Chapter 92 (2/3): Newborn Joint Entrance Exam, Club Recruitment

He recalled the recent sensational hot search on StarNet—the Third Ring’s top scorer—Su Fu.  

Especially her comparison with Achilles had shot her to the top of the trending list.

He quickly searched and indeed found:  

[Achilles VS Su Fu…]  

[Dual enrollment! Kunlun Academy’s Su Fu also admitted to Tianqiong Path Academy]  

George’s fingers trembled slightly, his voice changed, “So… this seller is Su Fu? If it’s her, then these items must have come from the Chinese Instance at Kunlun Academy!”  

Previously, with no Chinese system candidates, no one explored Kunlun Academy’s Instance, so no one saw any materials.  

But now…  

Wouldn’t that mean Su Fu could get a lot of unprecedented new materials?  

Tempting.  

No craftsman could resist the lure of new materials.  

“This opportunity… I have to seize it.”  

He immediately returned to the Shen Yan interface, hesitating on how to phrase his message.  

“Calm down, calm down…” George took a deep breath, “Don’t scare her.”  

Su Fu was tempted.  

She had just said she didn’t know any reliable craftsmen, but here one had appeared, and he had just bought her Divine Artifacts.  

Since that was the case, should she initiate contact and inquire about the price of customizing a flying vehicle?  

While she hesitated, a new message arrived from the other side:  [Forgive me. ] 

[May I ask if you are Su Fu, a new student at Tianqiong Path Academy? I apologize for guessing based on your address. If this offends, please forgive me.]  

[If so, I’m very pleased to meet you! I’m George, also a new student at Tianqiong Path Academy, main profession craftsman, under gods Hephaestus and Prometheus.]  

[Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask if you could contact me first if you get any new Divine Artifacts in the Chinese Instance? Price is negotiable! Of course, if you have any crafting needs, I’d be happy to serve.]  

[Hope we can cooperate, awaiting your reply.]  

Su Fu blinked, finally realizing she had forgotten to hide her address when shipping in her excitement.  

She covered her forehead, “Careless.”  

Then she immediately operated Shen Yan to block the address.  

‘But George is also a freshman at Tianqiong Path Academy?’ Su Fu thought, that made him her classmate.  

In that case, she didn’t need to worry too much.  

As for cooperation…  

When in doubt, check StarNet first.

She immediately searched keywords: [George, craftsman, Tianqiong Path Academy.]

Sure enough, there were quite a few news articles about George: [Gifted! A commoner youth single-handedly creates an A-Class Divine Artifact, admitted to Tianqiong Path Academy exceptionally]  

[Rare Divine Skill awakened! Chronos City craftsman George shows extraordinary potential]  

[Exam candidate spotlight: craftsman George possesses rare divine skill [Divine Artisan’s True Word], destined to be a pillar of the Divine Artifact crafting field]  

The reports even had photos of George—blond hair, freckles, bright smile.  

Su Fu grew more amazed, “Wow, a technical talent! Especially his divine skill [Divine Artisan’s True Word], capable of directly embedding abstract concepts into materials… like embedding ‘sharp’ or ‘immortal’ into Divine Artifacts…”  

Su Fu understood now—no wonder he was admitted to Tianqiong Path Academy.

This skill was basically godlike, as it broke physical limits and directly controlled the essential properties of items.  

He wasn’t a fighter but was an extremely rare technical talent.  

“So… his focus on the Dragon Breath Stone is the key?” Su Fu guessed, “That must be for… the concept of dragon?”  

She took a breath, thinking, they were both freshmen, yet his main profession was already this advanced?  

Sure enough, commoners rely on mutations, and those who break through are definitely born with full talent.  

In that case…  

‘Hehe.’

She replied quickly: [Hello, George.]

[ I’m working on some special artifacts… It’s such a coincidence to meet you. Regarding cooperation, I’m very interested. I’m also looking for a reliable craftsman to help me with some unique items… ]  

[ How about exchanging private contact info so we can discuss details more conveniently? ]

As soon as Su Fu sent her message, George replied almost instantly—they clearly hit it off immediately.

Seeing Su Fu’s response, George let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair.

“Not bad, not bad. Didn’t expect she’d be so easy to talk to—none of that top scorer arrogance.”

“Hehehe…” George couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

What could make a craftsman happier than getting new raw materials?

For a craftsman, materials were life itself—the source of inspiration and the foundation of creation.

Especially rare materials; they could transform an ordinary piece into a legendary Divine Artifact.

A divine item from a Chinese Instance… hopefully, it would help him advance to a new level!

Just as he was happily envisioning the future, a hand suddenly smacked the back of his head hard from behind.

“Ouch!” George cried out in pain, clutching his head as he turned around to complain, “Sis, be gentler when you hit me!”

“The whole family depends on your earnings, little brother. If I smash your clever brain, how will I enjoy all those black truffle cream-baked lobsters later?”  

His sister Theresa, her chestnut curls tied casually at the back, gave him a disdainful look.

“Waking up early and seeing you here grinning like an idiot, just wanted to sober you up.”

George grinned sheepishly, “Thanks a lot, sis!”

Theresa’s gaze shifted to the Storm Wyvern on the workbench.

“Still haven’t found the dragon material? If not, I’ll get it for you…” 

She said this, but her mind was already made up.

Not long ago, she had found a lead to contact an A-Class Dungeon.

Although the price was high, if there was no other way, they would have to take the gamble.

“What do you want to give me?” George interrupted her with a playful smile. “Look what I got.”

Theresa looked over, and the Shen Yan AI immediately gave the appraisal:

[Item: Dragon Breath Stone]  

[Grade: Low]  

[Contains dragon breath, but recommended to be used within three days]

“Dragon Breath Stone?!” Her eyes widened in disbelief as she took the stone she asked, “Where did you get this? Though it’s just dragon breath, it’s more than enough for your abilities. Not bad, huh? How much did it cost?”

George held up his hand and proudly made a “zero” gesture.

“Zero?” Theresa was shocked, “Don’t tell me you just picked it up!”

George quickly recounted the whole story and mentioned that he had already reached a cooperation agreement with Su Fu.

Theresa’s expression grew complicated.

“So, not only did you get the Dragon Breath Stone for free, but you also secured a steady supplier of Chinese Divine Derivation Core artifacts?”

“Didn’t expect you’d manage all this…” Theresa shook her head, then laughed.

“That’s enough. If you can finish making the Storm Wyvern before school starts, you won’t have to worry about the Newborn Joint Entrance Exam.”

Her expression then turned serious, “That said, once you finish with the Storm Wyvern, pause all crafting work and focus fully on preparing for the exam. You know how important the Tianqiong Path Academy’s Newborn Joint Entrance Exam is—it will determine your starting point in the academy.”

George nodded earnestly, “I’m thinking the same.”

He walked over to the Storm Wyvern, gently stroking the lifelike metallic dragon body, “Hehe, buddy, soon you’ll be part of the entrance exam.”

Behind him, Theresa’s expression was subtle.

“Su Fu… Chinese Divine Derivation Core… Third Star Ring Top Scorer…”

Their foolish little brother had reached a cooperation agreement with her?

***

Three days later, the Shen Yan AI finally completed its update.

But at this time, all the freshmen at Tianqiong Path Academy were focused on something else: the school had announced that the Newborn Joint Entrance Exam would take place right after the semester began.

The school’s internal forum had already exploded with activity, with trending posts flooding in:

[Breaking News! According to reliable sources, this year’s Newborn Joint Entrance Exam map is an A-Class Dungeon from the Lingshan Series]

[The hardest freshmen exam in history! Lingshan Series is insanely difficult. Is the school trying to intimidate the newcomers?]

[Can anyone analyze the difficulties and strategies for the Lingshan Series Dungeon? Looking for experts!]

[Resource Battle! How exam rankings relate to the next year’s resource distribution]

Su Fu read these posts and her heart skipped a beat.

“No way, a test right after starting university? And it’s a joint exam for all freshmen. So that means people like Achilles and other scion heirs will be competing together?”

Looking at the Lingshan map, Su Fu’s expression changed slightly.

She had taken the Lingshan Branch: Demon Road test before, but that was just a D-Class Dungeon and she had very little experience.

This time it was an A-Class, with difficulty soaring.

Wait… could it be that they would face one of the Eighty-One Calamities?

Or maybe several in succession?

She immediately opened the most popular thread, and as expected, the freshmen were all wailing.

[Who makes freshmen take such a hard exam right after enrollment? It’s like they want to kill us!]

[Everyone knows the Lingshan Series is the flagship dungeon of Tianqiong Path Academy! And they want us rookies to tackle it?]

[I heard last year’s S-Class Lingshan Dungeon even the High Priest of the Amaterasu Pantheon failed… and now they’re making us freshmen do this? Hah, they sure think highly of us!]

[I asked some upperclassmen and seniors—they laughed in a creepy way. Help!]

[Most importantly, the Newborn Joint Entrance Exam is strongly linked to next year’s resource allocation! We’re doomed…]

Su Fu paused and thought, ‘So it’s basically a preliminary exam?’

“Testing the skill level of all the candidates to decide resource distribution from there?”

That made sense.

After all, Tianqiong Path Academy gathered excellent students from all star rings, but since the exams were different per ring, it was hard to have a universally accepted ranking of all students.

What to do?

The most straightforward method was to use the school’s own exam paper with a unified evaluation standard to conduct a comprehensive test for all freshmen.

Then, distributing resources based on the results would be beyond reproach.

She read on: [Stop whining, everyone says it’s hard every year, but the same people still get first place. Do you think Achilles-level guys are scared of a little challenge?]

[The key isn’t difficulty—it’s that this exam is different from before. It’s also called the ‘Career Transition Exam.’]

[“High school was compulsory education. The papers were safe, repetitive, and difficulty was controlled. But university is different—we now have enough strength to confront anomalies and protect our homes.”]

[But at the same time, that means real danger—people could actually die! The school wants the first exam to change everyone’s mindset. This is no greenhouse anymore; it’s the first battlefield against anomalies.]

Su Fu thought to herself: It really was like that.

You can teach people with words all you want, but until they experience something themselves, it won’t sink in.

No sugarcoating, just jump right into the exam and let everyone face reality and adjust their mindset.

At that moment, a new comment was bumped to the top:

[Additional point: The Newborn Joint Entrance Exam isn’t just about next year’s resource allocation. Major clubs will also recruit new members based on the exam results.]

[Especially the top clubs—they mostly care about exam rankings rather than high school scores. The kind of club you join is almost as important as what resources you get.]

“Clubs?” Su Fu paused.

“The school actually has that?”

Many freshmen asked similar questions:

[What are clubs?]  

[Are clubs important at Tianqiong Path Academy?]

The original poster soon gave a detailed explanation: [Think of clubs as student organizations with autonomy that specialize in tackling certain dungeons. They’re officially allowed by the school and can openly use school resources.]

[For example, the popular ‘Lingshan Society’ focuses on the Lingshan Series Dungeons. The ‘Olympus Society’ specializes in the Olympus Series Dungeons. The ‘Asgard Society’ on the World Tree Series…]

[Among these, Lingshan Society is widely recognized as the strongest club. They hold priority exploration rights to the Lingshan Series Dungeons. Ultimately, a club’s strength depends on how many quality dungeon resources it controls.]

[And the better the club’s resources, the stricter their requirements for new members.]

In summary, this exam was critical.

You had to strive to become a top student.

[Perform well, the school gives you more resources, and you can join better clubs, forming a positive feedback loop to grow stronger!]