The frequent, high-intensity sparring sessions had left Zhao Rui mentally exhausted.
After sparring with his coach that afternoon and accumulating 50% experience for his Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique, Zhao Rui had just stepped out of the Martial Arts Hall building when he received a call from Bai Xuening.
The girl asked how his estimated exam score was and which university he planned to apply to.
'The exams have been over for days, and she's only just asking now. A little slow on the uptake, isn't she?'
Zhao Rui said he wanted to apply to Dongqi University, but the required score was a bit high, and his estimate was right around the cutoff from previous years.
It was a long shot.
"Oh, the exam was harder this year, so the cutoff score will probably be lower. I believe in you!"
"What about you?"
"I... I applied to Sichuan University. It's close to Emei Mountain."
"Oh!"
Zhao Rui acknowledged, but he understood. 'After all, she's an introductory disciple of Mount Emei. Sichuan University probably has special admission slots for them.'
"What have you been up to at home these past few days?"
Having gotten the important questions out of the way, Bai Xuening's voice softened as she asked in a gentle whisper.
"Just hanging out, nothing serious. I signed up to be a sparring partner for the last couple of days to earn some extra cash," Zhao Rui said casually.
"A sparring partner? Won't that interfere with your training? Do you need money? I... I can lend you some."
The girl hesitated for a moment, as if afraid that bringing up money would make Zhao Rui lose face.
"I'm not short on cash. It's purely to gain more combat experience."
Zhao Rui replied dismissively. 'As for whether he was short on cash, was there any need to guess? Of course he was. Resources, companions, techniques, and location—in any era, money was the ultimate currency.'
"Oh. Well, you still need to manage your time properly. Don't neglect your martial arts."
"I know, I know, stop nagging! This isn't like you at all."
A smile touched the corners of Zhao Rui's lips.
"I'm just trying to be nice! Hmph. Hanging up."
Bai Xuening pouted, hanging up the phone in a small fit of pique.
"Hey! You were the one who called me!"
Zhao Rui looked down at his phone as it returned to the home screen and couldn't help but shrug.
Summer vacation was long and relaxing, with no summer homework and no parents nagging.
This was the only time students could truly enjoy a completely relaxing break.
But because of the whole incident with the Fire Cloud Evil God, Zhao Rui's desire to go wild had been considerably reined in.
He spent two straight weeks cooped up in the Martial Arts Hall working as a sparring partner.
「Until the day the college entrance exam scores were released.」
"Son, what was your score?"
Zhao Jincheng and his wife, who had been waiting anxiously outside Zhao Rui's bedroom door, rushed to ask the moment he came out from checking his score.
"623. Sixteen points above the top-tier university cutoff."
"How much?"
Zhao Jincheng and his wife were in utter disbelief; they never imagined their son would score so high.
This was tens of points higher than they had anticipated.
"I got a perfect score on both the theory and practical sections for my Martial Dao specialization... and I did well on the math portion, too."
Zhao Rui explained his results with a smile. 'After all, having an adult's mind combined with a teenager's memory gave him a certain Innate advantage.'
'Not to mention, the system panel had helped raise his Martial Arts Level.'
"This is great, just great! I have to tell your grandpa and the others right away..."
His face beaming with excitement, Zhao Jincheng quickly turned to grab his phone and call their friends and family.
Xue Wenhui was no exception, her phone practically glued to her ear.
A smile touched Zhao Rui's lips as he watched his parents excitedly share the good news with their relatives.
With the scores out, the next step was naturally to submit university applications.
A few days later, on the day for submitting applications, Zhao Rui woke up early and rode his bike to school.
It was now summer vacation, so there were no students in class on campus.
The people leisurely strolling through the school gates were all recent graduates, there to submit their university applications.
"Zhao Rui, what'd you score?"
Just before the school gate, Zhao Rui ran into a few classmates, and they all rode their bikes onto campus together.
"623!"
"Zhao Rui, you scored that high? That's amazing!"
"Yeah, with that score, you could probably even squeeze into Dongqi University!"
The classmates were surprised; they hadn't expected Zhao Rui, whose grades usually just hovered around the basic acceptance line, to do so well.
"I got lucky. All my guesses were right!" Zhao Rui said with a laugh.
"That's a type of skill in itself!"
"Totally! I guessed wrong on a bunch of questions! Such a shame, or I would've scored ten points higher!"
The group chatted as they soon arrived in front of the academic building. After locking up their bikes, they walked toward their classroom together.
Having not seen each other in a while, they had endless things to catch up on now that they were reunited.
"Look, it's Luo Min. I heard Zhejiang University offered her admission without an exam, but she insisted on taking it anyway. Wonder how she scored."
"Her grades are always so good. She definitely didn't do poorly."
Just as the group reached the third-floor landing, they saw a graceful and stunningly beautiful girl strolling toward them from around the corner.
It was none other than their classmate Luo Min, the class's renowned top student and resident beauty.
"Hello, everyone!"
A moment later, as they passed her, Luo Min smiled and waved at the group, her expression warm and serene.
None of them expected her to say hello. Their hearts instantly started racing as they each plastered on what they hoped was their most handsome smile.
Once the girl was out of earshot, the guys started fooling around, sighing dramatically, "I won't be able to see my classmate Minmin anymore!"
"What do you mean 'your' classmate Minmin? She's *our* classmate Minmin."
"I'm a germaphobe!"
"..."
"Filthy! Shameless!"
Amidst a round of mischievous laughter, Zhao Rui followed them into the classroom.
"Took you long enough, Zhao!"
As soon as he entered the classroom, Yang Fan waved him over.
Zhao Rui walked over, and as soon as he sat down, Yang Fan leaned in mysteriously. "Heard Wang Han didn't do so well. Only scored a 596."
"That low? That's quite a bit lower than his usual scores."
"Serves him right for being such a show-off. If he has time to flirt with the teacher, he should have time to study for the exams."
Yang Fan said with a hint of schadenfreude. This Wang Han had been one of only two Fourth-level Martial Artists in their class—until Zhao Rui made it three.
"Why do you care?"
Zhao Rui smiled.
"I just can't stand the guy!"
Yang Fan huffed, but before he could say more, Sun Tiantian in the row ahead turned around. Looking at Zhao Rui, she asked softly, "What university are you applying to?"
"I'm applying to Dongqi University!"
"Dongqi?" Sun Tiantian froze, then let out a dejected "oh." "You want to go to the same university as Luo Min that badly?"
"Luo Min? I don't know which university she's applying to."
"But your score is so borderline! It's not a sure thing you'll get in!" Sun Tiantian said, looking displeased.
"I'll accept placement."
Zhao Rui just smiled and didn't say more. He had only one real reason for wanting to apply to Dongqi University.
Among the universities in the province, only a select few, including Dongqi University, had their own dedicated university-level Martial Dao training teams.
And they were the kind of teams that could compete in high-level events like the provincial league.
Other universities had teams as well, but their level wasn't high enough; they could only show their stuff at provincial sports meets or minor martial arts tournaments.
"Hmph. All just excuses."
Annoyed, Sun Tiantian turned away and ignored Zhao Rui.
Zhao Rui threw up his hands helplessly, then turned to Yang Fan and asked, "Luo Min is applying to Dongqi University?"