Chapter 263: Practical Class
Almost instinctively, the red-haired girl took several steps back.
She didn’t even know why she obeyed so readily. By the time she reacted, she realized she had already retreated.
A split second later, a flush of embarrassment turned into irritation. She immediately wanted to reclaim her dignity—slam the desk, question the transfer student’s tone just now.
But when her gaze fell on Xu Zhi’s side profile—already withdrawn, indifferent—the irritation in her chest abruptly dissipated.
What remained was an inexplicable sense of fear.
Forget it.
A magnanimous person doesn’t stoop to a petty one.
It wasn’t that she was scared. She was simply giving the new transfer student some face.
Clinging stubbornly to that excuse—fully aware she had chickened out but unwilling to admit it—the red-haired girl returned to her usual seat. The moment she sat down, her friend leaned in, eyes gleaming with gossip.
“So? That transfer student—what’s she like?”
The red-haired girl had been about to say “average,” but her eyes drifted again to Xu Zhi’s back. The word stuck in her throat.
Her expression turned slightly strained.
“…I don’t think she’s simple.”
Her friend rolled their eyes.
“No kidding. With those scores she’s obviously not simple. I mean specifically—what kind of vibe does she give you? What attribute does she seem like?”
The ranking board updated test results at any time, but it never displayed a student’s attribute. To find out, classmates either had to ask directly or observe during practical lessons.
Naturally, everyone was curious about Xu Zhi’s attribute.
The red-haired girl answered almost immediately:
“Blade.”
If not Blade, where did that sharp hostility and attack-like presence come from?
Yes—she felt attacked.
“Blade? You’re seeing things.” Her friend frowned. “Her temperament doesn’t match Blade at all.”
The stronger an extraordinary individual was, the more distinct their personal aura became—and that aura was often closely tied to their attribute.
With results like hers, her talent undoubtedly surpassed everyone present. Such talent should manifest clearly in her bearing.
The red-haired girl bristled at the rebuttal. That faint impatience when someone stood too close, that cutting edge in her presence—if not [Blade], then what?
She wanted to argue further, but the teacher entered the classroom.
At the Light Institute, every teacher was a powerful extraordinary individual. No student dared disrespect them. The chatter ceased immediately.
The instructor for the Circuits course appeared young—a woman who looked not much older than the students. But once extraordinary individuals entered the Long-Lived stage, their lifespans greatly extended, and their appearance remained fixed at that stage, aging only slowly.
So although she looked young, her true age was uncertain.
After entering, her gaze first swept the seating area.
Very quickly, she located Xu Zhi.
Clearly, she too wanted to see what this newly admitted genius looked like.
Unlike the students—who knew almost nothing—the faculty had long heard of Xu Zhi. They knew how highly the Light Institute valued her. The events at the testing site had spread widely among teachers.
If nothing unexpected happened, this genius would become the next “pillar” the principal intended to cultivate.
Naturally, the instructor was curious—and cautious.
After observing Xu Zhi briefly, she showed no visible reaction and walked to the podium as usual.
“Today, we’ll cover something new.”
“Previously, I’ve been explaining the differences between Universal Circuits and Talent Circuits, as well as how to quickly identify the general type of a Universal Circuit.”
“This class, we’ll practice what we’ve learned.”
Excited murmurs filled the room.
Some were puzzled. Practical sessions were supposed to come later. Why move it forward?
Only the teacher herself knew the reason.
It was because of Xu Zhi.
Xu Zhi’s score in the Circuits test had been too outstanding. Faculty members were wondering—
Was that her true limit?
Or partly coincidence?
An amnesiac solving test circuits in such a short time—how high must her talent in Circuits be?
Everyone was curious.
Thus, this practical class.
The teacher reasoned internally:
Even if Xu Zhi possessed the [Lamp] attribute and had worked hard to catch up on foundational material, she hadn’t learned any advanced content yet. Conducting practice now would most clearly reveal the upper limit of her innate talent.
If they waited until she had acquired enough theoretical knowledge, then testing her would be no different from testing any other student.
Inner Academy teachers had broad autonomy in structuring their courses. As long as students met GPA requirements at the end of term, instructors could teach as they pleased.
So she advanced the practical lesson.
She prepared circuits ranging from simple to moderately complex—considering students who hadn’t yet reached that stage, while also intending to probe Xu Zhi’s ceiling.
“I’ve brought some circuits. Three sets in total, from simple to complex. Each set contains four pieces. You may attempt to decipher them. Each piece allows only one attempt per student. Successful deciphering earns credits according to difficulty.”
“Additionally, before attempting decryption, you must first observe the circuit visually—without touching it—and determine its general type. Only if your answer is correct may you come up and attempt to decipher it.”
At the mention of credits, Xu Zhi’s eyes lit up.
She thought of her “gluttonous” Talent Circuit and her still-waiting extraordinary rank.
She suddenly felt impatient.
Credits were wonderful things.
She truly lacked them.
“Now, let’s look at the first circuit in each of the three sets.”
As the teacher finished speaking, projections appeared on the podium—displaying the patterns of three Universal Circuits.
Even viewing projections, rather than the circuits themselves, was a complex task for first-year students.
Circuits inherently carried extraordinary force. Even projections required splitting off a portion of mental strength to resist the influence of the patterns.
For other students, this was taxing.
For Xu Zhi—
The moment she saw the three simple patterns, their functions had already formed in her mind.
From left to right:
Cleaning.
Communication.
Levitation.
All auxiliary circuits.
Ridiculously simple.
Though she hadn’t yet studied advanced material, the foundational lessons had described rough methods for identifying Universal Circuits. Combined with her prior experience—and the complex circuit structures etched in her memory—She had already understood far more than what was formally taught.
