Chapter 42: Chapter 42: [Host Task Failure]

Since Jiang Li made a bet with the Saintess of Pure Heart, he didn’t plan to compete half-heartedly. His aim was not to beat the junior disciples and come first, but to surpass Pure Heart Saintess and win first place!

Never engaging in a battle without preparation, the first thing Jiang Li did was to study the reference books for the entrance exam.

However, the result left him speechless.

He remembered that 500 years ago, when he took his entrance exam, the reference books came from popular books across the nine provinces, such as “Novice Monk’s Entrance”, “Cultivation Preview”, “Discussions on the Nine Provinces’ Culture”, and so on.

Now, the reference books were “The General Outline of Cultivation (By Jiang Li)”, “3000 Questions on Cultivation (By Jiang Li)”, “Cultivating Immortality Begins with Cultivating the Heart (By Jiang Li)”, and “The General Outline of Cultivation (Annotated Edition)”.

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“Out of the ten reference books, eight were written by me, and the remaining two are annotations on my books?!”

“People who know would think I’m an honorary graduate of the academy; people who don’t would think I am the one who set the exam,” Jiang Li complained.

After he entered the Mahayana Realm, his understanding of cultivation deepened, so he compiled his insights into books for other monks to study.

After thinking carefully, he realized there is nothing wrong with the academy’s approach. Those who cultivated to the Body Integration Realm had a complete understanding of their cultivation process, for example, Pure Heart Saintess, her understanding of cultivation has surpassed even the head of the academy.

It is impossible to reach the Body Integration Realm without theoretical support or a thorough knowledge of the cultivation method. Not to mention the Transcendance Tribulation Stage and Mahayana Realm, their understanding of cultivation is almost absolute truth.

The academy’s choice to use the books written by Jiang Li, who is in the Mahayana Realm, is quite reasonable.

Of course, cultivation is one thing, but if you ask Jiang Li to write about alchemy or artifact refining, he will apologize as he is clueless on these topics and won’t be able to write a book.

“How could I lose?” Jiang Li was already thinking about the demands he would make of the Saintess of Pure Heart.

On the day of the exam, Jiang Li confidently arrived at the examination site. When he saw the exam paper, he felt he couldn’t lose.

The exam asked questions like “What is the definition of cultivation according to ‘The General Outline of Cultivation’?” and “‘The Casual Writings of the Human Emperor (Excerpts)’ starts by saying ‘It’s been raining heavily for several days and finally, it cleared up today’. Why did the author write this and what does it express?”

The definition of cultivation? For Jiang Li, that was too simple. He picked up the pen and wrote: Cultivation refers to the process of living beings gradually strengthening themselves by absorbing spiritual energy to nourish their bodies.

“Is the weather supposed to be clear today?” Jiang Li mumbled to himself. He remembered the circumstances back then. It was during the rainy season and there was plenty of rain. For several days, there was no sunshine. Finally, on one day, the weather cleared up and Jiang Li, feeling the weather was good, casually wrote about his feelings.

Apart from that, the exam asked if a level six Qi cultivator with a Metal spiritual root encounters a water-fire-wood spiritual root level eight Qi cultivator in a forest, how can the former defeat the latter?

The question also provided details such as what the time was, how the weather was, how dense the spiritual energy was, and so on. It also noted that the two cultivators were standard cultivators, meaning they didn’t have special bloodlines, physiques, or any unique cultivation techniques.

This type of question testing practical abilities was also quite easy for Jiang Li. He effortlessly wrote several methods for defeating the stronger with the weaker.

“Hmmm, perfect!” Jiang Li was very satisfied with his answers and was the first to turn in his paper.

The vice-principal, who was responsible for supervising the examination, heard that some had turned in their papers early, so he glanced at Jiang Li’s paper and couldn’t help but smile broadly.

“A good seedling came in this year. His thinking is active, he isn’t rigid about what is in the book, he is audacious in battle, knows how to use an enemy’s psychology, his reading comprehension is straightforward. Good, good, good!”

The vice-principal said “good” three times in a row, obviously very satisfied with this student Kong Li.

“Hmm, so soon there’s another person handing in his paper, Jiang Jingxin. She was famous even before she enrolled.”

“Not bad, her vast knowledge and firm foundation. This year’s exam had many unconventional and tricky questions, coming from the in-betweens of the recommended books, but she could remember. Good, good.”

“How did you do?” After Jiang Li left the examination room, the Saintess of Pure Heart also emerged. Seeing this, Jiang Li teased her.

The Saintess of Pure Heart gave a slight smile, revealing two dimples – she looked incredibly cute. Even the teachers passing by were distracted and walked directly into a wall.

Luckily for the teachers, they were harder than the wall. The wall was unluckier than the teachers.

“I’ve already thought about what I want you to do.” The smile of the Saintess of Pure Heart exuded a sense of confidence, and even Jiang Li started laughing.

“I’ve also already thought about what I want you to do.”

“Wait and see?”

“Wait and see.”

On the day the exam results were announced, the system gave a friendly prompt.

[Host’s Task Failed]

With surprise, Jiang Li stood before the ranking list. He had to squat to see his name.

Kong Li, ranked last.

Saintess of Pure Heart was standing out in the crowd, her noble temperament made many people feel inferior, and they maintained a certain distance from her voluntarily.

She also saw her name.

Jiang Jingxin, ranked first.

The Saintess of Pure Heart lightly covered her small mouth, to others it seemed like a surprised expression, but in fact, she was trying hard not to burst out laughing after seeing Jiang Li’s rank.

No, I am in pain.

I am a Body Integration cultivator; I should have strong concentration.

The Human Emperor getting last place in an exam based on his own book, no, I can’t hold it anymore.

Hahaha, I find it so funny.

After a moment’s inner struggle, the Saintess of Pure Heart finally did not let herself laugh out loud.

“If you want to laugh, just laugh.”

Jiang Li had an expressionless face as he looked at the gloating expression of the Saintess of Pure Heart.

“I am not laughing… pfft… haha, you also have such days.”

“There must be some problem somewhere.” Jiang Li rationally deduced the reason, “Let’s go find the dean… and ask if he made a mistake in judging.”

The dean of the academy, Dean Li, was responsible for grading this year’s exam papers.

Dean Li stood on the high podium, examining whether there were any promising students this year.

Speaking of which, that student named Jiang Jingxin was pretty good, she could become his student.

“Dean, someone is looking for you.”

‘Who?”

“It’s this year’s highest-ranked Jiang Jingxin and lowest-ranked Kong Li, they said you made a mistake in grading.”

With a strong snort through his nostrils, Dean Li looked rather unhappy.

That he would make a mistake, that’s ridiculous. He remembered Jiang Jingxin and Kong Li—Jiang Jingxin’s paper was almost perfect, whereas Kong Li’s paper was a mess.

“Let them come up, in front of everyone, and let them say where I went wrong.”

If only the candidate with the lowest scores had come to see Dean Li, he surely wouldn’t bother with him, but if the candidates with the highest and lowest scores come together, then he must treat them well.

It’s a good opportunity to assert his authority in front of the potential students on the podium.

“You must be Jiang Jingxin. Not bad, you are good-looking, your writing is neat, your exam paper is fairly good as well.” Dean Li treated the Saintess of Pure Heart kindly, making his voice loud on purpose to attract the attention of students below. As for Kong Li, who had the lowest score, he just ignored him.

“Is that Jiang Jingxin? She’s so beautiful.”

“Indeed, as a girl, even I am moved.”

“Who is the person beside her? He doesn’t seem to look well.”

“I don’t know him.”

“Dean Li, my name is Kong Li. I think there might be a mistake in the marking of my paper.”

Jiang Li spoke up first.

He also knew Dean Li; every time he came to the academy for a lecture, he was received by Dean Li, who treated him respectfully..