I stared at this girl, who was casually chatting with Xu Zhao Tin. Her name is Zhang Lu Lu, I already know a girl with this name. In the original, she was Xu Zhao Tin's girlfriend, the only close person to him who helped him forget the disaster in the city of Bo. Becoming a cursed monster, he killed her with his own hands. It was a very sad moment, so her name was well remembered by me. I didn't think that after I myself, personally, and then Mo Fan, interacted with Xu Zhao Tin, he would pay attention to her. Although from their conversation, it's not clear that they have special feelings for each other, but they have already exchanged phone numbers and emails, so it is guaranteed that they will continue to communicate.
This was not strange or unusual for me, and certainly not outside my plans. Therefore, I was absolutely against their relationship. Perhaps I could even leave them alone and leave on business without any special questions, after the exam, and there are quite a lot of them planned, I must say. From the beginning of serious training by Zhou Ming, to the completion of my second artifact, the claws.
Soon the teacher arrived, followed by a couple of senior students carrying stacks of papers, apparently this was our exam. I had already encountered something like this with the master, so I didn't care, but a large part of the future students were shocked by this. The exam turned out to be not as difficult as I initially thought; it was more difficult with the master. A total of two hours were given, however, after an hour I had finished everything, but I wasn't going to rush to submit my work, as most of them hadn't even solved half of the tasks. So I had to wait another half hour before submitting the work.
As I approached the teacher's desk, another student stood up, submitting his work. It wasn't Xu Zhao Tin, who looked with surprise first at me, then at the second one. I also paid close attention to him; in the original, there was nothing about a genius from the lightning faculty. Although perhaps he was only good in theory, but even so, it was too cool. I thought I would look cool if I submitted a perfect work so early. However, there was also the option that he simply knew nothing.
This student was quite a handsome guy, of medium, even more so, a slender build. He had short black hair, an ordinary, though very pretty face, but his eyes demanded special attention, they were bright purple! Usually, lightning mages' eyes acquire such a color when they use magic, but now he was in class and there were no signs of him creating a star path. He clearly deserved more attention than that bunch of scum from noble families.
"Hello, what's your name?" I asked, extending my hand to him. "My name is Jiaxing Yun, I'm surprised someone else submitted their work so early."
"Nice to meet you, my name is Chen Qi. I see you submitted early too," he said calmly, shaking my hand. I felt quite a strong lightning energy in him, as well as another one, which I couldn't decipher due to my weak perception. "I wonder if your practical skills are at the same level or if you're just a crammer?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. His voice was calm and even, one could say it even lulled the vigilance of ordinary people, but such a trick wouldn't work on me, I can speak like that myself, though I don't use this skill often. I just don't particularly need it to achieve my goals.
"I'm concerned about the same question," I smiled casually. "I think we'll all find out after tomorrow's exam."
"I think you're right. And now, goodbye, I have things to do," he said, shrugging his shoulders and leaving.
I, on the other hand, stayed to wait for Xu Zhao Ting, although I wasn't sure if he could freely go for a walk with Zhang Lu Lu. I had to wait only about half an hour, but it felt like an eternity! When there's nothing to do, time turns from a turbulent everyday mountain stream into a quiet, stagnant lake. Xu Zhao Ting didn't keep me waiting long, he came out shortly before the time expired.
"Hoo... Jiaxing Yun, how did you submit your work so early? You couldn't have written nothing? And that guy? Who is he anyway?" Seeing me sitting on the bench, he bombarded me with questions.
"Of course, I could write everything, why else would I have submitted it so early? As for the guy, he's a very interesting type, we'll see based on the exam results, maybe he's just a show-off who couldn't write anything," I said, as I was still not entirely sure of his knowledge, but I was confident in his abilities. When we shook hands, I felt the lightning element, very strong, with a spiritual seed and close to the second stage. There was also something else well hidden, but I couldn't decipher that.
"I see, Jiaxing Yun, I think I'll be a little late, you and Mo Fan can go back yourselves," he said, slightly embarrassed. Did she really like him? Although it was clear that it wasn't love yet, but just a slight sympathy, nothing would prevent it from growing into strong love, especially considering that the canon tends to happen.
"Alright, you covered for me, I'll cover for you, otherwise Mo Fan will pester you to death with questions about Zhang Lu Lu. Did I understand the reason for your delay correctly?" I smiled slyly, with the air of an understanding person. "I'll say you decided to go shopping, buy yourself some clothes, so don't forget to buy them."
"Uh... yes... okay," he replied, flustered, which clearly indicated that I was right.
I didn't linger here any longer and went to find Mo Fan, towards the exit of the new building of Mingzhu. After the interview, he was supposed to wait for us there. Approaching the gate, I saw his dejected and angry figure, he was clearly in no mood. He stood leaning against a column, looking at his feet, barely containing his anger.
"What happened, Mo Fan? They didn't accept you after you told them about the wolf?" I asked, approaching him. Naturally, I guessed what the problem was, but I wasn't sure, as Mo Fan had become much stronger than the original.
"Yes, almost," Mo Fan grumbled. "And where is Xu Zhao Ting, the exam should have ended already?" he asked, raising his head.
"He decided to go shopping, so he'll be late," I said, repeating the lie. "So what happened?"
"I see," he said, pushing himself off the column. "I've been assigned a demonstration exam, I'll have to summon my wolf in front of the dean and the director, as well as a bunch of students. They said there are few spots and no one will enroll me just like that."
"I see, but I think you'll handle it easily," I said, shrugging my shoulders, everything turned out as planned.
"Yes, most likely, but it pisses me off that they haven't even finished the general exams yet, and they're already setting such conditions! I clearly told them that my wolf has reached the level of a high servant, so I should have been guaranteed admission, let alone being a mid-level mage!" Mo Fan continued to grumble, heading home. It was clear he was deeply offended, and considering his quick temper and slight stupidity, he would now pester everyone all week, complain and curse. I was lucky, I live separately, but Jiaxing Xia and Xu Zhao Ting. Although the first one went to Huangzhou, and the second one found a potential girlfriend, so there should always be an excuse to get away.
"Mo Fan, brother, maybe they just want to know your abilities? After all, it's not every day that such strong summoner mages come to them. Plus, they want to see the results of the other students to properly assess you?" I suggested, although I know the real reason for all this. It's not far from my words. In reality, Director Xiao wants to test Mo Fan's strength, as well as gather information about him, and this week he will most likely send people to Bo City.
"Still, it's too unfair! Why should I wait a whole week? I could have summoned the wolf right in front of them and then they would all have been convinced of my strength!" he continued to lament.
After that, I stopped listening to him, and soon, under the pretext of preparing for the practical exam, I returned to my home. To my surprise, Jiaxing Er was there, cultivating in her room, so I didn't disturb her. In general, it would be good if she also got into school or university. However, I want to keep her close, with her poison magic, as well as the skills she got from the old man, she should be quite strong. If I need to eliminate someone, it's most likely she will be chosen, so I should improve her stealth assassination skills over the summer.
I didn't need to prepare for the practical exam at all, skills close to the third stage of the initial level, or even slightly higher, I could easily simulate. So I engaged in normal cultivation, my lightning and wind elements were slowly but surely approaching the second stage, if I want to kill the commander by the end of the year, I need to break through in the coming months.
The next day, Xu Zhao Ting and I met again and went to Mingzhu, the lists of those who passed and qualified for the practical exam, as well as those who failed, were to be posted. I was confident that I would be at the very top, the only unknown factor was that guy Chen Qi. I assumed he could quite possibly surpass me for first place. When we arrived, there was already a crowd at the board. Besides the usual students, there were men and women of considerable age who were eager to know the exam results. However, not all of them were parents; most were servants of noble families who came to find out about the status of their young masters.
"Look, I'm in seventy-seventh place, I've confidently passed to the practical exam," Xu Zhao Ting said, pointing to the board.
"Quite good," I replied, smiling slightly. Of course, it wasn't that difficult for us to get in; it was enough to say that we were from Bo City, and they would allocate places for us as victims of the tragedy. However, I didn't want to go that way; it was too boring, and it also involved meeting Director Xiao. And considering that he is a curse mage, it would be very difficult to hide my real strength, if not impossible. However, I wasn't going to hide forever either; after all, as I said, it's impossible, and not necessary. Director Xiao is a good, understanding person, so he shouldn't be feared. He can even be used to achieve certain goals and obtain significant resources. He favors talented students if they meet his moral requirements.
"I turned out to be second after all," a calm and even voice was heard from the side, literally mesmerizing and not letting go of its grip. Turning my head, I saw Chen Qi, I recognized him by his unusual bright purple eyes. I wonder, is he a deviation from the canon, or just an unilluminated character who something happened to during those events? By all accounts, he should be quite strong, if my senses are to be believed.
"You're second, so who's first?" I asked, quickly finding the top lines of the list. Chen Qi's name was listed in second place; after all, he was quite smart, and considering his strength, I had to be careful with him.
"You, my friend," he said, with a slight smirk. I raised my eyes a little higher and saw the first line; my name was there — Jiaxing Yun. The gap between me and Chen Qi was a few hundredths of a point, which made me even more wary. I received the maximum possible score, five hundred, and he was only five hundredths less. I don't know why, perhaps because he submitted later, or perhaps because he deliberately made a small mistake somewhere.
"Wow, Jiaxing Yun, you have the maximum score! How did you manage that!" Xu Zhao Ting said in surprise. "I barely managed to reach four hundred!"
"Just long and hard work," I said, shrugging my shoulders, shifting my gaze to Chen Qi.
"Alright, I'm going, I need to prepare for tomorrow's practical exam," he said and left. I watched him go for a long time; he definitely promises to be an interesting fellow, I could play a couple of games with him, ha.