Chapter 730: The Importance of Credits

Without a student ID, you're not a student of the academy... then what are you doing at the Master Teacher Academy?

As the only major master teacher training base under the Sealing Empire, those who enter here possess extremely proud talents and capital; it's not a place just anyone can sneak into.

"I'm a new student this year... I haven't gotten my student ID yet!"

Seeing that the other party might have mistaken him for an outsider, Zhang Xuan explained.

"New student?" The woman was stunned for a moment, then remembered that today was the day of the enrollment assessment, and couldn't help shaking her head.

In the middle of the night, a newly arrived new student, instead of resting, wants to take the five-star blacksmith exam...

"To tell you the truth, to take the blacksmith exam, you first need a student ID, second, a rank badge, and third, credits. Without credits, who has the time to test you?"

Knowing he was a new student, she no longer addressed him as a senior student, and the woman explained.

"I need credits too?"

Zhang Xuan smiled bitterly.

"Of course. In other guilds, when testing, they also require spirit stones as a deposit. Without credits, without constraints, if people came to test every day, wouldn't that drive everyone crazy?"

The woman snorted.

A new student, not even clear on the rules, comes running to take the exam. He's either bold or dim-witted.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

Indeed.

When testing for ranks in other guilds, you can't just go casually; you also need to pay a certain fee first. If you pass, it's refunded; if you fail, it's confiscated, to block those who are far from qualified but overestimate themselves.

Obviously, it's the same here, except the restriction is replaced by credits.

"How many credits are needed to test for a five-star blacksmith?"

Zhang Xuan asked.

"For a five-star auxiliary profession, the academy usually charges two credits; for six-star, it's four credits." The woman said.

"Two? Four?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback, then asked, "In other guilds, if you pass the test, they refund the fee. If I pass the five-star blacksmith exam, will the credits be refunded too?"

Having just walked around, he knew how difficult it was to earn credits. Helping someone forge a spirit-grade mid-tier weapon wasn't even worth half a credit. Two or four credits were absolutely astronomical for students.

If the credits were refunded upon passing, that would be fine. But if not, just spending on these auxiliary profession exams would cost who knows how many credits.

"Refund? You're overthinking it. How could they be refunded!"

The woman shook her head. "Just remember, to survive in the academy, you must have credits. Without them, no amount of money is useful! And to earn credits, you need to do various tasks, complete various studies, or break records that no one else has broken! Alright, go back. Without a student ID, as long as you're a student of the academy, we can bend the rules a bit. But without credits, you don't even have the qualifications to activate the [Artifact Sea]. How can you take the exam?"

"Activate the Artifact Sea?"

"The Artifact Sea is an automated testing channel built by the Artifact Academy and the Artificer Academy, consuming countless human and material resources. Testers just need to activate it to enter a virtual scene and forge using puppets. If successful, they pass the exam."

Seeing that he was completely clueless, the woman, though impatient, explained in detail.

"Virtual scene, puppets? Forging exam, doesn't it require real experience? How can a virtual scene test it?" Zhang Xuan found it strange.

He had been to many guilds, and all required real skills. What did she mean by virtual scene?

Could it be that you could pass without actually forging?

"Real experience is possible, but do you know how precious forging materials are? The academy has over a hundred thousand master teachers, and no less than fifty thousand have forging as an auxiliary profession. How many come to test for ranks every day? If all were real tests, how much ore and rare metal would be wasted daily?"

The woman snorted. "Don't worry. Although it's a virtual scene, it was built by the academy since its founding, collecting data from hundreds of six-star peak blacksmiths and combining tens of thousands of forging scenarios. As long as your forging techniques meet the standards, you will definitely pass! The error compared to real forging is less than one in a hundred billion!"

Although the Artifact Sea is a virtual forging scene, it has been verified by countless six-star blacksmiths and is identical to real forging. If you can succeed inside, you will absolutely succeed in reality. No problem.

"Oh!"

Zhang Xuan understood.

That made sense. With over fifty thousand blacksmiths, at least several hundred come to test every day. If they all forged for real, how much ore and iron would be needed?

If they succeeded, that would be one thing, but most would fail. Once failed, those ores could never be used again. Such losses, even the Master Teacher Academy, could not bear.

Ore is not like medicinal herbs, which are renewable and can be planted. Some precious ores, once consumed, can never be found again.

Therefore, using a virtual scene for testing is indeed the best method.

"Go back. Even if you have the ability to test for five-star blacksmith, it's best to earn two credits first. Without credits, there's no way. No amount of bending the rules can help."

The woman waved her hand again.

"You mentioned earlier... earning credits requires completing tasks, studies, or... breaking records? May I ask how breaking records works?"

Knowing that without credits he could do nothing, Zhang Xuan continued to ask.

"Breaking records?" The woman rolled her eyes, almost spitting blood.

As expected of a newcomer, he really had wild ideas.

Since they're called records, it means countless master teachers in the academy have tried and failed. You, a new student who knows nothing, asking questions I've tolerated, now you want to break records to earn credits?

What kind of daydream is that?

If credits were that easy to earn, wouldn't everyone come?

He's really foolish!

"Yes, are there any records here that I could try..." Zhang Xuan said.

What can be called a trial must be troublesome; simple ones wouldn't wait for him to act... Just enrolled, haven't even met the teachers, let alone studies. For him, the only way to quickly earn points was to break records.

Of course, if the records were too hard, he'd read a few more books; if easy, he'd go try and earn some first.

A single coin can stump a hero. Without credits, even with extraordinary abilities, there's no way.

"You..."

Seeing this guy keep talking about records, the woman shook her head, displeased.

Do you even know what records are? And you want to break them?

At first, she thought this newcomer might have some talent and deserved respect. But now, seeing him increasingly arrogant and presumptuous, she was starting to feel disgusted.

However, as a fellow master teacher, she couldn't show it openly. Suppressing her anger, she waved casually: "If you want to break records, there's a record channel over there. You can go check it out yourself. But I advise you not to go in, or you'll easily be thrown out..."

Records represent honor and dignity. If you can't break them and barge in recklessly, you'll naturally be punished.

Making a fool of yourself is minor; you might even be thrown out by the channel and seriously injured.

"Over there?" Zhang Xuan looked, but with the dense crowd blocking the view, he couldn't see anything.

"I have nothing to do now, I'll take you there..."

Snorting, the woman lifted her chin and walked ahead.

Since you won't give up, I'll see for myself how you make a fool of yourself.

A new student, not being humble, and wanting to break records? Do you think records are that easy?

If they were that easy, who would be squatting here helping people forge and sell items, or even risking life and limb to go on various trials?

I've seen bold people, but never this bold!

Probably a genius who hasn't suffered setbacks, used to ruling in a small place, unaware of the vastness of the world.

Unaware of the woman's thoughts and that he had left a very bad impression, Zhang Xuan followed closely behind, walking to one side.

Weaving through the crowd, after a short while, they arrived at a doorway.

This gate, like the one for the master teacher exam, had a white wall outside with various records inscribed.

"Melt three pieces of iron-black crystal in ten minutes. Completed by six-star blacksmith Zheng Rong, Master Teacher Academy year 3784..."

"Channel earthly fire to melt cold-silver iron, making it flow into liquid within one hour. Completed by six-star blacksmith..."

"Stay in the earthly fire channel for seventeen minutes. Completed by six-star blacksmith Liu Han..."

...

The records above not only detailed the results but also who completed them, roughly when, and the achievements.

Glancing over them casually, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but look serious.

He had to admit, these records were indeed astonishing.

Take iron-black crystal, for example. It's one of the hardest ores to smelt. Even a seven-star blacksmith would need at least half an hour to smelt it. This Zheng Rong did it in ten minutes—terrifying!

Even he probably couldn't do it.

Not because his knowledge or skill was lacking, but because his strength was insufficient.

And that cold-silver iron was even more exaggerated. With ordinary furnace fire, it was almost impossible; you had to channel earthly fire for long-term tempering. Normally, it would take months of earthly fire warming to forge a weapon. The fact that he melted it into liquid in one hour was extraordinarily impressive.

"Can you do these?"

Seeing the boastful young man's face full of surprise, the woman sneered.

"I can do them... but it would be a bit troublesome."

Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

If he really wanted to, he could certainly surpass them, but it would cost a lot. Using such costs to earn a few credits wasn't worth it.

For example, to melt cold-silver iron with heart fire, he would need to nourish it with Heavenly Dao true energy and then merge it with earthly core fire. It should melt in half an hour... but the amount of true energy consumed would be terrifying.

Moreover, doing so would easily reveal the secret of Heavenly Dao true energy.

"Can do them? A bit troublesome? Quite the big talk!"

Hearing their conversation, a blacksmith stepped forward and sneered: "Li Xuan, where did you dig up such an arrogant fellow?"