Ha Thanh Capital, evening.
Inside the luxurious presidential suite of the five-star Metropole Hotel in the very heart of the capital, Robert Walker—head of the Victoria Academy Admissions Committee for the Viet Nation region—took a sip of whiskey to refresh his mind, his eyes glued to the virtual reality screen displaying the roster of registered candidates.
The vision and memory of a Meridian Opening Realm powerhouse were beyond extraordinary.
Robert skimmed through piles of files, rapidly evaluating and mentally calculating scores.
When he reached a certain name, his swiftly swiping finger suddenly stopped.
His pale blonde eyebrows knitted tightly together, pausing over a resume that the Martial Selection Cloud had given an exceptionally high evaluation.
Vuong Minh, from Quang Binh.
“Cultivation at the Late Phase of the Fourth Stage, martial arts method at great completion, executing martial skills with outstanding proficiency rarely seen in a decade, and even holds a C-rank combat merit?”
Robert muttered, a look of suspicion flashing in his eyes.
How could a student from a small city like Quang Binh possess such a shocking resume?
Furthermore, someone with this kind of profile actually stooped to apply to Victoria?
As any self-proclaimed financial expert would say, finding a resume like this was practically like stumbling upon Bitcoin under $60k—a straight-up fairy-tale gift from the gods!
Moreover, why did this name sound so familiar?
He searched through his memory and quickly recalled the reminder his student had given him.
Immediately, Robert pressed the call button for Trinh Thanh Long, summoning him from the adjacent room.
“Teacher, did you look for me?”
Trinh Thanh Long truly lived up to his status as the eldest young master of the Trinh family.
He carried himself with maturity and experience, handling matters impeccably while also being generous with gifts, which greatly satisfied Robert.
Thus, Robert didn’t start off with a reprimand.
Instead, he projected the data onto the large screen before turning to ask:
“Trinh, look carefully.
Is this Vuong Minh the person you mentioned?
His data on the Martial Selection Cloud is incredibly astonishing.
I want an explanation!”
Trinh Thanh Long looked up in confusion, and before long, he himself was startled.
That face—it was definitely the kid from the Vuong family!
But what the hell was this resume?
Was it really this terrifying?
Had Old Trinh at home been fed a bewitching potion by his younger brother?
They actually dared to try and squeeze someone like this?
Terrified, Trinh Thanh Long hurriedly bowed to apologize:
“Teacher, perhaps there’s a misunderstanding.
Please give me some time to investigate thoroughly.”
“Mm, go inquire quickly!”
Seeing that Robert showed no signs of anger, Trinh Thanh Long felt relieved.
He stepped aside and dialed home.
The moment Old Trinh picked up, he immediately launched into a barrage of complaints:
“Dad, what were you saying about Vuong Minh?
Why didn’t you mention that he earned a C-rank combat merit and trained his martial arts method to great completion?
Do you have any idea how passive you’ve made me look in front of my teacher?”
Being scolded out of nowhere by his son naturally enraged Trinh Duy Hung.
However, once he understood the full story, he didn’t care about anything else.
He hurriedly placated Trinh Thanh Long and frantically ordered his people to investigate.
Perhaps due to preconceived bias, Trinh Duy Hung discovered many suspicious points during his investigation.
However, he didn’t jump to conclusions, instead passing all the information on to Trinh Thanh Long, letting him decide everything for himself.
…..
Ha Thanh, Metropole Hotel.
In an outer reception room, Trinh Thanh Long stared anxiously at his phone, carefully reading through all the files his old man had just sent.
After a long while, he finally smirked, chuckled, and shook his head:
It seemed Little Long still looked down on Young Master Vuong, refusing to believe the other party had undergone a magnificent transformation.
Maintaining his contemptuous smile, he knocked on Robert’s door:
“Come in!”
“Trinh, what are the results?”
Facing Robert, Trinh Thanh Long naturally didn’t dare to act presumptuously.
He hastily reined in his smile and bowed respectfully:
“Teacher, I’ve investigated.
On the internal police system, there really is a confirmed ‘C-rank Combat Merit – Sweeping High-Risk Criminals’ for Vuong Minh.
However, the specific details cannot be accessed.
I asked a friend working in the provincial headquarters and found out this was personally added a few days ago by the Deputy Director of the Provincial Police.
I heard Vuong Minh has an uncle who serves as a special instructor for the Quang Tri Provincial Police.
His uncle is the dojo master of the Thunderclap Martial Arts Dojo—a fairly well-known Meridian Opening Realm powerhouse in the province with excellent ties to the police force.
It’s highly likely that he shared his own combat merit with Vuong Minh.”
“Is that so?”
Robert frowned suspiciously.
After receiving an affirmative answer, he personally logged into the Blue Star Combat Merit System, using his own special account to check.
The result was indeed a greyed-out screen.
Insufficient Privileges!
Content Cannot Be Viewed!
“Haha, interesting!”
Robert burst out laughing.
As a dignified admissions officer of Victoria Academy, he actually lacked the clearance to view an applicant’s specific combat merit?
This joke wasn’t funny at all.
There could only be two possibilities.
First, he truly lacked the clearance because the mission involved top-secret matters.
But what kind of top-secret mission only yielded a C-rank merit?
That left only the second possibility: there was actually no content inside.
They just hadn’t had the time to update it—or more accurately, hadn’t had the time to fabricate the details yet—so they temporarily slapped a warning label on it to prevent people from digging in and exposing the fraud.
Robert believed he had found the answer.
There had been plenty of similar cases all over the world in previous years.
He genuinely didn’t know that the Somsak incident truly warranted a C-rank merit, but because it had slight ties to the fabricated Soul-Destroying Iron mine, the police hadn’t investigated to the very bottom yet and didn’t dare draw conclusions, forcing everyone to wait.
He shook his head, his gaze toward Trinh Thanh Long growing much friendlier as he chuckled and asked:
“Then what about this student Vuong Minh’s actual skill level?
Does he meet the requirements to join our Victoria?”
This was clearly a hint, passing the decision-making authority over to Trinh Thanh Long.
Hiding his inner joy without changing his expression, Trinh Thanh Long respectfully replied:
“Teacher, you saw it yourself: this kid is too arrogant.
Not only did he spend money to hire people to throw matches and buy a fake reputation, but he also used connections to forge his application.
His flagrant and vile attitude clearly shows he doesn’t take Victoria Academy seriously at all.
As for his actual skill level, he might have a little bit.
But you know perfectly well how things are in these provincial towns.
In a small place, how high can the teachers’ horizons possibly be?
Back in the day, I also came from there and was evaluated as a rare genius in Quang Binh.
It wasn’t until I reached Victoria that I realized people like me were nothing special.
Vuong Minh is the same; he’s just being gassed up by a bunch of country bumpkins entertaining themselves.
He just used money to pave the way, having those teachers at that raggedy First High School fabricate results for him.”
“Mm, very possible!” — Robert was noncommittal, merely nodding faintly.
Seeing this, Trinh Thanh Long discreetly stepped closer and lowered his voice:
“Teacher, my father heard that you’ve been taking great care of me.
To express his gratitude, he purposely spent a massive sum to purchase a twenty-year-old Azure Spirit Grass from the Phong Nha Secret Realm to present to you.
The medicinal herb has already arrived; I hope Teacher will do us the honor of accepting it.”
“Haha, Trinh, you’re being too polite!
Hearing there was another gift, the blonde old man’s face blossomed into a smile like a chrysanthemum.
His demeanor grew even more affectionate as he patted his prized student’s shoulder:
“Alright, thank Patriarch Trinh on my behalf.
As for the admissions in Quang Binh, I’ll temporarily delegate the screening process to you.
Consider this the Academy’s test for you.”
“Understood!
Thank you, Teacher, for your trust!”
Trust his ass; this was obviously passing the buck, making Trinh Thanh Long stand out as the shield.
If things went smoothly, fine; if anything went wrong, he would be the first one strung up to take the fall.
Trinh Thanh Long knew this clearly in his heart, but if he didn’t handle his own family’s matters, who would?
Besides, he didn’t believe Vuong Minh could stir up any real waves anyway, which was why he eagerly accepted the task.
With just a few words, the strict teacher and the brilliant student quickly reached a consensus.
Not a few days later, when the preliminary selection results were released, all of Quang Binh was thrown into a massive uproar.
…..
Quang Binh.
On this day, the sky was blue, white clouds drifted lazily, and a gentle sea breeze blew—a beautiful day for an outing.
It was also the day the long-awaited preliminary application screening results from the Top Ten Academies and other major universities were finally announced.
At Quang Binh First High School, the two “Crouching Dragon and Hidden Phoenix” homeroom teachers—Ly Manh Hung of Martial Arts Class 1 and Vu Quang Chien of Martial Arts Class 2—had completely lost their appetite for tea and water since morning.
Both stared intently at their screens, waiting for notifications and system updates.
They couldn’t help but be anxious.
This was the fruit of an entire year’s labor, heavily tied to their future bonuses and merits, enough to keep the two rivals bickering for a very long time.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, suddenly:
“They’re here, they’re here!”
Ly and Vu’s spirits jolted as they hurriedly clicked on the notification letters.
Instantly, Ly Manh Hung felt the world spin, staring at the screen in utter disbelief.
He completely ignored the arrogant, unbridled laughter of Vu Quang Chien echoing in his ears.
Because written clearly on the screen were these lines:
Viet Nation – Quang Tri Province – Quang Binh First High School:
Vuong Minh: Did not meet preliminary selection requirements.
Trinh Cong Hieu: Passed.
“BAM!”
Ly Manh Hung rubbed his eyes and looked again.
After confirming he hadn’t seen wrong, he furiously slammed his hand on the desk, seething with anger:
“How is this possible!
Vuong Minh was graded as S-rank—a genius—yet he got eliminated right in the preliminary round.
Meanwhile, that Hieu kid from Class 2 only barely scraped an A-rank but successfully passed?
Are the people at Victoria blind?”
The entire administrative office fell into a dead silence; no one answered.
Even his mortal enemy, Vu Quang Chien, the homeroom teacher of Class 2, was similarly unable to justify Playboy Hieu passing or comprehend Victoria Academy’s decision.
They weren’t blind; they all knew perfectly well just how exceptional Vuong Minh’s aptitude was—absolutely the best Quang Binh had seen in years.
But what could they do?
The decision-makers were far away and out of touch.
Old Robert had just closed his eyes and randomly picked someone, who happened to be the younger brother of his own student.
Instantly, the entirety of Quang Binh First High School boiled over.
Young Master Vuong’s eyes bulged wide open, doubting life itself.
Countless classmates from Class 1 felt righteous indignation on his behalf.
At the same time, countless haters followed Young Master Trinh, laughing with unbridled arrogance.
Meanwhile, the Trinh family simultaneously launched their internet trolls.
In just a single afternoon, rumors that the Vuong family had used money to buy combat merits and forged his application—only to be exposed and rejected by Victoria Academy—spread like wildfire all over Quang Binh, plunging Young Master Vuong’s reputation straight to rock bottom.