Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The efficiency of governmental institutions seemed to have increased in the world where martial artists resided in.
In the middle of June, less than two weeks after the exams, the results were announced.
…
Lakeview Gardens.
Fang Yuan watched on as Fang Ping typed in his candidate ID slowly, he was burning in anxiety on Fang Ping’s behalf. She kept on pestering him, “Fang Ping, can’t you type faster?”
“What are you getting so worked up for?”
Fang Ping was unfazed. He spent a while confirming his information.
After entering the results page, Fang Ping gave it a cursory glance. Sounding as if everything was within his expectations, he said, “It’s nearly similar to what I expected.”
Chinese: 120
Mathematics: 131
Liberal Arts: 112
Sciences: 264
Total: 627
His results in Liberal Art subjects were average. This was because he was not an Arts student in his previous lifetime, and the politics and history of the current world he was in were somewhat different.
He had done quite well in the other few subjects. The scores had reached Fang Ping’s expectations.
His total was 627 marks, 32 marks higher than the key university admission benchmark that the government had announced the day before.
The day before, it was announced on the news that the key university admission benchmark that the government had set was 595 marks.
“627 marks!”
Fang Yuan literally smashed her face into the computer screen. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw the marks.
Fang Ping was not terrible at cultural studies but his marks tended to be uncomfortably close to the benchmark.
Fang Yuan did not expect him to be 30 marks above the benchmark in the Gaokao!
“Fang Ping, you’re eligible for admission to a martial arts university!”
Fang Yuan was elated. Full of emotions, she shouted loudly.
It has to be said that Fang Yuan was definitely a shoo-in – that he would encounter no problem, that he could definitely do it…
However, all of it was unconfirmed. If he had flunked his cultural studies exams, if he did really, really bad in it, he could only be a casual martial artist despite his high Vitality.
However, since he had scored a mark as high as 627 marks in his cultural studies exam, it meant that Fang Ping was definitely eligible for admission.
Fang Yuan was extremely happy. Before Fang Ping could react, she had already dashed outside.
She yelled as she ran, “I’m going to tell Dad and Mum the good news!”
“Slow down…”
Fang Ping shouted in reply but Fang Yuan had dashed downstairs.
The girl was hilariously dumb at times.
If she wanted to tell her parents the good news, a call would have sufficed, would it not?
However, it was a testament to the exhilaration Fang Yuan was feeling. To the unknowing onlooker, it seemed like she was the one who had taken the Gaokao.
After Fang Yuan had run away, Fang Ping shook his head. He had not finished checking the rest of the information.
He was a martial science student – there were other subjects aside from cultural studies.
Fang Ping opened another window and the marks of his previous martial studies exams were shown in no time.
Name: Fang Ping
Vitality: 149cal
General Studies: 85 (out of 100)
Practical Assessment: 98 (out of 100)
…
The marks of other sections of the physical assessment, aside from his Vitality, were not shown.
The fact that one’s Vitality was assessed meant that he had passed the other sections.
…
Fang Yuan saw his marks and was quite satisfied.
Nothing needed to be said about his practical assessment. His Vitality was high and he had achieved a firm stance. Hence, his practical assessment score would not be low.
He began his general studies late. A score of 85 marks was decent.
…
When the results of the Gaokao were out, universities all over the country would edit their official websites to show their admission requirements for the year.
Martial art universities had more leeway compared to other universities when it came to admissions.
Admission requirements were determined by the universities themselves and exhibited on their websites.
There were advantages to this. Students could narrow down the scope of their applications.
Fang Ping did not hasten to look at the requirements set by other universities. He immediately opened the official website of Nanjiang University.
“The admission requirements of the Martial Arts University of Nanjiang Province are as follows:
Vitality: 116cal and above (116cal inclusive; same for other requirements below)
Cultural Studies: 605 and above
General Studies: 80 and above
Practical Assessment: 80 and above
…
This is the minimum benchmark for all subjects. For the year of 2008, 1200 students from all over the country will be accepted.
Appendix 1: If one’s Vitality is above 130cal, he might be considered for admission even if his other subjects are slightly lower than the required score.
Appendix 2: If one’s score in Cultural Studies is above 680, he might be considered for admission even if his other subjects are slightly lower than the required score.
Appendix 3: Candidates are accepted after taking into consideration their Vitality and their scores in cultural studies, general studies, and their practical assessment. Admission will be granted to the best candidates.
…”
The admission requirements of NMAU were clear.
The minimum scores were much higher compared to the previous year’s.
The minimum benchmark for Vitality was 112cal the previous year. This year it had been increased to 116cal.
Although it was stated in the requirements that one with a score of 680 in cultural studies could be admitted even if their other subjects were slightly lower, achieving such a score was not an easy feat.
Students who had gotten a score of 680 in cultural studies would not enroll in NMAU. Some were social science students who could not enroll no matter how high their scores were.
Some of them had Vitalities high enough that they would not consider NMAU.
There were very few martial science students who had a score of 680 and yet had a Vitality lower than 116cal. There were so few that all universities across the nation felt the need to pay special attention to them.
Even if martial arts had been put on a high pedestal, it did not mean that social sciences were neglected.
NMAU was a specialized martial arts university that admitted a higher number of students – 1200 from all over the nation.
Fang Ping took a look at the requirements set by the other two universities in Nanjiang that had opened Schools of Martial Arts.
There were three martial art universities in Nanjiang. Out of all of them, NMAU was the only one which specialized in martial arts. They did not admit social science students.
The other two had Schools of Martial Arts and admitted social science students too.
Nanjiang Technological University’s requirements were similar to those of NMAU but they asked for a higher score in the cultural studies exam – 610 and above.
They admitted fewer students too – 200 students.
The last one left was Nanjiang University. The Vitality benchmark was higher than NMAU’s by 1cal, reaching 117cal. Furthermore, they asked for 610 marks or above in cultural studies.
They accepted even fewer students than NTU. Only 150 students would be enrolled.
The three martial art universities in Nanjiang province would admit 1550 students in total.
Three martial art universities in one province was not a small number. A lot of provinces only had one unspecialized martial arts university that admitted one to two hundred students.
They could only pay a high price to persuade excellent candidates to stay.
“Among the three universities in Nanjiang, NMAU asks for the least. It’s probably because they admit a lot of students.”
Fang Ping compared the requirements of the three universities. He could enroll in any of them. Wu Zhihao would have no problem too.
The other one in his class who had reached the minimum, Yang Jian, had no problem with his Vitality of 116cal. However, his cultural studies…
Fang Ping was worried about Yang Jian. Could that guy score 605 marks and above in his cultural studies exam?
When the Vitality of candidates was the same, their cultural studies score would be considered first. Next was their general studies exam while the practical assessment came last.
Fang Ping believed that there would be an abundance of students who had reached 116cal. The number would definitely be more than 1200.
When it came to that, the admission benchmark would probably be slightly higher than 605.
Liu Ruoqi was unfortunate as her Vitality was only 115cal. The possibility of her achieving a score of 680 and above in her cultural studies test was also low. This meant that she could not enroll in any of the three universities in Nanjiang.
As for the other universities in the country… Fang Ping did not know if there were universities that set the bar lower than 116cal.
NMAU was not the most stringent among martial arts universities.
All normal martial art universities had similar requirements in terms of Vitality but it did not mean that she did not have a chance.
…
After reading the admission requirements set by NMAU, Fang Ping could not help but open the official website of Magic City Martial Arts University.
“Vitality: 130cal and above (130cal inclusive)
Cultural Studies: 620 and above
General Studies: 90 and above
Practical Assessment: 90 and above
…”
Fang Ping felt a little embarrassed after reading the information listed above. According to those requirements, he had not even reached the minimum of MCMAU. What more his practical assessment score of 85.
Same as NMAU, MCMAU had listed appendices below.
“Appendix 1: If one has a Vitality of 149cal and above (inclusive), he might be considered for admission even if his other subjects are slightly lower than the required score.”
An appendix made the difference of an elite martial arts university evident to Fang Ping.
Special treatment could be delegated but only if the candidate was outstanding in the first place.
What did a Vitality of 149cal mean?
It meant that the person was an aspiring martial artist and was at his peak!
Fang Ping was the only one in Auspicious Sun City to have achieved this standard. Throughout the past couple of years, no less!
This student, one that could be considered as an extremely outstanding prodigy in Nanjiang was only eligible for a little special treatment in MCMAU.
“Appendix 2: Anyone who has scored 700 and above in the cultural studies test and has a Vitality of 120cal and above (inclusive), will be admitted in principle.”
The corners of Fang Ping’s mouth twitched again. How many people could achieve such a feat?
Martial science students had to multitask. Although they did not neglect their cultural studies and did well, 700 and above was just too much for them. Someone with that kind of score could very well come in first place in the province.
Fang Ping was eligible for MCMAU according to Appendix 1.
It was said that he “might be considered” if he was to apply. However, he should have no problem as he had only fallen short in the general studies test by a little.
The requirements of the other elite school, Capital City Martial Arts University, were more or less similar.
Their benchmark in terms of Vitality was higher than MCMAU by 2cal. The minimum Vitality required was 132 cal but the others were still the same.
Fang Ping should be able to apply for CCMAU as well.
However, Fang Ping had a dilemma.
He had been thinking of an answer to his question since the Vitality assessment.
Should he be the cockhead – cough, this word always summoned some thoughts that headed the other way – in NMAU, or be the tail of the phoenix in Big Two?
Of course, with his Vitality of 149cal, he would not end up in last place even in Big Two.
In actual fact, his Vitality was far above 149cal. The freshman martial artists in Big Two would not measure up to him at their current level. He could definitely hold his own in Big Two.
“How big is the difference between different martial art universities?”
This was a question Fang Ping thought about constantly. With his results, he would definitely be rewarded handsomely if he stayed in Nanjiang.
If the difference between Big Two and NMAU was not that huge, staying in Nanjiang was not necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, he would be able to acquire a huge sum of resources at the start.
If the disparity was huge, staying for such short-term benefits in front of him was not worth it.
“Old Wang said that he’ll return to Sun City tomorrow. I’ll ask him then and see what he thinks.”
Fang Ping did not know much about the subject so he could only seek out Wang Jinyang.
He did not dwell on it for long because his phone started vibrating incessantly.
He did not need to look at the screen to determine that the caller was his classmate, and that it was most probably Wu Zhihao.
He was right. After the call connected, Fang Ping heard Wu Zhihao say excitedly, “Fang Ping, what’s your score for the cultural studies test?
“I got 645 marks!
“My head hurts, which university should I apply for?
“I checked. With my Vitality of 120cal, there are around thirty to forty universities for me to choose from…”
Fang Ping said with a grin, “Is that so? Congrats! Oh, right, I got 627 marks. I’m considering applying for Big Two. What do you think?”
“Cough, cough…”
Wu Zhihao cursed internally. He had called the wrong person. He should not have sought Fang Ping to boast to. He should have looked for another target.
It was a pity that he did not feel good boasting to anyone who was not eligible for application.
Fang Ping was the only one who was definitely eligible.
After thinking for a while, Wu Zhihao pinpointed his target. He would call the Tan brothers to boast!
They were average in cultural studies so they would definitely have a lower score than him. They were definitely not going to Big Two as well. However, they should have no problem going to an average martial arts university.
If he boasted to them, he could satisfy his urge to boast and not hurt people’s feelings.
At that thought, Wu Zhihao could not be bothered to make small talk with Fang Ping. He ended the call immediately.
…
Wu Zhihao had ended the call so fast that Fang Ping did not get to ask him about Yang Jian’s score.
After some thought, he put off calling Yang Jian’s home to ask him about his results.
Yang Jian did not have a mobile phone. If Fang Ping called his house just to ask about him, those with more convoluted thoughts would assume that he had called to boast.
Fang Ping was even more oblivious to how Liu Ruoqi was doing. He did not interact frequently with girls.
He no longer had the others in mind when he sent a message to Old Wang, a short message –
“Scored 627 marks in cultural studies. Begging for advice!”
Old Wang replied quickly, “Congratulations. I’ll be back in Sun City tomorrow.”