Alternate Space Exam Hall

The College Entrance Exam is: one day away.

Wang Zhong stopped nagging in front of Jiang Yan, nor did he disturb him, giving him plenty of room to rest.

In Linjiang City, the news of Jiang Yan testing as an SS-rank talent spread throughout the city.

For a time, every influential figure in Linjiang eagerly looked forward to making the acquaintance of this top-tier prodigy.

But when they realized there was only one day left until the College Entrance Exam, each of them, shrewd as they were, refrained from showing up, knowing that now was not a good time to curry favor—doing so might even sour relations with this future super heavyweight.

The local TV station began full coverage of Jiang Yan's glorious deeds. The name "Jiang Yan" became known to everyone in a short time, accompanied by titles such as:

"SS-rank Super Genius,"

"Unprecedented,"

"The Rising Star of Linjiang City."

Inside a lavishly decorated villa.

Liu Hair-Ren listened with a face full of worry to the reports about Jiang Yan on TV. The more he heard, the more terrified he became, and the regret on his face was practically written out for all to see.

"Damn it, how could he be an SS-rank talent? How could someone who barely managed to open their apertures be an SS-rank talent?"

A few days ago, he was forced to accept an inspection by the Linjiang City Investigation Bureau, his position temporarily suspended, and he was still under observation. He thought that if he just kept a low profile for a while and greased the right palms, he could weather this crisis safely. But the moment he heard that Jiang Yan had tested as an SS-rank talent, he could no longer sit still.

"What if those old foxes try to suck up to Jiang Yan..."

Ring, ring, ring...

The jarring ringtone jolted Liu Hair-Ren from his panic.

His face turned pale, as if he had long expected this day to come. His hand trembling, he answered the call.

"Hello, we are from the Provincial Investigation Bureau. Based on reports from local residents of Linjiang City..."

Smack—

The phone hit the floor, and Liu Hair-Ren sank into utter despair.

Chu Family Building.

"Hurry! Have that assassin abort the mission—do not touch Jiang Yan under any circumstances!"

Bang!

A group of plainclothes officers burst into the chairman's office and, without explanation, handcuffed Chu Tianqin, Chu Ming's father.

"Chu Tianqin, you are under arrest for privately hiring an assassin to murder a nationally strategic talent. Please come with us."

"I, I didn't!"

"The assassin has been apprehended and has already confessed your identity. Please do not struggle pointlessly."

Hearing this, Chu Tianqin felt as if struck by a thunderbolt and fainted on the spot.

An invisible hand was dismantling the potential threats to Jiang Yan with a bewildering efficiency.

Strength or talent—possess either one, and you could enjoy unparalleled privileges on Blue Star. But most of the time, these two things came hand in hand.

This was a cruel world, but also a brilliant one.

Jiang Yan checked his registration information on the official website.

The College Entrance Exam was not held in the real world, but within spaces created by the mighty.

On Blue Star, the pinnacle Space Martial Saint used his immense power to create alternate spaces vast enough to hold mountains and rivers.

Every year, all examinees would take their tests within these alternate spaces.

Though Blue Star was vast—larger even than the planet Jiang Yan had lived on in his past life—the number of Talent Users and aperture-openers was actually quite small.

Adding in those examinees who hadn't awakened any talent but still wanted to try their luck, the total number of test-takers each year was around ten million.

The Space Martial Saint had established an anchor point in every city. Once activated, this anchor point would start, allowing examinees to enter the Alternate Space Exam Hall.

There were no cameras inside the alternate space, but it could accurately project images, making cheating nearly impossible.

The content of the exam changed every year, and no one could fathom what went on in the exam-setters' minds.

Year after year, people guessed the questions wrong.

But one thing never changed: strength was the absolute deciding factor.

The closer the College Entrance Exam got, the more restless Jiang Yan's heart became—not from anxiety, but from anticipation.

What he didn't know was that his information had already been turned into stacks of documents and placed on the desks of other examinees.

In the Divine Capital, inside an ancient, elegant courtyard, a handsome man stood holding a fan. His noble and graceful aura did nothing to hide the dangerous air about him.

Not far away, a seductively dressed OL woman held these documents and read out the information one by one.

"Modu Xiao Family, Xiao Ziming, SS-rank talent. Currently known cultivation: third-stage mid-phase Innate. Talent ability is... martial techniques used include..."

"Modu Li Family, Li Qingle, S-rank talent. Currently known cultivation: second-stage Perfection. Rumored to possess an exceptionally exaggerated ability to fight above her level, having single-handedly defeated a third-stage late-phase Fierce Beast."

"XX Province XX High School, Lin Li. Awakened S-rank talent at twelve. At seventeen, his talent underwent an abnormal second breakthrough, evolving into an SS-rank talent..."

"And yesterday, from a small city called Linjiang—"

"We don't need to hear about martial artists from places like that. Don't waste my time on irrelevant nobodies."

The Fan Man let out a dismissive smirk, hardly taking it seriously. Even when hearing about geniuses with S-rank talents, he didn't so much as twitch an eyelid.

The Uniformed Secretary said nothing more and stopped reading Jiang Yan's file. Her expression remained composed, clearly not considering him worth a second thought either.

People from small towns weren't worth attention. Besides, right there in Jiang Yan's file, the glaring words "Awakened at eighteen" knocked his relevance down several notches.

The later the awakening, the smaller the advantage—especially for examinees from these backwater cities.

"Oh, right. I heard those Hidden Families and Sects are leaning toward entering the secular world. Dig up some intel on them for me. As for the rest? Hah, don't waste my time."

"Understood."

The secretary withdrew respectfully.

The Fan Man stretched lazily, his handsome face draped in languor.

"Hope they give me a little surprise."

"But this top spot? It's mine."

Pre-exam intelligence gathering on examinees had become routine—Linjiang City was no exception.

Across major social media platforms, reports on examinees from various cities flooded in.

"Shocking! Divine Capital Prodigy XXX, at the third-tier Innate Realm, fights a fourth-tier Fierce Beast to a standstill! Follow me for the battle video in the group."

"Oh my god, who still doesn't know? An eighteen-year-old examinee awakens an SS-rank talent, and the reason is..."

"Geez, how can one person cause such a mess? An S-rank talent examinee from XX City, because..."

People scrolled through these half-true, half-fake news stories, savoring every bit of gossip.

Jiang Yan, however, was utterly immersed in battle, unable to tear himself away.