Scholars and ruins!

Most of those present were admissions officers, but they had little interest in the written exam.

For professionals, the written exam merely earned them bonus points;

the combat exam was the decisive assessment, the one that revealed a newcomer's strength and potential.

Thus, apart from a handful of written-exam invigilators who left, everyone was still waiting for the combat exam to begin.

Yi Tian, however, headed straight toward the written-exam rooms.

For a moment, everyone was puzzled...

Only Wei Yuan, who knew about Yi Tian's remarkable ability, followed him without a word.

The written exam in this world was no different from the college entrance exam in his previous life: everyone sat in classrooms and completed test papers.

Yi Tian reached the window in the back door of one exam room and looked inside, following the résumé's prompt...

He spotted a girl writing rapidly. Presumably, she was very confident in her answers.

The girl looked delicate and quiet, with a thin figure. Her plain white school uniform had yellowed slightly from repeated washing, and her expression was intensely focused.

[Name: Ning Jing]

[Basic information: Female, 18, from Qingcheng, Great Xia. Profession: Dual-blade Warrior]

[Potential: Gold (Ancient Civilization Explorer)]

[Background: Raised by her grandmother after her parents divorced, resulting in an introverted personality; has an almost obsessive interest in the history of Ancient Ruins and a natural talent for exploring ancient civilization ruins.]

[Investment opportunity: Legendary profession-Scholar (20 funding points)]

A Dual-blade Warrior... Looking at Ning Jing's almost frail appearance, Yi Tian could not help finding it rather incongruous.

After reading her résumé, Yi Tian realized that Ning Jing's family was poor. In fact, most people with high potential seemed to come from fairly ordinary backgrounds.

Yi Tian pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

It wasn't that talented people came from ordinary families. Most families in Great Xia were struggling these days!

Under the twin onslaught of Evil Demons and Other Races, how could there be so many wealthy, happy households?

In the corridor outside the exam rooms, a patrolling teacher spotted Yi Tian peering through a back door and instinctively moved to shoo him away.

Then he saw Wei Yuan come up beside Yi Tian and promptly turned around to patrol elsewhere.

"What is it? Found another talent?"

Wei Yuan approached, and Yi Tian took the opportunity to ask:

"What's the Scholar profession like?"

Scholar was clearly not a combat profession.

Yi Tian knew little about noncombat professions, so he wasn't sure whether she was worth recruiting.

Wei Yuan immediately perked up at the question.

"In Great Xia, Scholars are far rarer than combat professionals!"

"Oh?"

"A Scholar's abilities lie in exploration and research..."

Wei Yuan explained, also giving Yi Tian a brief introduction to ruins:

"Do you know about Ancient Ruins? They're lost legacy sites containing the civilizations of various Otherworlds!"

"They include ancient civilizations' war sites, places where natural anomalies arose, legacy sites of Primordial Supernatural Civilizations, and more... The opportunities are endless!"

"And Scholars can uncover those lost ruins and decipher their contents!"

"A ruin containing a legacy is worth more than you could imagine!"

After hearing Wei Yuan's explanation, Yi Tian didn't fully understand, but it certainly sounded impressive.

After all, there had been no news of ruins in Great Xia for a long time. The last secret realm had appeared over a decade ago.

Wei Yuan, however, understood the value of ruins and Scholars very well:

"Besides exploration, Scholars also conduct research."

"When the Otherworld Passages first appeared, the languages of the Other Races and the Human Race were mutually incomprehensible. It was only after Scholars researched their languages that Great Xia could establish contact with them."

"The Universal Beast Speech, Dragonkin Language, and other languages you study are all products of Scholars' research."

"Scholars have also contributed to developing certain special items and materials..."

Listening to Wei Yuan, Yi Tian realized for the first time that noncombat professions were equally deserving of respect.

When it came to uncovering ruins and researching languages, Scholars were practically irreplaceable!

In that case, he really had found a treasure.

Wei Yuan also mentioned that a Scholar's profession quality mattered greatly.

Unlike other professions, a Scholar's name remained the same from ordinary quality all the way up to Legendary quality.

But there were contents of certain ruins and texts from other civilizations that lower-quality Scholars simply couldn't decipher. Those required higher-quality Scholars!

Scholars truly had a strict hierarchy!

With another Legendary Scholar in East China, they might uncover an Ancient Ruin at any time!

Thinking again of Ning Jing's potential assessment, [Ancient Civilization Explorer], Yi Tian was certain that this girl would accomplish great things once recruited.

"After the exam, have someone bring her to the Meeting Room."

"This girl? No problem..."

Riiing-!

With the insistent ringing from the classroom speakers, all the written-exam candidates handed in their papers and left the exam rooms.

Dressed in her plain white uniform, Ning Jing walked out of the teaching building and let out a long breath.

"I did pretty well. That should be enough to apply for a clerical position!"

Although she had awakened as an elite-tier Dual-blade Warrior, making many people envy her, she had no intention of taking the combat exam.

She knew her temperament wasn't suited to killing enemies on the battlefield. Awakening a profession couldn't change someone's personality, and Ning Jing didn't even dare kill a chicken.

Because of that, she often felt guilty, as though she was letting her profession down.

Just as she left the teaching building, a striking figure flashed past her.

"It's Bai Qiu Li!"

Little stars seemed to sparkle in Ning Jing's eyes. "The legendary Sword Immortal... If only I were as amazing as her!"

Bai Qiu Li had achieved numerous first clears on hell difficulty and claimed a medium-sized secret realm, making her fame spread rapidly.

While Ning Jing was staring in a daze, Wei Yuan's secretary suddenly approached and spoke:

"Ning Jing, please come with us to the Meeting Room."

"Huh?" Ning Jing froze.

Her thoughts raced. Did I forget to put my name on the paper? Or forget to fill in the answer sheet?

Surely I wasn't that careless... Bewildered, Ning Jing followed.

They led her to a small meeting room in the teaching building. Wei Yuan's secretary respectfully invited her inside, then closed the door and left.

Ning Jing immediately spotted Wei Yuan, the man in charge, which made her especially nervous.

What puzzled her even more, however, was that Wei Yuan merely stood silently by the window, while a young man sat on the meeting room's sofa.

It made Wei Yuan look more like a bodyguard than the person in charge...

Wei Yuan spoke. "This is our special recruitment officer, Yi Tian."

Yi Tian had noticed that no matter whom he recruited, the process became exceptionally easy whenever Wei Yuan appeared. The other person's trust increased dramatically.

After all, he was the chief official for all of East China and one of the nation's top professionals. His reputation spoke for itself.

Sure enough, after Wei Yuan spoke, Ning Jing's nervous expression turned to delight.

"I-I've been specially recruited?!"

Yi Tian handed her a contract and confirmed, "That's right. Sign this, and you'll become my employee. Then Chief Wei will arrange your placement."

As a noncombat professional, Ning Jing wasn't suited to joining the special squad's base, so Yi Tian simply left her placement to Wei Yuan.

After all, she was a Legendary Scholar. Great Xia's research institutes couldn't get their hands on one even if they fought over her.

Ning Jing pressed her lips together and quietly sized Yi Tian up. She had never imagined that this young man, who was about her age, would want her to become his employee.

Could he really be reliable?

She asked cautiously, "May I ask... roughly how much would the monthly salary be after I join?"

"Two hundred thousand."

Wei Yuan answered for Yi Tian. Setting aside the other combat professionals for now, he would certainly give a Legendary Scholar the treatment she deserved.

After all, Yi Tian had entrusted her placement to him. Naturally, he couldn't shortchange her.

"Bonuses are separate..."

Before he had even finished, Ning Jing's expression turned solemn upon hearing the figure of two hundred thousand.

She picked up the pen and started signing the contract!

She practically wanted to sign every space where a name could fit, terrified that Yi Tian might change his mind!

Two hundred thousand was almost two years' wages for a clerk!

Seeing this, Yi Tian couldn't help remarking, "Offering a salary really does make a difference."

If Jiang Che heard about a monthly salary of two hundred thousand, he would probably consider founding the Spark Chain Martial Arts School...

As Ning Jing signed her name, Wei Yuan snapped his fingers, unfurling the Starlight Barrier.

The next instant, golden light blazed!