At the exam site in the old building, they waited until noon. The entire morning passed by, yet the exam still hadn't started.
Some of the sharper examinees guessed the academy was doing this intentionally to test their patience and perseverance, believing it was likely part of the overall assessment score. Most candidates agreed this was probably the case.
After all, the second-round exam was a score-based system, with the final outcome decided by the examiners' ratings. And the scoring criteria were highly subjective. Perhaps, in addition to the performance during the test, they were also evaluating everyone's conduct outside of it?
Of course, if a candidate managed to defeat the upper-year student serving as their opponent, they would pass automatically, no scoring needed. Most, however, didn't entertain such thoughts. They just wanted to perform as well as possible—that, at least, was within their reach.
The female teacher stood there without moving. Hours passed, and she hadn't even shifted her posture. This made the candidates below afraid to fidget. They only dared to move when getting a drink of water or using the restroom, and even then, not too often. Some even held it in the entire time.
Just then, the female teacher tilted her head. Seeing someone outside waving to her, she walked out. A moment later, she returned and announced, "Candidates may take a half-hour break. Do not stray too far from the exam site. At 12:45, the site will be sealed. Anyone who is late will be disqualified."
The candidates finally let out a collective sigh of relief. One by one, they eagerly got up to stretch their legs. Sitting motionless for so long had become unbearable.
Just then, a chubby, round-faced boy with a solid build stood up. He pulled a large bag of beef jerky from his pack. Each stick was individually wrapped. He began passing them to the candidates around him, saying, "Hey, this is homemade beef jerky from my family. Have a piece. It'll really fill you up."
He handed them out one by one to the nearby candidates. Chen Chuan was only a few seats away, so he was offered one as well. He thanked the boy but didn't eat it right away, instead slipping it into his pocket. He had eaten three tubes of Nutrition Paste before coming and hadn't used much energy just sitting all morning, so he wasn't hungry.
The chubby boy enthusiastically continued to pass out jerky to the other candidates. By now, many of them were hungry from the long wait, and they gratefully accepted.
However, some refused outright, opting to eat the food they had brought themselves, while others gave him a cold shoulder and told him to stay away.
The chubby boy didn't seem to mind. Grinning, he pulled a stack of flyers from his bag and handed them to those who had taken the jerky. He said that if they liked it, they could eat at his family's Han Family Restaurant. All Wuyi students would get a fifty percent discount, and anyone who passed the second-round exam would eat for free.
After eating, the candidates could no longer stay quiet and began chatting amongst themselves. Fang Mingming couldn't help but strike up a conversation with Chen Chuan, who was sitting beside him. "Chen? How many years have you been training?" he asked.
Chen Chuan replied, "Not long."
Fang Mingming said, "Ah, me neither. There used to be an old man in my town who taught fighting. I was curious, so I started training with him for a bit. The old man said I had a talent for it, so my parents mortgaged one of our houses, scraped together some money, and hired a proper teacher for me. I've been training every morning and night for two years now..."
He took a bite of beef jerky and said through a full mouth, "Honestly, I'm not confident at all. I couldn't even believe it when the academy said I'd passed the first round. But my teacher said you only count as a true Wuyi student after passing the second round; just passing the entrance exam doesn't mean much. Since I made it this far, I figured I had to give it a shot."
Perhaps to ease his nervousness, he couldn't seem to stop talking once he started. Chen Chuan just sat and listened, showing no signs of impatience.
Meanwhile, in Exam Hall No. 3, Weidong shot up the moment the break was announced. He didn't sit or stand properly; instead, he squatted on his chair, constantly craning his neck to look around.
The candidate next to him, who was eating, was already on edge. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and snapped, "What are you looking at? Can you get down from there? Don't you get tired?"
Weidong said, "I'm looking for a friend, but I don't see him. Did he forget today was the exam?"
The candidate retorted, "There's more than one exam hall. The person you're looking for is probably in another one."
"Oh, so there's more than one exam hall?" The realization seemed to dawn on Weidong.
Seeing that he finally got it, the other candidate seemed to relax, as if a weight had been lifted. But a moment later, seeing Weidong still squatting on the chair, he said angrily, "Are you a monkey? Can't you just sit down?"
Weidong said, "Are you insulting me? You just insulted me, didn't you?"
The other candidate had a temper of his own. He shot to his feet. "So what if I did? You want to fight? I'm ready when you are!"
"Sure. Right now?"
Weidong hopped down from the chair, spoiling for a fight.
The candidate was taken aback by Weidong's excitement and lowered his voice. "Are you insane? Don't you want to take the exam? Aren't you afraid of being disqualified?"
Weidong just stared at him, as if nothing else mattered.
Seeing that Weidong was serious about fighting, the candidate felt his scalp tingle. He turned away and sat back down without another word. 'Forget it,' he thought. 'This guy is more trouble than he's worth.'
Seeing that the fight was off, Weidong looked a little disappointed. He scratched his head and walked out of the hall.
The other candidate cursed inwardly. 'I hope he gets lost and can't find his way back to the exam hall.'
The half-hour break passed quickly. At 12:45, the four exam halls were sealed once more, and the candidates resumed their agonizing wait in silence.
Around one in the afternoon, the Jiang Commission Office and his entourage emerged from a private room in the academy cafeteria and made their way toward the old building.
Seeing him finally arrive, the teachers in charge of the exam relaxed. Teacher Ning, who had been waiting at his side, cautiously asked, "Jiang Commission Office, is it time for your signature?"
The Jiang Commission Office grunted in affirmation.
An assistant immediately handed over the candidate list. After looking it over, he took a pen, signed the bottom, and said, "Let's begin. We need to hurry. This has been hard on the candidates; we should show some efficiency."
Teacher Ning took the list, let out a sigh of relief, and immediately stepped aside. He spoke in a rushed tone to several assistant teachers, who then quickly hurried away.
The assistant walked over to the Jiang Commission Office's side. "Sir, which exam hall will you be observing?"
"Hm, I'll take a look at all of them," the Jiang Commission Office replied. Then, as if recalling something, he asked, "By the way, I heard that the tests in Exam Halls No. 3 and No. 4 are a bit more difficult?"
The assistant confirmed, "Yes, sir. There are quite a few highly skilled candidates in those halls, so we've assigned some of our more advanced upper-year students to match."
The Jiang Commission Office said, "Let's go. We'll check out Exam Hall No. 1 first."
Inside Exam Hall No. 4, the doors were thrown open. An assistant teacher strode in holding a list and handed it to the female teacher. She took it, looked up at the candidates, and announced, "We will now begin calling numbers."
A quiet wave of cheers and sighs of relief rippled through the room, but it was cut short by a single, sharp glare from her. Everyone immediately fell silent. No one wanted to get thrown out now.
The female teacher began, "When your number is called, proceed to the corresponding testing station. Number 115, Number 218, and Number 93—you three, go to Testing Station One. Number 3, Number 9, and Number 492, go to Testing Station Two. Number 207, Number 100..."
As she continued calling out numbers, the candidates realized something. 'They're not calling us in numerical order?'
Chen Chuan immediately understood. 'This way, even those with higher numbers can't relax. Everyone has to maintain focus and stay sharp at all times.' This had to be another one of the academy's intentional arrangements.
Listening to the announcements, it wasn't hard to deduce that Exam Hall No. 4 had five testing stations, numbered one through five. This corresponded to the profiles they had received on the five upper-year students, but there was no telling who would face whom.
At that moment, a previously closed set of doors at the rear of the hall opened. The first batch of called candidates exited through them, following a wide, U-shaped corridor toward their assigned testing stations.
Only seven or eight minutes later, the next batch of candidates was called. The process seemed to be moving along at a decent pace.
But as the exam progressed, injured candidates began to appear. The academy made no effort to hide this; through the open doors and windows, everyone could see a stream of candidates—some unconscious, others with broken bones—being carried out.
However, the candidates had already seen this sort of thing during the entrance exam. The second round was only going to be stricter, so everyone was more or less mentally prepared.
An hour later, the upper-year students conducting the assessments were rotated out. The candidates were allowed another break, during which new information was posted on a notice board. It contained the profiles of the next set of upper-year students, which sparked a flurry of discussion among the candidates.
"Today is going to be tough," one candidate said. "At Testing Station Three, there's an upper-year student named Tai Dong. My older brother told me he's incredible, an expert with his fists and feet. I really hope I don't get matched with him."
Many other candidates nodded in agreement. The profile was sparse on details, but just looking at the vitals—1.95 meters tall and 98 kilograms—he was intimidating. The thought alone of facing him was daunting.
After all, they were just teenagers whose bodies hadn't fully developed. Even with some training, they were far from their physical prime in terms of strength and build, not to mention experience. Against someone like that, they'd be lucky to last a single exchange. There would be no chance to show what they could do, and if they couldn't perform, what was there to score?
"And Zhou Xinrou at Testing Station One. She's 1.85 meters, 82 kilograms, a third-year, and a master of Twisting Skills. I heard she's the one who was breaking everyone's joints."
"Don't forget Zhongwu at Testing Station Five. He's even more ridiculous: 2.02 meters tall, 221 kilograms, a third-year who specializes in Wrestling Takedowns. Isn't that a bit out of our league?!"
The candidates' faces grew pale and their foreheads beaded with sweat. They frantically reviewed the profiles in their hands, hoping to find some exploitable weakness.
Chen Chuan considered this. 'The upper-year students are on a rotation,' he thought. 'So in theory, only a small portion of the candidates here will actually have to face them.'
'However, since they're not calling numbers in order, the matchups were probably determined in advance.'
He glanced over at Fang Mingming, who was staring nervously at his own set of profiles. "Fang," Chen Chuan asked, "did you accept any funding from the Mutual Aid Association?"
"Hm? Oh, that..." Fang Mingming scratched his head. "My dad told me not to trust sponsors who just offer you money out of the blue, so I didn't take it..."
Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment. 'If my guess is right,' he thought, 'then the ones slated to face these difficult upper-year students are likely the candidates who refused the Mutual Aid Association's funding... myself included.'
...
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