Chapter 164: The Three Passes of the Metropolitan Examination

Facing the principal's and his classmates' concern and comfort, Xiao Nan realized there was no need for him to say anything at all.

Fine, he would let his results do the talking during the exam.

He certainly couldn't start throwing punches and kicks right here in public just to prove his strength to others.

Nor could he use the spiritual power of the Fetal Breathing realm to suppress his classmates. Doing that would make him no different from a madman.

"When Gu Liang offered me a special recruitment quota that day, he made it sound so casual and easy. But even after entering Donghai University, it isn't peaceful and calm. There is still fierce competition and a constant struggle for supremacy."

Xiao Nan understood that this competition actually began right from the preliminary provincial examinations of the college entrance exams.

"I must not only be admitted to a prestigious university, but I also need to crush my peers with absolute superiority. Only in this way can I secure the maximum freedom and attention, obtain better opportunities, and make Qin Shuang's situation a bit more favorable."

Why would Qin Shuang's treatment improve the higher his own achievements were?

This was a metaphysical question.

In Xiao Nan's view, that old spinster, Instructor Yunxi, had misjudged the situation back in Yuanjiang Prefecture and made a wrong decision.

She had been heavily reprimanded by the higher-ups of Qingning Academy, and she must be feeling quite unhappy about it.

As the saying goes, love me, love my dog; and resentment naturally works the same way.

She was already somewhat dissatisfied with Qin Shuang's disobedient personality.

This blunder only made things even more grating for her.

Precisely because of this, given her stubborn and pride-conscious nature, she would never show her inner depression. Instead, she had to act broad-minded, as if she didn't care at all.

Even if she harbored some reservations about Qin Shuang inwardly, outwardly she would only have to pay her even more attention.

The stronger he himself became, and the greater his renown, the more comfortable Qin Shuang's life would be.

...

At this moment, the surroundings of the martial arts arena were packed with people. Looking from afar, it was just a dense, surging sea of heads...

The roaring and clamoring noises drifted into his ears, sounding much noisier than a vegetable market.

These were the parents and relatives who had brought their children from various places to participate in the provincial preliminary exams in the capital.

Some students came to Lijiang accompanied by their entire families to cheer them on... carrying bags, delivering food, or clenching their fists with flushed faces while shouting slogans.

There were also people holding small booklets and shouting to hawk them.

They claimed to be exam preparation guides.

A few classmates couldn't resist and bought one; needless to say, it was quite expensive.

Dong Cheng from Class 5, Senior Year, bought a copy.

As soon as he got it in his hands and flipped through it briefly, he let out a startled and exaggerated cry, causing yet another wave of panic among the students.

"We're done for, we're completely done for. This preliminary exam is going to be so much harder than the vitality test at school. There weren't this many tricks in previous years—how did it get to this level of difficulty this year?"

It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't looked, but reading it gave them a terrible shock.

Even Sun Zhongli couldn't help frowning slightly.

Actually, he was only aware of the Ministry of Education's push for reforms, which generally revolved around the concept of letting the strong stay strong and concentrating resources. But he hadn't expected that this pilot implementation would start right from the college entrance exams.

"The winds of change have barely started blowing."

Sun Zhongli felt an increasing sense of foreboding.

"Come, come, everyone take a look. There are three stages to the exam. The first stage is the puppet test, which our school held earlier this year, so that one is relatively fine. But it's still not simple; the exams use fifth-generation intelligent puppets, active-duty main battle puppets of the military, which are extremely difficult to deal with."

Dong Cheng's expression was very ugly, but such was his personality—he was accustomed to voicing his unhappiness so that everyone else could be miserable along with him.

So, suppressing the anxiety in his heart, he shouted it out loud.

Hearing this, everyone turned as pale as dead ashes.

Especially those classmates who had barely scraped through the internal school tests felt their hearts beating erratically against their ribs.

"What else? What are the other two stages?"

"The other two stages are even more malicious. One is the corridor test, with a barrage of flying arrows and puppet interceptions at the checkpoints... It tests agility and neural response, and also tests clearance speed."

"..."

At this, even Xiao Nan couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

This stage tested comprehensive qualities, and achieving a good score would be far from easy.

Especially for students who hadn't undergone specialized training in this area during normal times, once panic set in, they might end up performing horribly.

And then there was the final stage.

Wei Yunyun listened with growing anxiety, snatched the booklet away, took a look, and froze on the spot.

"What is it? Tell us quickly, Yunyun." Several familiar classmates hurriedly gathered around.

"It seems to be some kind of virtual test, very high-tech. A virtual projection with the exact same physical fitness and the same martial arts techniques will appear to fight against you, and you pass only if you win."

What kind of test was this?

Everyone was completely baffled.

In previous years, the provincial preliminary exams had been quite straightforward: the vitality test used instruments to measure striking power, the mental test examined agility and adaptability, and only the technique test involved puppets.

This year's arrangement was somewhat abnormal.

Sun Zhongli felt a burning sensation on his face.

The booklets had already been printed and distributed to others, yet as the principal of Yuanjiang No. 1 High School, he hadn't even caught wind of the news. This was a severe failure on his part.

If he had caught wind of some inside information earlier, he could have arranged targeted training; even if it wasn't of massive use, it would still be better than nothing.

"Let's go, hurry inside. During every college entrance exam, there is a warm-up session to familiarize ourselves with the venue on-site. Let's go practice first."

At this point, Sun Zhongli was also anxious.

Amidst a flurry of motion, the group followed him into the spacious main hall of the martial arts stadium. Passing through a corridor, they saw that the open-air arena was already crowded with more than a dozen square formations.

Martial arts students from various high schools across the Southeast Province had mostly arrived.

Especially the areas close to the exam zones upfront were packed tightly with people.

"Are these the examinees from Yuanjiang No. 1 High School? Please follow me."

A staff member came forward to guide them.

The group followed him to a seating area marked with a sign for Yuanjiang No. 1 High School and put down their luggage.

Xiao Nan noticed that this spot was close to the corridor they had just walked through, and right around the corner was the restroom...

Because too many people had gathered in the stadium, there was a steady stream of people going to the restroom, and every now and then, a faint odor drifted over...

That in itself wasn't the main issue; the crucial problem was the constant flow of foot traffic, making the environment for resting and recuperating extremely poor.

Sun Zhongli's expression was unsightly, though he had anticipated such a situation.

Over the years, Yuanjiang No. 1 High School's advancement records hadn't been particularly stellar, and it had been outshone by many other high schools, so being treated with indifference was somewhat normal.

However, relegating his school to the far corner was simply intolerable.

"No matter what, our school did produce Qin Shuang this year, a specially recruited student by Qingning Academy. Shouldn't that at least command a bit of respect?"

However, these arrangements were clearly made by the organizing committee of the Ministry of Education, and there was no use arguing with the staff members. For now, he could only remain silent and say nothing.

Amidst the strange looks from his classmates, Sun Zhongli urged everyone to go familiarize themselves with the venue first and understand the examination environment.

Ideally, they could go inside and adapt to the operation of each checkpoint so they would have some peace of mind.