Even many of the conglomerate heirs were sincerely cheering for Wen Jing at that moment, sharing in her glory.
In the Trial Tower lobby, where all sorts of emotions surged, almost everyone was frantically refreshing the rankings.
Because the question now was... would there be a third time?
"Go! Break the record!"
Someone shouted it first, and then more and more people joined in, until the entire lobby was fired up.
"Break the record! Break the record! Break the record..."
Meanwhile, inside virtual reality.
[Buy the elective combat technique course "Energy-Shaping Weapon" now and enjoy a 30% discount on the points cost! Only 56 points!]
Wen Jing herself was just as fired up, clenching her fist. "Go! For a bigger discount!"
She stepped through the doorway and saw the guardian with fourfold energy amplification.
At that moment, in her eyes, her opponent was no longer a mysterious assassin in black, but a green discount tag reading -15%!
Just over twenty seconds later, cheers engulfed the Trial Tower lobby again.
Three S ratings! She had broken the historical records of three consecutive Trial Tower floors!
Some people were so tightly wound that they even felt dizzy, but awakened physiques were simply too robust for them to actually faint. Had they been ordinary people, emergency medical robots would already have arrived.
Was this something a freshman who had enrolled only a month ago could do? Put another way, she had only been enrolled for a month-what would her future hold?!
More importantly, would there be a fourth time?
Almost everyone instinctively rejected the thought the instant it arose, even Ji Shuang, who thought extremely highly of Wen Jing.
Wen Jing earning an S on the third floor had sent a violent tremor through her pupils and filled her with emotion, but she knew how difficult the fourth floor was.
The third-floor guardian still had fourfold energy, but on the fourth floor, it was a full eightfold. Ji Shuang could earn an A rating on the third floor, yet could not even clear the fourth with an F.
A guardian with eightfold energy could severely injure a challenger with a single hit from its attacks alone, and its defense had increased just as much.
The next moment, golden rain fell again.
[Congratulations to first-year winter cohort student Wen Jing for breaking the academy's historical record in the fourth-floor challenge of Trial Tower session #8584 and earning an S rating! Current record time: 43 seconds.]
Ji Shuang jolted, a blank expression appearing on her usually cool face.
Never mind her-even the people who had still been hoping Wen Jing would break the third-floor record looked as though their understanding had been overturned.
For students of Red Earth Academy, the Trial Tower's fourth floor was practically the exclusive domain of fourth-year students whose compatibility exceeded 50% and who could almost complete their Wilderness Body transformation.
This time, everyone's cheers sounded a little hoarse-or rather, a little numb.
The Trial Tower had only five floors in total, and the fifth-floor guardian's energy doubled again, reaching a full sixteenfold amplification!
But if a fifth announcement came shortly, those present felt they probably would not be too surprised.
Fortunately, this time, no more rain fell. Someone refreshed and found Wen Jing's results.
"This floor took 10 minutes and 21 seconds. Your victory speed surpassed 100% of challengers in your year. Overall rating: D. Credits increased by 5 (+2)."
"The rating really was lower this time... huh, there's no prompt for the next floor. The Trial Tower only has five floors?"
Ejected from the tower, Wen Jing rubbed her chin and spoke regretfully.
Her failure to break another record on the fifth floor was not due to any lack of skill, but purely a gap in stats.
The sixteenfold guardian had not only increased energy, but increased health and defense as well. Wen Jing's Energy Amplification Method currently provided just over threefold amplification. Her full-force attacks could not break through its defense in one go, so fighting normally required whittling down its health bar, naturally stretching out the time.
If her Energy Amplification Method reached more than fivefold efficiency, she would be confident of challenging an S rating.
Still, the current result was pretty good-
[Buy the elective combat technique course "Energy-Shaping Weapon" now and enjoy a 65% discount on the points cost! Only 28 points!]
Hahaha! Learning this combat technique now meant a massive discount on top of a discount!
Chapter 34
At Azure Jade Academy, in the student council activity hall that afternoon.
Several members of the Azure Jade student council's Operations Department, their uniforms marked with feathers, were chatting.
"When will Xiao Wu's Wilderness Body recover from its injuries?"
"At least another fifteen days." The person answering took a sip of a drink and complained to the team leader in a disgruntled tone:
"If we hadn't had to accommodate those stinking offworlders, Xiao Wu wouldn't have gotten hurt. They won't leave for another month. It's so damn annoying..."
"Ahem, watch what you're saying." The team leader suddenly coughed, cutting the member off.
The member looked up resentfully, glanced at the group approaching them, and said no more, turning away in displeasure.
The three academies' uniforms had very similar designs, with the main differences lying in their distinctive colors and patterns. Unlike Azure Jade Academy's dark teal uniforms, the approaching group wore black and red. They were exchange students from Red Earth Academy.
The handsome, mild-mannered person leading the exchange students was Song Zhi, Red Earth Academy's student council president. The exchange students following him were all elite third-year members of the Operations Department.
Awakened had keen hearing. At this distance, they could hear the Azure Jade students' contemptuous remarks perfectly well.
Apart from Song Zhi, who remained as pleasantly composed as ever, everyone following him showed some change in expression, unable to stop embarrassment and anger from surfacing, only to stiffly force them down.
Under someone else's roof, they had no choice but to bow their heads.
As students of the lowest-ranked academy, the annual exchange slots at Azure Jade Academy were extremely precious, available only to the most elite third-years.
On the surface, all three academies had prestigious names, with identical internal academic systems, Trial Towers, and other mechanisms.
In reality, however, under the tiered system that assigned students to academies by talent, the educational resources held by higher-ranked academies were inherently beyond comparison with those below them.
Mystic Radiance Academy, on the capital planet, boasted the vast majority of the Federation's B-rank and A-rank awakened alumni. Most were honorary professors at the academy and occasionally offered elective courses there.
Azure Jade Academy balanced student numbers and potential, producing the elite and mainstay of the awakened. B-rank and A-rank professors also occasionally came to give a public lecture or two.
At Red Earth Academy, however, there were no courses at the "professor" level. All teaching positions were "instructors," with the highest rank being C and most being D-rank awakened. It was incomparable to the other two academies, where professors abounded.
Want higher-ranked awakened to come teach? They were doing perfectly well on prosperous Mystic Radiance Star. If they did not want to come, who could force them?
Even if they came, could Red Earth Academy's students understand them? Could they use what they taught?
All the energy in an E-rank or F-rank awakened's body would not be enough to execute the advanced combat techniques, secret techniques, and so on taught by high-ranked awakened. Naturally, the Federation would not institute such wasteful practices.
Even setting aside the disparity in educational resources, the exchange students had another benefit to gain from this visit to Azure Jade Academy: participating in team explorations with Azure Jade's Operations Department.
Teaming up through location stones was only backward-compatible. Strength did not guarantee finding treasures, and when Azure Jade students discovered precious resource sites worth exploring a second time, they could only team up with awakened weaker than themselves.
It was not always possible to assemble a perfect five-person team within the academy. To maximize their gains, teaming up with elites from Red Earth Academy was a win-win arrangement.
Conversely, however, Azure Jade Academy also sent exchange students to Mystic Radiance Academy every year.
Ultimately, the stronger side always held the say. When Azure Jade exchange students went to Mystic Radiance, they too were a bunch of "stinking offworlders" living under someone else's roof.
"President Song, we've invited you several times. You've finally honored us with your presence today."
The team leader came forward with a smile to greet them.
Among the exchange students from Ocher Soil, the only one they treated with any real regard was the student council president. That position alone represented the power and resources he commanded.
They paid no regard whatsoever to the other exchange students from Ocher Soil's Operations Department.
As though he had heard none of the earlier remarks, Song Zhi gently took out a box. "I heard that Student Wu, who led our team this time, was injured. I feel bad about it, so I brought a gift especially for a visit. Please pass it on for me, Team Leader He."
"You're too kind. This is good stuff..." As he spoke, the team leader accepted the calming grass worth over a hundred points from him, yet his expression remained indifferent, faintly dismissive.
Calming grass was good stuff to ordinary people, but to students in Azure Jade's Operations Department, it was merely average.
The Operations Department member beside him who looked down on them said in surprise, "What a coincidence. This stalk of calming grass looks just like the one I brought back from my exploration before last. I thought it was useless, so I sold it."
The snide remark made the others behind Song Zhi clench their fists at once, but he himself still acted as though he had not noticed anything:
"Really? What a coincidence."
That instead left the troublemaker with no way to continue.
Just as the team leader was privately thinking that this Ocher Soil student council president was quite a character, a new message popped up on his terminal.
[Good news from Red Earth Academy: congratulations to first-year winter cohort student Wen Jing for breaking the academy's historical record in the first-floor challenge of Trial Tower session #8584 and earning an S rating! Record time: 6 seconds.]
"What? Wen Jing?"
"This winter's cohort... Red Earth Academy? How is that possible?!"
Once the many students in the activity center saw the contents on their terminals clearly, looks of disbelief appeared on their faces.
At the same time, the terminals of Song Zhi and the other exchange students received the same message-being at Azure Jade Academy, they were connected to Azure Jade Star's network, so what they received counted as secondhand news.
This secondhand news was also broadcast throughout Azure Jade.
An S rating was unquestionably an honor for both the academy and the individual. Whenever one appeared, never mind perennial last-place Red Earth Academy-even first-place Mystic Radiance Academy would send out congratulatory announcements to show it off.