Chapter 53

Accompanied by a sudden voice, a group of four stepped out from the crowd.

The lead youth stood one meter eighty tall, wearing a white T-shirt and white trousers.

His build was slender, yet he radiated a faint sense of danger.

The three around him were either heavily built or grinning freely.

Each of them exuded an aura at least at First Rank Mid-level—clearly formidable individuals.

The white-clad youth at the front was Lei Zhou, second place in Jiangnan Province's Wu Ke Gaokao from Ning'an City No. 1 High School.

"Xu Jingming!"

Lei Zhou's face carried resentment.

His parents were both Fourth Rank adepts; he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth.

After awakening his A-rank elemental fire ability, Sēnrán Yèhuǒ (Dreadful Karmic Fire), at age sixteen,

he soared to fame, becoming a hotshot prodigy in Ning'an City, the provincial capital of Jiangnan.

He crushed every local prodigy, advancing from Awakened to First Rank Upper-level adept in just two years.

He became this year's top favorite to win Jiangnan Province's Wu Ke Gaokao.

And he truly lived up to expectations, scoring over nine thousand three hundred points on the exam.

Remember, last year's provincial top score was only eight thousand eight to nine hundred!

His nine thousand three hundred points effectively guaranteed him the provincial top rank.

Yet just as he believed his provincial top scholar status was certain, and the municipal education bureau and his family had already prepared victory banquets,

Xu Jingming emerged out of nowhere, claiming the Jiangnan provincial top scholar title with over eleven thousand points.

More importantly, Xu Jingming came from Jiangcheng, the impoverished north of Jiangnan Province!

Remember, Ning'an City, as the provincial capital, received the most educational resources from the province each year.

Yet this year's provincial top scholar came from Jiangcheng—the region with the least resources!

Thus, rumors spread in Ning'an that the municipal education bureau was incompetent, unable to even match a remote prefecture like Jiangcheng.

As a result, the Ning'an Municipal Education Bureau faced immense pressure.

He, once Ning'an's golden boy, suddenly fell from grace.

While studying Xu Jingming's Wu Ke Gaokao video, he discovered their actual combat abilities were nearly equal.

Xu Jingming gained those extra two thousand points simply by wiping out all the ferocious beasts in the core zone.

But in Ning'an, all examinees were strong; the core zone beasts were fought over fiercely—none were left for others!

Therefore, he had never let go of this grievance.

If he had taken the exam in Jiangcheng, he too might have scored over ten thousand points and claimed the provincial top scholar title!

So when he learned Xu Jingming had also enrolled at the Metropolis Adept University, Lei Zhou decided to issue a challenge.

He wanted to crush Xu Jingming underfoot.

To prove to Ning'an, to all of Jiangnan, that he wasn't weak—it was just the exam location!

In fact, he had already posted several challenge invitations on the school forum yesterday.

But received no response.

That's why he came here, to the freshman assembly, to issue a direct face-to-face challenge.

"Lei Zhou—I know him! He's Jiangnan Province's Wu Ke Gaokao second place!"

"Second place challenging first place? Interesting."

"Online rumors have suggested this year's Jiangnan provincial top scholar might have benefited from the exam location."

"Their actual combat abilities aren't that different—even Lei Zhou might be stronger."

"So that's why Lei Zhou is so eager to challenge him—he wants to prove himself."

"......"

Among the onlookers were students from Jiangnan Province who recognized Lei Zhou's identity.

They acted as informants, explaining to those around them.

Xu Jingming also pieced together the full story from fragments of the onlookers' chatter.

Yet even so, he showed no intention of accepting the challenge, shaking his head and refusing:

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

If before advancing to adept, he might have felt some desire to fight,

now that he had reached First Rank Lower-level adept and mastered the S-rank Lei Ting Bu Mie Shen, along with four A-rank combat techniques,

he could say that fighting Lei Zhou would be like an adult beating a child.

Even if he won, it would bring him not the slightest sense of accomplishment.

"Heh, not interested? I bet you're just scared of our Brother Lei."

"The school forum's been calling you the school's once-in-a-decade prodigy—I guess you're not that impressive after all."

"Forget it, Brother Lei, someone like this isn't worth your time."

"......"

Before Lei Zhou could speak, his companions began speaking in sarcastic tones.

"Don't talk nonsense—Xu Jingming isn't like that."

Lei Zhou feigned anger and snapped, then smiled coldly:

"Xu Jingming, I recall your aunt's family runs a business in rare flowers and exotic herbs, right?

Coincidentally, my family is currently your aunt's largest buyer—and we still owe you a large sum for goods.

If that payment isn't made on time, your aunt's business might face a bit of trouble."

The so-called rare flowers and exotic herbs are heavenly treasures that condense the essence of heaven and earth.

They can only be gathered in the wilderness zones, and each type has unique effects.

Either enhancing blood and qi, or enhancing spiritual power.

They are of great use to psychics, and many psychics are willing to pay high prices to buy them.

Therefore, there are many merchants across the country engaged in this business.

After the Wu Ke Gaokao results were announced, Lei Zhou discovered that Xu Jingming and his aunt Xu Qingwan had a close relationship.

So he had his family place a large order with Xu Qingwan's company, paying only the deposit and planning to withhold the final payment.

If the other side sues, dragging it out for one or two years, even if they win the case, the company will have already gone bankrupt and collapsed.

It was originally meant to trick Xu Jingming, but unexpectedly, it came in handy here.

Moreover, Lei Zhou knew that someone like Xu Jingming, who places great importance on family ties, could not possibly remain unmoved.

"Are you threatening me?"

Xu Jingming narrowed his eyes.

Merely with that one glance, Lei Zhou's heart lurched.

He felt as if he had been locked onto by a top-tier ferocious beast, every hair on his body standing on end.

Yet even so, he forced a calm expression and said:

"It's not a threat—just a friendly warning."

"Time and place."

Xu Jingming exhaled slowly, his clear black-and-white eyes filled with an unprecedented chill.

Nearby, Song Qiuyun, whose perception ability was extremely strong, sensed the violence hidden beneath that chill.

"Such violent energy—how did he manage this?"

Song Qiuyun's curiosity about this tall boy grew even stronger.

"Noon on the seventh day, Practice Arena Three,"

Seeing Xu Jingming take the bait, Lei Zhou replied directly.

"Fine, I'll be there. But I hope you won't regret it later."

Xu Jingming tossed out a cold remark and turned to leave.

Before coming to the Magu City Psychic University, he already knew his uncle's company had received a major order.

For this, his uncle's family worked nonstop, staying up for two full days and nights to complete the order.

They even said the profit from this single order would cover the company's entire annual expenses.

Who would have thought it was a trap laid in advance?

Since this matter arose because of him, he should be the one to end it.

"Xu Jingming accepted!"

"There'll be a big battle on Practice Arena Three in seven days!"

"Get there early to secure a good spot—after all, the provincial top scorer is going to appear."

"......"

The onlookers, of course, loved drama; seeing the two agree to a duel, they all grew excited.

They agreed to go together to the practice arena to watch the spectacle.

And this was precisely what Lei Zhou wanted.

He set the time seven days ahead precisely to let the news spread widely and attract more spectators.

Then, he would defeat Xu Jingming before the eyes of the crowd, achieving the ultimate sense of triumph!

"First, welcome all new students to Magu City Psychic University.

This new student assembly is not the official opening ceremony.

We've gathered you here to answer some questions and explain how to better use the school's resources.

First, your permission levels..."

After the interruption, the new student assembly officially began at nine o'clock.

On the stage in front of the playground, a male teacher spoke at length.

The main content was similar to what Zhang Chaoyang had said—credit system, dedicated mentor system, and so on.

But it was much more detailed.

Among the topics mentioned, the Combat Power Ranking sparked considerable interest in Xu Jingming.

The Combat Power Ranking was somewhat similar to the Fist Power List at Lei Ting Martial Arts Gym, but it tested students' actual combat ability.

It required the use of a device called the Virtual Immersion Pod, fighting within a holographic simulation battlefield.

The more stages one cleared, the higher their ranking.

And the final rewards were extremely generous.

"After the new student assembly ends, I should look into this Combat Power Ranking in detail."

Xu Jingming thought silently to himself.

After all, holographic immersion was a novel concept to him.

Next, the new student assembly continued for over an hour.

Except for the first half-hour, when the male teacher on stage spoke, the rest of the time was taken up by student questions.

After the new student assembly ended, Xu Jingming went to Teacher Yang Zhentian's villa.

In the villa's living room, his senior brother Liu Ming was already waiting.

"Let's go to the training room. I'll teach you fist techniques in the morning, and Teacher will teach you gun techniques in the afternoon."

Seeing Xu Jingming come in, Senior Brother Liu Ming took him straight to the training room.

In fact, according to the original plan, both the fist techniques and the spear techniques should have been taught by him.

But Xu Jingming's spear techniques had already reached Advanced, the same proficiency as his own.

Therefore, it could only be Teacher Yang Zhentian who taught them.

And so, Xu Jingming began training with Senior Brother Liu Ming.

Senior Brother Liu Ming was a senior-year student this year, his rank having reached the peak of Third Order.

His fist techniques, spear techniques, and saber techniques had all reached Advanced, and he possessed a Lightning-element A-rank ability — a true genius in every sense.

Under his instruction, Xu Jingming began his initial exposure to fist techniques.

And so, over the following stretch of time, Xu Jingming settled into a very regular life.

He got up at six-thirty in the morning and trained in the training room for an hour first.

At eight-thirty he arrived at Teacher Yang Zhentian's villa.

In the morning he studied fist techniques with Senior Brother Liu Ming; in the afternoon he studied spear techniques and some applications of Lightning-element abilities with the teacher.

Of course,

the senior brother and the teacher weren't there every day either, and when the two of them were absent, Xu Jingming trained on his own in the villa's training room.

Very quickly, seven days passed.

July 1st, eight-thirty in the morning — Xu Jingming arrived at Teacher Yang Zhentian's villa as usual.

"Let's go, to the training room."

Senior Brother Liu Ming was about to head to the training room with Xu Jingming when he suddenly sensed something was off.

His footsteps paused, and he turned back in surprise: "You've advanced?"

Xu Jingming didn't hide it; he smiled and nodded.

He had used the system to advance last night.

Previously, advancing from an Awakener to a First Order lower-tier ability user had cost him 300 ability points.

This time, advancing from First Order lower-tier to First Order mid-tier cost 386 ability points.

The fact that the ability-point consumption wasn't a round number also confirmed one of his guesses.

Namely, that using the system to advance consumed ability points on top of one's existing cultivation progress.

If he had been only a step away from First Order mid-tier, then the ability points consumed by using the system to advance might have been even lower!

Perhaps he could advance for fewer than 100 ability points.

This was also one of the reasons he busied himself with training every single day.

"It's only been how long, and you've already advanced?"

Liu Ming was stunned upon receiving confirmation.

He knew very well that when Xu Jingming had first come over, he had still been merely an Awakener.

Now less than half a month had passed, and he had broken straight through to First Order mid-tier!

What kind of monstrous cultivation speed was this?

One had to know that he himself, back in the day, had spent nearly a whole year going from Awakener to First Order mid-tier!

And even that had already earned him the label of a rare-once-in-a-while genius!

"I remember you have an arranged match with another new student at noon today?"

Liu Ming's expression shifted as he asked.

"Today at noon, twelve o'clock, Arena No. 3." Xu Jingming nodded.

He had mentioned this matter to Senior Brother Liu Ming once before.

"Alright, I'll observe three minutes of silence for your opponent…"

The corner of Liu Ming's mouth twitched.

Others might not know Xu Jingming's strength, but he, the senior brother who trained alongside him every day, certainly did.

After cultivating the Lei Ting Indestructible Body, Xu Jingming's physical strength alone was comparable to a Second Order fierce beast!

Combined with his already extremely polished Advanced spear techniques, he was ferociously overwhelming!

And that was still without Xu Jingming having used any abilities or combat skills.

By Liu Ming's estimate, Xu Jingming's overall strength could almost be counted as that of a Second Order upper-tier ability user!

Now that he had stepped into First Order mid-tier, his strength had been enhanced once again.

He didn't think there was any new student who could beat such an aberration.

"Good luck — after training later, your senior brother will head over with you."

Liu Ming patted Xu Jingming on the shoulder.

In truth, he was also very curious to see just how terrifying this junior brother's full-strength combat power truly was.