Chapter 81: Campus Joint Examination, Consecutive Breakthroughs

After a wave of buying sprees, Lu Xun's life returned to calm again.

He still lazed around just as before.

From time to time he would go to Qingbei Jie to check on Bai Ling's situation and give her guidance.

Bai Ling's current alchemy proficiency is third-grade earth tier.

After Lu Xun imparted his experience, she continues to strive, wanting to refine saint-tier pills.

Lu Xun's side is also trying to refine new pills.

There are many types of pills.

Those that increase cultivation speed, directly raise realm, heal injuries, improve physique, enhance divine sense and qi-blood, assist in combat, and prolong life and preserve youth, and so on and so forth.

Improved alchemy proficiency does not mean all pills can be refined in one go.

For pills of the same grade and quality, some are simply harder to refine.

"Secret Realm Examination?"

"We're only freshmen, aren't we?"

"No way, who let us encounter Lan Xing entering the Starry Sky Ancient Road when we were freshmen?"

"Don't worry, since the higher-ups let us take the exam, there definitely won't be any mortal danger; it's just about what scores we can get."

That day, a piece of news spread throughout the campus of Northern Dipper University.

The final exam in one and a half months will become a Secret Realm Examination.

The so-called secret realms are actually special spaces that were nurtured inside after Lan Xing underwent ascension.

Most of these secret realms are fully controlled by humanity, used as places for cultivators to temper themselves and for students to take exams.

Inside there are some opportunities, as well as considerable danger.

For example, in many secret realms, powerful humans deliberately toss in starry sky alien species and hostile alien races.

These alien races were inherently extremely ferocious, and now, having been raised by humans, they harbor a deep hatred for humanity.

Once humans enter, it's easy to imagine how frenzied they will become.

Originally, freshmen were not supposed to participate in the Secret Realm Examination.

After all, their strength was simply too low.

But this year, the Secret Realm Examination was suddenly opened to freshmen.

This examination is still being conducted in the form of a campus joint examination.

Besides Qingbei Jie, some other cultivation schools also joined in.

Such joint examinations often come with rich rewards.

"Wow, a Heavenly Dao Talisman!"

"Don't even think about it; in the secret realm, where means are unrestricted, this Heavenly Dao Talisman is destined for those aristocratic heirs."

"That's right; even if it were Lu Xun, he probably wouldn't stand a chance—they can just throw money at it and snag the Heavenly Dao Talisman."

"Damn it, amniotic fluid truly is life's biggest watershed."

After the joint examination's rewards were announced, the students all grew envious.

The exam scores are divided by grade level, with each grade's scores calculated separately.

No matter which grade, as long as one obtains first place in the exam, they can receive a Heavenly Dao Talisman.

The so-called Heavenly Dao Talisman, when used, allows Lan Xing to open a personal mini rainbow bridge for you even in the Starry Sky Ancient Road, as long as you're not in some forbidden lands.

One can return to Lan Xing at any time via the mini rainbow bridge.

At the nodes of the Starry Sky Ancient Road, this is a life-saving thing.

Obtaining a Heavenly Dao Talisman is extremely difficult; ordinary people shouldn't even think about it.

Unexpectedly, this joint examination actually released a full four Heavenly Dao Talismans from above.

"Lu Xun, your opportunity has come—Heavenly Dao Talisman—having this thing makes going to the Starry Sky Ancient Road much safer."

Li Bu Fan immediately sent Lu Xun a message.

This kid has been cultivating lately and hasn't been in touch with Lu Xun for a long time.

"But you need to work hard—this time your biggest opponent isn't the Qingbei Jie students, but those guys from Myriad Willows Academy; even if their cultivation is lacking, they can just throw money at it and blast out explosive scores."

Shortly after, Li Bu Fan also grew somewhat worried.

The Secret Realm Examination is fair if you say it's fair, and unfair if you say it's not.

Because the Secret Realm Examination places no restrictions on means.

Some aristocratic heirs, after entering the secret realm, can also achieve good scores by splurging on spirit talismans, battle pills, and the like.

Their weapons and equipment are also better than those of ordinary students.

This makes ordinary students feel it's unfair.

But many students also feel it's fair.

If on the battlefield, seeing you are a penniless commoner, would the enemy feel pity and let you go?

Cultivation itself is also a test of comprehensive ability; having talent alone is useless—you also need background, resources, and money!

Precisely for this reason, in past Secret Realm Examinations, those who excelled were basically students from Myriad Willows Academy.

The students of Myriad Willows Academy are famously wealthy.

Take, for example, Lin Qiang, whom Liu Mei is attached to—his family is a top-tier aristocratic clan.

Qingbei Jie's students aren't without standout individuals, but overall they are actually a bit weaker.

Moreover, the higher the grade, the more outstanding Qingbei Jie students there are.

Because the upperclassmen geniuses have grown up, the advantage of Myriad Willows Academy students having lots of money gets diminished.

That day, the students of Northern Dipper University were all discussing this matter.

"Time really flies."

Lu Xun also felt a bit sentimental.

Before they knew it, the first semester of freshman year was about to end.

【Murong Wan broke through to the tenth layer of Qi Sea, you gain thirty times Murong Wan's harvest.】

One week later, suddenly, Murong Wan broke through to the tenth layer of Qi Sea.

Lu Xun then took advantage of this to surge up to the thirty-second layer of Qi Sea.

"Before the final exam, Murong Wan should be able to break through to the Third Realm!"

Lu Xun couldn't help but feel refreshed.

He actually could break through to the Third Realm at any time.

If the system allowed him to cultivate on his own, Lu Xun would say that breaking through is just breaking through.

Even if the system doesn't allow him to cultivate, Lu Xun insists on using the refund to prepare for the Third Realm, which is not impossible.

However, breaking through to the Third Realm this way would greatly reduce its effectiveness, making it hard to awaken those extremely powerful martial arts divine abilities.

So Lu Xun is now hoping that Murong Wan will break through to the Third Realm.

That Pei Qi Dan of his was very effective, saving Murong Wan three months of time.

Plus, the Saint-rank Qi Sea Dan further sped up her cultivation speed, so Murong Wan should be able to break Beidou University's record.

In half a semester, she broke through to the Third Realm.

Lu Xun can also bask in her glory, break through to the Third Realm alongside her, and even become even more awesome than her.

"When we have more Dark Energy later, we should get her better equipment."

Lu Xun thought.

Murong Wan trains so hard, while Lu Xun lies around getting stronger every day; he still ought to give them some rewards.

At the very least, weapons, gear, and pills must be ensured.

【Chu Youqing broke through to the eighth layer of Qi Gathering, you gain thirty times Chu Youqing's harvest.】

Another week passed, and Chu Youqing also broke through.

Her speed is a bit slower; looking at it, for Chu Youqing to break through to the Third Realm in the first semester of freshman year is somewhat difficult.

During the vacation, she might be able to break through to the Third Realm.

"Boss, am I really stupid?"

"Of course not; Saint-rank pills are inherently difficult, and you can grasp them this quickly — you are already very, very smart."

On Bai Ling's side, she is still trying to refine Saint-rank pills.

Half a month has passed; even with Lu Xun's guidance, she still hasn't made much progress.

This made her feel somewhat disheartened.

Lu Xun naturally gave her some comfort.

If Bai Ling were stupid, then there wouldn't be many smart people in this world.

Lu Xun's pill-refining prowess isn't because of her.

Under Lu Xun's encouragement and hands-on teaching, Bai Ling's progress has been quite rapid.

【Bai Ling's pill Dao attainment broke through to Saint-rank (first grade), you gain thirty times Bai Ling's harvest.】

【Bai Ling's cultivation broke through to the third layer of Qi Gathering, you gain thirty times Bai Ling's harvest.】

Another week passed, and finally Bai Ling refined a Saint-rank pill.

This is a first-grade Saint-rank pill.

That is, it's a Meridian-Opening Pill that can assist cultivators when opening their meridians.

Saint-rank Meridian-Opening Pill.

Although it's first-grade, the refinement difficulty of the Meridian-Opening Pill is actually not low, and its price is even higher than many second-grade pills.

Bai Ling being able to refine it this quickly is enough to show that she indeed possesses a talent in pill refinement that ordinary people cannot match.

"I refined only a single-layer color pattern, while the boss is impressive with three-layer color patterns!"

Bai Ling, who refined the Saint-rank pill, still admires Lu Xun immensely.

Because of Lu Xun's three-layer color patterns, she just can't learn them.

Of course she can't learn them.

That is the handiwork of the Creation Pill Meridian.

Her Nine-Turn Pill Meridian's greatest effect is that the pill success rate is nearly 100%.