Chapter 116: Newcomers Generally Lack Reverence
Liang Calendar year 3210, September 5th, at the Capital of Liang Kingdom, in front of Lotus Cloud University.
Today was the registration day for new students at Lotus Cloud University.
Prospective students wishing to enroll at Lotus Cloud University would begin registering at the university’s admissions office, starting from today.
Registration would last ten days, ending on the 15th, with formal assessments for new students commencing on the 20th.
Since the assessments at various universities in the Capital followed the principles of openness and transparency, theoretically, students in the second batch could gain experience by observing the first batch of students, increasing their chances of passing the assessment.
However, there were still many students like Yue Linger and Yue Ping, whose scores were so outstanding that they didn’t care about the assessment, and chose to participate in the first batch.
Therefore, those who dared to come to the admissions office of Lotus Cloud University on the first day were mostly students with exceptional talent and strength, and who were very confident.
The best performances in past years’ assessments often emerged from among these individuals.
On the first day of registration, the director of Lotus University’s admissions office, Li Youyuan, arrived at the registration site early.
This first batch of students were the elite of the newcomers, cultivators with bright futures ahead of them. Building a good rapport with them held no disadvantage for Li Youyuan.
Although Li Youyuan, the director of admissions for a key Immortal Sect university, had only reached Foundation Establishment in his cultivation, his eye for talent was extremely sharp.
He quickly spotted a male student among the crowd.
The student was merely queuing up in an orderly manner, but his inherent calmness, confidence, and sunny disposition made him stand out from the other new students around him.
Li Youyuan only needed one glance to affirm that this youth had a promising future!
The line for registration slowly moved forward, and finally, it was the turn of that male student to register.
Li Youyuan silently approached the registration area and heard the conversation between the male student and the female cultivator handling the registration.
“Jiang Cheng, male, eighteen years old, school records from Wuyue in Xiang State, applying for the Treasure and Talismans Academy, Talisman Department, Talisman Drawing major at Lotus Cloud University. Is that correct?”
“That’s correct.”
“Please sign your name on the registration form, then provide us with copies of your university entrance exam results and your identification card.”
“Alright.”
“Good, here is your assessment plaque. After registration ends and before the assessments begin, from the 16th to the 19th, the admissions office will announce your examination schedule. The subjects for new student assessments are displayed in the square over there; you can prepare in advance. Thank you for applying to our school, and I wish you success in the assessment.”
After Jiang Cheng walked away, Li Youyuan moved next to the female cultivator and picked up Jiang Cheng’s registration form.
“A university entrance exam score of 568 points?” Li Youyuan exclaimed in surprise.
Ordinary people wouldn’t understand what this score meant, but Li Youyuan, as the director of admissions, knew all too well.
With a score of 568, which was only three points above the cutoff line for Lotus University, it meant that this person had just met the requirements to participate in Lotus University’s assessment. If he was unable to distinguish himself significantly from others during the practical assessment, his chances of entering Lotus University were essentially nil.
However, seeing his confidence and knowing he was applying for the Talisman Department, he must have had considerable expertise in cultivation and talismans. By this logic, scoring high in the practical assessment wasn’t an impossible task, Li Youyuan thought.
“Hmm? Third level of Qi Cultivation? And a second prize in a middle school talisman drawing competition?”
This… This person’s talent in cultivation and talisman drawing couldn’t be described as “ordinary,” more like “a lump.”
The Talisman Department of Lotus University was considered a top program in the entire Liang Kingdom. Those who dared to apply for Lotus University’s Talisman Department were, half the time, already at the level where they could pass for the first-order Talisman Master Certificate. In some years, there were even geniuses sporting a second-order Talisman Master Certificate among the new students.
What was this talisman drawing competition, if he only secured a second prize? It was generous to even say he was at the bottom. To put it unkindly, he was straight down the drain.
And what surprised Li Youyuan most was the “eighteen-year-old at the third level of Qi Cultivation.”
If a person had been cultivating for eighteen years and had only reached the third level of Qi Cultivation, Li Youyuan would typically suggest that they stop cultivating and find a regular class to join.
Talisman Drawing Three Basics: spiritual power, Spiritual Power, experience, and skills.
Without cultivation level, there is no spiritual power or Spiritual Power; even if you are a genius, it is impossible to become a venerable Talisman Master. This is also the truth behind why third-tier Talisman Masters must reach the Foundation Establishment.
This cultivator named Jiang Cheng, no matter how one looked at it, seemed to have no fate with Lotus University’s signature program—Talisman drawing.
Not to mention, how dare he? How dare he apply for Lotus Cloud University! And to show up on the first day of registration with such confidence!
Recalling Jiang Cheng’s calm and confident expression just now, Li Youyuan fell into a brief trance.
Could it be that the exam questions issued by their admissions office in recent years have been too simple? Why do all sorts of strange students dare to sign up for the examination?
Do students today have no reverence for the key Immortal Sect universities!
Why can’t they even learn such simple principles as “knowing one’s limits,” “retreating in the face of difficulty,” and “self-awareness”?
Li Youyuan calmed his emotions and deleted Jiang Cheng from his mind.
What just happened would be considered as nothing, as if he had seen wrong.
Selecting candidates was just one of Li Youyuan’s hobbies.
As the head of the admissions office, his main job was to ensure the smooth running of Lotus University’s enrollment examination.
Compared to admiring outstanding individuals, being vigilant against those students likely to resort to cheating was the primary task of the admissions office.
However, as the saying goes, for every crafty trick there is a countermeasure.
With the many years it had spent and the many Spirit Stones it had used to prepare numerous plans, wasn’t Lotus University’s admissions office doing it all just to prevent cheating?
How could the short-lived clever tricks of the candidates compare to the well-established net of heaven and earth that Lotus University’s admissions office had woven over ten years?
Li Youyuan sat on a wooden chair in the admissions office, picking up a teacup from the table beside him.
He was not young anymore; with just a few more years of steady work, he could retire behind the scenes and enjoy a peaceful retirement life.
Thinking that his life of walking on thin ice was finally about to reach the other side, Li Youyuan unconsciously revealed a contented smile, finding even the bitter taste of tea in his mouth sweet.
On the square outside Lotus University, Jiang Cheng successfully found this year’s Lotus Cloud University “moral,” “intellectual,” “physical,” “aesthetic,” and “labor” assessment topics.
“Luckily, I’ve prepared well. If these are the five questions, the talismans I’ve previously drawn should be enough.”
Jiang Cheng murmured to himself.
Currently, Jiang Cheng hadn’t started preparing the Multi-Unity Compound Reusable Talisman; he was waiting for today’s examination questions to be released.
Having done his homework in advance, Jiang Cheng knew that, apart from the single-use Liu Talisman, the rest of the talismans could be overlaid and drawn on his Composite Reusable Talisman.
Limited by the durability of materials, a Composite Reusable Talisman had a shorter lifespan than ordinary Reusable Talismans.
If a Reusable Fluorescent Talisman could be reused ten thousand times, the same material Composite Reusable Talisman could only be used about ten times.
Only by using material that could withstand a hundred thousand repeats of an ordinary Reusable Talisman could the durability of a Composite Reusable Talisman be increased to barely one hundred times.
A hundred uses were enough for Jiang Cheng.
After confirming the topics, Jiang Cheng didn’t rush to draw talismans but took out a communication talisman and called Liu Qing.
“Hello? I’ve got everything ready here. Pack up and come downstairs. Yes, bring the storage bag with Spirit Stones from home.”
Fishing Talisman and flipping two sets of houses tenfold had made Jiang Cheng a good sum of money, and of course, it was more reassuring to have a certain Mahayana Realm cultivator manage it.