Legend of the Mythological Genes
chapter-7

“The annual college exam is near. This is the opportunity for every single Interstellar citizen to change their destiny. Everyone is entitled a single chance and only once in their entire lifetime. The result from this exam will determine if you’re a dragon or a maggot. Your destiny will be turned on its head from that moment on. Some will soar to the skies and remain superior, while others grind into dust and live a life as a nobody…”

A capable, middle-aged woman clothed in black attire lectured from the rostrum of the classroom.

A group of students sat below, afraid to even breathe heavily.

Feng Lin listened quietly.

Despite the progress of humans into the Interstellar Era where advanced technology allowed them to travel through a wormhole across millions of lightyears, the methods of such old-fashioned college exams prevailed. Not only had they preserved it completely, but they also elevated it to a whole new level.

The breadth of the examination was broad beyond imagination, extending across the entire human population of Interstellar Era.

As an effective means of breaking through the walls of innate social classes, there was a purpose behind the existence of the college exams.

“The college pre-qualifier exam is the first school-wide mock exam. Only those who passed this will earn the chance to participate in the college exam. If you can’t even pass the mock exam, then don’t even think about participating in the college exam and put yourself to shame. You’d even lower our school’s graduation rate!” the female head-teacher announced sternly, her eyes sweeping across the room before lingering on Feng Lin and a few other last-ranking students. Her warning was conveyed without a word.

The annual college exam for all Interstellar’s citizens was nothing to scoff about. Billions of people would cross this plank and if you didn’t get exceptional results, then you will be sending yourself to your own death.

The school would never allow those good-for-nothing dregs to pull their precious college exam ranking down. If they failed, they would taint the school’s reputation.

The other students basked in their misfortune at that scene.

Feng Lin clenched both his fists before loosening them slowly.

If it had been the past, he might have been filled with resentment. Now though, he was calm.

For a person who had been through death and back, fragile hearts were a thing of the past.

More importantly, he was confident.

With a vitality of 1.5, he had long since surpassed most of his peers. Why should he torment himself with vengeance?

The improvements to his abilities had allowed him to mature much as well.

All these fighting and scheming against each other were nothing more than childish behaviors to him.

These people would be in for a surprise if they still thought that he was the same old Feng Lin.

“To achieve good results on the college exam, the top three students from each class for the college pre-qualifier exam will have the chance to enter and train at the Illusory Martial Pagoda for free!” The head-teacher stunned them with a piece of ground-breaking news.

The whole class burst into life.

“The Illusory Martial Pagoda!”

“The one with combat masters of the Illusory Martial Pagoda?”

“The school has really given an arm and a leg this time!”

…

No one was able to mask their excitement, as eagerness filled their every expression.

The Illusory Martial Pagoda was the only illusionary martial system at Earth High School. It consolidated countless battle techniques from various combat masters and projected them as a simulation through optical computing, using energy to build an illusionary space.

From the outside, it was a tower about thirty levels in height. Every floor had an illusionary combat master; they were realistic with almost the same level of competency.

With each level-up, the standard of the combat master would increase, and the level of difficulty intensified in proportion to the levels.

Through battling with illusionary combat masters, it could increase one’s battle experience and through it, allowed them to have a better grasp and understanding of their genetic abilities at a rapid rate.

However, a huge amount of energy was required to activate the system. Each activation would require tens of thousands of star coins; this was an impossible feat under normal circumstances.

Typically, students would have to pay with their own money in order to train in there. For every session, they would have to pay ten thousand star coins. Only those born with a silver spoon in their mouth would be able to afford it.

The prospect of entering the Illusory Martial Pagoda was something most students could only wish of in their wildest dreams.

They hadn’t expected the school to put in this much effort this time around, so much so that they were allowing three slots from each class for the free entry. It was no surprise that they all grew excited. Anyone who was competent was determined to get into the top three rankings.

“The literature exam will start now!”

At the head-teacher’s announcement, the examination officially commenced.

This was different from Earth Era. College exam in Interstellar Era was categorized into two: Martial Exam and Literature Exam.

Literature Exam tested on theoretical knowledge, literature, history, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, psychology, law, and astronomy…

Furthermore, the format of literature exam was also different from the college exam in Earth Era. There wasn’t anything like full marks, only high score, higher scores, and even higher scores. Theoretically, there was no cap on how high you could go.

Due to the increase in lifespan and intelligence, they were sharper than the humans of Earth Era, therefore, the difficulty of their literature exam was also greater. Yet, there was no limit to the number of exam questions. Through smart optical computing, it could churn out a set of test questions on the go. Everyone would have to answer the questions within the designated two-hour time frame. Each question was a mark, and the more they answered, the higher scores they would get.

It was precisely because there wasn’t a limit on scores that the disparity between exceptional and poor students was so evident after an exam. A difference of more than ten times was a common sight.

As for the Martial exams, they tested on one’s cultivation; it was an exam based on mythological genes.

College pre-qualifier exam was the first mock exam before college exam and the most important one. It concerned every single person’s eligibility in qualifying for the college exam and for that very reason, nobody dared to be careless about it.

Literature exam was the first round.

A holographic projection suspended in the space in front of every person as the contents of the exam cascaded like a waterfall, appearing before their eyes.

A vitality of 1.5 wasn’t just words. Not only would the quality of the body increase in all aspects, but their memory and line of thought would also improve by leaps and bounds too.

Their thinking process was akin to the speed of light; they would gain epiphany about the knowledge which had baffled them before. Likewise, answers to these grueling questions would come to mind at just one glance.

Was this the breakthrough from a person’s change in vitality?

Feng Lin kept his glee to himself, but his hands never stopped moving.

People in the Interstellar Era were extremely advanced in their intellect, far beyond imagination. The knowledge they acquired was also exceptionally complex.

General relativity, quantum mechanics, chaos theory… These were complex yet familiar theories back in the ancient Earth Era. Now, they were general knowledge which every high school student was expected to know, and they weren’t even the hardest topics in the exam.

The toughest topic in literature exam was mythological knowledge theory.

After tens of thousands of years of advancement, majority of mythological knowledge from ancient Earth was lost. Now, humans could only get a glimpse of its remnants from tattered ancient texts.

Humans could only count on themselves to fill the gap by scavenging and restoring. Various theories and schools of thought were often contradictory, making one’s head spin.

For that reason, among the subjects in high school, mythological knowledge was the worst cause of their headaches.

All the students at the scene knitted their brows as their expression turned sour.

All but Feng Lin who seemed unperturbed and relaxed.

For someone from the past, these were just general knowledge.

It was fortunate that the original owner of his body was extremely hardworking. Despite his low vitality, his knowledge and understanding of theoretical knowledge were great.

Feng Lin inherited the original owner’s memories and gained a huge advantage from that. His basic theory was not shabby at all; a great deal of knowledge about the subjects came rushing to him.

Until the questions about mythology came, that was his forte.

“List the twelve Olympian Gods and state their roles. This is simple: King of Gods, Zeus; Queen of Gods, Hera; Goddess of War and Wisdom, Athena; God of the Sun, Apollo…” Feng Lin breezed through it.

“What was the ultimate ending to the Nordic mythology? The world in ruins, Ragnarok, the end of all things!” Feng Lin lips pulled into a small smile, seemingly at ease.

“Three Divine Teachers and the Four Sovereigns in Chinese mythology?” This one was a little difficult. The origin of Chinese mythology was complicated; there was an onslaught of differing interpretations.

Feng Lin thought back about it and answered with the most accepted version, “Three Divine Teachers: Lord of Primordial Beginning, Yuanshi Tianzun; Lord of the Way and its Virtue, Daode Tianzun; Lord of the Numinous Treasures, Lingbao Tianzun. Four Sovereigns: Great Emperor of Middle Heaven North Star, Great Jade Emperor, Great Emperor of Polaris, and the Imperial God of Earth.”

…

The questions cascaded down the projection like a waterfall. Feng Lin didn’t hesitate much as he answered them one after another.

As he went through the questions, he grew more familiar in the technique. The knowledge lodged in his brain came surging forth and the speed of his answers accelerated.

Yet, he realized that he hadn’t answered all those mythology questions right; only about 70%.

Why is that? I knew that what I am aware of was the original version of the mythology, how can it be wrong…?

Feng Lin was puzzled before it dawned on him.

He hadn’t answered them wrong. To the contrary, it was the model answers which were inaccurate.

The literature of ancient Earth had vanished by half. Knowledge of mythology derived only through the remnants of texts and excavation of its traces, patching them back up together step by step. It was inevitable for mistakes and contradiction in knowledge to occur due to this.

The original true answers were denied by this set of knock-off mythology knowledge!

Feng Lin was broody about it, but it was impossible for him to refute foolishly. How was he going to answer if they questioned him on his sources?

If he claimed to have known all the knowledge surrounding ancient Earth mythology, then he would have been dragged away and sliced.

This was an unwise move and something Feng Lin would not do.

Even so, the exam was still ongoing. If he wanted higher scores, and his accuracy wasn’t enough, then he would have to rely on quantity to make up for it.

Feng Lin focused all of his attention on the exam and began answering, the movement of his fingers going faster and faster.

He answered instantly with each new question. The speed of his reaction would render one speechless.

The exam questions gushed down like a waterfall.

This couldn’t be described as answering the questions anymore. He was practically swiping through them!

Feng Lin was engrossed in it, turning into a swiping maniac in delight, unable to stop.