Chapter 6: Before the Gaokao, a Completely Renewed Xu Jingming!

Tang Qi and her group walked briskly along the corridor, turning a corner.

They ran into Xu Jingming, who was walking toward them with a black spear strapped to his back.

Tang Qi hadn't expected to run into Xu Jingming again. After a brief pause, she quickly recovered and asked:

"Heading home?"

"Training's done. I want to get back early and prep a bit more."

"Alright then. Good luck on the Wu Ke Gaokao tomorrow, but remember to look out for your own safety too."

Although in her heart she felt that Xu Jingming, with only an E-rank ability, taking the Wu Ke Gaokao was biting off more than he could chew.

But he was her cousin after all, so Tang Qi still offered a word of encouragement.

"Got it, Sis Qi. You do your best too."

Xu Jingming broke into a wide grin, flashing a brilliant smile, then brushed past them and left.

Tang Qi and the others didn't stop either, continuing to search for the source of that burst of power from earlier.

There weren't many training rooms in this area—only eight in total.

So it didn't take Tang Qi's group much effort to find the training room Xu Jingming had used.

When they saw the walls inside the training room, shattered like a spider's web, all four of them stared wide-eyed.

Even Tang Qi, usually so cool-headed, gaped slightly.

"Holy crap—even the memory metal got blasted apart. How intense must that attack have been?"

The young man in a white casual outfit exclaimed, his expression exaggerated.

"From the residual energy, I can still feel that incomparably violent force.

Whoever launched that attack—even if they aren't a second-tier ability user, they must be at the peak of first-tier!"

The earring-wearing youth, who had awakened a psychic-type ability, said with a solemn expression.

"Peak of first-tier? Or even possibly second-tier? Jiangcheng has a Gao Zhongsheng this strong?"

Xiao Ya's face was full of disbelief.

"It probably wasn't a Gao Zhongsheng. Maybe some ability user didn't know the rules and wandered into the third floor by mistake, using the training room to test their strength."

Tang Qi shook her head.

"Fair point. An attack of this intensity couldn't possibly come from a Gao Zhongsheng."

"Peak of first-tier—even the geniuses in the provincial capital can't manage that. There's no way someone like that would appear in our Jiangcheng."

The others breathed a sigh of relief at that.

Just the few ability-user examinees from Jiangcheng alone were already crushing pressure—if there was an examinee who'd reached second-tier,

then their whole group, who'd burned through god knows how many resources yet weren't even ability users yet, might as well buy a block of tofu and bash their heads in.

"Hey, just now only Xu Jingming walked past from this direction. What if he was the one who caused this attack?"

"What if Xu Jingming's actually a super genius who's been hiding his strength in the dark, just waiting to wow everyone at tomorrow's Gaokao?"

Xiao Ya blinked, suddenly letting her imagination run wild.

"Read too many 'pretend to be the pig to eat the tiger' web novels, huh? You can even come up with something that ridiculous."

The earring-wearing youth was speechless. "Hiding strength requires the conditions to hide it. An E-rank ability awakener's attack power would be impressive to hit 300 ka."

"This place has corridors on both sides leading outside. That powerful ability user probably left from the other side, which is why we didn't run into them."

Ability ratings aren't pulled out of thin air—they're assessed based on development potential.

An E-rank ability, from the very root, has capped Xu Jingming's ceiling.

"Fair enough." Xiao Ya thought it over and nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Tang Qi, who'd been listening the whole time, thought of that upright figure who'd just left, and a sudden, baseless doubt crept into her earlier certainty:

Is Xu Jingming really biting off more than he can chew by taking the Wu Ke Gaokao?

Jiangcheng's liberal-arts Gaokao was held in the various high schools' teaching buildings.

The Wu Ke Gaokao, on the other hand, was held at a military district on the outskirts.

Students needed to first gather at the city stadium, then be transported together to the military district.

Assembly time was eight in the morning.

So, the next day, Xu Jingming got up early, dressed in a full set of gear.

Besides the F-rank weapon, the Obsidian Spear, about two meters and one long, strapped to his back, he also wore an F-rank black combat suit and black combat boots.

The combat suit and boots were both made from fierce-beast hide, extremely tough.

When fighting and clashing with fierce beasts, they didn't tear easily and could also block part of the damage.

"Wu Ke Gaokao, here I come!"

His gaze sharpened. Xu Jingming strode out the door, his steps steady and firm.

Jiangcheng, Jinxiu Residential Compound.

This place was a famous villa compound in Jiangcheng.

Inside one of the villas, Tang Qi had just finished breakfast, geared up, and was about to head out.

She was suddenly called by a noblewoman who looked seventy to eighty percent like her:

"Xiao Qi, you're in the same exam hall as Xiao Ming, right?"

"Mom, didn't I tell you last time? The whole of Jiangcheng only has one Wu Ke Gaokao exam hall, so of course we're in the same one."

As she answered, Tang Qi was also doing her final gear check.

She had awakened a special-type B-rank ability: Shadow Cat.

Once her ability activated, her physique, flexibility, and reaction speed would all improve dramatically.

Therefore, the weapon she'd chosen was also a dagger, which was more agile to use.

The battle suit also leaned toward being form-fitting and lightweight.

"If you run into Xiaoming at the exam site, help him out if you can.

After all, your cousin only has an E-rank ability, so the Wu Ke Gaokao is far too dangerous for him." The noble lady couldn't help but urge, "Also, pay attention to your own safety. Even if your results are a bit worse, don't force yourself to fight high-rank ferocious beasts."

Although Tang Qi really wanted to say that the Wu Ke Gaokao map was huge, and the probability of running into him after entering the exam site was almost zero.

But seeing the worry in her mother's eyes, she still nodded: "Got it."

After saying that, once she confirmed there were no problems with her full set of equipment.

Tang Qi got into the sedan the driver had parked at the door and set off for the city stadium.

Jiangcheng had a total of three high schools, and all the Gao San students combined numbered roughly three thousand.

Apart from the students taking the liberal arts Gaokao, another fourteen hundred were all taking the Wu Ke Gaokao.

To deliver all fourteen hundred-plus examinees to the test site, the city dispatched roughly forty-plus buses.

These forty-plus buses, arranged by different schools and classes, were neatly parked outside the city stadium.

Arriving examinees only needed to board the corresponding bus.

"Son, for this Wu Ke Gaokao I don't ask how good your results are — the most important thing is to pay attention to safety!"

"Dad, I know."

"Daughter, pay attention to protecting yourself at the exam site!"

"......"

Among the examinees arriving at the city stadium, some were alone, while others were accompanied by their parents.

For those accompanied by parents, among the last few words before seeing them onto the bus, the most frequent admonition was to pay attention to safety.

Xu Jingming, who had just arrived at the city stadium, saw this scene from afar — to say he wasn't envious would be impossible.

Having been an orphan in his previous life, he too longed for his parents' love.

Unfortunately, after transmigrating, he was still all alone......

Taking a deep breath, Xu Jingming gathered his emotions.

Among the many buses, he found the one for Jiangcheng No. 2 High School, Gao San Class 5, and walked straight up.

"Huh? Is that Xu Jingming? You couldn't tell usually — who knew he'd look quite handsome once he put on a battle suit."

"How did I never notice his aura was this sharp before?"

"Ooh, so handsome!"

"......"

Because of his predecessor's introverted personality, in Class 5, Xu Jingming counted as the most unremarkable type.

Even if he skipped class one day, aside from his sworn brother Zhang Hao and the homeroom teacher, probably no one else would notice.

Of course, Xu Jingming's own conditions were very good — one meter eighty-six tall, and fairly handsome in appearance.

It was just that his predecessor liked to slouch, and his gaze was rather evasive, which is why he seemed unremarkable.

Now that Xu Jingming had transmigrated over, his gaze was no longer evasive, but instead clear and spirited, and his body stood ramrod straight.

Add to that a black battle suit, and the thick, long, and ferocious Black Yao spear strapped to his back.

The feeling he gave people was completely transformed — appearing sharp and powerful.

Drawing surprised and burning gazes from quite a few girls on the bus.

Watching Xu Jingming walk up, the homeroom teacher Chen Fan, who sat in the passenger seat in charge of tallying numbers, was also taken aback.

But he quickly came back to himself and ticked off Xu Jingming's name on the sign-in roster.

As time slowly passed, the names on homeroom teacher Chen Fan's roster were gradually filled in. After the last Class 5 student taking the Wu Ke Gaokao arrived.

Homeroom teacher Chen Fan also announced: "Class 5 is all here. Let's set off."