Finally, it was over. Most people were extremely tired. Crossing the river was a great effort for them. May, however, felt unsatisfied. Nevertheless, it was also a good thing. She would have the opportunity to improve her talent during these two years before going to the Inner Court for the tournament.

  Everyone was sent to a temporary residence where they will live until the results of their applications are announced. They were the first group, so they would have the most free time.

  For some, this was not a good thing, as they were stressed about whether they would be accepted. For May, however, this was no cause for concern.

  Their temporary home was located near the academy. Over the next few days, she socialized with others. Many people wanted to befriend her, including some important folks. She had already become something of a queen bee.

  Her biggest complaint was the food, which was extremely bland. She also missed meat. In this world, most people ate meat only on special occasions, and even the rich could afford chicken only once or twice a week at most.

  “Minnie, give me the usual.”

  "You're really stingy when it comes to everything else, but here you're wasting money on some stupid food."

  “You don't eat, so you don't know my pain. The food here is so dull. Every now and then I need to eat something with real flavor.”

  A combo meal appeared before her eyes: a wrap, a cheeseburger, nuggets with fries, and a Coke. Just like that, she wasted her money on fast food.

  With the system, you could buy anything. Even something that didn't exist in this world.

  Normally, she wouldn't waste money, but this food was cheap because it had no value. She missed Earth food, so she allowed herself this luxury from time to time. If earthly food were more expensive, she would never buy it.

  I just passed my exams, I should be able to treat myself a little more.

  Besides, once she got into the academy, she would be granted a monthly allowance of 100 mu (if she made it into class A).

  She bit into the burger. It felt so good. The food wasn't that bad in her new family home, but in this place she couldn't stand it.

  Things like food were very cheap. They had no special properties. However, if she wanted to transport something like a telephone, the amount needed would be in the billions.

  Maybe I should start a food business? I bet people would kill each other for a Coke or a pizza here.

  After eating, she had to hide the remaining food wrappers. The cola was in a plastic bottle, something that should not exist in this world. She threw all the containers into the fire that others had lit to roast vegetables.

  About a week later, the list of accepted students was announced. Many people began to cry, as children do.

  However, May and her entire original group got in without any problems. May was placed in Class A, as was Deng Zhifang (though barely). Senlin, on the other hand, was placed in Class B—despite her average talent, cultivation also played a role. Wang Wang was in Class E. Somehow, he managed to survive.

  To tell the truth, even the E class wasn't that bad, taking into account the total number of classes. But it was certainly quite demoralizing for both him and Senlin.

  Wang Wang also spent almost all of this time in the university hospital. Fortunately, his injuries were not too serious.

  Anyway, the second stage of her cultivation finally began. After leaving her family home, she began her studies at the Eastern Outer Court Cloud Academy!

  There's a tournament in just two years... I have to win it. With the system, it shouldn't be that difficult.

  However, she was still on her guard. Although she was number one here, other Outer Courts were bigger and stronger, not to mention the Inner Court. There, her talent was still just one of many.

  She received her schedule. It was more complicated than she had expected.

  “On Monday, from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., we have alchemy, then a breakfast break, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., we learn martial arts, at 3 p.m., it’s lunch/dinner, and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., we learn the basics of cultivation?! What the hell? Who came up with this schedule?!”

  “It's tougher than I expected,” Senlin said in shock.

  “We basically only get to eat, sleep, and cultivate.”

  The overall plan looked much worse.

  What the hell is this! Almost 14 hours of work every day! Free time is theoretically reserved only for breakfast and dinner!? On top of that, we have to be ready at 5? That means we have to get up at 4! This is crazy.

  “Well, kiddo, you only have two years to get ready!” Suddenly, an old man appeared out of nowhere behind them. Everyone was scared.

  “Relax, I won’t hurt you!” he said, laughing. He didn’t look dangerous at all.

  “Grandpa, is it better in the Inner Court?”

  “Well, there's a little less to do there, maybe two hours less?”

  That doesn't sound much better!

  “Children, you don't realize how blessed you are. Other people have to work hard on the land or in tight caves as miners their whole lives, while you can enjoy achieving enlightenment within the warm walls of the school!”

  Well, he wasn't wrong, basically. However, May still considered this schedule absurd. She had already experienced hard work in her previous life. Why can't this life be wholesome slice of life-isekai type thing?!

  “Cultivation is no joke. You didn't come here to rest. A few years ago, it wasn't this hard. but times have been tough for the sect, so we created this method. Not just here, but throughout the entire Island Mountain Sect.”

  That started to make sense. Her father had never mentioned anything like that. Because he had never experienced it. Her sister had probably also been able to avoid this new system. She was currently attending Eastern Outer Court Cloud Academy, in her senior year. She was still isolated from her family.

  So we have to suffer because the sect only has one person at the Nascent Soul stage? This also means that the system is untested. Does it even work?

  “Work hard, kids, you are the future of this sect." He said, and May felt like he was looking directly at her.

  The man then left.

  “Strange guy. In any case, it looks like it's going to be a tough two years.” said Wang Wang.

  There was no grand ceremony to welcome the new members. They were assigned rooms and told to choose their activities.

  There were three categories to choose from. When they had “Work for a sect” on their schedule, they could choose one of the following jobs: farming, stable work, cleaning, cooking, and the like. The worst jobs were reserved for the youngest students. The older ones had a better choice: helping teachers or patrolling the corridors. She decided to choose the kitchen, as she was quite confident in her cooking skills. At university, she always cooked tasty meals for herself at low cost.

  The next thing to choose was a weapon. There weren't that many choices: a sword, a saber, a spear, and a bow. The Eastern Court was a second-rate place even within the sect, so the number of teachers was limited, and therefore so were the options.

  She had a dilemma about what to choose. At first, she wanted to choose the sword because she thought it sounded the coolest, but there was a problem: almost everyone wanted to learn either the sword or the saber. Over 90% of the students chose one of these two. Therefore, even though they had the most teachers, they still had an excess of students. Her father and sister also studied sword fighting.

  May personally believed that she did not need weapons. In games, she always preferred to play as a mage.

  But I have to choose something.

  Archers and spearmen, although less popular, had fewer techniques and were less well equipped. None of the options seemed particularly good.

  She couldn't decide for a long time, so she left it up to fate. She wrote “Sword,” “Sabre,” “Spear,” and “Bow” on four small pieces of paper and folded them. Then she mixed them up and picked one.

  "Spear huh. Whatever." Honestly, she was secretly hoping for a sword, but decided that it didn't matter anyway.

  The spear sounds pretty good too. With it, I should be able to keep a safe distance but still fight in close combat.

  She wasn't entirely sure what to expect; she knew nothing about fighting with weapons.

  The last option was “Free choice.” As the name suggests, it was truly a free choice. There were many activities to choose from, but you could also decide to do nothing. Many people chose to do so.

  I guess I should also do that. I know I'm a fucking awesome protagonist, but come on, I don't need anything else to do on Sunday. It's not like I have the whole day off. Just looking at this schedule, I can tell I'm going to be exhausted. There's no point in giving myself more work.

  She wondered how she could use her knowledge from her previous life. Her strong point was biology, but she was also good at chemistry. She also knew the basics of physics and mathematics quite well.

  Although she couldn't call this world primitive, she still believed that she would be able to bring many changes to it.

  She had her eye on a certain skill for a long time

  It was the perfect skill for someone from another world like her. Although she had a lot of knowledge, she still couldn't remember everything. However, if she bought this skill, she would be able to remember all the books, textbooks, and Wikipedia articles she had ever seen with the corner of her eye.

  She had always been a bookworm and had a strange passion for reading random articles on Wikipedia. However, reading and memorizing are two different things.

  If I get this ability, I’ll be unstoppable.

  She was a strange person who would read random boring books on topics that shouldn't interest her. She had even bought a book on bridge engineering once — and she had absolutely nothing to do with that field.

  The biggest problem was the cost. Over twenty million. However, she knew that it was a matter for the future.