Chapter 40 - End of the Exam

The recruitment teachers at the cultivation university had a brief discussion about Su Mu's plight and luck, then they stopped paying attention to him.

Every year there are some unfortunate examinees, and they have grown accustomed to it—haven't there been people who didn't even make it to the examination?

Compared to them, Su Mu was somewhat luckier.

At least he had the experience of the specialized subject examination. Whether he would take the National College Entrance Examination or go to a training school, he would receive bonus points and a tuition discount.

Yes, none of them held out hope for Su Mu.

If previously the difficulty of the examination questions was increased and his talent was found to be mediocre, sentencing Su Mu to a suspended death sentence, now, in their eyes, Su Mu's sentence was immediate execution—there was no room for leniency...

In the blink of an eye, another twenty-plus hours had passed.

There were less than two hours left in the exam time.

Rushing both frantically and slowly, Su Mu finally managed to skim through all the spells for each Major.

The examination space was truly magical.

In this space, feelings of fatigue and weariness were greatly diminished, and one's mental state was kept at its best all the time. Hunger could be felt, but with a mere thought, water and food would be delivered, tasting quite ordinary, much like what the canteen at school would offer.

Luckily for him, otherwise, even with the help of a cheat, it would be hard to learn more than forty spells in 48 hours.

Although each spell was only worth 3 or 4 points, with his level of mastery, even casting them would be a problem.

But it didn't matter—as long as he learned them, even if they were incomplete, Su Mu could perfect them and raise their score to 10 points!

Exhaling deeply, Su Mu pinched the bridge of his nose, which had begun to swell.

Even though the examination space had a calming effect on the mind, he had, after all, learned more than forty spells in one go, and he was a bit tired.

He didn't waste any time; while massaging his forehead, he summoned the spells from the four Majors of runic formations, alchemical pills, alchemical cuisine, and artifact cultivation. After weighing his options, he picked one from each and decided to spend money, upgrading them directly to 10 points (Flawless).

This expenditure cost him 500,000!

If he had wanted to upgrade all forty-plus spells to 10 points (Flawless), it would have cost him at least 5 million, which was simply impossible.

Although Su Mu had earned about 3 million through selling Shangfu Chicken, and with his previous savings, he had roughly 4 million, he dared not spend it all here.

He needed to save money for his sister's subsequent surgeries.

Moreover, invigorating her righteous qi required spiritual pills and spiritual cuisine, all of which were costly!

Therefore, the pay-to-win upgrade for the other spells had to be postponed.

Yet, Su Mu was confident that with these four spells, he could astonish everyone with his skill, creating a sensation.

Because what he had mastered were Flawless spells!

Su Mu had never thought to hide his strength and perform modestly.

He had long learned from reference books like "Five Years of Examination for Cultivation and Three Years of Simulation" that not only were cultivation universities ranked in various levels of quality, but within the cultivation universities themselves, there were divisions similar to regular classes, key classes, and rocket classes.

The better the aptitude and performance of an examinee, the better the cultivation university and class they can enter. This means better teachers and resources for their spiritual practice!

Therefore, it's okay to be low-key in other areas, but absolutely not in spiritual practice.

From the start, one must be a shining genius and keep being awesome.

Only by doing so can you secure the best resources and live up to the identity of a transmigrator and the pay-to-win cheat given by Heavenly Father!

Su Mu isn't worried about suspicion arising from performing too well.

In the history of the examination for cultivation, there have been geniuses who directly improved basic spells during the specialized subject examination.

These individuals became the darlings of the cultivation universities, receiving the best resources and achieving great success.

Take the recent examples: Elder Hua, hailed as the "Father of Modern Runic Formations in China"; Elder Yuan, who became a saint and a revered figure in Spiritual Plants; and 'San Qian' who is well-known in the field of artifact cultivation, both domestically and abroad.

The world of cultivation doesn't lack geniuses, but it also urgently needs them.

After a brief rest, Su Mu adjusted himself to the best condition. He swiped his hand across the light screen, and a table appeared out of thin air in front of him.

On the table were stacks of paper and a finely crafted Rune Brush radiating faint spiritual qi.

Su Mu picked up the Rune Brush, channeled spiritual power into it, and the tip immediately emitted a faint blue glow, deep and full of charm, like the stars in the night sky.

The Rune Brush touched down.

It was as if one could hear the thunder of demons, and see dragons and snakes moving through the strokes.

The ink made of spiritual power traced mysterious patterns on the paper.

After drawing runes, it was time for alchemy, followed by alchemical cuisine.

This time, rather than making spiritual cuisine, Su Mu's three alchemical cuisine examination questions didn't include any Recipe for spiritual dishes.

One was a Fire-Attracting Spell for controlling heat, a set of knife skills for deboning, and a runic formation for building a stove.

Isn't it said that runic formations are the foundation of modern cultivation?

Here, even the basic knowledge of the alchemical cuisine major is related to runic formations.

For the exam, Su Mu chose the Fire-Attracting Spell, with no fear of bedwetting at night1.

Lastly, it was artifact cultivation.

Out of the three artifact cultivation examination questions Su Mu drew, two were related to Magical Tools Maintenance, and only one was about Magical Tools Crafting.

But this particular tool was a hammer.

It's said that cultivators in the artifact cultivation major start by learning to make hammers.

If one can't even make a good hammer, they are not qualified to move on to the next stage of learning.

Of course, when they say it's a hammer, they refer to its shape. In reality, this hammer is anything but simple—it can change size, be soft or hard. It plays a significant role in the crafting and maintenance of magical tools later on and can even be used as a flying sword, thrown to hit someone.

Oh right, it can also release electricity.

Although it's not as mighty as Thor's hammer, it serves well as a Defensive Magical Tool.

Creating the hammer took the most time, but Su Mu finished it within the 48 hours.

After completing the questions for all four Majors, Su Mu submitted his work.

The runes, alchemical pills, and magical tools immediately disappeared, collected by the examination system.

The Fire-Attracting Spell cast by Su Mu had already been recorded by the examination system for its power and effectiveness at the moment of its release.

Although Su Mu had completed and submitted his exam, he wouldn't see his scores immediately.

The results would be presented to the recruitment teachers by the examination system after all examinees had finished, and they would be the ones to make the announcements.

The process of Su Mu answering the questions did not catch the attention of the recruitment teachers.

At this point, it was the time when all examinees had finished practicing and started to answer the exam questions.

The recruitment teachers' gaze was fixed on those examinees they had already taken an interest in earlier.

"This kid is not bad; the Rain Summoning Spell was cast quite well. Although it did not meet the standard of watering half an acre in thirty minutes, it's still impressive. Seems like a promising candidate for studying Spiritual Plants."

"Wow, this young lady is formidable! She looks slender and frail but possesses such a high talent for body refining. Is she on the path to becoming a Female Warrior? Even if she doesn't join the military, she can compete in the Olympics and bring home a weightlifting medal."

"Ah, it seems like this year we haven't spotted any particularly outstanding Sword Cultivator prospects."

Amid the recruitment teachers exchanging comments, the 48 hours finally came to an end.

The exam was over.

All examinees were immediately transported out of the examination space.

Footnote:

Bedwetting at night(晚上尿床): This is a traditional Chinese proverb, "白天玩火，晚上尿床," which serves as a warning to children not to play with fire. It implies that bad actions (playing with fire during the day) can lead to negative consequences (wetting the bed at night).