68 Chapter 67: Examination results (2/2)
”She has Elder Zhao to thank for that,” I muttered, remembering how I got into this mess in the first place. The old dude was the one who recruited me, who suggested that I participate in the outer sect entrance examination.
”But it's precisely because of that that I hope you won't turn your attention toward my Lian Rou, okay?” Tong Xue flashed a grin at me. ”You already have Tang Qi Hong, so please don't compete with me and vie for my Lian Rou's attention. Tang Qi Hong is certainly more beautiful, but she has quite the fiery temperament. On the other hand, my Lian Rou is a gentle flower, with an incredibly kind and good-natured personality. You can hardly find any girl who is as sweet, patient and kind as her. Of course, she is my beloved, so I hope you can focus your attention on Tang Qi Hong instead.”
”That's assuming she reciprocates,” I muttered under my breath. As much as I wasn't dense, I wasn't taking Tang Qi Hong's feelings for granted. For all I knew, I could be overly self-conscious and misunderstanding everything. As long as Tang Qi Hong didn't clearly come out and told me honestly that she liked me, I wasn't going to delude myself that she did. After all, women were complex creatures. She could be sending me mixed signals.
A friend of a friend, for example, used to think that a girl who was extremely friendly with him was in love with him, but was in a rude shock when it turned out that she was in love with someone else, and things turned very awkward between the both of them. And the girl eventually began avoiding me…I mean, my friend.
No, I wasn't talking about myself. I'm talking about a friend of a friend, okay? Honest!
While we headed back home, I suddenly realized something.
”I need to return to Wu Ling Academy for a bit,” I suddenly spoke up. Tong Xue blinked and stared at me in surprise.
”Forgot something?”
”Yeah, actually.” I clutched at my bag. ”I'm supposed to deliver the Crimson Lava Fruit to the academy. I took the mission, after all. In fact, I was supposed to have delivered it yesterday, but a few things happened and I ended up staying the night at Tushan City.”
”Heh…”
Tong Xue nodded, and then pushed me forward.
”Well, then what are you waiting for? Go!”
I waved at him before I went on my separate way and headed in the direction of Wu Ling Academy.
*
”Um…”
I realized that I had spent a gold coin for the entrance exam, so I was back to ninety-nine gold coins again. Which meant I was back to square one…or rather, square ninety-nine, and was short of just one gold to purchase the Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship.
Talk about taking one step forward, and another backward.
On the other hand, when I accessed my tablet, I saw that I had received a cash reward for successfully passing the exam.
”Oh! Five gold just for passing the exam?!”
Not only did I get refunded my gold coin, I earned another four. That was pretty impressive. It was a clear incentive for candidates to pass the exam. Sighing a breath of relief, I wiped the perspiration from my face and proceeded toward the main office to deposit the Crimson Lava Fruit.
”Oh, not bad!”
The receptionist smiled brightly at me as I entered, her light brown braided hair gently flowing down the side of her face. She nodded in acknowledgement and gestured for me to pass the Crimson Lava Fruit to her. I obliged.
”Thank you, Miss Jie Dai Yuan.”
Having done business with Jie Dai Yuan countless times – I had to take about a hundred missions just to save up this much gold, after all – I was somewhat familiar with her. She also recognized me and smiled.
”As efficient as ever, Herb Gatherer!”
That was her nickname for me, especially because all I seemed to do was gather herbs. I guess in her mind I was the same as a certain someone who only chose missions where he could slay goblins. At least I didn't hide my face behind a helm all the time, though my glasses certainly served as a much less protective alternative.
”Uh…”
That didn't mean I liked the nickname, though. However, since she was paying me, I couldn't complain. Forcing a smile, I waited patiently as she ran through the standard administrative procedures to confirm my completion of the mission.
”All right, that's done now,” she told me with a friendly smile. ”Good work as always. I'm sure Miss Huo La La would be happy to receive the fruit.”
”Uh huh.”
I nodded, though I couldn't care less who Huo La La was. Probably some rich ojou-sama or something.
”Really, I appreciate you doing all these missions.” Jie Dai Yuan looked at me forlornly. ”Most students tend to neglect and dismiss these simple, low ranked missions because they aren't as rewarding both in terms of monetary gain and combat experience. However, they are absolutely necessary, because many of the requesters often have sick relatives or are suffering from some sort of disease themselves – illnesses that can only be cured by procuring the spiritual herbs or mystic plants or enchanted fruits they ask for. And many of these spirit herbs are difficult to obtain. They are not something you can simply find on the market, and even if they are, their prices are exorbitant.” She bestowed a look of approval on me. ”By accepting their requests at such a low price, you're really helping them out.”
”Uh, well…I guess…”
To be honest, I had never really thought that far ahead. I wasn't carrying out these missions for altruistic reasons, and I certainly was no Goblin Slayer obsessed with slaying goblins so that there would no longer be villages that would fall victim to them. I was merely carrying them out for the gold coins, simply because I couldn't fully use my qi throughout the past couple of years, and thus it would be far too dangerous for me to attempt the actual combat missions.
But I didn't tell her that. Plastering on a fake smile, I exchanged a few pleasantries with Jie Dai Yuan before scooting out of there as quickly as I could before she could uncover my complete insincerity and lack of selflessness.
”Okay, so…what should I do now?”
With that done, I focused on my next goal. The Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship. As a martial arts manual, it can be purchased online, but I had to collect the actual scroll from the library.
Let's do that then.
Using my tablet, I completed my purchase of the Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship. It stung when I watched my hard-earned hundred gold coins vanish, leaving me with just four gold coins in my balance, but I steeled myself, knowing that it was completely worth it.
The Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship wasn't a Level Five martial arts technique that was locked behind a paywall for nothing.
Still, what is wrong with the academy? What's wrong with the whole education system? It's so capitalistic, for a lack of a better word to describe it.
Normally, you would expect an educational institution to provide the resources without locking them behind a paywall. Sure, we didn't have to pay tuition or school fees for enrollment, which was undoubtedly a big benefit, but you would expect the teachers to actually teach whatever they could. Yet the system was designed around a paywall where you had to earn credit by performing labor in the form of missions, and then spend those hard-earned credits on purchasing techniques from the school. And even then, you were expected to learn those martial arts techniques on your own, without any guidance from the teachers or masters.
The Experimentalists were clearly at a disadvantaged when compared to Traditionalists, who had the advantage of being taught personally by actual masters and teachers who didn't lock techniques and skills behind paywalls…or at least that was what I thought at that time, but I would discover the truth later. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly pleased with how the system exploited students for labor, and the money supposedly earned from performing that labor returned directly to the school in the form of martial arts manual purchases.
There was something fishy about the whole thing.
Nonetheless, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Even if I staged a boycott, nobody would bother to follow my example because the system had been so ingrained within their heads that they saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. I would just be wasting my time and falling behind my peers as I foolishly rebelled against a system that no one other than myself wanted abolished.
On the other hand, the advantages of being an Experimentalist were that we were given complete, full reign to learn whatever we like. Nobody cared what we did, as long as we showed results. In contrast, the poor Traditionalists had no choice but to learn the techniques that their masters wanted them to learn, the skills that their masters thought would be useful. Experimentalists like me had the full freedom to design our own curriculum and choose whatever techniques we wanted to learn. Which was why I could just pick Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship and no one would bitch about it.
I spent too much time immersed in my thoughts that I didn't realize I had already reached the library. The librarian was waiting for me there.
”Uncle Du Shu Guan,” I greeted him. The elderly librarian lifted his large-rimmed glasses to stare at me before his face crinkled into a smile.
”Ah…Student Fei Wu. It has been a while, hasn't it?”
I nodded. I had spent more time assimilating and purifying my qi, as well as training physically and taking missions, that I didn't have time to go to the library to borrow new martial arts manuals and learn new techniques. I did, however, continue to patronize the library because I needed to read books to expand on my knowledge regarding the new world I was in. Even after a few years here, I still hadn't fully grasped the vast entirety of this world.
”I see you're here for the Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship.” Du Shu Guan adjusted his thick glasses as he peered at his tablet. He rose to his feet and waved his hand at me, telling me to wait there for a moment, before disappearing into the back of the library. A few seconds later, he emerged with a single book. ”Here you go.”
”Thank you!”
I accepted the book from him. Du Shu Guan smiled.
”No, it's nothing at all. I'm glad you've come. Good luck with mastering this technique.”
”I'll do my best.”
Now that I had paid for this technique and purchased it, I didn't have to return the manual. It belonged to me permanently.
Hmm…
As I lifted up the manual to study it, I suddenly realized that the words and techniques inscribed within the paper were a form of Spirit Engraving. The martial arts manual was a form of spirit artifact! Not just this one, but every martial arts manual in the library!
Wow…I didn't realize it before…
It was only after taking the entrance exam that I realized how similar the martial arts manuals were to spirit artifacts, and how the text inscribed within their pages was a form of Spirit Engraving, emanating a power of their own.
No wonder, when I first came to the library, I could sense such potent power radiating from the martial arts manuals. They were no ordinary objects. They were actual spirit artifacts that had been enchanted with qi and mystical power. The text, being a form of Spirit Engraving, had bestowed upon them that sort of power.
This world is getting more and more mysterious…
Even after a few years here, I was still learning something new everyday.
Gripping my newly acquired martial arts manual, I bowed gratefully to Du Shu Guan before turning around and heading home.
I had three days to go through the martial arts manual before I had to return to Tushan City and begin my Spirit Engraving and artifact forging lessons under Tang Qi Hong. Once that started, I would have much less time to practice and learn the Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship.
That won't stop me, I vowed to myself, hardening my resolve as I strode impatiently toward my house. I had fallen behind because of my stupid stunt a couple of years ago, and now I had to do my best to catch up.
And mastering this Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship was the first step toward reaching the heights that my peers had climbed in what seemed like so long ago.