The next morning, school proceeded as usual. In the morning, we had academic courses like calculus and chemistry, while in the afternoon, we had cultivation time in the special mana-filled room from yesterday. The same process urred for the whole week, without any major incidents.


    Liu Jian didn''t make any moves just yet, but Mei Gui and I did notice that Ms. Cai continued to observe us whenever we sat in the cultivation chamber. It was quite annoying, frankly, but there was not much I could do about it other than just grit my teeth and endure, pretending she wasn''t there.


    By the time Friday rolled around, I was starting to getfortable in this school. Slowly familiarizing myself with theyout and hallways, slowly getting to know the names of my ssmates and even some students from other sses. I didn''t interact with them much, but from what I could see, they didn''t like me very much. It seems that jealousy was truly everywhere.


    Still, being a university, everyone here was more or less matured. They didn''t try and openly flirt with the girls, but instead just admired them from far away and waited for an opportunity to show itself.


    I was quite looking forward to the weekend, as I could use that as an opportunity to ask some seniors about the Student Council and how to enter. Any tips they had for new students would also be quite helpful. However… this morning, the ssroom''s aura was different from usual.


    Ms. Cai, who was always half-asleep, seemed wide awake this morning. That was the first sign something was up. And the next… was the words that came out of her mouth.


    "Good morning, ss. I hope you all still remember the special exam I mentioned on the first day of school."


    At this, the ss froze.


    Timidly, the always-questioning boy in the front raised his hand. His name was Da Bao.


    "Uh… Ms. Cai, you mean the one with the risk of expulsion…? I-It''s happening today?"


    "No, but I will be exining it today," the teacher responded. "This way, you will have the weekend to think over it and strategize. The actual exam will be taking ce on Monday."


    At this, the majority of the ss sighed in relief. This meant they would at least some time to prepare, rather than something like a pop quiz.


    "The first special exam of the year — it will be quite simple. You are toplete an obstacle course that tests all your different abilities, from stamina to agility, to magic as well. All 100 students in Year 1 of Series 1 will be taking the course at the same time, in an virtual dimension that feels exactly like the real world. All your exact capabilities will be transferred over to the virtual world, so measures are urate."


    "So almost like a VR game?" Another boy asked — his name was Long Lu, and he seemed to be quite the studious type.


    "You could describe it like that, yes. But your body will physically be transported, so it''s not exactly like a game."


    "How long will the obstacle course be?" someone else asked.


    "That depends on the person — the record in all the years since the Academy was established is 1 minute and 34 seconds," Ms. Cai exined. "However, no one has ever evene close to that record since it was made. And the person who made it… is our current principal, Liu Jian."


    <em>Oh… now this I wasn''t expecting.</em>


    "So if we beat that record, we can also be the next principal of the Academy?" A girl sitting across from me in the row ahead asked. She had grey hair and different-colored eyes, one orange, one blue — quite the rarity.


    "It is not that simple, but a start, yes. I''m sure, if you are able to truly achieve that… you will be quite the well-known figure around the school."


    And then, Ms. Cai dropped some information I never knew I needed.


    "The first step to bing a future faculty member here is to join the Student Council, so if you are truly looking forward to bing the next principal of this Academy, you will have to constantly excel far beyond your peers andpetitors to win the attention of the current Student Council and get recruited."


    <em>I see… in that case, there''s no point holding back, is there?</em>


    Naturally, I couldn''t disy my Chaos abilities out in the open, but using enhanced Blessing Magic to improve my physical capabilities was still well within the scopes of my powers. The only problem was… I didn''t know what the obstacle course contained.


    Ms. Cai cleared her throat as the ss settled down from the murmuring, and continued.


    "Now, there is one final part of this exam: finding a partner."


    "A partner…?" I raised an eyebrow.


    "Yes — however, your partner will not be from this ss," Ms. Cai exined, a neutral expression on her face. "You will have to find someone from a different ss to pair up with for this exam, andpete against them. In the end, whichever ss has the most ''winners'' from their respective partnerships will be the ultimate champions of this first examination, cing them in first ce."


    "Partnering with a different ss… huh, I see. This is moreplex than it seems on the surface," Long Lu muttered, having understood the core rules of this exam.


    "You will have to work together as a ss to ovee this exam — heed my words: the method to winning thispetition is not how good one of you are, but the strategy you employ in the formation of your partnerships.


    "That''s all, you are dismissed — you may stay in the ssroom however long you want to discuss, and you will have the weekend as well. But those of you who don''t want to participate in the discussion, you can leave as well. Best of luck, ss 1-D."


    Saying this, Ms. Cai walked out of the room, without even giving us a chance to ask any more questions we may have. I figured she probably wasn''t allowed to answer anything.


    As the door nked shut, the ssroom was sent into utter silence — until atst, one student decided to stand up. It was Long Lu.


    "Everyone, I have a n to take on this exam. Please stay here and listen to me, it won''t take long."


    "Sorry, I gotta go!" a boy who was friends with Da Bao immediately got up and rushed out the door, dragging his belongings behind him. "Got a date today!"


    "Wait-!"


    But before Long Lu could even tell him to stop, many of the other students also got up and left. In the end, only Da Bao, the girls, and I remained with him.


    "This…" he sighed in frustration, punching the wall. "Bunch of good-for-nothings…"


    "U-Uh… it''s fine, we can just hold the discussion without them. I''ll find a way to get in touch with them over the weekend to ry the n, somehow…" Da Bao murmured faintly.


    Long Lu nced at him for a brief moment condescendingly, then turned away and sat back down in his seat. "Alright… ignoring those idiots who left… allow me to exin how this exam truly works-"


    "Oh no, we get it," I quickly interrupted to avoid wasting time. "Just tell us your n. Don''t need another exnation."


    "You… understood the true test of this exam?"


    The girls rolled their eyes as if annoyed, and I just nodded.


    "Come on, it wasn''t all that hard to figure out."


    "I… suppose so. Then, I shall say what I think we should do," Long Lu said, clearing his throat. "Essentially, we need to pair our weakest students with their strongest ones, and our strongest ones against their strong ones. That way, we will have our strong ones against their weak ones, leading to a near wless victory."


    "Indeed, indeed, that is the obvious strategy…" I sighed. "But don''t you think the other sses will be trying the exact same thing?"


    At this, Long Lu fell silent.


    "I… considered that, but in the end, I was unable toe up with any better n that guarantees a win. How about you? Do you have any ideas?"


    "In my opinion… we should treat thispetition as a real partnership between sses, not a contest to win. I feel like that, is the true point of this first special exam."


    "… Come again?" Long Lu narrowed his eyes. "You''re saying we shouldn''t try to win?"


    "Not for this exam, at the very least," I replied. "Notice how this cross-ss exam is the first one of the year, and so early in the year as well? The point of it is to form partnerships and allies for the uing exams toe. The school is trying to teach us that long-term allies are more important than a temporary victory. There''s still plenty of time left in the year to catch up… what''s the rush?"


    "I agree," Feng Mian said firmly. "Taking first so early in the year is not a good idea, either. That would only make us the primary target for the other three sses going forward — that wouldn''t be ideal."


    I smiled. "As long as we have thestugh… sacrifices need to be made."