A Different Assessment

"Roll the papers!"

The "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" demonstration was over, and the assessment officially began.

The next moment, several city guards outside carried large boxes into the room. The boxes were filled with papers... no, books!

Thick books!

A young instructor from the Great Xia War College said with a faint smile, "These are the written assessments! There are 660 sets of papers in total. Each set may be the same or different. Take your paper and write. The War Academy will give a maximum of 100 points for language, meaning you'll get full marks if you pass 10 language courses.

"Of course, you can write more. Each set of papers may cover dozens of courses. You can try to complete them all and gamble on your luck. Perhaps you can guess 10 courses correctly out of dozens and get full marks! Of course, each course has 10 questions, and you pass if you answer 6 correctly!"

In the examination hall, no one dared to make a sound after the "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" incident.

After a while, a candidate raised his hand.

The young man said faintly, "Speak."

"Teacher, if the paper I get is all in languages I don't know from the Myriad Races, can I exchange it with someone else?"

"Decide for yourself. Violators will be disqualified!"

"..."

Below, Su Yu raised an eyebrow slightly. It was the same old routine, just like last year. Last year, the papers were the same, just with the hundred races' language papers shuffled and mixed, and you had to find them yourself. This year, the papers were all different.

The War Academy's assessments sometimes didn't just test combat power and cultural courses; Civilization Academies were similar.

What was being assessed now, Su Yu wasn't entirely sure.

Different papers, different language papers. The language papers you received might not be ones you knew, and the Myriad Races' languages you knew might be on someone else's paper.

At this moment, what should you do?

Soon, Su Yu received a thick set of papers. He flipped through it casually and noticed some differences.

The three basic language courses, Immortal-Demon Language, Common Tongue, and Demon Race Language, were at the very beginning. Everyone basically knew them and had studied them. But the papers that followed were language papers for various different races.

Su Yu quickly flipped through the pages, scanning them briefly. He knew a total of 20 languages. He had learned two more in the past two months. However, including the three basic courses, he only found 9 languages he knew on this set of papers.

"90 points?"

Su Yu hesitated slightly. Even if he passed all of them, he would only get 90 points for the cultural courses, not 100.

A 10-point difference, while it might not mean much to him, could affect whether others passed the assessment.

While Su Yu was looking at the papers, some other students were also looking. Some, however, were unhurried. They only knew three languages, so they just started writing.

As for the thick stack of papers behind... what did that have to do with them!

They didn't know them anyway and couldn't even understand them, so they simply acted as if the papers behind didn't exist.

Could they exchange papers?

Su Yu didn't know, but the War Academy issuing such papers was unfair to some excellent students. Did that mean they could exchange them?

Su Yu's gaze shifted to the examiners in front. These people were all expressionless, giving nothing away.

Most students had started writing.

Su Yu hesitated for a moment, then quickly made a decision. He looked at a boy beside him who was also looking at the papers and quickly said, "Want to exchange papers?"

The person looked like an outsider. At this moment, he didn't care who Su Yu was. Upon hearing this, he quickly asked, "Do you have papers for Flying Tiger, Pangolin, Nine-tailed Fox...?"

"I'm not too sure. Some of the ones you mentioned, I don't know... I don't recognize them..."

Su Yu shook his head. He hadn't mastered some of them, so he naturally didn't recognize them.

There were too many languages of the Myriad Races. Who knew which script belonged to which race.

The person next to him hesitated for a moment and immediately said, "Let's trade!"

After that, the two exchanged papers.

The examiners above watched, and no one spoke.

This time, others no longer hesitated. Some students who knew many languages began to exchange papers with others.

Exchanging papers didn't mean that what you got in return was what you wanted.

Soon, someone discovered that the papers they exchanged were even worse than the previous ones and started looking for people to trade with again. At this moment, the young examiner from the Great Xia War College said faintly, "You can only write your name once. No more exchanges are allowed! The exam has started!"

Upon hearing this, many people's expressions changed. They could only find other students who hadn't written yet to continue exchanging.

Rustling sounds spread for a few minutes. It had been nearly 10 minutes since the exam began.

And Su Yu, after exchanging papers, looked at the new set. He found that he knew even fewer Myriad Races languages, only 8.

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

Should he still exchange?

He hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and decided not to. 8 was 8!

Su Yu lowered his head and started writing his paper!

Meanwhile, others also gradually discovered that the papers they exchanged knew fewer languages than before. Some people started exchanging papers again.

Just then, Old Xie suddenly pointed at a student and said coldly, "You can only exchange papers a maximum of 3 times. The exam starts now!"

"Teacher..."

The student, who had already switched papers three times, changed his expression. His original exam paper had questions in five or six languages, but the one he'd switched to only had three basic languages. This immediately cost him several tens of points!

"Do you want to be disqualified?"

The student dared not speak further. Filled with indignation and dejection, he lowered his head and began to write.

As for the other students, they exchanged glances, realizing they could only switch papers three times.

At the examination supervision area.

Old Xie and the other examiners exchanged glances, revealing faint smiles. Old Xie's lips moved slightly as he said, "Xiao Zhou, do you think they'll regret switching their papers?"

"Definitely."

The young man also moved his lips slightly. "The papers they were initially given were the most suitable for them. Some things aren't always perfect. Pursuing perfection in everything, picking up the sesame seed and losing the watermelon, ultimately leads to more loss than gain."

"For these students who are good at cultural courses, they all started from the same point. It's not perfect for anyone. Those who don't get full marks aren't the only ones. By switching back and forth, they've lost what originally belonged to them."

The young man smiled and quickly added, "The more they switch, the more depressed they'll become. Will these little guys' mental states collapse?"

"If their mental state collapses now, then they shouldn't have come to the War Academy!"

Old Xie was no longer holding back. This was just a small test. If they couldn't handle this, wouldn't they completely collapse if they failed on the battlefield?

As he spoke, Old Xie added, "I'm thinking about how to create the exam papers next year. I'm almost out of tricks."

"What's the hurry?"

The young man wasn't in a hurry. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and suddenly said, "The cultural course assessment is one hour long! 20 minutes have already passed. The remaining time might not be enough!"

"..."

Below, some students' expressions completely changed!

For the one-hour assessment, they had already spent a long time switching papers.

Finding someone to switch with, and then checking if it suited them – each switch took at least five or six minutes. 20 minutes passed in the blink of an eye!

Meanwhile, Su Yu, who was diligently answering his paper, couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

This was too much of a trap!

Was this even a proper exam?

As a result, some of the top students were probably getting anxious. There wasn't enough time. Some people who wanted to switch papers now couldn't find anyone, let alone have the time to do so.

Even if they were fast, it took tens of minutes to answer a paper for several subjects.

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

"Collect the papers!"

At the command, the city guards entered to collect and seal the papers. Some students were filled with dejection. It was too fast!

"I knew I shouldn't have switched just now!"

"So unlucky! I mastered 16 Myriad Races languages, but in the end, I only wrote four papers!"

"It wasn't like this last year. This year is simply chaotic. If this is how it is, then all our efforts learning so many Myriad Races languages were in vain?"

"..."

Below the stage, faint discussions finally arose.

It was too much of a trap!

Some of those who had mastered multiple languages were on the verge of tears. Before, they were all confident, and getting 100 points was not a problem. Now, it would be good if some of them could score thirty or forty points.

This was much more of a trap than they had anticipated.

As for Su Yu, he rushed to finish the 8 subjects he knew and breathed a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't switched anymore. If he had continued switching, not only would he have wasted time, but even if he had gotten the papers, he might not have been able to finish 10 subjects.

If he had switched a few more times, it would have been good if he could have completed three to five papers.

"Fortunately, I've written all 8 papers. Even if they aren't all correct, with a 60% accuracy rate, I hope to get 80 points."

Su Yu was already worried if the Civilization Academy in the afternoon would be the same.

"Your exam papers are being graded by specialists, and the process is very fast! The scores will be released soon, so please don't worry."

Old Xie said with a smile, "The first examination is over. We will now begin the second assessment!"

"The cultural course is finished, so now it's time for the cultivation assessment!"

As he spoke, another group of city guards entered. Old Xie smiled and said, "Kaiyuan, Open Nine Apertures! The mouth, nose, ears, and eyes are the seven basic apertures. It's not that you've opened your apertures just because you say you have!"

"The assessment for Kaiyuan First Three Stages begins!"

As his voice fell, a cup filled with liquid appeared before each candidate.

"For Kaiyuan First Three Stages, you will open the apertures of the mouth and nose. Smelling and tasting are fundamental. Smell to see if you can drink it, and taste it to determine what the liquid is and what has been added. These are all basic materials, including common Demon Race blood, commonly used household seasonings, and of course... laxatives!"

Old Xie said calmly, "If you smell or taste incorrectly, the rest of the exam will be irrelevant to you, because you'll be waiting in the restroom. So, try to be cautious, write down your findings, and submit them. This is the basic assessment for the first three stages!"

"Oh, I forgot to mention, the medicine might also have a sleeping effect. If you taste it and fall asleep, you'll miss the subsequent assessment."

"..."

A candidate couldn't help but raise their hand. When Old Xie gestured for them to speak, they quickly said, "Teacher, last year's assessment wasn't like this. Last year's assessment had fixed answers, only ten options. Are there no options to choose from this year? That would make the scope of choice too vast!"

"The time you're wasting isn't just mine, it's not just yours, it's everyone's!"

Old Xie said calmly, "If you want to take the test, take it. If you don't, shut up! Great Xia Prefecture is testing this way this year. It's not just you. If you want to chat with me more, I don't mind, I have plenty of time anyway!"

As soon as he said this, everyone felt helpless.

Su Yu was also helpless. The content of this year's assessment was very different from last year's. Although the process was similar, the specific details were completely different.

"Try it cautiously. Smell it correctly before tasting. Finally, write down your result. I guarantee the result won't be beyond your comprehension. You can also try writing randomly; perhaps you'll get it right."

Old Xie then smiled and said, "Kaiyuan Third Stage has no combat power to speak of. Are you planning to stage a free-for-all? If so, I don't mind. The last hundred people standing, I'll consider you passed. How about that?"

"..."

Silence fell over the entire venue. What a joke. Fighting now would be like a street brawl. It would be so embarrassing to go out with a bruised and swollen face after taking a test.

Since Old Xie said it wouldn't be beyond their comprehension, the crowd no longer wasted time.

Su Yu cautiously smelled the liquid in front of him, making a judgment in his heart, "It smells like Fire Boar Blood..."

He was very sensitive to blood; different bloods had different smells.

Different races, and the things the Demon Race excelled at, were all reflected in their blood.

Su Yu smelled it for a while, felt no threat, picked up the cup, and carefully tasted a small amount. He felt it for a moment and quickly came to a conclusion.

"Fire Boar Blood, normal duck blood, chili sauce, water, butter..."

Su Yu quickly wrote down his answers. Other candidates also began to try one after another. Some were already filling in their answers, while others were still hesitating whether to taste it, worried about tasting something problematic.

"Distribute your time wisely!"

The young examiner spoke again, coldly, "Students who have written down their answers don't need to wait for them. Go to the back and participate in the assessment for Kaiyuan Third Stage and above!"

As soon as he said this, many students quickly got up.

Su Yu was among them. He was worried that there would be time limits for the subsequent assessments, and he wouldn't have time to participate in other items.

The entire large floor, which Su Yu had initially thought was just one space, turned out to have another assessment area behind the wall.

Su Yu and the others quickly entered the back examination room. Old Xie, the woman from the Education and Strengthening Department, and the person from the Demon Suppression Army followed them.

In the back examination room.

More than 30 people had arrived by now.

These people were all at Kaiyuan Third Stage or above. Of course, many who were Kaiyuan Third Stage and above were still identifying the liquid.

"Kaiyuan Fourth Stage, Fifth Stage, open the ear apertures, hearing improves!"

Old Xie walked to the front with a smile. "You are only at Kaiyuan, you haven't been to the battlefield yet. Great Xia Prefecture won't demand too much from you, but since you've reached Fourth or Fifth Stage, the basic requirements must be met."

"Listen carefully..."

Old Xie reminded them. Everyone quickly pricked up their ears. At this moment, it seemed like someone was speaking in the examination room, but it wasn't clear.

"Someone is reciting a cultivation technique. They will recite it 10 times, each time for 5 minutes. After 50 minutes, if the person in front hasn't arrived and hasn't heard it, even if they are Kaiyuan Seventh or Eighth Stage, they won't pass this round. Kaiyuan Fourth and Fifth Stage individuals won't get their 60 points."

"They can't distinguish priorities, waste time, or allocate time reasonably. Such people on the battlefield will only be a burden!"

As Old Xie spoke, the voices could be faintly heard by everyone.

Indeed, someone was reciting something.

Su Yu listened for a few sentences, but it wasn't very clear. At this moment, a girl with braided hair in the crowd raised her hand. After Old Xie nodded, she frowned and said, "Teacher, what if someone knows this cultivation technique? They don't need to listen at all. Does this count as cheating?"

"Don't worry, no one will."

Old Xie said calmly, "This is a recently captured cultivation technique from a minor race. Great Xia Prefecture obtained this technique for the first time. If someone knows it... they are from the Ten Thousand Races Cult!"

After speaking, Old Xie said playfully, "Also, sometimes the translated version might not be the same. If your memorized translation differs from the one we're reciting, and is similar to what the minor race provided to the Ten Thousand Races Cult... hehe, this is the process every year, and many spies are caught. I hope none of you will be caught for the sake of entering the academy!"

As if knowing what these people were wondering, Old Xie added, "You're curious why I'm saying this instead of waiting for someone to memorize it and then catching them? It's simple, I'm giving you a chance. This minor race has been completely wiped out. If there are any followers of this race, they still have a chance to start anew by forgetting the past."

Su Yu couldn't be bothered to listen. At this moment, he was concentrating on listening to the sound.

The voice was very vague, as if he could hear it, yet as if he couldn't.

As soon as he wasn't paying attention, it became blurry.

This way, if you don't listen carefully, you can't possibly memorize it.

Su Yu wrote intermittently, completely ignoring others and having no energy to pay attention to them.

After five minutes, the first recitation was finished.

Su Yu looked at what he had written. He had memorized about one-third of it. At this rate, it would take him at least three to five recitations to memorize it completely.

There weren't many words, about a thousand characters in total.

Su Yu considered himself lucky. Many people's papers only had a few characters written on them.

It's too hard to keep up with the speed, listen, and write all at once!

Meanwhile, more and more students were entering the examination hall outside. These latecomers would hear the lecture fewer times, and without listening repeatedly, they wouldn't stand a chance of transcribing it accurately.

"I can usually transcribe it completely after listening five or six times. As for Haozi... I hope he doesn't fall asleep!"

Just as Su Yu was worrying about Chen Hao.

Chen Hao was also listening.

He scratched his head and ears, with many characters written on the paper in front of him. However, when the invigilating teacher glanced over, they could barely recognize them.

This guy had written a lot, but what exactly had he written?

Of course, some people were in a worse state than Chen Hao, having only managed to write a few scattered words, and they all looked dejected at the moment.

In such a situation, even if some students had reached the Kaiyuan Fourth or Fifth Stage, they might not be able to score well.

"They have the realm but can't use it at all. It's better if such people don't get into the academy!"

The invigilating teacher thought to himself. He had opened his ear aperture, but he couldn't use it at all. He couldn't even master basic sound perception, let alone sound perception and positional judgment. Such Fourth or Fifth Stage cultivators were completely meaningless.

Students from mid-tier academies, after five years of study, had been taught everything. Apart from not having practical combat experience, these students were true warriors.

Yet, a group of warriors couldn't even master basic abilities, and their hopes of entering a War Academy were almost nil.

As the invigilating teacher was thinking about this, Chen Hao, standing nearby, raised his hand and said with some annoyance, "Teacher, stop pacing in front of me! You've already done it several times. Can you go to someone else?"

"..."

The invigilating teacher was stunned, then chuckled, "This is also a form of test. On the battlefield, there will sometimes be unexpected situations..."

Chen Hao rolled his eyes. "If this were a real battlefield, I'd pull out my knife and kill you! Teacher, if you keep pacing in front of me, I'll kill you!"

"..."

The invigilating teacher couldn't help but laugh. Not far away, the chief examiner nodded slightly, signaling him to leave Chen Hao's side.

Pacing in front of a student was naturally inappropriate. The main reason was that Chen Hao was too restless, constantly scratching his head, which was why the invigilating teacher had circled him a few more times.

The invigilating teacher moved to the side and whispered, his lips moving, "The overall performance of the people from Great Xia Prefecture is much better than those from Nan Yuan! Kaiyuan Fourth and Fifth Stages are the basic requirements. In Nan Yuan, there are actually fewer Fourth and Fifth Stage cultivators than in Great Xia Prefecture."

Great Xia Prefecture had over 400 people participating in the assessment, while Nan Yuan had nearly 3,000.

There were fewer Fourth and Fifth Stage cultivators in Nan Yuan than in Great Xia Prefecture.

The chief examiner was not surprised and also said in a low voice, "Nan Yuan's elemental energy is too weak, after all. However... there's also an advantage! Nan Yuan students progress slowly, spending more time honing each realm. Most Kaiyuan Fourth Stage cultivators can transcribe some of it, while many of Great Xia Prefecture's Fifth and Sixth Stage cultivators can't even hear clearly."

The chief examiner shook his head, clearly finding these people from Great Xia Prefecture somewhat embarrassing.

Their realms were stronger, but their rapid progress meant they spent less time in the ear aperture stage. Driven by the desire to become stronger, some Fifth or Sixth Stage cultivators might not score as well as the Kaiyuan Fourth or Fifth Stage cultivators from Nan Yuan.

Upstairs.

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

There were a few other students like him, not many, less than 10 in total.

In examination room number 5, with 660 students, only about this many had managed to transcribe it completely so far. The invigilating teacher, Old Xie, seemed a bit disappointed, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. The only thing that was somewhat surprising was that some Fifth and Sixth Stage students from Great Xia Prefecture still hadn't finished writing.

Old Xie, without any regard for the other students who were still listening, announced, "Those who have transcribed it and are willing to participate in the assessment for Kaiyuan Fifth Stage and above, follow me!"

As soon as he said this, Su Yu and the others got up.

At this, some people around them became anxious. Some of them had just entered, and now others were going to participate in higher-level assessments.

Should they continue listening here, or go participate in the assessment for the Fifth Stage and above?

What if, like this time, it delayed the next round of assessment?

"Allocate time and energy and physical strength reasonably..."

The words of the young examiner from earlier flashed through some people's minds. Several students gritted their teeth and no longer hesitated, rising to participate in the assessment for the Fifth Stage and above!

The listening assessment was worth 60 points.

For some students who were already at the Fifth Stage or above, it was a difficult choice: continue listening here and waste a lot of time, or go and strive for other points. If they listened for too long, they would become dizzy and disoriented, and might not be able to score in the subsequent assessments, which would be a huge loss.

The Kaiyuan Seventh Stage, if they passed, would be worth 50 points per stage, which could compensate for the ear aperture assessment.

Old Xie, who was leading the way, showed a smile on his face.

Making choices was sometimes very difficult.

The assessments for higher-level academies weren't just about strength or talent, but also other factors.

Decision-making ability, judgment, and the weighing of gains and losses... these were all things that these young students needed to master themselves. If it were purely about strength, why bother with assessments? They could just compare who had a higher realm and declare them the winner.

Having a higher realm might offer an advantage here, but if they passed the previous few rounds perfectly, it wasn't impossible to get into a War Academy at the Kaiyuan Third Stage.

"Nan Yuan is still a bit weak. If there were more Kaiyuan Fourth and Fifth Stage cultivators, then the people from Great Xia Prefecture might not even perform as well as Nan Yuan in the end."

Old Xie was thinking about these things, but he didn't forget to keep an eye on a few outstanding students he had been paying attention to earlier.

Su Yu, this kid, had performed well in the past few rounds. In the first round, he made a quick decision after a change, passing all 8 assessments, earning an additional 80 points. This might be the highest score in the entire venue.

"I'm somewhat looking forward to seeing if this kid's final assessment score can compare to some of the geniuses from Great Xia Prefecture..."

The unified assessment for the entire prefecture had the same content, the same procedures, and the same scoring. Su Yu's score had nothing to do with whether he was a student from Nan Yuan or not.

Old Xie was indeed looking forward to the result. Among the students from Nan Yuan, perhaps only Su Yu had the hope of competing with the geniuses from Great Xia Prefecture. As for the others... there was no need for comparison. The difference in realms alone was huge, and even with solid fundamentals, there was still a natural gap.