Classmate, Could I Switch Seats with You?

A middle- to high-end villa district in Xujiang City.

A young woman with a graceful figure and the appearance of a married woman in a long dress.

She was giving instructions to a black-haired girl in a tight-fitting combat suit, a long sword strapped to her waist:

"An Ya, be careful during the Martial Arts Exam. Safety comes first. Even if you can't get into a good martial arts university, you must prioritize keeping yourself safe!"

"Also, you're strong. If you run into your cousin during the Martial Arts Exam, make sure you look after him!"

"That child really doesn't know how to put people at ease. He actually went to take the Martial Arts Exam without even discussing it with me first. Isn't he afraid something might happen to him at the exam site?"

Her aunt, Yun Shuhui, kept nagging Zhao Yanan with reminders. Zhao Yanan impatiently waved her hand:

"Alright, I know, Mom. Li Ziyu is much stronger than you imagine, so you don't need to worry so much!"

At the Martial Arts Association, she had personally seen Li Ziyu's true strength. And Mom still wanted her to look after him? It would be more like him looking after her.

Zhao Yanan couldn't help complaining inwardly.

"You child, you're just spouting nonsense. Your teacher sent me the results of Li Ziyu's school test. How could I not know how strong he is?"

"Anyway, look after Li Ziyu properly at the Martial Arts Exam. If anything happens to him, I won't let you off when you come back."

Zhao Yanan pursed her lips, knowing that no matter how much more she said, her mother wouldn't believe her.

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she probably wouldn't have believed it even if someone else told her. So she simply stopped explaining, waved to Yun Shuhui, and headed to school.

"Son, do your best! Get into a good martial arts university, and I'll buy you a car! Pick any one under three million!"

"Got it, Dad!"

"Daughter..."

The same scene was playing out all over Xujiang City.

Ever since the ferocious beasts descended and martial artists emerged into the world, the Martial Arts Exam each year had become the most important event in all of Great Xia.

At that moment, all the streets in Xujiang City had been completely closed off. Every shop, business, and office had taken the day off.

This was to clear the roads for the vehicles transporting the exam students.

The exam students first gathered at their own schools. Then they would all take the official buses to the Martial Arts Exam site.

At that moment, a bus bearing the words "Third High School" on its exterior was packed with excited and agitated Martial Arts Exam students.

Their homeroom teacher, Liu Yanfang, was checking the roster and counting them one by one.

"Twenty, twenty-one..."

"We're still missing one. Where's Li Ziyu? Is he not coming?

"That might be for the best. Once he enters the Martial Arts Exam site, it'll be hard to regret it."

"Teacher, Li Ziyu is here."

Just as Liu Yanfang was heaving a sigh of relief, the voice of the class study monitor rang out. At the same time, the monitor pointed toward the bus entrance.

Liu Yanfang followed the study monitor's finger and looked over.

There, a tall, straight-backed young man with sharp brows, bright eyes, and a resolute gaze was slowly stepping up through the bus doorway.

The young man looked as though he often spent time outdoors, his skin a healthy wheat color.

An exaggeratedly long blade was strapped to his back. Dressed in a black, tight-fitting combat suit, he radiated a fierce sharpness and confidence.

As he walked into the bus, Liu Yanfang nearly thought that the person coming in wasn't Li Ziyu, but some undefeated general who had just stepped down from the battlefield.

That bearing made Liu Yanfang's heart skip a beat.

"Sorry, Teacher. I'm late."

Seeing homeroom teacher Liu Yanfang staring blankly at him, Li Ziyu assumed she was displeased that he was late and took the initiative to explain.

He had originally planned to take a taxi over, but he couldn't get one at all and had been forced to run all the way there.

Fortunately, his movement technique had already reached the intermediate level, so he wasn't slow and hadn't ended up late.

"Oh... Oh, Li Ziyu, hurry and take a seat. You're the only one missing."

Only after Li Ziyu reminded her did Liu Yanfang come back to her senses. As she guided him to his seat, amazement flickered in her eyes.

It had only been a few days since she last saw him, yet Li Ziyu had changed so much that even she, his homeroom teacher, could barely recognize him.

She had originally wanted to persuade him a little more and make him give up on the Martial Arts Exam.

But when she recalled the confident aura he had displayed while walking toward her just now, Liu Yanfang unconsciously swallowed back the words at the tip of her tongue.

"Wow, Li Ziyu has changed way too much, hasn't he? Is this really the same Li Ziyu I know?"

"He's so handsome! I feel like he's even more handsome than our school's heartthrob! I think I'm in love."

"Wait, doesn't Li Ziyu only have a qi-and-blood value of 0.8? Look at that War Blade on his back. It must weigh at least dozens of kilograms, right? With his qi and blood, can he even swing it?"

After Li Ziyu sat down, everyone else on the bus turned their eyes toward him.

More than a dozen cute girls even had little stars sparkling in their eyes.

Beside Li Ziyu.

His deskmate, Wang Hao, instinctively reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

But for some reason, just as his hand was about to touch Li Ziyu's shoulder, it instinctively shrank back.

It was as if Li Ziyu had an invisible aura around him.

Wang Hao withdrew his hand and looked at Li Ziyu somewhat cautiously before saying:

"Brother Yu, you're really planning to take the Martial Arts Exam? Putting your life in danger for a woman isn't worth it!"

"Why don't you think it over again?"

Wang Hao tried to dissuade him earnestly.

He had been present when Li Ziyu's qi-and-blood value was tested, as well as when Xu Mengyao broke up with him, so he knew Li Ziyu's strength all too well.

He felt that Li Ziyu had definitely been provoked by Xu Mengyao and wanted to prove himself to her.

And the equipment Li Ziyu was wearing now, along with the confident expression on his face, had all been put on for show!

His goal was to prove himself to Xu Mengyao!

"I'm not the same as I was before."

Looking at this deskmate, with whom his predecessor had shared a fairly good relationship, Li Ziyu smiled and spoke.

Wang Hao still wanted to persuade him, but after meeting Li Ziyu's gaze, he inexplicably lost the courage to speak.

This is strange. I was never this restrained around him before.

Wang Hao thought to himself.

"Mengyao, luckily you broke up with him early. Just look at Li Ziyu. He's so childish!"

"He isn't even a martial artist, yet he actually dares to take the Martial Arts Exam. Doesn't he have any idea how strong he is?"

"Most absurd of all, he's trying to look tough by dressing himself up in a martial artist's gear and acting like a big shot. If we didn't know exactly how weak he was, we might really have been fooled by his appearance."

In the front row of the bus, An Ya, Xu Mengyao's sharp-chinned best friend with heavy makeup on her face, looked at Li Ziyu disdainfully as she spoke.

Seeing that Xu Mengyao said nothing, An Ya continued:

"If you ask me, it's lucky you cut your losses in time. Just look at how great Bai Haoran is."

"He earned his Level One Beginner Martial Artist certification at such a young age. A genius like that will definitely have boundless prospects in the future. He might even have a chance of getting into one of those four martial arts universities."

"Mengyao, you can't forget your best friend in the future. Ask Bai Haoran later whether he has any friends from a good family with good talents, and introduce one to me."

An Ya showered Xu Mengyao with praise, her spittle flying as she kept complimenting her good taste.

But Xu Mengyao showed no trace of delight. Instead, her face was full of bitterness and regret.

Her best friend, who had always looked down on Li Ziyu, only knew that Bai Haoran had successfully earned his Level One Beginner Martial Artist certification. She didn't know that Li Ziyu had earned an Intermediate Martial Artist certification!

And he was an Intermediate Martial Artist who was already on the verge of reaching the threshold of the advanced level!

They were the same age, yet one had only barely touched the threshold of a Level One Beginner Martial Artist, while the other had already touched the ceiling of the intermediate level.

The gap between them was simply enormous.

Xu Mengyao let out a breath and repeatedly turned to look at Li Ziyu sitting behind her. As she gazed at his blade-carved features, unwillingness welled up in her heart.

A powerful boy with boundless prospects like this was someone she could have had!

Unable to accept it, a trace of resolve flashed through Xu Mengyao's eyes.

Perhaps Li Ziyu was only using the strategy of appearing to reject her to make her pursue him. Given how she had treated Li Ziyu in the past, as long as she showed a little weakness, he should forgive her.

With that thought, Xu Mengyao stood up under the astonished gaze of her best friend, An Ya, and walked over to Wang Hao's seat beside Li Ziyu.

She glanced at Wang Hao, then spoke softly:

"Classmate Wang, could I switch seats with you? I want to sit with Li Ziyu."