Surprise

Huo Ling returned home and quickly shared the joy of his successful awakening with his parents.

"Son, with your aptitude, getting into a top-tier university is definitely no problem!"

Huo Liren's heart surged with excitement. He had already begun looking up information on the various top-tier universities, trying to see which one would suit his son best.

"Our ancestors have blessed us! Tomorrow, I'll burn extra incense for you! Thank you for watching over my Ling'er!"

His mother, Bai Xiaolan, had already burst into tears of joy. Whether in the Huo family or the Bai family, everyone had been ordinary people for so many years. Not a single person had ever awakened successfully.

Let alone attended one of the ten top-tier universities. Huo Ling's successful spirit awakening had truly brought glory to his ancestors.

"Son, which university are you planning to attend?"

Holding a cup of strong tea, Huo Liren paced around happily and began asking Huo Ling about his university preferences again.

"I haven't decided yet. I want to first see which school suits me and which one offers the best benefits."

With Huo Ling's aptitude, several universities were certainly qualified to fight over him.

"Good ambition. Just as expected of my son!"

Huo Liren chuckled and patted Huo Ling on the shoulder.

His two younger brothers, second brother Huo Feng and third brother Huo Yi, were also staring at him with faces full of admiration.

"Big Brother, you're amazing!"

Under his brothers' admiring gazes, even Huo Ling, who had always been calm, could not help feeling delighted.

"Hello? Yes, this is Huo Ling. Hello, Professor..."

Another call had come from a university admissions office. This time, it was a second-tier university, and the terms it offered were fairly good as well.

Over the past few days, Huo Ling had answered more than twenty calls. Three had come from top-tier universities, while the rest had been from second-tier universities.

The terms offered by those three top-tier universities were all quite generous.

Sea Prosperity University offered fifty credits upon enrollment, as well as a residence in Sea Prosperity City.

Martial Peace University offered thirty credits upon enrollment and a one-rank increase in military rank after graduation.

Five Prefectures University offered eighty credits upon enrollment.

As for second-tier universities, they were not within Huo Ling's consideration for the time being.

The terms offered by these three universities each had their own strengths and weaknesses. Through his conversations with so many admissions officers, he had also gained some understanding of credits.

Credits were a product of the University Alliance. They could be exchanged at universities for all kinds of resources and inheritances, including but not limited to meditation methods, breathing methods, various spells, and combat techniques.

In Great Xia, almost every university was a knowledge oligarchy, holding an extremely tight grip on knowledge.

Recruiting students was not merely about imparting knowledge and answering doubts. It was also a complete assembly line for planting and harvesting leeks.

Many good things in Great Xia could only be obtained by joining the government, or by university students exchanging credits for them.

If one had to find a suitable benchmark, one credit was worth roughly the same as a magic stone—perhaps even more valuable.

And a single magic stone cost one hundred thousand yuan!

In other words, the benefits offered by these universities were more or less equivalent to several million yuan.

It was truly unbelievable. Huo Ling's parents had worked hard for more than twenty years, yet the family's savings had never exceeded one hundred thousand yuan.

Huo Ling had only just undergone his spirit awakening, yet applying to universities could already bring him so much.

Sea Prosperity University was located in Sea Prosperity Province, and it even offered a residence in the provincial capital, Sea Prosperity City. That alone was probably worth around two million yuan.

Martial Peace University, meanwhile, was a military academy. Black Iron-ranked graduates from there were generally awarded the rank of second lieutenant.

It said that graduates would receive a one-rank increase in military rank, which likely meant that Black Iron-ranked graduates would become first lieutenants upon graduation. That was also a very good offer.

Unfortunately, Huo Ling had not yet made up his mind to join the military.

Five Prefectures University was the simplest: eighty credits, roughly equivalent to eight million yuan. That was a generous benefit as well.

But what puzzled Huo Ling most was that Southern Heaven University in Southern Heaven Province had not called him even now.

He found it somewhat baffling. The person who had tested him should have been one of Southern Heaven University's professors, and that professor had even invited him to attend Southern Heaven University.

At the time, Huo Ling had found an excuse to avoid agreeing. Could it be that because of this, Professor Li was no longer planning to send him an invitation?

Meanwhile, Professor Li was still in Stone Creek, making calls in his hotel room.

He was also working part-time for the admissions office.

"Phew..."

Professor Li put down the phone and let out a long breath. His phone had not stopped ringing these past few days. Not only his, but even the phones of the students he had brought along had not stopped.

The student beside him was also a teaching assistant at Southern Heaven University and was helping him make calls.

"How many calls are left?"

Professor Li stretched and asked the student beside him.

Glasses picked up the form and glanced at it. "Professor, we're almost done. There are only about ten left."

"Fine. You handle the rest. I'm going to take a break."

Professor Li slumped into his chair without the slightest concern for his image.

"Huh?" Glasses was exhausted too. He glanced at his professor, then helplessly prepared to make the next call.

Just then, he saw Huo Ling's name and information on the form, along with the benefits listed for him: sixty credits and a free exchange voucher for a first-rank spell.

Seeing the two entries—second-class spellcaster aptitude and a Spirit Realm's Blessing Silver-rank meditation method—Glasses seemed to recall something and asked, "Professor, is this Huo Ling the student you helped me test back then?"

"Which one?"

Professor Li took the form, looked over the information, and replied in a perfunctory tone, "That's right, it's him. I even invited him at the time, but he brushed me off."

"He has a Spirit Realm's Blessing meditation method, after all. With us offering only this much, can we really recruit him to Southern Heaven University?"

Glasses asked in confusion.

"That should be enough. It's only a Silver-rank meditation method. Even if it suits his attribute, he'll still have to replace it once he reaches the later stages."

Professor Li waved a hand, utterly unconcerned.

Glasses nodded at that. Then he picked up the phone and prepared to dial.

His finger had already pressed half the number when Glasses remembered something. He ended the call and cautiously said, "Professor, I forgot to mention something about Huo Ling."

"What is it?" Professor Li frowned at him.

After thinking for a moment, Glasses said, "When the ghost rushed into our testing room, I pulled Huo Ling behind me. When I was casting my spell, I vaguely sensed magical fluctuations from behind me too."

"But I was too nervous at the time, and your spell directly destroyed the ghost. I didn't think much of it. I figured that he was only a student who had just undergone spirit awakening, so how could he possibly cast a spell? I assumed I had sensed it wrong and didn't take it seriously."

He swallowed and cautiously asked, "Professor, I just saw in his information that he has a Spirit Realm's Blessing meditation method, as well as blessings for several zero-rank spells. Do you think he might have already begun practicing the meditation method and mastered a spell?"