Yin City Academy: The Second Test

There were about a hundred people who passed the first test gathered in a wide open grassy field. All had looks of relief on their faces.

"Congratulations on passing your first test. I will be your invigilator for the second test as well," Kun Hun said.

~That is unexpected. Is the Yin City Academy short-staffed or something?

~Master, it's probably a mild side effect from using Plot Armour. The character list is destabilising. But only 1 percentage point of Suspension of Disbelief is consumed. There shouldn't be much impact on the story.

"The six-sided dice have now been converted into tokens indicating the value of the even numbers that you rolled. To pass the second test, you must possess tokens with their total value equal to or more than 20. The duration of the second test is 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, if the total value of the tokens you possess is less than 20, you will be disqualified. With that, the second test begins!"

People around me quickly dispersed and hurriedly sought for cover. But on the wide open grassy field, there was no reliable cover to be found. It was only a matter of time before chaos broke out.

~Wow, the academy couldn't be more obvious in its intentions. Why don't they just save the trouble and put us all in an arena for a death match?

~Master, I believe strategy is very important in this second test. The highest value of a single token is '6', so you're essentially forced to steal tokens from others to meet the minimum total value of 20. Assuming that the tokens you steal all have the highest value of '6', you'd still need to steal at least 3 tokens to pass the test. At the same time, you need to defend against other people from stealing your own token. The open terrain only incites more conflict and fighting. Plot Armour also can't be activated as it is in cooldown to prevent the story from destabilising further.

~DeusOS, while I really appreciate your analysis, please shut up if you have nothing practical to say.

I laid flat on the field and pretended to be dead.

5 minutes into the second test, the monopolisers had appeared. They were mostly cultivators from the Huo Clan who were at Body Strengthening Stage 2. A cultivator's strength experienced a tenfold increase from Body Strengthening Stage 1 to Stage 2. A fistfight between a cultivator at Body Strengthening Stage 1 and a cultivator at Body Strengthening Stage 2 would almost always result in the latter winning.

Cultivators from the Huo Clan took advantage of being on a higher Body Strengthening Stage than the majority of other cultivators and collected numerous tokens in one fell swoop through the means of frequent intimidation and occasional violence.

"Ah, I spotted a fat rabbit waiting to be slaughtered. I saw this trash from the Jiang Clan rolled a '6' in the last test."

I was detected by Huo Zhuo who came with other two henchmen from the Huo Clan.

"While we're still being nice, hand over your token, Jiang Hao La."

"How about no?" I flipped him the bird.

I rolled over and dodged the fist that came flying towards my face. In a swift motion, I got up and put as much distance between them and I as possible. Sure, I might be facing three cultivators at Body Strengthening Stage 2, but it wouldn't make a difference if their punches didn't connect.

~DeusOS, I have a plan. Remember the elementary martial arts skill book "Playing the Pig, Eating the Tiger" that I found by accident in the Jiang Clan library?

~Yes, Master. It is a skill that only elementary cultivators at Body Strengthening Stage 1 can use, so the skill book was neglected in one dusty corner.

~Indeed. The skill involves infusing one's punch with an external source of pure Qi, so as to enhance the strength of the punch to levels much greater than the strength of a cultivator at Body Strengthening Stage 1. Isn't the token that I possess right now an external source of pure Qi from invigilator Kun Hun who is an intermediate cultivator?

~Brilliant, Master. I see where you're going with this. However, if you use the token in that way, it'll be destroyed.

~No worries, DeusOS. There are no rules against destroying the tokens, and I'll just have to steal more to make up for it.

"Stop running, you piece of trash," Huo Zhuo shouted with his two henchmen in tow.

"Alright, alright. I'm tired of you chasing me as well. I give up." I raised my hands in surrender.

I took out my token from my hanfu pocket. The number "6" was written on it.

"Here's my token. Come closer, and I'll give it to you."

"That's right, Jiang Hao La, you finally understand your situation. Very well, in return for you giving me your token, I will show my mercy and not beat you to a pulp." The three cultivators from the Huo Clan approached me without any awareness of what was going to happen next. Soon, they were at arm's length.

「Using in-universe skill "Playing the Pig, Eating the Tiger"」

The token made from pure Qi disintegrated into blue flames around my fists and I punched Huo Zhuo and his two henchmen on their stomachs as hard as I can. Enhanced by the blue flames, my punch now had the strength of an intermediate cultivator. Upon impact, they flew five metres away, vomiting blood from their mouths. By the volume of blood vomited, they probably had a few internal organs ruptured. They landed with an audible 'thud' and stayed motionless on the ground.

「Returning 1 percentage point of Suspension of Disbelief for the first successful usage of an in-universe skill」

「Current level of Suspension of Disbelief: 100%」

~That was convenient. I didn't know using an in-universe skill would give such perks.

~That's great news, Master. As long as the level of Suspension of Disbelief is high, the story will develop stably and our target audience will be able to enjoy it more.

As the blue flames dissipated from my fists, the recoil of the skill became obvious. My knuckles were all bruised up and ached intensely. For temporarily granting strength many levels greater than Body Strengthening Stage 1, the skill "Playing the Pig, Eating the Tiger" was no doubt overpowered, but the recoil was strong as well. I probably wouldn't be able to use the skill again in the test.

I scavenged four tokens from the motionless bodies of Huo Zhuo and his two henchmen. Out of the four tokens, two had the value of "6" and two had the value of "4", giving a total value of 20 — just enough for me to pass the test.

The time remaining till the end of the second test was 15 minutes. Now, all I had to do was to protect these four tokens until the end of the test.