The remaining four sects all require Academy graduates to take entry tests to join. If you fail, you'll have to go with whichever of the other 5 will accept you." At this point, he took a large paper and put it on the wall. It was a drawing of sorts, of four symbols arranged in a diamond pattern. Hasegawa took a pointer, and indicated the bottom symbol first. It depicted the sun partially behind a large building on a blank horizon. "First there's Rank #74: The Rising Sun Monastery. They devote a large portion of their resources to body tempering, and no matter the weapon you wish to use, you'll find a real master there to teach you. They're basically what both the Dancing Steel and Burning Muscle Sects wish they were."
He pointed to the symbol on the left, that depicted a castle on the back of a turtle. "Rank #36, the Iron Tortoise Castle. They teach their cultivators to develop unbreakable defenses, and life-saving treasures are more plentiful than in most other sects. Should they conflict with other sects, they also have top-notch defenses protecting their territory."
He pointed to the symbol on the right, that depicted an elegant building above a giant book. "Rank #11: The 10,000 Scrolls Library. They have the greatest number of advanced techniques of any sect—no matter your preferred method of fighting, you can find amazing moves for you there, and top experts to teach combat to use them effectively. However, you'll need some serious talent to be accepted there."
That definitely sounds like a good route to go. I mean, Rank 11 out of hundreds of sects? I've been in pro Dive Gamer clubs with worse numbers. Hopefully, I'll stand a good chance of being accepted by them.
"Finally," said Hasegawa, pointing at the top symbol...a mystical looking blue ember. "Rank #3: The Azure Flame Abbey. Only the very best who pass through the Academy will even be considered by them. But the higher in the Ranks a sect is, the larger the chasm between them and those above and below. From their history in competitions, they don't have any particular specialization, but any cultivator who is accepted by them is sure to have a prosperous future, since they are truly elite. So if you want to dream of reaching them, I suggest you take your study, practice, and cultivation seriously.
And there's one more thing to note as well: You might remember I mentioned a midterm at the beginning of the lesson? The midterm and final will both greatly affect your rank.
Neither your cultivation nor your studies can be neglected. Remember that, students."
After just two months, my "year-mates" had become thoroughly disgruntled with having such expectations on them, though if pressed, such as if one of them annoyed Elder Hasegawa, it was still better than menial labor. Of course, not all of the slacker camp had been laborers, and those who weren't began behaving more and more like problem students. But if anyone really went through with dropping out of the Academy, they'd forfeit all rights to having the Dimension Governors revive them if they died. Even the haughtiest of them didn't want to be deleted, so everyone was working at least passing the first midterm.
By the time it came, I felt confident about passing, but as one of the first students to start cultivating, I wanted to aim for the top 10. That promised not to be so easy. My edges were my talent in Comprehension and my experience from realistic virtual combat. While the first was unmatched by anyone except Jue Zhu—who had somehow gotten talents in all areas equal to mine in Comprehension (which made me rather suspicious of this world; after all why bother including something this luck based for a PVE?)—the latter wasn't something I could lean on. A few others in the year had also worked with Dive Gamer studios, and there were still more who had at least played Dive Games—though their experience with realistic combat mechanics varied. I'd never had such good teachers in the Dive Games though, so I worked hard during practice classes to improve and stay ahead. I knew no one else in Class B was a match for me—not even Jue Zhu, at least not yet, though he was improving rapidly and in significant part by sparring with me. I indulged him because he was always very grateful for it, and anyone with half a brain cell could tell he was going places once we graduated so having the favor or even friendship of someone like that would be a really good thing.
Best not to push anything any time soon though. The guy was lonely, but he was also wary, or he'd be trying to be friends with basically everyone in Class B. Besides, if it could actually happen, genuinely being his friend wouldn't be bad.
The further I got into the exam, the more confident I was. I was sure I'd aced Etiquette, and in combat the only one who outdid me was Jue Zhu. Since it was an exam, he fought me with his strength instead of relying only on technique like in our spars before. We were at the same cultivation level—the first level of the Core Formation Realm, the Fourth Earth Realm, meaning we were among a very small number in the year who'd raised our Dantians to full strength, though it wouldn't be long before more followed.
In fact, reaching the Sixth Earth Realm, the realm where a cultivator's core had become fully functional and the Qi one absorbed went to further strengthening it, was a minimum requirement to join the 10,000 Scrolls Library, since a functional core was required for a cultivator to consume their Qi to use techniques.
But that was for later. The point for now was, though we were at the same level, Jue Zhu's physical stat gains were exaggeratedly superior to mine so there was nothing I—or anyone else in the year—could do against him.
I was also confident I'd aced Technical Studies, though I suspected I might have lost a few points in History and Politics. Free practice didn't have an exam as such associated with it, but 20% of the final score was based on the staff evaluations of our progress and diligence in cultivation and combat. I didn't think I had much to worry about there either.