After a long while, Xu Shengchuan finally took a deep breath, suppressing the rage and hatred inside him, and told the man to leave.
Once the man had left, Xu Shengchuan gritted his teeth and snarled, "No matter how capable you are, you killed my son. I'll make sure you're torn to pieces!"
"Even if it costs me everything, I will never let you get away with this!"
A vicious glint flashed in Xu Shengchuan's eyes. He took a deep breath, pulled out his phone, and dialed a number...
The call connected quickly.
"Hello, Old Zhao. That 'Blood God Temple' you mentioned last time—is it really as miraculous as you said? As long as you're willing to pay, they can kill anyone you want without leaving a trace?"
Xu Shengchuan asked in a low voice.
A man's surprised voice immediately came through the phone. "Hey, Old Xu, why are you suddenly asking about the 'Blood God Temple'?"
"I remember when I first brought them up, you weren't interested at all. You didn't want anything to do with an organization like that, did you?"
Xu Shengchuan said slowly, "Things have changed."
"Back then, I really didn't want any dealings with an organization like that. After all, I've been out of that life for so many years. I didn't want to get involved with those people and their business again and invite trouble."
"But now, I want someone dead, and he's no ordinary person. That's why I thought of the 'Blood God Temple' you mentioned!"
"I see," the man replied. "I've dealt with the Blood God Temple a few times and learned a bit about them from other people. As far as I know, they've never failed a job!"
"However, hiring the Blood God Temple doesn't come cheap. Ten million is just the starting price. They won't accept a job worth less than that."
"Also, they'll investigate the target beforehand and assess the price based on the person's identity and the difficulty of the job. Then they'll give you a quote."
"Money isn't an issue," Xu Shengchuan said without hesitation. "As long as they can kill him, I'll accept any price, no matter how high!"
Xu Shengchuan gritted his teeth.
Then he continued, "So, Old Zhao, sorry for the trouble, but could you introduce me to someone from the Blood God Temple? I'll discuss the rest with them myself..."
The man on the other end of the phone was rather curious about the intense hatred Xu Shengchuan had for someone. Who could it be, that Xu Shengchuan was willing to pay any price to have him killed?
Still, he didn't press for details. "Sure. I'll get in touch with someone from the Blood God Temple first, then I'll introduce you..."
"Great! Thanks, Old Zhao! I'll treat you to dinner when I get the chance."
Xu Shengchuan replied.
After hanging up, Xu Shengchuan took a deep breath. A murderous look crossed his face as he snarled, "Let's see how capable you really are, and whether you can survive an assassination by the Blood God Temple. Hmph!"
June 7 finally arrived, and with it, the College Entrance Examination.
The two days of exams passed in the blink of an eye.
After finishing his last exam, Ning Wangshu had just walked out of the examination room when he suddenly froze. He looked up at the sky, a startled expression on his face.
"Huh? What's going on? The force suppressing my cultivation has loosened a little for some reason. The spiritual energy I can use has actually recovered to the early-stage Nascent Soul level, and I can extend my Divine Sense a little, covering an area of about one kilometer..."
Ning Wangshu furrowed his brows, bewildered and unable to figure out what was happening.
He had tried cultivating during this period, but the power he could use hadn't changed at all. It had stayed at the peak of the Golden Core Stage.
Yet just now, he'd suddenly felt his suppressed cultivation recover a little, reaching the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage. It seemed unbelievable.
Ning Wangshu frowned deeply, trying to work out what had caused the force suppressing his cultivation to loosen slightly.
Just then, a voice suddenly jolted him out of his thoughts—
"Ning Wangshu..."
Ning Wangshu looked up instinctively and saw none other than the class beauty, Lin Qingzhu.
When she saw him looking her way, Lin Qingzhu asked, "Ning Wangshu, what are you thinking about? You look so worried. Don't tell me you didn't do well?"
"Oh, no," Ning Wangshu replied casually. "I was thinking about something else."
"Really?"
Lin Qingzhu studied him skeptically and added, "I thought you were frowning because you hadn't done well."
"By the way, I heard that a few days ago, the teachers gave you a past exam paper to test you, and you scored 702. Now that the College Entrance Examination is over, how many points do you think you got?"
Ning Wangshu smiled. "Probably about the same. There were a few questions I wasn't sure I'd answered correctly."
"But I should be somewhere around 700!"
Lin Qingzhu exclaimed, "Seriously? You think you got around 700? Doesn't that mean... you might get into Qingbei?"
"Fifty-fifty. I'll know for sure when the results come out," Ning Wangshu replied casually.
"Wow, impressive, Ning Wangshu! You haven't been at school studying for more than three months, and you still have a good chance of getting into Qingbei. That's amazing!"
Lin Qingzhu looked astonished, and even a little envious.
Ning Wangshu laughed awkwardly, then asked, "What about you? How many points do you think you got?"
Lin Qingzhu smiled wryly. "I can't compare with you. I think I got around 670. Qingbei is out of the question for me; I'll just have to see which 985 university I apply to."
"By the way, if Qingbei tries to recruit you, which university are you planning to go to?"
Lin Qingzhu asked curiously.
Ning Wangshu shrugged. "I haven't thought about that yet. I'll see how things go."
After a pause, he added, "I might not even go to Qingbei. The Capital is pretty far away, and this is only my own estimate. What if I've overestimated my score and don't even meet Qingbei's admission cutoff?"
"Uh... that's true. As for me, if nothing unexpected happens, I'll probably go to Jiangnan University here in the province, or Jinling University in the neighboring province."
"My score should be enough for either of them..."
Lin Qingzhu said.
"Well, I hope you get into the university you want, Lin. If there's nothing else, I'll get going..."
Ning Wangshu didn't want to keep chatting. After saying that, he left.
On his way back to his younger sister's rented place, Ning Wangshu kept thinking about how his cultivation had suddenly recovered to the early Nascent Soul stage. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure it out.