Chapter 92: Doubting The World (2)
Su Yu ignored the others and sank into thought.
Zhou Tianqi used a dagger and Wu Lan used a sword. Both gathered their willpower at a single point before letting it erupt. Those with low marks have their source qi and power mostly scattered and weak willpower...
If I'm going to use a saber, I need to gather my source qi if I want a higher score. I'm not familiar enough with the Lightning Source Blade to gather my source qi properly when using it...
He wanted to use the Lightning Source Blade for this test, but after thinking about it, he concluded that it might not be a good idea to do so.
"This test is unrelated to weapons, techniques, or stances. It mainly measures one's source qi and willpower control."
Su Yu had some prior experience doing so. Previously, he had activated the Rip ability in order to practice the Lightning Source Blade. During that time, he had slowly studied how ?to control source qi.
Now that he had reached the ninth-stage, he had gained the ability to connect with external source qi. His control over source qi had improved considerably as well.
If I use my fist, no, if I use my finger, I can gather my source qi to a single point. That will be easier to accomplish with a finger.
Su Yu made a choice. Even though he was still uncertain if that would work, he had still decided to not use a weapon or martial technique. He would use all his effort to gather source qi in his finger instead. Maybe he could get a higher score that way.
After a while, he finally heard his number being called.
"Student 3-015."
He stepped forth, attracting many gazes. He was the one who had created the ruckus outside earlier. Almost everyone present knew who he was. Many of them were curious. What would his score be?
"Even a ninth-stage Source Opening cultivator might not be able to do well here. He might get only 100 marks or something," said someone from the crowd, but that person had an envious expression while saying so.
Even 100 marks would be a higher score than his. However, it would still be embarrassing for Su Yu as the number one student for the war academy examination. Even some seventh and eighth-stage students could get a higher score in this test.
Su Yu ignored the crowd and started gathering source qi and willpower at the forefinger of his right hand. He had not learned how to properly channel willpower, but for people at his level, he only needed focus to control his willpower. It was the same case as the process of subduing a Divine Character.
The act of focusing itself was basically the same as gathering willpower.
He then lightly pushed his finger toward the dummy. A lot of the students looked astonished when they saw that. "Is this fellow trying to get a low score?"
Everyone else was attacking with all their strength. But this fellow here was merely softly poking the dummy with his finger. He might as well give the dummy his middle finger and be done with it. Even Wu Lan didn't understand what he was doing. However, the Skysoar cultivators saw everything clearly.
Bureau Head Sun laughed and transmitted his voice to the other proctors, "Interesting. This little fellow is a smart one. Nobody taught him that before, right?"
"I doubt so. Liu Wenyan doesn't look like he would bother. Even if someone did teach him this, it's a small trick. The main point here is that this little fellow is only a ninth-stage Source Opening cultivator yet he already has a decent control over source qi. His willpower is also very weak, but he is able to control it very well when focusing."
The proctor from the Great Xia War Academy who was standing beside the dummy suddenly said, "Idiots. Can’t you see more than that? None of that is the main point here. He gathered his source qi on his finger, pushing his finger to the point where it nearly bursts apart. However, his expression is unchanged despite the pain. That is the main point here. His tenacity. A student like this should join a war academy, not that glorified library you call an academy."
After seeing what Su Yu did here, he was placing even more importance on Su Yu. If the Devil Subduing Army commander was here as well, he would probably be dragging Su Yu to the army right about now. A student like this was made for the military.
Bureau Head Sun and the others did not seem upset after being called idiots. However, that did remind them of something. This kid was only a Source Opening cultivator. They were all Skysoar cultivators with powerful physical bodies. They had forgotten about the pressure on one's body when gathering source qi.
The body of a Source Opening cultivator was too weak. Gathering source qi on a body like that would feel similar to slicing the body with a blade. One ought to know that only at the yellow-grade and above would a weapon be able to conduct source qi. Su Yu was doing so with his own finger. That might be able to increase his control, but he also had to suffer a lot more pain than Wu Lan and the others doing so.
This little fellow was risking everything just to get a higher score. His finger would probably take like seven or eight days to heal. With how sensitive fingers were, nobody would be able to understand the kind of pain he was feeling.
The proctors were conversing through voice transmissions, so none of the students heard them.
It was painful! Su Yu knew he would feel the pain, but he was already experienced with pain. Previously, his right arm had remained swollen for a few days from his attempt at studying source qi circulation.
Since he was willing to do that for no special occasion, he was naturally willing to do so for 20 merit points. He only needed to spend a couple hundred dollars to buy some ointment for his finger after this. That was nothing compared to what he could gain here.
If he wasn't going all out during an examination, when was he going to? Hissing sounds rang out as his finger landed on the dummy. The sounds weren't loud, but Su Yu could feel some resistance to his finger as the pain on it grew. He persisted until the pain reached the limit of his tolerance before pulling his arm back.
In the process, he maintained a completely nonchalant expression. There was no large movement. Neither was there a large sound. But when the students looked at the screen, they were stunned.
"327 marks." Wu Lan was completely dumbstruck. "How is this possible? He..."
How could Su Yu get such a high score? His cultivation level was nothing special. There were plenty of ninth-stage students who couldn't even get 200 marks in this test. If it was this easy, there would be a lot more cultural researchers around.
Zhou Tianqi was stunned as well. "327 marks...but his willpower isn't strong..."
How was this possible?
Bureau Head Sun smiled. The other proctors also nodded. That score didn't surprise them. Someone willing to put in the effort would definitely be able to taste the fruit of their hard work. They even wondered if he had crippled his finger doing that.
Seeing that Wu Lan and the others were in disbelief, Bureau Head Sun said, "Student Wu Lan, you can try using your finger. Maybe you can get 350 marks."
Wu Lan hurriedly asked, "Can I retake the test?"
"..."
Bureau Head Sun felt tired talking to her. Did her family not teach her well? What did they teach her at home?
"Cough." Bureau Head Sun said, "You can retry next time. For this exam, you only have one chance. Also, don't try that rashly."
He wouldn't be able to bear the consequences of breaking Wu Lan's finger.
Fining them 10 million dollars was no big deal. But tricking the young miss of Wu Family to break her finger was an entirely different matter. They would definitely not let that slide. They were merely here to oversee the examination. There was no need for them to plant all those weird ideas into her head.
Since the Wu Family had not taught her about that trick, they clearly didn't want her to hurt herself accidentally. It wasn't even that important as the trick would only give her a little bit of extra marks during the test. In any case, it wasn't like their family lacked powerful weapons for her to use.
Wu Lan was not reconciled to this result. With 327 marks, Su Yu now had a total of 527 marks. The gap between them was no longer as big. She was very unhappy. She had been looking forward to seeing the dark expression on Su Yu's face once more. But now, that fellow was looking exceptionally happy. He was even looking at her with a smug smile.
If Su Yu knew what she was thinking, he would feel wronged. He was merely smiling from the joy of getting a high score. What was wrong with that? How was that smug? Even if he was to have no expression on his face, Wu Lan would probably find another excuse to curse at him inwardly. Her brain simply worked differently.
There was only a difference of 68 marks between the two of them.
Su Yu had suddenly shortened the gap considerably, angering Wu Lan so much that she nearly teared up. She had thought that after this test, she would be able to gain a lead of over 150 marks over Su Yu. But instead, the lead had been reduced considerably.
When Su Yu saw her expression, he was confused. Why did she look like she was crying? That idiot wouldn't really cry here, right? He hadn't provoked her at all! He was only doing this for his 20 merit points! It wasn't like he was getting 20 points from her family.
"What the fuck was that?"
Ultimately, Su Yu decided to ignore her. His mentor, Liu Wenyan, was once again proven right. Women would only stand in his way of growth. Just look at this weird woman here. She was getting all emotional even when the two of them didn't really know each other.
"Not bad..." Bureau Head Sun smiled, "Those who have not studied willpower texts, Divine Characters, and original myriad race cultivation methods before can consider skipping the next test lest you hurt yourself."
Evidently, the next test was unsuitable for the regular students. For them, this was the end of their cultural research examination. And if they had scored badly for both the language and cultivation tests, then their road toward joining a cultural research academy would end here.
Su Yu gave it some thought and approached Wu Lan before whispering, "Idio--I mean hello, how many non-language merit points do you have?"
Wu Lan merely glared at him silently.
"Forget it if you're unwilling to say. I doubt you have any. After all, you look like someone who knows nothing apart from some different languages. People like you will never get a chance to go out on missions..."
"Bullshit! Are you talking about yourself?" Wu Lan refuted, "I have additional merit points! Previously, I helped my teachers translate foreign races as well. Although I was only an assistant, I had earned six merit points for my work!"
"..."
Su Yu was dumbstruck. Wait a minute. A student could earn merit points that way as well? Was the capital really that amazing? They had their secondary school students work as translators? Was that true?
He couldn't help but to ask, "Did you get the position through the back door? Otherwise, why would they need a student to work as a translator? That's too unbelievable..."
"You're the one going through a back door!" Wu Lan raged. "Our army came into possession of a large number of original foreign texts from their raids not long ago. The experts didn't want to waste their time and energy on these low-level texts while our teachers were too busy. Thus, Mental Tempering Stage students like us were asked to assist with the translation. How is that a back door?"
She was furious. Very furious. "Even in a cultural research academy, they will also have their Mental Tempering Stage students help with translation works. You can even earn merit points doing those jobs. Isn't this how all cultural researchers earn their merit points? How did you earn yours?"
She was the one who should be suspecting whether Su Yu had gotten some job through the back door for his merit points. How could someone like him have additional merit points outside of what he earned from language certifications?
She was present in the morning examination so she remembered that Su Yu had quite a lot of additional merit points as well. He had...10 additional merit points! She was collapsing mentally. How did he earn that many points? She had forgotten to ask about the source of the points. Did Bai Feng help him earn them through a back door?
But when Su Yu heard her words, he finally understood. So it turned out that for cultural researchers, they wouldn't earn merit points through combat before the Skysoar Realm. But he...had been walking an entirely different path. So he was the oddity among the cultural researchers?
"Since you only have 6 points...then your total score is 655 marks. I have 627 marks."
Su Yu was happy. That was a small gap. Earlier, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to bridge that gap. But now, it seemed like it wasn't so hopeless after all.
"By the way, how many marks can I get per Divine Character?"
"..."
Wu Lan decided to ignore him. She was really very angry. 28 marks. She only had a lead of 28 marks. Why? She was a genius who was going to get a high-high evaluation. Why did this random nobody from Nanyuan have over 600 marks as well? It seemed like this examination was even easier for him? He already had enough marks to get a high-tier evaluation.
Earlier, he claimed that he would do better if luck wasn't involved. She didn't take him seriously. But now...she couldn't accept it!
After spending a while seething in anger, she finally lost her patience and asked, "Do...you really have a Divine Character?"
"Secret."
"Hmph! What's the big deal? I have one too!"
Wu Lan was infuriated. What was the big deal about that? "So what if you have a Divine Character? I got mine a few years ago!"
"..."
But at this point, Su Yu was no longer interested in her. Since he had obtained almost all the information he wanted from the idiot, he could stop wasting time with her. He had to think of a way to catch up to her. It would be a waste to let that idiot place first here. After all, she didn't look like someone who actually needed the rewards offered.
At that time, Bureau Head Sun said, "Those who are done, come with me. The rest of you, continue. Remember, don't imitate what Su Yu did. But I guess it doesn't matter. Even if you want to, you won't be able to do it."
He initially wanted to warn the other students against trying that method and harming themselves, but when he thought about it, these people wouldn't even be able to gather their source qi. Without reaching the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm, they would not be able to even move their source qi, much less gather them at one spot.
Thus, there was no need to tell them too much and damage their confidence. However, the students left behind still looked sorrowful. What little Bureau Head Sun did say was already enough to damage their confidence.
What did he mean by they wouldn't be able to do it even if they wanted? Wasn't it just poking the dummy with a finger? How hard was that?