Yama Rising

“Hang on… where did you learn of the creature called streaming? That’s something that only shallow women would do. You’re a former provincial governor, there’s no need to stoop so low…”

It was hard to convince Arthis to give it up, but he finally managed to do it. Qin Ye’s heart palpitated from the potential cataclysm he had just avoided, and he dreaded to contemplate what idea the silicone doll might come up with next.

Was it a bad idea to have opened her eyes to the world wide web in the first place?

He didn’t dare to brood further over these things. The website he was on had refreshed itself, and he immediately took a look at it.

There were five instructors who had rendered their opening lectures this morning. His name was right at the top, with an unbelievably striking 90 credits written right next to it.

“Professor Yu was personally in attendance of my lecture, so it’s no surprise that I’d managed to clinch the top spot with 90 credits.” He picked up his keys and shut the door, “I’m heading out for lunch, and I plan to nap for a bit, and then go sit in for some of the other instructors’ lessons later on. Anything you need?”

Huskies possessed a keen sense of self awareness. As a husky living among a pack of wolves, he would need to gather as much knowledge about them as possible. The Momo app was good, but it wasn’t quite enough. He was currently presented with an opportunity to mix with the wolf pups and listen in on their introductory courses. He could even reveal a smug smile from time to time to irk the other instructors and cause their eyelids to twitch uncontrollably…

Beautiful, beautiful…

Arthis was basking in the glory of her victory when Qin Ye motioned to leave his room. Just then, she suddenly called out, “Hang on.”

“?”

“I’d taken out my stomach to have it pumped just two days ago. Do be a good friend and collect it for me when you pass by the Eastgate Dry Cleaners later.”

“... I might have misheard you. Can you say that again?”

Stomach pumping?! I told you to eat less, yet you ignored my good advice and continued to have three meals a day! Now look at how you’ve got to get your stomach pumped! Do you even have the self awareness of a silicone doll?!

Arthis gave him an impatient glare, “Isn’t it normal to get your stomach pumped after eating too much? I don’t have a digestive system, so this is no different from transferring food from its packaging into my stomach. I’d just been peckish… What's with that look in your eyes anyway?”

“No… nothing… then… I’ll go collect it for you at midnight…” Qin Ye could feel his legs weakening under his weight, and he hurriedly shut the door behind him and drifted away.

She truly knows no bounds…

How can she ask me to head to the dry cleaners to collect a silicone doll’s stomach in broad daylight… Bloody hell, she’s going to be the death of my pride and reputation!

His thoughts drifted to the distant future, decades later, in an unnamed nursing home. A certain dry cleaner fanned himself and sighed as he gazed into the distance, “Back in those days, strange occurrences were dime a dozen. I recall one incident when an instructor from the First Academy of Cultivators - a tall and good-looking one at that - sent a silicone doll’s stomach in for pumping. Her stomach contained various unidentifiable objects. It goes to show that true love... blah blah blah…”

This was how his reputation was going to go down in history!

Little did he know that just as he was headed out to the canteen, the four other instructors who had just given their opening lectures had also just opened the academy website.

“Ninety points?” An instructor in his sixties from the Faculty of Theory held up his teacup, but didn’t take a single sip from it. His eyelids were twitching uncontrollably.

“Why is the scoring this semester so lenient?” He furrowed his brows. That’s not right… even if they’re lenient, how could they possibly award points on the spot? That’s a privilege that is reserved only for the leaders of the academy. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to brood over his score for several more hours at least? What if some of the other instructors surprise you? Wouldn’t committing to a score right now place you in a difficult position later on?

“I feel pretty good about my earlier opening lecture, and I’m quite certain that the score won’t be too low. S9527 might be adept in combat, but I’m positive that I’ll come out ahead of him when it comes to educating others. If he can score a ninety… I should be at least a ninety-five…”

He continued to console himself. Yet, for some strange reason, he couldn’t shake off the reservations in his heart…

………………………………………………….

Qin Ye sat in for Lin Han’s class early that afternoon, only to notice Lin Han roll his eyes so much at him that he was practically looking at the sky.

Hurhur… you just got 90 credits this morning, and you’re already here to irk and annoy me… We’re through!

That said, Qin Ye found himself frantically taking notes merely ten minutes into the lecture. It suddenly dawned on him that the lectures of the other instructors weren’t without any merit of their own. Rather, it was just that none of their insights exceeded the expectations of the SRC. This was the only thing that set Qin Ye apart from the other instructors.

“... Why do Yin spirits attack human beings?” Lin Han’s voice was pleasant to the ears, and he spoke at a comfortable pace. He donned a completely different persona from what they were used to ordinarily. In fact, he even put on a pair of shades and did his best to appear like a muscular pretty boy.

“It’s because they have a natural thirst and desire for human flesh and blood, as well as Yang energy. It’s only natural that they crave for what they lack. In that regard, their thirst for Yang energy, human flesh and blood, and even human souls, is completely insatiable. This is why you’re sitting here without need for verification of your identity. Humans and Yin spirits simply can’t coexist!”

Qin-husky-Ye gulped nervously.

“... And why don’t Yin spirits attack humans head on?”

“It’s simple. This is because Yin spirits are naturally weak, and they can’t naturally draw close to a person who continues to blaze with Yang energy. It’s only through fright, fear and furtive suggestions that the three lamps over one’s body flickers and wanes. That is how Yin spirits draw close to human beings. This naturally forms the basis of most Yin spirits’ attacks, and this is understandably how Yin spirits end up becoming one of the most feared existences among ordinary human beings. It’s precisely because they scare humans. But we’re different. From the onset, we’re trained and conditioned to abandon the fear in our hearts. Remember this - low-grade Yin spirits can only attempt to induce fear in your hearts, but they can never properly hurt you!”

Just like that, two hours of lessons ended quickly. Qin Ye had gleaned much from his lecture, and he promptly closed his notebook and left the lecture hall. Qin Ye could only imagine what kind of expression Local Bully had on his face as he watched him leave…

Just as he was leaving the back door of the lecture hall, his Momo app suddenly buzzed with a notification.

“Part two of the evaluation for instructors and outstanding instructors - regulations are as follows.” -- Head of Faculty Zhou.

“Number one: We shall be announcing all teaching credits awarded to instructors everyday at 6.00 p.m. sharp.”

“Number two: Whenever a new semester begins, instructors will be awarded half of the final score they have earned last semester[1]. Every subsequent class or lecture shall be graded by a student representative. Instructors shall be awarded one teaching credit for every ten points awarded.”

“The school shall evaluate a random sample size of three classes per instructor every quarter. Instructors are not to put pressure on the student representative or curtail his or her freedom to grade the instructor in any way. If investigations reveal that the student representative’s score does not cohere and accurately reflect the performance of the instructor, he shall be penalized with half of his teaching credits.”

“Number three: The daily self-study sessions in the evening offer additional opportunities at earning teaching credits. Students may use this period of time to revise for the next day’s lectures, and instructors are free to leave them be. Students may also practice their fighting skills and abilities. The entire floor that the school gym is located at has been converted into our academy training room. The training room shall be open daily from 7.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.”

“Instructors shall be awarded one teaching credit per day of overseeing their students’ sparring sessions.”

“We shall now announce the individual teaching credits accumulated thus far, the ranking, as well as the conditions required to qualify as an outstanding instructor.”

At this very moment, all of the instructors in the academy paused right where they were to read the contents of this important message on their phones, regardless of whether they had just ended classes, were in their dorm rooms preparing for their classes, or were at the courts playing basketball with their students.

As expected… Qin Ye pursed his lips. Li Tao and Xu Anguo are both men who deserve to piss into the same pot… Those old fogeys are always doing what they want before announcing them - and only giving some enigmatic hint at best, like when they mentioned that “the rubrics for the second phase of instructor evaluation does not exist”.

Anyone who believed their tomfoolery would never be fated to cross paths with the title of outstanding instructor - they would be forced to wallow in the pits of the alpha-tier treasures of the treasury, never to rise from the depths.

“Why aren’t you guys dead yet? I’ve reserved one of the best seats in Hell for you… don’t you know how badly the people in the mortal realm want to beat you up? Come under my wings, and I’ll make sure that you can have all the fun you want…”

Qin Ye gazed begrudgingly at Li Tao’s and Xu Anguo’s office. He vaguely recalled that Xu Anguo had undergone a full-body checkup just a year ago - Perhaps I should head over to the hospital and see if he has any chronic diseases… I’ve got to prepare enough fireworks to last me for three days of festivities after all…

Sha-sha-sha… Zhou Xianlong’s message came to an end, while another form appeared in the First Academy of Cultivators Instructors Group. All of the instructors tapped on the form and opened its contents.

“Criteria for an outstanding instructor.”

“Number one: You are eligible for a promotion to outstanding instructor if you accumulate 1,300 points within a single semester.”

Qin Ye immediately ran some calculations in his mind.

An instructor takes a class or a lecture once every two days on average. This translates to fifteen classes a month. Assuming that one manages to attain an average grade of 80 points per class, the ten-to-one ratio would translate to 8 teaching credits per class. Therefore, based solely on classes alone, an instructor would be able to secure approximately 120 teaching credits per month.

In addition to that, if an instructor oversaw his students’ sparring and fighting practices every night, he would be able to bag another 30 credits for that month. That way, the total number of teaching credits that an instructor can secure from teaching alone would amount to approximately 150 credits every month. A semester spans over six months. This means that they would be able to secure 900 credits by way of teaching alone!

It was still quite some ways off the 1,300 prerequisite, but… there should still be some avenues to earn teaching credits from midterm examinations and final examinations. Furthermore, there were still the points that he had accumulated from the Mount Tai City study trip.

He continued reading.

Sure enough, the second statement confirmed his suspicions: “As long as at least five students from a single faculty scores more than 90 in their midterm and final examinations, all instructors of that corresponding faculty shall be awarded 100 teaching credits each. In addition, there will occasionally be opportunities to earn extra teaching credits, akin to what you have experienced in the Mount Tai City study trip. In future, when the First Academy of Cultivators has made a name for itself, there may arise instances where the leaders of large powers make a request for an exchange of ideas, or where uninitiated sects and clans apply to observe our lectures. These are all opportunities that instructors are free to explore and solicit.”

“Number three: Instructors who have their thesis published on the front page of the ‘People’s Cultivation Journal’ would be awarded 666 teaching credits in that semester. A second-grade meritorious deed would earn all instructors of the corresponding faculty 150 teaching credits.”

“Number four: Any instructor who receives an invitation to participate in the ‘Cultivators Quarterly Forum’ or the ‘Summit of Cultivators’ shall be awarded 150 teaching credits. All corresponding instructors in the same faculty shall receive 50 teaching credits.”

“Number five: At the end of the semester, all instructors shall be ranked in accordance with their total accumulated teaching credits, and the top five instructors shall be promoted to the ranks of outstanding instructors, thereby gaining access to the Beta-tier treasures.[2]”

“Number six: The practice room shall remain closed today for maintenance. The Alpha-tier treasury shall be open tonight at 8.00 p.m. All who are looking to make redemptions are to gather at the basketball courts at 7.30 p.m to facilitate a smooth redemption process. You may only check your cumulative merit points whenever the treasury is open. In that regard, the treasury shall be open for redemption purposes on the first of every month.”

Just as everyone was about done reading the list of information, another screenshot promptly appeared.

This time, it was the ranking of the teaching credits thus far.

“First place: Faculty of Combat S9527 - 183 teaching credits. Note: 93 credits awarded for the completion of C-grade “Lost Tracks” mission in Mount Tai City; 90 credits awarded for the opening lecture today. Total score of 183 teaching credits.”

Everyone’s eyes paused for a moment at his score, and then quickly scanned down to the second place.

After all, there was no way of knowing whether his score was truly high without any basis for comparison.

“Second place: Faculty of Theory A6634 - 144 teaching credits. Note: 74 credits awarded for the completion of E-grade mission in Mount Tai City; 70 credits awarded for the opening lecture today. Total score of 144 teaching credits.”

Dead silence.

All of the instructors stared at their Momo app in complete silence right this very moment.

A6634, also known as Instructor Huang Chengyang of the Faculty of Theory, was a man in his sixties. He rubbed his own eyes in disbelief, thinking that he must have been mistaken.

144 credits?

It’s fine if there was no basis for comparison, but how could S9527 possibly have 183 credits?!

The difference between the first and the second place was so wide that an entire dimension could be fit between them!

Bloody hell, where did the gap of about 50 credits come from?! 90 credits for your lecture?! I felt good about my performance today and I was only awarded 70 credits?!

And to think that I was still feeling at ease this afternoon?!

“Holy crap…” Local Bully gasped as he looked at his phone, “The scoring this semester is so strict… and yet this kid has almost secured two hundred credits for himself?! He’s inhuman!”

Of the five instructors who had rendered their opening lecture this morning, not a single one of them had scored above 75 credits apart from Qin Ye!

1. It’s not entirely clear whether this is half of the total score, or half of the final grade that students get. I would think it’s the latter, because the balance would be way off otherwise.

2. I have it in my notes that Beta-tier treasures are accessible to all instructors, and it’s only Gamma-tier treasures that are only redeemable by outstanding instructors once a year. I suspect there must have been a typo on the author’s part here.