Chapter 58: Lifewater
The corners of Xiao Lin’s eyes twitched suddenly. “Freshman or sophomore? What you’re saying is that other colonial academies use the contents of this exam for their sophomores too? Wait, I think that’s it! Back then, the members of Judge Academy had strengths between Black Iron-rank and Bronze-rank, which indicates that the Thunder Kingdom’s army should at least be at this level too. How can an examination of this level be used against freshmen!”
“That isn’t something that concerns you. Even though this monthly exam’s simulated battle will be reconstructed as realistically as possible to actual events, it won’t turn out to be exactly the same. For example, the formation and location of the kingdom’s border troops will be arranged at random. The enemy’s strength will also drop to the same level as yours.”
Qin Chuan’s quick explanation relieved everyone of their worries, but Xiao Lin noticed a solemn and helpless look between the instructor’s eyebrows, which left Xiao Lin feeling as though the exam was not as simple as it was made out to be.
Xiao Lin actually had more doubts, but he did not ask any further questions. He felt that an instructor might not know that much anyway, and besides, he had a frosty relationship with Qin Chuan.
After that, Qin Chuan briefly explained the key points to note for the monthly exam, glossing over and even overlooking many of the details that were floating around in everyone’s mind.
For example, when entering the exam’s simulated environment, they were not allowed to carry any other helpful information other than the weapons and equipment they owned. Even the map and data at hand was disallowed from being brought in, since Judge Academy’s team had no map back in the day.
Although allocating maps to freshmen in advance to familiarize everyone with the environment could be considered a surreptitious means to reduce difficulty, the academy obviously did not intend to let the freshmen have it so easy.
In another example, Qin Chuan repeatedly warned everyone that the monthly exam was different from the admissions test. The simulation exercise was very real and 10 years of life would be deducted with each death. In fact, his purpose was not to scare them.
There were still people who found it difficult to accept that regulation. Although a month went by in a rather dull and boring manner, many people had subconsciously treated the place like an ordinary academy.
“There are three objectives in the monthly exam’s tasks, but the truth is, there’s another task in addition to this: to live! Even if you failed your tasks, it’s better to live than to die!”
Qin Chuan’s words cast a shadow over many people’s minds. There was no death penalty in the admissions test, and many people actually doubted whether the academy would actually implement such cruel regulations. At that point, it seemed inevitable.
Xiao Lin was not too worried about that for the time being. He still had a lot of life left, but he could not help but glance with concern at the indifferent girl beside him. Gu Xiaoyue only had two years of life remaining, and it was something he had always been worried about.
Xiao Lin asked again, “When we enrolled in the academy, you mentioned before that there’s a way for us to increase our life expectancy. Can you be more specific?”
“This is also one of the points I’ll touch on next.” Qin Chuan glanced at Xiao Lin blankly and said, “Yes, Dawn Academy implements a system of simulated monthly exams, and although the difficulty is reduced specifically for freshmen, death is still unavoidable. Lifewater is currently the only item that can supplement one’s lost lifespan and even increase one’s maximum lifespan.”
“Lifewater?”
Whispers were heard throughout the classroom and Xiao Lin asked again. “How do we get it?”
Qin Chuan shrugged it off. “The official store in the forum. It’s easy to find.”
“I’ve visited the official store, but I’ve never even seen it,” someone immediately stood up and retorted. They visited the forums frequently in their spare time, so it was impossible for anyone not to know.
Qin Chuan smiled in disdain. “Do you think lifewater is like a head of Chinese cabbage that you can buy as and when you please? I don’t know much about it, but what I can tell you is that lifewater’s production process is very difficult and complicated. Basic lifewater can only be harvested once every three months. Each bottle is priced at a thousand redemption points. Each bottle can either increase the limit of your life or supplement another a ten-year lifespan. It’s in short supply and the quantity is very limited, so it’s almost impossible to meet the demands of the entire academy. There are times where it’ll be sold out in less than an hour after going for sale. You’re out of luck because the last batch of it was just sold out last month. You’ll have to wait another month to buy it!”
“That’s crazy expensive!” Xiao Lin was a little surprised. The total redemption points one could get after obtaining Grade S in the admissions test was only 800 points. In addition to the 200 points as reward for his perfect attendance, it amounted to exactly 1,000 points. That was only enough to buy one bottle. Those who could not get a high evaluation would likely only have the opportunity to save enough redemption points for lifewater after a couple of months.
Xiao Lin looked at the expressionless Gu Xiaoyue and hesitated to say anything. After all, it was inappropriate to talk about it in class.
“There must be intermediate lifewater and advanced lifewater, right?” Someone noticed the phrase ‘basic’ that Qin Chuan mentioned earlier.
Qin Chuan paused and his tone became a little helpless. “Although basic lifewater can increase your lifespan, it is only limited to a maximum of a hundred years. Between 101 and 150 years of age, you must use intermediate lifewater to achieve the intended effects. Those between 151 and 200 years-old require advanced lifewater. As I said earlier, it takes three months to produce basic lifewater, while intermediate and advanced lifewater takes longer. It’s more expensive, and even scarcer in quantity. There’s no necessity for freshmen to even consider lifewater for a hundred years old and above, because you can’t afford it!”
“What about those over two hundred?” someone asked.
Qin Chuan scoffed, “Two hundred and above? Hmmm, sorry, no colonization academy in this world has the ability to produce lifewater to increase it over two hundred years-old. The only way to surpass two hundred years of life is to go to the New World. If you’re lucky enough to defeat a Legend-level dragon, you’ll stand a chance of getting the kind...of material that can be used to make lifewater!”
Once the key points were all addressed, everyone left the classroom in droves with the data in their hands. Qin Chuan made no mention of the specifics in the monthly exam, and in the end, it was all left to new students to rack their brains.
Taking advantage of the period of time before the dormitory was locked, Xiao Lin hurriedly went to the logistics department. The golden dragon in front of the building was no longer there and he heard that it had been brought back to the New World by the dean.
Department Head Song was fertilizing Chinese cabbages in his vegetable garden. He raised his head and glanced at Xiao Lin, who was panting, then looked at the fertilizer in his hand. He lowered his voice and quietly reminded, “Hush! Don’t say anything. Don’t scare them ”
“Scare who?” Xiao Lin looked around in befuddlement and did not see anyone else, so he walked over and said, “Department Head Song, I’ll be taking my first monthly exam tomorr—”
“Shut up!” Department Head Song whispered furiously.
Suddenly, the cabbage garden began to emit a harsh and sharp howling sound, similar to the cry of a baby. Xiao Lin was startled, especially after discovering that the howling sound was actually coming from the Chinese cabbage within an arm’s length of him.
“Quick! Spray the medicine for me!” Song Junlang gave Xiao Lin a helpless look and hurriedly tossed the fertilizer he was holding. He took out two bottles of pesticide-like substances from the house, then threw one to Xiao Lin and said, “Spray this right now!”
Xiao Lin was a little confused. “What is this?”
Song Junlang explained as he sprayed at the cabbage garden, “This is a powerful hypnotic. It’s the same as the one that was given to you before. Hurry up and quit your nonsense. Spray it now. These are still seedlings, and they’ll lose their nutrients if they are frightened for too long!”
Xiao Lin eyes twitched. The story of spraying hypnotic on cabbages would make for a ludicrously weird story, but he was somewhat immune to the strange hybrid species in Song Junlang’s logistics department. Xiao Lin grabbed the bottle of hypnotics and helped to spray it all over the cabbages.