Evolution - Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Understanding Ji Changqing’s unspoken meaning, Gu Changge’s eyebrows drooped, his expression incredibly animated. He was clearly incredibly resilient; after moping for less than three seconds, he adopted a nonchalant air. “No way, you’re only level six! In this assessment, you should be a total newbie! You’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”
Ji Changqing didn’t really have an accurate grasp of her own strength. None of her classmates could beat her, but she couldn’t beat the instructors either. She had only heard from her instructors that with her level of ability, as long as she wasn’t exceptionally unlucky, getting into the Fourth Military University wouldn’t be a problem.
She asked curiously, “You’re level seven. How long can you last against a level eight? And how long do you think I can?”
“Me? I can probably last at least an hour.” Gu Changge weighed his usual performance in spars, then assessed Ji Changqing’s combat power, footwork, and that ridiculously insane stamina. “As for you, a draw at least? If your stamina is strong enough, you might even win?”
He scratched his head, his handsome face scrunching up. “Why don’t you tell me, if you had set off directly just now, how much longer could you have run?”
If a level-eight came after Ji Changqing and she just took off running instead of facing them head-on, she could probably exhaust them to death, right?
Ji Changqing scratched her face, troubled. “At this pace, I could probably run for another two or three hours?”
Aside from the long-distance cross-country runs during her two years of group training with the military, she had never run to the point of complete exhaustion.
Yes, back then, with the varying pace, obstacles, and instructors frequently popping up to interfere, she had run for nearly seven hours and had only passed after reaching the brink of exhaustion.
But after that, she intensified her physical training and practiced her Physique techniques more diligently. Now? Running for eight or nine hours should be no problem.
Gu Changge tilted his head back and sighed, utterly dejected. Why did he have to run into such a monster? A level-six Physique, and she could run for eight or nine hours straight using lightness techniques.
That was just unfairly lethal!
But then, the thought excited him again. This walking trap was his teammate! What did that mean? It meant they could work together to trap others!
“Hehe, hey, you’re only level six but can handle a level eight. We’ve got this in the bag!”
The two of them chattered away, letting out sly giggles from time to time.
The underhanded approach was a hallmark of military academies, after all. Ji Changqing had a flash of insight and immediately knew what direction to take.
“You rest a little longer. I’ll be right back.” Ji Changqing scrambled up excitedly. Whether it was from searching for point items earlier or from her time acting as a woodcutter, she had spotted some herbs that could be used for a sneaky little trick.
In Ji Changqing’s eyes, soldiers had always been synonymous with integrity, righteousness, and justice. Even though the methods and content of the assessment were completely shameless, she still felt a little conflicted—for the military academy entrance exam, should she try to appear more noble and upright?
But now, after listening to Gu Changge ramble on, recounting how past entrance exams and even the cadets’ own competitions were a symphony of shamelessness and dirty tricks, where setting traps and screwing people over were the main event…
In that case, she wouldn’t hold back!
Gu Changge watched as she ran off, returning shortly with an armful of wild herbs. She expertly dried them over the fire, ground them into powder, measured them out pinch by pinch, and then mixed them with other powders.
“What’s that for?” He could follow the simple, almost crude, process of making the powder, but he had no idea what the final mixture was for.
Ji Changqing tore off a piece of parachute cloth. “Here, cut this into small squares about this big.” She held up her hand, indicating a size about half a palm.
With a few quick slashes, Gu Changge was done.
Ji Changqing wrapped the powder into several small packets. She tucked three or four on her person and handed the remaining two to Gu Changge. “Keep these safe. When mixed with water, it becomes a beast lure. It’s not very potent, though—it can probably attract some creatures below rank six.”
Gu Changge’s mouth formed an “O.” “You know pharmacology too?”
What kind of divine skill was this? Was there anything she couldn’t do?
Ji Changqing gave him a strange look. “Only a few simple kinds. Isn’t this basic wilderness survival?”
Gu Changge shook his head numbly. No, it wasn’t. The Alliance’s requirements for wilderness survival weren’t that strict. You could buy most potions ready-made, so there was no need to learn how to make them yourself.
Especially pharmacology—that was a profoundly complex field of study!
It wasn’t something you could do by just casually drying, grinding, and mixing approximate doses together, like she had.
Ji Changqing didn’t explain further. She had a subtle feeling that it was best not to tell anyone about the things she had encountered and learned in the game instances. She nudged Gu Changge with her foot. “Let’s go, or we’ll really be late.”
Gu Changge didn’t dwell on it. What was the point of overthinking? Every time the Alliance discovered a new civilized planet, a few geniuses were bound to emerge during its evolution.
It was perfectly normal. All he had to do was ride her coattails during the assessment and let her carry him to victory!
Sure enough, that thought cheered him up considerably. His steps felt lighter as he raced after Ji Changqing.
“Are you applying for the combat division?” Gu Changge wasn’t used to running silently like this. He knew he should keep his mouth shut, if only to conserve a little stamina, but he just couldn’t help himself. He felt an irresistible urge to chat.
“Mhm.” Ji Changqing took the lead, clearing the path. All Gu Changge had to do was follow her footsteps, which made things much easier. “What’s your major?”
“Starship Command.” Even just following in Ji Changqing’s footsteps, Gu Changge gradually began to struggle. He tried to save face, adding, “So a level-seven Physique is already really impressive for my major!”
“It’s not like we train just for our majors,” Ji Changqing replied casually. “Major General Xie’er even suggested I minor in Starship Command. I thought the requirements were really high.”
“The requirements are high, just not for Physique,” Gu Changge replied, then it suddenly hit him. “Major General Xie’er?! Holy crap, you actually know her? She gave you advice on your major?!”
He practically shouted the last sentence, his excitement palpable.
“She’s stationed on Blue Star. Is that a problem?”
“I know Major General Xie’er discovered Blue Star and is stationed there, but you actually know her?!” Gu Changge was so excited he no longer felt tired, looking every bit the fanboy. “Don’t you know she graduated from the Starship Command program? Man, she was so awesome back then! She’s the reason I wanted to major in Starship Command.”
“I thought you didn’t want to go to a military academy at all?”
“That’s not it!” He was willing to go to a military academy; he just hated the feeling of being pushed until he could barely breathe.
He just wanted to get mediocre grades, get promoted through the ranks step-by-step, and end up as some mid-level officer in a position that wasn’t too critical.
But his family wouldn’t allow him to be mediocre.
“You have no idea how incredible Major General Xie’er is! She got into the military academy at twenty-three, graduated at thirty, and made Major General in less than forty years!”
Ji Changqing stumbled, nearly losing her footing. “Major General Xie’er is seventy?!”
Gu Changge shot her a reproachful look. To think she knew nothing!
“Yep, seventy-five. She was promoted six years ago.” He grew more animated as he spoke. “You don’t know this, but back in the day, she got into the Fourth Military with the highest overall score. Hahaha, and for her seven years there, she was always number one. It drove some people absolutely mad!”
“Was the person in her class who was driven mad a relative of yours?” Ji Changqing asked quietly.
“Yeah, how did you know?!”
“If it weren’t a relative you have such a love-hate relationship with, you wouldn’t be gloating this much.”
Gu Changge snorted. “My older cousin. I heard he was a prodigy his whole life, you know, the kind of ‘perfect child from next door’ who always came in first. They say that to secure his spot as chief student and keep his number-one streak, he even deliberately waited an extra year to avoid a rival he found troublesome, only taking the exam after he’d reached level eight in Physique.”
And then Major General Xie’er appeared out of nowhere. From the written exams onward, she consistently kept him pinned down in second place.
Right up until graduation and entering the military, his cousin was never able to shake the title of “Eternally Second.”
Perhaps the only silver lining was that under the pressure from Major General Xie’er, his cousin had long since left the rival he’d once dodged far behind.
Unfortunately, his cousin was never willing to acknowledge that he owed Major General Xie’er for it.
And so, their rivalry, both open and secret, continued from the academy into the military. In the end, it was still Xie’er who was promoted to Major General first, becoming a high-ranking officer.
By the looks of it, she’ll be promoted to general before his cousin, too!
You can’t imagine how sick his arrogant cousin, who always looked down his nose at everyone, must have felt.
As Gu Changge rambled on, sharing his cousin’s tragic history with Ji Changqing, the two of them arrived at the seventh checkpoint.
Seeing Gu Changge’s energetic state, a complete turnaround from his earlier listlessness, Ji Changqing didn’t know whether to marvel at the “power of an idol” or lament the “infinite power of gossip.”
Countless shimmering points of light beckoned to them, a delightful sight.
The two didn’t foolishly dive headfirst into the sea of points. They first found a high vantage point to survey the area. In the distance, they could faintly make out the disturbance of birds constantly taking flight.
“They’ll probably be here in less than an hour. Let’s forget the points ahead and head down?” Gu Changge was ever the pragmatist, proposing a strategy of laying low.
“Let’s go.” Ji Changqing had no objection. Judging by the commotion, the other party likely had three to five people, and a team of seeded candidates at that. A head-on confrontation here didn’t serve their interests.
Unfortunately, while the two of them wanted to quietly get rich and avoid a fight…
…the other party had different ideas.
Like a pair of treasure hunters, they frantically searched for point items in the opposite direction, going to any lengths to secure them. Just as they painstakingly retrieved a few high-value items from a crooked tree growing out of a cliff face, they noticed the other team wasn’t focused on gathering points. Instead, three of them were heading aggressively in their direction.
Gu Changge was furious, cursing his luck. “Are they using their numbers to clear the field early?”
“I’m afraid they consider all the points at this checkpoint to be theirs for the taking.” Ji Changqing was more philosophical about it. “Isn’t that the point of teaming up? To use superior numbers to bully smaller groups and leverage your level advantage to gain an even bigger one?”
“Never mind them. Let’s head that way.”
Since the others were focused on rushing over to cut them off, their speed was naturally faster than that of our duo, who were stopping to collect items.
Only an hour and a half passed between their arrival and the moment the other group caught up.
Ji Changqing looked regretfully at the many points of light still flashing on her wristband. It would have been so much nicer if everyone could have just gotten along and collected their own points.
Why did they have to be so ruthless?
How vexing.
She calmly began to sprinkle the powder, poured a little water over it, and mixed it evenly with a stick.
Gu Changge watched in terror as she found places to sprinkle the powder. “Do you have any beast repellent on you or something?”
Having only a beast lure was terrifying. Was she planning on trapping them along with the others?
“Nope,” Ji Changqing answered bluntly. She offered Gu Changge some half-hearted reassurance. “Don’t worry. You said they’re a team of seeded candidates, right? Let’s see if they’re willing to go down with us.”
After sprinkling the powder, Ji Changqing carefully cleaned herself off and waved to Gu Changge. “Fifteen minutes at the earliest, half an hour at the latest, and some cute little beasts will definitely come to your rescue. You stay here and trade barbs with them. It’s a good chance to rest and conserve your strength. I’m off to get more points!”
Ji Changqing mimed throwing a lasso. “Stay calm, act confident. As long as you can keep them talking, or keep fighting for over half an hour, we’ll win. I’ll definitely come back and pull you out of there!”
Gu Changge gave her a reassuring gesture. It was only half an hour. He could hold out!
The thought of trapping those annoying bastards filled him with motivation!
It was a pity he knew nothing of Blue Star’s culture. Otherwise, he might have hummed a line from “The Mighty, Majestic Man with the Lasso” to bolster his courage.
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