Chapter 394: The Assessment Begins
The next day, everyone gathered anxiously in front of the iron chain bridge, waiting for the appearance of the Elders who would conduct the assessment.
Before long, waves of senior students started to appear, more and more of them.
"Haha, today is the triennial assessment of new students from the Secular World. I wonder if there will be any decent ones this time!" someone said.
"Hehe, the most interesting event at Zhongnan Academy has to be the new students' assessment, and the most noteworthy among them is the Secular World new students' assessment, which only happens once every three years. It's not always that we get this opportunity to watch!" another person said, clapping and laughing.
"Hahaha, I've been bored to death recently. Finally there's something interesting. Every cohort of new students brings a lot of excitement. I wonder what surprises this batch of new students will have!" another person said, with a face full of excitement.
Standing in front of the iron chain bridge, the people from the Secular World couldn't help but feel even more nervous. In just a short while, several hundred academy seniors had arrived.
Moreover, the number was still increasing. The seniors stood in groups of threes and fives, forming rings that enclosed the new students from the Secular World in the middle.
Facing the pointed fingers and whispering of the seniors, the crowd felt like they were monkeys in a zoo.
Especially when hearing the old students' unabashed mockery and seeing their enjoyment of the situation, they all felt very uncomfortable inside.
"Boss, has our status in the academy already fallen to this extent?" Kong Yin asked with a dark expression, looking around.
Jiang Wen also had a gloomy face, as all he could hear around him were voices of mockery and the expressions he saw were full of ridicule, along with a strange sense of anticipation.
It was as if they were a group of circus animals, expected to perform some new tricks!
Or rather, some new, embarrassing tricks to provide mental pleasure and satisfaction to the audience.
"It seems that we from the Secular World are nothing but circus monkeys in their eyes, isn't it?" Jiang Wen said coldly.
Tao Yang clenched his fists tightly, saying through gritted teeth, "Don't worry, our batch is going to change this history!"
"Yes, Tao Yang is right. Let's all unite, and leave the rest to me!" Chao Liang said indifferently, his face filled with arrogant confidence.
On hearing this, everyone was instantly revitalized, as if they had found their backbone.
However, Su Qiong and a few others stood a little distance from Chao Liang and the main group, clearly separate, giving off the impression of a few poor quails that had been abandoned and fallen behind.
At this moment, Su Qiong and the others were indeed under immense pressure. The gazes and laughter of the senior students felt like a mountain pressing on their shoulders, preventing them from standing straight.
Zuo Zhengqing clenched his fists and said in a low voice through gritted teeth, "So this is what the admired Zhongnan Academy, the Martial Arts World, is really like!"
"It's nowhere near as wonderful as we imagined!" Su Qiong said, her face pale.
"Not only is it not, it is downright the incarnation of ugliness. There's no warmth or compassion here!" Zhou Siyu said, pursing her lips.
"Actually, Elder Wu Rao and Elder Qi aren't bad!" Jiang Shi said hesitantly.
"Heh, that's because our boss is awesome. Otherwise, you try it!" Fan Zhan said indifferently.
On hearing this, everyone shook violently, all coming to a sudden realization. This world respects strength!
As long as you are strong enough, you will earn respect. Strength represents everything. It's that simple and straightforward!
The Secular World is no different in this respect. The only difference is that, in the Secular World, there are many more rules and regulations, but essentially, it's all the same.
At this moment, the crowd of onlookers had surpassed a thousand people. Among them were the Miscellaneous Duties Disciples from the Outer Court, this type of disciple was essentially reserve forces, filtered down from the Dragon Gate Academy, belonging to the lowest tier who lacked both talent and potential.
However, their cultivation wasn't necessarily worse than that of other disciples in the Outer Court, they just lacked potential and yet chose not to leave, biding their time, with some hoping to snag a minor management position within the Outer Court.
Alternatively, they wanted to amass more resources at the academy and, generally, when the time came, they would be forced to graduate.
Within the Outer Court, Dragon Gate Academy had the highest status and the largest numbers, followed by the Miscellaneous Duties Disciples, and then the Reserve Forces.
If a disciple from the Dragon Gate did not enter the Tiger-Taming Academy in the Inner Academy within the set number of years, they would also be demoted to the rank of Miscellaneous Duties Disciple.
Many from the Tiger-Taming Academy in the Inner Academy had also arrived to spectate the commotion, and even a few from the Hidden Dragon Institute had come.
Suddenly, the crowd stirred as a lean and tall youth, with the weasel-like eyes, approached closely, escorted by a group of twenty or thirty people.
"Who is this person, looking so imposing!" Kong Yin whispered quietly.
Chao Liang gave the newcomer a quick glance, speaking indifferently, "His name is Zha You, a favorite of Xiang Hao's!"
Tao Yang's expression changed slightly, "Is that Zha You? One of the untouchable bigwigs of Dragon Gate Academy?"
The day before, he had heard Chao Liang mention this person. Chao Liang seemed to know quite a bit about the affairs of Zhongnan Academy.
"Hehe, the second in command of the noble families of the Dragon Gate has arrived, these new students are in for some bad luck, there will be quite a spectacle!" An onlooker immediately schadenfreuded.
"I think those two chicks ain't bad, Zha You probably won't let them off easy!" Another person chimed in with a tsk-tsk.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than one of Zha You's followers' eyes brightened, toadying up, "Damn, Brother You, this batch of new students even includes a couple of beauties with decent looks, shall we take them in?"
Zha You's eyes narrowed, he retorted irritably, "Bullshit, is that even a question to ask? Brother Hao will definitely like them, but we'll talk after the examination is over!"
"Eh, these few people, why are they separate from the others, they seem to not be together?" Zha You raised an eyebrow, caught by surprise.
"Brother You, maybe there's some conflict, or perhaps they've offended the leader of this year's new students, it looks like they've been ostracized!" one of his followers speculated, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Hmm, interesting, let's wait and see! Could it be that the leader of the new students wants to claim those two chicks for himself, and the beauties are resisting?" Zha You chuckled with a wicked smile.
"Isn't that... a bit wild?" the follower said sheepishly.
"Heh, you know nothing, the wilder they are, the more Brother Hao likes them!" Zha You revealed a sly smile full of hidden meaning.
"They seem to be whispering about us, they don't look like anything good!" Zhou Siyu said nervously, clutching Su Qiong's arm.
"Don't mind them, this is the academy, they wouldn't dare do anything to us. Besides, Old Qi is here, he will help us!" Su Qiong comforted her.
Although she said this, her heart was also somewhat anxious because by this time, Ling Fan had still not appeared.
Fan Zhan and his two companions stood protectively in front of Su Qiong and Zhou Siyu, saying coolly, "Don't worry, if anyone thinks about laying a hand on you, they'll have to step over our dead bodies first!"
Just then, the crowd parted and Elder Liang emerged, approaching the examinees from the Secular World.
After a brief survey of the surroundings, he nodded subtly towards Chao Liang and Tao Yang and announced loudly, "The examination for new students entering the academy officially begins today!"