Examinees

On the day of the exam.

Luo Jun arrived at Ningdong University's Back Mountain early in the morning.

For today's exam, he had specifically bought a new set of sportswear that allowed easy movement, along with a pair of well-fitting athletic shoes. The total cost came to a whopping 350 yuan!

The gathering location was near the Trial Stone Steps. Although this place fell within Ningdong University's grounds, it was a desolate back mountain, and school rules prohibited students from coming here. As a result, few students ever visited.

Luo Jun had considered himself quite early, but by the time he arrived, two or three hundred people were already waiting there.

These people varied widely in temperament and attire. Most had found comfortable spots and kept to themselves. Some were sizing up the other examinees, some had their eyes closed as they rested, and some were simply warming up on the spot, adjusting themselves to peak condition.

A few of them knew one another and greeted each other as they chatted. Luo Jun saw faint Vital Energy covering their bodies.

Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators were all people from the circle, so it made sense that they knew each other...

As for most of the others, no Vital Energy could be seen on them. They were either in the Body Refinement Realm or ordinary people.

There were a lot of ordinary people. Luo Jun had assumed ordinary people would only be there to make up the numbers in an exam like this, but now that he looked, only a dozen or so had visible Vital Energy. Even if a hundred of the rest were in the Body Refinement Realm, ordinary examinees would still account for half the total.

According to Old Yuan, every one of these ordinary examinees possessed exceptional skills; they simply did not understand Vital Energy. Compared to Cultivators, they had undergone even stricter screening.

As a complete novice who had only come into contact with Vital Energy less than a month ago, Luo Jun naturally knew no one. He simply leaned against a tree, took out his phone, and browsed the forum to pass the time.

It had to be said, the Vital Energy Cultivator forum really was a good thing. It contained plenty of recent news from the cultivation world. During This Time, the most discussed topic had been the entrance exams for the major Explorer Academies.

Some people predicted the exam content, while others guessed who would advance... Naturally, no one paid much attention to the minor nobodies, but several renowned geniuses in the Vital Energy world drew plenty of attention.

For example, Qin Jun Song, who was applying to Guanxi University; Zhuge Zi, who was applying to Puhua Mountain Academy; East Sea Wanderer, who was applying to Tianjing University; and Lei Tianyang, who was applying to Ningdong University...

Some of those were real names, while others were nicknames. In the Cultivator circle, fame was earned through fighting. Sometimes, a nickname spread more easily than a real name.

Second by second, more and more people arrived. The number of Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators also clearly increased. Moreover, the Vital Energy surrounding these latecomers was obviously denser than that of the earliest arrivals.

The truly skilled ones aren't in a hurry. The ones who come early are all unsure of themselves...

Luo Jun came to that conclusion and included himself among the "unsure group." He took this exam even more seriously.

"Eh? You came too!" A somewhat familiar voice sounded from behind him. Luo Jun turned and saw a short-haired girl with sunglasses pushed up onto her head.

"You're... Sha Sha?" Luo Jun remembered her. She was the girl who had acted alongside Hao Yong during the incident at the mall.

"Ha! You remember me!" Sha Sha was cheerful by nature. "Boss Cheng said you'd only been in contact with Vital Energy for two or three months, yet you're applying to an Explorer Academy too?"

"Haha, I couldn't get into one through the regular college entrance exam. Of course I wasn't going to pass up this chance!" Luo Jun chuckled. "I was wondering why I saw Brother Hao and Brother Meng a couple days ago but not you. So you were preparing for the exam."

"That's right. Getting into Ningdong University is my dream!" Sha Sha rubbed her nose. "But you, kid, have done something impressive again! Gong Shiyue wasn't easy to catch. Did you see my post?"

"Shh, shh, shh... Please spare me!" Luo Jun hurriedly covered Sha Sha's mouth.

Sure enough, that Meng guy hadn't lied to him. Early the next morning, the post about Gong Shiyue being captured had made the headlines. Sha Sha was genuinely a good writer, vividly recounting how Luo Jun had remained calm in a crisis and helped the patrol team capture Gong Shiyue. To protect his privacy, though, she had not named him, only referring to him as an enthusiastic citizen.

Luo Jun had thought the comments beneath such a post would be filled with praise for him. But when he scrolled down, he discovered that compliments made up only half of them. Quite a few people were cursing him instead!

Although Gong Shiyue had been classified as a Heretical Cultivator, she had never done anything like murder or other life-threatening crimes. Her main black mark was that she liked stealing various treasures and artifacts, and she only targeted major sects and great families. To the many lower-level Cultivators, Gong Shiyue posed no threat. She even expanded the supply of goods on the black market. In a sense, she was a bit like a thief who robbed the rich to help the poor.

On top of that, she was exceptionally beautiful and had the suggestive trait of liking to absorb men's essence. Gong Shiyue was quite popular within the circle, and many male Cultivators were her fans. They did not dare openly support a Heretical Cultivator, but they had no such reservations on the forum. One after another, they condemned this meddlesome "enthusiastic citizen"—saying he had no idea how to cherish women, saying that if they caught the guy who dared throw their goddess, they would make him pay. Those were the civilized comments. Some of the insults were downright nasty, leaving Luo Jun with the expression of an elderly man staring at a phone on the subway...

Thanks to those people, the post's discussion count soared, and more and more people began threatening and intimidating the "enthusiastic citizen."

Fortunately, Sha Sha had not included his real name or a photo. Otherwise, twenty or thirty people might have jumped out at the exam site today and torn him to shreds.

"Fine, fine, I get it. I definitely won't tell anyone..." After much persuasion, Sha Sha finally agreed to keep his secret. "By the way, this is your first time taking the exam, right?"

"Yeah." Luo Jun nodded.

"Ah..." Sha Sha sighed and patted Luo Jun on the shoulder. "It's okay if you don't get in. Try harder next time."

"Huh?" Luo Jun's face darkened. "The exam hasn't even started yet. How do you know I won't get in?"

"I'm not talking about just you. I'm the same... The competition is too fierce this year." Sha Sha sighed. "Several famous geniuses have signed up. They're either children of prestigious families or outstanding disciples from major sects... It's way too unfriendly for ordinary rogue cultivators like us."

Luo Jun recalled the forum posts. "I saw that the favorite here is called Lei Tianyang. Who is he?"

"He's the third young master of the Pei'an Lei Family, an expert who broke through to the Heart Refining Realm before even turning twenty."

"He's that strong?!" Luo Jun was stunned and turned to look through the crowd. "Where is this big shot?"

"No need to look." Sha Sha waved her hand. "He's famous, but he isn't the strongest among this year's examinees."

"There are stronger ones?!" Luo Jun was astonished.

Sha Sha paused in surprise. "You Didn't Know?"

Luo Jun looked utterly confused. "How would I know?"

"Oh..." Sha Sha showed a slightly teasing expression and smiled. "Do you remember the woman from that day, the one wearing a mask who used golden light to tear the Polluter to shreds?"

"Her?!" Luo Jun was shocked. "She's already that strong? Why is she still taking an exam?"

After learning about Vital Energy over the past few days, Luo Jun was certain that the Masked Woman's golden light possessed first-rate Destructive Force even within the Heart Refining Realm. An expert like that would be more than qualified to become a teacher, so why was she still applying to university?

"Her nickname in the circle is the Golden Edge Witch. She's strong, but she's young." Sha Sha smiled. "She's probably about the same age as you. Besides, academies don't just teach Vital Energy. If you want to become an Explorer, knowledge and experience regarding Different Worlds are even more important. Those things were all explored by countless seniors. No matter how talented you are, you still have to start from the beginning."

"The same age as me?" Luo Jun was deeply shaken. We're both eighteen, but the gap is way too huge...

At that moment, Sha Sha spotted some other acquaintances and said goodbye to Luo Jun, leaving him alone to continue observing the other examinees.

No women wearing masks...

Luo Jun's gaze swept across the many examinees as he tried to find the legendary Golden Edge Witch, but without knowing what she looked like, he could not recognize her at all.

Suddenly, Luo Jun's eyes lit up as he noticed a girl who had just arrived.

She looked seventeen or eighteen, with a pure and beautiful face. Her long hair was tied into a neat high ponytail behind her head, with only a few loose strands left casually over her forehead. She wore a cropped denim jacket over a white T-shirt, its sleeves casually rolled up to her forearms. Below, she wore loose-fitting denim pants, sturdy and convenient for movement, paired with athletic shoes. She had a distinctly sporty, casual style.

"This is... Ling Xin?"

(End of Chapter)