Chapter 6

Li Yunxian found this Professor Su inexplicable.

However… it had nothing to do with her.

Li Yunxian shifted her attention to the personnel from the Special Management Bureau who had just arrived.

Liu Chen was weeping bitterly, clinging to the leg of a bureau officer. "Brother Shun, that professor from Tiantong destroyed my spirit root the moment she arrived."

"She attacked me before even going to trial. You must seek justice for me!"

Before the bureau officers could respond, others nearby, who were clearly annoyed by his words and unafraid of Liu Chen, spoke up directly: "According to the regulations, those who defect to the Hunters should be executed on the spot."

The bureau officers looked at the clamorous scene, feeling a splitting headache.

Li Yunxian watched the officer, who made no move to shake off the clinging Liu Chen, and realized that he must be well aware of Liu Chen's family connections. At the very least, Liu Chen's family was someone he could not afford to offend.

However, the officer could not withstand the public’s fury either. Finally, he said to Liu Chen in a dry tone, "They are the university inspection team from the Education Department; they have law enforcement authority during their inspection period."

Not to mention, the most powerful person in the Liu family was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator—what could they possibly do against a Golden Core master?

Liu Chen understood this logic; no one knew better than him what it meant to bully others by relying on power.

Consequently, after falling into despair, his eyes, filled with intense hatred, locked onto Li Yunxian.

He couldn't handle a Golden Core master, but couldn't he deal with Li Yunxian, a mere beginner at the Qi Refining stage?

Li Yunxian raised an eyebrow, feeling an itch to grip her spirit sword. But in this world, one still had to abide by the law. She could only watch with regret as the three of them were taken away by the Special Management Bureau.

With the matter settled, the testing center resumed operations. Remembering that Li Yunxian had saved them, the others enthusiastically pushed her to the front of the line. The staff at the center were also very efficient, and the results were soon out.

[Spiritual Power]: 2 points (Qi Refining Beginner)
[Talent]: B-Grade
[Constitution]: Metal-Wood Dual Spirit Root, Ordinary Bones

Holding the report, Li Yunxian asked the staff member in confusion, "What level is this?"

The staff member looked at her hesitantly, seemingly weighing his words before offering a suggestion: "Student Li, why don't you contact that master and ask to be her student?"

Understood. It meant the results weren't very good.

Hearing this, others also curiously leaned in. Li Yunxian generously handed them the report and asked curiously, "With these results, which school can I get into?"

After reading it, they breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the staff member's reaction, they had feared Li Yunxian’s results were exceptionally poor.

"Qi Refining Beginner is about 50 points, B-grade talent is 110 points, the dual spirit root is quite good and adds 150 points, and ordinary bones have no bonus—that’s a total of 310 quality points."

"If your academic score can reach over 90, you have a chance at most cultivator universities, excluding the Four Great Academies."

Since there was a "chance," it meant it was still quite difficult.

Others felt a sense of pity: "It would be great if the cultivator entrance exam had a martial arts bonus." If the number of Qi Refining Level 5 enemies Li Yunxian had killed could count toward her score, she would definitely be a lock for the Four Great Academies.

Another group present didn't feel it was a pity: "It's quite hard to reach Foundation Establishment with B-grade talent. The Four Great Academies require Foundation Establishment to graduate, whereas ordinary universities only require Qi Refining Level 5..."

Li Yunxian listened quietly to their chattering, gathering useful information from their discussion. For instance, cultivator universities were divided into three tiers: the Four Great Academies, ordinary, and municipal. The cutoff for the Four Great Academies was over 550 points, ordinary over 400, and municipal over 200. Cultivator universities didn't have grade levels; you graduated once you reached a certain cultivation realm. There were also bits of information regarding the scoring calculations for various metrics.

Li Yunxian evaluated things in her mind. Regarding spiritual power, after the medicinal bath and replenishing the spiritual energy from the potion, reaching the first layer of Qi Refining shouldn't be a problem, which would add another fifty points. For academics, the maximum score was 150, and based on her current mock exam scores, getting 120 was achievable. During the talent test, they took blood, likely testing bone and blood quality. With her second medicinal bath, her talent grade would likely improve further.

Whether she could get into the Four Great Academies depended on how much that improved.

Li Yunxian returned home, finished her meal, and quickly logged into the game. The merchant she had contacted reached out immediately.

"You're on a bit late today," the merchant said casually.

Li Yunxian glanced at him but didn't answer. Most of these merchants also moonlighted as intelligence brokers; she wasn't about to let her personal information leak.

"Are the items gathered?" Li Yunxian chose to get straight to the point.

The merchant paused; he hadn't expected Li Yunxian to be so tight-lipped. Usually, young people were more easily swayed and would say whatever was asked. Gathering information was just a professional habit for a merchant—if he got it, it was a bonus; if not, it didn't matter. Moreover, Li Yunxian didn't seem very important to him. If it weren't for the fact that the Changguang Guild had been looking for an uncultivated young woman these past two days, the merchant wouldn't have even bothered with the greeting.

"Most are ready, but there’s only half the amount of blood cinnabar. The exotic beasts don't drop this; it has to be gathered from the western river valley, and usually, no one collects it," the merchant said.

Merchants were a tight-knit group, so Li Yunxian wasn't surprised he could get things so quickly. "Fine, let's meet at the old spot in the west corner of the city."

At the location, the exchange was made. Li Yunxian felt a pang of heartache looking at her remaining 53 game coins.

Observing her expression, the merchant pondered that she probably wasn't the person Changguang was looking for. After all, the word from Changguang was that the young boss had earned around 2,000 coins and wouldn't be pained by losing 160 coins.

Still, the merchant asked, "Sister, what do you use all these miscellaneous items for? They don't look like weapon-making materials."

Li Yunxian packed the materials away and answered casually this time.

"Painting." Who said drawing talismans wasn't painting?

The answer left the merchant dazed. These days, there were even people drawing in "Wannu." Well, it made sense; using exotic materials for art in reality was too expensive, so "Wannu" was cheaper. As for what kind of painting required exotic materials, he knew better than to ask.

The merchant gave her a thumbs up, sighing in admiration: "Truly an artist!"

Li Yunxian: "..." She felt like she had been insulted.

Back in her small hut, Li Yunxian began to absorb spiritual energy. The spiritual density in "Wannu" was on a completely different level than in reality. In less than a minute, she was full. But she could only reach the capacity of a Qi Refining beginner. Truly, whatever level you were in reality was what you were in the game; it wouldn't let you have an ounce more.

At this level of spiritual energy... she would draw Thunder Talismans. They looked the most impressive.

Processing materials, drawing with empty spiritual energy, absorbing more, and drawing again. Li Yunxian was calm and focused, with talisman after talisman stacking up like printed paper beside her. It wasn't until the logout notification she had set popped up that she broke out of her deep focus.

She felt refreshed. It had been a long time since she had pushed her spiritual energy to its limits like this. She felt as though her body's meridians were becoming clear and unobstructed. Looking at the seventy-plus talismans, Li Yunxian couldn't help but sigh.

This game, "Wannu," was made far too realistically. These items hadn't existed in the game before, but as long as they could be physically crafted, they could manifest. Compared to the games woven from code she knew, this felt more like the secret realms she had experienced.

With this thought, she logged out.

Sheng Yu, who was still camping out at the trading market, was speechless.

Other members of the Changguang Guild patted her on the shoulder: "Forget it. The guild war is tomorrow. We still have over thirty bottles of potions, enough for emergencies. Let's look again after the war."

Sheng Yu's eyelids twitched, but she didn't respond. She had been camping the market and searching for people every day, and it wasn't just for the guild anymore. After logging out and returning home, she had told her family about the potions. Her family was shocked and immediately had researchers enter "Wannu" to test the two types of potions she held. When combined, these potions possessed a unique material structure—a new direction for research. Since that boss could accurately describe the medicinal effects, she likely understood the principles behind this structure. The Sheng family wanted to establish a research partnership with her.

And Sheng Yu swore that many in her guild had the same idea.

Thirty-plus potions left in the guild? No, they were gone. Sheng Yu looked at the "enthusiastic" guild members around the trading market and curled her lip. She could guarantee there wasn't a single bottle left in the guild. Everyone, just like her, had surely used them up in private research.

The Changguang members who noticed her gaze: "..." They looked at the sky and the ground, but dared not look at Sheng Yu. Help! They didn't want to! They were forced by their families! And their searching was all for show! Whenever they saw a "suspicious character," they always called Sheng Yu to confirm it!

Sheng Yu rolled her eyes at them, her shoulders slumped in compromise: "Let's just get through the guild war first."

Anyway, she would have to talk to the person if she found them. Her family was only a small one; the boss might not even want to partner with them. The others in Changguang felt much the same. Thinking of how the boss was elusive and no information could be gathered in the whole city, Sheng Yu had already concluded in her mind that the boss didn't want to cooperate with them.

So, it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Completely unaware of the turmoil she had caused online, Li Yunxian heard the news that Liu Chen had dropped out of school when she arrived the next day. Standing in the hallway, she saw the silhouette of the Liu family leaving below.

She didn't know what they were saying, but suddenly, a middle-aged man looked up and glared at Li Yunxian with extreme malice. That man was at the Foundation Establishment stage. His identity was obvious: Liu Chen's uncle.

The teacher frowned and shooed the excited, gossiping students back into the classrooms. When he reached Li Yunxian, he paused and asked in a low voice, "I heard from Liu Chen that you've become a cultivator?"

Li Yunxian nodded. "Yes, just started."

"Then you're going to participate in the cultivator entrance exam?" the teacher asked.

Li Yunxian nodded again.

Seeing that Li Yunxian didn't seem to realize the severity of the situation, the teacher sighed and decided to be blunt. "There are only two Foundation Establishment cultivators in Jin City. If you want to take the exam... you should go elsewhere." He recalled the angry shouts of the cultivator in the principal's office when Liu Chen was dropping out.

"Your student status is still in the general class, and your family has connections in other cities, right? It’s still possible to transfer your status," the teacher suggested.

Li Yunxian felt warmed by the suggestion, but she shook her head. If Liu Chen’s uncle wanted to kill her, the school and teachers would surely be implicated if they helped her. Although the teachers must have been prepared for that when they offered this advice, Li Yunxian had also prepared herself to take responsibility for her actions when she decided to beat up Liu Chen.

Moreover...

"Teacher," Li Yunxian stated, "I intend to continue practicing the sword."

"The sword path is one that moves forward without turning back."

"If I flee, I will never attain the Dao."

The teacher didn't understand the cultivator jargon, but he could hear the unshakeable firmness in her words. After a moment of silence, he chose to offer one last piece of advice based on his own values.

"Liu Chen's uncle's child has no talent for cultivation. Among their blood relatives, only Liu Chen can cultivate, and it’s said to be A-grade talent."

"Liu Chen was originally surnamed Yang; he changed it to Liu because of this."

"Though he calls him nephew, that man basically treats Liu Chen like his own son."

Li Yunxian didn't care much about the "old one coming after the young one is beaten" routine. In the world of cultivation, she had experienced this far too often when she was weak. However, she was tired of calling him "Liu Chen's uncle" all the time...

"By the way, what is Liu Chen's uncle's name, Teacher?" Li Yunxian asked, puzzled. It was as if he were a taboo subject.

Hearing this question, which was completely beside the point, the teacher let out a long, helpless sigh.

"Liu Wu."

"His name is Liu Wu."