Chapter 77 (3/3): A Class Exam Paper, Yaochi Feast

Xiao Zheng glanced at the five Second Ring admissions officers, choosing his words carefully.

“Has the Education Department been too radical lately? Everything feels like it’s been dialed up to super speed this year—constantly raising exam difficulty, and now directly giving college entrance exams A-grade papers?”

The five officers looked at each other in shock, speechless.

In the end, Professor Casanova muttered, “Indeed… this is somewhat outrageous. Remember, Sanctum ruins are places once inhabited by gods. Abnormalities born there have often learned or stolen parts of divine authority—not your ordinary physical map anomalies.”

“Exactly,” Luo Qiu nodded in agreement, “According to logic, A-grade Sanctum ruin exams are usually encountered only at the university level. How did it end up in the Third Ring exam?”

“Let’s hope they find the key,” Xiao Zheng sighed, “or this will be the bloodiest college entrance exam in Third Ring history.”

Silence fell.

No one responded.

Xiao Lingxi hesitated, then suggested, “Maybe… it’s because disasters have been occurring too frequently lately? The Education Department is a little nervous? I recall last month’s report said abnormal invasion frequency across the star rings has increased nearly 10% over six months, especially in the Fourth Ring.”

She suddenly turned to Minister Kong Ying and asked, “Minister Kong, how are the disaster conditions in the Northern Polar Star System lately?”

Kong Ying was silent for a moment.

“Indeed, they have become more frequent. By ‘disaster,’ we don’t mean ordinary abnormal invasions. We refer to events that have developed to extremely terrifying levels, causing large-scale regional effects. These types of abnormalities usually exceed the scope of conventional exam papers and can’t be overcome through normal methods—they require hard suppression.”

“Currently, the Northern Polar Star System is still within control,” she continued, “but I heard from Xia Linyuan that two district-level high schools in the Southern Polar Star System have exploded with disasters. Fortunately, the students retreated in time; otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.”

Mo Xingyuan sighed, “I heard about that, too. Linyuan didn’t come to proctor this time, probably because he’s dealing with that situation.”

Everyone’s expressions grew grim—they knew how serious the Southern Polar Star disaster was.

Suppressing disasters required massive divine power, but where did that power come from?

Only the Divine Academies could provide it.

So beneath each Divine Academy lay a terrifyingly large-scale disaster under suppression.

The stronger the academy, the more fearsome the disaster it could hold back.

The principal was the core of that suppression.

If the principal failed, the disaster would spread wider, requiring help from higher levels, until…

The Education Minister stepped in.

Therefore, each region’s Education Minister was also its strongest combatant.

Now that the Southern Polar Star disaster had escalated to the point Xia Linyuan had to intervene, one could imagine the severity.

Thoughts raced through everyone’s minds.

Suddenly, Qi Feng guessed, “Could the disaster tide have arrived? But that doesn’t fit. There’s been no warnings lately.”

There was a lunar eclipse warning before, and disasters had been especially active then.

But the eclipse had long passed.

So why now?

At that moment, Luo Qiu suddenly said, “Maybe… we’re overthinking it? What if a few geniuses just appeared among this year’s candidates? The candidate’s strength evaluation and comprehensive score are too high, so Shen Yan adapted the exam difficulty accordingly.”

Cheng Yuntian nodded in agreement.

“Makes sense. At least that’s easier to accept than the previous guess.”

“But…” Xiao Lingxi frowned, “How strong must they be to bump the original B+ level paper straight to A-grade?”

Everyone thought it sounded even more absurd.

Yes, the leap in difficulty was enormous.

And… who exactly raised the exam difficulty so much?

That secret was well hidden.

Everyone instinctively glanced at the candidate screens, which now showed candidates beginning to summon gods.

One by one, gods responded and descended, though it was hard to tell who was who.

Someone guessed, “Could it be those two from the Moonwheel family?”

“Good point. The Moonwheel family, Greek Pantheon’s lunar god line, is indeed one of the strongest families. And their bloodline inherited both Artemis and Hecate. They can enhance their power by lunar phases, especially on full moons, when all attributes nearly triple. Rumor says the Moonwheel family’s top elite can borrow lunar god authority to briefly distort reality on full moon nights.”

“Besides, the moon represents concealment, deception, and transformation. It’s no wonder their presence is undetectable. If anyone can hide their strength flawlessly, it’s definitely someone from the Moonwheel family.”

But Department Two Minister Pei Zhengyuan had a different opinion.

“Not necessarily. Maybe it’s the Third Ring’s top students.”

“Yes,” Xiao Zheng agreed.

“Perseus High School has always produced talents. Maybe a few monster-level geniuses appeared this year.”

Everyone nodded.

It was possible.

Although the Third Ring’s elite lacked resources compared to the Second Ring aristocrats, they could rely on talent mutations.

Kong Ying said nothing, quietly watching Su Fu on the screen.

She had a strange feeling…

The culprit might be Su Fu.

But as soon as the thought surfaced, even Kong Ying felt it was ridiculous.

‘Impossible. It had only been a few days—how much could Su Fu have improved?’

***

Su Fu stared at the “Jade Pool: Peach Banquet” before her.

“Putting aside the A-grade difficulty… Putting aside the Heavenly Court map Jade Pool… Putting aside the Peach Banquet…”

She tried to psych herself up.

This Chinese Pantheon dungeon gave her huge advantages.

At least no one knew Jade Pool better than her—the Peach Garden, Jade Pool Palace, Twelve Celestial Maidens, Heavenly River Navy…

Wait, she had doubts.

Would such a huge prize suddenly fall from the sky?

It seemed unlikely the Shen Yan System would drop such a big loophole for her.

But somehow, it made sense.

If disaster maps weren’t enough to raise the difficulty, the only step up was Sanctum ruins.

Yet no matter which divine system’s Sanctum map was chosen, it seemed unfair to other divine systems.

Greek Pantheon candidates had the advantage at Mount Olympus; Norse Pantheon candidates at Asgard…

But if it was the Chinese Pantheon’s map, then only she would have the advantage.

“That’s… a crooked argument, but strangely convincing.”

If that were the case, Shen Yan probably imposed restrictions on her for balance.

“Still, Jade Pool… what a massive map.”

“Could there be the Queen Mother’s pets—the White Tiger, Blue Bird…”

Su Fu felt numb.

“Looks like this exam will be a matter of life and death.”

At that moment, the Shen Yan voice rang out:

[“Chinese Pantheon Divine Pool Match Complete”]

[“Randomly selected result: Journey to the West”]

Su Fu’s heart skipped a beat, ‘Journey to the West, Peach Garden… could it be… Great Sage?’

If so, Jade Pool and Peach Garden were Monkey King’s home turf.

No matter how hard the exam was, with the Great Sage, it was guaranteed.

“Monkey King, please be Monkey King!” she prayed silently.

Soon, the Chinese Pantheon’s divine power pillar radiated golden light.

Three dazzling figures emerged from the light.

Su Fu was shocked.

Three?

The next moment, the divine images became clearer.

The first wore golden armor, a phoenix-winged purple-gold crown, and wielded the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

The second was burly, with a pig’s head and human body, the Divine Skill: Nine-toothed Rake hanging at his waist.

The third was ethereal and Daoist, long white beard flowing, hair tied high, wearing Dao robes, with an Eight Trigram Furnace floating behind him.

Su Fu was overjoyed.

Of course it was Monkey King, along with the Second Brother and Taishang Laojun.

Perfect.

A small Peach Garden?

With the Great Sage there, it was a cinch.

Second Brother was once Marshal Tianpeng, commanding 80,000 water navy troops.

Handling the Heavenly River Navy that might appear in the Peach Garden was a given.

As for Taishang Laojun… he was truly invincible.

In Journey to the West, he was almost a god among gods—the ultimate behind-the-scenes powerhouse, with countless treasures, unparalleled elixirs, and vast divine powers.

Whether it was the Eight Trigram Furnace that could refine anything or the Banana Leaf Fan that could change heaven and earth’s colors, they were supreme artifacts.

If she could receive divine skill blessings from him or abilities related to elixirs, it would be immensely beneficial.

[“Candidate, please begin summoning and establishing contact with your gods”]

[“Hint: You must correctly call their names and titles”]

Su Fu felt that in an A-grade exam full of divine power, she could recite more titles to get stronger responses.

“Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Mischievous Demon King, Monkey King of Huaguo Mountain and Water Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong!”

With her call, the Great Sage’s figure suddenly swelled, golden light blazing.

The Golden Cudgel danced in his hand, creating a golden radiance like a rainbow.

One word: magnificent!

“Marshal Tianpeng, Netherworld Messenger, Zhu Wuneng, Zhu Bajie!”

Second Brother’s divine image solidified.

He shouldered the Nine-toothed Rake, water vapor swirling around him—a formidable aura from Marshal Tianpeng.

Su Fu controlled her choices carefully for the last one:

“Leader of the Three Purities, Dao De Tian Zun, Taishang Laojun!”

Laojun’s figure burst with radiant light.

Flames roared in the Eight Trigram Furnace behind him, illuminating the entire Shen Yan Space.

Seeing Shen Yan hadn’t crashed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Laojun’s titles were so lengthy she barely dared recite them all.

[“Congratulations Candidate Su Fu for successfully summoning all gods!”]

[“Randomly selecting divine skills…”]

[“Divine Skill: Jindou Cloud, Wanli (Flight)”]

[“Golden Pills of Nine Cycles (Healing)]

[“Heavenly River Marshal (Command)]

[“You have drawn the following divine skills:”]

[“Thirty-Six Transformations·Intermediate”]

[“Heavenly River Order·Basic”]

[“Eight Trigram Elixir Furnace·A-grade”]

Seeing the last draw, Su Fu couldn’t help but smile.

The Great Sage’s Seventy-Two Transformations skill had upgraded to Thirty-Six Transformations, a big step closer to perfection.

This divine skill was a killer at the Peach Garden Banquet.

Back then, the Great Sage used his transformations to prank the immortals mercilessly.

Transforming into a bug to sneak into the banquet, an immortal maiden blending in with the crowd, a divine soldier infiltrating heavily guarded areas…

Solid!

Second Brother was just as generous.

Knowing she was in the Jade Pool dungeon, he bestowed upon her the authority of Marshal Tianpeng to command the Heavenly River Navy within that domain.

It was equivalent to opening a front within the Peach Garden’s armed forces—the Heavenly River Navy.

Laojun was even more invincible.

He directly upgraded the C-rank Eight Trigram Elixir Furnace to A-grade, enabling the refining of all kinds of immortality pills.

“But…” Su Fu was puzzled.

Why was Laojun involved in the Jade Pool dungeon?

Had he attended the Peach Banquet? Or…

Suddenly, the scene before her shifted.

The starry sea faded.

Space began to warp and ripple like waves.

The beauty of the Jade Pool fairyland blossomed before her eyes.

Palaces built from jade stones sat atop the sea of clouds, surrounded by colorful auspicious clouds and misty immortal mountains.

The Jade Pool water was clear as a mirror, reflecting the sky and clouds.

Gardens bloomed with all sorts of divine fruits.

But soon her view was pulled away from the beauty.

The light dimmed abruptly.

She was inside a palace chamber.

Sandalwood incense curled in the air.

Beaded curtains hung halfway down.

Palace lamps shone like stars.

The Shen Yan AI’s voice sounded:

[“Candidate Su Fu, you have obtained your initial identity”]

[“Jade Pool Fairy Qionghua”]

[“Please play your role and acquire an invitation to the Peach Banquet”]

[“Good luck!”]

Su Fu was delighted.

Huh?

She had become a fairy?

Looking down, she realized she had arrived in that chamber, her clothes transformed into a light and flowing fairy dress.

Ahem, in this situation, she had to check her appearance first.

She approached a bronze mirror in the room.

But when she saw herself clearly, she was stunned—

The reflection was not a fairy at all.

Pointed ears, sharp claws…

She didn’t dare look any further.

“What… what is this? How did I turn into a monster?”

The Shen Yan AI’s voice sounded again:

[“Identity corrected: demon disguised in Jade Pool”]

[“Mission revised: infiltrate the Peach Banquet undetected”]

[“Good luck!”]

Su Fu: “…..”

‘Shen Yan, you need to come out here and explain.’