At the Imperial Academy, credits were of utmost importance. You needed credits to graduate, to take make-up classes, to advance in Combat Technique—even if you wanted to go into politics, you still needed credits. If you didn't attend your teachers' extracurricular tutoring sessions, how else could you get to know those promising upperclassmen and upperclasswomen?

But credits were extremely scarce. For the vast majority of students, grinding through classes was the only way to earn them. In a certain sense, grinding equaled trading your time for credits. While classes were meaningful, many students had already set their life goals early on, and much of the course content wasn't actually the skills they needed—yet for the sake of credits, they had to take the classes anyway.

So, the ways to acquire credits weren't limited to just attending classes. The academy prepared lots of extra DLC content for the geniuses—wait, you're not a genius? Well, you could still find out who the geniuses were through these extracurricular activities, then unabashedly become their sidekick. After graduation, you could latch on and get by just fine.

The academy offered every student a way out; everyone had a bright future.

And the Eye of Omniscience exam was one of the most important DLCs at the Royal Academy. In addition to obvious rewards like pocket watches, credits, and meal allowances, there were many hidden perks—for example, first pick when it came to dating, or being put on the reserve list for the title of department chief.

Within the four great departments—Vanguard, Radiance, Disaster, and Nightmare—each had an advisor, that is, a teacher responsible for overseeing all the students in the department; and there was also a chief, meaning a representative figure for the entire department, who would directly serve as the commander during many academy events.

The chief of a department could command the winds and clouds within the academy, and outside, they were just as impressive—after graduation, if a chief entered politics, their rank would start at pure blue at the very least, already having one foot in the ruling class.

The grades of Radiance, from gold to purple to blue to black, could be further divided into pure black, blue-black, pure blue, purple-blue, pure purple, and gold-purple; pure gold was an Imperial Family privilege, gold-purple was for those at the helm of government, Cabinet scholars and such.

Back when Lan Yan served as director of the Statistical Department, he was only blue-black in grade. That just showed how high a starting point the department chiefs had.

Of course, not every chief received such good treatment. A chief who was only "tall among dwarfs" was clearly not the same as one whose position was simply undisputed.

The most valuable chiefs were those who managed to become chief in their second year and remained unshakable until graduation; next were at least two-year chiefs.

As for those who became chief for only a single year before washing out, their evaluations were just a notch above ordinary students.

So how were department chiefs chosen? Knowledge? Combat skills? Looks? Connections?

The Eye of Omniscience exam was precisely a special test meant to assess students' overall abilities.

If you got first place by relying on your own skills, your knowledge was enough to be called the year's strongest student, and no one would dare to challenge your claim to chief.

If you cheated through Combat Technique to get first place, even the teachers who'd seen countless exams couldn't catch you. That sort of ability still deserved respect; if unleashed upon society, you'd surely be invincible and fully qualified to be chief.

If you achieved first place through group cheating, that was even more impressive. This could prove your leadership, personal charm, eloquence, and all sorts of qualities recognized by your Imperial Academy peers; those are exactly the key traits a department chief needed most—so the seat was yours by right!

In history, every student who became chief as a sophomore had always, in the prior year's Eye of Omniscience exam, earned the admiration of others through staggering "cheating skills" and became chief with popular support.

Such was the Eye of Omniscience exam's meaning for Imperial Academy students, but for Le Yu, it marked the true beginning of the Sword-Seeking Competition.

"The Sword-Seeking Competition also adopted a points system, whoever first amassed enough points, or held the top spot at the end of the semester, would win the Holy Sword Radiance."

"Points and credits were extremely similar—in fact, the Sword Holder directly copied the credit system, with a one-to-one exchange rate, though past credits didn't count. For example, people like Ming Shuangli started at zero. Besides the Eye of Omniscience exam, credits earned in normal classes also counted, but the rule granting 1.5 times the credits for a perfect score was scrapped, to prevent certain teachers from gaming the system."

"The Sword Holder said, 'The highest aim of governing is to be all-knowing and all-powerful. If the emperor cannot do this, let the ministers handle it—someone's got to do the work, but that person isn't necessarily the emperor.'"

"Did the Sword Holder not even have a real plan for the Sword-Seeking Competition process?" After hearing Ming Shuiyun's rundown, a thought instantly popped up in Le Yu's mind.

"No matter how you looked at it, the Sword Holder seemed like someone who'd just suddenly realized the academy was launching the Eye of Omniscience exam, so he just went with the flow and turned it into round one of the competition while blatantly plagiarizing the credit system. It was like a teacher who hadn't prepped for class, so they just Googled a worksheet online and gave everyone a pop quiz."

"Le Yu had originally wanted to deduce something about the Sword Holder's personality from the kinds of tasks he assigned."

If the game involved killing, that meant the Sword Holder loved conflict,

If it required good deeds, that meant the Sword Holder wanted to select a benevolent ruler,

If it demanded falling in love, well, that meant the Sword Holder was romance-obsessed, maybe even sexist, thinking the Empress route was still second-best, and shifting the whole game's focus to whether the Sword Seeker's boyfriend qualified to be emperor.

"Since the Sword Holder was the only judge in this game, any hint of preference on his part was crucial. If Le Yu could directly target the Sword Holder's sweet spot and attack it hard enough, maybe he could get the Sword Holder on his side."

But for now, Le Yu could only tell one thing—

The Sword Holder was extremely lazy. He hadn't left anything behind.

There was still just over a week left before the Eye of Omniscience, and Ming Shuiyun clearly didn't intend to forfeit this first round. The three of them all signed up for the Eye of Omniscience exam, and their lunch together wasn't a coincidence at all—they were already plotting how to cheat.

Originally, Qian Yuya wasn't interested in the Eye of Omniscience at all, but she knew Ming Shuiyun was Qin Leyin's handler, and Ming Shuiyun's orders were essentially Qin Leyin's fate. Naturally, she accepted the side quest without hesitation, like a player stumbling into a new storyline.

Qin Yueshi had also vaguely guessed that Ming Shuiyun and her big brother were in the same boat. Even though she still had issues with Qin Leyin, she was willing to lend Ming Shuiyun a hand—besides, the prospect of cheating was just way too exhilarating. Such high-risk, high-reward shenanigans were irresistible for someone with a merchant's blood in her veins like Qin Yueshi.

Although it wasn't mentioned in the announcement, the school rules had long stipulated that anyone caught cheating in an official exam would lose one credit the first time, five the second, and be asked to withdraw entirely on the third.

So anyone planning to cheat on the Eye of Omniscience would have to pay not just ten coins, but also the "discounted price" of a one-time freebie for first offenses.

The Imperial Academy didn't actually forbid cheating. If you could outsmart the proctor's Flower-Eye, that was your skill.

But the academy did ban low-quality cheating. If you got caught cheating three times, you clearly lacked both the right intentions and any sense of your own limitations—honestly, it'd be more suitable for you to go back home and become a farmer.

Though the Imperial Academy upheld "honesty is a virtue," they went beyond lip service. They made sure every student understood—in the most real, unvarnished way—that every semester, some students got expelled for cheating. Only then could the others truly feel that "honesty" was indeed a virtue.

"Virtue wasn't a trap that hurt you for others' benefit, nor was it some useless, self-imposed code. It was a shortcut summed up by ordinary people over centuries—virtue was the rule that gave regular folks the best shot at a happy life, which was why it was called 'beautiful' and explained as 'moral.'"

But even someone as high-achieving as Qian Yuya admitted she didn't know much outside the textbook. For this exam, figuring out how to pass information was secondary. The real challenge was getting the most correct answers in the least amount of time.

She came to Le Yu not just for advice, but also to ask if her roommate could join in. Her friend Lin Xue's grades were as good as hers—if she joined them, the odds of a successful cheat would skyrocket.

But unlike the three of them, Lin Xue was a real outsider. So Qian Yuya approached Le Yu to check her thoughts—she'd also tested the waters, learning that Ming Shuiyun had no objection to Le Yu having final say. In her heart, she now understood that while Ming Shuiyun called herself the handler, in truth, she was just Le Yu's poop-scooping butler.

No one noticed that, upon hearing Lin Xue's name, Le Yu froze for a split second before nodding in agreement.

Lin Xue, Lin Jinyao, Lin Xue'en...

Le Yu had thought he was over his past, but when Qian Yuya brought it up, those names buried deep inside stabbed him all over again.

"Memories always jumped out and bit you when you least expected it."

"Thinking back, when did he become this way? He used to be just a regular kid from a peaceful age who couldn't survive a day without Wi-Fi—when did he turn into a wild-hearted schemer thriving in a world at war?"

"Was it when he found his own corpse lying in that dark alley?"

"Was it the night he killed Qian Yuliu's mentor, Lin Jinyao, with his own hands?"

"Or was it when Yin Yinyin stabbed him in the back?"

"Or maybe... during that savage, to-the-death struggle with Kui Zhao, where they tore each other apart like beasts?"

"Whenever he reached this point in his thoughts, Le Yu only grew more determined to dedicate his life to the anti-Lan Yan cause—he would keep up the fight until either Lan Yan or his own obsession was dead."

"It was Lan Yan who had robbed him of his shot at an ordinary, humble life. The only way to soothe that bitterness was to give Lan Yan a spectacular end."

Lost in thought, Le Yu had already walked through the shady lane and arrived in front of a rectangular building painted pure white. The afternoon sun made the building gleam, students with bookbags coming and going, the peace broken only by birds and cicadas singing in the trees.

There were two famous landmarks at Yanjing Royal Academy: the headmaster's office, the Platinum Tower, and the Royal Library, the White Box. Both were named for their looks.

This was Le Yu's first trip to the White Box library. He never cared much for reading; given a choice, he'd rather play cards. Everything he knew about the place was secondhand—he'd heard some student once found seventy-eight extremely useful porn mags in there.

After learning what the Eye of Omniscience exam was really about, a bold idea had formed in his mind.

To test if it was doable, he needed to look up some materials at the library—something his handler Ming Shuiyun should have been doing, but she had class that afternoon, so the sword-scabbard pixie Le Yu had to go himself.

Upon stepping into the White Box, even Le Yu's footsteps unconsciously fell soft.

The White Box was filled with bookshelves and desks, the floor spotless, many students quietly reading. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the window frames, turning into neat, glowing squares and gently bathing these budding hopes for the future. It honestly felt like the chaos and darkness outside couldn't touch this place. Here, anyone with a heart wouldn't disturb the rare and tender calm.

He glanced around and walked to the front desk, noticing a girl with a braided ponytail reading with her back to him. Le Yu could only knock on the counter and call out softly, "Hey?"

But the girl seemed completely lost in the author's fantasy world. Le Yu didn't dare speak up, and his Combat Technique wasn't good enough for a telepathic DM. So he walked around the counter and gently tapped her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"Ah—"

Before she could shriek, Le Yu quickly covered her mouth, his brows jerking up as he took a reflexive step back.

"Sorry." She realized what happened at once and apologized too, "I got way too into my book... Red hair, foxy eyes, those dark lips—are you Teacher Qin Leyin?"

The next second, her cheeks went bright red, and she frantically waved her hands. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to say you have foxy eyes or dark lips! That's just what people say... I, I don't agree with talking about people's looks behind their backs... Sorry, I should've introduced myself first."

She clapped her hands lightly and took a deep breath. "Hi, I'm a first-year student from the Vanguard Department, part-timing here at the library."

"My name is Kui Nianruo, nice to meet you."

"Memories always jumped out and bit you when you least expected it."