Chapter 17: You Think You Can CPU Me?

Nanshan No. 4 High School, Grade 12 Teacher’s Office.

“Oh, Lin Mo got first again?”

A middle-aged bald man beside Li Xiang, sipping goji berry tea, leaned over and stared at the ranking on his computer screen in surprise:

“This kid’s impressive—886 raw score without essay points? That could top the Nanshan written exam!”

Other teachers in the classroom turned their heads at the remark.

“Good job, Old Li—your class has not only Ye Chen, a spiritual seed, but also Lin Mo, a literary star. This year’s performance bonus is guaranteed!”

“More than guaranteed—if Old Li raises his Qi Refining realm one more level, he might even qualify for senior teacher status next year.”

“So envious! We’re all regular classes—why don’t we have students like this?”

“How can you even say that? Ye Chen originally wanted into your class, but you turned him down and dumped him on Old Li!”

“Fine, fine, it’s all my fault for not recognizing true talent!”

“...”

Facing colleagues’ teasing and flattery, Li Xiang didn’t show the expected joy—he sighed and said:

“It’s still too early to say. This Lin Mo... I can’t figure out what he’s thinking—he’s suddenly chosen the spiritual exam.”

The bald man frowned: “Aren’t you saying he’s usually smart? Why suddenly pick the spiritual exam?”

In the teachers’ minds, Lin Mo was different from other students.

Most students, even knowing they had no cultivation talent, still couldn’t abandon their obsession with immortality.

They envied endlessly, while frantically meditating and overworking themselves.

But the result was obvious—they gained nothing from either path; most will likely retake the written exam next year.

Unlike Lin Mo, who had clearly recognized his limits a year ago.

Since then, he’d approached every subject teacher, asking to use free time to review written exam material—and over the past year, he’d collected countless practice questions from them.

The teachers, rarely encountering a student so clear-headed at this age, did not withhold their resources.

Even knowing he was just freeloaders, they never refused.

“After all, he’s still young!”

The bald man sighed, patted Li Xiang’s shoulder: “Talk some sense into him. The spiritual exam is coming soon—don’t let such a promising written exam candidate go off track.”

The smarter someone is, the more likely they are to dig themselves into a corner.

What’s feared is that Lin Mo, like the others, can’t let go of his longing for immortality—and ends up on a dark path.

Though since entering the technological age, Jiuzhou has tightened control over cultivators, and illegal practitioners have grown fewer,

it’s still impossible to fully rule out those who, unable to resist the lure of immortality, fall into qi deviation.

Such people often resort to any means necessary—using extreme cultivation methods like killing to harvest souls, forging blood elixirs... all forbidden, illegal practices.

Li Xiang, hearing this, replied:

“Lin Mo isn’t that kind of person. He’s not just smart—he’s cunning.”

A smart person might dig himself into a corner, but a smart and cunning one won’t.

As Lin Mo’s homeroom teacher for three years, he knew his character well.

After speaking, Li Xiang shook his head:

“Forget it—I’ll talk to him after the spiritual exam.”

The bald man nodded:

“You’ve got only a few days left before exam direction confirmation—hurry up. If he fails the spiritual exam and also bombs the written one, the parents will blame you.”

He glanced at the clock: “It’s about time the spiritual exam starts, isn’t it?”

“Probably. Scores should be out within half an hour.”

Another teacher chimed in, turning back to Li Xiang:

“Haha, your class’s Ye Chen might actually have a shot at first place this time.”

“Impossible! With Seventh Class’s girl there, who can take first?”

“I heard she’s being recommended for admission—she won’t even take the exam.”

“Who said that? And which Dao Academy? With her talent, she should be headed to Tianwu Dao Academy or Wanxiang Academy at least!”

“Neither. I heard it’s Qingshan Sect and Wenda Academy.”

“Whoa~!”

“...”

…

…

At 3 p.m., after a brief rest, the candidates moved to the gymnasium.

Lin Mo and Zhang Dahai stood quietly near the back of the line.

Exam order followed class sequence; Class 10, being a regular class, came late.

The massive gymnasium held, besides the teachers administering tests, fewer than a hundred people.

Grade 12 had thirteen classes, totaling over seven hundred students—but only one in seven chose the spiritual exam.

Excluding Zhang Dahai and others who came out of curiosity or reluctant hope, the number likely fell below one in ten.

“Mozi, don’t you feel cold?”

Zhang Dahai shivered slightly, his feet trembling unconsciously.

Lin Mo glanced at him, speechless:

“It’s summer! The gym’s not even on AC—what’s cold about it?”

Zhang Dahai gritted his teeth, took several deep breaths, and forced himself to calm down:

“Damn it, I always get this nervous during gym tests—even this close to graduation.”

Lin Mo chuckled. He wasn’t the only one nervous—many in this not-so-long line showed signs of stress.

Some turned pale, lips purple, as if they’d just stepped out of an ice cellar.

All from sheer anxiety—yet during the written exam, almost no one showed this reaction.

The students’ stark difference in attitude toward the two exams revealed just how high the spiritual exam’s status was.

Ye Chen, standing in the top two, turned his head and sneered at Zhang Dahai’s state:

“Overestimating yourself!”

Zhang Dahai shot back immediately: “I like it!”

Before Ye Chen could respond, several other Class 10 students behind him chimed in:

“Dahai, how dare you talk to Brother Ye like that? He’s just looking out for you!”

“Yeah! You’re only Qi Refining Level 2—why even show up? You’re embarrassing Class 10!”

“Listen to us—go back. If you test below Qi Refining Level 3, it’ll be a joke.”

They piled on, one after another.

Then they turned to belittle Lin Mo beside them:

“And you—why not just go back and ace your written exam? Why come here to humiliate yourself? Sometimes you’ve got to accept your place—you’re not...”

“None of your business.”

He hadn’t finished when Lin Mo cut him off, expressionless.

The student speaking was Li Feng. Lin Mo’s retort instantly flushed his acne-covered face red with rage.

As one of the few in class with spiritual exam eligibility, Li Feng was revered among regular students—even receiving daily “offerings.”

Over time, he’d branded himself “above others.”

Though he rarely interacted with Lin Mo, the class’s written exam top student, he still subconsciously believed his “status” far surpassed Lin Mo’s.

Even though he’d only just reached Qi Refining Level 4, having spiritual exam eligibility versus not was a world apart.

But in front of so many, Li Feng held back his anger, merely sneering:

“Lin Mo, don’t be ungrateful. I’m warning you for your own good—and besides...”

“None of your business.”

Lin Mo cut him off again, raising an eyebrow: just you want to CPU me?