Chapter 314
Chapter 314: Test
Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
“I knew it. Brother, you’re befriending You XiaoMo.” Teng ZiXin looked at Teng ZiYe coldly, waiting for a pause before telling him what she had witnessed.
She had always thought that Teng ZiYe would cut ties with You XiaoMo after knowing about the bad blood between her and You XiaoMo. Yet it hadn’t been long and they were already such good friends. She was honestly very disappointed; after all, it was her who was Teng ZiYe’s sister.
Teng ZiYe looked at her silently.
Teng ZiXin wasn’t particularly surprised though, continuing, “Brother, you know I won’t forgive him. Why are you getting close to him? Do you want to help him?”
Teng ZiYe narrowed his eyes, curling his lips as he said, “In your heart, getting close to him equals to helping him? I’ve simply just met him a few times, we aren’t close.”
Teng ZiXin paused in surprise for a moment, joy flashing through her eyes. She hurriedly stifled her excitement and said, “Brother, are you… Are you getting close to him for me?”
Teng ZiYe didn’t confirm or deny it, only speaking quietly as he brushed past her, “I don’t care why you hold such a grudge against him, but remember, your words and actions all represent the Teng Family.”
Teng ZiXin watched him as he left, both red and green faced. With her intelligence, there was no way she’d misunderstand what Teng ZiYe was hinting at. He was accusing her of her actions being an embarrassment to the Teng Family.
But it wasn’t all bad; she had managed to confirm that Teng ZiYe had nothing to do with You XiaoMo, because Teng XiYe didn’t lie. If he said they had simply met a few times, then that must be so.
By the time You XiaoMo departed from the cultivation center, three days had passed.
He had wanted to go to the red card zone to check if Ling Xiao was still inside or not, but since he knew he wouldn’t be able to get in, he gave up on that idea.
Leaving the Cultivation Center, he headed directly to his room. As he approached, he realized that there was someone in the room. Apart from Ling Xiao, most people couldn’t enter without the owner’s permission.
That person just walked out of the room when You XiaoMo threw himself at them without thinking.
Ling Xiao was afraid he would fall and hurt himself, so he grabbed You XiaoMo around the waist.
You XiaoMo clung onto him, excitedly saying, “You finally came out.”
Ling Xiao smiled, replying, “Because I can’t bear the thought of leaving you alone at home.”
The corner of You XiaoMo’s lips twitched. He didn’t think that this phrase was suited to describe him.
Ling Xiao brushed his hands against You XiaoMo’s body, suddenly saying, “You’ve achieved a breakthrough. Seems like Gravity Mountain is doing rather good for your training. Your body seems more flexible, too. We might be able to try a few positions with a higher difficulty in the future.”
“Don’t touch me like that.” You XiaoMo was flushed by Ling Xiao’s movements, especially when Ling Xiao stroked his sensitive waist. However, when he heard the last part, he immediately glared at Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao picked him up and into the room, asking with a laugh, “Has anything happened recently?”
Teng Zi’s situation immediately came to mind. You XiaoMo didn’t hesitate, explaining everything to Ling Xiao. “I think, Teng ZiYe must know about the situation between me and his sister.”
Ling Xiao said, “Your whole situation has blown up. It’s impossible that he hasn’t heard of it. However, he’s different from Teng ZiXin. He’s smart and calm, knowing how to not expose himself. If he were really to fight you, you wouldn’t have a chance. Make sure to stay away from him in the future.”
You XiaoMo nodded. “But I still owe him a favor.”
Ling Xiao said, “Do no more than what you can.”
You XiaoMo asked, “But what if he asks for something that troubles me?”
Ling Xiao thought for a moment. “If he does do that, then act as if nothing happened between you.”
You XiaoMo looked at him wide-eyed. How could he say that? But, it did seem like something Ling Xiao would say. If it came to it, he might actually act as Ling Xiao had told him to.
Next he brought up the Mage’s Hundred Man Rankings.
It wouldn’t be long until the Trial in the mountains begun and many people had already found a mage to work with. Some had even finished their contracts, pairing up and provoking many of the still “single” people.
Recently, pairs were common over in the arena. Mostly because they wanted to improve their teamwork.
Ling Xiao asked, “How is the Hundred Man rankings for mages ranked?”
You XiaoMo said, “I think you have to purify a magic herb in a set amount of time and they test it for purity at the end. I hear that the instrument used to test it is much more precise than the previous ones. The full score is a hundred.”
Ling Xiao said, “Then you should find time to take the test.”
The Mage’s Hundred Man Rankings was similar to that of practitioners. The first fifty had to be challenged, and the latter fifty only needed to take the test for purifying herbs. However, they had to go to the specially set testing area for this. If their score was higher than the hundredth person, then they would be able to ascend the rankings.
The following day, Ling Xiao went to the testing area with You XiaoMo.
Usually, there weren’t many people there, but recently more and more people were coming to take the test.
By the time the two arrived, there were quite a lot of people at the testing area already, talking among themselves, mostly about the Trials and the Hundred Man Rankings.
Not long later, an elder walked out from behind.
With his appearance, everyone quietened down, staring at him.
“I don’t think there’s any need for me to explain the rules here. We’ll start testing now. Every round ten people will go up and test. You can pick a stone dais to stand at yourself.”
The speaking elder was very straightforward, not bothering to say anything extra.
You XiaoMo took a look at the crowd around him. There were over fifty people here. If he waited at the back, it would probably take a long time before he got to the front, so he informed Ling Xiao he was going up to the front before heading off towards the nearest dais.
There was a cauldron ready for him at the dais and a level seven magic herb.
He had seen this herb in the old man’s Magic Herb Handbook. It was a Diamond Herb. It had a very peculiar form; it was golden and both the stem and leaves were very hard, increasing the difficulty of purification.
You XiaoMo had heard that the school would pick a new herb out of a group of herbs with a similar difficulty in purification as the Diamond Herb to test students with. This year it was the Diamond Herb, the one known as the hardest to purify and the easiest to fail at among all level seven herbs.
You XiaoMo finally understood why no one had ever gotten a full score.
It really was very hard. He wasn’t even certain if he could get above a ninty.
When the hourglass began to run, everyone started to move. The lowest score on the Hundred Man Rankings was fifty-three, so they only needed to be better than that to enter the Hundred Man Rankings. Even if they weren’t among the first fifty, it was ok.
Thinking of this, You XiaoMo immediately cleared his mind of irrelevant thoughts and threw the herb into the cauldron.
The purification of herbs tested a mage’s control over his Soul Force. This, You XiaoMo was certain, he wouldn’t lose to anyone in. After staying in the Gravity Mountain for a month, he was even more confident about it.
Plus, after experimenting recently, he had learned a faster way of purifying herbs.
However, this method could, for now, only deal with one herb at a time.
Thinking of this, You XiaoMo immediately separated his Soul Force into two and then wrapped them around the Diamond Herb in the cauldron one after the other. One stick of incense burned, and then another… By the time half an hour had passed, everyone began to come to a stop one after the other.
You XiaoMo put the powdered herb into a vial, wiping the sweat from his forehead. The amount of times he had purified this herb was both expected and unexpected, because he had managed to purify it nine times. There was still time remaining. If it wasn’t for the fact that he couldn’t manage to clear out any further impurities, he would want to try for another time.
As the first group finished, the second group quickly followed.
You XiaoMo and the others walked to the side to test their herbs. The person that was helping him do that was a middle-aged man. The man had him place the herb into the measurer.
After pressing the button, the instrument began to whine quietly. When the number on it broke past seventy and continued to rise, a group of spectators all looked his way, eyes full of surprise.
Seventy was good enough to get into the top seventy of the Hundred Man Rankings, but this number was still rising. This made everyone very shocked, especially since You XiaoMo didn’t seem very old.
The number was still rising, until it broke past ninety. It jumped a few times before stopping at ninety-seven. The middle-aged man stared at the instrument in shock. It had been years since he had seen a number over ninety, even approaching a hundred.
The crowd around him was cacophonous; the academy hadn’t had a score that was so close to a hundred in a long time.
After a moment of silence, the middle-aged man spoke up, saying, “Ninety-seven points. You’re ranked number fifty-one.”
You XiaoMo nodded. Now, he no longer had to worry about the Hundred Man Rankings. As expected, splitting his soul force into two had a great effect. Though he hadn’t managed to reach a hundred, he was already very satisfied with his score.
After him, none of the others managed a test as spectacular as his.
Though he felt a little like he had reached the sky in one step, You XiaoMo wasn’t very surprised.
Ignoring the curious and startled stares of the crowd, You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao left the testing area, directly heading for the registration area for the Trials. A practitioner had to confirm their temporary contract with a mage before they could apply.
There weren’t many people there to register, but they bumped into a pair who were arguing over something.
You XiaoMo was surprised to notice that he recognized the girl. It was An XinRui, who he had met twice before. He didn’t recognize the other, but if they were here, they were probably here to apply. He would’ve thought she would have struggled for a bit longer.
Ling Xiao looked in the direction of his gaze. “What’s so interesting?”
You XiaoMo answered, “An XinRui doesn’t seem very willing.”
Ling Xiao laughed. “Didn’t you say before that she liked someone else? She obviously wouldn’t be willing to contract with someone she doesn’t like. It’s probably an attempt to grab their attention.”
You XiaoMo nodded.
Just as Ling Xiao’s words fell, An XinRui and that mage walked towards them.