Chapter 42 - So... What's the Test?

"Fuck me… am I gonna have to go through this shit again?"

In an infinite expanse of darkness, there were four gigantic structures in front of Huang Yu. If you were to look at it from far away enough, they would look like massive gates.

Of the four gates, one of them was open and had gigantic bolts of electricity crackling throughout it. This was the gate that Huang Yu had opened previously to obtain electromagnetism.

Huang Yu looked at the remaining closed gates with a wry expression. He wasn't unaccustomed to pain, but the pain caused from the ȧssimilation of knowledge from opening the gate of electromagnetism was far too much.

If not for the fact that he had managed to give himself some moments of respite with vital energy back then, he would be in a mental asylum right now.

Suddenly, familiar strands of golden energy appeared again before coalescing into words he had been expecting.

[Choose your path of wisdom]

"Oh well, might as well get it over with. I'm pretty good with vital energy now anyways. Hopefully it won't be as bad as back then." Huang Yu tried convincing himself.

After a few moments of Huang Yu talking to himself, he took a deep breath. With that, he calmed his heart rate, and by extension, himself.

He walked to the gate on the leftmost side. Putting his hand on it, he felt as if he suddenly became a few times heavier. However, with his strength now, this little bit of extra weight was negligible.

'This gate has the weakest energy signature out of all of them. If my conjecture about what these gates are is right, then this should be the one I want at this moment.'

With a grunt, Huang Yu pushed the gate open with all his strength. The moment the gate opened, Huang Yu closed in eyes, bracing himself for the incoming torture session.

A few moments passed before Huang Yu opened one eye. 'Nothing? Could it be that there won't be pain for this gate? If that's the case, then I'll be so damn thankful.'

Suddenly, the pain he had been expecting earlier hit him.

"ARRGH, You fuċkɨnġ dogshit gate! Give me back my feelings!"

Perhaps if the gate he had just opened had a face right now, it would be in the form of a troll face.

— — — —

"Zhangkong, why are you staying in a place like this? Why not pick a place closer to the academy?" Shen Yi frowned as she inspected the room.

Wu Zhangkong calmly replied. "It's enough as long as I can rest. Besides, I don't like how noisy it is at the academy."

"The exams are tomorrow. Are your students ready?" Shen Yi suddenly changed the subject as she sat down in a chair.

Wu Zhangkong's forehead wrinkled. "I asked to come because I have a favour to request of you. The others are ready, but I have a student who isn't. He's meditating deeply and still hasn't awakened. Is there a way to delay the exam?"

Shen Yi became silent for a while. "It depends on which student is missing to be honest. My answer can change depending on that. So which student are you talking about? I don't see two of your students here?"

"It's Tang Wu—" Wu Zhangkong suddenly paused as he processed Shen Yi's words.

'Two?'

Turning to the three students who had been standing behind him, he looked at Gu Yue before asking, "Gu Yue. Where's Huang Yu?"

Wu Zhangkong was surprised to find that Huang Yu wasn't here. Usually, all his students would be punctual and almost never skip class. He had grown so accustomed to it that he hadn't even bothered checking if they were all here other than Tang Wulin. He just ȧssumed that they were.

"Teacher, I think Huang Yu is in deep meditation as well. I went up to check on him a few days ago and he seemed to be really out of it."

Wu Zhangkong's brows furrowed. He turned back to Shen Yi before slightly gritting his teeth. "Two of them. The captain, Tang Wulin and Huang Yu."

Seeing that Wu Zhangkong believed her words, Gu Yue inwardly let out a sigh of relief. 'I can only help you hide your third eye this much Huang Yu…'

Having spent some time with Huang Yu, she had begun to pick up on all the little tricks Huang Yu used in his conversations. She, just like Huang Yu usually does, told a half-truth.

She did go in to see Huang Yu and he was in deep meditation. However, she had skipped out the other details, like how Huang Yu's bandana had been destroyed and his third eye was in full display.

She didn't know why Huang Yu was hiding it, but she didn't ask him. She believed when Huang Yu trusted her enough, he would tell her himself.

Hearing this, Shen Yi sighed. "In that case, there might be a chance that they would give you another shot. If it was just Tang Wulin, I wouldn't dare say that, but since Huang Yu is included as well…"

She didn't continue, but Wu Zhangkong knew that Shrek Academy really wanted Huang Yu to join. Naturally, after Huang Yu's reveal of sword intent, almost every single person worth mentioning wanted him to join their organisation.

In the distant past, a user of sword intent would definitely become a powerhouse as long as they didn't meet an untimely end. Hence, if anyone could recruit him, they were sure to allow their organisation to prosper for at least another several hundred years.

It was worth it for Shrek Academy if they just decided to kick everyone out in this year's application for Huang Yu to join, much less just to make a new test for them.

Just as Wu Zhangkong was about to let out a breath of relief, Shen Yi suddenly said, "I'll carry the message to the higher-ups. However, even if they make an exception for Huang Yu, it may not be the case for Tang Wulin..."

Wu Zhangkong sighed. "I see…"

"I'll be leaving now then. Zhangkong, if you really want all your students to go through, you know what you can do…"

At this Wu Zhangkong grimaced before turning back to his students. "You all go and rest first. I'll be right back. I'll handle this."

Gu Yue, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan nodded their heads before they all left the room that they were in.

After they all left the room that Wu Zhangkong was in, Xie Xie suddenly asked, "Will you guys wait? From what they said, I'm pretty sure that Huang Yu'll get some special treatment, but I don't think Captain will get it."

Xu Xiaoyan laughed. "You don't need to ask me that. I don't even think I have a good chance of passing if Huang Yu and Captain aren't there."

Xie Xie smiled before turning to Gu Yue. "What about you?"

"I'm thinking about it.��� Another trick stolen from Huang Yu's book. She just gave a vague answer instead of a concrete one.

"Yo! Wassup guys."

When everyone woke up the next day, they were surprised to see Huang Yu who had been missing for the past few days sitting on the couch in the inn's living room with a new bandana.

Looking at him, they were all stunned for words. He didn't look different, but they could clearly feel something different about him.

In the past, Huang Yu seemed to have a certain sort of aura about him that just made people listen to him. However now, that same aura seemed to have been turned up to 11.

He felt like a completely different person.

"So when are we going to take the exam?"

Gu Yue was the first to snap out of her trance. "I don't know. We have to wait for Teacher Wu to return before we can do anything. Also, Tang Wulin had went into his own deep meditation and the others won't be going without him."

Hearing this, Huang Yu smiled. "Let's wait for him then."

"Mm."

Now why would Huang Yu choose to wait for Tang Wulin you may ask? The answer was simple. He found Tang Wulin's bloodline very interesting. It was powerful, yet it felt distinctly incomplete. At the moment, Tang Wulin's bloodline was far too complex for him to decipher its progression path so he wanted to personally see how it would turn out.

Eventually, Wu Zhangkong came back. Everyone waited for a few hours before Tang Wulin woke up.

Seeing him, Huang Yu inwardly smirked. Tang Wulin's bloodline seemed to have progressed. It was the right choice to stay around and see how his bloodline worked for a bit.

— — — —

Shen Yi deftly brought them all to Shrek Academy. They were late to the entrance exam, but because of the existence of Huang Yu and the fact that Wu Zhangkong had gone to beg his master in Shrek, they were allowed to take it anyway.

Shrek Academy looked pretty damn rad. There were many sculptures with faces that was familiar to Huang Yu there. Not only that, the architecture was amazingly done.

After that, all the students of class zero into one of the buildings. Having walked past two corridors, they arrived in a round hall.

In front of them, there was a mural painted on the ceiling. It was one of a large black dragon. It's eyes glowed golden, striking against the backdrop of its ebony face and its wings were spread wide.

"The test starts now." Shen Yi said before she suddenly disappeared.

Instantly, Gu Yue, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan felt a large pressure descend on top of them. Despite this, Gu Yue and Tang Wulin were only a bit affected by the unseen pressure. Both of their blood essences roared as they fought back against the black dragon's pressure.

On the other hand, Huang Yu, was standing there not really giving much of a shit. All he felt was a little itch that was getting annoying on the top of his head.

When he got fed up with that little itch, he snorted before using a bit of force against that tiny itch.

Instantly, the black dragon mural on the ceiling abruptly roared in agony before it seemed to lose all its ŀustre. Cracks appeared on the black dragon mural before all the pressure in the area quickly disappeared.

In the vicinity, Shen Yi's eyes widened in shock as she saw this. Several other figures appeared beside her in an instant.

"What happened to the black dragon mural?" a female voice asked rudely.

Shen Yi took a few moments to regain her bearing before opening her mouth to answer the elderly woman in front of her. However, before she could reply, Huang Yu's voice suddenly rang throughout the round hall.

"So... what's the test and when is it starting?"