ASER – Chapter 40

As for breathing technique postures, if a person wasn’t ugly, any posture would look good. But if it was combined with toilet-assisted inhalation, no matter how good-looking one was, it probably wouldn’t be much use, would it?

Moreover, this was an aptitude test, and it didn’t assess what kind of Spiritual Vessel one possessed. External objects were definitely not allowed, so her toilet-breathing method had no place here.

However…

A’Diao was filled with worry as she followed the others up the steps. Meanwhile, Zhou Jiang controlled two bees, sending them flying out towards the entrance gate of Jinling Academy.

There were even more people now than before. Besides the parents of the 500 examinees, all sorts of relatives had come. The media presence was also growing, and it seemed parents of examinees from other high schools had come over as well.

“Excuse me, your own children are taking exams at other high schools. What are you doing here at Jinling Academy?”

Someone asked curiously. A parent replied, “Originally, to be on the safe side, we chose Yunge High School, ranked second in Jinling. My son is already taking his aptitude test there. But yesterday, I inquired about some of the examinees who passed the Jinling Academy exam and found that my son is no worse than them, so I came here specifically to take a look.”

“Take a look?”

A veteran member of the media said nothing outwardly but turned to his colleagues and muttered, “Other high schools don’t even have an illusion assessment component. The score validation for both sides isn’t on the same level. I estimate those parents who were asked didn’t tell the truth; this person has been fooled.”

A colleague said, “No matter what, Jinling Academy’s assessment standards are independent of other schools. This time, public opinion is most critical of it, with many suspecting internal manipulation, because most of the 500 examinees are children of officials and prominent families.”

That was the reasoning, but their resources were undeniable. Ordinary people could actually figure out that these individuals would naturally perform better than those from grassroots backgrounds. To say the assessment was unfair was likely just jealousy over the resource gap.

It was really hard to say.

But speaking with an impartial mindset, long ago, “robbing the rich to help the poor” was considered a term of praise, but in reality, it’s a crime. And those who glorify it are often many who wish to gain without working.

“When all is said and done, it comes down to whether Jinling Academy’s assessment method can truly test everyone’s aptitude. Even if someone is from a grassroots background, as long as they have the aptitude, they won’t fear being unable to enter the best platform. And once they enter Jinling Academy, the distance between the two classes will actually be infinitely narrowed.”

“Now, let’s see who will ultimately dominate this list.”

The crowd looked at the screen projected by the two fat bees after they flew out. There were no scores on it yet, because the test inside had just begun.

No, it had already started.

A name suddenly popped up.

Cui Yun.

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After the 500 people ascended the steps and walked onto the enormous floating platform, Zhou Jiang, who was outside, waited for all of them to get on. Then, he pressed a button on his belt. The diamond-shaped emblem on the belt emitted light patterns. Next, he hooked a finger inside, the light detached, and a bag was pulled out. The bag contained something heavy, weighing it down.

The crowd watched, dumbfounded. Only a few people recognized this item.

“It’s Forbidden Item C-56175, a three-compartment spatial storage, one cubic meter of space. The price has been hyped up to fifty million star coins now.”

“Holy crap!”

A’Diao’s eyes lit up too. Jinling Academy was indeed wealthy and extravagant. Even a teacher possessed such valuable items; she wondered how rich the headmaster was.

Zhou Jiang was the supervisor of these teachers. After taking out the bag, he pulled out egg-sized Spirit Cores one by one.

Spirit Cores… they were Spirit Cores.

So big?

A’Diao had seen the Level 2 Spirit Core that Feng Ting had extracted after slaying a large centipede; it was much smaller than these.

“These are Level 3 Spirit Cores, and he took out twenty of them at once! Oh, look, there are grooves on the edge of the floating platform.”

Any few people here had more worldly knowledge than A’Diao. Amidst the exclamations, A’Diao was also secretly astounded.

All twenty grooves were filled by Zhou Jiang and a few other teachers. Afterwards, there were no other complicated rituals. Anyway, compared to the various flashy and troublesome operations of those wretched people from the Five Elements Cult to set up a Spirit Gate, Zhou Jiang and his group’s method was much simpler: set up the equipment, insert the energy source, activate, and done!

Buzz!

Everyone watched as powerful Spiritual Energy flowed out from the twenty grooves. Streaks of light rapidly coursed around, and in the blink of an eye, they encompassed the entire floating platform. Immediately after, a crystal-like shield, resembling glass, hummed and erected itself from the edges of the platform, completely enclosing them within.

This thing really resembles my vacuum packaging, A’Diao thought.

Because the formation’s spirit gathering had already begun to consume the Spiritual Energy of the Spirit Cores, sizzling Spiritual Energy was visibly released and sealed within the crystal shield.

The earlier one started absorbing, the more one would get!

A’Diao observed calmly. She saw a group of people swiftly sit down cross-legged. Watching them prepare to absorb spiritual energy, A’Diao wasn’t anxious at all, because even if she were, she still wouldn’t know how.

Since she didn’t know how, and it wasn’t appropriate to use the toilet-breathing method and die of social embarrassment, she could only learn on the spot. And she couldn’t learn haphazardly; if she messed up her qi and suffered cultivation deviation, it would be a huge loss for her.

A’Diao wasn’t the only one in an awkward situation; among the 500 people, at least thirty were at a loss at the beginning.

And these people… were all from humble backgrounds.

However, these people weren’t fools. It was impossible for them to have come unprepared. Breathing techniques were now the most basic cultivation methods widely available online. Moreover, they also realized that Jinling Academy’s method of calculating scores based on both absorption amount and retention amount could somewhat balance the disparities.

As long as one’s aptitude was good, one could stand out.

Zhou Jiang had been observing these students from humble backgrounds. They were psychologically prepared at the start; after all, to be selected, their written exam scores wouldn’t be too bad (someone like Tian Zhongye was an anomaly), and their intelligence was guaranteed. As for their recent panic, it was simply because they were struck by the examinees from prominent families, lost their mental balance, and panicked.

The faster they adjusted, the better their psychological fortitude.

Indeed, the few he had picked out earlier had entered the state, such as Bai He and Wang Shen.

And the one he found most peculiar… A’Diao, what was she doing?

She had chosen the most terrifying, “devil’s” spot.

Cui Yun had deliberately sat next to Song Ling. His purpose was self-evident. You could think he wanted to get close to this little goddess, or you could think he wanted to suck dry the Spiritual Energy here to suppress Song Ling’s score.

Anyway, as long as he didn’t admit it, no one could accuse him of using underhanded tactics.

When Song Ling saw him sit beside her, she just frowned slightly but didn’t change her position.

The place where the first and second ranked were, who would dare approach!

Even if they didn’t know each other’s aptitude levels, what if?

Even Zhang Cheng, out of caution, moved further away. Thus, a small but not insignificant empty space cleared up around the two of them.

Then, a “troublemaker” flew over—no, an ordinary-looking girl went over.

Song Ling: ?

Cui Yun: ???

A’Diao sat opposite the two, gave them a shy smile, and then said with utmost seriousness, “This humble Daoist just made a quick calculation. Your yintang acupoints are bright and shining, auspicious purple qi is arriving, and you possess the bearing of dancing phoenixes and soaring dragons—truly peerless talents. The place you occupy must be a geomantically auspicious spot. Since this humble Daoist has already come, you wouldn’t chase me away, would you? If either of you says a word, this humble Daoist will leave immediately and won’t shamelessly linger here.”

I think you will.

From Cui Yun +998!

From Song Ling +2!

Once she said this, the two “protagonists” didn’t feel praised at all. Instead, they had a sense of déjà vu, as if being swindled of money and virtue by an old charlatan fortune-teller.

They felt completely out of sorts.

Cui Yun: Sycophant!

Song Ling: Suddenly felt like moving.

However, Cui Yun didn’t chase her away. Firstly, he knew this was a public assessment area, and he had no standing to do so. Secondly, since she was courting disaster herself, it was just as well—let her be unable to absorb even a mouthful of Spiritual Energy.

As for Song Ling, although she found A’Diao’s 360-degree, varied styles of praise a bit unbearable, she wouldn’t actually leave. So, she said nothing and began her hand seals on her own… Cui Yun also wouldn’t waste precious time on A’Diao.

Both of them closed their eyes and began to absorb Spiritual Energy.

Neither of them knew A’Diao’s current mindset: Aptitude? I don’t know about Song Ling, but I’m definitely not afraid of Cui Yun.

Judging by the fact that she could achieve an improvement comparable to Cui Yun’s explosive comeback in the physical fitness test, relying only on the most rubbish breathing technique and a simple two or three marrow cleansings, she knew she was not weaker than him.

And looking at Cui Yun again, using Cui Run as a reference point, she had repeatedly pondered it later. Cui Run, with his awesome equipment, delivered a kick to Feng Ting that seemed quite powerful. But after factoring out the enhancements from his equipment, which she had carefully researched, she could roughly calculate Cui Run’s strength and speed, giving her a general idea of his aptitude. And considering Cui Yun’s status in the Cui family, his aptitude couldn’t be too different from Cui Run’s. If he were truly much better than the latter, he wouldn’t have survived until now. In the era before Spiritual Energy revived, having many talented people was a good thing, but even high aptitude had to rely on the direct lineage and the family to survive, unable to make big waves. But after the revival of Spiritual Energy, Cui Yong’s branch might not necessarily allow Cui Yun to truly surpass the children of the direct lineage. Considering all this, A’Diao had roughly determined Cui Yun’s true aptitude.

Therefore, she wasn’t afraid of competing with him for Spiritual Energy. The only one she needed to be wary of was Song Ling.

A’Diao had a faint feeling—this Song Ling was formidable. Because just now, when she moved and tested, the toilet reminded her that there was a medium-level “target for interaction” nearby.

Cui Yun was only low-level; Song Ling was medium-level.

Currently, Song Ling was the only medium-level target for interaction she had confirmed. But by visual estimation, there were also a few among the teachers; it was just that there were many people, and she couldn’t confirm their identities.

Towards Song Ling, despite A’Diao’s several attempts, she had only managed to elicit +1 or +2 Mental Energy from her, indicating that Song Ling’s mental state was incredibly stable.

However, the space here was large. Even if she was suppressed, it wasn’t really a loss; it was still better than competing for Spiritual Energy with a large group of people.

Toilet: “Rest assured, there won’t be such obvious suppression. At most, there will be a small impact. If there were a large-scale effect preventing these examinees from displaying their aptitude, Jinling Academy would be cursed. After all, those who would suffer the most in such a scenario would be the grassroots examinees, and it would magnify the antagonism between the two classes. Besides, you are all newbies now. Even if newbies have phoenix-level aptitude, when they peck at each other, it’s just a scratch; it won’t burn anyone to death.”

A’Diao: “…”

Zhou Jiang saw that they were all ready. He glanced at A’Diao a couple more times but said nothing. Anyway, these examinees had already begun to enter the state of absorbing Spiritual Energy.

As soon as Cui Yun and Song Ling started, they used orthodox spirit-absorbing hand seals. They formed them extremely quickly, completing the contract seals in a few seconds. A faint light emanated from their palms, and spirit lines of different patterns formed on the backs of their hands. These spirit lines were tentacles for capturing Spiritual Energy, and Spiritual Energy gradually began to flow towards them.

At first glance, the two seemed to be absorbing Spiritual Energy with similar efficiency, but their techniques and hand seals were different.

Zhou Jiang and the others observed the 500 examinees with eagle-like gazes. A hundred states of life, each with its own merits. But… Zhou Jiang had originally thought A’Diao would try to copy Cui Yun and Song Ling’s hand seals. Unexpectedly, she still used an ordinary breathing technique.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this child hadn’t been foolish. Otherwise, if she had been greedy enough to think she could copy these hand seal methods just by looking at the surface movements, it would have been too dangerous.

Being able to see the hand techniques and seals, but not the pathways of Spiritual Energy flow, was undoubtedly courting death.

At this moment, names began to appear on the screen.

First, Cui Yun.

Second, Song Ling.

Third…

It wasn’t fixed; the rankings were constantly changing.

The names further down were like a flickering screen, with people constantly moving up, then down, then up again, then down again.

But for a long time, Chen A’Diao’s name wasn’t seen at the top, indicating she was far behind, very far behind.

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