Instead, they all held their equipment bags and curiously turned their eyes towards the new student who had become the talk of the school.
Xi Yu, in particular, didn’t take his eyes off Li Yang.
He hated her!
If her talent rating turned out to be S, he would hate her even more!
Xi Yu clenched his jaw, his hands gripping the equipment bag tightly, his heart pounding for reasons he couldn’t quite understand.
He had just managed to make a name for himself, but now he had to face this ‘demon’ in front of him.
A giant white ring scanned Li Yang’s entire body, and a cold, mechanical voice echoed through the room:
“Test complete. The results will be announced shortly.”
Ten seconds passed.
Everyone stared eagerly, whispering among themselves.
“Xi Yu’s results took a long time to be announced before,” one student murmured.
“Li Yang must be S-grade!” another said in awe.
“She’s amazing! Could it be she has full marks in all ten categories…”
Before they could finish, the testing machine’s cold, mechanical voice interrupted:
“Congratulations to Li Yang, your talent rating is F.”
Li Yang: ‘Congratulations to your father!’
The students were taken aback, muttering, “What?!”
The assistant professor from the Pharmacy Department stepped forward, asking, “Is there something wrong with the equipment?”
Yes, she would rather believe the equipment had malfunctioned than accept the fact that the genius new student had received an F rating.
Li Yang forced a smile and asked, “Teacher, if my talent rating is F, I can still participate in the subsequent tests, right?”
The assistant professor hesitated before responding, “You can, but with such a low rating, passing the test would be… almost impossible.”
Li Yang sighed with relief and said, “As long as I can participate, that’s good enough.”
The students around them exploded into murmurs.
One by one, they exchanged glances.
“What’s going on? How could she possibly be F-grade?”
“Yeah! The test measures memory, dexterity… how could someone with a body like hers, a genius of extreme physical prowess, get an F?”
“Maybe her affinity with medicinal pills is very low?”
“How low could it be to drag S-grade memory and dexterity down to an F?”
“…”
The students couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong.
“It must be a problem with the equipment,” they whispered.
The assistant professor cleared her throat and said, “The talent test for medicinal pills is only a reference, and occasional errors are normal. Please all take your equipment bags and head to the testing area.”
From the teachers to the students, nearly everyone thought there must be something wrong with the testing machine.
Li Yang, however, believed the test was accurate.
If it were up to the system to rate her talents, she would probably be rated F as well.
The test area was a public classroom.
After nearly a hundred students entered, it didn’t feel cramped at all.
There were circular desks with names of students who had registered for the minor course.
After sitting according to the order, they began to prepare for the test.
By pure coincidence, Li Yang and Xi Yu were seated directly across from each other.
The only S-grade and the only F-grade student facing each other—how ironic!
Xi Yu sensed Li Yang’s gaze and sneered, turning his head away.
He didn’t believe the equipment had malfunctioned.
Li Yang was F-grade.
And he would crush her in this test, dominating the medicinal pill course and restoring the honor of the Star Law Department!
The assistant professor from the Pharmacy Department spoke up:
“The test is very simple. I will distribute a low-grade star-enhancing pill to everyone. Using the power of starlight, you must refine it. If you can refine it to the first-grade level, you pass.”
A curious student asked, “Teacher, do we only use starlight power to refine it?”
The assistant professor smiled and replied, “It’s not that simple. It might fail. Everyone has one free chance, but if you need a second attempt, you will have to purchase another star-enhancing pill.”
The student fell silent.
Li Yang, however, wasn’t distracted.
She asked, “Teacher, do we not need any equipment to refine the pills?”
The students around quickly realized something was off and echoed her question.
“Yes! If we don’t need any equipment, why do we need to buy these equipment bags?”
The assistant professor maintained her composed, elegant demeanor and explained, “Each test is different. This time, the pill refinement requires no equipment. But feel free to check the messages from the Pharmacy Department’s forum. The message clearly recommended preparing equipment. The word ‘recommended’ is important.”
The students muttered to each other:
“This is a scam! Calling it a ‘Pharmacy Department’ is an understatement. It’s basically a business!”
Li Yang wasn’t trying to provoke anyone; she just wanted to confirm the rules, in case her refinement attempt failed, so she wouldn’t end up wasting her resources.
The assistant professor adjusted her glasses and gently said, “The test begins now. You have 30 minutes. If you successfully refine the pill in this time, you pass.”
At first, the students didn’t understand the significance of her words, until the first student’s attempt failed with a loud shout, “Ah! The pill exploded!”
The assistant professor quickly took out another pill and calmly said, “It’s 2 merit points for a new pill. Do you wish to continue, Student Sun?”
The students grumbled:
“No wonder there’s a time limit; they’re selling these low-quality pills on the side!”
The students begrudgingly bought more pills, realizing they had to pay if they wanted to continue.
Li Yang observed with interest.
The Pharmacy Department had truly mastered the art of the “sunk cost fallacy.”
First, they sold the equipment bags, then the low-quality pills… students had no choice but to keep buying, or else they would lose their chance at the minor course.
The Pharmacy Department’s methods were clever—while their alchemy skills might not be that impressive, they were experts in making money.
At that moment, a few old professors entered the room.
One stood out particularly—not because of his appearance, but because of his shifty eyes.
Li Yang rarely used such words to describe someone, but she believed that everyone who saw this professor could only think of these four words.
It was an old, hunched woman, with a silver-white hair styled in an extravagant explosion shape.
Her head was adorned with gold pins, and she wore the shining, golden uniform of the Pharmacy Department.
On her waist, she carried an abacus, and her sleeves proudly displayed the badge of an associate professor.
Don’t underestimate the title of associate professor.
In the Military Academy of Zhongdu, professors’ titles were closely tied to their cultivation levels.
Full professors were typically seventh-grade or higher, and there were very few of them.
Associate professors were peak sixth-grade cultivators, just one breath away from becoming masters.
The rest, fifth or sixth grade, were just mentors, and below them were assistant professors.
That associate professor with the shifty eyes walked ahead of the other associate professors, showing that her status was no small matter.
A student whispered to their neighbor, “Isn’t that Professor Li Yao Wan?”
Li Yao Wan?
Li Yang remembered the name.
She had heard of her in the trading center.
The medicinal pills crafted by Professor Li were always sold out in no time, especially her breakthrough pills… they sold for much higher than others, and people fought to get them.
This was the famous medicinal pill expert, Professor Li Yao Wan?
She certainly didn’t look the part!
Li Yao Wan’s voice was just as strange.
She didn’t seem like a kind person at all.
She quickly walked up to Li Yang, her eyes shining as she said, “Ah, isn’t this Li Yang? Your talent rating is S, right? I’ve always seen your exceptional roots. You’re a medicinal genius! Why don’t you leave the Agricultural Department and come under my wing…”
The assistant professor from the Pharmacy Department awkwardly interrupted, “Professor Li, Li Yang’s talent rating isn’t S.”
Li Yao Wan blinked.
“Huh?”
The assistant professor quickly corrected, “It’s this student, Xi Yu. His talent rating is S.”
Li Yang watched as Professor Li Yao Wan switched attitudes faster than flipping a page.
The same woman who had praised her exceptional talent now turned and swiftly approached Xi Yu.
Her small eyes remained sparkling, and she repeated the same lines:
“Xi Yu, I’ve always seen your exceptional roots. You’re a medicinal genius! Why don’t you leave your department and come under my wing…”
Xi Yu, confused by the sudden attention, stammered, “I’m from the Star Law Department.”
Li Yao Wan finished her pitch, “Why don’t you leave the Star Law Department and come under my wing? You could become a renowned and wealthy pill refiner!”
The assistant professor whispered, “Professor Li, we’re still in the middle of the test.”
Li Yao Wan, ever the sly one, stepped back, saying, “Alright, everyone, focus on the test. We’re just here to observe and won’t interrupt.”
The other associate professors behind her exchanged glances, their faces full of disapproval, but they didn’t speak up.
The talent testing device had only given a rough estimate.
Now, the real test of alchemy would begin, and it would be interesting to see if Xi Yu could refine a low-quality pill to an intermediate level. If he could, he’d be worth the investment.
Li Yao Wan was stingy with her words, but the other professors were fully prepared to make a real offer.
The battle for talent had only just begun.