"I'm telling you, brother, are you really that heartless? You won't tell me a single thing?"
Before long, Chai Xiao, with his three-colored hair, had gone from calling Xu Tui "junior" to "Junior Xu," and now to "brother."
He was determined to pry some inside information out of him.
The problem was, Xu Tui didn't have any inside information.
No one would believe the truth if he told it.
Xu Tui's ability to lie was nearly maxed out; he could make up almost anything and make it sound true.
But he still had his limits.
Some things could be made up at will.
But some things absolutely couldn't.
Xu Tui himself didn't care.
But this involved An Xiaoxue's reputation, so he couldn't just make things up.
"Brother, if you're willing to teach me or tell me, just name your price. Anything I, Chai Xiao, can do, I'll do without hesitation.
"To be honest, even at Huaxia Gene Evolution University, even here in Kyoto Prefecture, I still have some influence." Chai Xiao thumped his chest as he promised.
Chai Xiao had been pestering Xu Tui so much that he was getting sick of it.
He was tempted to fall out with him.
But if he did, and that bigmouth spread the story everywhere, it would be bad.
These days, nobody wanted to hear about good deeds, but gossip spread faster than anything.
"You said it." Xu Tui suddenly spoke.
Chai Xiao was delighted.
"Good. Name your price."
The masked goddess of the Mysterious Academy had left countless talented senior students, instructors, and even associate professors heartbroken.
No one had expected this kid from Jincheng Prefecture to win her over.
That was right—Chai Xiao believed An Xiaoxue had fallen for Xu Tui.
There was a mountain of evidence.
"I've had a little trick since I was a kid: the Bean Flicking Divine Ability." Xu Tui lightly bent a finger. A bean shot through the air and struck the back of an iron chair.
The soybean shattered to pieces.
A tiny dent appeared in the chair's back.
"If you can dodge it in this room, I'll tell you everything you want to know.
"Of course, if you can't dodge it, you'll have to listen to me. You can never bring this up in front of anyone again, and you can't ask me about it anymore," Xu Tui said.
Chai Xiao grinned when he heard that.
"Brother, you probably don't know what you're dealing with. I'm from the Limitless System, and I'm currently a C-grade Gene Liberator.
"Of the abilities I've awakened in my series, two are speed-related, and one is related to neural response. My neural response time is only 0.01 seconds. Are you sure you want to do this?" Chai Xiao asked.
Xu Tui glanced at Chai Xiao in surprise.
He wasn't surprised that Chai Xiao was a C-grade Gene Liberator. He was surprised that this gossipy, unreliable-looking guy was actually so straightforward.
"I'm sure." Xu Tui nodded.
"You can't take it back!"
Xu Tui gave Chai Xiao a scornful look and held out his little finger. "Are you even a man?
"Want to pinky swear first and chant, 'Pinky promise, pinky promise, a thousand years unchanged, 666'?"
"A real man keeps his word. A promise is as good as a nail hammered into the ground. No need!" Chai Xiao laughed.
Xu Tui continued looking at him with disdain.
What a petty man!
He'd added that unnecessary line about not needing a pinky swear because he was afraid Xu Tui would go back on his word.
Xu Tui didn't waste any more time.
He already had a soybean pinched between the fingers of his right hand.
Seeing this, Chai Xiao hurried to the window, putting as much distance between himself and Xu Tui as possible. Then he made sure he had room to dodge.
He was sensible, and cautious too.
"Come on!"
Chai Xiao watched Xu Tui intently.
Whoosh!
The instant Chai Xiao finished speaking, Xu Tui flicked his finger.
A confident smile spread across Chai Xiao's face as he leaned backward with lightning speed.
Xu Tui's soybean missed him and slammed into the window, shattering the glass.
The sound of the glass breaking rang out at the same time as Chai Xiao's smile bloomed.
Thwack!
At that very instant, Chai Xiao covered his mouth and cried out in pain.
Blood trickled between his fingers.
A soybean had struck one of his front teeth, and blood was pouring out.
"You—you're right-handed! How can you flick beans with your left hand too?" Chai Xiao asked, stunned.
"Did I say I'd only use my right hand? I only said I'd use the Bean Flicking Divine Ability, didn't I?" Xu Tui looked at Chai Xiao.
"If you want to go back on your word, I don't mind." Xu Tui shrugged at the stunned Chai Xiao.
Chai Xiao looked thoroughly dejected. He stood there for a few seconds before hanging his head and saying, "Ah, a real man keeps his word, even if he has to be crushed to pieces.
"You win.
"I'll keep my promise."
Then Chai Xiao added, "You're a freshman, so I'll give you three months. We'll try again in three months. I won't let my guard down next time."
"Sounds good!"
Xu Tui agreed readily.
"Oh, there's something I should warn you about."
"Go on!"
"If that had been a real fight, and I'd aimed for your eye instead of your front tooth, you'd already be dead," Xu Tui said.
Chai Xiao looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. He stood frozen, feeling awful.
A quarter of an hour later, Xu Tui had finished packing as quickly as he could and left the room. Only then did Chai Xiao catch up with him.
"Have you been in a real fight?"
"I've been in one."
"I see. Thanks," Chai Xiao said.
"Don't thank me. You're paying for the broken window," Xu Tui said.
"I..."
Chai Xiao opened his mouth, but could only nod helplessly.
"Brother, let's get your blood drawn first and have your sample tested. That way, your subsequent rank assessments won't be delayed.
"Many rank assessments require the blood test results first."
"Huaxia Gene Evolution University is huge, but we care about the environment, so public bicycles are still the fastest way to get around campus.
"Or you can run."
Chai Xiao got Xu Tui to the blood-draw station in the shortest time possible. There was already a long line.
"Once you've had your blood drawn, message me, then meet me at the place we just passed. I'll take you to get assessed in the other areas. Also, get in touch with Cheng Mo. It'd be best if he can come.
"If he doesn't, I'll have to find someone else to complete my guiding task."
"I'll go guide a few other students first."
They exchanged contact information, and Chai Xiao pedaled the public bicycle at almost motorbike speed. His red, white, and gray hair streamed high behind him in the headwind, like a fluttering flag.
As Xu Tui joined the line, just as he was about to call Cheng Mo, that guy called him first.
"Heizi, how was last night? Did you get anywhere talking about life with the pretty nurse?" Xu Tui teased.
"There was a nurse, but she wasn't pretty!" Cheng Mo's voice was full of indignation. "Last night, before I could even react, they lifted me from the medical trolley and put me on a bed.
"I could've gotten onto the bed by myself!"
Xu Tui pictured the scene and nearly laughed.
"An older nurse?"
"That would've been better."
"A male nurse?"
Silence came from the other end of the phone.
"Do you want to come for your rank assessment?" Xu Tui asked, doing his duty as a buddy and trying to ease Cheng Mo's sorrow.
"Of course. I don't need to exert myself for this assessment. Wait for me."
Xu Tui waited half an hour to get his blood drawn, mainly because there were so many people.
During that half hour, he saw Chai Xiao bring over two groups of people and get them all settled. Only then did he come to Xu Tui, who had just finished giving his blood sample.
"Now that they're all taken care of, let's go test your abilities first. You're in the Wisdom Heart System, so it'll be simpler, and there aren't many people. It should be quick," Chai Xiao said.
Xu Tui looked at Chai Xiao curiously. "We're all staying at the New Student Reception Center. Why didn't you call them over just now so they could all get their blood drawn first?
"Why bring them in separate groups?
"Now that they've had their blood drawn, they'll be waiting in line for at least an hour, right?"
"I did it on purpose." Chai Xiao shrugged.
"On purpose?"
"Yeah. If I didn't do it this way, how could I finish my task of guiding ten junior students in a single day?
"Not counting Cheng Mo, you're all at three different assessment locations and areas. The difference in how long you spend waiting to get your blood drawn lets me guide you in batches to complete your rank assessments and registration," Chai Xiao explained.
That was a pretty clever approach.
"Is there a reward?" Xu Tui asked. Normally, he wouldn't work so hard if it were just volunteer work.
"Yeah."
Chai Xiao nodded. "You can take this task next year too. Help ten freshmen complete their enrollment procedures, and if none of them leave a bad review, you'll earn Merit Points.
"Each person gets 0.1 Merit Points."
"Merit Points? Only one point?"
Xu Tui's remark made Chai Xiao exclaim dramatically. "What do you mean, 'only one point'?"
"Do you know how hard it is to earn Merit Points?
"At least half your upperclassmen are still working on their great breakthrough from zero."
"Merit Points are hard to earn—harder than shitting..."
As he spoke, Chai Xiao sighed.
"A breakthrough from zero?"
"Of course!"
"The easiest way to earn Merit Points is through combat. But neither the danger nor our personal strength allows us to do that, so we can only complete tasks like this one, which award a few Merit Points.
"Don't underestimate it. I kept refreshing the school's task board for ages before I managed to grab this one. My eyes were sore," Chai Xiao said.
"How many Merit Points do you have now?" Xu Tui suddenly asked.
Chai Xiao gave him a confident look. "Although I haven't taken part in combat missions, I've been diligently completing school tasks these past two years, striving to be a model student.
"I've already earned five Merit Points, and once I finish this task, I'll have six."
"Only five?"
Xu Tui suddenly remembered that, back when he was still in Jincheng Prefecture, the Special Intelligence Agency had already awarded him six Merit Points.
That was enough to crush the Merit Point total of a second-year senior!
What a feeling—
delightful!
He even felt a little smug. Chai Xiao couldn't understand why Xu Tui had suddenly become so cheerful.
But it didn't stop him from feeling pleased with himself.
"By the way, Senior Chai, what can you do with Merit Points at school?" Xu Tui asked.
"They're incredibly useful."
"More important than money?"
"Comparing Merit Points to money is an insult to Merit Points!" Chai Xiao said, clearly displeased.
"Come on, we're short on time. Let's head to the Mysterious System assessment center first. I'll explain on the way," Chai Xiao said.
Before you continue