Chapter Ninety-Two: Tianshui High Court (Ninth Update, Subscription Requested)

In this era, the college entrance examination was divided into two major stages. The first stage was called Selection.

First, those without talent, and whose level was below fifteen, were not eligible to participate in the examination.

However, possessing a talent would grant eligibility regardless of level.

The Selection comprised three rounds, each with ten challenge targets. Advancement through the rounds and the number of defeated targets determined one’s right to apply to various academies.

"This year’s Selection is much the same as before. With your abilities, you shouldn’t have any trouble reaching the third round. Strive to go further in the third round, as this will determine the caliber of academy you can apply to."

Duan Yuqin handed a stack of documents to Chu Cheng, speaking gravely.

"Only by reaching the latter stages of the third round will you qualify to apply to the top-tier academies. Work hard—I hope to hear good news from you."

Chu Cheng nodded earnestly. "I’ll do my best!"

"Good, off you go."

Leaving the teacher’s office, Chu Cheng perused the documents as he walked. By the time he returned to the dormitory, he had finished reading and had a rough understanding of the college examination.

"The first round isn’t too difficult; the real challenge lies in the third round. As long as I reach the third round and defeat more than five targets, getting into a first-rate academy is guaranteed."

"My bottom line is a first-rate academy, but I’ll strive for a top-tier one."

Clenching his fists, Chu Cheng steeled his resolve.

Time passed swiftly, and two days went by in the blink of an eye.

Early that morning, he received a group message from the school, quickly made his way to the field, and soon a large magical airship arrived to transport them from the school to TS City.

Yuntai City was just a small place, with few students qualified for the examination and no resources to host an exam site. Thus, its students had to join those from neighboring cities and head to the provincial capital, TS City, for the assessment.

TS City was home to Tianshui Higher Institute—formally, TS City Higher Academy—the only first-rate institution in the province.

The entire province’s college entrance examination was centralized and held at this one top-tier academy.

After more than ten hours of flight, the magical airship appeared above a vast expanse of mountains. In the distance, a towering pillar of magical light pierced the sky between the peaks, dazzlingly bright. Shapes moved faintly around the light, though from afar, it was impossible to see clearly.

As the airship drew closer, the pillar was revealed to be even more magnificent than imagined.

A radiant beam, kilometers in diameter, shot upward from the mountains, piercing directly into a colossal thundercloud vortex overhead. The vortex itself spanned at least a hundred kilometers, formed from countless converging bolts of lightning. Occasionally, massive arcs would lash out, illuminating the world in a sudden flash.

Encircling the pillar stood nine towering spires, each densely inscribed with magical runes and wreathed in auras of sorcery.

Further out among the mountains, more spires of varying heights rose, similarly engraved and glowing with magical light.

This pillar and the surrounding high towers were all mage towers, comprising part of Tianshui Higher Institute.

As the airship neared the institute, its grandeur became apparent. From afar, one could only glimpse the outline, but now, up close, each mage tower stood like a skyscraper, their intense auras expanding and contracting, stirring the soul with every pulse.

The airship landed beside one of the mage towers at the edge of the campus, on a giant platform already crowded with other magical vessels from different regions. Groups of adolescents, most of them awestruck, disembarked and gazed around in wonder.

Chu Cheng and his companions stepped off, only to hear a loud voice:

"Yuntai City No. 5 High, assemble! No wandering, no loud talking!"

This year’s group leader was Vice Principal Zhang Erxin, a man in his forties, who, along with several homeroom teachers, organized the team and sternly instructed:

"The first stage of the college entrance exam, the Selection, begins tomorrow. Tonight, you’ll rest within Tianshui Higher Institute. Do not wander, do not engage with outsiders, and don’t even think about cheating."

His tiger-like gaze swept the students, so intense that none dared meet his eyes.

After a brief conversation with what appeared to be a staff member of the institute, he clapped his hands and called out:

"Line up according to class rankings and follow me. Class One, step forward."

With that, he and the institute staff set off, with the students following in order. Chu Cheng obediently brought up the rear.

Behind the plaza lay a vast dormitory district, filled with high-rise buildings of twenty to thirty floors each, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Chu Cheng counted more than twenty such buildings in view, and with those further back, the area could easily house more than fifty thousand people.

There was little more to do but sleep.

With the exam imminent and the place unfamiliar, no one had the heart to explore.

The next morning, after a simple wash, Chu Cheng went down to the plaza to assemble.

Streams of students converged, each school forming its own phalanx. Chu Cheng glanced around and saw fifty or sixty such groups.

Some groups had a few dozen, others over a hundred; altogether, there were three to four thousand students.

With such numbers, at least half would fail to enter higher academies, and ninety percent of the remainder would only make it into ordinary institutions.

As the students waited in the plaza, a bell tolled somewhere unseen. Instantly, the magical aura around the central mage tower flared, the great doors slowly opening.

A group of men and women in matching uniforms emerged and conferred briefly before a thunderous voice rang across the square:

"Prepare to enter!"

"TS City No. 1 High!"

The team closest to the mage tower set off, filing inside.

Yuntai City was ranked near the bottom in the province, so Chu Cheng and his peers waited over two hours before their school was called. Exhaling, he joined the procession.

Passing through the entrance was like stepping through a crystalline barrier into another realm.

Indeed, it was another realm, for within the mage tower was not the expected architectural interior, but a vast plaza even larger than the one outside.

Around the plaza rose pillars of stone, and at the center stood a great raised platform, upon which a glowing isosceles triangle-shaped portal shimmered. Beyond it, staff in matching uniforms awaited.

The College Entrance Examination Committee was a body formed by all the top factions of human civilization, dedicated to overseeing the selection process.

The so-called college entrance examination was, in fact, a unified talent assessment jointly conducted by all major and minor human powers.

It was much like how sects in immortal cultivation tales would open their gates to recruit disciples—only, in this case, it was organized as an entrance exam.

The reason was that human civilization now revolved around higher academies as its core.

When the human world was captured by the Chaos Realm and plunged into its depths, chaos reigned at first. Sects, gangs, warlords, all manner of factions emerged in the confusion.