Demon Taming: Start by synthesizing a Lantern Ghost with Divine and Demonic Talents

Chapter 130, Part 129: Little Madman, when are you going to take the top spot on the Godlike Zed leaderboard?
Two weeks later, the big exam was fast approaching.

Throughout the various Xia states, and indeed throughout the four great realms of the Earthly Realm, all large-scale social activities were making way for the Great Examination.

The news broadcast also frequently reports on the exam preparation situation in various regions.

The Qingyun Ranking Competition, among others, is scheduled to take place after the major exams.

Zhou Si did not receive an invitation from the Imperial Academy, but thirteen Taoist temples extended offers to her. However, she had always had excellent grades and wanted to try again in the final exam, or at the very least, get an interview opportunity with the Imperial Academy.

Recently, she has also been working with Chen Lingsu, Jiang Lele, Xia Xing, Shen Zhibai, Wei Wu and others to form a study group to tackle the major exams. They compete and learn from each other every day, practicing questions and studying past exam papers.

The reason for this competition is that some universities require it for the interview process.

In fact, if someone has high combat talent, their overall score will be higher.

This is simply a product of the times; in peacetime, scientific research talent would naturally be more sought after.

Hu Yifei has already received the entrance order to the Taiyuan Academy of Dachan Temple. As a martial artist, he has no external pressure and is currently idle with the big exam approaching. Therefore, he is very concerned about his girlfriend Chen Lingsu's grades.

I've been secretly helping out lately, tutoring and acting as a sparring partner. In reality, it's just about serving tea and water, doing odd jobs, and being a live target.

Chen Lingsu, Jiang Lele, and Xia Xing, based on their actual abilities, do not actually meet the requirements for entering the Imperial Academy. However, they are champions of the Qingyun Ranking Team Competition and are blessed with good fortune, so they are not lacking in the favor of Dao Palaces and Dao Academy.

Everyone has dreams.

Anyway, there's always the Daoist Palace or Daoist Academy as a safety net. If I do well on the big exam and get accepted into the Imperial Academy, wouldn't that be incredibly lucky?

Li Chunfeng was also curious about the entrance exam papers for the grand examination, so he carried a large fish to visit everyone.

Although the fish didn't look appetizing, Mr. Hu volunteered to cook a boiled fish dish to treat everyone after hearing that the fish was extremely delicious.

Everyone welcomed Li Chunfeng's arrival, especially since he was carrying some things, but it was a crucial time for the final exams, so there was no time to entertain him.

As for sparring with him... let's not bother.

Wei Wu was eager to try, but when he thought that he would need Li Chunfeng to suppress the vast majority of the forces in order to have room to perform, he immediately lost interest.

"Go play by yourself."

Li Chunfeng didn't need anyone to entertain him. "Do you have any blank exam papers? I'd like to try them out too."

"Yeah."

Chen Lingsu, the young lady, enthusiastically handed him a large stack of papers, saying, "Xiao Li, you should also take the test. I want to see how your score is later. Is it high enough to meet the admission requirements for the Imperial Academy?"

"Nine times out of ten!"

Under everyone's curious gaze, Li Chunfeng confidently took the test paper and began to answer the questions.

My scores in literature and science exams remained consistently high.

Literature: 120 points.

Science: 130 points.

It has even regressed slightly.

In the last mock exam, he scored 128 and 135 points, which must be because he hasn't been studying much lately.

However, due to his recent exposure to the "Black Lotus Sutra of the Turbid World" cultivation method, Tian Di Shi Wen's understanding of Shi Wen has deepened, and he has become quite adept at answering the test questions.

The final grade was 118 points.

Wow~ I only got one ambiguous question wrong.

This result shows significant improvement.

Then came the most difficult subject: basic cultivation techniques.

Basic weapon crafting, a question posed by the Wuzhuang Temple Taoist Palace.

"Please design and create a magical artifact with the property of breaking through mental energy shields, suitable for use by cultivators in the Divine Realm."

In recent years, the major examinations have generally covered the five basic disciplines of military strategy, alchemy, weaponry, talismans, and array formations. However, in some historical years, these disciplines have been modified to meet the needs of different political periods.

For example, for several decades before, the main tests were on combat skills, martial arts, runes, weapon crafting, weapon forging, formations, and military strategy.

It is clearly more inclined to cultivate combat-oriented and command-oriented talents.

The subjects of weapon crafting and forging, and alchemy, are also the most varied examination categories.

If a student has a particular strength in a subject or is exceptionally talented in a certain area, universities will prioritize their alchemy, weapon forging, and artifact refining skills based on whether the student is a cultivator or a martial artist, rather than solely considering their total score.

Aside from institutions offering master's degree programs, which exhibit significant differences in ranking, top-tier martial arts academies are actually no less powerful than Dao Palaces and Dao Academyes. After all, they are directly under the Ministry of War, and graduates have the potential to hold important positions in the Celestial Court.

The martial arts academies of Zhuxia are divided into "Heavenly" and "Earthly" ranks, and each academy has its own competitive ranking mechanism every year, which is extremely competitive.

We are not worried about letting down outstanding talents.

If a student applies to a prestigious martial arts academy, or the martial arts disciplines of the Thirty-Six Palaces or the Three Great Imperial Academies, there will be a standardized interview and practical assessment.

However, for those who had participated in the Qingyun Ranking Competition, the practical interview was actually a plus.

The rest are all basic subjects, and it is easy to distinguish the students' talents from these aspects.

The flexible and varied assessment policies also allow many institutions to more easily cater to both cultivators and martial artists, thus minimizing the chances of overlooking talent.

Returning to this basic weapon-refining problem, Li Chunfeng, based on his own understanding and referring to the characteristics of the Blood God Child Soul Weapon and the Blood Pattern Flying Needle Spiritual Weapon, displayed his talent with a brilliant and ingenious design.

I was very satisfied, but the final intelligent scoring only gave me a score of 35.

"How could this be? There must be a mistake."

Undeterred, he flipped through the reasons for the grading: "The design concept is outdated, the materials are excessive, and the high-level materials are simply piled up without considering the interaction of the materials' properties. This fails to bring out the full potential of the materials, resulting in serious waste! The designed magical artifact has extremely high requirements for spiritual power and is not within the scope of use for cultivators in the Divine Realm."

"..."

How can it not be used by those in the Divine Realm? Don't you understand what it means for special talents to use special methods?

Li Chunfeng decided not to engage in a futile struggle with the computer.

He pulled out the exam paper for the basic forging subject and wrote, "He was in charge of designing a first-tier divine weapon with the characteristic of breaking through the Qi."

This is easy.

But this time, Li Chunfeng thought about it carefully for a long time, specifically referring to the characteristics of the Fire Blade Holy Sword, and focused on the "Shock" technique.

The score was still low, at 45 points.

The reason given was that it was a waste of materials.

Well, Li Chunfeng finally gave up; he wasn't some kind of all-rounder.

So he dug out the basic talisman test paper and completed it carefully. After the paper was graded, he got a high score of 89.

Last time, he only scored 65 points in the basic talisman subject.

Mr. Li regained his confidence.

Basic alchemy... omitted.

Although alchemy masters earn a lot of money and have excellent job prospects after graduation, Mr. Li is only interested in consuming elixirs; alchemy is out of the question. The knowledge of the medicinal properties, pharmacology, zodiac signs, and interactions of various herbs completely baffles him and holds no interest whatsoever.

He did not plan to study alchemy after entering the Imperial Academy.

The basic formation exam was from a question set by the Longhushan Taoist Temple two years ago.

He has recently become obsessed with sword formations and believes that he should have made considerable progress in the art of formations.

He picked up his pen and started solving the problems quickly, easily deducing the first few formations.

"Hmm, the Nine Palaces Linked Formation, that's interesting."

He quickly calculated the array formations and patterns in his mind. Half an hour later, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, awkwardly put down his pen, stretched his arms, and pretended to be nonchalant. This array formation question happened to be outside his area of ​​knowledge; he'd skip it.

Moving on to the next step: repairing the damaged array patterns?

What kind of array pattern is this? It seems familiar. Li Chunfeng scratched his head and thought about it seriously for a while, but unfortunately it still didn't recognize him, and he didn't recognize it either, so he skipped it.

"The Four Symbols Formation of Heavenly Will: Deciphering the Next Direction of Formation Changes."

...That's enough~
Just then, a sudden thought struck him.

"Ahem, I suddenly remembered that I haven't finished my cultivation practice for today, so I won't disturb you any longer."

"Hey, Old Li's leaving already? I've already prepared the fish, aren't you going to eat it?"

Hu Yifei walked in with a large basin of boiled fish, looking very eager to please.

Li Chunfeng sniffed hard, then resolutely said, "I'm not eating. I have something to do, so I'm leaving first."

He patted his butt and turned to leave.

"Fine, don't eat then." Hu Yifei immediately urged everyone to eat, "Let's eat fish, Susu, come quick."

Zhou Si also put down her pen at this moment, and curiously picked up the array scroll that Li Chunfeng had not finished. After a while, she chuckled.

He thought to himself how lucky he was to be admitted without taking the exam, otherwise the opportunity would have been wasted.

Li Chunfeng refused to admit that his skill level was limited to this; he genuinely had something to attend to.

After more than a month, the "Black Lotus Sutra of the Turbid World" was finally completed.

Li Chunfeng's luck points were completely depleted. However, he successfully deduced the "Black Lotus Sutra of the Turbid World" to the Yin Spirit realm, which was even more difficult than expected.

Despite expending so much energy, only one level of cultivation technique was successfully developed.

He realized that he was probably wasting his time. Since he was already considering directly practicing the methods of his predecessors, he thought, "Perhaps there's no need to choose another path. Practicing the methods deduced by others in the early stages is the same. It might be better to do deductions later when I have more knowledge."

But he quickly abandoned this wishful thinking.

Before reaching the Divine Embryo Realm, it's manageable; at a certain cost, one can change their main cultivation method without any side effects.

Once one enters the Yin Spirit Realm, a mark will inevitably be imprinted on their soul. Switching to other cultivation methods, even those of the same type, may not be impossible, but for cultivators aspiring to higher realms, it is absolutely forbidden.

Taking shortcuts in the early stages may lead to regret later.

Now, Li Chunfeng has the opportunity to forge his own path in the early stages, something many people dream of, and he should cherish it even more.

Although the [Derivation Method] did not meet his expectations, Li Chunfeng did not come away empty-handed.

It should be understood that the characteristic of the [Derived Methods] is that it allows one to apply the insights gained from many derived methods to oneself.

Li Chunfeng deduced the cultivation method of the fourth level of the Yin Spirit Realm in the "Black Lotus Scripture of the Turbid World", which means that he has fully comprehended the first four levels of cultivation methods.

This will be of great help to your future cultivation.

In short, the good fortune wasn't wasted.

The day of the big exam.

Li Chunfeng neither cultivated nor entered Yuancheng. He and Hu Yifei, along with Lao Yan and other teachers, specially cheered on the students and provided them with off-site living services.

Yan Liguang has been riding high lately, as two geniuses from his class have been admitted to the Imperial Academy without taking the entrance exam—a feat unique to him in the entire Shan Hai Academy. Wherever he goes, he boasts about it to his colleagues. But today, he's toned down his arrogance and is earnestly reminding everyone of important exam instructions.

Compared to the other students who looked serious, as if facing a life-or-death enemy, Li Chunfeng and his companion looked relaxed, wandering around outside the examination hall like two street urchins.

Some suggested that they also take the big exam to experience the atmosphere and test their own knowledge...

No need, absolutely no need!
Good luck on your exam.

Looking at the confident and beautiful Zhou Siye, Li Chunfeng offered some cheap encouragement.

"Yes. Thank you for the fish, it tastes delicious. What's the name of that fish, and where did you catch it?"

"Ice Scale Lanternfish, produced in a very special underground Black Sea, can enhance dark talents if consumed regularly. If you like to eat them, I have a few more."

"...Then you shouldn't have taken it out. You have a dark talent attribute. Giving it to us only satisfies our appetites, but it has great significance for you."

"There weren't many, and I couldn't tell if they really improved my talent. I just ate them, so I guess I made the most of them."

“Alright. My Phantom Swallowtail is currently facing a cultivation dilemma. I haven’t been able to figure out the direction for cultivating spatial teleportation either. You’ve also learned spatial escape techniques, and I feel that they are quite different from mine. Perhaps we can verify each other’s spatial magic?”

"...You should focus on the big exam first!"

"Too."

Zhou Si was also somewhat disappointed, as her spirit pet was actually quite good. She was just thinking that Li Chunfeng would be going to participate in the World Tournament after his exams, and perhaps her Phantom Butterfly spatial talent could inspire him… so she decided not to accept the offer.

The major exam lasted for three whole days.

After it ended, all sorts of people in the Mountain and Sea Academy appeared one by one. In each graduating class, there were students laughing and joking around the school. Occasionally, there were unruly students who ran around the academy naked at night. They were caught by the dean and severely punished. As they were about to graduate, they had to clean the huge training ground by themselves.

Throughout the campus, young men and women were radiating intense emotional fluctuations.

Li Chunfeng also attended several farewell dinners.

After all, they had lived together for seven or eight years, and Shanhai Academy was their second home. Now, they were about to enter a wider university, which meant leaving this "home".

These war orphans felt this especially deeply.

After a brief farewell to some people, Li Chunfeng initially tried to integrate and not appear aloof, but he could never quite manage to immerse himself in the atmosphere and seemed out of place.

Since his divine sense transformed into divine consciousness, these emotions have become nourishment for his divine consciousness, allowing him to maintain a calm demeanor at all times and rarely experience intense emotional fluctuations. Suddenly, Li Chunfeng understood why those with higher cultivation levels tended to live in seclusion.

However, simply escaping the world may not be suitable for everyone.

Everyone has their own path, and practicing that path and unifying knowledge with action is what we should do.

Li Chunfeng felt out of place, and there were reasons for that, as well as the fact that he had long ago firmly established his own path.

"Drip~"

My phone rang, and Zhou Si sent me a message: "The Qingyun Ranking contestants are having a get-together today. Do you want to go?"

Li Chunfeng: "No, enough people have already participated."

"Then I won't go either."

"Have you estimated your score? What was it?"

"I'll probably score over 1100, which is above the admission score for Daogong. My first choice is to apply to Taixueyuan for one last shot."

Based on past admission scores, the admission standard for Thirty-Six Palaces is generally around 1000 points.

A score of 1100 is a sure bet for admission to Daogong High School.

The Imperial Academy does not have a minimum admission score; it follows the admission score of the Dao Palace. Even if you exceed the minimum score, you can still apply to the Imperial Academy. Unless you are truly unsuitable, the Imperial Academy will generally issue an invitation letter, giving you a chance to take the entrance exam.

Therefore, for high-achieving students, listing the Imperial Academy as their first choice does not affect their ability to join the Dao Palace as their second choice.

However, the number of students admitted to the Imperial Academy is ultimately limited.

Zhou Si also wanted to achieve her goal, so she had to stand out in the interview process.

"Alright, Hu Yifei is taking Chen Lingsu to the movies tonight. Come to my place after dark, I'll show you something."

Zhou Si also: "..."

When no one is around at night, they whisper among themselves.

Zhou Si suddenly felt a little nervous and sat in front of the mirror for a long time. "Does this idiot invite girls like this?"

Although Zhou Si knew that Li Chunfeng's invitation to her was probably not what she thought, his blunt words still annoyed her.

After nightfall, she honestly merged with the Phantom Butterfly and used spatial teleportation to carefully avoid crowded areas, especially areas where teachers might pass by, and sneaked to Li Chunfeng's dormitory.

"coming!"

Li Chunfeng, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as lightning, and looked at a certain spot in the void to his side.

Zhou Si met his gaze, as if he could see right through her.

She leaped out of the void, filled with curiosity, "How did you discover that I was trying to escape from here?"

After her transformation into a demon, Zhou Si was breathtakingly beautiful. Her already peerless and aloof temperament became even more dreamlike and mysterious.

Li Chunfeng did not answer her.

With a wave of his hand, a huge stone tablet fell into the hall.

"Try to ponder it and see how much you can comprehend; it depends on your fate."

Zhou Si looked up in confusion, initially nonchalant, but upon realizing what these runes were, her beautiful eyes widened instantly, and her cherry-like mouth instinctively opened wide enough to fit a sausage. Even after she had completely memorized all the void runes of the Zhou Tian system, she was still filled with shock, realizing that such a set of basic void runes actually existed in the world.

This move is nothing less than a fundamental interpretation of the principles of space.

This is actually more difficult than comprehending the profound principles of space. Only a highly accomplished senior expert who has gone extremely far in the path of space could make such a precise interpretation.

She could hardly imagine how precious it was.

I owe you a favor.

Her gaze was complicated as she gently bit her lip. "I will repay what I owe you."

Li Chunfeng smiled and said, "No need. You already have your own spatial magic. I believe this set of void runes will inspire you and help you find your future direction. I wish you success in entering the Imperial Academy."

"……Thanks."

Li Chunfeng didn't ask Zhou Si which Imperial Academy she wanted to apply to, but he instinctively felt that Zhou Si wouldn't apply to Kunlun Imperial Academy.

After dealing with the trivial matters at the academy, Li Chunfeng plunged into Yuancheng.

He didn't log onto the dueling platform today, but just played a few matches as usual.

He only watched one of Lu Yun'er's sword duels, in which she decisively defeated a demon race contestant.

With this victory, she successfully entered the top 200.

The girl was overjoyed. With her hands behind her back, she stood on tiptoe and circled around the aloof Li Chunfeng, her doe eyes full of laughter as she looked at him. "Little madman, when are you going to take the top spot on the Godly Tribulation Ranking? Hehe, I've already entered the top 200. It won't be long before I catch up with you."

Li Chunfeng's ranking has jumped to 138th, making him a truly top-tier individual.

But he restrained his urge to rack up points, waiting for the lantern ghost to completely merge with his soul.

"It won't be long before I'm number one on the leaderboard!"

"When I return from the Qingyun Ranking World Tournament, I will climb to the top and show you."

"Hmph, I'll be watching. Also, you said you'd treat me to fish, so if it's not good, it doesn't count."

"Wait, then."

The little deer is dancing, spinning, and leaping—please give me a monthly pass!
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(End of this chapter)