Forty Millenniums of Cultivation
chapter-89

That night, Li Yao, in deep slumber, slept soundly without a single wisp of a dream. Once he fell asleep, only at dawn did he finally open his eyes again.

In contrast, in several other places in Floating Spear City, there were many who were having troubles sleeping through the night.

2 O’clock in the night, approximately twenty kilometers away, Villa District.

In a giant container filled with silver liquid, Helian Lie gradually floated up. His face was now lacking in arrogance; instead, his eyes carried a sliver of sinisterness and ruthlessness. His face, on the other hand, was devoid of any expression. Slowly, he walked out from the giant container. His skin gave off a silver light, seemingly as if he was covered in silver armor.

"I did it!"

Standing nearby, Helian Ba showed a happy expression as he shouted, "Ah Lie, you did not disappoint Elder Zhou Yin's expectations. You have finally mastered the ‘Profound Silver War Body’ with the help of his secret method. From now on, your strength will soar!"

Helian Lie's face, on the other hand, had a completely hideous look. Slowly caressing his iron-like big and tall body, he spoke through clenched teeth, "For this entire month, I had to suffer an inhumane pain day in and day out without even a single breath of respite. In hopes to transform my body into the ‘Profound Silver War Body’, I have soaked my body in the ‘Mysterious Silver Strengthening Serum’ every day and night without rest, suffering an indescribable amount of pain. As a result, my Spiritual Root Development Quotient was forcefully raised to 88%. From now on, my road to cultivation will be completely flat, allowing me to gallop straight ahead!"

"Finally, it is the moment to pluck the fruit. Tomorrow, I will definitely become the ‘Floating Spear City's Champion of the College Entrance Examination'!"

Helian Ba nodded his head. "Yes, you must become the 'Floating Spear City's Champion of the College Entrance Examination'. It is no longer just related to only you, nor is it solely a matter for our Helian Family — now, your college entrance examination score will determine the winner of the ongoing struggle between Elder Zhou Yin and Fiend Blade Peng Hai!"

"Elder Zhou Yin is an expert from the older generation of the Crimson Nimbus Sect, while Fiend Blade Peng Hai is the most recent rising star; it is a struggle between the older generation and the younger generation. They appear to be in harmony; however, this is only on the surface. Elder Zhou Yin had only invited Peng Hai to train the new students at Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School in hopes to create an illusion that the two gets along harmoniously.”

"But in the dark, the two have had a lot of disagreements. Their contradictions run very deep — the two have even secretly fought several times!"

"The college entrance examination this year can also be considered as another form of fighting! Elder Zhou Yin is optimistic about you; he believes that you are a promising student that is worthy to be trained. That’s why he has poured so many resources to nurture you. On the other hand, Peng Hai seems to be supporting that little bastard, Li Yao. I heard that he had even lent his training room to that little bastard. He has made it clear that he is standing behind that bastard!"

Upon hearing Li Yao's name, all of Helian Lie’s muscles instantly swelled, doubling the size of his body. Stroking his lower abdomen, he slowly spoke word by word, "Li Yao, I will always remember this punch for the rest of my life. After the college entrance exam, I will definitely make you pay for it!"

Helian Ba said, "As long as you become the 'Floating Spear City's Champion of the College Entrance Examination' and prove that Elder Zhou Yin's insight was correct, his position in the Crimson Nimbus Sect will be more stable, possibly enough for him to suppress Fiend Blade Peng Hai. By then, it will be completely okay to take revenge on Li Yao however you want. Elder Zhou Yin and our Helian Family's several Elders will completely support you. However, if your test results aren't good..."

Helian Lie narrowed his eyes. "That’s impossible, father. You have seen with your own eyes the kind of inhumane suffering I have gone through this month. The title of Floating Spear City's Champion of the College Entrance Examination is already in my bag. No one could take it from me!"

"Alright, our Helian Family’s members should be domineering like this. Father will be waiting for good news!"

"Right. Father, is there any news regarding Li Yao? Is he going to be taking the college entrance exam?"

"It is rather strange. I have thoroughly checked up on the list of examinees who have personally registered their identity for this year's college entrance examination in Floating Spear City, yet out of the 5788 examinees who have personally registered, Li Yao's name wasn't there."

Helian Lie was surprised for a moment. "Maybe he has transferred to another school?"

Helian Ba shook his head. "I have asked all the high-quality high schools in the city and even inquired some relatively strong, ordinary high school, but there is no record of him. It seems that the brat has yet to recover his strength and is not going to be taking part in this year's college entrance examination."

"Oh! What a pity. These days, I have been busy training and did not put any effort to look for that waste. Once the college entrance exam is over and I get the title of Floating Spear City's Champion of the College Entrance Examination, I will look for him... and slowly compare notes with him!"

...

3 O'clock in the night, approximately twenty-five kilometers away, in an another antique villa.

Si Jiaxue softly yawned, rubbed her beautiful sleepy eyes, and carefully shut down the crystal processor hologram.

"Xiao Xue, rest a little. Tomorrow is the college entrance examination; right now, the most important thing is not reading but a good night sleep. You have to stay in your best state," a chubby, middle-aged woman behind her said with concern.

Si Jiaxue faintly smiled and said, "Mom, do not worry. It’s just a college entrance exam — it's a piece of cake for me. Four hours of sleep will be enough."

...

4 O'clock in the night, approximately thirty kilometers away, inside a dense jungle.

From inside a holiday cottage completely constructed from wood, the voices and laughter of women along with tender moans were coming again and again.

"Young Master Zheng, Young Master Zheng, you should take it easy. You have to take the college entrance exam soon, Young Master Zheng!" On a large pink bed, seven beautiful and charming girls with jade-like bodies laid on the bed. They were all dead drunk.

Zheng Dongming's two cat-like eyes shone as he lewdly laughed and said, "Finally, after dieting for two months, this young master has finally recovered. Naturally, before anything else, I must first gratify myself. College entrance exam? That’s nothing!"

…

In addition to them, in the entire Star Glory Federation, a countless number of high school students were having difficulty sleeping as they impatiently waited for the arrival of dawn. There were some who were sleepless until the darkest moment before dawn. But finally unable to endure, they fell into deep slumber.

And when they opened their eyes again, it was already 8 O'clock in the morning.

"Sh*t! The exam is going to start at 9 O'clock, get up quickly!"

Countless students throughout the federation jumped from their bed, as if they had heard the sounds of soldiers charging. They rushed out from the gate, rushed to their school, and rushed to the examination room!

Li Yao too was among them.

While the faces of the other examinees were filled with impatience, too much excitement, or panic, Li Yao’s face was, instead, devoid of these emotions; he was calm and unperturbed.

Keeping the same expression all the way to the classroom, Li Yao wormed his way through the examination chamber as its gate gradually closed. Only after he was inside the chamber and isolated from everyone else did a vibrant look appear on his face. From the depths of his eyes, a sliver of thirst could be found...

If Fatty Long and Ye Lang from the Magical Equipment Graveyard saw this expression, they would definitely recognize it within a single glance —— this was the look the “Vulture” gave when he was about to pounce on his prey.

The college entrance examination which would determine the fates of countless students in the federation officially started!

The entire Star Glory Federation was covered in a sheet of calm; no matter which city it was, it was completely quiet. A few flying shuttles that were as slow as a snail were quietly crawling their way through the sky. Even those cultivators who usually whistled across the sky as they flew on their flying swords had all now become cautious. They did not dare to make even a pin-drop noise.

Who would dare to disturb the examinees at this moment when they were giving their all? Even if it were those Nascent Soul Stage old devils, they would be drowned in the hundreds of millions of furious parents.

One hour... Two hours...

Countless examinees were diligently doing to the best of their abilities in the examination chambers, while countless parents eagerly waited outside.

Three hours elapsed. For the Star Glory Federation, those three hours were both the most tranquil and the most tense.

Finally ——

After more than three hours of examination, it was finally over. One by one, examinees who had finished their exam early left the examination chambers. They were all profusely sweating as they left the campus with ease, seemingly as if a weight had been lifted off their mind. They were the cause of the first wave of excitement and cries.

After five hours, the time allotted for the exam was over. Every examinee was forced to leave their examination chamber.

The Star Glory Federation resumed its ordinary days of hustling and bustling, even more so than five hours ago. Every parent and every examinee were gathered inside the school, waiting for the college entrance examination results to be announced!

The examination chamber used for taking the college entrance examination were all equipped with an advanced crystal processor with ultra-high computing capability. When the examinees kill the beasts in the Virtual Space, it was possible to calculate the examinee's score in real time.

Theoretically, the moment the examinees walk out of the examination chamber, it was possible for the crystal processor to calculate the final college entrance examination score.

However, in order to ensure the fairness of the college entrance examination, after the final score was calculated, it would then be transmitted to other crystal processors in the spirit network to be reviewed again.

Each and every examinee's score would be calculated by seven different crystal processor, and at the end, when each crystal processor gave exactly the same result, it would be determined that the review was correct. Afterward, it would be uploaded to the main crystal processor of the city’s board of education.

The entire process would approximately need one hour.

One hour later, the main crystal processor of the city’s board of education would announce the results and rankings of all the examinees, and the examinees would be able to inquire through their own mini crystal processor.

However, the top-quality high schools like the Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School who had the strength to obtain the title of 'Floating Spear City's Champion of the College Entrance Examination' would set up a huge hologram in the most conspicuous place, displaying the names and scores of the city’s top 100, 500, and 1000 students.

At the Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School, the principal, the trustees, the Head of the Teachers Office, the teachers, and the thousands of students as well as the thousands of parents were all utterly quiet as not a single sound could be heard. A tense expression could be seen on everyone’s face; their eyes were never taken off the hologram set at the center of the playground; they were all quietly awaiting for the final results to be announced.

Helian Lie stood out in the crowd like a stork in a flock of fowls; his entire body was surrounded by a powerful aura. No one dared to be within half a step close to him, thus in an area of approximately one meter in radius, there was no one else.

With both hand wrapped around his shoulders, he appeared to be perfectly calm and collected. However, if one look closer at this fingers, they were lightly tapping, revealing the restlessness within his heart.

Suddenly, the originally pitch black hologram slightly flickered before it was flooded with ripples one after another.

The deathly silent crowd promptly turned restless.

"Look, the results are going to be announced!"

"I wonder if there is anyone in our school who could grab ahold of the title of 'Floating Spear City's Champion of the College Entrance Examination'?"

"Rumor has it that this time we have two very powerful candidates. They look very promising!"

"Ah, results are out!"

The ripples in the hologram spread faster and faster as a series of blood-like red numbers fell from the top of the hologram like rain, creating a list of hundreds of examinees with their names and achievements.

The top most line displayed ——

"Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School's Helian Lie, College Entrance Examination Total Score - 715, Spiritual Root Development Quotient - 88%, Final Score - 629.2, First in Provisional Score Ranking!"