The Blazing Rocket Launcher, originally a divine weapon of the Huo family, became a one-time use divine weapon after being destroyed by Shi Tou. Moreover, Shi Tou has modified it again in the past two years, finally succeeding in increasing its power by more than three times.
Of course, it's still a disposable product. For unscrupulous merchants like those who sell stones, disposable items are just so convenient!
"Inferior grade: 1,000 purple gold coins; Common grade: 10,000 purple gold coins; Superior grade: 100,000 purple gold coins." Stone finished the last bite of his meal, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and said, "Also, this is a special price, no bargaining!"
Huo Xiaoxiao's face instantly turned green, and she gritted her teeth and growled, "You've made so much money! Humph, I want one ordinary item and ten inferior items!"
"How much money I make is not a reason for me to lower the price." Stone happily accepted Huo Xiaoxiao's purse, then took out the full amount of products from his ring space: "Also, sister, hehehe..."
"What are you doing?!" Huo Xiaoxiao immediately took a big step back, crossed her arms, and looked at Shi Tou with a frightened expression. You see, Shi Tou usually didn't call Huo Xiaoxiao "sister." If she did call her "sister," it was either because she had caused trouble or because she was about to cause trouble.
Stone toyed with the premium rocket launcher in his hand, grinning lewdly: "I'm wondering what would happen if I used this during the Imperial Academy's entrance exam?"
In an instant, Huo Xiaoxiao froze, as if she saw the Imperial Academy, which had stood for tens of thousands of years, being blasted into dust by stones.
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It's so cold! The pan-fried buns have instantly turned into ice floes! /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
...
☆, Chapter 165: A Shot of Unparalleled Style
"Imperial Capital Academy?"
Shortly after Chu Fei's funeral, the annual freshman assessment for Imperial Capital Academy finally arrived.
Unlike Stone's previous life, the Imperial Capital Academy was different; the scene of parents accompanying a huge crowd did not appear. On the contrary, the Imperial Capital Academy stipulated that each new student preparing for the assessment must enter the academy alone.
Since there were still about two weeks until the actual start of school, even Huo Xiaoxiao couldn't accompany Shi Tou. However, Shi Tou didn't mind. To be honest, if Huo Xiaoxiao were there, some things would be more difficult to handle.
He chuckled, his right hand stroking the black diamond ring on his left, a strangely eerie smile on his face. "Imperial Capital Academy, are you really ready to welcome us?"
"All candidates, please enter the auditorium. You have three hours to answer the questions. You may submit your papers early, but you must stop immediately when the time is up! All candidates must return here three days later."
That's right, today was just a written test.
Stone looked at the guy shouting from the city wall of the Imperial Capital Academy and smiled mysteriously. A familiar face indeed! He really hadn't expected to run into someone he knew here. But then again, this Imperial Capital Academy was no ordinary place! Even a mere gatekeeper shouting was a nine-star mage.
If Qin Mu, a nine-star mage, knew what Shi Tou was thinking, he would be furious. After all, he had come to his alma mater with the good intentions of helping with the freshman assessments. As for shouting messages, that was simply because there were no microphones in this other world; they could only rely on wind magic for communication, and unfortunately for him, he was a wind mage.
Shi Tou followed the crowd toward the auditorium Qin Mu had mentioned. In truth, there weren't many candidates attending the assessment today, certainly not as many as Shi Tou had imagined.
Originally, Shi Tou estimated that, given the Imperial Academy's prestige in the Luo Ming Empire, there would be at least tens of thousands of people taking the exam, right? But today, it seems there are only about two or three thousand people. That's all. And many of them were turned away.
"Anyone who does not meet the age requirement, please leave immediately!"
Yes, although no one stopped us at the school gate, getting into the auditorium wasn't so easy.
"No, no, I'm not 12! My birthday is the day after tomorrow, really! I'm not lying to you!" a girl suddenly cried out. Unfortunately, no one came to her aid; instead, she was pushed aside by the people behind her.
When it was Stone's turn to enter, nothing unexpected happened, which relieved her. She was already 11 years old this year. The Imperial Academy's maximum age was 12, but the problem was, even Stone didn't know her own birthday. After all, the calendar in the Dwarf Kingdom was clearly different from that of the human kingdom.
Fortunately, such a tragedy did not happen to her.
The auditorium was filled with rows and rows of chairs, numbering in the thousands, somewhat resembling a movie theater from my previous life. However, upon closer inspection, there were differences; at least the rows were spaced quite far apart. You wouldn't step on your toes while walking, and each chair had a movable table hidden in its armrest.
Stone slowly placed the movable table, then took out a pen he had prepared beforehand from his ring space, and leisurely looked around.
Half an hour later, everyone had found their seats, but the auditorium was still largely empty. In contrast, there were children crying at the entrance of the auditorium.
Stone squinted at the doorway for a while, then closed her eyes and began to slowly sense it. A few seconds later, a scene that shocked her appeared before her eyes.
The entrance to the auditorium wasn't actually transparent; instead, it was composed of a dazzling array of colorful lights. These lights seemed to be the various magical elements of the world around them…
"Hehe, Master, please stop probing! There are so many nine-star mages here. They'll find you if you keep doing this!"
Just as Shi Tou was about to check what was wrong with the people who had been stopped outside, Bao Zi suddenly spoke up.
Instantly, Shi Tou opened his eyes, looked around nonchalantly, and then lowered his head to fiddle with the pen in his hand.
"Hey, Master! Baozi is telling you, that thing at the entrance of the auditorium is a talent detector left over from ancient times!"
Stone remained silent, simply waiting for Baozi to continue.
"Hehe, the talent detector can detect how much talent a person has! Actually, it doesn't have much to do with age, but generally people's talent is most apparent between the ages of 10 and 12. Once they're over 12, many people's talent declines sharply! Also, if someone doesn't have any magical or martial arts talent, they won't be able to get in!"
In other words, age doesn't really matter at all?
Shi Tou frowned; no one had told her this before. But think about it: if someone was under the age limit but couldn't get in, people would generally assume they lied about their birthday. And if someone was over the age limit but still got in, she probably wouldn't say that under normal circumstances, right?
Thinking this way, Stone calmed down.
As for the written test, it was just a formality for Stone. You see, this is another world, with magical spatial equipment. While not everyone has one, Stone has two.
As for the written test, Shi Tou had asked Huo Xiaoxiao to help her obtain a set of past exam papers as soon as she decided to take the test herself. Huo Xiaoxiao readily agreed, but her expression was very strange when she handed the reference materials to Shi Tou.
At the time, Shi Tou couldn't understand the origin of Huo Xiaoxiao's strange expression, but when the exam papers were handed out, Shi Tou was really dumbfounded.
He rubbed his eyes hard and looked up at the sky speechlessly.
Damn, she remembered asking Huo Xiaoxiao to get her some reference materials, right? Why did Huo Xiaoxiao give her an exam paper instead? And one with standard answers at that…
So, after Shi Tou quickly copied down the answers in half an hour (don't ask why no one checked for cheating; the owner of the spatial equipment can view any object inside the space from outside), she returned to the Huo family with a bewildered expression.
"Answer? Isn't this what you asked me to find?" Huo Xiaoxiao looked surprised in the face of Shi Tou's questioning.
After much deliberation, Shi Tou finally understood: for nobles and aristocratic families, the answers were a trivial matter. Therefore, under normal circumstances, nobles of Shi Tou's background would never even bother with a written exam.
o(╯□╰)o
"So, I'm just bored and have nothing better to do, right?" Shi Tou looked at Huo Xiaoxiao with a twisted expression, and received a clear nod from Huo Xiaoxiao.
So Stone successfully preserved her contorted expression for three days.
Three days later, outside the Imperial Capital Academy, posters of those who had passed the written exam were plastered everywhere. Stone, however, didn't even glance at them and charged straight in.
"Serena!" A small voice rang out beside the stone, startling her so much that she fell to the ground.
Damn it! Who would remember her pathetic impersonation of the even more pathetic Miss Beth?
The answer is: the Kru siblings...
"Didn't you two already awaken your talents?" Stone stared wide-eyed at Anne Cree and Cage Cree in disbelief.
“Sister Serena, we just turned ten last month. Is there a problem?” Annie skipped and jumped to Stone’s side, her rosy cheeks making her look especially cute.
Yes, they're a year younger than me, so their actual birthdays are probably even younger than mine. It's normal for them to be taking the assessment this year: "Annie, is your brother still so shy?"
Anne glanced back at her brother, then sighed heavily, "Sigh, Serena, you have no idea how miserable I am. Everyone else's brother takes care of their sister, but me? I'm still taking care of my brother!"
Stone reached out and patted Annie's head: "Don't worry, once you both get into Imperial Academy, Nana will come and take care of you two."
Annie's expression softened upon hearing this. However, Stone's face darkened when he learned that the Kru siblings hadn't even taken the written exam three days prior.
Oh my god. Does that mean she's the only fool in the world?
o(>﹏<)o
Fueled by this resentment, Stone erupted the moment she learned that the assessment task was to attack a stone statue with all her might.
"Back off! Everyone back off!" Stone pulled out a large iron hammer and waved it around, ordering people to make way.
Originally, the examiner only required the candidate to attack a stone statue with all their might, but didn't specify any requirements regarding the attack distance. After all, the candidate was too young. If the distance was too far, it might not be able to cause any damage to the statue at all.
Therefore, students aiming for the magic branch generally keep their attack range between three and five meters. Those aiming for the martial arts branch, however, opt for close-quarters combat. Well, close combat might not be the best option this time, since students applying to the martial arts academy all bring their own weapons.
This isn't to show leniency towards the students of the Aura Academy, but rather because the requirement to use a wand is at least a one-star mage. In other words, only one-star or higher mages can use a wand, and most freshmen don't meet this requirement. Of course, if you're already a one-star mage, you don't need to take any exams and can enroll directly.
The opposite is true for the students in the Martial Arts Academy. Would you expect a ten-year-old to destroy a stone statue with their fists? That would be too brutal. Therefore, no weapon is restricted in any of the Imperial Capital Academy's assessments.
If you have it, even if it's an atomic bomb, he can't stop you.
Of course, Stone doesn't have an atomic bomb; she only has a blast rocket launcher...
"boom!"
After retreating a hundred meters away and confirming that there was no one in the middle, the stone finally took out the explosive rocket launcher and fired a powerful shot at the stone statue.
And so, a huge crater appeared in the center of the area. Stone clapped his hands, looking somewhat guilty at the people who had all turned to stone.
"Um, I shouldn't have to pay for blowing up the stone statue, right?"
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Tomorrow is the end of the world, everyone, please stop fattening up this post! ~~o(>_<)o ~~
...
☆, Chapter 166: The Hatred Absorber - Yi Siyu
There were originally about a thousand candidates who passed the written test or were exempted from the written test and directly participated in the attack power assessment. Therefore, the Imperial Capital Academy prepared a total of eighteen stone statues for the assessment. These stone statues were not specially brought out for the assessment, but had been standing in the square of the Imperial Capital Academy from the beginning.
The placement of these eighteen stone statues is also quite strategic.
In the vast plaza, the eighteen stone statues are not located in the center, but rather scattered in various corners. The farther ones are hundreds of meters apart, while the closer ones are only ten meters or so apart.
Originally, the eighteen stone statues had stood in the square for quite some time. Although they were used by examinees every year to test their attack power, in reality, how much attack power could these children possibly have?
Well, Stone obviously didn't know the origin of these eighteen stone statues, but the other candidates were different.
Anne's weak voice came from behind the stone: "Sister Serena, those are the statues of the Eighteen Saints..."
The Eighteen Saints? What the hell?
Well, Stone really didn't know much about the history of the Fallen Nether Empire. However, after silently counting the remaining stone statues in the square, Stone broke out in a cold sweat.
Damn it, she clearly aimed at one statue, so why are there only fifteen statues left in the square now?!