In the midst of chaos, he schemed with infinite calculation, weaving a net that changed the world, ultimately completing the divine war of investiture.
A single fishing rod, kings and lords, millennia of fortune, immortal destinies—all within his grasp.
How formidable.
Su Fu also thought of Guiguzi, patriarch of the School of Diplomacy, who mastered divination, strategy, and fate calculation.
It was said he could see the world’s trends from a single glance at a chessboard; know a person’s fate from a word or deed.
In reality, Chinese and Western prophecy were completely different.
The Chinese focused on fate calculation, blending natural law, timing, geography, and human factors to divine a likely future, always leaving a way out.
Western prophecy, on the other hand, was sudden and inescapable—once foretold, it was fixed, like a shackle, telling you that however you struggled, the ending was set.
Su Fu figured that a Fuxi summoning instance would be ideal, but even ones for Zhou Wenwang, Jiang Ziya, or Guiguzi would be top choices.
These sorts of instances should be more common at Kunlun Academy.
After midterms, she’d go back and research them well.
If everyone was dealing in mystical prophecy, she’d do it too—she wanted to see what was really roiling beneath the surface.
Three hours later, Su Fu exited the Ling Mountain map.
No sooner had she appeared she saw Zhou Yu still lounging there, lazily reading his light-brain, looking quite content.
“Old man, when are you handing over your seat to me!” Su Fu slapped the table, voice loud and clear.
“?” Zhou Yu looked over, raising an eyebrow.
The two stared at each other for a moment.
Zhou Yu snorted, “Heh, trying to usurp the throne again? What, are junior maps not enough for you?”
With a quick turn of thought, he saw through Su Fu’s intentions—she clearly wanted higher-level map permissions.
“Of course~” Su Fu crossed her arms and clicked her tongue twice.
“Your time as Society President is coming to an end—can you really lead our Lingshan Society to greatness and glory?”
Zhou Yu: “….”
‘Not big or strong enough yet? It’s already the number one society!’
He picked up the teacup on the table, blowing on it slowly, “I’m done, it’s up to you.”
He grew a bit more serious, “So, after I finish the joint exams, get ready to take over as Society President.”
Su Fu froze for a second, suspicious, “You mean it?”
So straightforward?
Zhou Yu sighed, helpless, “You think it’s so easy to get into the Three Genesis Academies?”
“The league is just one standard—there are all kinds of others, like civilization law, anomaly cognition, etc. Normally, you need to prepare at least half a year in advance.”
“Ah.”
“I can’t spare the attention to run Lingshan Society anymore.”
Su Fu thought, so everyone wanted to go to a Genesis Academy.
She nodded, nonchalant, “Then I’ll be waiting for that day.”
The first thing she’d do after taking over Lingshan Society: apply for high-level map permissions!
Three days later, the midterm for Forging class.
Su Fu had just arrived outside the workshop when she found the place packed, people jammed together even filling the corridors.
“What’s going on? Are there really that many candidates? Or are they here for the spectacle?” She was puzzled.
But soon she noticed many familiar faces in the crowd—many from the combat stream.
So, they were all here for the show.
Just then, Yi Congling spotted Su Fu in the crowd and waved, “Boss! I’m here to cheer for you!”
“Hmm? Cheer?” Su Fu was baffled.
Theresa beside Yi Congling smiled, “George said today’s midterm is sure to amaze us all!”
Su Fu got it—it was because she was about to showcase the successfully awakened, autonomous short blade.
“But why are there so many others?”
Theresa spread her hands, “Of course it’s to find the right craftsman in advance—it’s a tradition here.”
“You know, almost all students need artifacts. Custom artifacts are always best and most suited, and good artifacts rely on outstanding craftsmen. But how to pick a craftsman? The midterm is the perfect chance.”
“A live comparison, seeing whose style suits you. On normal days, you’d never get a chance like this.”
She lowered her voice, “And a lot of companies send people here specially to spot promising crafters. They offer direct employment after graduation, with great pay and benefits.”
Su Fu understood—it was basically a “choose your son-in-law at the foot of the ranking board” situation.
But she had to admit, it made sense.
If you want to know someone’s skill, just see for yourself.
And the teachers’ authoritative evaluations would be a useful reference.
It was just a bit too public—she almost didn’t dare open her eyes.
She squeezed through the packed crowd, the air around her filled with lively chatter, people debating the strengths and weaknesses of various forging schools, swapping news about rare materials.
There were quite a few people who seemed to know these examinees well: “When it comes to configurations and design, George is still the best.”
“I think Deward’s metal harmonization technique is more stable.”
“No one can beat Mira’s crystal fusion craft……”
The discussion was endless, and Su Fu finally managed to squeeze into the workshop.
She made her way to her station, only to find that George’s spot was empty.
“Hm? George isn’t here yet?” Su Fu couldn’t help but frown.
George was never late.
At the same time, George was standing at the very edge of the crowd, looking at the sea of heads before him, momentarily stunned.
“No way, I only told my sister and Yi Congling, didn’t I? How come so many people showed up all of a sudden?!”
With the exam time about to begin, he didn’t have time to think further and hurriedly squeezed his way inside.
As he squeezed through, he politely said, “Excuse me, could you let me through!”
Unfortunately, there were just too many people.
He lost his balance and nearly fell, but someone caught him in time.
“Careful.” The person’s voice was low and steady, and their grip was firm.
George quickly thanked him, “Thanks!”
He glanced quickly—the person was quite kind, but looked rather intimidating, with a wolf-tail hairstyle and cold, sharp eyes.
The person nodded and didn’t say much else.
Without time to dwell on it, George rushed onward.
Several kind people even made way for him as he went.
At last, he made it inside the workshop, standing there out of breath.
George took a moment to steady himself, and when he saw Su Fu, he hurried over, still panting and trying to smooth his messy hair.
“Boss……”
“Why are you so late?” Su Fu asked in a low voice.
George whispered, “Something came up.”
He didn’t elaborate, and Su Fu didn’t press, though she did find it a little odd.
George, as a craftsman, was always punctual, but for this important midterm, he’d nearly been late?
Just then, Teacher Frank arrived.
The examinees immediately fell silent, all looking tense.
Su Fu felt the nervous atmosphere affecting even her, and subconsciously straightened her back.
Though everyone was crowding outside the workshop, eager to press their faces to the windows, the school had already prepared plenty of holographic projection screens to display everything happening inside.
“Say, who forged Su Fu’s short knife?”
“No idea, but it couldn’t have been her, right?”
A male student from the combat division stared at the holographic projection—a past examinee.
Those who weren’t in the forging division had all heard of her; this top student’s sense of aesthetics was… rather unique, cough cough……
Practically everyone in the school had secretly seen the “Peppa” she’d created.
All they could say was, as expected of the top student, she really did as she pleased.
“So who could it be?” someone asked, curious.
“By the way, who’s the best among the forging freshmen this year?”
“You don’t know that?” A student in the know turned around.
“George! Teacher Frank praises him in every class. His main god is Hephaestus, god of forging, and he also dual-trains under Prometheus—an all-round craftsman.”
The eyes of several combat division examinees lit up.
“Could it be that he forged Su Fu’s knife?”
“Very likely, and besides, he and Su Fu get along so well.”
“True……”
The more they thought about it, the more convinced they were, and they all turned to look at George, who was standing right beside Su Fu.
He had a head of golden hair and quite a few freckles, and was looking nervously at the teacher.
Inside the workshop, Teacher Frank cleared his throat and got straight to the point, “The midterm assessment officially begins!”
The rules were simple: present the most outstanding divine artifact you’ve forged since entering the school, and he would personally grade it.
He started with the first row, evaluating each in turn.
“Thomas, a fairly standard belt, but the defensive properties aren’t stable enough—68 points.”
“Lina, the bracelet’s design is exquisite, but the energy storage module is too fragile—75 points.”
“Deward, your metal harmonization technique is excellent—very stable, but lacks flexibility—82 points.”
One after another, Teacher Frank gave crisp evaluations and scores, until he reached George.
George presented his midterm project, which looked like a shield.
He explained, “This is a transformable divine artifact. It can switch freely between sword, shield, and hammer forms based on the user’s needs.”
At these words, the surrounding examinees gasped.
Wait, most of them hadn’t even mastered forging a single divine artifact, and here he was already designing one that could transform?
Heavens above, how could the gap between people be so vast?
Frank’s eyes lit up immediately and he picked up the artifact to test it.
“Liquid metal shaping technique used, three-phase transformation array added……”
“The energy flow path design is brilliant, the switching between forms is almost lossless……”
“And it even has an adaptive enhancement technique, automatically adjusting performance for each form……”
His eyes shone brighter and brighter, “82 points… no, 88… wait, 95!”
Frank patted George’s shoulder, praising him enthusiastically, “Excellent!”
The other examinees were both envious and jealous, but no one could deny his skills.
“As expected, George is going to be first place again this time.”
“He used a mid-level craftsman’s liquid metal shaping technique!”
“Damn, three forms and it’s still so stable!”
After George, it was Su Fu’s turn.
The examinees’ expressions suddenly became subtle—some couldn’t help but smirk, ready to watch the show.
“Here comes everyone’s favorite part.”
“I wonder what ugly thing Su Fu will bring out this time.”
“She wouldn’t pick that Peppa, would she?”
Not only the examinees—even Frank looked nervous.
The reason was simple: this was a public exam, and Su Fu truly did things her own way.
Half a semester had passed, and her taste still hadn’t changed; if anything, it had become more mature, even a style of its own.
It drove him crazy.
He worried that today his reputation would be ruined, with this incident marking a heavy stroke in his teaching career.
He was finished—his colleagues were going to laugh themselves silly at him.
‘Please, not again… I’m begging you, please no…’ Frank even started praying, his body unconsciously tensing up.
Next, he saw Su Fu take out a short knife.
It was a simple, almost unadorned short knife.
The blade was completely black with no decorations, the sheath was also a plain black, only the edge lined with a thin trace of silver.
But Frank instantly let out a breath of relief.
‘Good, good, as long as it’s not ugly, plain is fine.’
He nodded in satisfaction and gave Su Fu an approving look, meaning simply:
“At least you didn’t make your teacher lose face.”
Su Fu: “……”
She wasn’t ashamed!
No, not at all—please respect personal preference!
Frank took the short knife, but the moment he held it, his expression changed.
“The materials are top-notch, clearly refined and improved many times, the material ratio is almost perfect, the weight distribution is extremely balanced, and the sharpness of the blade is outstanding……”
The key point was, just by looking at it, anyone could tell immense effort had gone into this knife.
All the rookie mistakes Su Fu made in the past were gone; this was obviously the result of painstaking work.
Frank looked at Su Fu in astonishment.
She could be this serious?
“The flow of divine power is logical, the proportions, the curvature… how could the combination be so perfect?”
“Not to mention your mastery over materials—that’s your strength.”
It was as if this knife had come into being naturally.
“95 points…… wait……”
He couldn’t help but want to test the knife, and unconsciously gave it a swing in the air.
‘Hm? Something didn’t feel right?’ Frank suddenly frowned, not noticing the changing looks of the surrounding examinees, who had begun whispering.
“Is this really Su Fu’s design? The style is so plain?”
“The teacher was actually praising her just now?”
“Wait, did the teacher just give her 95?”
Without handling the knife, they couldn’t see what was so special about it, but given history, Frank had only ever given her just-passing scores.
Now she got such a high mark?
They couldn’t accept it.
Some even speculated that since Su Fu usually made ugly things, making a plain one this time must have bumped up her score.
“But why?”
That made them feel like clowns.
Playing up the contrast, huh?
Anyone could do that.
“Just wait, from now on, I’ll make ugly stuff in class!”
Some went so far as to whisper conspiracy theories: “This totally isn’t her style. If you ask me… did George make it for her?”
That was a serious accusation—cheating, punishable by severe discipline.
The person muttered so quietly that hardly anyone else heard.
But at that instant, the knife suddenly moved!
It broke free from Frank’s hand and shot straight toward the student making the comment!
“Ah!!!”
The student screamed, as if the Grim Reaper had swung his scythe at him.