Chapter 368: Rebirth

Translated by Crystal of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

After that day, You XiaoMo’s attention shifted.

Before that, came the annual Ward B exam. The exam spanned two days and just three days ago it had ended. That day was the first day for new students of Ward B.

After hearing that BaiLi XiaoYu, Jiang XiaoFeng, and Liu Le all passed the exam, You XiaoMo decided to personally welcome them. After all, the three had been with him for a while, making them kind of like his underlings.

“Didn’t they say only those selected can go?” Ling Xiao asked casually after listening to him talk.

“No need, I already talked with Elder Liu and he agreed to let me go. The time is today, in the afternoon, at ten past three. I heard that this year we are getting some good seedlings.” You XiaoMo replied joyously.

“I’ll go with you.”

At two thirty p.m. in the afternoon, everyone gathered by the plaza on the dot.

After Elder Liu did a headcount, he brought them over to the meeting place. It was the five small fighting platforms they had experienced when they arrived. Those of Ward B had yet to arrive.

Everyone began to quietly talk among themselves.

“Did you hear, this year there was a full-marks honor student.” A well-informed student exclaimed in an excited whisper.

Actually, the voice wasn’t very quiet, You XiaoMo was four to five meters away and he could hear it. The Elders probably heard it too, they just didn’t want to be bothered with it.

Speaking of full-marks, You XiaoMo thought of his own exam rules.

The first and second round’s highest points were six, the last round of mixed fighting was five points max. A full-mark would mean seventeen in total. It really was impressive to stand out with all those people.

One could consider BaiLi XiaoYu as a small genius, ever since You XiaoMo left, BaiLi XiaoYu’s improvements had been visible. Even then, he was just third place.

“I heard that in Block One there is also a super powerful first place. Although, Block One doesn’t have a specific point system in place, that person seemed to have defeated the top five on the rankings board. Especially during the battle royal phase, he supposedly had a one versus five. So, in the end, his points exceeded the second place by a huge margin.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Do you know their names?”

“Block One was Yu WenNan, and Block Two was Chen QingEr.”

One of the made a thinking face, “Don’t think I have heard of them, where did they come from? How did they become the dark horses in the exam?”

You XiaoMo also perked up his ears in attention.

The other just shrugged his shoulders and said, “Actually, I don’t know either. The two seemed very low key during their stay in Ward B. Their performance was mediocre, nothing special. It was only during the exam that they suddenly exploded, although it was nothing too surprising, didn’t something similar happen before?”

Understanding his hint, everyone subconsciously turned towards the direction of You XiaoMo.

You XiaoMo, who was just listening intensely a moment ago realized, all of a sudden, everyone’s attention was on them. However, most of the gazes landed on Ling Xiao, who was beside him. Speaking of a ‘dark horse’ Ling Xiao was ‘darker’ than him.

“They’re here.” Spoke out one of them.

Turned towards the entrance of the barrier, You XiaoMo indeed saw Vice-Principal Yan Fa bring along a group of people. Although…this year the number of students who passed seemed a little low compared to before.

Only once they got closer did he see clearly, the number fell at least one-third from before, especially for Block One students.

No wonder he felt something was off before, it was this. Once the accepted Ward B students decreased, Ward A students, who are dispatched here, also would fall.

“Ling Xiao, do you know why this year there is so few people?” You XiaoMo couldn’t help but ask him.

Ling Xiao threw him a glance, he really thought he was a know-it-all huh, but…

“Probably because of the one who they were just discussing about.”

“What do you mean?”

“The first round of Block One’s competition is a battle royale format. Although the rules state that if there are twenty people remaining they can pass, if someone is kicked off the platform, that probably counts as a fail. That person must have taken advantage of that to kick off the competition one-by-one, so there were less than twenty remaining.”

You XiaoMo couldn’t help but be amazed, that person was really ruthless, striping away other’s opportunities as well.

“Look, over there, those two are Yu WenNan and Chen QingEr.” A student pointed towards the man and women standing behind Yan Fa.

You XiaoMo followed his gaze over and the two had very plain features, the type that would disappear into a crowd. But, one couldn’t deny that their aura was very different from the rest, and it was because of that that he could immediately differentiate them.

“I keep feeling something off about them, do you have this feeling too?” You XiaoMo looked over at Ling Xiao.

“Yes, it’s pretty weird.” Ling Xiao looked at the two and discretely squinted his eyes.

At this moment Elder Liu announced the beginning of the test and in the first round of five, Yu WenNan was one them.

In the competition, he could fight off the top five by himself, his strength was no joke. Therefore, Elder Liu sent out the number fiftieth member of the Hundred-Men Ranking to cut off his drive.

The conclusion however was unanticipated.

Yu WenNan won and cleanly because the practitioner was instead kicked off the stage during the second round.

The plaza became silent an Yu WenNan walked down the platform, expressionless, ignoring everyone’s gaze.

After him another two students also passed, although not in the same exaggerated manner as Yu WenNan. Once the last of the Block one students were taken off the stage, it was finally time for Block Two to begin.

Chen QingEr was the first to be called over by Yan Fa. The women, like Yu WenNan, was always expressionless and even had a hint of sombreness.

“This round you go.” Elder Liu said as he suddenly turned to look at You XiaoMo who was very much out of it.

You XiaoMo made an ‘Ah’ sound in surprise. He hadn’t heard that he also had to go up, and against that Chen QingEr. “Elder Liu, did you get something wrong? It’s not me, is it?”

“I know, but if Chen QingEr, like Yu WenNan hid their true strength, the one I originally put up against them wouldn’t be enough. Those two are too arrogant and need to be brought down to earth.” Elder Liu said with a hint of caution, while stroking his beard.

“Okay fine, but if it doesn’t work, don’t blame me, Elder Liu.” You XiaoMo said as he had no choice but to accept.

“You brat, with your skill as a level eight mage, if you lost, don’t you think that a bit shameful?” Elder Liu didn’t know if he should laugh or be annoyed at this statement.

Although, if Chen QingEr’s strength was that high, then this person would be highly suspicious.

“Anyhow, you just need to do your best.” Elder Liu said.

As You XiaoMo was about to walk over, Ling Xiao suddenly grabbed hold of his arm.

You XiaoMo turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ling Xiao glanced over at Chen QingEr, “If you find something wrong, go to the dimension immediately, even if you are exposed it’s fine.”

“If you say it like that…I already feel like something is off.”

“….”

“I’ll make sure to be careful, now can you let go of my hand?” You XiaoMo realized that everyone was looking at them since they were already in their seats, leaving him alone.

“Never mind.” Ling Xiao said as he let go.

Walking onto the platform You XiaoMo saw Chen QingEr staring at him with a gaze that seemed bottomless. Her plain features gave off an eerie feeling, as if she was…smiling?

Chen QingEr twiddled around with a strand of her hair as she suddenly gave off a light smile. The ominous gaze stared directly at You XiaoMo as she said, “The Academy really thinks highly of me, sending a level eight mage to fight me, a level six.”

You XiaoMo was astonished, she could actually tell?

It was not impossible for a level-six to see through a level seven, but skipping two levels? That seemed improbable, especially since he tended to conceal his presence.

Even then, Chen QingEr could see through it. It was just as Elder Liu said, her real level is much higher than it appeared.

“Please go easy on me, senior.” Chen QingEr said, still keeping a gentle smile on.

Senior,  huh? This Chen QingEr seemed older than him by a few years. Being called ‘senior’ by someone who was older was a first-time experience for You XiaoMo.

“Don’t be so formal my junior, maybe you are even stronger than me.” You XiaoMo replied smiling as well.

Hearing what he was alluding to, Chen QingEr’s smile became even softer.

“Please go first, senior.”

“Then don’t mind if do.” You XiaoMo accepted it bluntly, since normally, lady’s first. But he continued on very casually, leaving Chen QingEr, who thought he wouldn’t agree, speechless.

“Heh, senior, no need to be polite with me.”