A Different Kind of Assessment

"Hand out the papers!"

The chicken had been killed to scare the monkeys. The assessment officially began.

The next moment, several City Guards carried large boxes in from outside. The boxes were filled with papers... no, books!

Each one was thick.

The young instructor from Great Xia War College smiled faintly. "These are written exams! There are 660 sets in total. Each set may be the same or different. Take one and complete it yourselves. The War Academy only counts a maximum of 100 points for languages. In other words, if you pass ten language subjects, you get full marks."

"Of course, you may answer more. Each exam set may contain dozens of subjects. You can fill them all out and gamble on your luck. Perhaps you'll happen to get ten subjects right out of several dozen and earn full marks! Naturally, each subject has ten questions, and getting six right counts as passing!"

Because of the previous display of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, no one in the examination hall dared make a sound.

After a while, one examinee raised his hand.

The young man said blandly, "Speak."

"Teacher, if the paper I get is full of Myriad Races Languages I don't know, can I exchange it with someone else?"

"Decide for yourself. Violations will result in disqualification!"

"..."

Below, Su Yu raised his brows slightly. Sure enough, there was a new trick every year. Last year's papers had been identical; they had merely mixed up the language papers of a hundred races and made the students search through them themselves. This year, even the exam sets were different.

War Academy assessments did not always test only martial strength and academic courses. Civilization Academy was actually the same.

What exactly was being tested now? Even Su Yu was not entirely sure.

Different exam sets, different language papers. The languages on the paper you received might not be ones you knew at all, while the Myriad Races Languages you knew might be on someone else's paper.

At a time like this, how should you choose?

Very quickly, Su Yu received a thick examination booklet. He flipped through it casually and discovered some differences.

The three basic language subjects—Immortal-Demon Language, Common Tongue, and Demon Race language—were right at the front. Everyone basically knew and had studied them. But the papers afterward covered the languages of all sorts of different races.

Su Yu rapidly turned the pages and skimmed through them. He had mastered twenty languages in total, and over the past two months, he had learned two more. Yet including the three basic subjects, he only found nine languages on this exam set that he had studied.

"Ninety points?"

Su Yu hesitated slightly. Even if he passed every one of them, he could only score ninety points in the academic section rather than a hundred.

A ten-point gap might not mean much to him, but for others, losing ten points could affect whether they passed the assessment.

As Su Yu examined his paper, some other students were doing the same. Others remained unhurried. They only knew the three basic languages anyway, so they simply lowered their heads and began writing.

As for those thick stacks of papers behind them... what did that have to do with them?

They did not know them and could not even read them, so they might as well pretend the later papers did not exist.

Could the papers be exchanged?

Su Yu did not know. However, Great Xia War College had handed out papers like this, which was unfair to some outstanding students. Did that mean exchanges were allowed?

Su Yu turned his gaze toward the several invigilators at the front. All of them were expressionless, revealing nothing.

Most of the students had already started writing.

Su Yu hesitated for a moment before swiftly making his decision. Looking toward a boy beside him who was also examining his paper, he quickly asked, "Want to exchange?"

The other person was obviously from elsewhere. He did not care who Su Yu was and immediately asked, "Do you have papers for the Flying Tiger, Mountain-Piercing Rat, Nine-tailed Fox, or those races?"

"Not sure. I don't know some of the ones you mentioned, so I can't recognize them..."

Su Yu shook his head. He had not mastered some of them either, so naturally, he could not identify them.

There were too many Myriad Races Languages. Who could tell which script belonged to which race?

The person beside him hesitated briefly, then immediately said, "Exchange!"

With that, the two exchanged their papers.

The invigilators above watched without saying anything.

This time, the others stopped hesitating. Some students who had mastered many languages began exchanging papers with others one after another.

Exchanging papers did not mean the one you received would be what you wanted.

Very quickly, some people discovered that the papers they had exchanged for were worse than the ones they had before, and they began looking for others to exchange with. At that moment, the young man from Great Xia War College who was supervising said blandly, "Once you write your name, exchanges are forbidden!"

At those words, many faces changed. They could only continue seeking exchanges with students who had not yet written their names.

Rustling sounds spread through the hall for several minutes. By then, nearly ten minutes had passed since the exam began.

As for Su Yu, he looked over the paper he had exchanged for and found that he knew even fewer languages on it—only eight.

Su Yu frowned. The more he exchanged, the fewer he knew!

Should he exchange again?

After hesitating, Su Yu gritted his teeth. He would not exchange. Eight languages it was!

Su Yu lowered his head and began answering the paper!

Meanwhile, others gradually discovered that the papers they had exchanged for contained fewer languages they knew than their original ones. Some began exchanging papers again.

Just then, Old Xie suddenly pointed at a student and said coldly, "No more than three exchanges. The exam begins now!"

"Teacher..."

The student who had exchanged three times changed expression. On his original paper, he had known five or six languages. On the one he had now, he only knew the three basic ones. In an instant, he had lost several dozen points!

"Do you want to be disqualified?"

The student did not dare say another word. Filled with frustration and resentment, he lowered his head and began writing.

Some other students were also staring at one another blankly. They could only exchange three times?

At the invigilators' station.

Old Xie exchanged glances with the other examiners, and all of them revealed faint smiles. His lips moved. "Little Zhou, do you think they'll regret exchanging papers?"

"Definitely."

The young man's lips also moved. "The ones they were given at the beginning suited them best. Some things cannot necessarily be made perfect. If you pursue perfection in everything, you may pick up a watermelon only to lose a sesame seed, and end up with losses outweighing gains."

"For these students who excel at academic subjects, they all began from the same point. None of their papers were quite perfect. They were not the only ones unable to get full marks. Yet after exchanging back and forth, they threw away what had originally belonged to them."

The young man smiled, then quickly added, "The more they exchange, the more frustrated they become. Do you think these little ones will suffer a mental collapse?"

"If this is enough to break their mentality, then they might as well not come to the War Academy!"

Old Xie was not polite at all now. This was merely a small test. If they could not endure even this, then once they suffered defeat on the battlefield, would they not collapse completely?

As he spoke, Old Xie added, "I'm thinking about how to set next year's papers now. We're almost out of tricks."

"What's the rush?"

The young man was not worried. He looked at the watch on his wrist and suddenly announced, "The academic assessment lasts one hour! Twenty minutes have already passed. The remaining time may not be enough!"

"..."

Below, the expressions of some students changed completely!

The assessment lasted one hour, yet they had spent a long time exchanging papers.

Finding someone to exchange with, then checking whether the new paper suited them—going back and forth like that, a single exchange delayed them at least five or six minutes. Twenty minutes had passed in the blink of an eye!

Su Yu, who was answering his paper, could not help but smile bitterly.

This was too underhanded!

Was this even a proper examination?

With things like this, some outstanding students would probably panic. There was not enough time. Some people could not even find anyone to exchange papers with now, much less have the time to do so.

Even at a fast pace, answering one paper in ten minutes, several subjects would still take dozens of minutes.

Time flew by, and an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

"Collect the papers!"

At the order, the City Guards entered to collect and seal the papers. Some students looked utterly dejected. It had been too fast!

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have exchanged earlier!"

"What rotten luck! I've mastered sixteen Myriad Races Languages, but in the end, I only answered four sets of papers!"

"They didn't test us like this last year. This year is simply chaos! Doesn't that mean all the Myriad Races Languages we learned were for nothing?"

"..."

Below the platform, quiet murmurs finally rose.

It was too underhanded!

Some of those who had mastered multiple languages practically wanted to cry without tears. Every one of them had previously been confident of scoring a hundred points without much trouble. Now, some would be lucky to score thirty or forty.

This was far more brutal than they had expected.

Su Yu, meanwhile, had raced against time and finished the eight subjects he knew. He breathed a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had not continued exchanging. If he had, not only would he have wasted time, but even if he got the right papers, he might not have been able to finish ten subjects.

If he had exchanged a few more times, he would have been lucky to complete three or five papers in the end.

"Thankfully, I answered all eight papers. Even if I'm not completely correct, I should still have a sixty percent accuracy rate. Hopefully, I can get eighty points."

Su Yu was even beginning to worry whether Civilization Academy would pull the same stunt in the afternoon.

"Your papers are being marked by dedicated graders, and they work quickly! The scores will be out soon as well, so there's no need to worry."

Old Xie said with a cheerful smile, "The first examination is over. The second assessment begins!"

"The academic portion is over. Now comes the cultivation assessment!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another group of City Guards entered. Old Xie smiled. "Kaiyuan means opening nine apertures! The mouth, nose, ears, and eyes form the foundational seven apertures. Just because you claim to have opened an aperture does not mean you truly have!"

"The Kaiyuan First Three Stages assessment begins!"

As his voice fell, a cup appeared before every examinee. Each cup contained liquid.

"For the Kaiyuan First Three Stages, you open the mouth and nose apertures. Smelling and tasting are the basics. Smell it and determine whether it can be drunk. Taste it and identify what exactly this liquid is and what ingredients were added. They are all basic materials: common Demon Race blood, everyday household seasonings, and of course... laxatives!"

Old Xie said blandly, "Smell wrong, taste wrong, and the following assessments will have nothing to do with you. Because you'll be waiting in the toilet instead. So taste carefully, then write down your answer and submit it. This is the basic assessment for the first three stages!"

"Oh, and I forgot to mention—there may also be medicine with sleep-inducing effects. If you fall asleep after tasting it, you'll miss the assessments that follow as well."

"..."

An examinee could not help raising his hand. Once Old Xie signaled for him to speak, he hurriedly asked, "Teacher, last year's assessment wasn't like this. Last year had limited answers, with only ten options to choose from. Are there no answer choices this year? If there aren't, the possible range is far too broad!"

"What you are wasting is not my time, nor merely your own, but everyone's time!"

Old Xie said evenly, "Take the assessment if you want to. If you don't, shut your mouth! This is how Great Xia Prefecture is testing this year. You are not the only one. If you want to chat with me a little longer, I don't mind. I have plenty of time!"

At those words, everyone could only feel helpless.

Even Su Yu was helpless. This year's assessment content was truly vastly different from last year's. Although the overall procedure was similar, the specific process was completely different.

"Taste carefully. Smell it correctly before tasting, then write down the result. I guarantee the answer will not exceed the scope of what you have learned. You can also try writing nonsense. Maybe you'll get it right."

Old Xie smiled again. "Kaiyuan Three Stages has no combat power to speak of anyway. Don't tell me you're planning to put on a grand melee? If so, I don't mind. The last hundred people standing will count as having passed the assessment. How about it?"

"..."

The entire hall fell silent. What kind of joke was that? Fighting now would just be a street brawl. Taking an exam only to leave bruised and swollen—how embarrassing would that be?

Since Old Xie had said it would not exceed the scope of their knowledge, no one wasted any more time.

Su Yu carefully smelled the liquid before him, already forming a judgment in his heart. "It seems to be Fire Boar Blood..."

He was very sensitive to blood. Different blood had different scents.

Different races, as well as the different things Demon Races excelled at, were reflected somewhat in their blood.

Su Yu smelled it for a while and sensed no threat. He lifted the cup and cautiously tasted the tiniest amount. After considering it, he quickly reached an answer.

"Fire Boar Blood, regular duck blood, chili sauce, water, beef tallow..."

Su Yu swiftly wrote down his answer. The other examinees also began trying it one after another. Some were already filling in their answers, while others were still hesitating over whether to taste it, worried that something might go wrong.

"Allocate your time reasonably!"

The young invigilator spoke again, his voice cold. "Students who have written their answers do not need to wait for the others. Go to the back and take part in the assessments above Kaiyuan Three Stages!"

At those words, many students swiftly stood.

Su Yu was among them. He worried that there would be another time limit for the next assessments and that he would not make it in time for the other portions.

The huge floor had seemed like a single space to Su Yu before, but there was another assessment area behind the wall.

Su Yu and the others quickly entered the examination hall behind it. Old Xie, the woman from the Yuqiang Department, and the man from the Demon Suppression Army followed them inside.

Inside the rear examination hall.

More than thirty people had arrived in succession.

These people were all at Kaiyuan Three Stages or above. Of course, quite a few people above Kaiyuan Three Stages were still identifying the liquid outside.

"Kaiyuan Fourth and Fifth Stages open the ear apertures, enhancing hearing!"

Old Xie walked to the front with a smile. "You are only in the Kaiyuan realm and have not been to the battlefield. Great Xia Prefecture will not demand too much from you. But since you have reached the Fourth or Fifth Stage, you must still meet the basic requirements."

"Listen carefully..."

Old Xie gave a reminder, and everyone hurriedly cocked their ears to listen. At that moment, someone seemed to be speaking in the examination hall, but the words were not clear.

"Someone is reciting a cultivation method now. He will recite it ten times, five minutes each time. Fifty minutes from now, if those at the front have not arrived and have not heard it, then even if they are Kaiyuan Seventh or Eighth Stage, they will not pass this stage, and they will not receive the sixty points for Kaiyuan Fourth and Fifth Stages!"

"Those who cannot distinguish priorities, who waste time, who cannot even allocate their time properly—once such people reach the battlefield, they will only drag everyone else down!"

As Old Xie spoke, everyone faintly began hearing the sound.

Someone really was reciting something.

Su Yu listened for a few moments, but it was not very clear. At that moment, a braided girl in the crowd raised her hand. Once Old Xie nodded, she frowned and asked, "Teacher, what if someone knows this cultivation method? They would not need to listen at all. Wouldn't that count as cheating?"

"Don't worry. No one will know it."

Old Xie was calm. "This is a cultivation method from a small race that we just seized. This is the first time Great Xia Prefecture has acquired it. If anyone knows it... then they belong to the Ten Thousand Races Cult!"

After saying that, Old Xie added playfully, "Besides, translated versions may not necessarily be identical. If the translated version you write differs from the one we recite, and instead resembles the version that small race provided to the Ten Thousand Races Cult... heh. This is the procedure every year. We catch quite a few spies this way. I hope none of you get caught just because you want to enter an academy!"

As though he knew what they were wondering, Old Xie continued, "Curious why I said it outright instead of waiting until someone writes it down to arrest them? Simple. I'm giving you a chance. This small race has already been completely exterminated. If there really are followers of that race here, they still have a chance to forget the past and become decent people again."

Su Yu could not be bothered to listen. At that moment, he was concentrating with all his might on the sound.

The voice was extremely indistinct. It seemed as though he could hear it, yet also as though he could not.

The slightest lapse in concentration made it blur away.

In that case, if one did not listen carefully, there was simply no way to transcribe it.

Su Yu wrote in fragments, completely uninterested in what others were doing. Nor did he have the energy to care about them.

Five minutes later, the first recitation ended.

Su Yu looked at what he had written. He had probably transcribed around one-third. At this rate, he would need at least three to five repetitions to write it all down.

There were not many words, only around a thousand or so.

Su Yu was doing fairly well. Many people had written only a few words on the papers before them.

His speed couldn't keep up—he had to listen and write at the same time. It was too hard!

Meanwhile, students steadily entered the examination hall outside. They had come in late and missed several repetitions; there was no way they could hope to transcribe it from memory.

"I could probably transcribe the whole thing after hearing it three to five times. But Haozi... Don't fall asleep listening!"

Just as Su Yu was worrying about Chen Hao.

Chen Hao was listening too.

He scratched at his ears and cheeks, and quite a few words had been written on the paper before him. Yet when the invigilator beside him glanced over, he nearly failed to recognize them.

This guy had written plenty, but what the hell was it supposed to be?

Of course, some were worse off than Chen Hao, having only scattered a few words across their papers. At this moment, all of them looked thoroughly dejected.

Under such circumstances, even some who had reached the Kaiyuan Fourth or Fifth Stage might not be able to earn these points.

"Having only the realm and not knowing how to use it at all... It's better for people like that not to enter an academy!"

The invigilator thought to himself. They had opened their ear acupoints, yet did not know how to use them in the slightest. They could not even master basic sound-listening, let alone use sound to distinguish positions. Such Fourth and Fifth Stages were utterly meaningless.

Students at intermediate academies studied for five years. Everything that should have been taught had been taught. Other than lacking actual combat experience, these people were genuine warriors.

Yet this bunch of warriors could not even grasp the most basic abilities. They had virtually no hope of entering the War Academy.

As the invigilator was thinking this, Chen Hao raised his hand beside him and said gloomily, "Teacher, stop pacing around in front of me! You've passed by several times already. Can't you go over to someone else?"

"..."

The invigilator froze, then said with a genial smile, "This is also a test. On the battlefield, all kinds of unexpected situations can arise..."

Chen Hao rolled his eyes. "If this were really the battlefield, I'd pull out my blade and chop you to death! Teacher, if you keep pacing in front of me, I'm going to chop you!"

"..."

The invigilator could not help laughing. Not far away, the chief examiner gave a slight nod, signaling for him to move away from Chen Hao.

It was naturally inappropriate to keep wandering in front of one student. The main reason was that Chen Hao's movements had been too exaggerated—he kept scratching his head nonstop—so the invigilator had circled around him a few extra times.

The invigilator walked aside, moved his lips, and said in a low voice, "The people from Great Xia Prefecture are performing much better overall than those from Nanyuan! Kaiyuan Fourth and Fifth Stages are basic over there. Here in Nanyuan, there are actually fewer Fourth and Fifth Stages than in Great Xia Prefecture."

Only a little over four hundred people from Great Xia Prefecture had come for the assessment, while Nanyuan had nearly three thousand.

Yet there were still fewer Fourth and Fifth Stages here than over there.

The chief examiner was not surprised. He also said quietly, "Nanyuan's vital energy is too thin, after all. But... that has its benefits too! Nanyuan students progress slowly, so they spend longer tempering each realm. Most Kaiyuan Fourth Stages can transcribe some of it, while plenty of those Great Xia Prefecture fellows at the Fifth and Sixth Stages can't even hear clearly."

The chief examiner shook his head, clearly feeling that these people from Great Xia Prefecture were rather embarrassing.

Their realms were stronger, but they had advanced too quickly and spent too little time at the ear acupoint stage. They were single-mindedly trying to grow stronger. Some Fifth and Sixth Stages might not even score higher than Nanyuan students at the Fourth and Fifth Stages.

Upstairs.

Su Yu had already listened five times and completely transcribed the cultivation method.

There were several other students like him, but not many. Altogether, there were fewer than ten.

In Examination Hall No. 5, among six hundred and sixty students, only about this many had fully transcribed it so far. Old Xie, who was supervising, seemed somewhat disappointed, though not surprised. The only truly unexpected thing was that some Great Xia Prefecture students at the Fifth and Sixth Stages still had not finished writing.

Without the slightest concern for the other students still listening, Old Xie said, "Those who have finished transcribing it and are willing to take the assessment for Kaiyuan Fifth Stage and above, come with me!"

The moment he said this, Su Yu and the others rose to their feet.

This made some of the people around them anxious. Some had only just entered, yet others were already going off to take higher-level assessments.

Should they keep listening here, or go take the assessment for Fifth Stage and above?

What if it was like this time, and they delayed the next round of assessments too?

"Allocate your time reasonably. Allocate your energy and stamina reasonably..."

The words of the young examiner from before flashed through some students' minds. Several gritted their teeth, stopped hesitating, and rose to take the assessment for Fifth Stage and above!

The hearing assessment was worth sixty points.

Should they keep listening here, wasting a long time, or strive for points elsewhere? For some students above the Fifth Stage, it was a difficult choice.

After listening for too long, their heads spun and their vision swam. If this continued, they might not be able to score in the later assessments. That loss would be far too great.

At the Kaiyuan Seventh Stage, if they passed, each stage was worth fifty points. That could make up for the ear acupoint assessment.

Old Xie, leading the way in front, revealed a faint smile.

Sometimes, choosing between gains and losses was difficult.

Higher academy assessments did not merely judge strength and talent. There were other things as well.

Decisiveness, judgment, weighing gains against losses... These were all things these young students needed to grasp for themselves. If strength alone were all that mattered, why even hold an assessment? They might as well simply compare realms and declare whoever had the higher one the winner.

A higher realm might offer an advantage here, but someone who passed the earlier rounds perfectly could still enter the War Academy at the Kaiyuan Three Stages.

"Nanyuan is still a little too weak. If there were more students at the Fourth and Fifth Stages, then the people from Great Xia Prefecture might not even end up doing better than Nanyuan this time."

Old Xie thought this, but he did not forget to keep an eye on the outstanding students he had noticed earlier.

That kid Su Yu had done quite well in these rounds. In the first round, he had changed once and immediately made a decision. He passed eight assessments and gained eighty bonus points. Perhaps that was the highest score in the entire venue this time.

"I'm rather looking forward to seeing whether this kid's final assessment score can compare with those few geniuses from Great Xia Prefecture..."

The entire prefecture used a unified assessment—the same content, the same procedures, the same scores. How many points Su Yu could earn had nothing to do with whether he was a Nanyuan student.

Old Xie was genuinely looking forward to the result. On Nanyuan's side, Su Yu was probably the only one with any hope of competing with Great Xia Prefecture's geniuses. As for everyone else... there was no need for comparison. The gap in realms alone was enormous; no matter how solid their fundamentals were, there was an innate disparity.