Chapter 96: Everyone Has Their Own Choice (2)
Numerous thoughts surfaced in the mind of the old man from the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy who had been indifferent previously. Before the other two could speak, he said, "Join the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy. You will get a Mountainsea expert as your teacher, 500 merit points, 100 drops of source qi liquid, and 3 chances to enter a secret grotto. Our principal is an expert in Divine Character cultivation. In fact, he is one of the pioneers of Divine Character cultivation in the Human Realm.
"Nobody has ever been given such an offer in the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy before. Just look at Huang Sheng. The Great Xia Cultural Research Academy does not lack top talents. If they are able to give you such an offer as well, I definitely won't stop you from joining them."
Huang Sheng blanked out slightly before his face turned awkward. The old man was right. That wasn't an offer the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy could match. Since they had no lack of geniuses, they wouldn’t be willing to spend too much resources on geniuses who had yet to even materialize their willpower.
They were better off spreading their resources thinner to train more talented students instead of focusing their resources on the few genius students. True geniuses would usually be willing to join the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy even without being offered anything. That was why the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy was confident enough to not spend too much recruiting.
Bureau Head Sun did not say anything either. Clearly, the old man was right. After a while, Bureau Head Sun said, "Su Yu, the fusion of Divine Characters is not something you should try at this stage.
"Liu Wenyan and Bai Feng might not have taught you this before. Today, I'll let you know that this is extremely dangerous. This time, you're within some sort of willpower domain during your attempt. Therefore, you were fine. If you had attempted it anywhere else, you would have killed yourself.
"You can learn more about Divine Character fusions in the academy. You can pick some courses offered by researchers specializing in Divine Character fusions. That will be very helpful to you."
Bureau Head Sun frowned and continued, "After that exhaustion, you might need a long rest to fully recover your willpower. Your Divine Characters will also need a lot of time and resources to make full recovery. You were too rash.
"Also, since you have two completed Divine Characters...when did you start learning about Divine Characters?"
Su Yu lied with a flat face, "It has been a few years. Instructor Liu started teaching me a few years ago. But I wasn't able to form any back then. After studying about five willpower texts, I managed to form two Divine Characters."
"A few years?" Bureau Head Sun heaved a breath of relief. "Does Liu Wenyan have so many willpower texts?"
Su Yu shook his head, "I don't know. But he did give me those texts."
"That old fellow..." Bureau Head Sun coughed before saying with a laugh, "He better keep those stuff hidden well. Otherwise, the capital will come knocking to collect what he owes them."
To the side, Huang Sheng was speechless as well. So Liu Wenyan still had some willpower texts hidden? That old man was truly a patient one. He had been wailing to the capital about his poverty year after year, claiming that he didn't even have the money to pay for his meals. But it turned out that he still had extra willpower texts lying around.
But after thinking about it, Huang Sheng decided to not say anything. Liu Wenyan's junior brother was an old senior researcher in the academy. For people like him, willpower texts were nothing. Furthermore, there were also rumors in the academy that Liu Wenyan was quite popular with the ladies back then.
Maybe he was now living off a woman. That was always possible. Cough, cough. Even if that was really happening, nobody would dare to say anything as both Liu Wenyan and the woman he was supposedly living off from were no ordinary individuals.
The woman in question was absolutely someone nobody could afford to provoke. Huang Sheng decided to stay silent and pretend he knew nothing. He definitely didn't dare to get involved in this. But was Su Yu a sign to the academy that Liu Wenyan wanted to return?
"Two Divine Characters..."
While the proctors were deep in thought, Su Yu couldn't help but to ask, "Teachers...so...what is my score for this test?"
The proctors looked at each other in dismay.
After a while, Bureau Head Sun spoke with some hesitation, "That was our mistake. If we had known this would happen, we wouldn't have used this scroll. If we used the standards of the capital, that final outburst of yours is enough to let you walk 10 more meters forward."
Huang Sheng nodded, "The scroll used in the capital is much more powerful than the one we used here. Therefore, 10 meters on top of your original 17 meters will give you a total length of 27 meters."
.
They could only estimate the score. Bureau Head Sun looked at Su Yu and said, "It was our fault for letting you reach us. We can even give you a result of 50 meters since the responsibility is on us, not you. The academy and the capital will punish us, not you.
"However...if you are actually given a result of 50 meters, some of the freaks in the capital will set their eyes on you."
Bureau Head Sun solemnly advised, "It is almost impossible for a student to walk until the end of the room during this test. Without the actual strength to do so, receiving the glory of the feat will only bring you trouble. You won't benefit from it.
"All cultural researchers pride themselves on being intelligent. I give you two choices. First, a result of 50 meters. Second, follow the capital's standards and get a result of 27 meters for 270 marks.
"The first choice will give you a total score of 1,127 marks. The second choice will give you a total score of 897 marks."
With a stern face, Bureau Head Sun said, "897 marks will give you a high-high evaluation. As for 1,127 marks, that will put you on the same level of those freaks in the capital. You will be put under a spotlight. Everyone will focus on you, and numerous challenges will come your way. If you want to stay under the spotlight, you need to be ready for all that."
Bureau Head Sun let out a long breath and said, "Are you ready to take on all that? As freaks, some of them are only a step away from the Skysoar Realm. That genius from the Great Zhou who had achieved willpower materialization after half a year in an academy was an example of a freak.
"In the capital, Wu Lan's elder sister, Bai Feng, and Xia Yuwen were considered freaks as well. Bai Feng is the weakest among them. In fact, he is starting to lag behind.
"Wu Lan's sister, Wu Qi, joined the academy at 18, reached the Skysoar Realm at 20, reached the fourth-stage Skysoar Realm at 22, seventh-stage at 25, and now, at 26, she is at the eighth-stage.
"She will be able to reach the Cloudbreach Realm before 30. She might even be able to do so as soon as next year or the year after."
Bureau Head Sun solemnly said, "Since this was our mistake, you can make a choice. We won't make you retake the test."
Su Yu considered and asked, "Teacher, will there be a difference in treatment between the two after joining an academy?"
"Not really. Freaks like them have long been accepted as someone's personal student. As for the basic benefits of the academy, these freaks don't even need them."
Bureau Head Sun smiled and continued, "Take you for an example. If you decide to join the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy, with so many benefits, will you still care about the little merit points they will give you every month?
"Of course, there is still a difference in treatment. A high-high student can get three merit points per month while a freak can get five merit points per month."
Su Yu muttered, "In that case, I'll lose 24 merit points per year and 120 merit points after five years. And I haven't even taken all the other different benefits into consideration..."
Bureau Head Sun merely smiled without saying anything else.
Su Yu asked, "Teacher, if you guys are punished for this, how much will you be fined?"
Bureau Head Sun raised his brow and said, "At least 100 merit points. We need to kill a Skysoar cultivator to earn that many points."
They naturally needed to bear the responsibility for their mistake. Killing a Skysoar enemy would be about enough to make out for their mistake.
Su Yu scratched his head, "Teacher, that is not good at all! You guys are going to get fined for nothing! How about...uhm...you see...each of you pay me 20 merit points and we pretend this entire thing didn't happen..."
"..."
The proctors looked at Su Yu with odd gazes.
Good one, kid. Are you trying to negotiate with us?
Bureau Head Sun found it funny. He asked, "Don't you want to be a freak? The entire capital will know your name."
Su Yu had an innocent expression as he said, "But I'm not one. If I'm one, I'll definitely admit to it. But since I'm not, there's no point. I'll take what I want with my own strength when I have the strength.
"At that time, freak or not, it no longer matters. If I'm stronger, if I can beat him until he cries, will people still think that I'm not a freak? For now, I'm afraid that I'll be the one getting beaten until I cry. If they come looking for trouble everyday, how am I supposed to cultivate?"
Su Yu sighed, "You're right. I still can't withstand such pressure for now. There is no need to do that. Apart from some empty fame, I won't get anything else apart from a whole lot of trouble. Why trouble myself that way?"
Bureau Head Sun smiled, "It is a type of talent to be able to understand yourself clearly. However, forget about this trade. We can afford 100 merit points. We won't deny that we have been careless. Luckily, this is not the battlefield. A mistake on the battlefield could very well result in the total defeat of an army.
"We will take the fine as a lesson for ourselves, reminding ourselves that we shouldn't take anyone lightly in the future."
Bureau Head Sun stopped smiling and solemnly continued, "This time, I didn't do my work properly and had not applied for a stronger Mark of Culture for this test as backup. That is my responsibility to bear. Forget about getting some merit points for free, kid."
"As for them..." Bureau Head Sun looked at the other two proctors. Huang Sheng hurriedly said, "I'll follow your lead, Bureau Head Sun."
"Good. There is no need to run from our responsibility. It isn't like we'll get executed for this mistake. You can get your points back by killing a Skysoar enemy."
Bureau Head Sun looked at Su Yu again and said, "You're very smart. Of course, for me, this is merely a low level of intelligence. There is no great wisdom in you.
"Of course, not even I would dare to claim that I am a person of great wisdom. Even with a low level of intelligence, that will be enough for me to live longer and better than many people.
"This incident ends here. You will get your rewards and we will accept our punishment. Apart from the standard rewards, you'll also get 20 merit points from Huang Sheng for placing first."
Su Yu was somewhat disappointed. He could feel that Huang Sheng and the old man were actually moved by the suggestion that they bury the incident with 20 merit points each. But the easygoing Bureau Head Sun was the one who had stopped them. Su Yu felt helpless. Just like that, 60 merit points were gone. Wait, if he included his previous loss, he would have lost 80 merit points in total. Because of that realization, he felt even worse.
...
Su Yu was merely sad, but behind him, Wu Lan's heart had basically been shattered. Everyone was ignoring her. With 655 marks and the newly acquired 180 marks, she was a high-high student with 835 marks in total. But even after standing there for so long, nobody even spared her a glance.
"I want to cry..."
She really wanted to cry. These people were too mean. None of them even bothered to comfort her.