Celestial Human Diagram

Chapter 361 - 92: The Tournament

Chen Chuan had just returned to his dorm room when a notification from Hong Fu arrived.

"The skills assessment is now over. Chen, congratulations on passing this semester’s mandatory assessment. You received the highest evaluation. You may check your total evaluation score at the end of the semester."

Hearing this, Chen Chuan’s mood brightened considerably.

There were actually many ways to raise one’s evaluation score, but most only yielded a small number of points and were one-time opportunities. For example, when he first entered the academy, Tan Zhi had received a point for referring a student, but he wouldn’t get any more for subsequent referrals.

The most effective method was still to improve one’s strength. For instance, his evaluated probability of reaching the Third Limit was over eighty percent, which had boosted his score more easily than anything else.

Passing the skills assessment was less about increasing his evaluation score and more about restoring it. Students who didn’t need to be assessed started with higher scores than those who did, unless the latter performed exceptionally well in the assessment.

Just as he had today.

But it was extremely rare for a teacher to voluntarily add points like today. Even if a teacher was willing, how many people could receive the maximum score allowed by the system’s permissions?

Without a doubt, the best way to improve one’s standing was to reach the Third Limit. Once a student entered the Third Limit, they received absolute priority for all academy services.

Even now...

He checked and saw that his purchase of the Radiant Light service had been moved to the front of the queue, unlike before when it was always pushed to the back.

He thought for a moment, then contacted Teacher Zheng. "Teacher Zheng, I passed my skills assessment today."

Teacher Zheng was very happy. "With the progress you’ve made lately, passing was a sure thing. The only question was how high you’d score. Who was your examiner?"

Chen Chuan said, "A teacher with the surname Jiang."

Teacher Zheng suddenly laughed. "Ah, Xiaojiang. He didn’t try to pull any tricks, did he?"

Chen Chuan said sincerely, "Teacher Jiang took good care of me."

"Took care of you? That’s good to hear. I’ll have to thank Xiaojiang, then."

Chen Chuan nodded. "Yes, I think so too."

Teacher Zheng said, "Even though you’ve finished the assessment, my course was recommended by the Processing Bureau, so you’re still welcome to come train."

Chen Chuan said, "I’ll definitely be there."

Teacher Zheng had only taught him the techniques he could currently handle; there was still much more to learn. Even setting that aside, a sparring partner like Zheng Tongtong wasn’t easy to find.

The Processing Bureau had provided him with such excellent training resources. He had no reason to give them up.

After ending the call, he looked at the calendar on the wall. It was already June. Unconsciously, half a year had passed since he’d arrived in Central City, and it was less than a month until the end of the first semester.

Although he called home whenever he had a break, it had been a long time since he’d actually gone back. He would definitely have to return to Yangzhi during this vacation to see his aunt’s family, as well as visit Teacher Cheng and some other familiar faces.

Thinking of this, his thoughts turned to Yu Gang.

Yu Gang and Lu Ke had come to Central City even earlier than he had, but without a fixed way to contact them back then, he didn’t know where they’d gone. He only knew they went to the Lower City District.

But the Lower City District was huge. He had no idea where they were or how they were doing now. He would have to see if they’d left any contact information for him when he went back this time.

Having just finished the assessment, he didn’t continue his training. Instead, he made a hot drink, sat on the sofa, and started browsing the fringe channels.

Besides news from various regions, the channels also had some entertainment gossip. He sometimes browsed them to relax, and for the past few days, the most prevalent news was about the Central City arena tournament.

The fringe channels were buzzing with discussions about it. As soon as he logged on, he saw a dense wall of voice messages. The hottest topic was the discussion about the tournament’s competitors.

He scrolled through them casually. A few of the more popular students had their photos posted, along with clips from their previous fights.

These few were considered contenders who could make it to the later stages of the tournament. Among them, he saw the student named Cao Rui, whom he had met in the elevator the other day. He couldn’t help but take a closer look, watching clips of his past fights.

This student’s overall strength was quite decent. He was ruthless and had excellent combat awareness, not at all inferior to the regular students.

This was likely thanks to their Implants, which compensated for the deficiencies of their insufficient Mutated Organizations.

He noted, however, that while these students had many Implants, they weren’t abnormally exaggerated like the ones he’d seen on the cruise ship. They looked very natural. If one ignored the embedded wiring and the intentionally-left traces of the Implants, they didn’t look much different from ordinary students.

’It seems the compatibility between these non-regular students and their Implants is quite good. Of course, it’s also possible that those with poor compatibility have already been eliminated.’

Because the arena featured nothing but life-or-death battles, these students didn’t fight each other directly. Their opponents were usually prison inmates, thrill-seeking Fighters, or even members of anti-corporate organizations.

After being captured, these people were thrown into the arena. They could only survive by killing their opponents. They weren’t always Fighters and were allowed to use various weapons, which increased the bloodshed and spectacle. No wonder it attracted so many viewers.

Having browsed this far, he also skimmed through the records of past matches. Of course, viewing the full recordings required a fee, so he could only watch the highlight reels. But that saved time anyway.

While he was watching, a call came in. Seeing it was Tan Zhi, he answered immediately.

"Chen, I heard you had a skills assessment this semester. Did you pass?"

Chen Chuan said, "I just passed it."

Tan Zhi said, "That’s great! Did you hear? I heard that according to the academy’s current policy, if you fail the assessment and your evaluation score drops, the bottom few will supposedly be demoted from regular to non-regular students. And what are those non-regular students like? Aren’t they just tools to be manipulated by others?"

Chen Chuan said, "Tan, didn’t you say before that students who fail can just pay a fee?"

Tan Zhi let out a sigh. "That’s what I was about to say! That was the old rule. This time, I heard the academy administration held a meeting. Not only has the fee been drastically increased, but you can supposedly only pay it once. It’s terrible news for those students who were used to paying their way through."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "I heard last time that students with Limit evaluation scores below fifty percent might be assigned as ’guidance students’."

Tan Zhi said, "I heard that too. And there are quite a few of them." He added with a shudder, "They aren’t even allowed to drop out. I bet it won’t be long before we see former regular students competing in the arena. Sigh, I hope it’s not our turn next."

Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment.

The two chatted for a few more moments before preparing to end the call. Just before hanging up, Chen Chuan added a reminder, "Tan, Wei Wusheng has been hunting down and killing the Fighters who were on the ship that day. You, Pan, and Qi should all be careful."

Hearing this, Tan Zhi sighed. "Don’t even mention it. I’m so scared I haven’t even dared to leave my dorm. I don’t even go out to dance anymore; I can only get my fix in the dorm’s training room.

"Those two are supposedly being held at home by their families using this as an excuse. They were just complaining to me about it yesterday. By the way, you’re with the Processing Bureau. When the hell are they going to catch that Wei Wusheng?"

Chen Chuan said, "It’s hard to say. He’s a Fighter at the Third Limit. If he wants to hide, he’ll be very difficult to catch."

Tan Zhi sighed. "I guess we can only wait. I really don’t want that guy to target me."

Chen Chuan said slowly, "It shouldn’t be too long."

Tan Zhi said, "That would be for the best. I’m hanging up now. Let’s grab a drink across the way when you’re free."

Chen Chuan agreed and ended the call.

Tan Zhi probably thought his last words were just for comfort, but Chen Chuan hadn’t said them casually. If Wei Wusheng continued his activities and the Processing Bureau couldn’t handle him, they would definitely turn to him. And that would be an opportunity to eliminate the man.

However, he could sense that Wei Wusheng probably wouldn’t come for him until he was fully prepared. The man had been active recently, yet he’d shown no intention of seeking Chen Chuan out.

Time passed as he browsed channels and read through materials. Around ten o’clock at night, just as he was preparing to wash up and go to bed, Ni Qianqian contacted him.

"Brother Chen, I saw you passed the skills assessment. I asked around, and your examiner gave you a very high score."

Chen Chuan said, "I was lucky this time. I had a good teacher."

Ni Qianqian said in surprise, "Really? Are you sure you’re talking about Teacher Jiang? He’s... well, it’s complicated. Never mind, that has nothing to do with you. You were busy studying with your teacher and preparing for the skills assessment, so I didn’t assign you any tasks. Now that you have free time, you need to focus on Bureau matters."

Chen Chuan asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"You know about the arena tournament, right?"

"I do."

"The tournament starts at the end of June and will run until September. Since Jibei Dao Central City is currently the only place in the country holding this competition, people from every Central City will probably come. So we have to find a way to deal with Wei Wusheng before the tournament begins."

Chen Chuan couldn’t help but ask, "What’s the Bureau’s plan?"

"Our original plan was to have the Fighters from the cruise ship cooperate with us so we could mobilize the moment Wei Wusheng appeared, but the results weren’t ideal. We’ve now found out that Wei Wusheng has a junior apprentice brother who is likely helping him. We might be able to get some leads from him."

"Someone from the Celestial Forgiveness Gang?"

"No, he was expelled years ago. But he received help from Wei Wusheng in the past, so they might be in contact privately. The Bureau is sending someone to make contact with this person tomorrow.

"You don’t need to worry about that part. It’s just that we’ve had to pull too many people for this matter, so we’re stretched thin in many areas. The Bureau needs you to help out with patrol duty in the Yinglu District for a few days. A car from the Bureau will pick you up. Just wait for the notification."

Chen Chuan said, "Alright, I’ll be waiting."

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