Chapter 5: The College Entrance Exam Ends

Especially Zhang Chu'an — he usually scores around six hundred on tests, but on the college entrance exam he got seven hundred outright. That's way too exaggerated; wouldn't it give him away?

Just sixty or seventy points more than usual would do, so the four of them had very different expressions as they walked out of the exam hall.

Guo Jing's face was full of guilt.

Zhang Chu'an was very excited.

Nie Huaishang was calm and composed.

Zhang Xiaofan looked utterly indifferent.

But when relatives and friends outside the exam hall asked about their results, they all answered with full confidence: "It went pretty well."

Afterwards, they went to a nearby restaurant to celebrate together over a meal.

After eating, the four of them discussed in the group chat what they planned to do in the period between now and the release of the college entrance exam scores.

Guo Jing: "The college entrance exam is over. I wonder what everyone's plans are from here."

Nie Huaishang: "From what I can see, aside from cultivating to raise our strength, it's about making contact with the story characters and building ties with them. So far I've made contact with He Chenguang, Wang Yanbing, and Li Erniu."

Zhang Chu'an: "I've made contact with Ye Cunxin from Fire Phoenix."

Guo Jing: "I've made contact with Dog Head Lao Gao from Wolf Fang."

Zhang Xiaofan: "I've made contact with Xiao Zhuang."

Nie Huaishang: "Although our mission in this world isn't compulsory, this is our first mission, and the rewards we get will determine whether we can change our tragic fates."

Nie Huaishang: "Compared to this world, our only advantages are intelligence and our special cultivation methods."

Since neither Zhang Xiaofan nor Guo Jing had begun cultivating, the special cultivation in the group was practicing Qi and immortal cultivation.

Nie Huaishang: "Let me ask — has anyone here successfully formed a Core?"

Guo Jing: "No, there's not enough spiritual energy in this place to cultivate. You haven't successfully formed a Core either?"

Nie Huaishang: "You know me — my talent's poor, and on top of that I'm not interested in cultivation, so I've never formed a Core."

Nie Huaishang was feeling pretty regretful now. If he hadn't neglected his cultivation, he would have long since single-handedly taken out those mercenaries in the shadows.

Zhang Xiaofan: "What a coincidence — I can't form a Core through immortal cultivation either."

Zhang Chu'an: "Same here."

Nie Huaishang: "For the time being, I'm planning to go to Mount Taishan to try my luck. If even Mount Taishan has no spiritual energy, then in this world I can only use Qi-training methods."

Although just practicing Qi alone is already enough to beat every special forces soldier — as for why Guo Jing didn't beat Dog Head Lao Gao.

A high schooler with barely any training beating a special forces brigade commander — would that be reasonable?

When Guo Jing fought Dog Head Lao Gao, he didn't use Qi at all — only the physical fitness of an ordinary person.

Nie Huaishang: "Then let's meet up at Mount Taishan."

The four of them each told their families about their wish to go to Mount Taishan and then set off.

The four of them cited independence as the reason and traveled to Mount Taishan separately, but along the way, two men in black were following behind Zhang Chu'an.

Waiting to kill him in an uninhabited area. Zhang Chu'an sensed them, but didn't make a fuss — after all, these two men in black were small fry.

The four of them quickly arrived at Tai'an County. Chinese civilization originated on the North China Plain, so in ancient times the North China Plain already bore the name "China."

Mount Taishan sits in the middle of the North China Plain, surrounded on all sides by flat, endless plains. With its peaks rising over a thousand meters above sea level, set against the surrounding plains, it can truly be said to be quite awe-inspiring.

On top of that, Mount Taishan lies right in the heartland of ancient Chinese cultural exchange — Shandong, the birthplace of Confucian culture.

So after achieving great feats, ancient emperors would all choose to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices on Mount Taishan — that is, to report their great accomplishments to Heaven.

In all of history, only seven Emperors truly completed the grand Feng and Shan ceremonies.

Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng swept aside the six directions, unified the realm, and laid the foundation for the unified pattern of Huaxia.

Han Wu Di Liu Che drove out the Xiongnu, opened up the Western Regions, and forged the backbone of the Han people.

Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu rebuilt the great Han and inaugurated the Restoration of Guangwu.

Tanggao Sect Li Zhi expanded the Tang dynasty's territory to its greatest extent.

Tangxuan Sect Li Longji ushered in the glorious Kaiyuan era, with all nations coming to pay tribute.

Emperor Zhenzong Zhao Heng… this Emperor — the author may be a bit shallow on history and not know what his accomplishments were. His fans can feel free to comment here.

But as the last Emperor to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices, he must surely have had remarkable achievements that left Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang — who drove out the Tartars and restored China — and Ming Chengzu, who ushered in the Yongle prosperity and seven voyages to the Western Seas, unable to compare.

After a brief moment of awe, Zhang Chu'an hurriedly opened the group chat.

Zhang Chu'an: "Guys, don't show yourselves. There are two assassins following me."

Nie Huaishang: "You're still just a high schooler — how would you have assassins tailing you? You've only made contact with Ye Cunxin. Right, Ye Cunxin — they must be assassins from the Black Cat faction."

Guo Jing: "What did you say to that Miss?"

Getting fresh with Ye Cunxin — Zhang Chu'an couldn't do it, after all he has the Keeping-Palace Mark.

Zhang Chu'an: "I didn't really say anything, I just swindled her out of an apartment."

Good grief — the three of them were all rendered speechless. Judging by the terrorists' temperament, their money was all earned with their lives on the line, so they definitely wouldn't accept being scammed.

Besides, they're all desperadoes who always repay even the slightest grievance — you can tell that from how they murdered soldiers' family members.

Nie Huaishang: "Brother, scamming terrorists out of their money — that's pretty unique."

Guo Jing: "With people like these, scamming them is fine. This time we'll make sure these assassins don't make it back."

Nie Huaishang: "Guo Jing, you know the high school squad leader of the Wolf Fang brigade, right? Once we've captured these two assassins, we'll hand them straight over to him."

Nie Huaishang: "Zhang Chu'an, you first lure them into the dense forest. When the time comes, we'll ambush them and knock them out."

Zhang Chu'an: "Copy that."

The two assassins were following Zhang Chu'an up the mountain, and there were quite a few tourists heading to Mount Taishan. Killing someone when there were crowds would disrupt the K2 organization's next plan — after seeing Zhang Chu'an walk into the dense forest.

The two assassins followed closely, but Mount Taishan's terrain was complex, and they could never get a silenced pistol aimed at Zhang Chu'an.

Suddenly, the two men's vision went black and they passed out on the spot. Looking at the unconscious assassins, the four of them stripped off their clothes to make sure there were no weapons, then bound them with their hands behind their backs.

Zhang Chu'an let out a breath of relief: "Phew, finally dealt with. Being followed by those two assassins was really uncomfortable."

Nie Huaishang said, frowning tightly, "It's not over yet. Knowing their temperament, they'll definitely make a move against your families."

A cold glint surged in Zhang Chu'an's eyes. The parental affection of these past ten-plus years was no idle talk. If k2 dared to touch his family, even if it meant exposing his Golden Light Incantation and thunder arts, he would slaughter the entire organization.

Nie Huaishang patted Zhang Chu'an's shoulder and said, "Don't be nervous. They won't kill anyone in the city for now — after all, that would disrupt their plans later on."

"But we absolutely cannot let them off easy. Guo Jing, call Captain Gao and have him look into it."

No sooner had Nie Huaishang finished speaking than Guo Jing pulled out his phone and dialed Old Dog-Gao's number.