46: Chapter 46 Laser Eye Scan, Disturbing Sounds
With three parts doubt, six parts confusion, and one part bafflement, Li Yu put away his phone, feeling a lot lighter despite the heavy weight in his heart.
He had secretly recorded what Supervisor Chen said yesterday.
It was in his pocket.
After returning home, he had listened to it several times. From the tone, it wasn't hard to tell that the guy wasn't lying, including the part about controlling everything in the Junior Cultivation Competition.
He had a premonition that participating in the Junior Cultivator assessment would definitely not go smoothly.
Fortunately, there was now another path he could choose.
A path that was harder for others but just right for him.
Advanced Cultivation!
Having made up his mind, Li Yu took a deep breath and walked toward the on-site registration for Advanced Cultivation, approaching a drowsy staff member.
“Hello,” Li Yu called out.
The man lifted his eyelids and yawned. Seeing how young Li Yu was, he thought he had taken a wrong turn and pointed next door, saying, “Junior Cultivation is over there. You've come to the wrong place.”
“I'm in the right place. I'm registering for Advanced Cultivation,” Li Yu said with a smile.
The man froze for a moment, looking suspiciously at the overly young yet extremely confident young man before him.
“Fine. What's your current level?”
“Apprentice.”
“App... Apprentice?”
The man's eyes widened, his face practically screaming, “Are you kidding me?”
A young Apprentice.
Skipping Junior and Intermediate, and coming straight to register for the Senior Cultivator assessment.
This wasn't just ignorance; this was freaking mental!
He snorted indifferently in his heart. It wasn't him who would lose money and face in the end anyway; he'd just treat it as a 200,000-yuan lesson for the kid.
He grabbed a registration form for Li Yu to fill out and began operating the tablet next to him.
“200,000-yuan deposit, you know that, right?”
“I know.”
“Who are the five Senior Cultivators sponsoring you? Do you have any proof?”
“One is Professor Li from the Research Institute. I don't know his full name, but he said to let...” Li Yu's expression turned a bit strange, and he didn't say the words “you brat.”
“Let what?”
“Let you leave it blank for now; he'll handle it.”
That brat—no, the man at the registration desk—looked at Li Yu with a strange expression: three parts like he was looking at a madman, three parts suspicion, and four parts both.
In the entire Research Institute, the only professor surnamed Li was that senior. Could this impossibly young guy be a descendant of that Professor Li?
No way, I've never heard of it!
Wait, what does this have to do with me? Just register him.
Soon, the registration was complete. Li Yu paid 200,000 yuan, took a badge with his name and ID number on it, and turned to leave.
Just as he left, a man with reddish-brown hair happened to walk in through another door. Catching a glimpse of Li Yu's departing figure, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks.
“Tian Ci, why did you stop?” his companion asked.
Xiao Tianci shook his head and muttered, “Nothing, I just saw an acquaintance.”
He didn't think much of it, assuming Li Yu had just gone to the wrong place.
...
The assessment time for Junior Cultivators was much earlier than for Senior Cultivators.
After registering, Li Yu returned to the waiting area for the Junior Cultivator assessment. Not long after he sat down, the prompt for the exam preparation sounded.
Everyone stood up and followed the guidance to their respective assessment venues.
Suddenly, sensing several gazes, Li Yu turned to look and saw a few Interns from the same period looking at him with schadenfreude. Seeing him look over, they retracted their gazes and walked away laughing and joking.
Li Yu didn't care and walked straight ahead.
Arriving at a classroom-like venue, Li Yu found his seat and sat down. Several people wearing Research Institute ID cards walked in. One of them was carrying a strange device, which he placed in a corner of the room, diagonally in front of Li Yu.
As the machine started up, a green light shot out, scanning everyone from left to right and top to bottom.
When the light passed over Li Yu, whether intentionally or not, the light suddenly converged from its dispersed state and scanned Li Yu's eyes, causing him a burst of stinging pain.
Li Yu instinctively closed his eyes, opening them only after they felt more comfortable. He looked at the machine, which had returned to normal, its dispersed and soft green light scanning across the candidates.
He then looked at the Invigilators. They were solemn and expressionless, seemingly not noticing what had just happened.
A coincidence?
Or...
Li Yu didn't speculate too much, but he remained more vigilant.
As the bell for the official start of the exam rang, test papers began to be distributed on the podium. Li Yu received his, wrote his name and ID number, and began answering the questions.
The room was quiet.
In the sweltering air, there were only the footsteps of the Invigilators and the rustling sound of pens writing.
Tap, tap, tap...
An Invigilator wearing Hard Shoe Sole passed by Li Yu and shouted to the surrounding candidates, “Candidates, make sure your handwriting is clear. Don't write like ghost scribbles!”
The voice was loud and too close. Li Yu was affected and stopped his pen.
After the person finished speaking and turned to leave, Li Yu continued to look at the questions, only for that green light to sweep over again, focusing once more on his eyes.
“Ugh—”
Li Yu let out a muffled groan.
This time, the green light was even stronger than before.
“This candidate, do not make any noise, so as not to affect other candidates,” the Invigilator wearing Hard Shoe Sole said coldly.
Li Yu endured the discomfort in his eyes and looked at the man, only to see a hint of mockery on his solemn face.
Now Li Yu understood.
Supervisor Chen's words echoed in his mind once again.
Preventing him from passing the assessment—so this was the method: interfering with his exam so he couldn't get a high score, thus eliminating him legitimately!
Li Yu took a deep breath and didn't lose his temper.
He knew that losing his temper now would be useless. The laser was gone in an instant, and no one would believe him if he spoke up. The deliberate footsteps and shouting could all be dismissed as coincidences.
There was no solid evidence, or rather...
The solid evidence wasn't enough.
Li Yu's eyes darted around, and he soon spotted several cameras flashing red lights overhead.
The cameras were still on.
Since there wasn't enough evidence, he would create more.
Having made up his mind, Li Yu calmed his emotions and continued with his questions, but one of his hands, out of sight of others, gave the middle finger to the Invigilator with the Hard Shoe Sole.
The assessment continued.
Whether provoked by Li Yu's middle finger or not, the Invigilator with the Hard Shoe Sole passed by Li Yu even more frequently, speaking out to give reminders and occasionally bumping into Li Yu's desk.
Even the frequency of the laser scanning his eyes became more frequent.
Li Yu had gained experience; he ignored all surrounding sounds and kept an eye on the machine's angle with his peripheral vision. Whenever the machine was about to scan him, he quickly closed his eyes.
The laser couldn't hit his eyes, and the surrounding noises couldn't interfere with his judgment.
But the anger in Li Yu's heart grew even more intense.
When the written test ended and the Invigilator collected the papers, Li Yu leaned against the back of his chair, expressionless.
He knew he had messed up this part of the competition.
Although he was later able to deal with the lasers and interference, dealing with them forced him to divert more of his attention.
Truly...
A waste of the materials Zhou Ya prepared.