Transfer Student Enrollment

Bai Pu nearly spat out his food.

"That's because you're a lovestruck fool!"

Li Ling shut off the personal terminal's communication display with a beep and said to Bai Pu, "Sorry. I contacted several schools for you, but none of them worked out."

"None of them worked out?" Bai Pu was slightly surprised. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What did they say?"

"They said you never graduated from middle school, so you aren't qualified to attend high school, much less enter the third year directly."

Li Ling clearly scoffed at that reason. "How ridiculous. You're applying for a Combat Class, not an academic class! You've already awakened successfully, and you're still not qualified? That's obviously just an excuse!"

"It really isn't normal." Bai Pu swallowed a bite of grilled meat, wiped the corner of his mouth, and said, "The Superpower Corporation probably used its connections to retaliate against me."

Schools in the Spirit Energy Era had Combat Classes and combat majors, so they had a high demand for Spirit Energy Points and spirit energy items.

Although they received educational funding, it was only a drop in the bucket. To build strong combat programs, they also needed donations from society.

The only ones capable of donating resources for training Awakened were the major local powers.

The Superpower Corporation was exactly such a local powerhouse. It had deeply entrenched itself in the Jiangnan District and was a powerful local tyrant.

For the sake of various interests, the Superpower Corporation regularly donated money and supplies to public institutions such as schools and hospitals. It held considerable influence over every school in the Jiangnan District.

Not long ago, the Superpower Corporation had accused Bai Pu of serious theft, causing a huge uproar. Bai Pu's real-world fame had even been pushed to C-rank. What school leader in the Jiangnan District would not know about it?

The Superpower Corporation's upper management did not even need to say anything. To avoid offending this benefactor, schools across the Jiangnan District would naturally shut Bai Pu out.

Li Ling was a captain. As a member of the God Strategy Army, she often represented the Great Tang Group in business negotiations and had some standing in the Jiangnan District.

However, the God Strategy Army had a military background and barely knew anyone in local civil administration or education departments, so its influence was naturally limited. Its donations to schools were also far inferior to those of the Superpower Corporation.

In any case, Bai Pu did not have a middle school diploma. No one could find fault with refusing his enrollment.

"Ling-jie, which schools did you ask?" Bai Pu asked.

"Jiangda High School Affiliated, Xi City First High School, West Lake High School..." Li Ling expressionlessly rattled off the names of seven or eight schools.

"They're all good schools." Bai Pu recognized those familiar names. When he had been in middle school, many of his classmates had dreamed of attending those high schools.

"Your academic foundation is too weak, so of course I wanted to find you a good high school."

Li Ling rubbed her temple. "The college entrance exam, even the Awakened Exam, includes grades from academic subjects. There are less than two months left until the exam... How about taking it next year instead?"

"That works. Little Bai Pu is seventeen this year, and he'll be eighteen next year, so he won't be over the age limit." Su Xiaoxiao turned her head toward Bai Pu in agreement. "You're so quick-witted that you'll definitely learn fast. Your chances of getting into a good university next year will increase tremendously!"

"There's one thing you two sisters haven't understood..." Bai Pu shook his head. "I'm not taking the college entrance exam to get into university... I'm taking it because of the Superpower Corporation's threat! After all, assassinating an ordinary Awakened and assassinating a Top Scorer carry completely different risks. What would be the point of waiting a year? The Superpower Corporation would still be able to attack me without restraint during that year!"

"But if you take it this year, you'll have less than two months to prepare. Can you really become the Top Scorer? There are no fewer than a hundred thousand Awakened taking the college entrance exam every year! The competition is far more intense than you can imagine."

Li Ling shook her head. "I think it would be more feasible to find a way to apply for long-term publicity resources for you and raise your world fame."

Su Xiaoxiao muttered, "Publicity resources are also one of the rewards exchanged with Honor Points, and they have to be approved by higher-ups. Without Honor Points, directly giving you preferential publicity resources would definitely make others unhappy. Unless Little Bai Pu joins the military and becomes a professional soldier, but then you won't have as much freedom in the future."

For an organization to grow bigger and stronger, it needed rules and regulations. The God Strategy Army was not some small workshop-style Awakened family, but a large organization capable of competing in the Class A League. The chances of it making an exception for Bai Pu were very low.

"There should be more schools in the Jiangnan District than just those, right?"

Bai Pu did not want to lose his freedom, so he brought the topic back around. "Actually, I only need the qualification to take the college entrance exam. It doesn't matter which school I attend."

"You're that confident?" Li Ling looked at Bai Pu doubtfully. "Don't think that just because you're an Awakened, you can definitely become the Top Scorer. Awakening before eighteen makes you a one-in-a-hundred talent, but among the millions of combat-track examinees across Huaxia, how many such talents do you think there are?"

Spirit Realm trials were eliminatory. For those who failed the first time, the difficulty of their next attempt increased by an additional thirty percent. That was why combat-track students were cautious about undertaking the Awakened Trial. Not only did their strength need to meet the standard, but they also needed mature minds, sufficient knowledge, broad horizons, and strategic ability. None could be lacking!

Most Awakened only awakened after entering university, around the age of twenty. Only a small number of gifted youths had the confidence to attempt awakening before the college entrance exam. Thus, those who successfully awakened before eighteen were all one-in-a-hundred geniuses.

But the sheer numbers were overwhelming! By this point in the Spirit Energy Era, an effective system for cultivating Awakened had long been established. Especially among the second generation of powerful families, there were plenty of sixteen- or seventeen-year-olds whose Total Four-Dimensional Attributes had reached the critical threshold of twenty points!

With such a huge base, every cohort had more than a hundred thousand gifted examinees who awakened early—though most possessed ordinary professions with standard templates.

The truly terrifying ones were the elite second generation of powerful families. They received meticulous training from childhood, with specialized teachers teaching them perseverance, knowledge, and political strategy. Once their attributes met the requirements, their families would also provide them with a decent set of equipment!

Fully armed inside and out like that, awakening naturally came as easily as water flowing downhill, and the chance of failure was quite low. The elite second generation's goal was not merely to pass the trial, but to obtain better advancement templates and start a step ahead of everyone else.

When Awakened examinees took the college entrance exam, they could absolutely crush other ordinary combat-track examinees in terms of strength.

Therefore, under the college entrance examination system, Awakened and non-Awakened took two completely different "exams." Non-Awakened took the "Ordinary Exam," while Awakened took the "Awakened Exam."

The Awakened Exam was not merely a written exam. Besides academic subjects, it also included simulated combat subjects and even the Spirit Realm Exploration Subject! Naturally, the Top Scorer could only come from the Awakened Exam. Even if a non-Awakened aced the Ordinary Exam, they could not become the Top Scorer, because the Ordinary Exam was not ranked together with the Awakened Exam.

This was not unfair, because awakening early was itself proof of an Awakened examinee's excellence!

"I understand. I'm just giving it a try." Bai Pu smiled.

"The feeling you give me isn't that you're just giving it a try..." Li Ling muttered. After some thought, she said, "If all you need is the qualification to take the college entrance exam, you could attend my alma mater. But let me warn you, my alma mater isn't some prestigious school."

"Whether it's prestigious or not doesn't matter. As long as it can let me enroll as a transfer student and obtain the qualification to take the college entrance exam, that's enough." Bai Pu confirmed again. "Ling-jie, which high school is your alma mater? Wouldn't it also need to curry favor with the Superpower Corporation?"

"Ha, it's a rural high school. How could it possibly catch the Superpower Corporation's eye?"

Li Ling said, "The school is called... Xi City Seventeenth High School."