Chapter 23: Scout Academy Test.

"Young master, are you ready?"  In front of the strength test room, Ling Qin seemed to be more nervous than the waiting to be tested Ling Lan.

Ling Lan curled her lip in dissatisfaction.  Ever since entering the Scout Academy, this steward grandpa had lost his calm.  Could it be that he had no confidence in her?

Uh…of course there are things she couldn't control.  This couldn't be blamed on her, who knew that the so-called intelligence test was so difficult to understand…

Remembering her shame, Ling Lan's entire face suddenly turned black.  However, in order to comfort this hurt steward grandpa, she had to say:  "A le, grandpa Qin, I promise I will be able to complete the task."

If it weren't for the fact that he was concerned with her, how could Ling Qin lose his calm?  He was a martial arts master.

Ling Qin relaxed, continually: "That' good, that's good."

The reason why Ling Lan stood here was because our little student Ling Lan finally reached the age to enter a Scout Academy for study.  Federal law stipulated that every child must enter a Federal Scout Academy at the age of six for a ten year period of compulsory education.

Thus, no matter how reluctant Lan Luofeng was, she still had to take Ling Lan to the Scout Academy entrance examination.

There were four parts in the entrance exam, being intelligence, strength, endurance, and speed.

The first test, intelligence, was simple – so simple that it made people think that it wasn't even a test at all.  They simply let the child and the person in charge of testing chat for three or five minutes before coming out with a score.

Ling Lan only scored 80 points.  In the mostly 90 points and up scores of the children inside, this score was really shameful and also made her speechless.  Up until now, she still couldn't figure out how she, an adult who lived for more than thirty years, couldn't compare to these six year old kids in intelligence.  Did this world have any justice?  She honestly didn't know how these proctors came out with these test scores, there really was no basis at all.

No matter how aggravated Ling Lan's heart was, she still had to accept this result.  In order to file an objection, the rules state that all tests must be completed before applying.

The second test was strength.  Ling Lan's heart became fierce, she must wash away this shame.  She didn't believe that in the next tests, she couldn't compare to those little kids.  Did they think her learning s.p.a.ce was fake?

Finally, Ling Lan's name was called.  She prepared to go inside and test when Ling Qin quietly held Ling Lan's small shoulder and said:  "Remember the madame's words?  You absolutely cannot disappoint her!"

Lan Luofeng was outside awaiting news of their situation.  Perhaps she was afraid that her chaotic concern might affcet Ling Lan's ability, so she remained outside to wait for the final test results.

Ling Lan gave a well-behaved nod:  "En, Ling Lan will do it.  Please rest a.s.sured mother, please rest a.s.sured grandpa Qin."  Selling a cute att.i.tude was shameful, but if she didn't sell a cute att.i.tude, she wouldn't be able to appease these people who loved her.  Ling Lan could only thicken her skin.

Under Ling Qin's pleased gaze, Ling Lan entered the test room.

In the strength test area, in a room sat two soldiers wearing military uniforms.  A non-commissioned officer was flipping through Ling Lan's intelligence test score and a.s.sessment with the examiner's comments.  80 points.  This now difficult to see score caught his eye and he frowned involuntarily.  But upon seeing the examiner's comments below, he couldn't help but make a startled noise.

"What's the matter?" The other officer asked curiously.

"Calm, non-bouncing thinking process, lack of imagination s.p.a.ce…We've been in charge of testing kids for almost three years now and haven't seen such comments yet."

The other officer, after hearing these comments, was very unhappy:  "I won't say anything about the other comments, but isn't being calm good?  On the battle, only those who are calm will survive.  Isn't this score a bit too extreme?"

"Who's responsible for the intelligence test?  How can they let such a difficult to brainwash and bribe child into the special cla.s.s1 and waste their resources."  The officer who was reviewing the comments curled his mouth, as if he disdained the examiners responsible for the intelligence exam.

"Hehe, that too.  Those big clan people's brains are only focused on helping their clans recruit talent.  They've long forgotten the Federation's interests.  Because of this, many good seedlings have been brushed into the ordinary cla.s.s and not only lost the chance to have better resources and training, but also caused the Federation to lose a large amount of outstanding talent."  The other officer sighed.  However, these people had ability and control, occupying a large amount of power.  For example, even the Scout Academy's enrollment schedule had been taken advantage by them.  This meant that these purely civilian soldiers were powerless in maintaining even a few talents.

"I hope this child will be able to perform better in the later tests, otherwise there'd be no hope to enter the Special A cla.s.s."

"Special A?  If he can enter Special B cla.s.s it would be Amitabha.  I'm afraid that he'll be swept into the ordinary cla.s.s."  The other officer wasn't optimistic about how such a low intelligence score would even have a chance to enter the special cla.s.ses.

"Greetings to both examiners!  Ling Lan has come to test."  Ling Lan entered the room and saw the two officers exchanging whispers over something.  She walked until she was two meters away from them before loudly announcing herself.

"Pretty impressive." One of the officers laughed.  He was used to seeing very cautious and uneasy children.  The sudden appearance of a bold and silly child, they found it interesting.

Ling Lan was originally an adult.  Not to mention, she had long been subjected to the mentor No. 1's terrifying, capable-of-killing-people momentum.  The two nearly insignificant little officers in front of her really didn't make her feel that much pressure.

The other officer smiled and pointed at the row of barbells in the corner of the room:  "Lift up the barbell that you can lift.  Don't go over your head, we're just testing, not competing."

Hearing this, Ling Lan nodded.  Walking in front of the barbells, she saw that each barbell had a plate with a number in front stating the weight.  Her understanding of her body was very good.  She had just completed the basic stage of the Ling family's body technique and had now begun to practice fighting techniques.  Thus, of course, she was very clear where her strength was.

Ling Lan didn't immediately choose, but instead turned back and asked:  "Could you tell me how the weight for full points?"  Because of her low intelligence score, Ling Lan had no choice but to rush and grab points in the remaining three categories.  She absolutely must enter the Special cla.s.s because it was the task her mother gave her.

It wasn't that Lan Luofeng was vain, but because only those in the Special cla.s.s were allowed to learn whatever they wanted, choose their favorite mentor, and live at home.  Ling Lan, who wanted to protect her body's secret, only had this choice.

The two officers looked at each other.  This child was really arrogant.  Even they weren't confident that they could lift five hundred jin.  The child dare to challenge the requirement for full points.

"Five hundred jin2!"  Finally one of the officers answered.

Ling Lan calmly walked up to the five hundred jin barbell and first tested her grip.  Five hundred jin slightly exceeded her previous best.  If she tried to use brute force, she could accidentally hurt herself.  However, Ling Lan still wanted to try – after all, it didn't mean that she didn't have a chance of success.  In addition, she had Yangshen cultivation and wasn't afraid of the serious consequence brought on by injury.

Of course, the other reason as to why Ling Lan wanted to try was because strength was the easiest category to grab points in.  The scores were already set – how much you can lift would be how many points – unlike endurance and speed where scores had a certain flexibility.  Although Ling Lan was also confident in the latter two, she was still afraid of encountering something like the intelligence test and suffer an inexplicable loss of points.

Ling Lan, of course, did not recklessly go up to lift the barbell.  She first maintained her body and secretly started up Yangshen cultivation.  Only when she felt her body fill up with strength did she suddenly shout, both hands grasping the barbell, and raised it up.

She waited until she heard the monitor make a success noise before putting the barbell down.  A loud 'peng' awakened the two officers who, due to watching the scene, went into a state of shock.

"He really succeeded…"  The two officers had a look of disbelief.  One of them even impulsively ran to the front of the monitor.  Upon seeing the two clear characters for 'Success', he became excited.

"I didn't think that, in these past three years, there'd be a full score strength test result from my hands."  The officer was thrilled and proud.  This wasn't the intelligence test where you can secretly manipulate scores, but a real achievement.  He was fortunate enough to encounter the appearance of a fighting genius (to have a high strength meant that when learning how to fight, it would take half the time to achieve double the effect3).

The two officers enthusiastically filled in Ling Lan's score, followed by their comments.  It was only four characters: fighting genius!  Only these four characters could express what was in their hearts.

In their excitement, they failed to notice the fleeting strange and puzzled expression on Ling Lan's face.  Of course she would feel strange and confused – because she actually still had spare strength.  That is, though she originally thought five hundred jin would be very difficult, but when she picked it up, it was very easy.

The h.e.l.l, did she eat some kind of vigor pill?

Unable to understand, Ling Lan could only put aside her doubts and left the room to get ready for her next test.

—

Translated by somnious, unedited

1 This, I'm not sure if the author really meant to write the special cla.s.s or if the officer was being sarcastic.  The reason why I'm confused here is because the Doha Scout Academy that Ling Lan will enter has several different cla.s.ses (Special Cla.s.s is the best).

2 斤 (jīn): Approximately ½ of a kilogram.

3 事半功倍 (shìbàngōngbèi):  This is a Chinese idiom that means half the effort, twice the results.