Chapter 297: Fundamentals of Psychic Power
"Arguing like this is pointless. Someone has to be the first student to take the assessment."
The tentacle monster that had previously stood in front of Lin Ye spoke up.
"I can go first and even tell you about the assessment process and questions, on the condition that you provide me with some food."
Lin Ye suddenly interjected.
If he could acquire a batch of food, he would be willing to be the first to take the assessment.
"Hmph, nice try. You have no idea how important food is here, and every student here is a competitor. No one would be foolish enough to aid an enemy... except for that cowardly rat."
The bald old man spoke to Lin Ye with utter contempt.
The rat he referred to was the student who had previously given Lin Ye a cookie.
"Since you have so much to say, why don't you go in first."
Lin Ye manipulated a compressed spiritual energy blade to stab the old man from behind. The old man detected the spiritual energy blade and tried to dodge, but a spiritual energy shield blocked his escape route. The compressed spiritual energy blade plunged into the old man's abdomen from behind. Under Lin Ye's control, the compressed spiritual energy blade could be detonated at any moment.
This time Lin Ye hadn't attacked the old man's vital points, so no system prompt was triggered like last time.
Several blood-red, slender sinews inside the old man's body wrapped around the compressed spiritual energy blade. These sinews protected the old man's vital organs and twitched restlessly around the wound.
"Go in yourself. Don't make me do it for you."
Lin Ye said calmly.
"...Remove that thing from inside me, and I'll be the first to take the assessment."
The old man said helplessly.
Lin Ye directly canceled the compressed spiritual energy blade. He wasn't afraid of the other going back on his word—he could always stab him again if needed.
The old man didn't renege and straightforwardly entered the assessment room.
Lin Ye waited outside for ten minutes. Seeing that the old man hadn't emerged, he didn't continue waiting and became the second person to enter the assessment room.
Time was limited. If the assessment took several hours, he might starve to death while waiting.
After Lin Ye entered the assessment room, several other students also proceeded to take their assessments.
The interior of the assessment room was quite simple—just a set of desk and chair with a pen, and nothing else.
Sitting in the chair and picking up the pen, Lin Ye instantly recalled the feeling of taking exams in the past.
A blank sheet of paper appeared on the desk, with various questions materializing on it.
Lin Ye glanced at the paper—the questions weren't particularly complex, but covered a very broad range of knowledge, including many topics he had never encountered before.
Additionally, many questions only seemed simple;
answering them correctly required careful consideration.
Lin Ye quickly finished answering all the questions on the paper, filling in answers for the unfamiliar topics based on intuition.
Just as Lin Ye prepared to submit his paper and leave, the text on the paper vanished, replaced by a completely new page of questions.
"...Can I ask how many pages there are in total?"
No one answered Lin Ye's question.
"Fine then, time to show what I'm really made of."
Lin Ye picked up the pen and began answering questions at high speed. For a medical student who had undergone over a decade of exam-oriented education, test-taking was second nature.
Never mind a few pages of paper—even an entire question bank wouldn't take him long to complete.
Of course, the accuracy rate was something he couldn't guarantee.
Soon Lin Ye finished answering questions across ten pages of paper, and a prompt appeared before his eyes.
[Assessment completed. Obtained 10 Tower Points]
After confirming that repeated assessments weren't allowed, Lin Ye left the assessment room.
"What a shame I can't take it multiple times..."
Lin Ye didn't go to the classroom to study, but instead rushed quickly toward the Rest Area. He needed to acquire some food and water before that hunger sensation struck again.
Food at the supermarket was quite cheap—a piece of bread and a bottle of water each cost only 1 Tower Point.
Lin Ye only bought one piece of bread and two bottles of water before leaving the Rest Area. Combined with the food the student had given him earlier, this would be enough for two consumption cycles.
A basic meal set at the Cafeteria cost 5 Tower Points, which Lin Ye simply couldn't afford.
"I need to earn more Tower Points quickly, or I'll eventually starve to death here."
As the hunger sensation erupted, Lin Ye quickly consumed one piece of bread and one bottle of mineral water, barely avoiding collapsing from hunger.
Lin Ye wasn't the only one without food—some students had collapsed from hunger in the circular corridor due to answering questions too slowly.
Returning to the teaching area, some students were asking about test questions in the hallway. Lin Ye found an empty classroom and pushed open the door—the room inside was very quiet.
After entering the empty classroom, Lin Ye randomly found a seat and sat down. Soon a textbook, neither particularly thick nor thin, appeared on the desk.
The book title was "Spiritual Energy Fundamentals."
Curious, Lin Ye opened the textbook. The previous assessment had included some basic questions about spiritual energy, containing many specialized terms whose meanings he could only guess at.
Soon, Lin Ye became engrossed in seriously reading "Spiritual Energy Fundamentals." This book systematically recorded much foundational knowledge about spiritual energy.
This was Lin Ye's first systematic exposure to knowledge in this area.
Previously he only knew how to use spiritual energy and how to employ it to kill enemies, but he didn't understand what spiritual energy actually was, nor how he was able to utilize it.
This foundational knowledge was extremely important to Lin Ye, especially when researching runes and various techniques.
Previously, Lin Ye's research and creation of spiritual energy items always felt like gambling—this was precisely because he lacked basic knowledge, preventing him from achieving consistent results.
Lin Ye studied "Spiritual Energy Fundamentals" with great seriousness. The knowledge within wasn't difficult to learn;
this book was his teacher.
Just as Lin Ye was studying earnestly, swimming freely in the ocean of knowledge, a severe headache interrupted his train of thought, making it impossible to concentrate.
'Mental energy depletion? How? I've only been studying for two hours... Could it be similar to that hunger sensation—that I need to consume some specific food to continue learning?'
Lin Ye picked up the textbook and left his seat. The moment he stood up, the textbook in his hand vanished. When he sat down again, the textbook reappeared on the desk. It didn't matter which seat—the same textbook always appeared.
'Too bad I can't take it out to read while walking...'
Lin Ye left the classroom alone. By now, several other students had entered the classroom, also studying their books seriously. However, only the individual could see their own textbook—others couldn't clearly read the titles or contents.
These students had entered the classroom later than Lin Ye, and they hadn't exhausted their mental energy yet.
Lin Ye suspected this place consumed mental energy according to some specific ratio. Otherwise, given his mental energy level, these students shouldn't have been able to persist this long.
'Feels like such a waste...'
After leaving the classroom, Lin Ye's headache eased considerably, and his mental energy slowly recovered. The rapid mental energy depletion was likely connected to that classroom.