"Being outstanding in class discussions can earn you academic credits?"
"In Chang’an City, doing good deeds can also earn you credits."
"The amount of credits you can earn by publishing in the Academic Palace’s Natural Science journals is this much?"
Once the academic credit system’s regulations were announced, the freshmen hurriedly gathered around the bulletin board or held papers with the rules, discussing them eagerly.
As freshmen, they had already adapted to life at the Academic Palace, but there were still too many inconveniences.
For instance, the vast number of books in the Book Collection Pavilion could not be borrowed, nor even read within its walls.
They were also not allowed to wander to the back mountain during non-class hours, or enter the Forging Workshop or the greenhouse freely. They had visited the Dongjun Tower only once, when the Fourth Prince, Li Hui, took them on a tour of the Academic Palace at the beginning of the school year, allowing them only a distant view.
The purpose of these regulations was not to discriminate against freshmen but to protect them—most freshmen had just started their Cultivation and had little ability to protect themselves; even a Cannibal Flower in the greenhouse could pose a threat to them.
Of course, the purpose of founding the Academic Palace was to cultivate more useful talents for Yu Country.
Should any Disciple display exceptional performance and make rapid progress in their Cultivation, the restrictions could naturally be loosened—through academic credits.
"The more credits a Disciple earns, the fewer internal restrictions there are within the Academic Palace. If a Disciple has a reasonable plan, they can even spend credits to apply for Academic Palace resources for innovation and Natural Science experiments."
Li Ang’s eyes lit up when he saw the rules.
Yang Yu muttered, "I heard that the arch bridge built in Salt State a few years ago, approximately sixty-seven meters wide, was designed by an Academic Palace Disciple. After returning to his hometown and seeing the villagers’ difficulty crossing the river, he designed the bridge blueprints himself and applied for resources to build it."
"And there’s winemaking."
Li Wei added, "Previously, a senior brother thought that using grains to make wine was too wasteful, and that making wine from fruits like grapes would encourage farmers to grow fruit and abandon rice farming, leading to higher grain prices. So, he tried to use other materials, like straw, to make wine. After much trial and error, he wasted more than 100,000 strings of coins without achieving any results—and that sum wasn’t entirely borne by him alone. Part of it was reimbursed by the Academic Palace. The large merchant that employed him covered the rest."
"Oh? That’s quite... generous."
Li Ang’s eyes flashed with a gleam. He had just declined an offer of 3,000,000 strings of coins to buy out his patent. Although licensing his patent would also bring in money, the efficiency and total amount would be lower.
The Academic Palace is really considerate in funding experiments.
Li Ang pinched his palm. He was pondering how he could use academic credits to tap into the Academic Palace’s resources for experiments; if successful, he would earn even more credits back. He could even sell those successes as patents and make money.
It was almost like... a perpetual motion machine of merits.
While other students were dreaming of earning credits to strut into the off-limits third floor of the Book Collection Pavilion, Li Ang was already thinking about how to fleece the Academic Palace more quickly and efficiently.
If you don’t fleece when you can, you’re missing out.
"Everyone, please pay attention. I have just received a notice," said Yu Yenong, a young Instructor (a graduate from the Academic Palace one year senior to Cheng Juxiu’s cohort, who had stayed on to teach), clapping his hands to bring the freshmen to attention. "Tomorrow, your Sword Study course will be combined with the Engineering course.
"The location will be at the Forging Workshop by Chuiyun Lake."
"Two classes at once?"
The freshmen were baffled, and Pei Jing stepped forward to ask, "Instructor Yu, are the contents of these two classes being combined?"
Yu Yenong nodded. "Tomorrow, the Emperor and Empress will be inspecting the Academic Palace. As per tradition, they will be assessing the academic progress of the newly enrolled Disciples.
"Tomorrow’s Sword Study class will be jointly tutored by three Masters: Cui Siye of Sword Study, Master Tantai of Engineering and talismanic study, and Mr. Xi of Mind Study.
"The content will be an introduction to Flying Swords. Everyone will need to find materials in the Forging Workshop, forge a sword, and then figure out how to make it fly—the faster and higher, the better."
As soon as Yu Yenong finished speaking, many students, including Li Wei, turned pale.
The Emperor and Empress inspecting the Academic Palace wouldn’t just involve the two of them. If the Emperor and Empress were coming, the Mountain Master and the Sacrificial Officer would certainly be present. And if the Mountain Master and Sacrificial Officer were there, then the Academic Palace Doctors would have to attend. With all the Academic Palace Doctors in attendance, some high-ranking court officials would naturally attend to demonstrate its importance.
The freshmen had been in classes for over a month. If they couldn’t even get a sword to fly in front of the Emperor, Empress, Mountain Master, Sacrificial Officer, and prominent civil and military officials, it would be a huge embarrassment, and they might be suspected of wasting Academic Palace resources and their admission slots.
They knew that many Academic Palace Disciples would go on to hold positions in the Six Ministries after graduation, and no one wanted a vivid black mark on their record in front of future superiors and colleagues.
Seeing the freshmen’s anxious expressions, Yu Yenong reassured them, "Don’t worry, it’s just a supervisory class.
"As long as you don’t cry on the spot, it’s fine."
Yu Yenong would have been better off not saying that, as more people began to grow even more unsettled.
"Don’t panic, don’t panic, I almost forgot to mention," Yu Yenong hurriedly added. "To make the scene look better, there will be many high-grade forging materials in the Forging Workshop tomorrow, such as Fine Gold, Mystic Iron, Mountain Copper, and other metals.
"There will also be materials like five-hundred-year-old peachwood, demon beast humerus, and other such materials.
"There shouldn’t be an issue of Flying Swords not taking flight—worst-case scenario, even if you make an entire piece of peachwood fly, it still counts as a Flying Sword."
However, Yu Yenong’s comfort did little to relieve the freshmen’s anxiety.