Chapter 418: Second-Year Final Exams
Before they knew it, the end of August had arrived, marking the day of the Second-Year Final Exams.
The students of the Civil Engineering Department Foundation Establishment Class had unknowingly completed two academic years.
In the Dao Heart Examination Field, Feng Jiu’s gaze swept across the candidates’ performances in the Spirit Realm.
Li Xiao, piloting his flying boat at breakneck speed, faced a choice between a student from Netherworld University and a Junior College Student. Without hesitation, he chose to ram and kill the Junior College Student.
Then came 10 Junior College Students, 100 Junior College Students, 200 Junior College Students… until he reached 300, at which point hesitation began to creep into his heart.
Feng Jiu nodded slightly, thinking to herself, “This question is getting stale. It’s too easy for current students; we should update it.”
“After all, Junior College Students have been devalued so much in recent years. This has become a simple math problem, utterly failing to test one’s dao heart.”
On another luminous screen, Yu Xinghan had been transformed into a stray dog by a transformation spell. Anxious about finding work in his canine form, he desperately sought employment, honing his dog skills in a desperate bid for survival.
Feng Jiu nodded slightly. “Even in the depths of despair, he never forgot to strive and persevere. Even as a dog, he insisted on finding work. Truly commendable dao heart.”
In another projection, Ying Xin faced the Dual Rest Cult’s coercion, choosing death over surrender, vowing to fight to the end.
Feng Jiu nodded again. “This question is timely, likely newly added. Preferring death to succumbing to the Evil Cult’s demands, refusing to relinquish her right to work overtime — another promising seed of the Immortal Dao.”
“It seems the school’s recent anti-cult education has been quite effective.”
Looking at another projection, she saw Gongshu Jin standing amidst a construction site, lifting the corpse of a coworker and activating the corpse’s Bionic to shake the earth.
Feng Jiu nodded slightly. “Inheriting his comrade’s will, transforming his comrade’s death into a work advantage, working overtime together until the very end — not bad, not bad at all.”
Feng Jiu thought to herself, “But these consecutive questions all revolve around work. Could this be due to the Dual Rest Cult’s influence?”
On the other side of the luminous screen, Feng Jiu watched Ji Yuanshu become a monsterfolk, repeatedly overcome his primal hunger for his family’s flesh, successfully raise a family of monsterfolk, selling his family, and earn his first fortune.
Feng Jiu: “He overcame both his instinctive hunger for flesh and the bonds of familial affection, leaving nothing but the Immortal Dao. This is a commendable solution to the problem. More importantly, it demonstrates a steadfast dao heart throughout the process.”
In another luminous screen, Zhang Yu faced forced demolition. He seized an opportunity to hide inside his house, claiming the demolition compensation for being present during the demolition and securing additional compensation.
Feng Jiu nodded slightly. “He took a calculated risk, gambling small for great gain, demonstrating a spirit of perseverance and adventure. However, Zhang Yu’s dao heart should extend beyond this. The next problem should be made more challenging.”
Observing the performances of the students in the Foundation Establishment Class, Feng Jiu remarked, “Each one possesses remarkable fighting spirit. Every one of them is an exceptional talent, showing continuous progress throughout the past academic year.”
“They’re all excellent students. Not a single slacker among them.”
At the Magic Power Examination Field, students took turns stepping forward, lining up to be tested on their Magic Power strength, Magic Power Quality, Gang Qi conductivity, and other related metrics.
Li Mingbo, the Magic Power teacher, watched with a look of astonishment.
“Zhang Yu from the First Layer has achieved the highest scores in all Magic Power categories, completely surpassing Ji Yuanshu from the Sixth Layer…”
For a First Layer student to outperform a Sixth Layer student — and by such a comprehensive and overwhelming margin — left Li Mingbo feeling as if the natural order had been overturned.
He then turned his gaze to Yu Xinghan, standing nearby.
Though also a First Layer student, Yu Xinghan had already risen to the top five in the class, closing in on fourth place.
If not for Zhang Yu’s exceptional performance, Yu Xinghan’s results alone would have been enough to astonish Li Mingbo.
Finally, he glanced at Li Xiao and nodded slightly. “This is the normal range of performance for a First Layer student.”
In the Physical Strength Examination Field, Zhang Yu took the lead, darting through the complex terrain like a lightning bolt. His passage resembled a hurricane, sending plumes of dust and debris from shattered structures swirling into the sky.
Within Zhang Yu’s body, vital energy surged like boiling magma, his blood and qi churning violently. Fueled by his Level 20 physical strength, he forcefully activated explosive cultivation arts: the Battle Demon Life-Shattering Art and the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen. These techniques pushed his physical body to its limits, though they couldn’t temporarily break through the Foundation Establishment Limit, they allowed him to unleash a sliver of power surpassing Level 20 physical strength.
This berserk power naturally strained his body to its breaking point. Flesh and blood were constantly being damaged and torn apart, as if his body were being burned alive. Yet, bolstered by his body’s enhanced vitality, his flesh repeatedly shattered and healed in rapid succession.
Especially under the influence of his Martial Dao Sacred Body, his revitalized body carried a Martial Dao Micro-Control intent. This allowed him to distribute the strain evenly, maintaining a delicate balance between tissue destruction and regeneration.
Furthermore, the Martial Dao Micro-Control over his entire body enabled him to unleash even greater speed and ferocity. He navigated sharp turns with astonishing agility, maintaining near-constant momentum without any noticeable deceleration.
Ji Yuanshu, his body surging with gale-force winds, accelerated relentlessly with the aid of his Bionic. Yet he found himself unable to catch up to Zhang Yu.
“Damn it! My straight-line acceleration should be far superior, but…”
The uneven terrain forced Ji Yuanshu to repeatedly decelerate and change direction, preventing him from reaching his maximum speed.
Meanwhile, within the simulated battlefield of the Examination Field, he also had to constantly evade a barrage of incoming attacks.
In stark contrast, Zhang Yu…
He allowed a Thunderfire blast to strike him head-on, colliding violently with a swirling cloud of mist around his face.
Instead of slowing him down, the Thunderfire’s impact, combined with Zhang Yu’s Martial Dao Micro-Control and the Nine Heavens Cloud Void Force amplified by his Martial Dao Sacred Body, actually propelled him forward with renewed momentum.
Ji Yuanshu watched helplessly as his own repeated bursts of speed were repeatedly thwarted by the need to turn and dodge.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu’s speed grew ever more ferocious, widening the gap between them.
“Why?”
“Why, when am I giving it my all?”
“Why am I falling further behind Zhang Yu?”
As Zhang Yu’s retreating figure receded into the distance, Ji Yuanshu felt as if he were watching his overall score plummet further below his rival’s, leaving him utterly powerless. A burning sense of resentment surged within him.
As the examinations progressed, Zhang Yu consistently demonstrated overwhelming strength, securing the top position in the class with absolute authority.
Yu Xinghan captured photos of Zhang Yu’s relentless sprint to victory and shared them in their backup Dual Cultivation Group.
Yu Xinghan: “Zhang Yu’s photos. [Image files]”
The group chat immediately flooded with messages:
“Zhang Yu looks so cool when he’s sprinting!”
“With that much money, he’d look cool doing anything.”
“Group leader, take more photos!”
“Group leader, has Zhang Yu responded yet?”
Yu Xinghan: “Too many applicants.”
Yu Xinghan: “After discussing it with Zhang Yu, we’ve decided you’ll need to contribute to the cost of the medicinal pills first. Then Zhang Yu will share a medicinal meal with you.”
Yu Xinghan: “Remember, just the meal. No other activities.”
“Huh? Just the meal?”
Yu Xinghan: Your performance will determine what happens next. He might select one of you for further cultivation.
Before long, the final Civil Engineering Department professional skills examination arrived.
To objectively assess each student’s practical abilities, this year’s examination, like the previous year’s, focused on real-world scenarios.
In fact, it was even more practical than before, with the examination field located directly on the 668th floor.
Tu Lishan looked at the entire class and said, “For this examination, to assess your true performance in a real construction environment and provide a more objective evaluation, we’ve specially arranged the Examination Field at an actual construction site.”
“In fact, for this examination, the entire area will be completely shut down for the next twelve hours. No workers will be present except for you.”
“We’ve even suspended all overtime work here.”
The students were shocked by this news, murmuring in awe at the teachers’ actions.
“They’re shutting down the construction site for twelve hours?”
“All for our exam?”
“What a grand gesture!”
Zhang Yu cursed inwardly, “Fucking hell… they’re just using us as free labor, aren’t they?”
Yu Xinghan fumed silently, “Twelve hours of testing? Twelve hours of free labor? Are you even human?”
Ying Xin seethed, “Why is everyone just cursing in their heads? Why doesn’t anyone dare to stand up and shout? Is there not a single brave soul in the Civil Engineering Department?”
Tu Lishan continued, “Throughout your second year, the focus of your studies has been large-scale construction capabilities.”
“Therefore, the examination will also test your proficiency in large-scale construction.”
“I’ve assigned each of you different construction tasks covering all major aspects of large-scale construction. This ensures that every student will have more than enough work to keep them busy for the full twelve hours, allowing us to accurately assess your limits.”
As he spoke, lines of information materialized in their Bionic Eyes, detailing the large-scale construction tasks they could undertake within the sprawling worksite before them.
Simultaneously, they saw their individual salary statistics, currently all at zero.
Tu Lishan continued, “You’ve all noticed the salary statistics, I presume?”
Zhang Yu thought gleefully, “So there’s actual pay! Tu Lishan… I actually misjudged you!”
Tu Lishan went on, “The grading for this exam is straightforward: it’s based on the completion rate of your assigned large-scale construction tasks.”
“Specifically, your final score will be calculated based on the total salary you earn, converted into points.”
“We believe this metric best reflects your current large-scale construction capabilities after a year of study and practice.”
Yu Xinghan raised his hand. “Will we receive the salary immediately after the exam?”
Tu Lishan smiled faintly. “Hasn’t your salary already been converted into something far more valuable — your final score?”
“Of course, you can choose not to convert it.”
Yu Xinghan cursed inwardly, “Fucking… this construction scum!”