Chapter 192: Good Students Should Use Alchemical Enhancers
Just as Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao were locked in a stare-down, the figures of Deng Bingding, Huang Zichou, and the other righteous god examiners from the group of five materialized one by one.
Looking at the five examinees on site, Deng Bingding stated flatly, “For the second round of the Foundation Establishment examination, the rules for advancement on the body tempering arts track are very simple.”
“In the upcoming test, the top two examinees will advance to the next round, where they will compete for a Foundation Establishment qualification certificate in the final round three months from now, in January of next year.”
“The third-ranked examinee will receive a recommendation bonus, which will grant them extra points when they test for a Foundation Establishment qualification certificate at a university in the future.”
“The fourth-ranked examinee will receive bonus points on their college entrance exams…”
Upon hearing this, the students present all felt a surge of energy.
The mention of bonus points for Foundation Establishment and college entrance exams, in particular, ignited the fighting spirit of students like Yu Xinghan, who had held little hope of victory.
But just then, Zhang Yu raised his hand and asked, “Examiner, besides the opportunity to compete for the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate, are there no other rewards?”
Deng Bingding looked at him with a faint smile. “The opportunity to compete for the final Foundation Establishment qualification certificate… is that not enough?”
“If you feel it isn’t, don’t worry. After participating in the final round next January, you will receive a very handsome reward, regardless of whether you obtain the qualification certificate.”
“Alright,” Deng Bingding continued, “let’s move on to the specific events of the examination.”
“The content of today’s test is divided into a first and second half.”
“The key to the first half is the use of alchemical enhancers…”
While Zhang Yu, Ye Lingxiao, and Yu Xinghan listened to the introduction of the examination events.
In another examination hall, Bai Zhenzhen opened her eyes to find that Zhang Yu was nowhere in sight.
Her gaze swept around briefly, and she discovered she was standing in an underground plaza with four other examinees.
The second round of the Foundation Establishment examination has begun, Bai Zhenzhen thought. It looks like the competition is divided by track from the start.
It seems Yu-boy and I were separated into different examination halls the moment we entered.
Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes scanned the number 11 tag on Yun Jing. That must be the guy who came in second in the last round. One of the top young masters from the Immortal Capital.
Feeling the restless thunder magic power surging and leaping endlessly within her, so agitated it refused to be still, Bai Zhenzhen thought, This guy is the greatest obstacle standing between me and the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate.
As Bai Zhenzhen watched him, Yun Jing suddenly felt a subtle, stinging sensation in the air, as if he had been grazed by static electricity.
He turned to glance at Bai Zhenzhen. Number 56 from the previous round? I think she was one of the outsiders, with Number 55, Zhang Yu.
Yun Jing recalled that during the first round of the Foundation Establishment examination, those two had hidden their strength during the first two stages, only to seize the third and fourth positions in the final stage, displaying a formidable ability to learn cultivation techniques.
But Yun Jing remained confident, simply because his family’s investment in him over the past two months had far exceeded anything before.
With substantial financial backing, his progress had been nothing short of meteoric, achieving one qualitative transformation after another.
Only with the kind of investment the Yun family can provide could I continue to make such qualitative leaps when my Dao heart, magic power, and physical body had already reached the peak of Qi Refinement.
And as long as I can earn that Foundation Establishment qualification certificate, I’ll have a chance to reverse my family’s current decline, and all the resources invested in me will have been worth it.
Therefore, I absolutely cannot fail.
What brought Yun Jing a measure of relief was that Ye Lingxiao was not in his group.
As a fellow native of the Immortal Capital, he knew that Ye Lingxiao, the inheritor of a perfect bloodline, was also in a period of rapid advancement during high school; heaven only knew what level his strength had reached by now.
Avoiding a direct confrontation with Ye Lingxiao instantly made his chances of securing the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate feel like a sure thing.
At that moment, a flicker of light and shadow appeared ahead, from which the figures of the same five examiners, including Deng Bingding and Huang Zichou, emerged.
The five righteous gods were currently using their divine power to project avatars into four separate examination halls, simultaneously managing the tests on four different tracks.
For Deng Bingding, it was like controlling four bodies and four fields of vision at once—a true exercise in divided attention.
But she was long accustomed to such things. Ever since becoming a righteous god, juggling tasks like holding a meeting while working overtime, presenting gifts during a meeting, and working overtime while presenting gifts had become second nature. Multitasking—even to a hundredfold degree—was a basic operational requirement.
Deng Bingding’s voice rang out, “The content of this round of the Martial Arts Examination is simple: a practical combat assessment.”
“The five of you will now engage in one-on-one arena battles in a round-robin format. After everyone has fought, each match will be scored based on a win, loss, or draw.”
“The two examinees with the highest total scores will advance to the next round, where they will compete for a Foundation Establishment qualification certificate in the final round three months from now, in January of next year.”
“Third place… will receive bonus points for Foundation Establishment…”
“Fourth place… will receive bonus points on their college entrance exams…”
Bai Zhenzhen understood. So it’s just a round-robin against everyone.
She began to stretch her limbs, her body already warming up as sparks of electricity flickered around her.
Just as Bai Zhenzhen started her warm-up.
Back in the body tempering examination hall, Deng Bingding was still explaining the assessment for that track.
“As everyone knows, the key to body tempering is the use of enhancers.”
“If you cannot endure the hardship of using alchemical enhancers, you cannot walk the path of the Immortal Dao.”
“For ages, the body’s tolerance for and absorption of alchemical enhancers have been important indicators of how far a cultivator can walk the path of the Immortal Dao.”
“In the first half of the examination, which begins shortly, you will have one hour to administer as many alchemical enhancers to yourselves as possible.”
“As for which enhancers you use, the choice is yours.”
“Of course, during this process, you are forbidden from using your spiritual root or activating your bionic…”
As she spoke, a series of enormous light screens materialized, displaying long lists of alchemical enhancers, each with a point value next to it.
“A total of 23 types of alchemical enhancers will be provided.”
“These enhancers have varying functions. We have ranked them from highest to lowest based on the strain they place on the body and assigned them different point values.”
“Generally speaking, the greater the strain an enhancer places on the body, the higher its point value.”
“The lesser the strain, the lower the point value.”
“After the one-hour administration period ends, the sum of the points for the alchemical enhancers you have taken will be your score for the first half of the exam.”
Hearing this, a sliver of worry entered Zhang Yu’s mind; he just wanted to know if they would be charged for the enhancers.
If this damn exam charges for the enhancers… I’ll have to go borrow money.
And these enhancers… Zhang Yu thought as he scanned the names on the list. There are so many I’ve never used. I have no idea what they do.
The three alchemical enhancers with the highest scores were especially problematic; Zhang Yu had never even heard of them, leaving him completely in the dark.
Fortunately, Deng Bingding’s next words resolved Zhang Yu’s concerns.
Deng Bingding announced, “All alchemical enhancers for this examination will be provided free of charge. You need not worry about any fees.”
“Furthermore, I am aware that you may not be familiar with all 23 of these enhancers.”
“Therefore, we will now play a review video to help you understand the effects of each one…”
At this, Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up. Free? Does that mean it’s an all-you-can-use enhancer buffet? This bunch of righteous gods finally did something right.
Standing to the side, Huang Zichou listened to Deng Bingding and thought, So those pharmaceutical companies finally pulled it off. This whole ‘substitute exam with enhancers’ and using dosage to measure a student’s strength and potential… doesn’t the Divine Ministry end up footing the bill? Does the Divine Ministry have to pay for all this?
In the end, isn’t it the Heavenly Court that loses? Aren’t the interests of everyone in Kunxu being undermined?
And they didn’t even give me a damn cent.
Those bastards in the corporations really don’t treat a ninth-rank god like a god.
However, when he considered that this policy of substituting exams with enhancers didn’t just affect one level but involved over a dozen tiers of examinations above, he knew he could only complain inwardly.
To pull off such a deal while the Heavenly Court was cutting its budget… Huang Zichou knew the situation was murkier than the deepest abyss, and the interests involved were enough to make his heart tremble.
At that moment, the light screen displaying the list of alchemical enhancers flickered, and a video began to play.
A man appeared in the video and said, “Hello everyone. Today, I’ll be reviewing twenty of the most common alchemical enhancers used in daily cultivation…”
Watching the video, Zhang Yu was taken aback for a moment. Is this an influencer’s enhancer review video?
The original Zhang Yu had seen many such videos, from reviews of alchemical enhancers, cultivation techniques, and dietary supplements to unboxing videos for various exercise equipment and spiritual roots.
The current Zhang Yu didn’t watch them often, but he knew of them, especially since he retained his predecessor’s memories.
He had a particularly strong impression of the influencer in the video, because aside from various unboxing videos, the man once had a wildly popular ‘coffin-opening’ series, which the original Zhang Yu had watched several times.
It started with a video tour of his family’s cemetery, where he showcased the state of corpse preservation after 10, 30, 100, and 300 years.
After that video went viral, he struck while the iron was hot, filming the ancestral tombs of numerous wealthy local clans, revealing the parks, underground palaces, buildings, and mountain ranges contained within them.
It was those videos that made the original Zhang Yu truly feel the gap between himself and the wealthy for the first time.
They had taught him that some people’s ancestral tombs could be larger than his school and that even after lying in a coffin, the wealthy could accumulate more wealth each day than a poor wretch like him could earn in a lifetime of work.
The memory flashed through his mind and was gone. Zhang Yu refocused on the video’s introduction to the alchemical enhancers.
It had to be said that the influencer’s breakdown of the enhancers was exceptionally detailed and professional, yet he managed to explain profound concepts in simple terms, allowing viewers to grasp the effects, pros, and cons of each one in a direct and straightforward manner.