Exam equipment was limited to use within the current mystic realm and couldn’t be taken back to the real world. Soul Energy Items, however, could be freely taken out.
From a purely value-based perspective, trading Soul Energy Items for exam equipment was a bad deal. There was no profit in it whatsoever.
But no one considered it a bad deal—at least, Li Heng didn’t.
Take the Wild Wolf Hide he had obtained, for example. He had no use for it at this stage. On the other hand, his training longsword was already nicked, so it was definitely worth considering a replacement.
Before Teacher Wang Guodong could answer, another teacher spoke up. "Young man, you need to think this through. If we purchase your Soul Energy Items, we will only pay you in points. You can, of course, use those points to buy exam equipment. But be certain before you decide. If you want to buy your original items back, you’ll have to pay double the points."
"And I should mention, the points from this placement exam are extremely important!" Teacher Wang Guodong interjected. "They directly affect the resources each of you will receive later, as well as future opportunities to enter mystic realms."
But when the other teacher heard Wang Guodong mention the importance of the points, he hurriedly cut him off. "Teacher Wang! That’s enough! Say no more!"
"I’ve made up my mind! I’ll trade this piece of Wild Wolf Meat for points. With the points I get, how many throwing knives can I buy?" the student replied decisively, choosing to ignore the warning about the points’ value.
"This piece of Wild Wolf Meat is of ordinary quality. It contains 2 points of soul energy, so we can give you ten points for it. Ten points will get you five throwing knives."
The student didn’t hesitate, immediately taking out the Wild Wolf Meat and handing it to the teacher. The teacher, in turn, produced five throwing knives.
Li Heng wasn’t very interested in this "transaction." His attention was fixed on Bai Shasha.
Li Heng didn’t recognize the other students, but he had spotted Bai Shasha much earlier. Just as their class president had said, her once blue-and-white school uniform was now mostly stained a dark red.
She just stood there silently, with no wolf head in sight, clutching an exam-issue dagger.
After a moment’s thought, Li Heng walked over to Bai Shasha and asked, "Bai Shasha! Want to team up? I’m thinking of checking out the forest."
The words had barely left Li Heng’s mouth when, before Bai Shasha could even react, three students standing nearby responded first.
"You’re going to the forest, too?"
The first to speak was the very same student who had just received the throwing knives from the teacher.
Seeing Li Heng’s slightly stunned expression, the boy with the throwing knives seemed to realize he hadn’t introduced himself. "Hi! I’m Huang Zhengyang, from Class 7!"
"Hi, I’m Li Heng from Class 5."
The two shook hands.
As Li Heng mentioned going to the forest and began talking with Huang Zhengyang, five students inside the tent shared a knowing glance and then walked out.
The teachers said nothing about the five students’ departure, simply watching them leave in silence.
Their only responsibilities were to ensure the safety of the gathering point and provide services to the students within the tent. The three teachers had neither the desire nor the need to interfere with the students’ decisions to stay or go.
"Huang Zhengyang, this might be a bit forward of me, but I wanted to ask Bai Shasha first. I’m not really considering teaming up with students from other classes at the moment."
After hearing Li Heng’s tactful refusal, Huang Zhengyang didn’t press the issue. He couldn’t find any fault in Li Heng’s reasoning.
He just gave Li Heng another smile, then turned to find other students in the tent.
As Huang Zhengyang walked away, Li Heng remained silent.
’What a joke!’
’From their brief exchange, Li Heng had learned that this Huang Zhengyang had Level 4 Basic Hidden Weapons and Level 4 Basic Body Technique. On top of that, he’d just acquired five new exam-issue throwing knives. He was a complete stranger.’ ’Even with my system, Li Heng didn’t dare get careless. He couldn’t entrust his safety to someone he’d known for only a minute or two, someone whose personality and trustworthiness were complete unknowns.’ ’Furthermore, based on their skills alone, Li Heng wasn’t even sure he could beat Huang Zhengyang. At the very least, he wouldn’t hold any advantage.’ ’Most importantly, back on Earth, Li Heng had taken one saying to heart—people who use hidden weapons are all treacherous!’
’Bai Shasha, on the other hand, was a known quantity. Though she was quiet, she was very well-liked in their class. If anyone needed help, she would almost always lend a hand.’ ’They had also been classmates for two years. The chance of her stabbing him in the back was far smaller than it would be with a stranger.’
"Any Soul Energy Items we find are all yours. If we get any Soul Energy Equipment, we’ll decide who gets it based on need. If we can’t agree, we’ll bring it back, sell it for points, and split them fifty-fifty. We’re in the same class; we’ll have to see each other every day. I have no reason to cheat you."
"I don’t know how many wolves we’ll run into at once in the Wild Wolf Valley forest. I also don’t know what other creatures we might encounter. That’s why I want to team up with someone I know, so we can watch each other’s backs. If we run into anything we can’t handle, we can pull back immediately."
After being interrupted by Huang Zhengyang, Li Heng added these clarifications to his offer. Then, he waited for Bai Shasha’s response.
「About thirty seconds later.」
"I get all the Soul Energy Items. What do you want in return?" Bai Shasha asked, her face devoid of expression as she stared intently at Li Heng.
"Just one small condition. Whenever possible, let me land the killing blow on the wolves we fight. To put it simply, as long as it’s safe to do so, you can wear a wolf down to its last breath, and I’ll be the one to finish it off."
Li Heng had a system; he had to kill the wolves himself to receive any Soul Energy Points.
The others, however, didn’t have systems, so he presumed they had no special need to land the killing blow.
As for Soul Energy Items, Li Heng genuinely wasn’t concerned about them right now. Increasing his strength first was the proper path.
Besides, if something like a Wild Wolf Hide dropped, not only was it bulky, but it would also be a pain to haul around.
Hearing Li Heng’s request to land the killing blows, Bai Shasha fell silent for nearly two minutes, as if weighing her options.
Li Heng didn’t pressure her. He had said all he needed to, and he would accept whatever she decided.
’If this doesn’t work out, I can accept spending more time grinding in the outer area and entering the forest later,’ he thought. ’I just don’t know if there are enough resources left out here.’
"Let’s not rush into the forest. We’ll hunt wild wolves together in the outer area first." After a long silence, Bai Shasha finally agreed to Li Heng’s invitation, though not to entering the forest immediately.
Hearing this, Li Heng had a good idea of what she was thinking. ’She just wants to gauge my strength first. If I pass her test, then we can talk about going into the forest.’
At the very least, when they finally shook hands to seal the deal, Li Heng could have sworn he saw a hint of anticipation in the flat-chested loli’s eyes. Anticipation?!
Wait!
What in the world is she anticipating?
For the first time, Li Heng was genuinely confused.