CH 24.2

A week later, when Lin Xinghe was in class, she saw another message pop up from her cyan bracelet——

Will Student Lin Xinghe please arrive at Area B of the examination room in one hour to take the monthly examination. Tardiness or cutting will result in 1,000 points deducted as punishment.

It was eleven thirty in the morning.

The teacher was still explaining the Heart Sutra expressionlessly on the podium.

When Lin Xinghe received the notification, she found that she was the only one in the first class who received the notification. According to the rules, students who were taking the test could skip class, and it would not count as an absence.

She whispered to her tablemate Gu Taoyao, got up, and left the class.

The head teacher also received the notice, glanced at Lin Xinghe, and continued to explain the Heart Sutra.

She had already prepared her items much before the exam. The box of gold bars was too heavy, and Lin Xinghe didn’t have anything like a certain portable space-bubble, so it was really troublesome to carry. Still, she stuffed a gold bar, as well as some daily necessities, the stamina enhancer potion and her magic broom into her bag. She also brought Xiao Xue Ji.

Originally, she didn’t plan on taking Xiao Xue Ji into the next exam room, but Xiao Xue Ji had become a favorite in the eyes of everyone because of Xie Wuan. It was a relief—Lin Xinghe had been really nervous about leaving Xiao Xue Ji by herself for such a long time.

There was still an hour and a half before the exam started. Lin Xinghe chose to go to the exam room early. After all, this was a school-wide exam with an elimination system. Everyone was her opponent. She had to familiarize herself with the other exam candidates and analyze the most suitable teammates.

Lin Xinghe thought that she had arrived early, but she didn’t expect half of the candidates to already be in Area B. She had no intention of talking to other people, so after arriving in the waiting area of

the examination room, she calmly analyzed the people around her.

This was the first time that Lin Xinghe mingled so closely with students from other departments. Compared with the mediocre modern villains, the students of other departments were much more flashy and impressive.

There were quite a few people riding on magic brooms who seemed to know each other and gathered in the sky to make idle chit chat.

The students from the xianxia department were more calm, sitting cross-legged on the ground, as if they were meditating.

There were also many students from the ancient era department stretching and doing impressive kungfu moves.

After Lin Xinghe looked at them, she found that all of their physiques were stronger than hers— not the muscle strength that could be obtained through exercise, but physiques enhanced by magic potions.

There were also some modern students huddled together in the far-off corner of the room.

Soon, Lin Xinghe noticed that there was a candidate who also brought his companion animal. A huge green snake sat there, and its owner was sitting on its head, with his legs lazily crossed, and there was an empty social bubble of a few meters around him. The others seemed to be quite afraid of him, and even the group of people riding magic brooms glanced over there by accident and quickly retracted their eyes.

At this moment, the owner of the green snake, who had been snoozing the whole time, suddenly sat up straight and patted the green snake on the head. The green snake immediately slithered to the edge of the waiting area. Wherever it passed, the candidates automatically gave it a wide berth, and even the crowd of candidates on brooms flew to the other side.

The owner of the green snake was greeting a candidate who had just arrived at the examination room. He seemed surprised and said, “I wanted to win first place, but seeing you here, Jiuge*, I can only resign myself to second place.”

Hearing that, Lin Xinghe took a few more glances at the man named “Jiuge.”

He was an extremely tall man, taller than Chai Yong, but he was slender. He looked like he had a bit of Western blood in his veins, and his facial features were clear and noble, a nobleman who walked out of an oil painting.

“Oh, what luck! I was assigned to the same exam room as the boss of the fantasy department. He will occupy at least one of the top ten places.”

The people who ate melons were always so considerate.

When Lin Xinghe was curious, they gave her the answer.

There were a lot of fantasy department bosses, the one named “Brother Jiu.”.. Due to Lin Xinghe’s frantic studying of the big bosses of various departments, she could instantly recognize this title.

His full name was Alfred Rudolph, the ninth in the family, known as “Ninth Older Brother”. He used to be the villain in a Western Fantasy novel. It was said that he appeared as a gentle and elegant count on the surface but was actually cruel and power-hungry, always undermining the rule of the righteous emperor. On that path, his body hadn’t been strengthened, but its defense ability was unique. Apparently, he could stop a boss’s attack whenever and for however long he wanted, and he would still be as steady as a mountain. When other people fought bosses, they did everything possible to find their weaknesses. When Jiuge fought bosses, he did it halfheartedly, stopping the bosses’ every attack effortlessly. His power was strong enough to make previously undefeated bosses question their life choices.

At this time, the proctor arrived.

Lin Xinghe realized that he was Teacher Qin from the previous exam room.

After he read the rules of the exam room according to his script, he opened the space-time rift.

When Lin Xinghe was about to enter, she paused for a while and glanced at the proctor.

He scolded, “Don’t just stand there, there are still candidates lining up behind you.”

Lin Xinghe sighed in relief. Although she couldn’t fathom why, Xiao Xue Ji was safe. A familiar bright light flashed in front of her eyes again, and when she could see again, she found herself on a noisy pier.

A huge cruise ship was moored beside the pier.

The cyan bracelet displayed the exam prompt——

Find an Alpine Rimerose*.

Hint: There are 50 Alpine Rimeroses in this test room.

TL Notes:

*Jiuge literally means ninth older brother.

**Alpine Rimeroses are a special breed of roses that will be described more in the next chapter. The direct translations of the characters in Chinese are “snow mountain roses,” which means that, once again, Lin Xinghe is in an exam room that has something to do with a snowy mountain.