Wasn't this world only about self-interest...

"First, you have to get a chance to take the assessment..."

In the corner, Yu Sheng spoke quietly.

Wisps of gray gas spread from above their heads and drifted into the painting.

A bountiful harvest.

Liu Qingfeng's helpless gaze fell on Yu Sheng again.

What this guy said was always impossible to refute.

The Human Race did not have many universities.

On average, there was only one per province.

Every student at those universities was a genius.

In particular, the strongest military schools among them, Spirit Martial High School and Spirit Mind University, admitted the geniuses among geniuses.

The schools had abundant resources, with countless Demon Crystals and Demon Cores.

Many powerful figures of the Human Race had come out of them.

But the prerequisite for all of this was... you had to be a genius.

Many people wanted to apply to universities every year, but qualifying for the assessment was the greatest hurdle.

University assessments were a major event for the Human Race.

Ink Pavilion set a standardized examination, and a group of the highest-scoring candidates were selected to fill out their school preferences, then go to the schools they had listed to take the actual assessments, preventing anyone from slipping through by pulling strings.

And only then...

Would the real university assessments begin.

Everyone else merely received a graduation certificate.

Of course, apart from these Three Major Universities, there was another school established by Ink Pavilion itself: Ink Pavilion Academy.

However, this school was extremely mysterious. No one knew what its assessment standards were.

Usually, it simply delivered admission letters directly into students' hands.

Its admission requirements were extremely high.

It was said that in its smallest intake, Ink Academy had admitted only three students that year.

But one thing was certain... every student who graduated from Ink Academy was renowned.

As for its only drawback, it was...

A very low graduation rate.

A somewhat high withdrawal rate.

And an... extremely high death rate!

Someone had even made a comparison chart. Over the years, the number of Ink Academy graduates was far lower than the number who had died during their studies.

Even among those who graduated, over seventy percent died in battle.

Ink Academy could be called the place all students yearned for, yet also the place they feared most.

But it was precisely the battle records those graduates had fought for with their lives that had secured Ink Academy's unshakable position as the top university.

After a long silence, Liu Qingfeng spoke. "Though it's somewhat ironic, Yu Sheng is telling the truth."

"If you want to qualify for a university assessment..."

"Start by working hard."

"Some things won't come to you just because you fantasize about them every day."

"This world has never lacked geniuses, let alone people like you."

"The saddest thing isn't the gap in talent. It's having no talent and still refusing to put in the effort, then adding, when the results finally come out... I just wasn't taking it seriously back then. If I'd taken it seriously, I could've done this or that."

"That's what really makes people laugh at you."

Liu Qingfeng's words spared them no dignity. They were exceptionally cold, stabbing deep into their hearts.

It could even be said that he had forcibly torn off their faces to trample and rip apart.

But as long as even one person was provoked into finding the will to fight, to strive and change their life, what did it matter if everyone else cursed him for the rest of theirs?

This lesson was heavy.

So heavy that most of the students felt somewhat downcast.

And Liu Qingfeng simply watched them coldly.

Had this been a golden age for the Human Race, he would have been an unqualified teacher, severely undermining his students' motivation before their exams, perhaps even affecting their mindset so that, despite being capable of fairly good scores, they performed poorly and amounted to nothing.

But the situation the Human Race faced now was far from that.

He had been to Demon-Suppressing Pass and had been fortunate enough to survive.

He knew just how cruel the battlefield was, and how cheap life could be.

For those without sufficient mental resolve, who would feel dejected over even a few taunts, staying away from the battlefield was the best outcome.

Otherwise, they might harm not only themselves, but also... others.

"Yu Sheng, come outside for a moment."

Standing at the classroom door, Liu Qingfeng spoke as he looked toward Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng raised his head blankly, then silently stood up.

"The next two lessons won't be much use to you. Want to take a walk?"

Liu Qingfeng patted Yu Sheng's shoulder, a slight smile on his lips.

Yu Sheng nodded.

The two figures, one older and one younger, walked out of the school while all the students were still in class.

To Yu Sheng's surprise, Liu Qingfeng did not take him very far, simply sitting down on some steps not far from the school gate.

Across from them was a breakfast shop.

The busy period had just ended, and a middle-aged man was cleaning the tables.

Only... the middle-aged man walked with a limp, his gait somewhat awkward.

"Seen him before?"

Liu Qingfeng asked as he watched the middle-aged man's figure.

Yu Sheng nodded slightly. "Everyone in class calls him Wang the Cripple."

"What do you think?" Liu Qingfeng turned his head and looked into Yu Sheng's eyes.

Yu Sheng looked somewhat bewildered, seemingly not quite understanding why Liu Qingfeng would ask that. "I... look with my eyes?"

He ventured the answer cautiously.

"Heh..." Liu Qingfeng smiled and shook his head. "Right. I shouldn't have asked you."

"He used to be in the Reserve Corps."

"He trained in the Reserve Corps for around two years. Because his overall scores weren't high enough, he was sent to Dawn Pass."

"After all, the pressure there is a little lighter."

"He spent just three days at Dawn Pass in total. The first two days were relatively quiet because the Demon Clan had just launched a charge."

"On the third day, the Demon Clan attacked at night."

"That's how his leg was broken."

"Training day and night for two years... yet he only lasted one day."

"Fortunately, he survived. After leaving Dawn Pass, he returned to his hometown and opened a steamed bun shop outside the school gate."

Liu Qingfeng's voice was somewhat low.

And Yu Sheng continued to listen in silence.

"I'm not telling you this because I want you to sacrifice yourself and die for the Human Race."

"I only want to tell you..."

"Things are nowhere near as rosy for the Human Race as they look now."

"Of the four passes, if any one falls, the consequences will be devastating."

"War is cruel."

"If someone like him, someone who sacrificed his whole life for the Human Race, encountered danger right in front of you, do you think you... would save him?"

Liu Qingfeng stared intently into Yu Sheng's eyes, as though hoping for something.

Yu Sheng fell into thought.

Only after a long while did Yu Sheng raise his head, looking somewhat bewildered. "I... don't know."

"In Sin City, there's no reason to save people."

"I've seen someone who'd been saved pick up a knife behind their rescuer's back."

"I've also seen three lives lost over a bloodstained steamed bun."

"I've also seen..."

"Seen... a lot."

"I don't even understand why you should protect others."

"Isn't this world only about self-interest..."