Chapter 12
"Finally, her capacity for growth is astonishing too. Yesterday, she couldn't hunt them down nearly this efficiently. Today, her efficiency has doubled!"
The other examiners had been watching too. At first, they had all thought Li Yang had it too easy hunting down Gradeless plants, but after watching the replay, every last one of them fell silent.
Just as the chief examiner had said, Li Yang's seemingly effortless hunting had instead demonstrated her overall strength.
She was quick-witted, brave, and resourceful. Not only did she have Physique Points as high as 90, but her Spirit Points were also considerable. Otherwise, how could she have found Gradeless plants so easily?
If someone else had tried, even Zhong Qian might not have been as efficient as she was.
The chief examiner looked at the screen and gave a soft sigh. "She's an orphan with no one to back her up. She can only start with Gradeless mutated creatures and temper herself as much as possible."
That one remark brought the examiners to their senses.
So that was it. They had lived in comfort for so many years that they had forgotten the hardships faced by those from poor families.
Li Yang wasn't Zhong Qian. Zhong Qian had been exposed to low-grade mutated creatures since childhood, which was why he dared to use First Grade mutated creatures to hone himself during the practical exam.
Li Yang had no such advantages. If she had rashly challenged a First Grade creature, that would have been foolish and reckless.
Yet Li Yang hadn't given up this chance to hone herself either, so she had chosen Gradeless plants.
Seen that way, none of the examiners thought there was anything wrong with her score.
Li Yang had earned her 120 points through her own abilities. Gradeless plants were already present in the quarantine zone, and anyone could hunt them down, but the others simply hadn't thought of it.
That was the difference.
A great Star Wielder needed not only a powerful physique, but also exceptional awareness and powerful self-motivation.
And the girl before them undoubtedly possessed those qualities.
After experiencing the benefits of raising her Spirit Points, Li Yang stopped holding back on investing her lifespan.
She spent another three years of lifespan in succession, raising her Spirit Points to 75.
The increase was slightly lower than expected, but there was nothing she could do. Her rotten luck had landed her an "encephalitis event," and her Spirit Points had plummeted.
It was just like breaking her leg when she had been raising her Physique Points. When she ran into a disastrous event like that, she could only accept her bad luck.
It wasn't until the following afternoon that Li Yang encountered the other members of Group 8. Walking toward her was Xu Wenpei, the round-faced girl who had spoken to her before.
The moment Xu Wenpei saw Li Yang, her jaw nearly dropped. The two people accompanying her also stared at Li Yang, their eyes full of astonishment.
With all four of them in the same frame, the contrast was brutal.
There were three people on Xu Wenpei's side: Xu Wenpei, another girl, and a boy. Without exception, all three had lost the bright, polished appearance they'd had before entering. They looked as though they had rolled through the mud several times, and the original colors of their clothes were barely visible. Dried mud clung to their hair, and while their faces had managed to stay relatively clean, they bore faint traces of blood.
Li Yang, on the other hand, was still wearing her unremarkable Huangcheng No. 1 High School uniform. Her clothes were somewhat dirty and wrinkled and had quite a few dead leaves stuck to them, but despite traveling alone, she was nothing like the wretched mess the others had imagined. She was plainly clean, pretty, and tidy.
They stared at one another, all of them surprised.
"Why are you..." Xu Wenpei began. Completely unharmed!
"How did you..." Li Yang said at the same time. End up in such a sorry state!
Chapter 12
Xu Wenpei quickly asked, "Li Yang, haven't you encountered any mutated creatures?"
Li Yang had encountered quite a few, but none of those little things had appeared in the Entry Instructions, so they probably weren't considered dangerous types. At least, she could deal with them easily herself.
But Li Yang didn't answer her question. Instead, she asked them, "Why are you all traveling in a group?"
The question took all three of them aback. The only boy among them said, "A two-star quarantine zone is this dangerous. Obviously, it's safer to travel as a team."
Li Yang blinked. "Article 19 of the Entry Instructions: 'The quarantine zone is highly sensitive to large amounts of foreign presences. If you encounter danger, please press your rescue device as soon as possible.'"
Xu Wenpei's heart tightened.
The boy frowned. "So what? Every quarantine zone is sensitive to foreign presences." Then he muttered, "Isn't that common knowledge?"
Clearly, he still remembered what Chen Song had said and looked down on Li Yang as an ignorant country bumpkin with no backing. Even if she seemed to be in better shape than they were now, that didn't mean anything. Maybe she'd just gotten lucky again.
Li Yang smiled. "True, it's all common knowledge. I'll be going, then. Good luck."
Xu Wenpei immediately said, "Li Yang, do you mean we shouldn't team up?"
Xu Wenpei had always been quite polite to Li Yang, and she was quick on the uptake too. Although answering her question meant telling the boy as well, Li Yang didn't keep it from her. She nodded and said, "At least, that's how I understood it."
With that, Li Yang said no more. She quickly put some distance between herself and the group, then headed for the next safe point.
Three people traveling together was dangerous enough. Four would be even worse.
She just wanted to quietly harvest little mutated plants and lie low for the full three days. She had no desire to stir up trouble.
Left behind, Xu Wenpei looked thoughtful.
The boy spoke up again. "Don't listen to her. We're in survival mode, so of course we have to team up. Solidarity and mutual aid are important qualities for a soldier too!"
He didn't believe Li Yang for a second and thought she was deliberately trying to sow discord. The quarantine zone was too dangerous. If Xu Wenpei hadn't been alert, he would have pressed his rescue device long ago.
Although Xu Wenpei hadn't memorized the Entry Instructions, she had read them carefully several times. They really were full of common knowledge, but... did that mean it should be ignored?
The other girl on the team said quietly, "Wenpei, we really have been 'running into' mutated creatures this whole time."
The boy still refused to back down. "This is a two-star quarantine zone! Of course we'd encounter mutated creatures!"
Xu Wenpei said, "I was already thinking this practical exam seemed far too difficult..."
The other girl said, "Yeah, the acceptance rate in previous years was at least 60 percent."
After all, they were all outstanding students with Physique Points of at least 83. Though another batch would be eliminated, it shouldn't have been too many—thirty or forty percent would have been about right.
But judging by the difficulty of this practical exam, an estimated seventy percent of the candidates would be eliminated.
Xu Wenpei made an immediate decision. "Let's split up."
Though the girl was uneasy too, she nodded. "Okay."
The boy grew anxious instead. "It's already this dangerous with the three of us together, and now we're going to split up..."
But no one was listening to him anymore. The two girls had already run off in different directions, quickly putting distance between themselves and him.
Li Yang didn't take the little incident to heart. She reached the next safe point and began her hard work for the afternoon.
Harvesting was wonderful, harvesting was a treat. All she wanted in this life was to be a happy little farmer.
The increase in her Spirit Points made things pleasantly easy for Li Yang once again. She could sense the presence of Starlight from farther away—at least, that was what she would call it for now. She could also concentrate more easily, and even her aim when swinging her axe had improved.
Crack!
This time, the ugly shrub hadn't even had a chance to spring up before Li Yang harvested it.
[Lifespan +1 month]
Li Yang's ears twitched, and she abruptly turned to look to the side. Sure enough, there was another little fellow about three meters away.
It was a mutated weed hidden beneath a shrub. Clearly frightened by Li Yang, it was trying to run away...
Li Yang raised her hand and hurled the axe, striking the mutated weed with perfect accuracy and successfully harvesting it.
[Lifespan +1 month]
Li Yang was quite pleased.
After her Physique Points increased, her strength and stamina had improved substantially. After her Spirit Points increased, not only had the quality of her sleep improved greatly, but her "combat skills" had also improved indirectly.
Yesterday, she hadn't been capable of "throwing an axe" like that.
At five in the afternoon, Li Yang's happy time came to an end.
She had actually come full circle!
She had cleared out every safe point assigned to Group 8!
Li Yang looked at safe point No. 1 before her and said with a sense of loss, "It's so small..."
As luck would have it, the examiners in the main control room were checking on Li Yang and heard her murmured remark.
The examiners were speechless. Now you're complaining it's too small!
In this enormous special quarantine zone, nearly 200 candidates were trembling with fear and treading on thin ice, wishing they could get through the three days as quickly as possible.
Li Yang alone had visited all her group's safe points in two days, cleared out every Gradeless plant, and earned a high score of 180 points... only to complain that it was too small.
Never mind the other groups—even Chen Song, who was in her group and had Physique Points of 88, was already half-dead!
Li Yang could only find somewhere to spend the night first. She got herself something to eat—one benefit of high Physique Points was that she didn't get hungry easily.
Everyone had brought basic rations before entering the quarantine zone. Two days had passed, and Li Yang had only eaten about a third of hers.
Li Yang had another three years of lifespan, which she continued to spend on her Spirit Points.
[You read continuously for one year. Upon realizing that "fools have their own ways of learning," your Spirit Points increased to 80.]
Li Yang couldn't be bothered with this stupid system!
[You read with concentration for one year. Although your efficiency was low and your progress slow, experiencing a state of flow increased your Spirit Points to 90.]
[Congratulations, Host. Your Physique Points and Spirit Points have both reached 90, breaking your lifespan limit and raising it to 50 years.] ```
Li Yang: "!"
What a pleasant surprise. It turned out she had to raise her Spirit Points to 90 as well to break her lifespan limit.
A limit of ten years was far too little. Now that it had risen to fifty, she could finally save up more lifespan!
"Not bad, not bad." Li Yang knew when to stop and didn't spend any more lifespan.
Ninety in both stats was enough. She didn't want to accidentally push them too high again.
Her ambitions weren't great. Being a low-profile little farmer suited her just fine!
The sky gradually darkened, and Li Yang prepared to rest. She wouldn't go to any more trouble tomorrow; she could just hole up until the exam ended.
A place at military school was in the bag, she'd gained plenty, and she could collect five hundred thousand afterward... Li Yang was happily tallying it all up when something suddenly occurred to her.