Chapter 93: What You Get Is Not Necessarily Yours To Keep (1)
In the examination building.
Very few students were following Bureau Head Sun. After all, only a small number of Nanyuan students had actually gotten the chance to study willpower texts and Divine Characters. In fact, secondary school students who had studied willpower texts and Divine Characters were rare even in the capital.
Of course, not all students here had studied both either. Some were unwilling to give up and some were only here to satisfy their curiosity. Su Yu noted that there were only around 100 students around him.
Before long, they arrived at the top floor of the examination building. Ahead of them was a sealed room guarded by city guards. There, Bureau Head Sun nodded at the two proctors from the cultural research academies.
Next, Researcher Huang turned around to face the students and solemnly said, "This test will mainly assess your willpower, Divine Character, and tenacity.
"Like we mentioned before, those who have never studied those subjects should be very careful here.
"The Divine Character of every single individual is different. Even the same character will have different properties. We won't be able to see much testing the Divine Character alone.
"If both Divine Characters are complete, how do we decide which is stronger? How should we grade them?
"Therefore, at this stage of the exam, we will be using a unique method to examine each student. Those who have formed incomplete Divine Characters will also receive some marks from this test."
A student asked, "Teacher, an incomplete Divine Character has no special properties. Also, we have not achieved willpower materialization so we won't be able to make use of a complete Divine Character anyway. Does this test merely rely on us being honest about our Divine Characters?"
In other words, he was trying to say that nobody would know even if he lied in this test.
Researcher Huang laughed. "If you're here to try your luck with lies, I can only tell you to stop dreaming. Cultural research academies have existed for many years. There might be some loopholes early on, but over the years, they have all been patched.
"The prowess of cultural researchers are far beyond your imagination. Inside this room, you will find a Divine Character. That character will be used for this test.
"Those who have studied willpower texts before know that willpower texts are always accompanied by a certain level of pressure. That is the case for the Divine Character inside as well. Those with insufficient willpower or Divine Character level won't be able to last long under the pressure.
"You will understand what I mean soon. Remember to leave when you reach your limit. If you can't move, shout for help from a proctor. Don't force yourself. If you end up harming your sea of willpower and lose your mind, you won't even have the chance to regret your decision.
"I hope to see smart people entering a cultural research academy, not fools. If you're not even smart enough to know your limit, you are not qualified to be a cultural researcher. That is why we're using this method for the test even if it's somewhat dangerous.
"We hope to see courage, perseverance, and fortitude from our students. But we also don't want to see students who are blindly arrogant. Such students should not be in a cultural research academy as that will be a waste of resources."
Su Yu raised his hand. When he received the permission to speak, he asked, "Teacher, how will our performance be graded?"
"You'll know after entering the room." Researcher Huang did not provide any other explanation. He looked at the city guards and said, "Let them in."
The students started filing into the room. Su Yu was also among the crowd. The room was spacious and empty. It looked simple and crude. At the front of the room was a small desk. On the desk was something that looked like a bone slip scroll. Su Yu suspected that it was an original myriad race cultivation method.
A few proctors entered the room with them.
When the proctors reached the desk and all the students were in the room, Researcher Huang said, "Wait behind the red line. If you reach your limit, withdraw."
Immediately after, Su Yu felt the undulations of a deep and vast willpower. That was the sensation the willpower gave him. Researcher Huang seemed to have activated something. Perhaps that was the Divine Character he had spoken about earlier. A golden radiance rose up from the scroll on the desk. Su Yu and the other students only saw a golden flash before the world before them turned white.
"Those who wish to take this test, step forth. The further you go, the higher your score."
...
The voice was indistinct. Su Yu felt like he was in a dream. All the students around him had vanished. He widened his eyes and looked around. He seemed to have really entered a different world. A world of boundless white expanse.
"Is this...created by the Divine Character?"
Su Yu was stunned. Was this a dream or was this an illusion? His character "blood" could create illusions as well, but its illusions were so weak even he would not be fooled. Now, he felt like he had really entered a different world. As though he was in a dream. In fact, this environment felt very similar to his dreams.
"I only need to step forward for a high score?"
Su Yu grew even more curious about the world of cultural researchers. When Liu Wenyan spoke of a character forming a world before, he was unclear as to what that entailed. But now, a vague understanding dawned on him.
This was merely a small examination venue in Nanyuan. Thus, the Divine Character here was probably not even a particularly powerful one. It wouldn't have been brought to Nanyuan otherwise. It also did not seem like it belonged to Researcher Huang.
"Is this a Divine Character that has reached physical manifestation? That's not possible, right?"
Su Yu had heard that only a very powerful cultivator could physically manifest a Divine Character. Even among the previous principals of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, only one had managed to leave one such Divine Character behind.
There were many random thoughts in Su Yu's mind, but he quickly cleared them out. It was pointless to think that much. He only needed to walk forward. He would only place first if he could walk far enough. Only then would he get back his 20 merit points.
The moment he tried taking the first step, he felt something different. It was quite hard. He felt like there was a wall of air in front of him, preventing him from stepping forward.
"Willpower..."
He muttered to himself as the character "blood" in his mind stirred. It shook in excitement in his mind. Instantly, the incorporeal wall vanished. Su Yu started stepping forward. He remembered that he was less than 50 meters away from the proctors. It wouldn't take him long to reach them.
"But since I can't see, will I bump into a wall?"
Su Yu mused to himself as he walked. That was a short distance. It would take him no time to cover it.
...
At the same time.
The proctors who were standing beside the desk were observing the students before them. The eyes of these students were opened wide. Various expressions could be seen on their faces as they walked randomly in the room.
After scanning the room, Researcher Huang waved his hand and sent several red streaks forward. Instantly, red seals appeared above dozens of students.
"Take them out."
A different proctor entered the room and took the marked students out. Only after leaving the range of the Divine Character did these students wake up from their stupor. They looked around in stupefaction.
Where were they earlier? They were supposed to be in a room. Why did it feel like the entire world had changed?
"If you can't even last one minute, you won't get any marks. You may leave."
After Researcher Huang said that, the proctor outside started sending the students away. One of the students hurriedly said, "Teacher, this is not over yet. We wish t—"
"This is a test venue, not a theater. Leave." Researcher Huang's tone was cold as he said, "If you refuse, you will be banned from taking any other examinations."
The students no longer dared to say anything and followed the proctor out. Before leaving, all of them looked at the remaining students with envy. They knew very well that they had failed this test.
From their perspective, they could see that Su Yu and the others were actually walking in circles. A few of them had managed to actually move forward, but they hadn't been able to move far either.
Wu Lan was the most conspicuous one as she was ahead of everyone else. She had moved at least 10 meters forward. The person in second place was not Su Yu. Rather, it was Zhou Tianqi who had moved around seven meters forward. Su Yu felt like he had walked a long distance, but in truth, he had only covered around three meters.
...
After the failed students left, Researcher Huang's solemn expression was replaced by a smile as he said, "These little fellows must be thinking that they are lost in an unknown world. After all, they have walked for quite a while yet we're still nowhere to be found..."
Bureau Head Sun smiled, "I took this test back then as well. I only managed to walk 5 meters for 50 marks. I was lucky to get that far as I didn't even have a Divine Character yet at that time."
"That's normal. Very few students can actually form a Divine Character. Those with Divine Characters will generally have no problem walking around 10 meters."
Researcher Huang's gaze landed on Su Yu as he added, "He must have formed a Divine Character. It might even be complete. But his willpower is too weak, resulting in a weak Divine Character. A complete Divine Character can help him walk at least 20 meters if he's at the Mental Tempering Stage. This will be hard for him."
Bureau Head Sun sighed, "Yes, this should be hard for him. But he will probably end up slightly behind Wu Lan and ahead of Zhou Tianqi. Zhou Tianqi does not have a complete Divine Character, but he probably has an incomplete one."
Although Zhou Tianqi seemed to be ahead of Su Yu right now, the proctors weren't too optimistic about him. He was clearly near his limit.
Most of the students who could walk five meters and above were those with Divine Characters. At a glance, there wouldn't be more than 10 of such students here. In former years, this part of the examination wasn't even held in Nanyuan. If it wasn't for the guest students, Su Yu would probably be the sole student taking this test in Nanyuan.
Although Liu Yue had not formed a Divine Character, she had studied willpower texts several times and was able to walk about three meters.
While the proctors were conversing among themselves, the old man from the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy glanced at the golden bone scroll on the desk and lamented, "What a pity."
At that, the expressions of Bureau Head Sun and Researcher Huang changed.
"What do you mean?" Bureau Head Sun said. "No matter what, they are still better than us. Although they hadn't managed to truly manifest their Divine Characters, they had still managed to preserve their Divine Characters. They might have died, but their legends remain."
Each of these bone slip scrolls had a single preserved Divine Character within.
These scrolls were the true tomb of a cultural researcher. A tomb for their inheritance, not their physical body. They couldn't fully manifest their Divine Characters, so they could only utilize some special methods to preserve their Divine Characters and leave their names behind. In these scrolls, their biography would be written.
These pseudo-manifested Divine Characters were mostly left by Cloudbreach and Mountainsea cultivators. These were the treasures of the cultural research academies. Of course, a pseudo-manifested Divine Character would weaken considerably after the passing of its master. It would work against regular Great Strength cultivators, but it was completely harmless against Skysoar cultivators.
Even so, the greatest wish of people like Bureau Head Sun was to leave behind a bone slip scroll in the academy's Heart Cultivating Pavilion after their death. These scrolls were known as Marks of Culture.
Their conversation did not stop Researcher Huang from marking more failed students. Before long, more students were eliminated from the test. These students who had managed to last a minute would receive 10 marks even if they had moved less than a meter forward.
That was a reward for lasting this long. After all, these students had proven themselves by reaching this far without a Divine Character. Fewer and fewer students remained.
.
...
"Am I not there yet?"
Su Yu was getting more and more confused. Was he really in an illusion? Was this illusion or was this hypnosis? Or was it something else? It no longer mattered to him. He could still feel himself clearly so why had he not reached after so long?
"Was the world enlarged?" Su Yu considered. This world around him might be an enlarged version. After all, Divine Characters were too mysterious and he didn't know too much about them. He was about to take another step forward when he noticed something. A group of beasts had appeared in the boundless white before him.
"What's going on? This really feels very similar to my dream...These are definitely illusions. We're still in the room. There won't be any real beasts in there."
The beasts started charging toward him. The character "blood" in his mind pulsed. Then, a blood-red Divine Character appeared in front of him. His little brother had left his mind! He didn't know if the others in the room could see this or not, but he could see it clearly. This situation was the same as his dreams.
"Huh?"
He blanked out slightly before his eyes lit up in excitement. The character "blood" had transformed into a bloody saber. He gripped the saber's handle and swung it at the incoming beasts.
Splurt!
The first beast was killed.
"Too weak..."