Elimination System

Li Yuan nodded. Following the instructions, the two of them first went to the logistics office to collect two sets of academy uniforms, some basic daily necessities, a copy of the Divine Martial Academy Regulations, and a map of the academy.

They then followed the map and found Bamboo Listening Lodge, nestled within a tranquil bamboo grove.

Bamboo Listening Lodge consisted of a row of separate residences, with white walls and gray tiles amid elegant surroundings. Small wooden plaques hanging beside the door lintels already bore names written in ink.

Li Yuan found his own residence, and his gaze shifted slightly.

Shen Lian.

"Ah? How could this be..."

Wu Yu had also found his dormitory. He was to share it with a student named Zhou Mo, and his face immediately fell.

Then he gathered his courage. "Brother Li, how about... I go discuss it with that Shen Lian and see if we can switch?"

Before Li Yuan could answer, the residence door opened with a creak, and Shen Lian happened to step outside.

Seeing this, Wu Yu hurried forward, piling a smile onto his face as he cupped his hands politely. "Brother Shen, pardon the interruption. I am Wu Yu, and this is my friend Li Yuan. Would Brother Shen be willing to exchange dormitories with us?"

Shen Lian paused. His cold gaze swept over Wu Yu before settling on Li Yuan, carrying undisguised gloominess. His thin lips parted, and he spat out two icy words.

"No swap."

Wu Yu's smile froze. He still tried to press the matter. "Brother Shen, look, we'll all be classmates from now on. Why not do us this small favor..."

"I said, no swap."

Shen Lian cut him off without the slightest courtesy, his tone deeply impatient. "Get lost."

Wu Yu's face flushed red, then white, provoked by his vile attitude. He had been born into wealth and privilege, pampered from childhood at home. These past few days, his talent had also drawn considerable attention. When had he ever suffered such face-to-face humiliation?

Even a clay figurine had three parts earthiness, let alone a hot-blooded youth.

"Shen Lian, what kind of attitude is that? We only wanted to discuss it. If you won't switch, then don't switch. Why insult people?" Wu Yu snapped as well, raising his voice.

A chill entered Shen Lian's eyes, and Sha Qi radiated from his body. He stared at Wu Yu and slowly said, "What do you intend to do?"

Sensing that things were turning ugly, Li Yuan hurriedly stepped forward, shielding the red-faced Wu Yu behind him as he calmly looked at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian's gaze instantly locked onto Li Yuan as well. Their eyes collided in midair, as though invisible sparks were flying.

Seeing the provocation in Shen Lian's eyes, Wu Yu was both anxious and furious. Clenching his fists, he prepared to charge forward.

"Oh my, oh my, and you're already about to put on a full-blown brawl the moment you arrive? Public fighting in the academy means demerits from your credits, you know."

Yu Ling'er appeared from who knew where, skipping between the three of them and deftly cutting off their line of sight.

She first blinked at the unhappy-looking Wu Yu, then mischievously stuck out her tongue. "Li Yuan, Wu Yu, don't be angry. Student Shen, calm down too. As far as I know, dormitories assigned by the academy aren't allowed to be exchanged privately in principle."

At her words, Wu Yu's soaring temper immediately wilted somewhat, and he awkwardly rubbed his nose.

Shen Lian glanced at Yu Ling'er, snorted coldly, and said no more. Turning around, he went straight back into his room and slammed the door shut with a bang.

"Tch, what's so great about him? Who's he putting on that sour face for..."

Wu Yu muttered at the tightly shut door, then turned to Li Yuan. "Brother Li, forget about him. Come on, let's eat first. I heard the academy dining hall serves excellent food, and they even have medicinal meals specially prepared for cultivation students."

Li Yuan nodded. He did not care much about Shen Lian's hostility. Right now, what mattered more was first getting to know the academy grounds.

"Food? I'm coming too."

Yu Ling'er's eyes immediately lit up. Turning toward the neighboring dormitory, she called, "Zhou Mo, stop hiding in there reading and come to the dining hall with us."

The dormitory door opened soundlessly. A thin young man in an academy uniform, steeped in scholarly air, slowly emerged with a book scroll still pinched in his hand.

He nodded somewhat timidly at Li Yuan and Wu Yu. "Hello. I'm Zhou Mo. My talent is Mutant Analysis, level seven."

Yu Ling'er seemed quite familiar with the academy. She chattered all the way, constantly introducing things to them.

"That tallest black tower over there is a model of the Demon Suppression Pagoda. It contains sealed samples of some low-level demons for teaching purposes. The real Demon Suppression Pagoda is far more magnificent than this..."

"The woods to the east contain all kinds of formations and mechanical puppets. It's a place for practical combat drills, but I've heard it's quite dangerous. Newcomers had better not wander in recklessly."

"Oh, right. Do you know how formidable Instructor Liu is?"

At the mention of Liu Hongyan, Yu Ling'er looked excited. "I heard she's a late-stage Condensed Essence Realm expert. She used to be a demon-hunting guard in the Demon Suppression Bureau and earned quite a few merits."

Li Yuan seemed to think of something. "What is the Pivot Star Class's elimination system about?"

Wu Yu asked curiously as well, "Are credits really that hard to earn? We start with a hundred points."

"A hundred points? Is that a lot?" Yu Ling'er shook her head vigorously and began counting on her fingers. "Browsing even the most ordinary cultivation manuals in the Scripture Repository costs five points a day. A bottle of the most basic Qi-Nourishing Pills costs ten points. Cultivating in a beginner Spirit Gathering Room for two hours costs twenty points."

"Not to mention those advanced resources. Their prices are simply sky-high. As for missions that earn credits..."

She sighed at this point. "I heard ordinary missions only give two or three points. Helping instructors handle paperwork earns only five or six points a day. As for those missions with generous rewards, not only are they dangerous, but their requirements are high. They usually require teams, and the competition is fierce."

"Ah? Wouldn't that mean we wouldn't even dare spend the credits in our hands?" Wu Yu clicked his tongue in amazement.

"That needn't worry you. The year-end rankings are based on your total accumulated credits, not your remaining credits. In other words, even if you spend all your credits improving yourself, as long as you earn enough, you can still rank near the top."

Li Yuan listened in silence, committing all this information to memory. Clearly, the academy's system encouraged competition.

"Oh, and," Yu Ling'er remembered something and warned them solemnly, "as I said earlier, if you openly fight within the academy and get caught, regardless of who was right or wrong, the person who struck first loses fifty points, while the person who retaliated loses twenty points."

"Moreover, deducted credits will no longer count toward your total score."

Wu Yu felt a wave of lingering fear and said gratefully, "Thank you for the reminder, Miss Ling'er. I nearly acted on impulse."

He could not afford to lose fifty of his initial credits.

But Li Yuan's heart stirred. Yu Ling'er had emphasized words such as within the academy and openly twice. Did that mean that outside the academy, perhaps the rules did not prohibit it?

It seemed he would need to carefully study the academy regulations after returning.

As they talked, they arrived at the dining hall. It was spacious and bright, divided into an ordinary meal area and a medicinal meal area.

Using their nameplates, they collected their free allotted meals. Only Wu Yu curiously ordered the cheapest medicinal meal to try.

While eating, Yu Ling'er continued sharing what she knew of the academy.

"The academy runs on a three-year system. The first year is for learning foundational knowledge and basic cultivation techniques. In the second year, students begin learning more complex joint tactics and take part in some low-risk field missions."

"As for the third year..." She paused. "It's an internship. Most of the time, students are assigned in squads to local offices of the Demon Suppression Bureau or border garrisons, where they take part in missions to wipe out demons."

"We have to go to war too?" Wu Yu was startled.

"It's very dangerous. Every year, some students never return. Especially those of us in the Pivot Star Class—we have high talent and great fame, so we're more likely to be targeted."

"Targeted by whom?" Wu Yu asked curiously.