48: Applying for the sixth university still requires money

“4796 points. This score is decent, but it’s enough for me.”

Lin Chen’s 4796 points consisted of two parts.

One thousand points were from cultural subjects, which were basic points that anyone who had attended high school could get.

The other part totaled 3796 points.

Among these, 500 points were for survival, and 600 points were for cultivation. These two scores were bonus points, obtainable by anyone who wasn't too unlucky.

In terms of war contributions, destroying a Mechanical Lord yielded 500 points, destroying Mechanical Clan communication nodes and weapon manufacturing facilities earned 296 points, and finally, destroying the core of a Mechanical Triangle Body awarded 900 points.

There was nothing much to see in the score breakdown; it was basically Lin Chen's contributions in the war. The greater the contribution, the higher the score.

After confirming the score was correct, Lin Chen exited the Virtual Divine Realm and returned to reality.

Back in the classroom, Lin Chen found he was the last one to return. His classmates, seeing him, quickly gathered around, eager to know his score.

Lin Chen took the initiative, directly asking Lin Fan's score first.

“Xiao Fanzi, what’s your score?”

“Brother Chen, I have 4725 points. How about you, Brother Chen?”

“4796 points, a few dozen points higher than yours, not much difference.”

Lin Chen turned to look at Oriental Red Sleeve, who also didn't keep them in suspense, stating her score.

“4780 points.”

The three's scores were quite close, which was not a problem. Their behavior patterns were similar, and their contributions to the war were almost identical, so similar scores were reasonable.

Lin Chen didn't show favoritism and looked at classmates like Zhou Heshan, first asking about Zhou Heshan's situation.

“Heshan, you were in the fifth-tier examination hall, so the questions were different from ours. Besides the basic and bonus points, you should still have gotten a few hundred points. Your score should be at least 3000 points, right?”

“Hehe, 3680 points. With my mid-fifth-tier cultivation, this score is pretty good. I can get into a Star Domain-level university at the lower end.”

Zhou Heshan's level ranked fifth or sixth in the class, so this score involved some luck.

The scores of the others ranged from 3000 to 3500 points, a significant difference from the scores of Lin Chen and the other two.

Generally speaking, with 800 to 1000 points for cultural subjects, 500 survival points, and cultivation points equal to cultivation level multiplied by 100, the basic and bonus points combined would be nearly 2000 points.

As long as one had some luck during the exam, a good starting location, or made special contributions, the score wouldn't be too low.

After a short while, the homeroom teacher, Zhou Xingchen, walked into the classroom.

He had a serious expression as he announced the unified admission score lines for universities at various levels this year. For specific universities, the admission lines also varied depending on the regional situation.

Below 2500 points, one could apply to city-level universities.

From 2500 to 3500 points, one could apply to continent-city-level universities.

From 3500 to 4200 points, one could apply to Star Domain-level universities.

Above 4200 points, one could apply to the Ten Supreme Academies.

In previous years, one needed 4500 points or more to apply to the Ten Supreme Academies, but this year's exam questions heavily tested luck and control over war nodes, leading to generally low scores for sixth-tier examinees, rarely exceeding 4500 points.

Therefore, this year's admission score line dropped by 300 points. However, this score reduction was beneficial for top fifth-tier examinees but still useless for unlucky sixth-tier examinees.

This year's assessment relied too much on luck, indicating that in the near future, the Federation would focus on cultivating individuals with good fortune, perhaps because a certain area needed support from lucky people.

Every year's Wu exam actually reveals the overall policy inclination of the Federation for that year. Anyone with a brain can profit from this policy inclination, commonly known as a 'tailwind.'

Of course, this temporarily had little to do with the current batch of examinees.

After four years of university and two years of military service, and deeper cultivation, it would be their turn to enter various levels of the Federation and enjoy its policy inclinations. By then, Federation policies might have changed again.

Soon after, Lin Chen received an admission letter from a Supreme Academy, and so did Lin Fan and Oriental Red Sleeve.

Lin Chen didn't hesitate and signed the admission letter for the Sixth Academy. As for resource subsidies, all Ten Supreme Academies offered the same, without excessively outrageous subsidies.

As for poaching students, that wouldn't happen.

The Ten Supreme Academies didn't rely on students to maintain their status. The strength of students didn't affect their status, and there wasn't much academic competition between them. They all had their main areas of focus, with other fields being researched incidentally or adopted from others.

Academies chose students, and students could also choose academies.

Students who could apply to the Ten Supreme Academies were generally already on their chosen path, so their first choice of academy would definitely be one suitable for their development.

Even if they changed their path later, transferring wasn't difficult. The Ten Supreme Academies shared resources and only had healthy competition.

For example, a few hundred years ago, a prominent figure studied at the First Academy in his freshman year, transferred to the Fourth Academy in his sophomore year, and then to the Tenth Academy in his junior year.

In his final senior year, he directly transferred to the Eighth Academy, where he also found a wife, and is now the patriarch of a Ascension to God family.

After the Sixth Academy's admissions office received news of Lin Chen choosing their academy, they immediately dispatched a Ascension to God mentor closest to Feng City to pick up Lin Chen for enrollment.

Lin Chen was the top-ranked sixth-tier examinee of this batch, with only a few hundred seventh-tier examinees scoring higher than him, so Lin Chen's enrollment in the Sixth Academy was indeed noteworthy.

Even Lin Chen himself wasn't quite aware that he was the top sixth-tier examinee. One could only say he was very lucky; every step he took in the examination hall was at a critical point, he participated in the entire group effort, and his contributions were immense.

This was Lin Chen's first time achieving first place, surpassing the two 'cheaters' beside him and defeating them head-on.

First place always garnered attention.

Especially since three of the top ten sixth-tier examinees this year all came from the small city of Feng City. Feng City instantly became famous, and the dozen or so surrounding cities also frequently gained prominence and showed their presence.

The birthplace of geniuses, where the favor of genius's luck lingered, was a matter of course, a truth etched into the human race's destiny.

Immediately after the Wu exam ended, countless forces moved into Feng City, bringing unprecedented development to the city.

Barring any surprises, Feng City would have excellent development opportunities for the next ten years, transforming from a small city into a major and important city, becoming a crucial component force within its region.

This was the benefit that geniuses brought to a city.

As Lin Chen and the other two advanced further in the future, Feng City would also develop better; this was a positive feedback loop.

When Feng City thrives, it can provide more benefits to Lin Chen and the other two. When Lin Chen and the other two excel, they can bring more development opportunities to Feng City.

Achieving success together, progressing together.

And as the deeds of Lin Chen and the other two were uncovered, Jiang Yan and Yu Shu also became widely known.

Jiang Yan, a mechanical prodigy who instantly killed peers, was the top-ranked fifth-tier examinee of this batch, scoring 4685 points, crushing many sixth-tier examinees.

Yu Shu, a middle school student, whose strength was not inferior to the top ten sixth-tier examinees of this batch. By the time of the Wu exam three years later, Yu Shu would only be stronger, likely to be the top scorer of that year's Wu exam.

These two directly boosted the development of the South Continent 9th District, 11th Ring area, especially the city where Yu Shu resided, which was on par with Feng City in status. In terms of future potential, Feng City might not be as good as Yu Shu's city, Shu City.

“Brother Chen, do you have any plans after the holiday?”

“Make money, I guess. Academy enrollment will reward a treasure that can enhance innate talent. By then, I'll need to continue improving acquired talent, which means another several tens of trillions of federal currency funding gap.”

“Oh, Brother Chen, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about that. My funding gap is still huge. Make money, must make money!”

Lin Fan and Oriental Red Sleeve were not like Lin Chen; they hadn't maximized their acquired talent before, still needing several tens of trillions in funding.

Now enrolling in a Supreme Academy, the academy would reward a treasure that could enhance new students' innate talent, which would again create a funding gap of several tens of trillions.

Immense pressure.

So, after a graduation dinner with teachers and classmates, the three embarked on a money-making journey, combining graduation travel with earning money in local specialty areas.

Underground caves, Star Gates, and dimensional fragments were all targets for their exploration; there were no limitations.

This time, Lin Chen's main body also went out.

Of course, his main body only traveled, sampled local delicacies, and enjoyed the scenery. All the adventurous money-making tasks were left to his Copy Body.

Copy Body: ……

For two months, the three visited all the famous cities in the South Continent, staying one or two days in each city, spending half the time sightseeing and half the time earning money.

Each person could earn one or two hundred billion federal currency in each city, totaling over two trillion federal currency from twenty cities, which somewhat filled some of the funding gap. For the next few months, they wouldn't lack resources to improve their acquired talent.

Finally, the three returned with a full harvest, with one week left until the academy opened.

Lin Chen and Oriental Red Sleeve needed to spend time with their families, as they would be very busy after starting university and wouldn't have many opportunities to go home.

Lin Fan also needed to say goodbye to his friends. He didn't have family, but he was quite outgoing and had many friends.

Speaking of which, Lin Chen and Oriental Red Sleeve were somewhat solitary, with very few friends; compared to Lin Fan, they were practically the epitome of reclusiveness.

However, Lin Chen didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

He had family, and two or three close friends were enough.