Opening

The next day, Song Qian stood before Lu Su and the other two, giving them a pep talk. "Good luck. Don't be nervous. Even if you fail, it's no big deal."

She meant it sincerely. There was still a long road ahead—who could go through life without setbacks?

Unfortunately, she did not know about the Jiang Province Unified Examination. Otherwise, she would not have been so optimistic.

The three nodded silently, got into the car, and headed for the joint examination venue.

This joint examination was being held at the Ning'an District Card Master Duel Arena, which had been funded and built by the Card Master Association and was usually used for Card Master competitions.

There was no issue with temporarily using it for the Four-School Joint Examination this time.

Lu Su led Jiang Nanxi and Lin Yue into the venue, where one school had already arrived.

Judging by their uniforms, it was Ning'an First High School, Shanghai City No. 1 High School's fellow sufferer in past years.

However, the three students from Ning'an First High School had no intention of coming over to greet them. They merely glanced at Lu Su's group before looking away.

Naturally, Lu Su's group was not about to force themselves on people who gave them the cold shoulder. They simply waited quietly for the remaining two schools to arrive.

By then, several Ning'an District officials had already taken their seats in the stands.

However, since this was merely a Four-School Joint Examination within Ning'an District, there were no ordinary spectators.

That significantly eased the invisible pressure on the third-year high school students who were about to take the stage for the first time.

In the stands, Principal Tang of Ning'an First High School spotted Principal Xie of Shanghai City No. 1 High School and smiled. "Old Xie, how's your school looking this year? Feeling confident?"

Principal Xie's expression darkened slightly at those words. "If you'd asked me that last year, I could have told you that our school had produced two promising talents. But this year, with that one from Shanghai University Affiliated High School around, first place is definitely theirs."

Indeed, in previous years, with students at Lu Su and Jiang Nanxi's level, they would have had a chance to contend for first place in the Four-School Joint Examination.

But this year, a genius had emerged from Shanghai University Affiliated High School and created a Gold Card. In Principal Xie's eyes, their first-place finish was all but guaranteed.

He had previously pulled some strings to let the students from the advanced class enter a Secret Realm early to improve their strength, only for trouble to arise from it.

Just then, a half-gray-haired old man approached the two of them and said with a chuckle, "Hey, stop praising Lin Jiānián. If that kid hears you, his tail will be sticking up in the sky."

The newcomer was Principal Wu of Shanghai University Affiliated High School.

Seeing Principal Wu's smug expression, Principal Xie and Principal Tang could not help rolling their eyes.

Down in the arena, Lu Su and the others also spotted the students from Shanghai University Affiliated High School.

The leader had dyed his hair a flamboyant blond, with two students trailing behind him like lackeys.

The corner of Lu Su's eye twitched as he quietly asked Jiang Nanxi beside him, "Shanghai University Affiliated High School is that lax?"

Jiang Nanxi chuckled softly at his words. "He's the one I told you about, the one who made a Gold Card. Schools always give top students certain privileges."

"Even if you dyed your hair red, I don't think Teacher Song would say much."

Lu Su imagined himself with a head of red hair and shuddered. He did not want an ominous old age.

At that moment, the blond-haired boy flicked back his hair, brushed his forehead, and declared to the students in the arena, "It won't be your fault when you lose to me, Lin Jiānián. You can only blame me for being too strong."

Then he let out a somewhat desolate sigh. "Ah, how lonely it is to be invincible."

The two lackeys beside him promptly began clapping.

"Brother Lin is mighty!"

"Brother Lin is invincible!"

A cold wind seemed to sweep through the arena.

After a long moment, Lu Su, Jiang Nanxi, and Lin Yue looked at one another. "Is there something wrong with his head?"

Lin Yue scratched his head and hesitated. "Maybe... geniuses are all like that?"

As they spoke, Ning'an Second High School, the last school participating in the Four-School Joint Examination, also arrived.

Lu Su's old acquaintance, Ma Liang, President of the Ning'an District Card Master Association, walked to the front with a microphone in hand.

"I'm sure all of you students already learned about this joint examination at school, so I won't waste too much time."

"Since there are only four schools, the joint examination will be completed over two days. Next, I will draw the two schools for the first match."

As Ma Liang spoke, a staff member behind him carried a black box over to his side.

Ma Liang reached inside and drew out two slips of paper.

He opened them, glanced at the names, and loudly announced, "First match: Shanghai University Affiliated High School versus Ning'an First High School!"

Lin Jiānián tossed his blond hair and instructed his two lackeys, "You two don't need to go up. I alone am enough."

The two lackeys could not help secretly rejoicing. Who would not want an easy victory?

But the students from Ning'an First High School looked extremely displeased, because Lin Jiānián was clearly not taking them seriously.

When the battle began, Lu Su finally understood where Lin Jiānián's confidence came from.

A terrifying humanoid monster with a blue face, protruding fangs, and a steel trident appeared before him.

As the monster emerged, a faint mist began spreading through the arena.

It was unmistakably a yaksha.

Lin Jiānián folded his arms across his chest and said proudly, "It is your honor to lose to my Sea Patrol General · Yaksha."

Yakshas generally came in two forms. One was the Dragon Palace series that Lin Jiānián had created, with their base grades varying between Black Iron and Bronze depending on the materials used.

The other was of a much higher grade, belonging to the Eight Protectors series from Buddhist mythology.

Lu Su had come across all of this earlier while flipping through the Revised Illustrated Guide to World Mythology 4.8. Common monsters and mythological figures like these were all introduced there, though the quality of the cards ultimately produced still depended on the stories each person compiled.

At that thought, Lu Su suddenly glanced at Lin Jiānián's two lackeys. "Don't tell me those two made Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals."

The three students from Ning'an First High School immediately treated the Yaksha as a formidable enemy upon seeing it.

They did not have Jiang Nanxi's intelligence.

Only then did they realize just how terrifying Lin Jiānián's cards were.

Before long, the three of them were defeated without their cards managing any meaningful resistance.

Jiang Nanxi's expression turned grave at the sight. "They lost too quickly. We can't tell anything at all."

"It obviously has water-controlling abilities. We just don't know how strong they are yet," Lu Su said calmly from the side.

Both the card name Lin Jiānián had revealed himself and the moisture that filled the air around the Yaksha upon its appearance indicated that this card possessed water-controlling abilities.

However, Ning'an First High School had been at the bottom of the rankings for years. They lost before they could force out any useful intelligence.

In the stands, Principal Wu of Shanghai University Affiliated High School patted Principal Tang on the back and said smugly, "Ah, Old Tang, Jiānián was a little too heavy-handed. Don't hold it against him."

Principal Tang's face darkened at those words. It was bad enough that the old bastard had won, but he even had to rub salt in the wound. He immediately replied irritably, "I'm not petty enough to hold it against a child."

Besides, Ning'an First High School had always been at the bottom over the years. A loss was a loss, no matter who they lost to. Losing to Lin Jiānián at least gave him an excuse to insist that the opponent had simply been too strong.

Comforting himself with that thought, Principal Tang looked toward Principal Xie. Didn't he still have a fellow sufferer beside him?

As for the promising seedling Principal Xie had mentioned earlier, he merely took it as the other man putting on a brave front.