Re-examination

Eleven months passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Nan had won about 500,000 at the casino. He gave Feng Wu 50,000 and also covered Little Black Ox's expenses. In the end, he had over 300,000 left.

This was almost enough for his school tuition. Of course, if you factored in food, lodging, and other expenses, it wouldn't be enough, but Chen Nan wasn't worried.

After all, if he ran out of money, he could just gamble a bit and get more.

The casino didn't bother people like Chen Nan. This was a sign of their magnanimity, and without such a broad outlook, they wouldn't have lasted this long.

Remember, the biggest gangsters are often gentlemen, possessing the tolerance to overlook minor issues. They understand the true path to wealth and won't get bogged down in trivial matters.

Still, Chen Nan knew when to stop, ensuring he didn't disrupt the casino's normal operations. There was an unspoken understanding between them.

As the Preparatory Academy's enrollment approached, things were unusually turbulent, something Chen Nan hadn't anticipated.

In Wu City, and even across the entire Transcendent community nationwide, it was known that a special child would be participating in this year's Wu City Preparatory Academy assessment. That child was Chen Nan.

He didn't feel particularly remarkable, nor did he wish to be, yet he was the focus of everyone's attention.

However, he hadn't yet entered the Transcendent community and had no way of knowing this.

Because of Chen Nan's nationally sensational deeds, many Transcenders were secretly investigating him.

Therefore, they were also aware of his visits to the casino and his subsequent clean and swift elimination of those thugs.

Their interest in Chen Nan, a child with no background but exceptional abilities, grew with each passing day.

Among these Transcenders, one faction was particularly intrigued.

This was the Nature Master sect. As previously mentioned, it was a declining sect, almost a form of intangible cultural heritage. However, the younger generation within this Transcendent branch was unwilling to accept such a decline.

Young people are full of vigor.

They didn't want to be like the older members, content with the status quo and just waiting to die. They wanted to stir things up.

Chen Nan fit their desires perfectly. While he was drawing attention from Transcenders, it wasn't necessarily the kind of attention that would lead to immediate favor.

Although Chen Nan was special, he was too isolated, lacking powerful family or corporate backing. Therefore, recruiting him wouldn't bring immediate significant benefits.

Any Transcendent faction looking to recruit Chen Nan would likely observe him for a while longer, at least until after he completed his time at the Preparatory Academy.

If Chen Nan truly demonstrated strong potential by then, recruiting him wouldn't be too late.

After all, with reasonable conditions offered, who would turn their back on their own future?

The Nature Master sect, however, was prepared to go all-in on recruiting Chen Nan, which was, in essence, a gamble.

Even Yang Yugan, the renowned leader of the older generation of Nature Masters and a prominent figure in the Transcendent world, strongly agreed with this plan to recruit Chen Nan.

Yang Yugan had reached the mid-stage of the Dao Entry level, making his combat power above average among all Transcenders. Despite his age, he wasn't stuck in his ways and was on the same wavelength as the younger generation.

To facilitate this, the Nature Master sect specially dispatched a young talent from the capital's Luojing Transcendent Academy to Wu City's Preparatory Academy.

Their objective was to build a good relationship with Chen Nan and ultimately pave his way into the Nature Master department of the Transcendent Academy.

Other factions paid little attention to this subtle move by the Nature Master sect, some even showing disdain. They reasoned that if Chen Nan were truly a treasure, would he willingly remain in the mud?

What right did the Nature Master sect have to retain true talent?

Their early move only proved their insecurity. When the time came and they saw Chen Nan's true potential, wouldn't he come running like a dog when called?

These other factions felt they had the leverage to wait.

However, for Chen Nan, his most immediate concern was the Preparatory Academy assessment. While he had a general direction for his future, he was more focused on how to navigate the path ahead.

First, the registration fee alone cost 10,000. Once he entered the Preparatory Academy, he wouldn't be able to contact Jiang Lili and Feng Wu as frequently, and he needed to consider their well-being.

He also had to think about Little Black Ox and Chen Xiao.

This wasn't because Chen Nan was prone to worrying, but because all of them had helped him in some way, and he couldn't be ungrateful.

So, before heading to the assessment, he decided to figure out a way for them to earn a living. He thought of Mala Tang (spicy hot pot noodles). It was a low-cost, high-profit business, with the key being the soup base recipe. The other ingredients weren't particularly demanding, and all they needed was a storefront.

What was even more valuable was that Chen Nan hadn't found any such shops in Wu City. Therefore, once the Mala Tang shop opened, there would be no competition.

Chen Nan began researching the soup base recipe. With the help of the AI System, this was quickly accomplished. After all, his AI System was a product of Earth's technology, containing a wealth of Earth's knowledge and culture. Otherwise, Chen Nan wouldn't have acquired his martial arts skills.

Once the soup base recipe was finalized, he instructed Jiang Lili to secure a permanent patent for it. He then taught them how to make Mala Tang, how to find a storefront, how to obtain a business license, and how to operate the business, among other things.

Chen Nan had only one requirement: the Mala Tang business had to be tied to four people: Jiang Lili, Little Black Ox, Chen Xiao, and Feng Wu.

They would be the four founding shareholders, with stakes of 51%, 20%, 15%, and 14% respectively. Jiang Lili asked Chen Nan if this meant no one else could invest. Chen Nan told her that outside investment wasn't necessary; if the business grew, they could expand through franchising.

He also explained these details to them.

Little Black Ox was also brought out of the orphanage and moved in with Jiang Lili and the others. Chen Xiao was, of course, there as well.

With all these arrangements made, October 1st finally arrived, the day of the Preparatory Academy assessment.

Many children of the appropriate age in Wu City gathered at the academy's assessment grounds.

Parents entrusted their children here, much like buying a lottery ticket. After placing their bet, they were filled with hope that this ticket would be a winner, imagining how glorious they would become if their gamble paid off.

But the reality was much like a lottery: how could children from ordinary families get into the Preparatory Academy?

The Preparatory Academy, in an effort to curb the parents' wishful thinking, had raised the enrollment fee to a hefty 10,000.

This was because the clash between reality and fantasy would make many parents realize that their children weren't as exceptional as they had hoped, and coming here would only result in the loss of a significant sum of money.

This deterred many troublemaking parents, naturally and effectively streamlining the number of children being assessed.

As a result, the assessment here wasn't crowded at all.

The assessment here was actually quite simple, exactly the same as the one Li Yu and Xun Xin had at the orphanage.

The children stood in order, and unauthorized personnel were not allowed to enter. Then, the assessment began.

For this assessment, Li Yu and Xun Xin had specifically applied to participate. They wanted to make one last effort.

Chen Nan stood in the assessment area. Many of the children around him recognized him. Near him, some children started discussing him, and Chen Nan could hear everything. He couldn't help but smile wryly.

The assessment personnel hadn't arrived in this area yet, but one child approached Chen Nan. His handsome face carried a natural arrogance, as this child was from the Zhang family, the most famous transcendent family in Wu City.

"Hello, my name is Zhang Hua, and my dad is Zhang Jiye." He said, looking down at Chen Nan with his nostrils flared, and extended his hand.

Although Chen Nan was annoyed, he still politely shook his somewhat damp and cold hand, then said with a smile, "My name is Chen Nan, it's nice to meet you."

Zhang Hua's brow furrowed visibly. After he announced his father's famous name, this guy didn't show any signs of admiration or surprise, which greatly displeased him. He thought to himself, You've only been on the news, and you're already this arrogant?

He sneered and said, "I know a bit about you and I admire you. When we get into the Preparatory Academy, why don't you stick with me?"

Chen Nan also frowned slightly. While those words sounded nice, wasn't he essentially asking him to be his lackey?

Given Zhang Hua's background in Wu City, he should have had many followers. However, Chen Nan wasn't so desperate as to stoop to that level. So, Chen Nan smiled and said, "Thank you for your appreciation, but I prefer to act alone. If you're looking for a friend, I might consider that."

Zhang Hua's eyes narrowed, his gaze sharp as a blade. But before he could say anything, the testing personnel arrived.

The person who arrived was Li Yu. Upon seeing him, Chen Nan's heart sank. An ominous premonition immediately surfaced.

Li Yu glanced at the two of them, secretly amused, but still said, "Take your positions, the test is about to begin."

Zhang Hua couldn't throw a tantrum at the teacher, so he let out a "Hmph" and returned to his spot. Li Yu then smiled and began testing Chen Nan.

The first step was "Qi Gazing." Li Yu pretended to concentrate as he sensed Chen Nan's power, but he shook his head helplessly.

Then, he picked up the Bone Observing Mirror and began scanning Chen Nan.

Chen Nan suddenly felt a force emanating from Li Yu's right hand, and the numbers on the Bone Observing Mirror changed.

The values on the Bone Observing Mirror rapidly increased, but then slowed down quickly and finally stabilized.

Seeing this value, Li Yu shook his head again.