Mid-term Exam, Part 9

The Sword School’s cafeteria wasn’t built very large, likely because there weren’t many students and teachers remaining on campus.

Other prestigious sects, just their ordinary outer disciples, numbered at least a hundred thousand, not to mention the countless lower-tier chore disciples.

Consequently, these sects were built like bustling cities, with well-defined divisions between inner and outer sectors, effectively separating “well water from river water.”

The numerous boundaries—chore, outer, inner, and direct disciples—were reflected in every aspect of the city.

For instance, dining places: the poor had their eateries, the rich their restaurants and teahouses.

Everyone lived within their own social framework, seemingly free and unrestrained, but in reality, bound by countless restrictions.

But the Sword School was more unpretentious. Though the sect was vast, most of it consisted of mountain peaks.

There were only two proper dining areas: one was the cafeteria, specifically the first student cafeteria, and the other was the second cafeteria, the second student cafeteria.

At the second cafeteria, there were various restaurants, teahouses, and snack stalls for students to choose from according to their financial means.

But at the first cafeteria, the proper dining hall, regardless of whether you were a student, a teacher, a sect leader, or the grandmaster, or whether you were in Qi Refining, Nascent Soul, or Spirit Transformation stage, if you wanted to eat, you had to queue for your meal.

Otherwise, you’d be served by the cook lady’s ladle.

Some special counters did allow ordering, but it was still on a first-come, first-served basis.

Here, no one was nobler than another, nor did anyone deserve to eat more than another.

Even the Sect Leader sometimes had to consider the cook lady’s mood if he wanted a special dish.

Cultivators generally didn’t care about so-called gastronomic desires, but the meals sold in the Sword School cafeteria were all spirit foods, and the prices were incredibly, frighteningly low.

Not eating there would induce a regretful feeling of “only a fool wouldn’t take advantage of a good deal.”

Moreover, the head chefs in the cafeteria were very skilled, and the dishes they made were genuinely delicious.

People from the Yan Yi Sect once came to the Sword School for inspection and exchange, discussing why the Sword School did not discriminate based on background and could quickly cultivate a large number of powerful Nascent Soul cultivators.

Their first stop for inspection was the cafeteria.

After eating, the Yan Yi Sect elders’ expressions changed, and they put down their chopsticks.

“You let your disciples casually eat such resources?”

They weren’t fooled; many of these dining disciples were mostly ordinary human children of average aptitude, with no particular talent for cultivation, and some couldn’t even read a single character.

In the eyes of the Yan Yi Sect elders, this was an egregious waste.

This, this, this… Even a pig, eating spirit food like this every day, could establish its foundation in sixty years.

How could resources be allocated in such a manner?

Shouldn’t these valuable cultivation resources be prioritized for the sect’s chosen prodigies?

The Sword School’s ability to produce Nascent Soul cultivators was both simple and difficult for everyone: it was to simply pour in resources. Every day the cafeteria was open, hundreds of thousands of spirit stones were lavishly thrown away.

If they continued to pour resources like this for a hundred and twenty years, as long as they survived, wouldn’t everyone reach the Nascent Soul stage?

Having thoroughly investigated, the people from the Yan Yi Sect left with dusty noses.

Incidentally, their group had paid an exorbitant sum of spirit stones as tuition to visit and study at the Sword School.

When the students of the Sword School first enrolled, they were still somewhat naive, but as they gradually matured, they would discover what a rare treasure the cafeteria, which offered free meals for the first three days to every new student and was the first place to open its doors to them, truly was.

Therefore, in the “Your Favorite Sword School Building” poll on the confession wall, students of every year voted the Sword School cafeteria as number one.

This seemingly simple, yet warm, three-story building became one of the students’ fondest memories.

The first thing graduating students did upon returning to campus was to eat at the cafeteria.

If this were in the real world, no one would dare do anything to the students’ favorite building.

But unfortunately, this was a game.

Therefore, when Su Qing, dragging the Heaven-Shaking Bull and Yang Xiuwen, burst into the cafeteria, she found it already in utter chaos, filled with the sounds of combat with blades and swords.

The chaotic battle, with the addition of a bull, became an even greater mess.

But unexpectedly, everyone present, upon seeing Su Qing, or rather, the rampaging bull behind Su Qing, all simultaneously showed expressions of delight.

They didn’t even take advantage of the chaos to cut Su Qing down; instead, they sent telepathic messages, directing Su Qing to run to the second floor.

[A bull has arrived, we’re saved!]

[Quick, quick, quick! Take it to the second floor! There’s a way there to help you get rid of your pursuers!]

Running further forward, she would most likely be stopped by this group, but there might also be a trap waiting for her on the second floor.

Su Qing did not hesitate. With a turn of her feet, she chose to investigate the second floor first.

The Heaven-Shaking Bull was incredibly fast and robust.

In a flash, it crashed through all the tables and chairs in front of it.

Su Qing was too familiar with the cafeteria; she didn’t even need to look at the path, her body’s inertia carried her as she turned and ran towards the stairs to the second floor.

These were wooden stairs, with very limited load-bearing capacity, but Yang Xiuwen insisted on directing the Heaven-Shaking Bull to run up them.

The Heaven-Shaking Bull’s four hooves scrambled and kicked, somehow climbing the stairs.

Yang Xiuwen roared, “Don’t even think of escaping! Ah Niu, keep chasing!”

He was, after all, a senior who had studied for an additional hundred and twenty years.

He wouldn’t normally be angered by a junior to such an extent, until he personally saw Su Qing give his precious Ah Niu a flick to the forehead that was not very damaging but extremely insulting.

Ah Niu didn’t actually hold grudges. Rather than chasing to get revenge, it actually wanted to lie down and collapse where it stood.

But its master had commanded, so it was very cooperative.

All four hooves spun, pushing hard to keep up.

Su Qing felt the fragile steps beneath her tremble wildly.

When she was only one step away from the second-floor platform, she leaped up.

She had intended to swing her sword and cut down the stairs along with the Heaven-Shaking Bull, but when she saw what was occupying the space from the second to the third floor, she paused for a moment.

So much fur.

Or rather, so much orange fur.

The tangled fur spread like a tide, covering the entire enclosed space, trembling slightly in the dim light, as if it had a life of its own.

It was a colossal orange cat, completely occupying the upper floor of the cafeteria.

It was enormous, its body filling the entire space from the second to the third floor.

The orange cat looked down from above, innocently yet cruelly, its two round eyes gleaming with avarice.

White whiskers twitched on its oily, fleshy cat face, revealing a gaping maw from which a glistening thread of saliva hung.

This thread of saliva, now presented before Su Qing, looked like a suspended waterfall, from which one could infer the sheer size of this cat.

Su Qing knew this cat, or rather, most Sword School students knew it.

Because there was no other cat in the Sword School as fat as this one. @Exclusive good literature, all at Jinjiang Literature City

This cat was none other than the Orange King himself. He was a regular fixture around the cafeteria, either begging for food or on his way to beg for food.

Indeed, the Orange King had told Su Qing that it would participate in this examination, and furthermore, because Su Qing had petted it without giving it a chicken leg, it had even threatened to mercilessly fail all examinees.

Su Qing didn’t doubt that the Orange King would participate in the examination, but since this cat was such a braggart, its words had to be taken with a grain of salt.

So, she had assumed the Orange King would at most come in as a small wild monster, never expecting that it would be the BOSS of the central area, and actually capable of eliminating all examinees.

@Exclusive good literature, all at Jinjiang Literature City

Because this cat had no health bar above its head; it was an unconquerable existence.

Indeed, the tables had turned. The Orange King, once forbidden from entering by the cook lady, had one day occupied the cafeteria in the game. @Exclusive good literature, all at Jinjiang Literature City

Seeing Su Qing about to step into its territory, the Orange King slammed its white-gloved paw on the ground and meowed triumphantly, “Well, well, Su Qing, caught by me, haven’t you? Quick, offer tribute to me!”

This meow was like a booming bell, so loud that the entire small building vibrated, and a sharp ringing echoed in Su Qing’s ears.

Su Qing paused, then without hesitation, she flipped over the railing next to the steps and leaped down.

Yang Xiuwen and the Heaven-Shaking Bull, however, were far less agile.

Driven by inertia, they plunged headfirst into the Orange King’s territory.

The Heaven-Shaking Bull’s solid, mountain-like physique seemed so tiny in comparison to the Orange King, not to mention Yang Xiuwen atop it.

Yang Xiuwen was a third-year Beast School student.

Unlike the naive first-year students, he naturally knew that the Orange King’s true form was not as simple as a fat cat.

He never expected Su Qing to lead him straight to the BOSS here, and that the BOSS would be the Orange King.

The Orange King, seeing Su Qing escape without hesitation, slammed the tip of its tail down in displeasure.

“What a cunning human!”

It turned to look at the person and the bull who had invaded its territory. “A bull? I don’t like to eat meat that tough.”

The Orange King suddenly wrinkled its cat face, quite dissatisfied. “Never mind, I’ll give you face; I’ll reluctantly have a bite!”

Yang Xiuwen, shocked, retreated with the Heaven-Shaking Bull, but found himself already locked in place, unable to leave the area. “Senior Orange King, absolutely not! This… Ah Niu is your junior!”

The evil fat orange cat burst into laughter, declaring arrogantly, “Who told you to bring a bull into the cafeteria? Any bull that enters the cafeteria is an ingredient. And who says I only eat beef? Haha, I’ll eat you too!”