Chapter 17: You want to CPU me?

Nanshan No. 4 High School, Grade 12 teachers' office.

"Yo, Lin Mo got first place again?"

The middle-aged bald man beside Li Xiang leaned over, clutching a cup of goji berries, and looked at the ranking on his computer screen in surprise:

"This kid is something else. 886 points raw, without the essay? This score might just be enough to challenge for first place in the Nanshan literary exam!"

Other teachers in the office heard this and turned their heads to look over.

"Not bad, Old Li. Your class not only has Ye Chen, that immortal seedling, but now you've also produced a literary star like Lin Mo. Your performance bonus for this year is secure!"

"More than secure. If Old Li's Qi Refining cultivation improves by another level, he might even be rated as a senior teacher next year."

"I'm so envious! We're all regular classes; how come my class doesn't have such good immortal seedlings?"

"You have the nerve to say that? Ye Chen wanted to join your class at the very beginning. Wasn't it you who didn't want him and dumped him on Old Li?"

"Fine, fine, fine. It's all my fault for having eyes but failing to recognize Mount Tai!"

"..."

Facing the teasing and flattery of his colleagues, Li Xiang wasn't as happy as one might imagine. Instead, he sighed and said:

"It's hard to say right now. This Lin Mo... I don't know what he's thinking. At the very last minute, he actually chose the Immortal Exam."

The middle-aged bald man asked in confusion: "Hasn't this kid always been quite smart? Why would he suddenly want to choose the Immortal Exam?"

In the teachers' impression, Lin Mo was different from the other students in the class.

Most students, even if they knew they lacked the talent for cultivation, still couldn't let go of their obsession with immortality.

They lived in a state of endless internal friction, frantically meditating and "involutioning."

But the result was obvious: they gained nothing from either path. A large portion of them would likely spend another year repeating the literary exam next year.

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

From that time on, he had asked teachers of various subjects to use his spare time to review literary exam knowledge. Over the past year, he had "fleeced" quite a few practice tests from them to grind.

The teachers, rarely seeing a student so clear-headed at this age, naturally didn't hoard their resources.

Even knowing Lin Mo was just looking for a free ride, they didn't refuse him.

"He's still just a young man, after all!"

The middle-aged bald man sighed, patted Li Xiang on the shoulder, and said: "Guide him more. There isn't much time left until the Immortal Exam. With such a good seedling for the literary exam, don't let him go down the wrong path."

The smarter a person is, the easier it is for them to get stuck in a dead end.

The fear was that Lin Mo would end up like other students, unable to give up the pursuit of immortality, and eventually turn to evil ways.

Although, since entering the technological era, the Nine Continents' control over cultivators had become increasingly strict, and illegal cultivators were becoming fewer and fewer.

Yet, one still couldn't completely rule out those who couldn't resist the temptation of immortality and ended up suffering from qi deviation.

Such people usually stopped at nothing for cultivation, adopting extreme methods, such as: killing to refine souls, refining blood pills... and other illegal cultivation methods prohibited by the cultivation world.

Hearing the middle-aged bald man say this, Li Xiang replied:

"Lin Mo doesn't seem like that kind of person. This kid is not only smart but also very slippery."

Smart people might get stuck in a dead end, but those who are both smart and slippery won't.

As Lin Mo's homeroom teacher for three years, he naturally knew the boy's character very well.

After saying this, Li Xiang shook his head and added:

"Forget it. I'll talk to him again after the Immortal Exam is over."

The middle-aged bald man nodded and said:

"There are only a few days left to confirm the exam direction. You'd better hurry up, lest this kid fails the Immortal Exam and also bombs the literary exam. By then, his parents will definitely complain to you."

Having said that, he glanced at the time and added: "At this hour, the Immortal Exam should be starting soon, right?"

"Just about. I estimate the results will be out within half an hour."

Another teacher chimed in, mentioning Li Xiang:

"Haha, your class's Ye Chen has a good chance of challenging for first place this time."

"How is that possible! With that person from Class 7 around, who can take first place?"

"I heard that person is going to be recommended for admission, so they won't be taking the exam this time."

"Who did you hear that from? No way. Which Dao Academy is she being recommended to? With her strength and talent, it has to be at least the Tianwu Dao Academy or the Wanxiang Academy, right?"

"Neither. I heard it's the Green Mountain Sect and the Ask Dao Institute."

"Hiss~!"

"..."

At 3:00 PM, the candidates, having rested briefly, moved to the gymnasium.

Lin Mo and Zhang Da stood honestly near the back of the line.

The exam order followed the class sequence, and Class 10, being a regular class, was quite far back in the queue.

In the vast gymnasium, apart from the teachers responsible for testing at the front, there were fewer than a hundred people.

There were thirteen classes in Grade 12, with a total of over seven hundred students, but only one-seventh of them had chosen the Immortal Exam.

If you excluded people like Zhang Da who were just there to join the fun, and those who were still unwilling to give up, the actual number might not even be one-tenth.

"Mo Zi, do you feel cold?"

Zhang Da's body was trembling slightly, and his feet were shaking involuntarily.

Lin Mo glanced at him and said speechlessly:

"It's midsummer, and the gym doesn't even have the AC on. Cold my ass!"

Zhang Da gritted his teeth, took a few deep breaths, and forced himself to calm down:

"Damn it, I'm always nervous as hell whenever I come to the gym for testing. I didn't expect to still be like this right before graduation."

Lin Mo chuckled. Actually, Zhang Da wasn't the only one nervous; quite a few people in this not-so-long line were showing "stress" reactions.

Some even had pale faces and purple lips, looking as if they had just come out of an ice cellar.

This was all caused by being too nervous. Interestingly, during the literary exam earlier, almost no one had shown such symptoms.

The students' differential treatment of the two exams was enough to show how high the status of the Immortal Exam was.

Ye Chen, who was in the top two spots, turned his head to look at Zhang Da's state and snorted coldly:

"Overestimating your own capabilities!"

Zhang Da immediately retorted: "I like it!"

As soon as these words came out, before Ye Chen could say anything, several students from Class 10 who had come to take the exam behind him immediately said:

"Da Hai, how are you talking to Brother Ye? Brother Ye is concerned about you!"

"Exactly. You're only at Qi Refining Level 2, what are you even testing for? Isn't this just losing face for our Class 10?"

"Take my advice and go back quickly. It'll be a joke if you test and don't even reach Qi Refining Level 3."

They chimed in one after another, mocking him.

After finishing, they didn't forget to step on Lin Mo, who was beside him:

"And you, wouldn't it be better to go back and focus on your literary exam? Why do you have to come here and embarrass yourself? Sometimes a person has to accept their fate. If it's not yours..."

"None of your damn business."

Before he could finish, he saw Lin Mo interrupt his output with an expressionless face.

The student speaking was named Li Feng. Being retorted by Lin Mo like that, his acne-covered face immediately flushed red with anger.

As one of the few students in the class with a chance at the Immortal Exam, he was highly respected among the regular students and could even enjoy the "tributes" of regular students on weekdays.

Over time, he naturally labeled himself as a "superior person."

Although he didn't have much interaction with Lin Mo, the literary exam top student of the class, subconsciously, he still believed his "status" was far higher than Lin Mo's.

Even though he had only just advanced to Qi Refining Level 4 not long ago, having the qualification for the Immortal Exam and not having it were two completely different things.

However, with so many people watching, Li Feng couldn't easily lose his temper, so he just snorted coldly and said:

"Lin Mo, don't be ungrateful. I'm advising you for your own good. What's more..."

"None of my damn business."

Lin Mo interrupted again, raised an eyebrow, and looked at him: "You want to CPU me?" ===== CHAPTER 18 =====