Kaiyuan Sixth and Seventh Stages: opening the eye aperture.
There were practically no local Nanyuan students who had opened their eye apertures. At least, Su Yu had not seen any so far. Other than Su Yu, nearly everyone following Old Xie from Examination Hall No. 5 had come from Great Xia Prefecture.
At this moment, everyone around Su Yu was from Great Xia Prefecture.
Su Yu was actually rather curious. He spotted the student who had exchanged papers with him earlier and quietly asked, "Can Kaiyuan Sixth and Seventh Stage students from Great Xia Prefecture not get admitted?"
Wasn't that a little exaggerated?
Even in Great Xia Prefecture, Sixth and Seventh Stage students should have a high chance of getting in, right?
The boy being questioned glanced toward Old Xie. Seeing that he had not turned around, he quietly replied, "Sixth and Seventh Stage students aren't outstanding in Great Xia Prefecture, but they're still middle-of-the-pack. Their chances of admission aren't small, but cultivation level isn't the only thing that matters."
The boy explained softly, "Besides the basic cultivation assessment later, there's also an advanced assessment. You know that, right?"
"Mm. The defense and archery assessments are mandatory every year."
Su Yu nodded, but remained puzzled. "What does that have to do with whether we're in Nanyuan?"
"Of course it does!"
The boy said helplessly, "Defense and archery are bonus-score items too, but there are too many experts in Great Xia Prefecture. If we take the test there, we'll definitely end up at the bottom of the crane's tail. We won't earn bonus points. Usually, only the top-ranked students get extra points."
"In Great Xia Prefecture, all the slots are taken by those at the Kaiyuan Eighth and Ninth Stages. We have no hope."
"But here in Nanyuan... Nanyuan may be small, but if you perform a little better, it's easier to earn bonus points."
Su Yu nodded slightly, then asked another question. "Anything above 200 points is practically guaranteed admission. If you score more points, apart from first place, the rankings shouldn't differ much, right?"
"I can tell you don't understand any of this!"
The boy shook his head. "Since you followed along, that means you're above the Kaiyuan Fifth Stage. You should know that 200 points can get you into a War Academy, but there are ranks even after you get in. The academies divide students into nine grades!"
"Lower-lower, lower-middle, lower-upper... all the way up to the best of the best, upper-upper!"
The boy gritted his teeth. "Lower-ranked students receive the worst treatment in the academy. They don't have dedicated teachers to guide them. Getting in is actually still difficult—they're just hanging up a nameplate, that's all. Only once you reach the middle ranks do you have a chance to access more things."
"Anyone below 300 points counts as a lower-ranked student!"
"So you need more than 300 points before you can be considered as truly entering a War Academy."
The boy looked at Su Yu sympathetically. "For War Academies, aside from cultural studies and cultivation assessments, the most important thing is the practical assessment. It offers plenty of bonus points, roughly equivalent to the bonus points from the Divine Script assessment at Civilization Academies."
"That's why we came to Nanyuan. We're hoping to test a little better and rank a little higher, so we can gain at least some extra points. In Great Xia Prefecture, people like us have almost no chance of bonus points."
Su Yu understood and nodded slightly. Then he glanced at the girl ahead of them and quietly asked, "Sixth and Seventh Stage students face intense competition, but what about the Eighth Stage? Anyone at the Eighth Stage or above should count as a genius, right? Why did she come here too?"
He could sense qi gathering around the girl ahead. That meant she was at least Kaiyuan Eighth Stage.
"The Eighth Stage?"
This boy was not someone applying to a Civilization Academy, and he was not familiar with Wu Lan. Following Su Yu's gaze, he hesitated before saying, "I'm not sure. Maybe she wants to take first place in Nanyuan? Kaiyuan Eighth Stage is considered genius-level even in Great Xia Prefecture. Or maybe she only has cultivation level, while she's poor in other areas, so she came to Nanyuan to play it safe."
Su Yu did not ask further. By then, the group had arrived at another examination site.
Old Xie looked at the students following behind him and said calmly, "The Sixth and Seventh Stage assessment is worth 80 points in total. The basic assessment is simple—sharp eyes and quick hands are enough! This room will launch 100 balls shortly: 80 red and 20 white."
"You earn one point for catching a red ball and lose one point for catching a white one. Catch them as quickly as possible. If you can't distinguish them in time, just catch them all. You can still get 60 points, at least, rather than missing a large number of red balls."
The examination site before them contained five small rooms.
There were only around ten candidates, so the assessment would be finished in two rounds.
Old Xie added, "The launch interval is very short. You have two minutes, and one ball will be fired roughly every second! Let me remind you again: allocate your physical strength and energy wisely. You must understand that sometimes giving up is harder than persevering! If you use up too much strength in this round, I'm worried you won't be able to endure the following assessments."
Su Yu and the others said nothing. This assessment was not beyond the syllabus.
There were several assessment methods for the Kaiyuan Sixth and Seventh Stages. This method had been used before, and secondary academies also conducted related training.
Of course, that was in Great Xia Prefecture.
Nanyuan only mentioned it in class and almost never conducted actual training. It was not because Nanyuan did not value it, but because there were practically no students at the Sixth or Seventh Stage and above in Nanyuan each year.
"You five, get in there. Don't waste time!"
Old Xie gave a low shout, pointed at five of them, and staff nearby began supervising and counting.
Su Yu was not among them, but he watched very seriously.
Before this, Su Yu had hardly done any related training. He had advanced too quickly and simply had no time for it.
The five students were slightly nervous as they swiftly walked inside.
The moment they entered, a machine in the room began firing balls at high speed.
Bang!
At the very first shot, one student got hit. Not only did he fail to catch the ball, it struck him in the head.
Old Xie frowned slightly and shouted, "If you can't keep up with the rhythm, you'll get hurt too! Judge for yourselves whether you should give up..."
Before he could finish, the second ball was launched. It was not slow, and its impact was not light either.
Other than the student who had just been struck and was now flustered, the others caught them fairly easily.
But in such a brief span of time, they had to catch rapidly launched balls while distinguishing red from white. The balls came too fast, making them difficult to identify. Often, their minds reacted, but their bodies still reflexively reached for white balls.
The balls were not fired in straight lines either. Sometimes they flew in arcs, forcing the students to race through the tiny rooms.
Before one minute had passed, three of the five students were already panting heavily, unable to catch their breath.
One of them had a bruised purple face. He had just been struck in the face by several balls.
Su Yu had secretly been counting for him all along. He could not help sighing. "Thirty-two red balls and eight white balls. Twenty-four points."
He could not tell whether that student was at the Fifth or Sixth Stage, but regardless, it seemed he would struggle to even get 30 points.
Only then did Su Yu understand why some students who met the cultivation requirements often failed to get full marks.
As he thought about this, he looked toward the girl in another room. She was formidable!
In one minute, around fifty balls had been fired. The girl had caught forty-two red balls—all the red balls—and not caught a single white one. That meant she currently had a perfect score.
"Something's not quite right..."
Su Yu could sense the difficulty involved. It required both the mind and body to keep up, and both had to be powerful.
She was not weak, but she seemed very relaxed. She could often even predict whether the ball would be red or white. This was an embodiment of Willpower.
"Her Willpower is very strong!"
Su Yu frowned slightly. This meant she might not merely be taking the War Academy assessment. She might also be a prospective Civilization Academy candidate.
Su Yu was confident about catching balls as well.
His Willpower was not weak either. With more than a second between balls, there was plenty of time. He could quickly distinguish red from white and was confident he could catch every ball. But judging from this, competition for first place in this War Academy examination would be fierce.
This was only Examination Hall No. 5. There were four more halls below.
As he pondered, the two minutes passed.
One student gave up midway and did not continue.
Old Xie did not care. Once they came out, he swiftly announced, "Eighty points, sixty-five points, sixty points, thirty-two points, twenty-four points!"
Those were the assessment scores for the first five students.
The results of this round were also the most straightforward!
The student who had scored 24 points was somewhat dejected. He was at the Kaiyuan Sixth Stage. Logically, 30 points should have been considered passing, but he had lost six points for nothing.
He was dejected, and the others were too. Kaiyuan Seventh Stage was worth 80 points. Other than the girl who had taken every point, none of them had received full marks.
"Continue!"
Old Xie looked at Su Yu and the others. They hurried into the rooms.
The machine began firing balls again in the next moment.
Inside the room.
Although Su Yu had never undergone this kind of training, after watching for a while, he had more or less grasped the trick.
He extended a trace of Willpower and stared at the machine's nozzle. The instant a ball emerged, he sensed its color and trajectory.
Bang!
The ball struck his hand. Su Yu caught it and casually tossed it aside. It was red.
A faint glow shone from his eyes. Su Yu had opened his eye aperture, and everything appeared exceptionally clear.
"Willpower is basically cheating... Of course, it's also my own ability. Still, I'll try without using Willpower..."
Su Yu set aside his Willpower and began catching balls with his opened eye aperture.
Fortunately, even after shutting off his Willpower, he found it fairly easy.
With sharp eyes and quick hands, Su Yu's hands were certainly not slow. He had trained his fundamentals for many years, and after bitterly cultivating the Thunder Origin Blade, the apertures in his hands had been tempered as well. Catching the balls now was quite easy.
Outside, Old Xie nodded slightly and smiled.
He could sense Su Yu using Willpower.
It counted as cheating, but Willpower cultivated by the candidate was also the candidate's own ability, so he said nothing.
But Old Xie also sensed Su Yu stop using Willpower after the second ball. Very good. He liked students like this.
You can use your abilities, but that doesn't stop me from looking down on you!
For example, Old Xie did not particularly like Wu Lan, the girl from earlier. She had earned a perfect score, but using Willpower in a War Academy assessment—did that still count as assessing cultivation level?
Was having powerful Willpower such a big deal?
If she had the ability, she should take the Civilization Academy examination. War Academies examined whether one's physical cultivation met the standard, not whether one's Willpower met the standard.
Two minutes later, Su Yu came out, breathing hard.
Old Xie beamed. "Not bad. Eighty points, a perfect score! Though you look a little bedraggled, you got full marks for the Kaiyuan Sixth and Seventh Stages! You advanced quickly, yet you still managed full marks. Your fundamentals are very solid. Looks like those five years weren't wasted!"
Old Xie's smile was radiant, completely unlike his attitude toward Wu Lan, who had also earned a perfect score.
At the side, Wu Lan's expression darkened.
She had also received full marks, but Old Xie had barely mentioned it just now. He had simply announced her score and moved on.
Wu Lan was proud by nature. Unable to hold it in any longer, she said quietly, "Teacher, eighty points is only basic ability in Great Xia Prefecture..."
Old Xie said blandly, "That's right, but this isn't Great Xia Prefecture. The key is that relying purely on cultivation level, some people still can't get 80 points!"
After saying that, Old Xie muttered, "Little girl, you aren't even applying to a War Academy, yet you insist on wasting examination resources!"
Wu Lan was left speechless.
Old Xie understood perfectly well. Su Yu still had a chance of choosing a War Academy, but this little girl did not. Unless something unexpected happened, she would certainly enter a Civilization Academy.
Since they were not on the same road, he could not be bothered to recruit her.
Her elder sister was a genius teaching assistant at Daxia Civilization Academy. It was in her file, but Old Xie could not be bothered to curry favor. The little girl was proud, and it mattered who she was being proud toward.
Old Xie himself was an expert of the Soaring Realm. He truly might not fear her.
Of course, it was only an assessment. There was no need to offend anyone, but there was no need to flatter anyone either. He only needed to do his job as an examiner.
Would Wu Qi really dare to cause trouble for him over such a minor matter?
Did she think the Dragon Martial Guard was made of straw?
Old Xie did not care in the slightest!
At the side, Su Yu also felt everyone's gazes on him and did not know whether to laugh or cry. This Old Xie... was truly so realistic!
He wanted Su Yu to apply to Dragon Martial Academy, so he praised him in front of everyone. Wasn't that just drawing hatred toward him?
Of course, Su Yu did not care either.
Good examination results and praise from a teacher were proof of ability. There was no need for him to care what others thought.
Old Xie checked the time and continued, "That concludes the basic assessment for the first seven Kaiyuan Stages. Adding the 100 full points for cultural studies, the total maximum is 270 points. The Eighth and Ninth Stages have another 100 points, defense and archery are worth 100 points at maximum, and practical combat is worth 100 points at maximum, for a total of 570 points. Add more than 3 Merit Points, and a perfect score exceeds 600."
Old Xie looked at Su Yu and smiled. "Su Yu, only scores above 600 are rated upper rank in a War Academy! So upper-ranked students are rare even in War Academies. You've only just reached Kaiyuan Eighth Stage. Even if you get quite a few additional Merit Points, you may not have much hope of reaching upper rank!"
Two hundred points counted as passing. Anything below 300 counted as lower rank, 300 to 600 counted as middle rank, and only above 600 counted as upper rank.
Su Yu calculated it and felt slightly dejected. By that measure, he truly might not be able to score upper rank.
He had not gotten full marks in cultural studies. Even if he got 80 points there and perfect scores in every other subject, he currently only had 250 points.
Of course, outside of Myriad Races Language, he had accumulated 10 Merit Points, which counted as 100 bonus points, bringing his total to 350.
"Unless I get full marks for Kaiyuan Eighth Stage, full marks for defense and archery, and full marks for practical combat—getting all 250 remaining points—I can only barely reach 600 points and meet the standard."
Su Yu worked it out. Only by earning perfect scores in every remaining assessment could he reach the upper-rank threshold.
Even then, he would only be at the very bottom of the upper ranks, rated upper-lower.
Su Yu was curious and could not help asking, "Teacher, then how many points are needed for an upper-upper rating?"
"Let's talk while we walk. We're heading elsewhere to continue the assessments! Students from all five examination halls will gather for the other assessments!"
As he walked, Old Xie replied, "You're in Nanyuan, so you know too little. Your teachers think there's no need for you to understand these things because they're afraid of discouraging you. Nanyuan's strongest candidate in previous years was only middle rank, so there was no need to think too much about it."
"Upper-upper... You can figure it out yourself. Above 800 points!"
Su Yu frowned. "But even at Kaiyuan Ninth Stage, with full marks in cultural studies, you still can't reach more than 800 points, can you?"
"Exactly, which is why upper-upper students are all Thousand Jun!"
"..."
Su Yu was speechless.
Old Xie chuckled. "They're only Thousand Jun. You'll reach it soon enough too. Those upper-upper fellows not only reached Thousand Jun, but also have a lot of Merit Points, so their accumulated scores are much higher than yours."
"Don't take it too seriously. Some of those people are monsters, while others are fake monsters!" Old Xie said bluntly. "Some people treat Qi Liquid like plain water, wasting resources. Even if they receive an upper-upper rating, it's useless. The academy will still treat them as it should. No one is willing to bother with mud that cannot be plastered onto a wall."
"Once you get to the academy, some experts would rather accept Kaiyuan Seventh Stage students from small cities than Thousand Jun students from great lineages. Aside from higher benefits, there's no real advantage, and those benefits mean little to them. So those fake monsters do not get along very well either!"
Old Xie's words were as blunt as could be.
If he had said this during an examination in Great Xia Prefecture, Old Xie would probably have faced immense pressure.
Behind them, Wu Lan felt somewhat uncomfortable and said solemnly, "Teacher, not everyone from great lineages is like that..."
Old Xie said indifferently, "I never said all of them are! I'm just giving ordinary students a little confidence. Take Civilization Academies, for instance. Some people grasp Divine Scripts in advance and receive several hundred extra points at once. Is that fair?"
"People from small cities don't even know what Divine Scripts are, while some have been reading Willpower Scripts since they were seven or eight. How can they compete?"
"Of course, that is the result their parents earned through hard work, and I won't deny their contributions. For example, I would naturally be willing to give my own children the best. But... comparing yourself to a genius from a small city at the starting line, all while acting as though you're better than him—that is childishness and incompetence!"
Old Xie said calmly, "What can you see at this stage? Wait another five or ten years, then look again! Only then is it fair. If someone from an ordinary family still accomplishes nothing after more than ten years, then he is truly ordinary and cannot be called a genius."
"With different starting points, you insist on comparing yourselves at the starting line. So what if you win? Is it glorious? Because my father is powerful and my mother is powerful, I'm better than you... Only the weak, cowards, and incompetents think like that! True geniuses do not compare themselves with those weaker than them. They are all striving for the summit!"
Old Xie said meaningfully, "For example, Wu Qi of the Civilization Academy would not want to compare herself with Liu Hong. The person she wants to compare herself with is Xia Yuwen from the Xia family! The broader your heart, the higher your horizons, and the farther you can walk in the future!"
"If you want to compare, compare yourself with those people! Su Yu, if you wanted to prove yourself, would you go compare yourself with Chen Hao?"
Old Xie smiled. "Of course, you're all still young and may not understand what I mean, but it's fine. You'll understand later! The higher examination is only competition at the starting line. The advantages of one's parents can show themselves now, but once you reach Soaring, Cloudsoar, Mountainsea... what use is it even if your father is an invincible expert?"
"More resources? Guidance from experts? Once it's time to walk your own path, resources are not the key, and guidance is not the key either. If you truly have talent, you will not lack these things. What truly matters is still yourself!"
Old Xie's words plunged everyone into silence.
Wu Lan was silent for a while. After some time, she softly said, "Thank you for your guidance, Teacher."
"I never gave you any pointers!"
Old Xie refused to admit it, speaking indifferently. "It isn't my place to guide you anyway. I just wanted to say: don't forget your original heart, and don't let a bunch of messy nonsense affect you. If you cultivate Willpower but can't even endure a few rumors and slanders, if your mentality collapses, then you might as well stop cultivating. You'll never soar through the air in your whole life!"
"If Liu Wenyan had been like that, could he have endured until seventy before soaring through the air? He should have killed himself decades ago!"
By then, they had reached another examination ground. Old Xie added one last remark. "Whether it's civilization or war, everything is an effort for the human race. Proper competition and proper comparison are necessary. Don't let jealousy and resentment fill your entire heart. Five years from now, you soar through the air while he hasn't. When you look at him then, you'll realize he's nothing much. The jealousy and envy of the past will be nothing but a joke!"
"And the reverse is true as well!"
After talking for a while, Old Xie stopped walking. Yet Su Yu and the others were no longer in the mood to listen. Every one of them stared, dumbfounded, at the enormous examination ground before them!
Ahead stood ten incomparably huge demon beasts!
Yes, demon beasts. Living demon beasts in South Yuan... How was that possible?
"What are you staring at? The weakest kind of Cloud-Chasing Horse. You're controlling demon beasts, not your family's donkeys! During the test, get on one and circle the examination ground once. That's full marks!"
"It's easy as hell. I stopped riding these things decades ago."
Old Xie wore an unbearably smug expression. What kind of thing was this? The most worthless demon beast there was—who still rode one of these?
"Oh, right. If you fall off, or fail to complete one lap, points will be deducted. Don't be afraid just because you've never seen or ridden one before. Just grab its mane tightly. Controlling its direction is simple too—it's the same as the horse-riding lessons you usually have at the academy."
Su Yu was speechless. The academy did have such lessons, but they really involved riding horses, not riding one of these things!
Skills like riding and archery were taught at all intermediate academies, but there were too few chances to use them in a small city.
Learning was one thing, but Su Yu had no confidence in claiming great mastery—especially now that his mount had been replaced by this mountain of flesh!
"One lap is fifty points. Hurry up; there are plenty more people waiting for the later tests. First come, first tested. You have a three-minute limit. Go over time, and it counts as failure. There are ten examination grounds like this, meaning around two thousand people are taking this test. There isn't enough time. Anyone who hasn't been tested by the deadline gets zero points. Move faster."
Ten examination grounds were enough. Quite a few people were still struggling with identifying liquids, while another batch was battling through the hearing test.
Time had to be allocated sensibly. This had been emphasized countless times. Anyone who couldn't make trade-offs deserved to fail the exam.
Su Yu and the others did not dare delay. Someone was already riding in the examination ground. The next moment, a student was thrown off the back of a massive Cloud-Chasing Horse. An invigilator caught him, casually tossed him aside, and said, "Five points. Next!"
Who needed three minutes? They changed riders every thirty seconds!
Su Yu still wanted to wait, but Old Xie pointed a finger. "Su Yu, you're up! You have to strive to be first in everything. How can you win if you don't fight for the lead? I have faith in you. Get an upper-grade result this time and show them! Even small places produce geniuses!"
At that moment, quite a few examiners in the examination ground looked over. An upper-grade result?
Could South Yuan produce an upper-grade student?
Had Old Xie drunk too much last night?
Before you continue