ASER - Chapter 43
Chapter 43: Restroom
"Speaking of individual cases, when did the Tian Zhongye siblings rush up? They must be using cheats."
"I'm only impressed by three people: A'Diao and those two siblings. Oh, and also that Zhao Lingyun. He was ranked somewhere in the forties yesterday, and over two hundred during today's aptitude test, yet he fought his way to fifth. That's also amazing."
Actually, Bai He was much more outstanding than Zhao Lingyun, but Bai He was at the forefront from the beginning. It wasn't as thrilling as A'Diao and Zhao Lingyun's comebacks from behind.
The crowd was in a heated discussion, but the most talked-about person was undoubtedly A'Diao, because going from 470th to 9th in the last hour was simply inhuman.
However, they were all outside and didn't know the actual situation of the exam. They could only judge by the rankings, so they quickly shifted their attention to Song Ling and the others.
Among the top ten, there were gaps between the first and second, the second and third, the third and those below... In fact, there were disparities all around.
The truly terrifying ones were still the top three.
Whether it was Song Ling who maintained her advantage, Cheng Zhang who made a comeback and surpassed Cui Yun and Song Ling, or Bai He, the fighter from a humble background, none of them could be underestimated.
"But looking at it now, there are actually several from humble backgrounds in the top ten."
"Let me see, it seems to be true."
"Tch, you're too naive. Do you really think some of them are from humble backgrounds? I dare say several of them were recruited by prominent families long ago, or they have some convoluted connections with them."
Because some people who stood near the old servant and Lao Wang and occasionally overheard their conversation sneered at this. They believed that A'Diao must have mastered an extremely powerful secret technique for Spiritual Energy absorption.
In the woods.
The Spiritual Energy absorption had ended, but the aptitude test wasn't over yet.
They began testing the retention capacity. This was very simple; they just needed to walk down nine steps.
So A'Diao cautiously asked, "Do we need to take off our shoes?"
At this moment, Zhou Jiang was in a very good mood. It was noon, he was hungry, and he was munching on a fragrant, hot meat bun. He was quite amiable towards A'Diao, who was no longer the same as before, and said with a smile, "Of course not, little girl."
The words 'little girl' were uttered with such deep, almost booming gentleness, it was as if his entire chest cavity resonated. He sounded incredibly tender.
Damn, is he really this pragmatic?
A'Diao glanced at his meat bun. "Then I'd better take them off. After all, Teacher, you're eating, and I happen to have smelly feet."
That "happen to" was used quite cleverly.
Zhou Jiang: "..."
This girl was something else. When her scores were bad, she was timid and submissive. Once her scores shot up, she immediately struck back hard to avenge the crab roe fried bun incident.
From Zhou Jiang +999!
There was also mental energy sent from a group of other examinees and teachers.
Varying amounts, tens at a time.
Every little bit adds up. Plus the steady 999 from Cui Yun, she easily harvested tens of thousands.
Once her ranking went up, these people even became much more generous in sending her mental energy.
Toilet: Your technique for fleecing others is truly 'to gaze a thousand li, one must ascend another story' – always reaching new heights.
In the end, A'Diao didn't take off her shoes, mainly because she didn't have smelly feet. If she did, that would have been great. The moment she took off her shoes, wow, another tens of thousands of mental energy, how delightful!
In order to harvest mental energy, A'Diao had already thrown all moral integrity out the window, her mind full of mischievous ideas.
So, everyone proceeded down the steps as usual.
Suddenly, Cui Yun walked over to A'Diao's side and said with a smile, "A'Diao, you've truly made me see you in a new light. Come visit my home often in the future. My Eldest Uncle and Official Chen have already made arrangements."
His voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard it.
This person had quite good mental fortitude, able to yield and adapt. He changed his strategy so quickly, still aiming to tie the Cui and Chen families together, while also irking the Song and Wang families. Perhaps now he felt that marrying her wouldn't be a loss.
A'Diao noticed Cui Yun glance towards Song Ling and Wang Shen.
Were these two from the Song and Wang families?
They didn't look like it; their clothes were very plain.
Could they be from collateral branches?
A'Diao remained composed and said to Cui Yun with a concerned tone, "Is that so? I thought Young Master Cui would be very upset. After all, you were originally first, and now you're sixth. If I were you, I'd be too upset to eat, let alone chat and laugh with the daughter of a political rival's family."
The people nearby stifled their laughter upon hearing this. How savage! Was this A'Diao doing it on purpose?
But was she really a child born into an official-ranked family? One couldn't tell.
Some people who had felt uncomfortable being surpassed by a village girl from a humble background felt slightly comforted—that's right, A'Diao must have received preferential resources from her family, just like Cui Yun and the others. That's why she's stronger than us. In reality, she's probably not as good as Bai He or Zhao Lingyun.
However, the way she spoke to Cui Yun looked so sincere, gentle, and considerate, her eyes full of concern.
From Cui Yun +999!
Cui Yun was thoroughly disgusted. He gave a dry laugh and walked down the steps. When he landed, he finally stabilized his composure and gave A'Diao a greasy, insincere smirk. "It's alright. There are always mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people. As long as little sister A'Diao achieves a good ranking, I'll be happier than anyone. After all, we might become family in the future."
Song Ling and Wang Shen indeed glanced over.
Damn, this bastard, so despicable.
A'Diao: "Is that so? If I surpass you, will you also be happy?"
Cui Yun: "?"
He turned his head to look. It turned out that all 500 people had finished walking the 9 steps by now. Perhaps testing the retention capacity was very simple, or this Spiritual Energy gathering array was very advanced, uploading their data in an instant for the system to calculate uniformly.
In the time it took them to land and exchange a few words, the refreshed aptitude rankings were out.
It was unknown what happened beyond the top ten, but within the top ten, the sixth place was replaced. Cui Yun dropped to 7th, and Xu Luo and Zhao Lingyun both moved back one spot.
They had dodged the Spiritual Energy absorption, but they couldn't dodge the retention test.
In the end, at the conclusion of the aptitude test segment, they were all taken down by A'Diao.
The others also exclaimed in admiration.
The faces of these three looked as if they had come out of a dye vat, extremely unsightly. It even made Lin Yunmo, who was tenth, unsure whether to share their sorrow or joy.
But the notification A'Diao received indicated that more than just three or four people had generated strong resentment.
From Cui Yun +1200!
From Xu Luo +666!
From Zhao Lingyun +777!
From Lin Yunmo +33!
From...
It was estimated that many others behind were also very displeased with her rise.
Indeed, a village girl rising through the ranks was most effective at stirring up these people's feelings of unwillingness and jealousy. If she had appeared noble, aloof, and formidable from the start, these people wouldn't have had such strong emotional fluctuations.
A'Diao looked at the rankings and secretly lamented: Sixth place, huh? I'm qualified to be a bit more arrogant. Why don't I have smelly feet? What a pity.
The morning exam was over. Jinling Academy could still afford to provide lunch for 500 people, so the teachers led the already famished examinees over.
Actually, by this time, some small groups could already be seen among the 500 people. After all, it was becoming clear who could enter Jinling Academy. Those who ranked within the top 200 in both yesterday's and this morning's exams generally had high hopes.
As the current five biggest dark horses, A'Diao, Bai He, the Tian siblings, and even Zhao Lingyun received attempts at recruitment from others, including Cui Yun. He quickly adjusted his mentality and showed goodwill to these people (except for A'Diao).
But... the Tian siblings had long since sided with A'Diao.
However, when the 500 examinees walked into Jinling Academy's spacious, bright, and extremely high-class cafeteria, before they even had time to marvel and fantasize about becoming one of its members in the future, they sensed something was amiss.
The cafeteria was silent. There were quite a few students eating, and the way they looked at them... how to put it? Scrutinizing, critical, unfriendly, with only a few welcoming glances.
Most examinees felt very displeased, but also somewhat intimidated, because some of these people looked very tough to mess with, appearing formidable.
Even the examinees who were already students of Jinling Academy didn't feel very at ease.
Only a very few felt at ease, such as those in the top twenty of the aptitude test—they were confident—or those who were carefree and thick-skinned, like the trio who had already rushed to the window, queuing up and frantically ordering food.
The three gluttons who had made a comeback and achieved excellent scores were truly arrogant, ordering a huge pile of food. Their momentum was so great it was as if they were going to buy out the cafeteria.
Foodie people, foodie souls, they couldn't care less what kind of looks these Jinling Academy people gave them.
Cui Yun, walking behind with a sullen face, moved aside into the shade under a tree when his communicator rang, and answered Cui Yong's call.
The latter's voice was very deep, but this former local tyrant of Jinling was also somewhat surprised by A'Diao's results.
"I watched the real-time video of her score rankings. There were huge fluctuations, especially in the later stages. What did she do?"
Before, it was definitely impossible to see; they all had their eyes closed. But later...
Cui Yun: "Eldest Uncle, I suspect she has mastered a secret Spiritual Energy absorption technique stronger than those of our Cui family and the Song family. But it's undeniable that her aptitude is indeed much higher than we imagined."
His words were fairly pertinent, but also biased. "But this secret technique might be quite difficult, and she struggled to master it at first."
Cui Yong: "The Chen family doesn't have such a foundation."
Cui Yun: "Eldest Uncle, could it be that the old Daoist priest taught her? I heard Big Brother Cui Liang say before that during the initial era, some powerful experts left behind many cultivation secret manuals. And the Daoist sects happen to be the most powerful faction. If that old Daoist priest inherited some secret manuals and taught them to A'Diao..."
"I will investigate. You try to win her over."
Cui Yun wanted to say that he really couldn't win her over, that woman was toxic. But when he thought about how Cui Liang, the true heir of the Cui family, effortlessly made the noble ladies from the powerful clans in Kyoto fall for him, he remained silent.
After hanging up, Cui Yong's expression was somewhat profound. In fact, a man of his experience knew that Cui Yun was just unwilling to admit that A'Diao's innate aptitude was better than his, so his suspicions leaned towards external help benefiting her. However, such a guess wasn't entirely impossible.
That old Daoist priest... perhaps he really was someone formidable.
Cui Yong naturally arranged for people to investigate. However, he didn't know that at this very moment, the old Daoist priest was holed up in a Malatang shop next to a restroom in some remote village, eating Malatang. While eating, he furtively scanned his surroundings, as if afraid some suspicious person would approach him to collect a debt.
But just as he finished eating... a hand suddenly reached out from behind and dragged him into an alley.
A hand reached out from behind A'Diao and placed a plate of steaming hot Guobaorou down.
It turned out to be Tian Zhongye. He had a large appetite and, fearing the three of them wouldn't have enough to eat, went to order two more plates.
"Fortunately, it's cheaper than I imagined." Tian Zhongxiang said while eating Guobaorou. Her family knew that the cost of living in Jinling was high and worried that the food expenses at the academy would also be very expensive. Now it seemed they could rest assured.
A'Diao: "The real expenses are on other things."
That's true. Tian Zhongxiang frowned but didn't think too much about it. Anyway, the priority was to get admitted first.
"By the way, what do you think about this afternoon's exam?"
The situation was more or less clear now. Tian Zhongxiang felt they could still get into the academy; it all depended on the afternoon's talent test.
A'Diao showed them her phone screen.
"This round should be the easiest. Generally, as long as one isn't completely devoid of talent, they can basically pass. It just depends on the strength and category of the talent. Combat-types are definitely the most sought after, but a few support types or those specially needed by the imperial court will also be highly valued. The worst thing is to have a very useless talent."
A'Diao was also sharp. She had no intention of making enemies with all the examinees and knew to cultivate some good connections. For example, the Tian siblings were reliable, had strong moral character, impressive talent, and weren't scheming, but they weren't foolish enough to be detrimental teammates (at least Tian Zhongxiang was very smart).
Tian Zhongxiang carefully read the post on it, read out the text, and almost died laughing. "As long as the person opposite is lying, one will fart as a warning..."
"There's another one: if you stare at someone for over an hour, they will become pregnant with 100% certainty. And as one's own cultivation level increases, the gestation period will even shorten. Uh, this talent is too..." Tian Zhongxiang was speechless.
A'Diao, however, was full of praise for this. "As long as you don't mind the child's DNA manufacturer not matching, it's actually an absolute time-saving and labor-saving boon for many infertile men. If I were that person, I'd open a company specializing in serving those in need. It would definitely grow big within three months, become strong within half a year, and go public with financing in nine months... Why do you all have that expression? I'm not talking about you."
The male examinees at this table: "..."
Another wave of mental energy was harvested. A'Diao's appetite improved even more. After finishing her meal and checking the time, she went to the restroom.
As expected of Jinling Academy, even the restrooms were so high-class.
Each stall was very spacious, and inside, there was also a partitioned-off simple and clean bathing area.
A public restroom was actually a collection of dozens of individual washrooms. Truly wealthy and extravagant.
A'Diao mused, entered a stall, closed the door, and was just about to use the toilet when...
Toilet: Attention, a low-level conquerable target is approaching.
Oh my, is Jinling Academy short of conquerable targets now? Several mid-level ones have already appeared, so what's the big deal about a low-level one?
But ever since Toilet leveled up to Tier 2, A'Diao could already direct Toilet to selectively report information about conquerable targets. If they weren't mid-level or above, it would only report those approaching her within a certain range.
A low-level one, within a hundred-meter radius.
That's nothing. Can't people use the restroom too?
A'Diao didn't pay much attention at the time because there was nothing suspicious about this information. It wasn't until she walked towards the toilet that her shadow on the wall behind her writhed, and a three-dimensional black figure abruptly emerged from the shadow. And this black figure... A'Diao saw from the smooth wall surface in front of her two pitch-black hands rapidly reaching around from behind her.
What is that!?
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