Xu Yuan and Yang Xiaobing exchanged a glance.
Both of them understood.
Someone was making trouble behind the scenes!
“Hmph, to think someone would dare spread rumors like that and try to trick me—I’m going to investigate properly and find out who it was!”
Yang Xiaobing clenched her little fists and said indignantly.
“Don’t take it to heart. Focus on preparing for the monthly exam. If you do badly, your parents will definitely come knocking on my door,” Xu Yuan said.
“I know. This monthly exam is pretty important. You have to work hard too.” Yang Xiaobing patted him on the shoulder.
She skipped along beside Xu Yuan. On the back of her white-and-blue school uniform, the four large characters “Pursue Excellence” swayed back and forth along with her ponytail.
A breeze blew over.
Under the streetlights, the dim yellow glow fell across her pure, flawless face, turning into a cluster of light.
Youth was dazzling.
Xu Yuan grinned, suddenly feeling that it was truly wonderful to have come back to life.
Yang Xiaobing turned and leaned in front of him, saying mysteriously,
“I’m going to tell you something. Don’t tell anyone else.”
“What?” Xu Yuan asked.
“I can use three talismans at the same time now.” Yang Xiaobing lifted her chin, her face full of an expression that said, Hurry up and praise me.
Qi Refining had nine levels in total.
At the first and second levels of Qi Refining, one’s spiritual power was limited, and it was impossible to activate three talismans at the same time.
—She had broken through to the third level of Qi Refining.
“Congratulations! You’ll have to treat me to a big meal!”
Xu Yuan said with a smile.
“Hehe, that’s not the important part.” Yang Xiaobing covered her mouth and laughed smugly.
“Don’t keep me in suspense,” Xu Yuan said.
Yang Xiaobing leaned close to his ear and whispered,
“I went to take the independent admissions tests for Jiuyao and Luofu. They praised me for having exceptional talent in talisman arts and spiritual plants.”
Xu Yuan glanced at the girl in surprise.
Jiuyao and Luofu were similar to Tsinghua and Peking University back on Earth.
With talent like Yang Xiaobing’s, her future was bound to be limitless. By the time she graduated from university, reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment was practically guaranteed.
At the Foundation Establishment stage, one no longer feared ordinary hot weapons; one could defend or escape at any time.
At the peak of Foundation Establishment, one could even fly.
If she could go even further and become a Golden Core cultivator—
Then it would truly be: “Once a Golden Core is swallowed into my belly, my fate is mine, not Heaven’s.”
High-level cultivators were practically at the very top of the world.
“What did you do during the test? Is it convenient to say?”
Xu Yuan asked in a low voice.
“I used talismans to stack together a paper person as tall as me, painted it to look like me, and it lived for two days,” Yang Xiaobing also whispered.
“What else?” Xu Yuan asked again.
“I also grew a new species of plant that can spit fireballs to attack,” Yang Xiaobing said proudly.
Xu Yuan nodded.
Got it.
Plants vs. Zombies.
He remembered that when he died, all kinds of plant tower-defense minigames had been popular on Earth.
With such fashionable cultivation abilities, getting into Tsinghua or Peking University made sense.
That said—
Information related to independent admissions tests was very useful intelligence.
Moreover, it belonged to a cultivator’s own secrets.
For Yang Xiaobing to be willing to reveal these things meant she truly did not treat Xu Yuan as an outsider!
“I’ll treat you to a meal later.”
As he always had, Xu Yuan rubbed the girl’s head.
The girl immediately dodged away, holding her head with both hands as she said unhappily, “Stop touching my hair all the time. I told you this because I want to make an agreement with you.”
“What?” Xu Yuan asked.
“Team up with me for the group battle, got it? Don’t let the rumors affect you,” Yang Xiaobing said.
“Fine. No matter who’s trying to cause trouble, it won’t work,” Xu Yuan said in a definite tone.
The two exchanged a glance, and Yang Xiaobing was the first to laugh.
They had grown up together since childhood. Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, she seemed very happy.
Xu Yuan also understood in his heart.
The love letter had been sent out, and only three days later was it rejected.
It could not even be counted as a rejection.
Yang Xiaobing hoped that Xu Yuan could become a Qi Refining cultivator, and had even encouraged him!
In that case.
She must have been struggling inwardly as well!
That fake love letter had not only struck a blow against him, it had also affected her!
Who exactly did it…
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes, silently examining his memories, trying to find some clues.
“Oh, right. I ran into Jiang Xueyao at the independent admissions test. We had a pretty good chat, and she also invited me to team up with her.”
Yang Xiaobing tugged at Xu Yuan’s sleeve and chattered on.
“Oh?”
Xu Yuan’s expression shifted.
—Jiang Xueyao was a true child of heaven.
She had been the first to awaken qi sense, had officially stepped onto the path of cultivation in her first year of high school, and often participated in various university competitions.
She was the number one high school student in Jiangbei Commandery.
It could be said that in the entire Jiangnan Province, there were not many people who could compare with her.
“She wants to join us?” Xu Yuan asked.
“She’s already formed a team with someone else,” Yang Xiaobing said.
“Then don’t worry about her—you, me, Zhao Afei, and then we’ll find one more person to make a four-person team. How does that sound?” Xu Yuan asked.
“Zhao Afei, that rich guy? Sure!”
Yang Xiaobing agreed readily.
—At last, one troublesome matter was resolved!
Xu Yuan let out a breath of relief.
He did not know where danger would appear from.
So right now, he was checking for omissions and making up for weaknesses, bit by bit accumulating advantages and initiative.
Even the tiniest matter could not be neglected!
Moreover, after winning this competition and resolving his crisis, he would continue to throw himself into his studies and take the college entrance exam.
This was also preparation for the college entrance exam in advance!
“Xiaobing, come here!”
Under a large tree by the roadside, someone suddenly called out.
A boy and a girl stood there.
The boy was elegant and handsome, tall and striking.
The girl’s beauty was simply enough to bring ruin to a nation, her entire body exuding an aloofness that seemed cut off from the world.
The one who had spoken was the boy.
“Your friend is calling you. I’ll head off first,” Xu Yuan said.
“Okay. Send my regards to Auntie,” Yang Xiaobing knew he had something to do and nodded.
Xu Yuan waved, turned around, and soon left the school, walking in the direction of the hospital.
Yang Xiaobing walked over beneath the big tree and greeted the boy:
“Song Huaijin, what did you call me for?”
“Have you thought it over?” Song Huaijin had both hands in his pockets, his back leaning against the tree as he said, “Our team is only missing an excellent talisman master like you.”
“Sorry, I’ve teamed up with someone else.” Yang Xiaobing shook her head.
Song Huaijin said in surprise, “We have Jiang Xueyao on our team, and you’re actually choosing someone else?”
“I have a friend whose swordsmanship and physical techniques are also very strong. I just happen to be teaming up with him,” Yang Xiaobing said with a smile.
“Who?” Song Huaijin asked.
“Xu Yuan,” Yang Xiaobing said openly.
Song Huaijin pressed a hand against the long sword at his waist and said disdainfully,
“How about I spar with him? Whoever wins gets to team up with you. What do you think?”
He looked in the direction Xu Yuan had left.
—If he acted now, he should still be able to catch up to that brat.
Just in time to make him sober up a little and learn his place.
A girl as good as Yang Xiaobing should not—
Thud!
A muffled sound rang out.
Caught completely off guard, Song Huaijin was sent flying seven or eight meters by a powerful burst of qi. He drew his sword in anger and shouted,
“Yang Xiaobing, what are you doing!”
The smile on Yang Xiaobing’s face vanished.
Two talismans glowing with spiritual light were held between her fingers. Her willow-like brows rose as she said,
“It’s my freedom who I team up with. Why are you provoking him?”
“Xiaobing, we’re already in our third year of high school. Every monthly exam is important. You can’t always let yourself be dragged down,” Song Huaijin said in a sincere tone.
“As for that thick-skinned brat—”
He drew his long sword, his gaze locking onto the direction Xu Yuan had left.
The moment that sword was drawn, waves of white, frost-like mist emanated from its edge, and even the ground began to freeze over.
Seeing this, Yang Xiaobing’s fingers trembled, and the talismans brimming with spiritual light were immediately replaced.
A black talisman quietly appeared in her hand.
“You want to fight him? Beat me first!”
Her gaze turned icy.
With a series of crackling sounds, long arcs of lightning surged out from the talisman, linking together into a long line that drooped to the ground.
Yang Xiaobing pinched that talisman between her fingers as though gripping a long whip of lightning!
Song Huaijin looked at the talisman, then at the long sword in his hand, somewhat unable to back down.
—Thunder-Summoning Talisman.
Thunder was an extremely powerful force of nature. If he was struck by it, the consequences were unpredictable.
“That’s enough, Huaijin.”
The girl beneath the tree suddenly spoke.
As soon as she did, Song Huaijin took the opportunity to sheathe his sword and said tepidly,
“I’m doing this for Xueyao’s sake.”
After saying that, he turned and left.
“Xueyao, thank you.” Yang Xiaobing put away the talisman and said gratefully.
That girl was none other than Jiang Xueyao, whom she and Xu Yuan had discussed earlier.
The high school girl whose name shook Jiangnan Province.
In her first year of high school, the very first time she touched a sword, she awakened qi sense.
In her second year, she was already able to fight her swordsmanship teacher to a draw.
By her third year, with a single sword, she had swept through Jiangbei Commandery and even the entire Jiangnan Province, unable to find any high school student as her opponent.
“This monthly exam is an eight-school joint exam. Both Jiuyao and Luofu place great importance on the results of this exam.”
Jiang Xueyao said faintly.
“So?” Yang Xiaobing asked.
“Think more for yourself. Don’t let your sympathy overflow,” Jiang Xueyao said.
Seeing that she spoke sincerely, Yang Xiaobing softened her tone as well and said quietly,
“Xu Yuan has worked very hard all these years. He isn’t inferior to anyone.”
“He hasn’t even awakened qi sense. That counts as hard work?” Jiang Xueyao shook her head.
“He’s already at the first level of Qi Refining—he’s just always buried himself in cultivation, never registered it with the school, and never showed off,” Yang Xiaobing said.
Jiang Xueyao said in surprise, “Really? How is his combat level?”
“With me supporting him, he’s absolutely amazing.” Yang Xiaobing confidently gave a thumbs-up.
On the other side.
As Xu Yuan walked along the road, he suddenly sneezed.
“I couldn’t have caught a cold, right? Can someone in the Qi Refining realm catch a cold?”
He muttered.
Suddenly, several lines of faintly glowing small text quietly appeared before his eyes:
“Please take note.”
“Your branch history has been publicized by witness Yang Xiaobing.”
“This branch history has now officially joined the main history.”
“Everything in the next three days is about to begin undergoing unknown deviations.”