"Today was the college entrance exam!"
Sitting on his bed, Lin Tian slowly opened his eyes. He had not slept all night, spending the entire time adjusting his condition.
After Martial Saint Fancang's teachings, his strength had been growing by leaps and bounds.
"System, sign in!"
Lin Tian called out to the system inwardly and performed his daily routine sign-in.
"Ding, sign-in successful. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained a special reward—ten points of spiritual power."
As the system prompt sounded, Lin Tian's mind instantly emptied, and a sensation of drifting beyond the world arose within him.
That state lasted only a brief moment before Lin Tian came back to his senses.
"Spiritual power increased by ten points. Later breakthroughs in martial arts all require spiritual power, yet my previous panel had no spiritual power."
--Host Personal Information-- "Name: Lin Tian." "Title: None." "Cultivation: Martial Dao Second Layer Early-stage (Vitality: 400, Spiritual Power: 10)." "Technique: 'Heavenly Origin Technique.'" "Martial Skills: 'Blood Devouring Armor,' 'Savage Fist.'"
Looking at the ten points of spiritual power on the panel, Lin Tian felt somewhat pleasantly surprised.
After that peculiar state just now, he could already feel that his thoughts had become much clearer. This would undoubtedly be a great help in today's college entrance exam.
"Next, Martial Saint Yuanming should be giving me an explanation."
After getting ready, Lin Tian headed toward the Experimental Class.
All examinees from Qing City First High School would depart from the school.
The chosen venue for this college entrance exam was a highly concealed military training ground, selected for the sake of the exam's safety.
"Lin Tian, Qing Province's provincial top scorer this time will definitely be you!"
The moment Lin Tian entered the classroom, he heard Jiang Cheng's excited shout.
When Lin Tian had been at the late stage of Martial Dao First Layer, none of them had been his match, much less now that he had already broken through to Martial Dao Second Layer.
Qing Province's provincial top scorer this time could be none other than Lin Tian.
"Strength is one aspect of the college entrance exam. Luck is equally important."
"It's true that I possess great strength, but luck..."
Lin Tian smiled.
"Hey, Lin Tian, it's rare to see you being humble!"
The Experimental Class students were quite astonished upon hearing that.
"But luck is also one of my strengths. What I mean is, Qing Province's provincial top scorer this time is naturally already in the bag for me."
After saying that, Lin Tian smiled as he watched the Experimental Class students' reactions. Their deeply aggrieved expressions delighted him.
"Alright, students, it's time to board the vehicles and head to the examination site."
"For today's exam, I hope you can achieve sufficiently high rankings and receive rewards."
At that moment, Wang Yang arrived together with Martial Saint Yuanming and spoke to the Experimental Class students.
The Experimental Class students had all already secured admission into the Four Great Universities. For this college entrance exam, they only needed to consider achieving better rankings to obtain rewards.
Outside Qing City First High School's gates, numerous Garrison Army vehicles had already gathered.
The moment they saw Martial Saint Yuanming, the Experimental Class students immediately grew nervous, not even daring to speak.
"For this trip to the examination site, you will ride in the same vehicle as me."
Martial Saint Yuanming looked at Lin Tian as he spoke.
"There won't be a bomb in the vehicle, will there?"
"Last time, I rode in the same vehicle as Gao Yuan, then boom—the vehicle was blown directly into fragments."
Lin Tian looked at Martial Saint Yuanming with a suspicious expression.
"No, absolutely not!"
Martial Saint Yuanming's face darkened.
"Fine, then. Anyway, with a Martial Saint like you around, even if there is one, it'll be fine."
Lin Tian's expression of then-that-settles-it made fury rise in Martial Saint Yuanming's heart.
"This brat is an Extreme Martial Artist, a treasure cherished by the entire Dragon Nation. Don't get angry, don't get angry!"
He kept persuading himself inwardly.
"Let's go. Get in."
"Shouldn't we discuss the compensation you owe me?"
Inside the vehicle, Lin Tian calmly gazed at Martial Saint Yuanming.
Martial Saint Yuanming was not at all surprised to hear this. He shook his head with a bitter smile.
"You brat, you really are clever."
"It was as if you had already expected that I would be alone with you before the college entrance exam."
"Of course. After all, you made me the bait."
Lin Tian's expression remained calm, utterly unconcerned about Martial Saint Yuanming using him as bait.
"Today is the college entrance exam. Qing Province's most talented students will all be gathered at one examination site, not to mention an Extreme Martial Artist like me."
"Even if those people know this is a trap, they'll still jump into it. The only uncertainty is whether Qing Province Garrison Army's greatest traitor will choose to make a move."
"For this college entrance exam, have any Martial Saints from Qing Province returned?"
"The excuse they found is probably that they don't trust a Martial Saint from the Imperial Capital like you."
Lin Tian's words left Martial Saint Yuanming somewhat dazed. He said with an admiring expression, "You brat, you really can guess anything."
Then his expression turned solemn.
"This time, four Qing Province Martial Saints have returned."
"Four!"
Lin Tian was somewhat surprised upon hearing that number.
"Those four Martial Saints all have important matters to attend to, yet they all chose to return during the college entrance exam."
"The reason they gave was simple. The Imperial Capital could not refute it."
Lin Tian immediately picked up the thread.
"You Imperial Capital people have so many idle Martial Saints. Why can't you help take our places for a while?"
"Exactly!"
Martial Saint Yuanming nodded.
"The Imperial Capital is indeed stronger than other provinces, but not every expert obeys deployment orders. Some powerful great clans keep most of their strength within the Imperial Capital."
"Even the Imperial Court can do nothing about that."
Martial Saint Yuanming's words carried resentment. Some great clans in the Imperial Capital had already become an obstacle at Dragon Nation's feet, yet Dragon Nation could do nothing about them.
"Is that so? Then wouldn't entering the Imperial Capital be very dangerous for me?"
Lin Tian suddenly asked.
"Wait, what do you mean by that? How could it possibly be dangerous for you to enter the Imperial Capital? With the Imperial Court there, who would dare touch you?"
The moment Lin Tian said this, Martial Saint Yuanming panicked slightly.
He had a bad feeling. Lin Tian might very well not choose Dragon Soaring University.
Wouldn't that mean his entire trip had been for nothing?
"I was just saying. After all, my cultivation is too low. Before those great clans, I would have no power to resist at all."
"Rest assured about that. With the Imperial Court around, we guarantee you will be safe and free from worry anywhere in Dragon Nation."
"Can the Imperial Court guarantee my safety anywhere in Dragon Nation?"
Lin Tian wore an expectant expression.
"Naturally. The Imperial Court is Dragon Nation's highest institution. If even the Imperial Court cannot do that, then Dragon Nation is finished."
"Then that's good, that's good."
Seeing Lin Tian's relieved expression, the bad feeling in Martial Saint Yuanming's heart grew increasingly intense. Just as he was about to ask, Lin Tian's next words interrupted him.
"Returning to our original topic, what compensation should you give me?"
"This time, their target will definitely be an Extreme Martial Artist like me. The other examinees might also get injured. Before making this decision, you must have already arranged everything thoroughly."
As Lin Tian finished speaking, a token suddenly appeared in Martial Saint Yuanming's hand.
"This is a life-saving item we discovered in a Secret Realm. It can withstand one attack from a Martial King."
"The activation condition can also be adjusted. I set it to trigger automatically upon encountering power above Martial Dao Third Level."
"Raise it a little. Martial Dao Fourth Layer."
After thinking for a moment, Lin Tian spoke.
"Martial Dao Fourth Layer?"
"Do you know what that means? Even if you are an Extreme Martial Artist, you have only just broken through to Martial Dao Second Layer."
"Since I dared say it, that means I have sufficient confidence."
Seeing Lin Tian insist so firmly, Martial Saint Yuanming was helpless and could only change the token's activation condition to detecting the power of Martial Dao Fourth Layer.
"As for the compensation, it will be jointly provided by Dragon Nation's higher-ups and the Four Great Universities. You will receive it after the college entrance exam. It will definitely satisfy you."
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