Liu Hair-Ren's Peak of Life

Meanwhile, several buses from Linjiang City to the Wilderness were buzzing with excitement.

"Finally, we can go out and fight Fierce Beasts! I'm definitely making the top ten, winning Body Tempering Fluid, and getting into a top university!"

"Pah! Give it a rest. You haven't even awakened an aperture. Wouldn't you just be cannon fodder out there?"

"Damn it, can't I brag a little?"

Compared to excitement, there was even more hesitation and unease. Some timid students had even begun to sob quietly.

Faced with the Wilderness and Fierce Beasts, these flowers raised in greenhouses were all thrown into a state of anxious unrest.

Inside Class Three's bus, Wang Zhong stared worriedly at the chat history on his phone, his fingers tapping ceaselessly against the armrest. In the end, he could not resist sending a message.

"Jiang, you still alive?"

"Not dead."

The simple exchange made Wang Zhong breathe a sigh of relief, and the deep furrow between his brows eased.

On the bus, Chu Ming sat proudly in his seat while several lackeys beside him eagerly massaged him.

"Young Master Chu, congratulations on reaching Body Tempering Perfection. You'll definitely have a place in the top hundred of this Joint Exam."

"Exactly, Young Master Chu. With your strength, getting into the top hundred is no problem at all. If you perform beyond your usual level, you might even take the top ten and get that legendary Body Tempering Fluid."

"How do you talk to Young Master Chu? What do you mean, perform beyond his usual level? That's Young Master Chu's true strength!"

Chu Ming was practically swaying from their praise, unable to suppress the upturned corners of his mouth.

After Jiang Yan broke his hand, his family had spent a fortune sending him to a specialized Warrior Hospital. After considerable effort, they had finally managed to save it.

Though there were still some lingering aftereffects, saving the hand was all that mattered.

But because of that, he had come to hate Jiang Yan bitterly. He had originally planned to settle the score with Jiang Yan after returning, only to find that the guy had chosen to drop out.

Even an idiot knew the school would never expel a student who had awakened an aperture. That left only one explanation—

Jiang Yan was scared!

Jiang Yan had feared his retaliation, so he dropped out and found somewhere to hide.

Chu Ming had a bellyful of rage with nowhere to vent it, so he loudly spread the story around school that Jiang Yan had only narrowly won by ambushing him, then dropped out because he feared being challenged again.

Quite a few people, eager to feast on any gossip that came their way, were half-convinced and half-dubious about it.

But afterward, the school had not refuted the rumor at all. Even the Principal had, intentionally or otherwise, made snide remarks about that student who had dropped out during assemblies.

Because of this, the rumor that Jiang Yan had fled in fear of punishment was inexplicably cemented as fact.

Chu Ming's face was brimming with confidence now. Over the past two days, he had spent heavily on a huge pile of potions. Though they were nowhere near as effective as Body Tempering Fluid, they had still helped him break through the realm that had trapped him for half a year, successfully reaching Body Tempering Perfection.

Body Tempering Perfection, plus the talent he had gained after awakening an aperture.

Chu Ming sneered. "The advantage is mine."

If he ran into Jiang Yan again, Chu Ming would make him understand just how foolish it was to offend him.

Right now, he was the only one in all of Class Three who had awakened an aperture. If Chu Ming was not arrogant, who would be?

Inside a large conference room, several enormous screens lined the walls, displaying images of an entire region.

A round table stood in the room, with quite a few sharply dressed people seated around it.

At the head seat sat a vigorous, energetic middle-aged man. His Administrative Jacket was neat, his figure slightly stout, and his square face was standard issue. One look from afar was enough to make anyone feel that he held the highest rank in the room.

Shen Donglin, a high-ranking official dispatched by the province, had come specifically to oversee this Joint Exam.

His gaze swept across the room before settling on the assistant beside him. "Is everything arranged?"

"The trial zone has been inspected. There are no Fierce Beasts above the third rank. As per your instructions, we did not drive away the few Wilderness Hunters active in that area."

"The surveillance, medical services, and other necessary facilities have all been set up."

"Mm. Begin once everyone has arrived."

Fierce Beasts, the Wilderness, and Wilderness Hunters were all part of this Joint Exam. Shen Donglin wanted to see a trial in its original, unvarnished form.

Below the head seat, everyone else fell silent, not daring to utter a word. Even their breathing seemed several beats slower than usual.

Every one of them was a Principal or Vice Principal, yet before Shen Donglin, they all had to tuck their tails between their legs.

With a single sentence, he could strip them of their positions.

Liu Hair-Ren was among them. Sitting directly opposite Shen Donglin, he kept his head lowered like a turtle, terrified that this big shot would notice him.

I heard this big shot has a strange temper. Nothing better go wrong.

For some reason, Liu Hair-Ren's eyelid had been twitching wildly, and he could not shake the feeling of unease.

By chance, Shen Donglin noticed Liu Hair-Ren. He frowned and asked directly, "You there..."

Liu Hair-Ren hurriedly rose from his chair, bent slightly at the waist, and said with a flattering smile, "Just call me Little Liu."

Shen Donglin did not follow his suggestion and simply asked,

"How many Talent Users does your Linjiang First High School have this year?"

"Reporting to the Director, we got lucky this year. We have trained a total of twenty-one Talent Users, including a student named Ai Ning who awakened his talent in his first year of high school."

The other principals' eyelids twitched as they all looked at Liu Hair-Ren with envy.

Twenty-one Talent Users was no small number. This Liu had gotten incredibly lucky this year, stumbling upon such a windfall. Linjiang First High School looked like it was about to soar.

Several principals thought so.

Shen Donglin was clearly interested as well. "What realm is the child who awakened their talent in their first year of high school at now?"

The corners of Liu Hair-Ren's mouth rose slightly, as though he had long been waiting for someone to ask that very question.

"Blood Coagulation Mid Stage, and he has a chance of reaching Blood Coagulation Late Stage before the college entrance exams."

"Gasp—"

Several sharp intakes of breath sounded through the office, making a negligible contribution to global warming on Blue Star.

The martial path was long and obstructed. The Body Tempering realm alone stumped countless people, and the gulf between Body Tempering and Blood Coagulation was vast. Many warriors remained stuck at Body Tempering Perfection, unable to advance another step, left with no choice but to pile up vast amounts of time.

The earlier one awakened, the greater the advantage. The human body held infinite mysteries; near the age of eighteen, it would break through a certain shackle, and from then on soar into the sky in a single bound.

Those who awakened before eighteen were Talent Users. After eighteen, the hope of awakening became faint, and they were Aperture Awakened.

Before awakening one's talent, progress in cultivation was exceptionally slow. This was why countless people racked their brains trying to awaken their talents early.

Awaken early, break through early, enter a good university, obtain cultivation resources, become strong—forming a perfect ecosystem.

Ai Ning had awakened his talent at fifteen. He was a genius among geniuses, a standout even in a major city.

"Oh, right. My student recently went to the Warrior Building to verify his talent. His tested rating was A."

Liu Hair-Ren's casually spoken sentence made everyone present unable to remain seated.

The other principals' gazes shifted from envy to jealousy.

Shen Donglin, meanwhile, was somewhat uninterested. He wondered whether coming here had been a mistake.

But then he remembered this was only a small city. He should not judge these students by the standards of prodigies from major cities, so he nodded at Liu Hair-Ren in acknowledgment.

At that moment, Liu Hair-Ren felt as if his life had achieved a sublime elevation of meaning.

Three years! A full three years!

Linjiang First High School had hidden such a genius, never loudly publicizing him. What had it all been for?

For this day!

Why had he let an Aperture Awakened like Jiang Yan go? Under normal circumstances, he would have shamelessly begged Jiang Yan to stay. But things were different now. With a genius like Ai Ning, his heart had already drifted off to who knew where.

An Aperture Awakened? Sorry, never heard of one.