Chapter Fifty-Five: The Freshman Assessment

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Freshman Assessment

"Seventy-two parts water, twenty-eight parts wood."

Inside one of the private training rooms at the physical training grounds, Ye Bai stood in a horse stance, knees slightly bent, arms crossed before his chest, and a long blade slowly condensed along his right hand. First, the wooden blade took shape, and Ye Bai closed his eyes, recalling the feeling he had during his battle with the Pharaoh. Carefully, he drew forth the water attribute power from within his body.

The water attribute power refined and thinned the blade, compressing it. The water energy ignited, transforming into the edge of the blade. "How is it, Mu'er?" Ye Bai strained to maintain the balance of the two disproportionate elemental forces within him.

Data on the dual-attribute water-wood blade was displayed with clarity on the projection beside them, with Mu'er continuously analyzing. The blade in Ye Bai's hand was magnified and rotated on the projection, while a series of calculations filled the area around the junction of blade and edge.

Yet, when Ye Bai saw a gap appear at the joint where the blade's attributes fused, he knew he had failed again. Dispersing the elemental force within, the long blade vanished from his hand.

Mu'er hadn't even finished calculating the data before it disappeared. The count in the upper right corner of the projection, which had shown 721, now increased by one to 722 after this failure.

Ye Bai let out a long breath, gathering himself for another attempt. He was numb to failure by now. The month was nearly over, and he had made no headway.

Twenty-two percent wood, seventy-eight percent water—he was sure of the proportions, yet every time he condensed the blade, it was all form without substance, lacking any real destructive power.

No matter how advanced technology became, it was still just technology. It could only calculate the ratios of elemental force at the time, but it couldn't quantify his state of mind or anything intangible.

He had no choice but to keep trying—again and again, failing and trying once more. Ye Bai closed his eyes and began to repeat the motion he had performed hundreds of times, when suddenly, his mental assistant sent a message.

"Ye Bai, the first freshman assessment has been announced. I'm in the classroom now—come over with Cao Xiaoseng in a bit."

Ye Bai checked the time—sure enough, it was time for the assessment, which would determine their rankings for the coming month. More importantly, the higher the ranking, the more points they would earn at the start of the next term.

The tasks were always announced three days ahead. Each group had a different assignment—sometimes, tasks of higher difficulty would require several groups to work together, but rarely at the freshman level.

Newly formed teams were still in the adjustment phase; tossing in more members from other groups would only result in chaos—everyone fighting their own battles, only to be picked off one by one.

"Ling'er, how's it going?" Ye Bai went to Cao Xiaoseng's place to fetch him, and as expected, found him still asleep.

Yao Ling pointed to the task announcement board, where their assignment was listed at the very top.

Group One. Leader: Ye Bai. Members: Cao Xiaoseng, Yao Ling. Task: Assist the local guard station in clearing out aberrant creatures and investigate the cause of the recent outbreak.

Below were the tasks for four other groups—one was to hunt a certain beast in a specified area, another to track the movements of a fire-attribute supernatural beast, and so on.

"Let's go outside the academy and see if there are any decent weapons at the Armory," Ye Bai said.

Knowing their assessment task at last, it was time to find suitable weapons. The three of them had planned to do this days ago, but Ye Bai had been preoccupied with fusing his elemental blade, and so they had delayed.

If they could pick up a weapon that suited them now, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. If they could find the kind Yao Ling spoke of, which could reduce elemental energy loss, so much the better.

Weapons formed purely from elemental force—hilt to tip—would dissipate quickly into the air, resulting in great loss of power.

"Ling'er, you grew up in the Main City. Do you know anything about the Armory?" Ye Bai asked, searching his mental assistant for information but finding nothing about the library or the Armory, his curiosity piqued.

Yao Ling, too, had always been curious about the twin pavilions outside Zixing Academy. Elders in his family said the Armory and Library had been there since they were children—and the oldest patriarch, over seventy, couldn't even say when they were built.

Shaking his head, Yao Ling replied, "According to the old men in my family, those pavilions have been there since as long as they can remember. My big brother took me inside a few times as a kid, but back then, I thought it was all just rusty scrap iron. Only after entering the academy did I realize how extraordinary that place is."

With a thought, Yao Ling summoned Xiao Mu, who flew from his arm and whispered in Ye Bai's ear, "You obviously didn't read the student handbook carefully—the last pages explain the purpose of the Armory and Library outside."

Ye Bai paused, listening to the mischievous, slightly stiff voice—so like Yao Ling's, yet tinged with something mechanical.

Every student's mental assistant was activated at the start of freshman year. Initially, it only followed its preset programs, but over time, as it fused with its owner, it became ever more human, even mimicking their personality.

The academy was vast—Ye Bai hadn't even explored it fully since arriving. Yet, in another sense, it was small—he rarely left his usual haunts. The rest of the grounds were still off-limits to him.

Perhaps it was because the academy lay deep in the Sacred Wood Mountains, but all around, lush greenery and towering trees stretched as far as the eye could see. Even the few visible buildings were green, a stark contrast to the grand, imposing structures outside the city gates. Who would have thought that one of the most coveted academies in the world was hidden here?

It was as if a stone had been tossed into a tranquil lake, sending ripples across its surface—the space before them shimmered in just such a way.

Three young people emerged from the shimmer—two men and a woman. The leader wore a training outfit that showed off his lean, sinewy frame—not overly muscular, but well proportioned.

Next came a girl in a white dress, a white silk ribbon at her waist. Her graceful figure loomed behind a misty veil, and a single tear-shaped mole at the corner of her eye lent her face an added touch of intrigue.

The last was a young man in pajamas, looking utterly exhausted, as if he hadn't slept for days. His cream-colored, spot-flecked pajamas moved with him as he walked.

Training attire, a white gown, and pajamas—such a mismatched trio: a training fanatic, a striking beauty, and a sleep-deprived spirit. It was hard to imagine what could bring them together, but here they were, united by the vitality of youth, no matter how discordant their appearances.

"Boss, how much for your weapons?" Ye Bai gently pushed open the red-lacquered wooden door, not daring to use much force for fear of knocking it off its hinges—the marks of insects were clear on the frame, and dust fell in little clouds with the movement.

The old man lying on the lounger didn't rise to greet them, nor did he open his eyes. With snow-white brows, a goatee, and a palm-leaf fan in hand, he looked every bit the picture of an old-timer cooling himself under a tree in a bygone age.

"Two credits or twenty thousand gold," the old man's voice rang out—strong and vigorous, belying his age.

Though Yao Ling had warned Ye Bai that the Armory was filled with nothing but junk, Ye Bai had prepared himself. Still, the weapons before him looked to have been neglected for centuries—hardly just "junk."

Junk might still reveal its original form, but these weapons were encased in rust, their true shapes hidden.

Ye Bai glanced at Yao Ling, who shrugged helplessly. Still, the handbook said weapons could be found here; surely the academy wouldn't cheat them.

Every type of weapon was present—swords, spears, halberds, and more—though their appearance left much to be desired. Ye Bai picked up a heavy sword from the rack, and the creaking of the wooden stand sounded so grievous it seemed about to topple, only to somehow hold firm.

There was no real choice to be made. He simply found a long blade of roughly the right weight, its surface thick with rust. He felt a pang at the cost—two whole credits, one of which he'd borrowed from Yao Ling.

He resolved never to buy weapons here again. He felt like a fattened pig led to slaughter as he transferred the credits to the Armory's old keeper. Yet, as he stepped outside, his opinion began to change.

No sooner had he crossed the threshold than the long blade began to vibrate. The rust flaked off, and in moments, a brand-new blade gleamed in his grip. It resembled a Miao blade, but heavier, its surface flashing coldly in the sunlight, the steel quivering as if eager to drink the blood of mutated beasts.

The old man in the Armory never once left his lounger, never opened his eyes, as though this were not his shop at all.