NovelYeni #150 - Stupid is a bit stupid
#150 - Stupid is a bit stupid
"Yang Tao, from Liuzhou, is skilled in using spears. He is only seventeen years old and has a second-rate level of internal energy cultivation. He has a father, a mother, an older brother, and a younger sister. The recommender is Wuchen."
The middle-aged man who looked like an instructor suddenly spoke.
Yang Tao was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but say, "Sir, wasn't I in Marasal Khan before? How did I suddenly get here? The sandstorm there hasn't been resolved yet, and we need to send more people there quickly…"
"Let me verify your general situation first, and we'll talk about other things later." The middle-aged man had a square face and spoke with an imposing air.
"It can't be called an illusion," the middle-aged man stroked his beard. "Some things are hard to explain clearly in a few words. In fact, compared to this mysterious and strange world, even those of us who cultivate have very limited knowledge of it."
"I can only tell you that you went to a place called the [Trial Realm]. Every newcomer who wants to enter the academy will go to the [Trial Realm] the first time they enter the [Well]. And a person can only enter the [Trial Realm] once in their lifetime, no one is an exception."
"The existence of the [Trial Realm] is to assess the students who are about to enter the academy to study. According to our observations over the past few hundred years, the exam questions are at least… above sixteen. As for how many there are specifically, we don't know. Anyway, only sixteen have been recorded. As for whether there will be new ones later, no one can say for sure."
"And everything you just experienced is one of the exam questions - the Ancient Desert Tomb."
Yang Tao clearly heard the middle-aged man say a lot, but he felt like he didn't hear anything and didn't understand, still looking blank.
The middle-aged man seemed to have expected him to have this kind of reaction, so he wasn't surprised, just waved his hand.
"You will naturally know these things when you enter the academy for further study. Now I will announce your assessment results first."
Yang Tao finally understood this last sentence, so he couldn't help but become nervous.
"Yang Tao, this assessment… Grade C."
The middle-aged instructor paused, then said, "Here are the details: Skill, Grade B, not bad. You can enter the top thirty among the students participating in the assessment. It is said that your spear technique is inherited from your ancestors, which is quite powerful."
"Ah, it's okay." Yang Tao scratched his head embarrassedly, but he was secretly overjoyed.
But then he heard the middle-aged instructor say indifferently, "Unfortunately, you were killed by a knife on the third day after entering."
Yang Tao's expression immediately became awkward again upon hearing this.
The middle-aged man's voice continued, and it became more and more stern, "Decision-making ability, Grade D. On the first day, you killed the black wizard Vulture without investigating anything clearly, and then fought with the guards who came, and were regarded as a violent thug by the people in the city."
"I… I have a clear conscience. That Vulture was a bad guy, deceiving the city lord and threatening the people. Even if the sandstorm had nothing to do with him, I didn't kill him wrongly." Yang Tao wanted to defend himself.
As a result, he was interrupted mercilessly by the middle-aged man, "Bullshit, we sent you there to solve the local crisis, not to act as a chivalrous hero and eliminate villains. You enjoyed killing people, but the problem was not solved. In the end, not only were you killed by something in the sandstorm, but you also caused the local people to be buried with you."
Yang Tao was speechless.
Then he heard the middle-aged man continue, "Adaptability, Grade D. After being wanted, you could only scurry around like a rat crossing the street, failing to make full use of the local special political environment to reverse your unfavorable situation. The hastily formulated backup plan did not play any role."
Yang Tao couldn't refute this either and could only continue to hang his head.
"Analytical observation, Grade E. I don't even know if you used your brain at all during the whole process, and paid attention to any abnormal phenomena. You ran to the city lord's mansion to kill Vulture, noticed the mural, and it's okay if you couldn't find the surname on it, but the words Vulture said to you before he died."
"You didn't even hear any clues from it, and you forgot all about it in a blink of an eye." The middle-aged man shook his head repeatedly while speaking, looking like he hated that iron couldn't become steel.
"And these also led to your final investigation progress being Grade D. In fact, if it weren't for your good luck in accidentally finding that little girl, this item would definitely be Grade E."
Yang Tao's head was lowered even further.
However, after the middle-aged man reprimanded him, his tone softened a little, "Finally, character, Grade A. With your martial arts, you shouldn't have died so quickly, but in order to protect that little girl, you were willing to be surrounded by those armored warriors and died of exhaustion in the end. Well… it's a bit stupid, but it's also very rare."
Yang Tao was confused. After a long while, he weakly said, "Are you… praising me or mocking me?"
The middle-aged man ignored him and just said to himself.
"The reason why we didn't tell you in advance that you were in the trial realm this time is to see your most real reaction when facing danger, especially at the critical moment of life and death, which can best test a person's character. Whether it is good or evil, brave or cowardly, will be revealed completely."
"Your investigation ability is too poor. Originally, according to the rules, as long as one item is Grade E, you should be eliminated, but your character is Grade A, which is quite rare. After all, other things can be trained slowly, but once the character is shaped, it is difficult to change."
"And this is the most important item in the assessment. In addition, your skill is not bad, so you barely passed this assessment. The final score is Grade C, barely passing."
"So I passed the assessment?" Yang Tao couldn't help being overjoyed.
You know, just a moment ago, he thought he was doomed to die. After all, the old zombie said it was very terrible and even prepared their coffins.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he not only survived, but also inexplicably muddled through.
The middle-aged man nodded, "Yes, these are all the contents written on the stone tablet, and the final score is also given by the stone tablet. There is no artificial intervention or fraud. Since it says on it that you passed, then you passed."
While Yang Tao was happy, he thought of another thing and said respectfully, "Um… I met a new friend named Lu Jing before I came here. He also participated in the assessment with me. Can I ask how his score is?"