 120 languages and passes all of them, they can get 1,200 marks from this test alone.
"With 1,200 marks, the student will receive a high-high evaluation and be directly accepted into a cultural research academy. The student will receive special treatments in the academy. The student will receive lessons from an instructor who is no less than a senior researcher, 10 willpower texts, countless blood essence, the blood essence of divines and devils for their body forging after reaching the Skysoar Realm..."
One benefit after another was listed. Su Yu was practically salivating as he listened. Alas, he wouldn't be able to reap all those rewards. He didn't know 120 languages.
What a joke. Even a super genius who started studying at 6 would need to master 10 languages per year for 12 years straight. Such a person would probably go mad before reaching adulthood.
Even if one could maintain one's sanity, without the willpower of a Skysoar cultivator, would one even have the mental capacity to learn all that? Those rewards might as well not exist.
"Hand out the papers."
With Bureau Head Sun's order, the city guards started handing out thick stacks of examination papers.
Bureau Head Sun smiled, "Answer as many of the questions as you want. There is no time limit. All the students here know more than six languages. You are the most promising among the students taking this year's exam in Nanyuan. I hope to see some surprises from you."
Su Yu took a deep breath. This was indeed a test where one would rely solely on one's ability. The more languages one knew, the better one could score. Those who knew too few languages could probably only sit there blankly after receiving their papers. Not far away, Wu Lan turned her head to shoot Su Yu an arrogant gaze.
"33 languages."
Her soft voice entered Su Yu's ears. He couldn't even be bothered to give her a reaction. What was the big deal about that? He knew 20 languages himself. Sure, that was a lower number. But he would only be 130 marks behind her. He could easily catch up.
Then again, he had no choice but to admit that this woman was indeed somewhat capable. When studying the myriad languages, talent alone was insufficient. Patience and perseverance were important as well. Languages weren't things one could instantly learn. Instead, each language required a long period of study and practice.
When the proctors announced the start of the test, everyone started writing. This examination room was much quieter than the room in the morning. Everyone was busy answering their questions instead of exchanging papers. These were the students who had mastered no less than six languages. Thus, all of them were basically top students.