In the days that followed, because no one was willing to duel him anymore, Zhao Xuan had no choice but to obediently rely on his own training.
News of Zhao Xuan sweeping through the top students quickly faded from everyone's minds — the college entrance exam (gaokao) was fast approaching, and that alone pushed everything else aside.
The campus returned to its usual quiet.
All the seniors about to sit the gaokao poured every ounce of energy into the final sprint. As the saying went: sharpening the spear at the last moment still shines.
After more than ten days of intense cramming, almost every student had improved somewhat. A very small number, thanks to solid prior foundation, saw significant leaps in strength.
If ordinary students could improve this way, it was even more true for Zhao Xuan — who had the system on his side. After more than ten days of grueling training, his progress skyrocketed.
[Heavenly Rewards Diligence System]
Name: Zhao Xuan
Age: 18
Spiritual Power: 42.77 / 42.77
Physique: 206.45 / 206.45
Abilities:
Tempest Kick (Rankyaku): Proficiency 76 / 200
Iron Body (Tekkai) — Proficiency: 143 / 200
Paper Art (Paper Drawing) — Proficiency: 136 / 200
Moon Step (Geppo) — Proficiency: 87 / 200
Storm Kick (Rankyaku / Lanjiao) — Proficiency: 119 / 200
Finger Pistol (Shigan) — Proficiency: 79 / 200
Swordsmanship — Proficiency: 36 / 200
Armament Haki (Busoshoku Haki) — Beginner: 628 / 1000
Azure Dragon Fruit — Proficiency: 12 / 2000
During those ten-odd days, Zhao Xuan devoted almost all his time to the Azure Dragon Fruit ability. Effort brings reward: he successfully raised the Azure Dragon Fruit's proficiency to Skilled.
On reaching the Skilled threshold for the fruit ability, he received another Fruit Ability Baptism. The baptism caused his Physique to surge again — it doubled and broke past the two-hundred mark.
Zhao Xuan reckoned that with his current Physique, even if he didn't use Iron Body and just took Li Zhiwei's attacks, Li Zhiwei might not be able to pierce his defenses. If outsiders ever learned his Physique score, they'd be dumbstruck.
An eighteenth-grade student with two hundred Physique points — what did that even mean? Some weaker third-tier cultivators didn't even have three hundred.
And so, with everyone waiting, the gaokao arrived as scheduled.
On the 15th the whole day was culture (academic) exams. Morning: Chinese, Math; afternoon: Politics, History, Geography.
"Sigh, can't believe it — I transmigrated to another world and I still have to take language tests," Zhao Xuan muttered silently as he stared at the thick exam paper in the test hall.
But talk was cheap — he picked up his pen and got to work.
When he walked out of the academic exam hall, his expression wasn't great. He didn't expect his academic scores to be impressive.
"I'll have to rely on the upcoming martial exams to make up the difference!" he thought.
After the culture papers came the martial exams over the next few days.
On the 16th: morning — Tempest Kick (Rankyaku):, afternoon — Moon Step.
On the 17th: morning — Iron Body, afternoon — Storm Kick.
On the 18th: morning — Paper Art, afternoon — Finger Pistol.
From the 19th onward: the practical (live) combat assessments.
Scoring: culture = 200 points; each of the six styles = 100 points each (600 total); the practical combat = 200 points. Total = 1000 points.
Time flew. Three days later — the morning of the 19th — the practical combat test arrived.
Early that morning a bus pulled up to Tongcheng First High School. A group of student examiners from various universities in Nanjiang stepped down. They were all third-year university students, and all of them were third-tier cultivators.
Universities in this world were different from those in Zhao Xuan's previous life. To move from freshman to sophomore you had to break through to become a second-tier cultivator; from sophomore to junior required reaching third-tier; to go from junior to senior required mastering one form of Haki; to graduate smoothly you needed to become a fourth-tier cultivator.
Shortly after their arrival, the practical assessments began.
There were two ways to score high in the practical exam. The first was to endure as long as possible under the examiner's assault — the longer you held out, the higher your score. The second was to inflict as much damage as possible on the examiner — more damage, higher score. Defeating the examiner outright meant full marks.
"Must get full marks!!! Only a perfect score can compensate for how badly I might tank the culture exam!" Zhao Xuan clenched his fists, resolving iron-sharp.
"Yeah! I have to knock the examiner flat!"
His gaze was unwavering.
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