Chapter 346: First Academic Year, Final Professional Exam

Chapter 346: The First Academic Year, The Final Professional Examination

Upon the battlefield, Gongshu Jin advanced with rapid strides, pressing forward through a torrent of bombardments without a single pause, breaking through the vast canopy of thunder and fire time and time again.

Upon his left shoulder he bore Ying Xin, and upon his right, Zhang Yu; pressed against his chest was Yu Xinghan, while Li Xiao was slung across his back.

No matter how mangled their flesh and blood had become, no matter how grievously wounded his four classmates were—even as some ceased to breathe—the thought of putting them down never once crossed his mind.

For he knew full well that only by leaning upon one another could comrades hope to survive.

"Upon a battlefield fraught with hidden perils, classmates of the Civil Engineering Department are the finest protective talismans."

"Thank you for guarding me."

The artifact spirit nodded slightly: "Calm and resolute, swift in action; even upon a battlefield teeming with crises, at the very threshold of life and death, he shows not a shred of panic, demonstrating a willpower befitting his Dao-heart rank."

"For the Spirit Realm Competition next semester, he can be recommended."

Having suddenly stumbled into immense wealth, Zhang Yu walked along the streets.

With his savings breaking past the thousand spirit coin mark, he did not choose to spend it recklessly... instead, he displayed the exact figure of his savings upon his forehead, immediately earning countless friendships and receiving wave after wave of gifts.

And in the various scams that followed, he evaded every single one, remaining perfectly composed throughout.

The artifact spirit recorded: "When confronted with sudden wealth, his core remains stable, exhibiting an exceptionally powerful capacity for self-control..."

Observing Zhang Yu’s various ratings, the artifact spirit remarked indifferently: "As expected, his Dao-heart still surpasses that of Gongshu Jin, and is already on par with Ji Yuanshu."

...

At the magical power examination.

Student after student was undergoing testing for magical power capacity, magical power quality, and astral qi conduction.

And as the numbers manifested one by one, gasps of astonishment would ripple through the crowd from time to time.

As the magical power instructor, Li Mingbo naturally checked the students' results out of curiosity.

Within his ocular remnants, all the students were arranged according to the tiers of their respective origins.

The students' grades emerged, and fundamentally, their scores were positively correlated with their respective tiers.

"According to the data completed thus far, the first is Ji Yuanshu of the sixth tier, the second is Gongshu Jin of the fourth tier, the third is Ying Xin, and the fourth..."

But in the very next instant, his gaze froze slightly.

He saw a single name leading far ahead, soaring upward like a rocket, actually surpassing Gongshu Jin of the fourth tier and arriving at a position equal to that of Ji Yuanshu from the sixth tier.

"Zhang Yu."

"From the first tier."

Li Mingbo remembered this name; he was the student who, along with two other first-tier youths, always sat in the very back row during class.

"Last semester, his magical power score was barely enough to keep pace with Gongshu Jin, yet this semester he is already capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ji Yuanshu?"

Li Mingbo was momentarily dazed: "A student from the first tier can actually catch up to the level of a sixth-tier student?"

...

At the physical intensity examination.

Beneath the shocked gazes of everyone present, two figures shot forth like twin bolts of lightning, refusing to yield an inch to one another as they crisscrossed and flickered back and forth across the complex simulated battlefield, neither able to shake the other off.

One of them was precisely Zhang Yu.

At this moment, the essence within his body was boiling, his blood surging violently like magma, and the Battle Demon Life-Withering Art was exerted to its absolute limit, directly increasing his physical intensity by 1.5 ranks, pushing his physical strength to a terrifying degree of 17.38.

Driven by such a furious physical impetus, his speed reached an unprecedented velocity; even the full suit of Number 20 Secret Steel felt incredibly light within his perception.

Simultaneously, he was dividing his mind between two tasks, controlling his physical body to forge ahead on one hand, while managing several Formless Vajras on the other, using the Three-Eyed Divine Ability and the Chrono-Fragmented Demon Pupil to block all manner of attacks on the simulated battlefield for him.

Yet even under such circumstances, he discovered he was still unable to surpass Ji Yuanshu ahead of him.

"This fellow... is incredibly fast."

"He has far too many magical skeletal pieces equipped just for acceleration."

"It seems that in this particular trial, I ultimately cannot best him."

However, Zhang Yu had long grown accustomed to this; speed, after all, was not his forte, and his current high-speed movement was entirely pushed forth by his baseline data and his own raw, hard strength.

Zhang Yu thought silently to himself: "The final victory will still depend on the construction examination. Having honed myself through this entire semester, that thoroughly tempered construction ability is my greatest strength."

Zhang Yu had inquired long ago that the final professional examination of each academic year for the Civil Engineering Department would be the most difficult, carrying the highest weight in comprehensive points, and exerting the greatest influence on the rankings.

Meanwhile, behind Zhang Yu and Ji Yuanshu, Gongshu Jin’s astral qi surged violently, his streamlined body continuously tearing through the atmosphere.

Yet even though all four magical skeletal pieces across his body had been deliberately replaced with a displacement acceleration set, he could only watch helplessly as the two ahead drew further and further away from him, until gradually, he could not even see the flashing rankings above their heads.

Gongshu Jin’s eyes were filled with nothing but resentment: "How is it possible... how can this be?! How could the gap have grown even wider?!"

Over the past semester, he had maxed out his loans and burned through spirit coins, equipping different sets of magical skeletal pieces just for magical power cultivation, physical cultivation, and specific examinations.

He had even calculated the details of each day's cultivation down to the exact second, wasting not a single shred of time.

"Why? Why is it that even like this, I still cannot catch up to them?!"

"Just how much money did they spend?"

...

As the examinations proceeded one by one, Ji Yuanshu and Zhang Yu gradually became the focal point of every student in the class.

Particularly as they watched the two sides match each other time and again on the examination grounds, or witnessed Zhang Yu repeatedly chasing after Ji Yuanshu's silhouette, it made all the classmates realize that the number one spot of the freshman class would be decided between these two.

And as it stood currently...

Ying Xin analyzed: "I am afraid Ji Yuanshu's probability of winning is much higher."

"After all, at the end of last semester, his comprehensive score led Zhang Yu by 27 points."

"In this final examination, even if he does not lead Zhang Yu by much, it will be exceedingly difficult for Zhang Yu to overtake him."

Yu Xinghan, watching Zhang Yu who ultimately failed to surpass Ji Yuanshu on the speed testing grounds, let out a slight sigh of relief: "Good, very good, Zhang Yu didn't surpass Ji Yuanshu."

"Scared me to death, I thought he was truly about to seize the top spot in the class."

Yu Xinghan could hardly imagine how miserable he would feel if he saw Zhang Yu defeat Ji Yuanshu and leave himself so far behind... That would be many times more agonizing than seeing a close brother employ the Chrono-Fragmented Demon Pupil.

In contrast to the vague conjectures of the students, the instructors, who could see the backend scores one step ahead, possessed a much clearer grasp of the situation.

Tu Lishan had been watching the scores of the two after every single examination, calculating the shifts in their comprehensive points.

As he calculated, he murmured to himself: "Looking at the overall picture, Zhang Yu’s baseline data has actually approached Ji Yuanshu's?"

"Truly inconceivable."

But reflecting upon the quantity of medicine Zhang Yu had consumed this semester, he could not help but lament that Zhang Yu’s ability to remain alive was an incredible feat in itself.

"His constitution is even more formidable than he claims; he is indeed worthy of focused cultivation."

"Alas, what a pity. If he were an upper-tier person, even just from the second tier, he might very well have bested Ji Yuanshu in this examination."

And the situation observed by Tu Lishan was naturally sensed by Ji Yuanshu as well.

Looking at the notifications from the fortune monitoring system, seeing his own win rate climbing higher and higher upon it, Ji Yuanshu seemed to already see the throne of the year's top rank placing itself beneath him.

Yet as for defeating Zhang Yu, he had always deemed it as only natural and right.

After all, under the surveillance of fortune, he could always see the opponent's extremely low odds of victory.

What concerned him was not defeating Zhang Yu, but whether he should invest further now that victory was all but assured.

After all, there was still a significant gap from the 100-point lead his mentor required.

"When others are fearful, I am greedy."

Recalling this famous adage from the finance department, Ji Yuanshu quickly made up his mind.

"Now is the moment when Zhang Yu, Gongshu Jin, and the entire class are thoroughly intimidated by my strength and plunged into fear."

Ji Yuanshu knew that gathering fortune was no easy task, especially for a freshman like him.

"This is the perfect opportunity to further consolidate my fortune, solidify my position as the top student in the class, and lay the groundwork for the subsequent cultivation of fortune-based techniques."

"At the same time, it will further enhance my strength. Even if I can't exceed the 100-point lead, every little bit counts."

So he once again tagged Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin in the group chat.

Ji Yuanshu: "Gentlemen, for the remaining exams, unleash all your potential and let me enjoy myself a little more."

As he finished speaking, Ji Yuanshu felt strands of fortune flowing toward him from all directions.

It was the confidence of his classmates, one by one.

Through today's series of exams, he was like an undefeated general, anchoring the word "invincibility" in the students' minds with each victory.

This was the convergence of hearts and the gathering of fortune.

In his consciousness, a copper coin artifact gently trembled, suppressing all the gathered fortune within his mind and beginning to enhance his various attributes.

"The way of fortune is to go with the flow."

"Then, through boasting, pressure, hype, and other methods, guide people's hearts and borrow their fortune."

"Use cultivation to bolster momentum, and use momentum to nourish cultivation."

"Grow continuously in this mutual cycle."

"Ultimately... become the trend itself."

And Ji Yuanshu believed that by securing the top spot in the class, he had already become an unstoppable force.

As for the backlash of fortune?

Ji Yuanshu could not envision the possibility of defeat.

Because until the final exam, he still led Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin in overall points.

"They have no chance left."

"For the final exam's overall score, I will take even more."

...

In the simulated construction site,

the students of the Foundation Establishment class gathered for the day's final exam.

Tu Lishan stood before them and announced, "To test professional abilities more objectively and practically, the department initiated exam reforms last year."

"Today, we have decided to integrate all professional skill exams, using real-world scenarios to assess your engineering array drafting, architectural blueprint reading, construction materials, engineering surveying... and your comprehensive construction abilities."

"After all, practical skills are the most important in our Civil Engineering Department."

"Today is the day to test what you have learned in your freshman year."

As he spoke, everyone's eye sockets simultaneously received a stack of blueprints.

Then, Tu Lishan pointed to the left side of the simulated construction site and said, "On the left are all the construction materials provided for this exam."

"You have half an hour to select and transport the materials you need."

"On the right are the construction sites assigned to each of you."

"Within half an hour, you may do your best to select materials and transport them there."

"But after half an hour, you may no longer leave your construction site."

"Next, you will have three hours to carry out the construction according to the blueprints."

"After three hours, everyone must stop work immediately and leave the site, regardless of whether they have finished."

"Your work will then be scored based on its completion."

"Afterward, all construction sites will undergo 10 waves of attacks."

"Your work's performance during these 10 waves will also determine your score for this exam."

(End of Chapter)