A black bulletproof off-road vehicle cruised smoothly through the streets of Jiangcheng.
Inside the cabin.
The air conditioning was cranked up high.
It shut out the restless heat of the June scorcher outside, as well as the deafening clamor beyond the exam grounds.
Su Yu sat in the passenger seat.
Arms crossed, eyes closed, he was lost in thought about the liberal arts exam questions from earlier.
In the driver's seat.
Lin Xiaoso grasped the steering wheel with one hand, the other casually resting on the edge of the window.
A pair of oversized sunglasses hid most of her face.
But the slight pursing of her lips betrayed her current inner turmoil.
She occasionally turned her head.
Stealing glances at the young man beside her through the corner of her vision behind the sunglasses.
A faded, washed-out short-sleeved shirt.
Plain athletic pants.
No brand names, no luxurious accessories, and even his hairstyle was the simplest of crew cuts.
But this was a boy who looked like he'd blend into any crowd and be impossible to pick out.
Three days.
From 0.8 to 10.4.
Such a leap was more absurd than a fairy tale.
Even she, a daughter of an elite family who had been raised on top-tier resources since childhood, had never heard of any miracle drug in the Great Xia Kingdom that could boost a person's blood energy by over a dozen times in just three days, and without any signs of side effects at that.
Su Yu's breathing was very steady.
As steady as a dormant volcano.
Lin Xiaoxiao averted her gaze and floored the accelerator.
Forget it.
Stop thinking.
Everyone has their own secrets.
Since Su Yu wasn't willing to say, she wouldn't pry.
As long as he truly had the strength and could really get into the Great Xia Capital's First Martial Arts University with her.
That was enough.
Twenty minutes later.
The off-road vehicle turned into a secluded, tree-lined lane.
Eventually, it stopped in front of a private kitchen restaurant that didn't even have a signboard.
No gaudy, opulent decoration.
Only quaint, ancient-style green bricks and black tiles, along with a pair of stone lions at the entrance that bore the marks of time.
"Get out."
Lin Xiaoxiao took off her sunglasses and tossed them casually onto the center console.
She pushed open the door.
Su Yu followed her into the private kitchen restaurant.
As soon as they stepped through the entrance, a faint scent of sandalwood wafted over them.
There was no main hall.
Only separate private rooms.
Extremely private.
"Miss Lin, you've arrived. The usual?"
A manager in a well-fitted cheongsam immediately came forward, her attitude respectful but not fawning.
"Mm."
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded, leading Su Yu with practiced ease toward a private room at the end of the corridor.
She pushed open the door.
The room was decorated with great elegance.
A round table of rosewood, a few old-fashioned armchairs, and several ink-wash paintings hanging on the walls.
"Have a seat."
Lin Xiaoxiao pulled out a chair and sat down boisterously.
Su Yu took a seat across from her.
Soon.
The food was served.
No menu—it was all the restaurant's signature dishes.
Steamed first-rank Spirit-Tailed Fish.
Braised Saber-Toothed Boar Tenderloin.
Century-Old Solomon's Seal Stewed with Snow Frog.
Every dish exuded an incredibly rich blood energy fluctuation.
This was no ordinary meal.
These were medicinal dishes carefully prepared from high-rank beast meat and precious herbs!
An ordinary person would probably get a nosebleed for hours just from one bite.
But for martial arts students who met the blood energy standards, this was a powerful tonic.
"Eat up."
Lin Xiaoxiao picked up her chopsticks, pointing at the dishes on the table.
"You've been testing all morning; replenish your blood energy."
Su Yu didn't stand on ceremony.
A body at the Martial Artist realm was like a bottomless pit, with an insatiable craving for energy.
He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of the boar tenderloin, and put it in his mouth.
The meat was firm.
It melted on the tongue.
A wave of warm energy slid down his throat into his stomach, quickly broken down by his powerful digestive system and absorbed into every limb and bone.
The taste was indeed good.
Su Yu gave it a mental nod of approval.
The two ate in silence for a while.
The only sound in the room was the light clinking of chopsticks against porcelain.
Until.
Lin Xiaoxiao put down her chopsticks.
She pulled a tissue and elegantly dabbed the corners of her mouth.
Then.
She dropped her usual spoiled, willful heiress persona.
Her expression became more serious than ever before.
Carrying even a hint of gravity.
"Su Yu."
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the young man across from her, lowering her voice.
"Have you heard exactly how many slots the Great Xia Capital's First Martial Arts University has..."
"...in Jiangcheng?"
Su Yu paused slightly as he was picking up food with his chopsticks.
He lifted his head.
A flicker of inquiry appeared in his deep eyes.
Slots?
Wasn't the college entrance exam just about scores? As long as the score was high enough, you'd get admitted.
This was a deep-rooted common sense held by all regular high school students in the Great Xia Kingdom.
But seeing the serious look on Lin Xiaoxiao's face.
Su Yu knew things weren't that simple.
"How many?"
Su Yu put down his chopsticks and asked calmly.
Lin Xiaoxiao held up two fair fingers.
Waving them gently in front of Su Yu.
"Two."
Lin Xiaoxiao said the word slowly, emphasizing the brutal number.
"Only two."
The air in the room seemed to freeze at that moment.
Su Yu's brow furrowed slightly.
Two?
Jiangcheng had a permanent population of over ten million. Among this year's senior high school students taking the martial arts college entrance exam, there were at least over a hundred thousand!
Even if ninety-nine percent of them would be eliminated in the first round of blood energy testing.
The remaining one percent would still be a massive group.
Picking two out of over a hundred thousand people?
This wasn't just picking one in a hundred.
This was truly walking a tightrope, crossing a single-plank bridge through an army of thousands.
"You think a perfect score of 10 blood energy points is guaranteed entry into the Capital's First Martial Arts University?"
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Su Yu, explaining.
"That's too naive."
"The Great Xia Kingdom has twelve provinces and hundreds of prefecture-level cities. If everyone with a perfect blood energy score could get into the Capital Martial Arts University, the school would be bursting at the seams!"
"The Capital Martial Arts University is a place to train War Gods, not a shelter."
Lin Xiaoxiao picked up her cup of clear tea and took a sip.
Moistening her throat.
She then continued to reveal insider information that ordinary commoners never got to access.
"The Capital Martial Arts University's real national unified admission line is high enough to make 99% of Jiangcheng's examinees despair. Under normal testing conditions, Jiangcheng might not produce a single successful candidate in a decade."
"But, to avoid missing grassroots geniuses with exceptional combat talent, the university allocates a very small number of 'combat special recruitment slots' each year."
"This kind of special recruitment doesn't look at the total score rankings of the national unified exam."
"It only looks at combat!"
Lin Xiaoxiao held up two fair fingers, waving them gently in front of Su Yu.
"This year, the Jiangcheng Martial Arts Association exhausted all its efforts and only managed to secure two special recruitment slots from the Capital Martial Arts University."
"Not a single one more."
Su Yu listened quietly.
His gaze remained deep, showing no signs of panic at this cruel rule.
"So."
Su Yu spoke, his voice steady.
"The upcoming combat assessment is to determine these two special recruitment slots?"
"Smart."
Lin Xiaoxiao snapped her fingers.
"After the liberal arts results come out this afternoon, the system will automatically calculate a weighted total combining your liberal arts and martial arts scores."
"The top ten in the rankings will qualify to participate in the final combat assessment."
“Only on the arena, if you beat everyone else down and stand as the top two finishers…”
“will you be qualified to take those two tickets to the Kyoto Martial University.”
Cruel.
Extremely cruel.
No more looking at your background, your family name, or even how stunning your qi-blood test results were before.
It only looks at whether you can, on that arena, legitimately knock down every single one of your competitors.
This is the iron law of the high-martial world.
Practical combat is king.
“You’ve got a martial science score of 10.4, and your liberal arts rank in the top ten of the grade.”
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Su Yu, analyzing the situation for him.
“Getting into the top ten for actual combat is basically guaranteed.”
“But…”
Lin Xiaoxiao’s tone suddenly took a turn.
She lifted her chin slightly.
On that fresh and beautiful face, the familiar look of a proud and smug young heiress reappeared.
“In real combat, you definitely can’t beat me.”
That was the truth.
A qi-blood value of 406 points.
The terrifying level of an intermediate martial artist.
In a city city high school where the highest qi-blood value among the students was only a few dozen points, Lin Xiaoxiao’s presence was an insurmountable bug.
As long as she stood on the arena,
the first place spot was already locked up in advance.
No one could shake it.