ASER - Chapter 78
Chapter 78: Didn't Pass?
A'Diao was excited, her eyes filled with ecstasy. But she increasingly felt that Tuoba was that high-level conquerable target. However, Qu Jiangnan and Jiang Zhou were clearly even higher-level.
Jiang Zhou? That seemed to be the principal's name.
Probably no one expected A'Diao's audacious move. Even the principal couldn't help but laugh out loud, only looking at Qu Jiangnan with a hint of deeper meaning.
The latter was usually calm and composed, but at this moment, she couldn't help but facepalm, looking utterly speechless.
Tuoba was truly dealt a critical hit. After three seconds of silence, he suddenly opened his mouth and shouted in a loud voice, "Teacher Shi, where are you? I'm here to hand in the Golden Cicada."
The meaning was very clear: Little Sister A'Diao, let's not, let's not! The Red Cicada is yours, the Golden Cicada is mine! Teacher Shi, save me!!!
Damn!
A'Diao, who was just rejoicing that her mental power had reached 700,000, suddenly became displeased.
Although it was originally a calculated move to avoid fighting Tuoba, what did he mean by showing such disdain for her?
"Classmate Tuoba, if you won't fight me, then pay me back for the thirty jin of lobster."
In the spirit of "if I can't get the man, I'll at least get the money," A'Diao made her demand.
From Tuoba +8888!
Tuoba quickly darted down and ran towards Shi Dagang, shouting in rebuttal, "On what grounds? Teacher Qu, Song Ling, Jiang Yena, and the others ate too! Why should I be the one to pay you back!"
A'Diao: "They're good-looking. You're ugly."
From Qu Jiangnan +7777!
From Song Ling +6666!
From Jiang Yena +5555!
From Tuoba +9999!
Tuoba: "Who's ugly? Who's ugly?! Say that again!"
A'Diao: "You're ugly!"
Just a moment ago it was "brother," then it became "classmate," and now it's "you're ugly."
Classmate A'Diao was truly flying into a rage out of humiliation.
Watching the two newly emerged leaders of the third year lose all their dignity arguing over "thirty jin of lobster money" from a distance, Qu Jiangnan sent a message to Shi Dagang. The latter jumped out and roared, "You two, come over and hand in your Flying Cicadas! Stop embarrassing me!"
Damn it, this time, besides testing the seeds of the third-year cohort for the higher-ups, it was also to set an example for the first, second, and other third-year classes, to give them a direction for improvement.
But look at you two!
Sigh, they just wouldn't fight, just resorting to noob-level name-calling!
And completely revealing their stingy nature! How can they be the face of Jinling Academy like this?!
When handing in the Flying Cicadas, A'Diao saw Tuoba was still very displeased. He grumbled and muttered, afraid she would demand the lobster money and "marry him if she couldn't beat him." After receiving his points, he made an excuse to take Zhou Xiuhe and Ming Zeye to the infirmary... retreating faster than anyone.
Just then, stretchers from the infirmary arrived.
Many people in Class 1 had entered a state where they didn't need to walk and could lie down, especially Bai He, Tang Zhou, and others.
Seeing Tuoba act like this, A'Diao became even more annoyed. You dog, just wait until I finish my marrow cleansing and my looks blossom, then you won't be able to reach me!
However, A'Diao had just received her points when she saw Rao Xueya encountering a problem.
The Blue Cicada was in the fragrant pig's stomach.
Shi Dagang: "Can't you just retrieve it?"
Rao Xueya's face was bright red. "I was busy training the three wild boars before, so I never practiced the technique to recall this one."
Nearby, Cheng Zhang was speechless. "It has no combat power, so why did you practice summoning it? To swallow the Flying Cicada today?"
As expected of my rival, truly cunning and farsighted.
Rao Xueya: "No, I got it for eating. I never thought about recalling it."
Everyone: "..."
Song Ling and the other two couldn't help but glance at A'Diao—this was because of you.
A'Diao chuckled sheepishly and offered a brilliant idea: "Feed it croton beans, make it poop it out! That way, its stomach will be clean too, and you can take it straight to the cafeteria..."
From Shi Dagang +6666!
From Rao Xueya +5555!
From...
In the end, they didn't get to eat the pork. At least forty out of the fifty people in the class ended up in the infirmary, wailing and crying. Among them, Bai He and Zhongchuan Mingxiu were the most seriously injured.
One had external injuries, the other internal injuries. Their mental states were particularly bad; they had been thoroughly thrashed.
Rao Xueya's group of four actually had minor injuries too, but at least they got 50 points. Although it wasn't much when divided, they had made a name for themselves!
While Cheng Zhang was getting bandaged, he asked them faintly, "Did you guys know beforehand that the teachers were going to conduct an assessment today? So you must have discussed today's coordination in advance, right?"
The reactions and coordination of these few people were too smooth; it would be impossible without a rehearsal.
Song Ling was uninjured but had come over to look after Tian Zhongxiang. Hearing him, she glanced at him and said, "We did know some things. It wasn't a big secret anyway. Besides, A'Diao was bound to face retaliation sooner or later, so it was nothing for us to prepare in advance."
If Zhongchuan Mingxiu were to make a move, given his habit of forming cliques, he definitely wouldn't act alone. His cronies would surely cause trouble, so they had indeed rehearsed their overall coordination.
Cheng Zhang: Indeed, these five had already formed a group. And they must have gone into a catacomb and reaped significant rewards. Judging by the extent of their improvement, they might have succeeded even earlier than Zhongchuan Mingxiu and his group.
So formidable. It's all Rao Xueya's fault for misleading me!
After sighing, Cheng Zhang suddenly asked, "Are you still short of people?"
They didn't dare answer that. Song Ling told him to ask A'Diao. Cheng Zhang actually did ask A'Diao, who had come bringing fruit.
A'Diao glanced at him. "Is your brain flooded? Isn't Tuoba's side worth striving for? I don't care if you join or not, but I'm afraid you'll miss an opportunity."
Huh?
Cheng Zhang narrowed his eyes.
Did she mean that Tuoba and his group would team up next?
On the surface, Tuoba was a person of great heroic spirit and didn't like to form groups. Could it be that privately, due to the pressure from A'Diao, he would also try to win people over?
Would Tuoba be that kind of person?
Cheng Zhang was deep in thought. He wanted to ask A'Diao if she was confident she could beat Tuoba. If she could win, then she naturally had a brighter future.
But A'Diao put down the fruit and left.
Without saying where she was going.
It wasn't even the end of class time yet.
At this moment, in a room in the school infirmary, Zhou Xiuhe and Ming Zeye indeed heard Tuoba say he wanted to form a team.
"You two can join."
Although Zhou Xiuhe and Ming Zeye had entertained this idea before, it hadn't materialized at the time due to issues like "who would be the captain" and Tuoba being too much of a loner.
They hadn't expected Tuoba to propose it now.
"You two were too arrogant before, unable to appreciate favors. Now that you have a sense of crisis, you should know that submitting to me is your best option. That Chen A'Diao is coming on strong."
Tuoba adopted the posture of a master strategist, as if saying, "I predicted this long ago; sooner or later, you'd come back to be used by me."
But Ming Zeye saw through him and sneered, "Hasn't she threatened you? I'm afraid you didn't expect this either, did you?"
Tuoba, peeling an apple, said, "Of course, she's a threat. That's why I'm recruiting you. Otherwise, I could handle everything myself."
Ming Zeye and Zhou Xiuhe fell silent.
Indeed, the gap between Tuoba and them was widening. He no longer needed to team up with them.
But now, Chen A'Diao was rising too quickly. To accelerate his progress, Tuoba, who could originally tackle small catacombs alone, had to recruit a few reliable people to take on larger catacombs to plunder higher-level resources.
"Then we'll need to find two or three more people."
Zhou Xiuhe knew that a team of just the three of them would be unstable. Because she and Ming Zeye were a unit, Tuoba might not fully trust them, and they too would be wary. This was very unstable. It would be better to have more people to establish a stable order.
"For example..." Ming Zeye looked at Tuoba. Tuoba smiled and showed them a private message from someone.
"He has already contacted me."
Zhongchuan Mingxiu was an extremely cunning person. He had promised A'Diao not to be her enemy, but he never said he didn't want to become stronger. To withstand the pressure from her, he had to give up the idea of being the leader and condescend to obey Tuoba.
In other words, A'Diao, single-handedly, had caused the original F4 of the class to truly take shape.
However, just as the few of them reached a tacit understanding, they suddenly received a piece of news.
"Chen A'Diao has gone to clear the Clearance Points Tower!"
The students in the infirmary all became restless.
Ming Zeye looked thoughtful and asked Tuoba, "She might be afraid she can't beat you. So why didn't you fight her? Were you really afraid you'd have to marry her if you won?"
Tuoba shook his head and remained silent in contemplation.
At that time, he was actually also afraid he couldn't beat her.
This Chen A'Diao was unparalleled in scheming; he might not be able to outwit her. If she turned out to be truly unfathomable, he would have suffered a loss that outweighed the gain that day.
So, at that time, both of them were probably posturing, finding an excuse to back down.
The apparent results of this assessment were out. Now, the students from the first and second years, as well as other third-year classes, were all excited and discussing it animatedly. However, the combat proficiency levels of the third-year students had basically been ranked.
But the results from the school's higher-ups had not yet been released.
At this moment, Principal Jiang Zhou, Dean of Students Zhai Lingyun, Qu Jiangnan, and several other school executives were in a meeting room. A light-brain was displaying the data from this test.
Naturally, Tuoba was ranked first.
"Spirit Power F7, Strength E2, Awareness/Reaction F6, Comprehensive Strength Prediction E6."
Ranked second was A'Diao.
"Spirit Power F2, Strength F1, Awareness/Reaction F2, Comprehensive Strength Prediction F7."
Following them were Ming Zeye, Zhongchuan Mingxiu, and Zhou Xiuhe. Their comprehensive strength predictions were F3, F3, and F1 respectively.
The sixth was Song Ling.
Song Ling was a true dark horse. Although her comprehensive strength was not yet at the F-level and inferior to the few ahead of her, she possessed two Spirit Pupils and her spirit channeling techniques were exquisite, so everyone had high hopes for her.
Compared to these six, the others were not yet worth discussing for the time being.
However, the current focus was still on Tuoba and Chen A'Diao.
"There's not much to say about Tuoba. His starting point was high, and his progress is fast, fitting the current golden age of cultivation. But this Chen A'Diao, in terms of improvement speed, she's much faster than Tuoba, after all, her foundation was lower."
"I heard she often visits the Chen family's old residence in Jinling. Could it be that Chen Ran has prepared a 'Small Spirit Gate' for her?"
"But she truly knows many Daoist techniques. Her victory against Zhongchuan Mingxiu was purely due to the application of Daoist techniques. Her talent is truly strong—Teacher Qu, were all those Daoist techniques taught in your class?"
Qu Jiangnan admitted it.
At that time, when she saw A'Diao use four techniques in one go—"Invisibility Technique," "Substitution Technique," "Withered Leaf Technique," and "Lightning Bind"—and each technique was executed with great skill and excellent timing, she was actually very surprised internally.
But Qu Jiangnan also vaguely sensed that A'Diao was deliberately showing off these techniques—she knew the school's higher-ups were assessing them, so naturally, she wanted to display her strengths.
Talent in Daoist techniques was a very strong advantage.
As shrewd as ever.
While everyone was discussing, the Principal tapped the table and made a decision, "I will arrange for Tuoba. Director Qu, Chen A'Diao is yours to handle. Her talent in Daoist techniques is outstanding, so cultivate her well. As for the others..."
The implication was still to give the best resources to Tuoba first, followed by A'Diao.
This also aligned with the significance of the Gold, Red, and Blue Cicadas.
Tuoba took the Golden Cicada; he was the strongest. This was irrefutable.
Someone secretly felt it was a pity for A'Diao, because her style of doing things seemed cunning and ruthless, yet it was extremely suited to the current national situation.
The demonic spirits in the catacombs were becoming fiercer by the day. If every student was like a flower delicately nurtured in a greenhouse, even the strongest talent would be useless.
That spear instantly taking down Bai He, while ruthless, was also truly satisfyingly incisive—this is how one should deal with enemies.
"By the way, Chen A'Diao seems to be at the Clearance Points Tower right now. She's challenging the tower!"
All the teachers immediately became interested, and the Principal also raised an eyebrow.
Challenging the tower now?
Is she unwilling to be second?
"How long has she been in?"
"It seems like only a few minutes. Now... she passed! Just passed the second floor."
The higher-ups were in the meeting room, but the school teachers had a group chat. The administrator, who was on the front line of "eating melons," sent them a screenshot of the rankings from a first-person perspective.
The student and teacher leaderboards were separate. On the student side, Tuoba's third-floor achievement was still listed, but second place had changed to A'Diao, noted as "Second Floor."
"She should be tackling the third floor now! About a minute has passed, and she hasn't come out directly. I think there's hope."
"Only a minute, it shouldn't be easy."
"Let's wait and see. If she can really pass the third floor, then the gap between her and Tuoba won't be that big."
"This is really exciting! Our school should produce geniuses like this, the more the better."
While students and teachers were buzzing with discussion, the Cui Clan was in a terrible fix.
Cui Yong had lost some of his usual calm and shrewdness, his face dark and gloomy.
No matter how they investigated, the person captured by the Lingcheng Garrison this time had no connection to the Cui Clan; he was a death warrior, and all ties had been severed. However, Cui Yong was worried about the official from the transportation office who had been arrested by Chen Ran's subordinates. Although he held leverage that could lead to the destruction of the official's entire family, and the official wouldn't dare expose anything, he still feared the "what if."
But unexpectedly, before these troublesome matters could be resolved, news came from Jinling Academy.
"Chen A'Diao... this Chen A'Diao's talent is actually so formidable, she's almost a threat to Tuoba." A dark light flickered in Cui Yong's eyes, fierce and malicious.
Compared to Chen Xun, who could currently only engage in scientific research and had status but no actual combat power, this Chen A'Diao posed a greater threat.
She must die!
"Keep a close watch! If she passes the third floor, report to me immediately!"
In the Clearance Points Tower, Third Floor.
Two minutes ago, A'Diao had just entered the second floor and instantly killed the scarecrow that attacked from behind. Then, she killed the other two scarecrows.
The third floor.
Upon encountering them, even though A'Diao was on guard, her heart skipped a beat.
Ten scarecrows.
A'Diao dodged ten long sabers, but in the next second, the ten scarecrows swept their arms, actually controlling the ten long sabers to fly and slash towards her.
The third floor was indeed very difficult, but...
Five minutes later, the Toilet, watching A'Diao constantly repositioning, dodging, and fiercely fighting the ten scarecrows, was somewhat puzzled.
Previously, A'Diao only had "little fists" and "eye-contact silk-pulling" as attack skills, but these couldn't be used in the tower, so her combat power was significantly reduced. However, after Qu Jiangnan taught her Daoist techniques, her talent for them was extremely high, and she mastered them very quickly. Especially the direct attack Daoist technique "Lightning Bind." With the total energy of her two F6 spirit clusters, she could use Lightning Bind a few times to remotely kill more than half the scarecrows. Plus, her strength and awareness/reaction speed weren't fully utilized during the fight with Zhongchuan Mingxiu. In fact, her stats weren't much worse than Tuoba's.
She was perfectly capable of passing the third floor, so why was she dragging it out?
Could it be that she wanted to hone her combat skills?
Many people throughout the school were waiting for the result of A'Diao's attempt at the third floor, but even after fifteen minutes, she hadn't come out.
So difficult?
But she could last this long?
Many people couldn't help but ask Tuoba and the teachers.
The teachers had been tested by the school long ago after the resurgence of Spiritual Energy. Some with good aptitude received cultivation through "Small Spirit Gates," and even their salaries were distributed based on these resources. Their growth speed was naturally terrifying. Many had passed the third floor, so they naturally knew how dangerous it was inside.
Like Tuoba, they all felt something was strange.
"The scarecrows on the second floor are mainly close combat, but those on the third floor have control techniques and ranged attacks. Logically, if you can beat them, you beat them; it's hard to last this long."
"She can't be deliberately wasting time in there, can she?"
Tuoba had two suspicions.
First, Chen A'Diao could pass it, but she was deliberately practicing her movement techniques and honing her skills.
Second, she was indeed having a very tough fight, but she knew many Daoist techniques. Coupled with that troublesome gluey spiderweb, which had a binding ability, it wouldn't be surprising if she managed to entangle them for so long.
If it was the first case, then this Chen A'Diao might be stronger than him.
As for which one it was, it still depended on whether she could actually pass the third floor.
Another five minutes passed.
The administrator, who was sipping coffee while fiddling with his phone, widened his eyes because A'Diao came out, her expression not looking too good.
And he looked at the leaderboard.
No change.
"Uh, you didn't pass, Classmate A'Diao."
A'Diao put on a pained expression. "Yeah, I didn't pass. I'm so sad. Teacher, can you give me a cup of coffee? I'm so sad."
She looked dejected and pitiful.
The administrator's heart softened, and he really gave her a free cup of coffee. Then, his fingers moved, and he sent a message to the group chat.
"Failed. Didn't pass. And she even made me give her a cup of coffee."
Then he shamelessly tagged Qu Jiangnan in the group: "You have to give me back a bag of coffee beans, the Blue Mountain brand."
Qu Jiangnan ignored the old man and instead looked at the others.
Failed to pass the stage, stuck at the second floor. That basically confirmed she was indeed not as good as Tuoba right now. So, the school's cultivation for her could only stop at the second tier.
But this news would let many people breathe a sigh of relief, including the Cui Clan and other students.
Didn't pass the third floor. Zhongchuan Mingxiu and others sent A'Diao mental power points, probably out of goodwill.
Sigh, human nature.
A'Diao felt a bit emotional, but she was also privately contacted by Qu Jiangnan—go to her dormitory after class.
Ranking second still gets the privilege of being personally tutored by Qu Jiangnan?
It seemed Tuoba would receive cultivation at the Principal's level.
Toilet: "You clearly passed the third floor. Why did you use the tower's built-in hiding ability to choose not to announce it, only recording the second-floor achievement?"
A'Diao: "Naturally, it's to tell others my current strength—positioning me right between Zhongchuan Mingxiu and his group, and Tuoba. Only in this way can I maximize the chances that those preparing to kill me will make assassination plans, but the people they send won't exceed a level I can control."
It's just temporary treatment; it's not like it will never change.
Anyway, the 200 points for clearing the second floor of the Clearance Points Tower and the 800 points for the third floor, a total of 1000 points, were all secured.
After a wave of development, it's time to stir things up.
Now it remained to be seen whose methods were stronger and faster—hers after this development, that organization's, or Cui Yong's.
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