Chapter 82 - 75: Three-School Joint Exam, A Gathering Storm

Chapter 82: Chapter 75: Three-School Joint Exam, A Gathering Storm

BOOM!

In the game, Lu Chen stared at the medicinal dregs that had turned into ash inside the Cyan Patterned Pill Furnace.

He shook his head and sighed, "Although I have the help of the digitized interface, these Foundation Establishment Stage elixirs are truly not that easy to refine.

"Not only is the difficulty of refining the medicinal materials far beyond that of the Qi Gathering Pills from the Qi Cultivation Stage, but heat control and other aspects also require a qualitative leap.

"If I want to successfully refine the Nourishing Essence Pill, I might need to spend quite some time on it...

"However, the materials for the Nourishing Essence Pill that Master gave me can only support ten more attempts. I can’t be too wasteful.

"After all, while the required materials for the Nourishing Essence Pill aren’t as expensive as those for the Foundation Establishment Pill, they aren’t cheap either. A single attempt costs at least around one thousand five hundred Contribution Points, which is equivalent to completing fifteen tasks assigned to me by the Sect.

"Sigh, if refining a Nourishing Essence Pill is already this difficult, I wonder when I’ll have the ability to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Without enough Foundation Establishment Pills as support, the difficulty of completing the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment in the future won’t just be idle talk.

"Forget it, I won’t think about it anymore. I should just focus on refining this Nourishing Essence Pill first.

"After all, my Cyan Lotus Flower Pupil is only about six thousand Experience Points away from reaching Breaking Realm.

"As long as I successfully refine a batch of Nourishing Essence Pills, I’ll quickly accumulate the required experience for the Cyan Lotus Flower Pupil.

"And once the Cyan Lotus Flower Pupil reaches Breaking Realm, I’ll find an opportunity to visit Luocheng Second High School and see if I can activate the dungeon there.

"If everything goes smoothly, by the time I clear the game dungeon at the Second High School, the original Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb dungeon will have almost refreshed. I’ll be able to gain a lot of Experience Points then.

"At this rate, I should be able to cultivate three Special Divine Techniques to Breaking Realm before the end of the first semester.

"At that time, as long as I learn the remaining two Special Divine Techniques, I can start preparing for Foundation Establishment."

Thinking about what he needed to do next, Lu Chen felt that he was still far too lacking in Experience Points.

And the importance of the Nourishing Essence Pill—a special elixir that granted Experience Points upon consumption—was once again highlighted.

Actually, it wasn’t that Lu Chen hadn’t considered directly exchanging for Nourishing Essence Pills from the Sect. But after seeing the price of one thousand Contribution Points for a single pill, he immediately abandoned the idea. There was no other reason; it was simply not cost-effective.

After all, a single portion of medicinal materials could yield up to fifteen elixirs. With that many Contribution Points, he might as well try refining them himself. Even if he only succeeded once out of ten attempts, he could still break even. Therefore, refining them himself was the most economical and practical solution.

Opening the pill furnace again, Lu Chen muttered to himself, "It’s been almost two months since the semester started. In previous years, the high school seniors would be starting the first phase of the Three-School Joint Examination around this time. I hope I can upgrade the Cyan Lotus Pupil to Breaking Realm before the joint exam.

"I heard that the location for this joint exam happens to be set at the Second High School. I can use this opportunity to see if I can activate a new dungeon..."

...

Luocheng, November 1st, Luocheng Second High School. The Three-School Joint Examination.

The so-called Three-School Joint Examination was actually a special exam held twice a year by the high schools in Luocheng.

Unlike the internal mock exams of each school, the joint exam was not only more standardized but also far more competitive. This was not just because achieving good results could earn students a considerable amount of resources within their schools. The most crucial factor was that some special individuals would appear during the process.

These individuals were the observers from the various Great Dao Schools. They were a group of special personnel who scouted talent in advance for the Great Dao Schools across the Nine Provinces.

The reason for their presence at the joint exam was very simple. They wanted to see if they could discover any promising seedlings early on, allowing those students to skip the college entrance examination and directly secure a spot in a Daoist School. These were the so-called early admitted students.

In previous years, some students who performed astoundingly in the joint exam even caught the eyes of the Four Great Dao Schools and were directly admitted to these top-tier institutions within the Immortal Alliance.

Thus, for many, the Three-School Joint Examination was basically an alternative college entrance exam. As a result, the vast majority of people took this joint exam extremely seriously.

Naturally, Lu Chen was among them. After all, if one could be directly admitted, who would want to participate in the fiercely competitive college entrance examination?

...

On the sports field of Luocheng Second High School.

As several buses bearing the emblem of Luocheng First High School drove into the campus, the students from the Third High School and Second High School, who had gathered early on the field, all looked over with curiosity.

Before long, the students from the First High School disembarked and gathered on the field, waiting for the joint exam to begin.

In the crowd, Mu Xiaoye stood beside Lu Chen with a highly surprised expression.

"Lu, it’s only been half a month since we last saw each other. How have you changed so much?"

Sensing the aura radiating from him, Mu Xiaoye realized that, without her noticing, his Cultivation had actually reached the Qi Cultivation Ninth Level.

Not to mention anything else, based solely on his current level of Cultivation, Lu Chen’s on-paper power was already enough to rank among the top in Luocheng First High School, and even the entirety of Luocheng.

It was important to note that there were barely more than ten examinees in all of Luocheng who possessed this level of Cultivation.

Not to mention, she also knew that Lu Chen possessed outstanding Sword Skill. This was a fact personally acknowledged by Bian Shouyi, a Sword Skill genius.

High Cultivation and formidable Sword Skill. How had Lu changed so much after just a short time apart? It looked like he was about to surpass her, the golden girl of the First High School!

Faced with Mu Xiaoye’s inquiry, Lu Chen smiled and replied, "Don’t look at me like that. I just gained some enlightenment recently. Plus, Old Chen paid out of his own pocket to give me a lot of Cultivation resources, which is why I could improve my Cultivation so quickly.

"Compared to someone like you who relies purely on talent, I’m still far behind.

"Moreover, Yezi, you should know that the speed of Cultivation in the Qi Cultivation Stage isn’t actually that important. What matters is whether one has the potential to complete a High Grade Foundation Establishment.

"This is a highly important metric in the assessments of the Great Dao Schools.

"My Spiritual Root has quite a few attributes, so completing a High Grade Foundation Establishment won’t be easy. Therefore, in this regard, I’m still far inferior to you."

Although Lu Chen spoke very modestly, as someone who had grown up with him, Mu Xiaoye couldn’t shake the feeling that her childhood friend wasn’t telling the truth.

She thought, "Inferior to me? I think you’re about to surpass me!"

Mu Xiaoye looked suspiciously at Lu Chen’s clear, bright eyes and subconsciously leaned closer, as if wanting to observe him from a closer distance.

Being stared at like this, Lu Chen instinctively took a step back.

He thought, "No way, how is this girl’s intuition still so sharp? Did she figure something out?"

Just as Mu Xiaoye was about to say something else, the principal of the Second High School, who was hosting the joint exam, stepped up onto the high platform, preparing to announce the details of the exam to the crowd.

Lu Chen immediately seized the opportunity and said, "Alright, alright, the exam is about to start. If you have any questions, I’ll tell you after we go back from this joint exam. How does that sound?"

"Fine."

Since Lu Chen had put it that way, Mu Xiaoye had no choice but to drop the subject for now and listen to the Second High School principal’s grand speech.

However, as she caught sight of Lu Chen standing beside her from the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but mutter in her heart.

She thought, "In the past, when Lu’s talent was just average, I never worried about some random person popping up to seduce him. But looking at him now... I need to have a sense of crisis, too!"

...

PS: I probably won’t be able to write ten Chapters, Pang Hu, but I should be able to upload four more later, which makes eight Chapters written since the premium release.

That’s not too far off, right...