Jiang Ding looked up admiringly at the heroic woman walking on stage to receive her examination paper.
It seemed like a mere hundred percent increase in Divine Sense quality, not as significant as his two hundred percent increase, but that was a hundred percent improvement from one thousand two hundred to one thousand three hundred!
The further you go, the closer you get to the one thousand four hundred perfect score limit, the more difficult it gets.
Even a single point could result in a vastly different outcome.
Wu Tianli, who ranked second, looked unsettled as he watched the girl walk past him, and in a daze, he saw a goddess fading away into the distance amidst wisps of gold light, leaving the mortal world behind.
Despite Hua Bing's repeated rejections of his pursuits, he was still full of confidence, for he was the most outstanding man in this group, firmly believing that one day he would win over the beauty and live happily ever after like the prince and princess in fairy tales.
At this moment, his heart was filled with confusion.
"Alright, settle down."
It took a full five or six minutes of chaos before Guo Kui managed to restore order to the class with a smile.
"Everyone has made progress this time; it seems that no one has slacked off over the past two months, especially Hua Bing from the Qi Practicing Realm and Jiang Ding, Li Junhao, and others from the Internal Qi Realm."
"But I must repeat what I always say, this is just an in-school midterm test, and how much it differs from the actual College Entrance Exam is unknown. Do not become complacent."
"Now, let's open this examination paper, the first question..."
Guo Kui spoke eloquently, explaining the significance of the questions, the kind of answers the Xianmen Sect wanted to receive, and more importantly, subtly guiding the students towards the life values and perspectives that the Xianmen Sect aspired to imbue in them.
This was not an abstract concept.
In the Tai Xu Fantasy Realm—Education Network's Special Area—Examining Heart Platform, participants in the College Entrance Exam will unwittingly reveal their most genuine response to each question, and memorizing answers will be utterly useless.
Ding ding ding!
Two hours later, the end-of-class bell rang, Guo Kui left, and Hua Bing went up to the stage, casually swiping his card at the locker behind him.
"The last two classes in the morning are Teacher Zhang Dingjun's cultivation classes, everyone, change into your combat gear."
"Yes, class leader!"
Starting from the first row, the students queued up to collect and change into their camouflage combat uniforms and dark glass globes resembling panoramic helmets.
"Sun Xiao, first squad, move out."
"Yes!"
Sun Xiao saluted the temporary commander designated by Zhang Dingjun, then led his team of five in a jog forward.
"Second squad... Third squad..."
The three squads converged outside the classroom, formed into neat squares, and jogged rhythmically to the training field dozens of kilometers behind the school, occasionally seeing others on the same path.
Li Junhao moved a bit closer and said quietly after mulling things over for a while, "Jiang Ding, does breaking through to the Internal Qi Realm really improve one's academic performance that much?"
He was just feeling proud of his own progress when Jiang Ding suddenly burst into the top ten, securing a stable rise to the Cultivation Department at Qianling University.
Fellow struggler, how come you took off on your own?
He felt utterly dispirited.
"It does,"
Jiang Ding confirmed, "Having the energy entity of Inner Energy greatly enhances the understanding and improvement of learning Cultivation Methods, Talismans, Formation Methods, and I believe you will experience the same when you break through to the Internal Qi Realm."
This was no consolation.
Li Junhao was incredibly capable in learning; he could draw up the Sharp Gold Array, Thick Earth Formation, Water Condensation Formation, and other elemental arrays with just calculations, without Inner Qi or Spiritual Power, and they would activate with the energy input.
Other subjects like literature, geography, and biology were also the same; he was a top student whose scores were much higher than those of the top two regular departments.
"The Internal Qi Realm..."
Li Junhao sighed.
```
On the training field, Teacher Zhang Dingjun held a pocket watch, standing rigid as a nail, with Hua Bing leading the Qi Practicing Squad arrayed neatly in front of him.
After a long wait, the Internal Qi Realm team joined the formation.
Zhang Dingjun didn't move a muscle, just staring at the pocket watch, his face stern.
Five or six minutes later, Li Junhao arrived tardily, quickly joining the silent and still ranks.
Many showed a look of surprise.
This was the first time Li Junhao had arrived on time at the training field, although Class One's arrival time was already ten minutes behind the other classes.
Signaling Hua Bing to lead the Qi Practicing Realm team to their tank training area, Zhang Dingjun turned to the remaining eighteen students.
"The first lesson will still be heavy machine gun training as usual, followed by the tank combat training in the second lesson."
"Free activity!"
"Yes, Instructor!"
The students dispersed in groups of threes and twos, while Zhang Dingjun called Jiang Ding over to the weapons rack. There, in a corner filled with ferocious-looking heavy machine guns, he found a relatively delicate Type 03 anti-material sniper rifle, its barrel adorned with clearly visible rune patterns.
"This thing is quite expensive."
Zhang Dingjun muttered under his breath as he placed the rifle in Jiang Ding's hands, instructing him to perform the standard shooting motions, then correcting each one, explaining the differences between heavy machine guns and anti-material sniper rifles.
"The core principles are the same, you just need to be proficient with the Vajra Print, and you're doing alright with that."
He went through the motions of walking fire, prone shooting, and so on.
"Now, grip the handle tightly and input your Inner Energy, remember, the frequency and intensity should be as consistent as possible."
Jiang Ding did as told.
His Inner Energy flowed slowly into it, like into a bottomless abyss, gradually being swallowed.
Three minutes later, with his Inner Energy depleted, Jiang Ding still hadn't received sufficient feedback.
"Take a rest."
Zhang Dingjun commented without much ado: "Generally speaking, at least after completing the Small Circle of Vital Energy, one can charge the bullets within ten minutes. You should be able to do it in thirty, right?"
He waved his hand and went to correct the mistakes other students made with their heavy machine guns, paying special attention to explaining the cultivation of the Vajra Print martial technique.
After twenty-seven or twenty-eight minutes.
A pale-faced Jiang Ding looked at the rifle barrel, now flickering with barely visible light, took a deep breath, lay down, raised the bipod, aimed at the five-kilometer distant target, and recited the mantra for the Vajra Print in silence.
Boom!
A loud bang, his shoulder felt as though it had been struck by a sledgehammer; he was pushed back several meters, curling up from the pain as if his shoulder had broken.
As for the bullet, it was anyone's guess where it had strayed.
Sun Xiao and others, attracted by the noise, immediately understood and revealed a look of schadenfreude.
"This is a reconnaissance infantry."
Zhang Dingjun, who had appeared behind him at some point, commented blandly: "A ghost on the battlefield, extremely lethal, but with many limitations. Charging takes a long time, the Vajra Print demands much, and there are requirements for the Minor Concealing Breath Technique and the realm of Inner Energy. Otherwise, such a loud noise on the battlefield is tantamount to death."
"To use it properly, at the very least you have to have Great Achievement of Inner Qi, and that is just Eaglet Qi. If it were another Inner Power, impure and mixed, you would need to be fully accomplished."
His words were somewhat euphemistic, knowing that young people have strong self-esteem and like to save face, so he spoke only after Jiang Ding had made a mistake, gently offering advice.
"Teacher, I understand."
Once the pain subsided, Jiang Ding stood up, dusted himself off, cradling the sniper rifle as if he hadn't noticed a thing, and said, "Teacher, I have some questions about the 'Minor Concealing Breath Technique', particularly about parts 1, … 2 …"
"Ah, this is how it is …"
Zhang Dingjun didn't urge him further, but began to explain the nuances carefully.
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