Chapter 123: Chapter 123 Jiang Cheng Makes a Move

Translator: 549690339

Jiang Cheng’s number was 1016, which meant he was in the second to last batch to take the stage during the entire examination.

Although he was now in the examination hall, in truth, there wasn’t much for him to do.

Even so, Jiang Cheng was still different from most of the surrounding candidates.

The average candidate, when having nothing to do, would either stare blankly, whisper secretly, or meditate in a sitting position. However, Jiang Cheng’s choice was to respect the examination, watching others’ exam pieces intently without wandering eyes.

Honestly speaking, Jiang Cheng’s aesthetic sense really wasn’t that great.

This was precisely why he chose to deal with numbers, rather than joining the art department to deal with images.

If it were an art department’s color critic painter taking the aesthetic examination, as one of the gods of creation of the game, the art department painter would undoubtedly dominate the competition without question.

But Jiang Cheng couldn’t.

Therefore, he had to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses in this exam.

Moreover, according to “Dialogue with College Students” and the analysis of cases over the years,

The underlying logic of the “aesthetic” assessment isn’t the “beauty” in “morality, intelligence, physical ability, aesthetics, labor,” but “labor”!

Hands-on ability!

This is also easy to understand: because the beauty that can shake a person’s heart forever comes from human hands!

On this point, Jiang Cheng had already prepared early on…

There, with the command of the examination host, the ten students present immediately began their painting!

Twenty minutes of painting time, compared to the duration required for most paintings, was extremely short!

A typical painting exam would take about three hours.

And at Lotus University’s aesthetic assessment, only twenty minutes were given!

Racing against the clock was one aspect, and on the other hand, painting with water required great skill. Compared to a brush, water drops are harder to control, which means one must focus on the big picture and forego the details when painting!

Even due to the instability of water drops, the process of painting and the final results were full of random possibilities.

However, fortunately, the examination topics had been publicly announced in advance, and the ten students present, although in a flurry, were all prepared.

The more ruthless ones directly brought a brush Magical Treasures, as if assisted by a deity.

The more casual ones were painting with their hands catching the water.

After the twenty minutes, the five teachers of the scoring team entered to score.

The scores of the first batch of ten students generally ranged between 5 and 40, and even the one who used the brush Magical Treasures could only score 40 points.

It had to be said, the difficulty level of the aesthetic assessment, compared to the character assessment, was definitively higher by more than just one level.

Thankfully, this first batch of candidates were relatively normal. Even with low scores, they had safely completed the exam.

But soon, the next batch of candidates from numbers 1090 to 1081 smoothly entered and began the exam!

Li Youyuan paid special attention to candidate number 1082, who was among them.

Li Youyuan stared intently at the second freshman from the left, fearing he would cause some sort of big scene again.

Since Jiang Cheng had gone straight home after the morning exam, he didn’t get to appreciate 1082’s antics.

If 1002 was “save myself”, 1003 was “superman sword lover”, and 1016 (Jiang Cheng) was “intelligence has once again seized the moral high ground,” then 1082 was “Demonic Tao seedling.”

During the morning’s character assessment, 1082 directly used a spell to turn a rope and threw it into the river, claiming, “I will only save one, which one of you wants to come ashore?”

When the exam host asked, “What if your partner wanted to come ashore, what would you do?”

1082 said, “I would kill her, because she was not filial to my mother.”

The exam host asked again, “What if your mother wanted to come ashore?”

1082 said, “The same, killed, because she doesn’t understand the need to give way to the young.”

In either case, 1082 always stuck to his original intention, committed to eliminating everyone.

In the end, 1082 was delighted to receive zero points.

Like Jiang Cheng, and the exam destroyer 1082, they were now the prime focus of Li Youyuan’s attention!

Under Li Youyuan’s close scrutiny, 1082 reached his exam position and began painting.

The other students were figuring out how to catch and use the water, but 1082 was different, he directly pulled out his Magical Treasure a sword!

Li Youyuan caught a glimpse of the treasured sword and immediately thought something was amiss!

Indeed, Number 1082 didn’t disappoint Li Youyuan.

While the other examinees were diligently painting, 1082 picked up his sword and, using Immortal Technique, began to dance on the surface of Lotus University’s artificial lake!

Regardless of the result of the examination, the level of Number 1082’s swordsmanship was indeed a delight to watch, clearly the kind that could claim a life with every move.

Dancing on the lake with powerful and fierce moves, he instantly drew cheers from the onlookers watching the exam, exclaiming its brilliance.

Seeing the crowd of onlookers grow while 1082’s showmanship became more and more uncontrollable, Li Youyuan tensed up all over, fearing that in his sword-dancing euphoria, the boy might charge into the crowd on a killing spree!

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario Li Youyuan had anticipated didn’t occur.

As the person in charge of the assessment began to read the countdown to the end, 1082 suddenly came to a halt, took a few large strides to the shore, and then, in front of all the judges, examinees, and volunteers, he gave the black canvas a kick.

He kick shattered the easel supporting the canvas into pieces! The canvas itself flew off into the distance!

Li Youyuan’s eyes widened; he had overseen Lotus University’s new student assessments for many years and had never seen anyone answer a question like Number 1082 did!

The person hosting the assessment picked up Number 1082’s work—a completely black canvas, without a single drop of water or trace on it.

They asked, “What is the name of your work?”

Number 1082 said, “Gu Sheng Practicing Sword on the Lake.”

“But there’s nothing on it? It doesn’t have a single drop of water.”

Number 1082 spoke righteously, “Doesn’t that reflect how good my skills are? If it had water on it, it would mean my footwork hasn’t been mastered yet.”

Li Youyuan thought Number 1082’s work was already absurd, but what he didn’t expect was that this “Gu Sheng Practicing Sword on the Lake” would even score an astonishing 75 points!

That was several times higher than those who had seriously painted!

Careful painting draws no attention, a single kick earns a seventy-five!

You say you don’t understand art?

I’m sorry, art doesn’t understand itself either.

Tired.

Hopefully, the students that follow will save some trouble.

This is what Li Youyuan hoped.

Perhaps his wish came true, as the next few batches turned out to be much more normal. This greatly relieved Li Youyuan.

But soon, the ninth batch of students prepared to enter the examination hall!

The ninth batch was the penultimate batch for this year’s aesthetic assessments!

Their numbers ranged from 1020 to 1011, including a certain Number 1016 (Jiang Cheng).

It was his turn again!

The sight of Jiang Cheng entering the examination area immediately made Li Youyuan anxious.

However, compared to Number 1082, Jiang Cheng was much more normal.

He was even more well-mannered and polite than the average person, appearing to be just a regular yet outstandingly honest student.

Only Li Youyuan, who had witnessed Jiang Cheng’s capabilities, knew that beneath his mild and friendly facade lay deceitfully twisted ideas!

In the examination area, Jiang Cheng approached his assigned canvas.

Following the host’s signal, the aesthetic assessment officially began!

While the others either used tools or cast spells, showing off their Divine Skills in their painting with water, Jiang Cheng remained calm and composed.

He took a deep breath, adjusting his mood before starting the artistic creation.

Then, under Li Youyuan’s gaze filled with alarm, Jiang Cheng took out the Talisman he had specially prepared for the “Hands-on Ability” section of the exam.

[Name: Furniture War God Talisman (Reusable Type·Nine Grades)]

Tier: First Grade

Type: Attack

Effect: Precisely control objects around you with minimal energy consumption to attack targets.

Precautions: This Talisman is optimized for energy efficiency, allowing it to be triggered multiple times consecutively. Recommended for use in places with many attack props, such as a furniture store.]