by <unknown>
“Under the guidance and tenacity of the unprecedented ‘Supreme Emperor’, humanity was able to excavate a great number of the vestigial remains of the Ancient Cultivator Civilization and was able to found twenty ‘Guilds of Provenance’ anew once more. A thousand years of blood-filled battle passed and the humans achieved prosperity. Mankind became the rulers of the endless sea of stars once more; Modern Cultivator Civilization had achieved a shining and thriving reprieve from annihilation!”
“Ten thousand years have passed since the end of the ‘The Great Dark Age’. And an entire forty thousand years have past since the collapse of the Ancient Cultivator Civilization. The present is currently the best age of cultivation history; it's the year forty thousand of the Cultivation Era of endless glamour!”
While Li Yao was pondering over the final passage, a countdown had appeared in the sky, representing that the examination was coming to a close, leaving him no choice but to abandon his thoughts on continuing to expound on the “Supreme Emperor's” life. He spoke a few factual sentences without much thought, ending the passage in a rush.
In nearly the instant the final word emerged in his mind, the entire world collapsed with a loud bang and shattered into butterfly-like fragments. Li Yao was ejected by a tremendous force, his vision blossomed, and his consciousness returned back to the classroom.
Chapter 7: Second's School Goddess |
“BZZZZ...”
The out-dated examination chamber opened slowly, allowing Li Yao to take a step outside. He shook his head trying to clear a faint headache, a side effect from overtaxing the mind after staying too long in the Great Illusionary Land.
“Damnit! My head hurts like hell! The only students that are still using these kinds of garbage devices are those of us in the ‘Mish-mash class’. All the students of the Important Class and the Ascending Class had their spirit exam chambers swapped to the newest generation. There wouldn’t be any side effects for them no matter how taxing it was!” Meng Jiang was at his side complaining loudly, rubbing his eyes soon after. “Little Devil, this time, the difficulty of the exam simulation was really high. I probably failed again. When I get back, I’ll definitely eat some stir-fried bamboo shoots. How did you do?”
“So so I suppose.” Li Yao rubbed his nose. This time, the examination’s difficulty was indeed a bit high. Although in comparison his fundamentals were more solid and his mentality was sufficiently calm, he felt that he had been drawn to his utmost limit.
“Come on, let’s see!” Meng Jiang moved to the examination chamber’s side and began to extract a device. Every examination chamber had high-speed crystal processing units installed, allowing for test scores to be instantly calculated. The test scores were released the instant the examination ended.
“Wow! 525 points! What a high score! Thats enough to get admitted to the main universities. And yet, you said you did so-so? To be excessively modest is really just being arrogant. Go die Little Devil!” Meng Jiang cried out in surprise.
Li Yao swept a glance at the hologram. He actual letting out a dark sigh within his heart. Indeed, a score of 525 points wasn’t technically low. It was barely enough to meet the minimum passing score for a few of the well-known, main universities within the Union. However, the following numerical value was red, causing his eyes to feel somewhat prickled.
“Spiritual Actualization Quotient, 35%.”
The Spirit Root. A “pineal gland” located on the front medial part of the brain of those of the human race. It was a mysterious organ. It was a mystery because from the perspective of anatomy, this organ fundamentally does not exist; not a single genuinely true specimen of the spirit root has been found in the hundreds of thousands of years up to now.
However, this organ genuinely exists in the world of cultivation. Moreover, this organ is of most importance for cultivators. It is the link between mankind and the essence energy of heaven and earth. It is the key to the Essence Energy of the Universe!
Only when one’s Spirit Actualization Quotient reached 100% can one’s “Spirit Root Awakening” occur. Only then could one step onto the road of cultivation!
When an ordinary university decides on their admissions, they don’t look at the value of an applicant’s Spirit Actualization Quotient. It didn’t matter even if the value was just 1% since an ordinary university only fostered ordinary people.
But when it came to the admission process of the “Nine Elite Universities”, who specialized in fostering cultivators, they would take the examination score and multiply it with the Spirit Actualization Quotient to produce a final score. Naturally, the higher one’s Spirit Actualization Quotient was, the more of an advantage one had.
Li Yao’s Spirit Actualization Quotient was pitifully low. After multiplying 500 or so points with 35%, only a mere 200 points remained.
As for the arrogant Important Class of the heavens, it was common to have a Spirit Actualization Quotient exceeding 60%. In other words, others only needed to score 300 or so points to be able to effortlessly crush Li Yao.
Even worse was that the when one’s Spirit Actualization Quotient became higher, their thinking process became quicker, their five sense became sharper, and the degree of control over their body became greater. How could the scores of those from the Important Class not be different from them of the mish-mashed Common Class.
It wasn’t that Li Yao never thought of putting in painstaking work to increase his Spirit Base Opening Degree. Its that this matter was different than studying. Facts from books can be learned from rote memorization. Physically ability and martial skills can be exercised and cultivated crazily. Yet, one’s spirit base opening degree genuinely needed one to rely on heaps of natural resources to improve.
Take the arrogant heaven’s chosen one’s of the Important Class as an example. Everyday, they consumed all sorts of heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and strengthening concoctions. They purchased special “Actualization Quotient Trainers” for home use or they went to “Underground Cultivation Shops” for special training. The amount of money they spend on opening their spirit bases each month varied from being less than several tens of thousands to being over dozens of billions. Only by demolishing mountains of gold and silver could they increase their Actualization Quotient by a single percent.
As for Li Yao, he scavenged scraps from the Artifact Graveyard. The most he made was 10,000 a month. After paying rent, living expenses, and tuition fees, all that was left was chicken feed, not even enough to fill his stomach. How would he have the money to increase his Actualization Quotient?
To summarize in a sentence--- He was poor as f*ck!
Right while his heart was bogged with worries, he heard Meng Jian howl like a pig being slaughtered, “Damn! Two people got 691 points! Its Si Jiaxue and Helian Lie, those two bastards. These two are tied for first place again in the exam simulation this time!”
This time, all the third-years took the exam simulation simultaneously. In the front of the classroom was a hologram projector. The names and information of the top 10 students of the entire school came into view at lightning speeds.
Those tied for first were a beautiful girl who was as cold and pure as snow and a tall teen with an intimidating gaze and a flourishing heroic appearance.
Their scores did not really shock Li Yao. But the Spirit Actualization Quotient that followed caused flames of jealousy to erupt within his eyes.
Si Jiaxue, Actualization Quotient 71%; Helian Lie, Actualization Quotient 72%!
Meng Jian was still clamoring, “Tsk Tsk Tsk, They are truly worthy of being Crimson Nimbus Second’s stars. The school beauty and the school Adonis. The elites of the top dozen elites of the Important Class! Come take a look at these two bastards. Not only is the dude handsome and the chick beautiful, but they also come from rich and powerful families. Rumor has it that several cultivators have emerged in their family line. Their grades are good and their Actualization Quotient are also high. They are our school’s secret weapons fo
r attacking the entrance exams! Everyone says that it should be a cinch for them to test into the Nine Elite Universities. The school specifically asked Fiend Blade Peng Hai to give them special training. This also has another meaning. The school hopes that they would be able to break into the top scores of Floating Spear City’s university entrance exams. At least breaking into the top 10 in the city!”
Speaking and speaking, Meng Jian let out an exaggerated sigh, “Alas, goods will eventually be thrown away, people will eventually die. Everyone here are equals as high school students. Everyone’s all hanging out in this school, but once we get through the university examinations, I am afraid that they shall fly, soar away, and enter the circle of cultivators, crossing over to indulge in a life of luxury, living a declining life of degeneracy. As for poor kids like us, we could only become laborers for life, the salaried class. Thinking about this cools my heart!”
He had spoken for a long time, but he was not met with a reaction. Meng Jiang turned his head to look and was surprised to see Li Yao’s pair of eyes staring blankly, gazing at Si Jiaxue’s picture. The look in his eyes was serene and remote, leaving no clues as to what he was mulling. Meng Jiang promptly tapped the head of his best friend, “Hey kid, it can’t be that you fell for Si Jiaxue? I’ll remind you out of the kindness of my heart. This women is indeed untouchable for you and I. She and Helian Lie are childhood family friends. Rumor has that their two main families have the intention of joining by marriage. And also, Helian Lie has her as a must-have target. Don’t you even look at this tall insurmountable power, for he has the smallest tolerance. Never has he allowed anyone else to get close to Si Jiaxue. Last time, it was a fresh transfer student who didn’t know his limits. He let out a declaration that he would pursue Si Jiaxue. The result was that in ‘Martial Arts Class’, Helian Lie broke three of his bones. As for us mish-mash of students, Helian Lie only needs a single sneeze to cause us to cough blood from internal injuries.”
“Nonsense.”
Li Yao retracted his gaze and appeared to make a resolution. “Let's not mention Helian Lie for now. Lets just talk about this Si Jiaxue, who spends the entire day assuming the ice cold face of a dead person. Most likely, it's because she has a frigid personality. How can I like this type of girl?”
……
……
The school’s resources was biased for the most part towards the Important Class and Ascending Class. Their policy towards the Common Class was very relaxed. After taking the simulated exam, the students of the Common Class focused on each of their weaknesses and practiced special skills. The day went by quickly. At 4 in the afternoon, class was about to end.
“Wait a moment so that we can walk together. I found a pancake stall recently. The owner’s third uncle works part time as the Vulcan Sect’s burner. The owner was also taught the skill ‘Fire Cloud Palm’. The ‘Hand Engraved Crimson Flame Omelet’ he produces is of the utmost quality. Today, I’ll treat you to dinner. What do you say?” Meng Jian heroically pounded his chest a multitude of times.
“I can’t, I have something I need to do today.”
“Or, I’ll treat you tomorrow then!” his best friend replied without hesitation. Li Yao fled the classroom at lightning speeds.
For a moment, he looked to his left and to his right, acting like a thief. Circling around the campus, he moved half a giant circle’s distance. He passed through two chow halls and stopped in a forest grove at the back of the campus for a dozen or so minutes before turning back the way he came. He walked quietly on his tiptoes, sneaking towards the first floor of an old school building where there was a room filled with junk.
He closed the door softly and was met with the faint and indistinct fragrance of wild valley orchids.
A pair of cold eyes like a clear spring was glaring somewhat impatiently right at him from the darkness. Beneath those pupils were a nose that was tall and raised and thin lips that were pursed tight.
If Meng Jiang was here, he would absolutely let out his iconic pig-slaughtered howl, “Okay, you’re a dead little devil. You really actually hooked up with the Second’s School Goddess! You! Your thirst knows no bounds!”
Chapter 8: Repairing a Crystal Processor |
“You’re late by 55 minutes,” said the beauty coldy, like a frozen mountain.
“Sorry, this place was kind of hard to find. Did you bring the goods?” Li Yao criticized implicitly as he extended his dirty claw.
Si Jiaxue willow-like eyebrows wrinkled slightly as she judged Li Yao’s appearance. She felt that it appeared she had chosen the location without much thought. She hesitated for a short while but, nevertheless, fished out a crystal processing unit from her school bag.
“It’s this CPU. It’s super unstable after bootup. It crashes every time if you let it run over three minutes. I already went to dozens of repair shops and they all say that the architecture is way too archaic, that there’s a lot of components inside that are no longer produced, and that it's impossible to repair. I’ve heard you are a veteran crystal processor enthusiast and also a complete expert on repairing them. If you can fix this, name whatever price you want. Money is not a problem. Of course, if you can’t fix this... Please don’t break any of the countless components within.”
“Let’s discuss this after I take a look.”
Repairing crystal processors required a broad and profound set of skills. Li Yao did not dare to give a guarantee. He pulled out a pair of dust-repelling gloves and put them on. Only then did he solemnly take the CPU.
When the CPU was pressed into his hand, he felt fully the firmness of a true crystal processor classic. This was an antique CPU with at least over a hundred years of history. Half of the architecture was still mechanical in nature. There was a triangular button on the ball-shaped exterior.
When Li Yao lightly pressed the button, the crystal processing unit made a humming sound and lightly vibrated as it awakened. It seemed that its mechanical architecture was operating at lightning speed. A few seconds passed and suddenly, it flew out of Li Yao’s palm to float in midair. Two beams of light shot out from the two openings on its top and bottom, condensing together to form a giant hologram. It morphed 49 glistening, shining glyph characters into existence, which formed a elaborate virtual glyph keyboard.
“This is simply a work of art…” Li Yao’s eyes became filled with an incomparable tenderness.
He identified that this was the Heavenly Zither Sect’s Tube Type CPU, the Vast Tomb-7, developed over a hundred and forty years ago.
In the history of crystal processor development, the “Tube-Type CPU” was only in the arena for a mere dozen years before falling to the more advanced “Chip-Type CPU”. Moreover, the Heavenly Zither Sect was a small sect that only existed for 50 or so years. This small sect relied on the success of releasing generations of the “Vast Tomb” Crystal Processor architecture, but they never kept up with modern developments in technology. During the decade when Chip-Type CPUs were rampant, this sect decided to go all in. They poured all their resources into developing the Vast Tomb-7. Ultimately, their source of capital fractured and they had to declare bankruptcy.
Thus, the Vast Tomb-7 was known as the shining final glory of all Tube-Type Crystal Processors, setting its place as a masterpiece.
Li Yao’s pair of hands turned into a light breeze as they hopped around on the glowing, rippling glyph keyboard.
His typing speed wasn’t necessarily fast, but his movements were natural and flowing, rolling freely and easily. His appearance wasn’t that of tapping a keyboard but of strumming a priceless zither. Appearing on the hologram were rows and rows of glyph script instructions that followed his movements, dropping down like a torrential storm of rain. And the crystal processor followed as well through its interface by emitting an utterly weak beep that was incomprehensible to the ordinary person.
Li Yao leaned his ear closer, listening attentively. He had an expression of complete concentration. Each of his movements was incomp
arably precise.
After all, Tube-Type CPUs were artifacts created over a hundred years ago. Their architecture was simpler in comparison to the opposite mainstream Chip-Type Processor of the present. Two minutes later, Li Yao was able to make an initial verdict, “There should be something wrong with the heatsink, causing the internal temperatures of the crystal processor to become abnormally high during run-time. The functionalities of modern crystal processors are becoming more and more powerful, having to process greater amounts of telepathic data and information. As for the older type crystal processors of over a hundred years ago, the load becomes too heavy. It is the same as a 150 year old man who’ve had to bear over a thousand pounds of weight everyday, year in year out. It’s hard to avoid destroying the joints.”
“This crystal processor is a remnant left behind by a close relative of mine. To me, it’s an important memorial containing meaningful memories. As long as you can fix it, I am willing to pay any cost,” Si Jiaxue spoke seriously.
Li Yao thought and thought, and nodded his head, “A scraped heatsink is a common breakdown in crystal processors, technically it’s not a big issue. The reason why none of the repair shops you went to were unable to repair is primarily because this model number of crystal processors is way too rare. The technology utilized by this processor is also way too obsolete. The heat sink used inside has not been produced in the last hundred years, and modern heatsinks used in modern processors are fundamentally incompatible. Anyways, it doesn’t matter. I just happen to have some extremely precious antique heatsinks in my collection. All I need to do is give it a few tries, even if a few of them become scrapped, I should be able to mod one to fit as a heatsink for this processor.”
“No need to bullsh*t! Just name a price!” Si Jiaxue had read between the lines.
“Oh my. Isn’t it sad to be so urgent to discuss money matters between fellow students? Anyways, it’s not a big problem. Time is short, let me bring it home. I estimate all I need is one night to finish this. As for the dismantling fees, testing fees, repair fees, component costs, assembling, and installation fees, and adding my labor fees altogether… I’ll discount it down to 95% for you. I calculate it to be 98,500 credits. Do you want to pay in cash or do a transfer?”