Chapter 15 Graduation Hopeless

In the year 3210 of the Liang Calendar, June 19th, the practical combat assessment for the graduates of Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy in Wuyue City officially began.

Unlike Wuyue Advanced Middle School, Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy is a private institution that specializes in the professional training of sword cultivators and is considered a second-class academy.

In terms of the value of its diplomas, Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy is roughly equivalent to the lowest-ranked higher education institutions in the Liang Kingdom.

It only serves to prove that its students have attended the school.

However, the tuition fees of Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy are not small, and the students who study here rarely need to rely on a diploma to find a job.

On the school's sports ground, the academy's graduates stood together in groups of three.

They were not numerous, totaling roughly two to three hundred individuals.

In front of them, the teachers floated alone, without relying on any external objects.

The ability to fly is an important indicator of a cultivator's cultivation level. Those in the Qi Cultivation Stage can only fly with the help of magical treasures, while those in the Foundation Establishment Stage can fly briefly. By the Core Formation Stage, one can turn the sky into the ground, freely traversing it.

Therefore, the teachers standing in front of the students all have at least a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation level.

And standing in front of all the teachers was the dean of Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy, as well as the strongest publicly acknowledged combatant in the entire academy—Lei Buxiao, a Core Formation Stage great cultivator whose reputation was renowned throughout the academy.

Without any amplification device, Lei Buxiao's voice, bolstered by his cultivation, naturally thundered like a rolling thunderstorm.

"Thank you, teachers. Today, the students have all gathered here on the beautiful campus of the Sword Cultivation Academy. In the blazing June, flowers bloom in competition. In this lovely season, I, Lei Buxiao—the dean of Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy, will say a few words..."

While the principal was speaking above, the students whispered among themselves below.

Huang Wutong stood with two pretty female cultivators. One tall one was called Shen Yueru, and the other, slightly shorter one, was called Huang Qingqing.

Huang Qingqing was a distant relative of Huang Wutong. Thanks to their family connection, Huang Wutong, who was clearly only a drag on the team, was able to form a group with them and participate in the practical assessment.

"Huang Wutong, are you up to this or not?"

Huang Qingqing demanded, hands on her hips, questioning Huang Wutong.

"I..."

Huang Wutong stuttered, unable to articulate his response.

Shen Yueru stepped in to mediate, "Qingqing, don't be anxious. He'll definitely be fine. Let's review our respective roles again."

To increase its graduation rate, Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy always released the practical assessment tasks in advance every year, advocating open-book examinations.

As long as students practiced targeted exercises in advance, there was a high probability that they would pass the final exam.

Even so, there were still those who failed every year.

There was nothing to be done about that—they could only retake the course and the exam.

For Huang Wutong, without the strong support of Huang Qingqing and Shen Yueru, even if he were to retake the exam a hundred times, he would still fail.

Therefore, this year was his only chance to graduate!

He had to pass the exam this time and then go home to enjoy a life of privilege.

"During the test, there will be a teacher at the Foundation Establishment Stage who will suppress his cultivation to the ninth level of Qi Cultivation and wear a second-tier magical treasure, the 'Golden Iron Robe,' simulating a Body Cultivation Cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation. Body cultivation cultivators have incredibly strong physical bodies, and even when facing peers with swords and blades, they can remain uninjured."

"I'm at the sixth level of Qi Cultivation; Qingqing is at the fifth level, Huang Wutong, you are at the second level. The three of us stand no chance against a Body Cultivation Cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation. But it doesn't matter, our standard for passing the practical assessment is to survive for half an hour under the teacher's hand."

"The examination site will be within a battlefield constructed by the school. The site is random, and as long as we don't draw the worst grassland battlefield, we have a great chance of winning. If it's the most complex rainforest battlefield, then Huang Wutong, you just need to hide from beginning to end and avoid being discovered by the teacher."

"If it's the grassland battlefield..."

Shen Yueru paused for a moment, then said, "Then we must confront the teacher head-on. According to previous tests, Qingqing and I can last about twenty-seven or twenty-eight minutes under the teacher's hand. For the final minute or two, it will all depend on you."

Huang Wutong pinched the two "Muscle Relaxation Talismans" in his pocket.

He took a deep breath, "No problem, leave the last minute to me."

Shen Yueru nodded with satisfaction, "During the exam, you are only allowed to bring one first-tier Magical Treasure, two first-tier Talismans, and three first-tier Elixirs. Everyone, pay attention, if you bring more, you will be directly disqualified."

The rule allowed only two Talismans, and fearing that Jiang Cheng might sabotage him and the paralysis time wouldn't be sufficient, Huang Wutong brought two Muscle Relaxation Talismans just to be safe. As for the Special Effect Purification Talisman that could undo the Muscle Relaxation Talisman, he considered it a useless freebie and left it at home.

Since the examination required groups of three,

it wasn't possible for Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy's more than two hundred candidates to finish in one day.

According to the draw order from before, Huang Wutong and his group were scheduled to have their exam during the last slot of the first morning.

The location of the exam was to be drawn randomly ten minutes before it began.

...

In the waiting hall before the examination rooms, a giant fluorescent screen was broadcasting the content from the examination rooms live.

To ensure fairness and justice, Tianheng Sword Cultivation Academy's examinations used video recording equipment to preserve the footage of the exams, which was available for the Imperial College to review at any time.

Broadcasting the content of the examination to the candidates through a large screen served two purposes: firstly, to ensure fairness, and secondly, the live broadcast was a built-in function of the recording equipment, so there was no reason not to use it.

At this moment, the large screen was divided into five sections, each broadcasting several examination sites, with the candidates who had drawn the grassland terrain undoubtedly facing the toughest conditions.

In this terrain, candidates had to rely solely on their brute strength to win, with no room for clever tricks.

Half an hour passed, and the five examinations ended simultaneously.

The screen first displayed the scores given by the invigilators in the five examination rooms, and then it showed the names of the candidates for the next round of exams.

Once displayed, the students' scores were entered into the academy's real-time ranking system.

Those who ranked high would be bestowed with the title of "Outstanding Graduates."

Only after the rankings were displayed would the examination room draw for the next round of candidate teams begin.

This was undoubtedly the most nerve-wracking moment.

Whether some people could pass the exam depended entirely on which examination room they drew.

The selection of the examination room began on time.

On the screen designated for the grassland terrain, Huang Wutong's name appeared prominently!

"It's over, we've got the grassland terrain."

Huang Wutong felt utterly disheartened.

Huang Qingqing was so angry she kicked Huang Wutong.

"Over what? Stop talking such nonsense! Focus on fighting well when it's our turn!"

The teachers participating in the examinations would also rotate to ensure that their strength wasn't depleted during the exams, which might otherwise force them to show leniency.

Therefore, the teachers for each examination were random.

As he walked towards the examination room, Huang Wutong silently prayed.

He hoped to get a kind female teacher or a benevolent male teacher—anything but their bald department head!

That bald man would kick a passing dog twice and shake a wild bird egg until the yolk mixed. He looked the most like a teacher among the Cultivators of the Demonic Tao and the most like a Demonic Cultivator among the teachers.