Chapter 289: The Student Council President
Almost all of the upperclassmen showed expressions of clear shock and confusion, but Xu Zhi still noticed that one person remained completely calm, as if she had already known about this.
It was a senior with extremely distinctive features—snow-white hair, lashes, and silver-white eyes. She simply stood there in silence, yet gave off an inexplicable sense of stillness and cold.
Without a doubt, she was a transcendent of the [Winter] attribute, and one with exceptionally outstanding talent—so outstanding that her very appearance had practically become synonymous with “Winter” itself.
The moment Xu Zhi saw her, she recognized who she was.
She was very famous. Compared to Xu Zhi, a sudden rising prodigy, this person’s name carried far more weight within the academy.
The student council president, Chu Xiaoyue.
A rather unusual surname. It was said that the chairman of the council also bore the surname Chu, though no one knew whether the two were related.
If they were, then why had Chu Xiaoyue come to the Light Academy?
In any case, this student council president—exceptional in both looks and ability—was constantly a hot topic on the academy forums. Even the smallest details of her daily actions or words were eagerly shared and discussed.
So even though Xu Zhi had never met her in person, she had already seen her photos multiple times. With such distinctive features, it was impossible not to recognize her at a glance.
However, the way this president looked at her was somewhat different from the other upperclassmen. Perhaps it was simply her naturally composed personality.
Even as everyone else around reacted with shock to Xu Zhi’s presence, she remained completely unmoved. Or rather, it wasn’t just that—there was no one standing near her at all.
It was as if everyone had deliberately kept their distance.
Xu Zhi had timed her arrival perfectly, so she didn’t have to endure those curious, almost zoo-like stares from the seniors for long before the instructor in charge of the selection arrived.
Anyone qualified to participate in the selection at least had solid ability. The stronger a transcendent was, the less likely they were to be foolish, so naturally no one would stupidly ask why a first-year like Xu Zhi was present. Instead, everyone silently observed, trying to figure out what kind of ability this junior possessed to break the academy’s “unspoken rules” and appear here.
More than one teacher came to oversee the selection, accompanied by several analysts. The lead instructor looked somewhat familiar to Xu Zhi—she seemed to be one of the teachers who had come down in the elevator during the entrance test.
Perhaps the dean of studies?
The dean appeared to be a middle-aged woman who struck a balance between strictness and gentleness. Her gaze swept over the fifty participants, pausing briefly on Xu Zhi before she spoke:
“This selection is simple. First, you will undergo a more precise evaluation than your entrance test. After that, based on the results, you will be paired up for arena battles.”
“The pairings are not fixed. After each match, they will be reshuffled. We will adjust and score you based on your performance in combat.”
“You should all know that this selection is not only for the Lost Lands, but also for the league competition. In the end, we will select five main members and two substitutes—a total of seven people.”
“Now, we begin with the testing.”
After speaking, she seemed to recall something and added, “Oh, and the test results will not be made public. There will be no rankings for the matches either, but all of this will be taken into consideration.”
In other words, only the instructors would know the full rankings and scores, while the students would remain on edge until the very end.
And it would all be 2v2…
This wasn’t particularly advantageous for Xu Zhi. The other seniors were at least somewhat familiar with each other—most had participated in competitions together before, some even having prior teamwork experience. Only she knew nothing about their abilities or attributes.
But that was before.
Now, she had [Eye of Secret]. Nothing could hide from her, so there was no need to worry about mistakes caused by lack of information.
Soon, several assistants and analysts entered, each leading students away for individual tests. Though they said “other locations,” most of them were still on the fifth floor.
The tests were conducted individually, but the process was efficient, and it wasn’t long before it was Xu Zhi’s turn.
Unlike during the entrance exam, she could no longer skip the physical assessment. However, the first thing tested wasn’t physical ability, but her transcendent level.
In truth, Xu Zhi had considered whether it might be too shocking—too eye-catching—for her to have gone from Level 4 Comprehension to just entering the Longevity stage in less than two months since enrollment.
But then she thought about it—weren’t her entrance test results already outrageous?
It didn’t matter. The old folks would come up with excuses for her on their own.
Besides, she had only just stepped into the Longevity stage. It wasn’t to the point where she’d be dissected for study. If she had already reached the [Named] level, then she might need to hide it.
Sure enough, when her test result came out as early-stage Longevity, the dean immediately came over. Though her eyes were filled with disbelief, her attitude remained gentle.
“You’ve been leveling up quite quickly recently?”
Xu Zhi nodded. “I spent all my points on cores. I wanted to level up faster.”
The dean looked slightly surprised. She knew Xu Zhi had spent a large amount of points on cores—after all, she was a key student under observation—but she hadn’t expected Xu Zhi to actually be able to absorb them so quickly.
So this was what high transcendent affinity looked like.
What an enviable talent.
After a moment of thought, she advised, “You shouldn’t rely entirely on cores to raise your level. It can make your foundation unstable. If possible, participate in more arena battles to solidify your strength through combat.”
Xu Zhi knew her own foundation was solid beyond doubt, but she still nodded obediently. “Understood.”
Although the dean appeared relatively composed, Xu Zhi didn’t miss the shock and astonishment in her eyes. After all, even though the final competition team would undoubtedly consist entirely of Longevity-level members, Xu Zhi was only a first-year!
A Longevity-level upperclassman and a Longevity-level freshman were completely different concepts.
Originally, they hadn’t expected Xu Zhi to make it into the main team this year. They had even been worrying about how to quietly pull strings to get her into a substitute position.
But now, it seemed she might not even need any backdoor arrangements.
That was truly unexpected.
Moreover, placing a first-year student on the team would likely make teams from other cities assume she was just there to “gain experience.” If Xu Zhi’s combat ability could keep up with her rapidly rising level, then perhaps she could even become a hidden trump card.
Of course, all of that still depended on her actual combat performance. If she only had a high transcendent level but lacked real combat ability, then it would all be meaningless.
