The biggest downside of the antique mech is that its functions are too simplistic. Shen Changqing had just smoothly progressed into the second level using the antique mech, making the students involuntarily consider it, regretting not choosing the antique mech.
But!!!
After the second level, the shortcomings of the antique mech became blatantly obvious—limited energy, insufficient defense, slow speed, poor flexibility...
All these are flaws of the antique mech. In an instant, everyone lost interest and began discussing:
"If Shen Changqing hadn’t used the antique mech, he probably could have made it past the third level."
"I think so too."
"Shen Changqing has hit the pavement, now only Yue Qiyuan has the biggest hope, right?"
"Alas, we can only place our hopes on Yue Qiyuan now."
...
Yue Qiyuan, upon whom everyone had placed great expectations, wore an unhappy expression because his mech operation was extremely complicated. Even though his Spiritual Level was high and his advantage over other students was significant, but!
But!
This mech was not chosen by Yue Qiyuan himself!
That’s right!
Yue Qiyuan was one of the unlucky ones selected by the system’s random mech assignment!
He had only hesitated for a moment, not expecting the system to finalize the selection so quickly. His current mech, which he was completely unfamiliar with, was—
—Blade.
With a darkened face, Yue Qiyuan lowered his pride and asked Ji You, "Number 4444, are you familiar with the Blade? Do you have any tricks for driving it?"
Ji You gave him a you’re-on-your-own look, "Poor kid, I’m actually more familiar with antique mechs, yet I still can’t handle them. Let alone a high-end mech like the Blade?"
Yue Qiyuan: "..."
At hearing this, Yue Qiyuan’s face darkened even more.
...
Round after round, students participated in the examination, failed, and then failed again. Even Yue Qiyuan, who had been held in high esteem by the students, fell at the starting line. The students became numb to this, but Mu Jianling, on the other hand, folded her arms and quite enjoyed the schadenfreude, not uttering a single humane word.
"Are you guys pigs?"
"Oh—I forgot you originally were pigs, I should have used a declarative sentence, not an interrogative one."
"Bad!"
"Terrible!"
"In all my years of teaching, I’ve never seen such idiots like you."
"Disgraceful!"
"Step out and don’t say you’re students of Mu Jianling."
...
Listening to various taunts from Mu Jianling, the students’ heads hung lower and lower, almost buried at their feet, yet Mu Jianling didn’t let this batch of students off the hook, continuing to berate them loudly.
"Failing an exam is one thing, but even the way you fall is so ugly, lacking any aesthetic value, what use are you?"
"You, you, and you three, in the past there was sworn brotherhood through thick and thin, now there’s the trifecta of fools allying, can you be any dumber? Even when you fall, you stack up like acrobats?"
"Yue Qiguang, what are you pouting for? If you can’t pass the exam in a day, just honestly hold it in and be humble!"
Yue Qiguang: "..."
He had just quietly muttered about this wretched old woman, not expecting to be caught; Yue Qiguang felt infuriated, but upon locking eyes with the deep, sinister gaze of the wretched old woman, he still cowardly hung his head low.
Mu Jianling, eyebrows raised, scolded all the students thoroughly, feeling extremely refreshed in body and spirit, and finally concluded by saying, "Observing you lot today was a complete waste of effort; anyway, not a single person passed the examination."
Students: "..."
Dared to be angry but didn’t dare to speak out.
And feeling inexplicably frustrated.
A Basic Mechanical Driving exam, unexpectedly stumped the whole Combat Department, which includes well-known geniuses from the Alliance, such as Chu Jiaojiao, Shen Changqing, Yue Qiyuan, and others.
If these geniuses couldn’t pass the exam, what hope did other students with average spiritual power and physical strength have? Therefore, even though the students were unconvinced, they had no choice but to silently endure Teacher Mu Jianling’s harsh words.
Finally—
It was Ji You’s turn.
Ji You was a bit nervous; she had only been familiarizing herself with the mech for less than half an hour, and she couldn’t guarantee that she would pass the exam. Ji You aimed to pass the second round.
As the system announced the names of the 10 students in Ji You’s group, Ji You followed them out, not wasting words and proceeding directly towards the examination room.
As she neared the door, Ji You suddenly felt someone pat her shoulder; she looked up, about to ask who it was, and saw it was Teacher Mu Jianling, immediately squeezing out a smile: "Teacher, do you have something to tell me?"
Could the sharp-tongued Teacher Mu actually be about to say some words of encouragement?
Or perhaps, she had a high opinion of her?
A flicker of hope rose in Ji You’s heart.
Other students also watched curiously.
Mu Jianling glanced at Ji You, suddenly raised her hand, pointed towards a certain spot inside the examination room, and said, "When you come out, please clean up the trash on the track as well, take it out with you." The "trash" referred to the small stones and debris scattered when students fell and the mechs collided with the ground...
Saying this, Mu Jianling cursed, "A bunch of smelly brats, not a bit of public spiritedness."
Ji You: "..."
Ji You’s face stiffened completely.
Mu Jianling said, "What are you dazed for, not going for the assessment? You will be out in less than two minutes anyway, don’t delay the cleaning time."
Ji You mustered up her courage and asked a question: "Teacher, may I ask, when you were a student taking the Mech Driver’s License exam, did you pass on the first try?"
Ji You had been holding onto this question for a long time, always wanting to know.
At this comment, Mu Jianling suddenly stopped the smirk on her lips, looked at Ji You coldly: "You sure ask a lot of questions, don’t you?"
Somehow, Ji You felt a great sense of danger bubbling inside her; she quickly shook her head and immediately put on a smile, saying, "Ah ha, I was just asking casually, didn’t actually want to know the answer."
Mu Jianling’s gaze became even more menacing.
Ji You quickly stated with a firm tone, loudly complimenting, "A wise and powerful person like Teacher, needless to ask, surely passed on the first attempt."
Mu Jianling: "Hmph—"
Saying this, she lifted her foot as if to kick Ji You’s butt.
Ji You had been on guard; how could she really let herself get kicked? She dashed into the examination room in a flash.
Mu Jianling laughed and cursed, "Runs pretty fast."
students lined up in a row, entered their mech cabins, and connected the spiritual connectors, waiting for the horn to sound.
As Ji You showcased her antique mech under everyone’s watchful eyes, it left the students speechless:
"Is there actually a brave soul using an antique mech? Can’t help but admire that."
"Cough... you guys forgot, she’s the Rag Queen."
"Cough... almost forgot that, so—what do you think, will Ji You hit the ground earlier than Shen Changqing?"
"I don’t mean to look down on Ji You, but her spiritual power and physical strength are much weaker than Shen Changqing’s."
"I guess, if her luck holds up, she might pass the first round?"