Tang Qi and her group walked quickly along the corridor, turning a corner.
They ran into Astret, who was carrying a black long spear on his back and walking towards them.
Tang Qi hadn't expected to meet Astret again. After a slight pause, she quickly reacted and asked,
"Ready to go home?"
"Training's over. I want to go back early and prepare a bit more."
"Alright then, good luck with the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam tomorrow, but remember to pay attention to your own safety too."
Although she secretly felt that Astret, with only an E-rank ability, was overestimating himself by participating in the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam,
Tang Qi still offered a word of encouragement, as he was her cousin after all.
"Okay, Sister Qi, you too."
Astret grinned, showing a brilliant smile, then brushed past her and left.
Tang Qi and her companions didn't stop, continuing their search for the source of that power.
There weren't many training rooms nearby, only eight.
So, Tang Qi and her group didn't take much effort to find the training room Astret had used.
When they saw the spiderweb-like shattered walls inside the training room, all four of them widened their eyes.
Even Tang Qi, who was usually cool-headed, had her mouth slightly agape.
"Good heavens, even the memory metal was shattered. How strong was that attack?"
The young man in a white casual suit exclaimed with an exaggerated expression.
"From the residual energy, I can still feel that incredibly violent power.
The one who unleashed this attack, even if not a Tier 2 ability user, must definitely be a peak Tier 1!"
The earring-wearing youth, who had awakened a mental ability, also said with a serious expression.
"Peak Tier 1? Or even possibly Tier 2? Do we have such a strong high school student in Jiang City?"
Xiao Ya looked incredulous.
"It shouldn't be a high school student. It might be an ability user who wasn't aware of the rules, mistakenly entered the third floor, and used the training room for a power test."
Tang Qi shook her head.
"That's right, an attack of this intensity couldn't possibly be achieved by a high school student."
"A peak Tier 1, even a genius from the provincial capital couldn't do it. It's impossible for such a person to appear in our Jiang City."
The others also breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
Just the few ability user candidates in Jiang City already made them feel immense pressure. If there were candidates who reached Tier 2,
then this group of candidates, who had spent countless resources yet weren't even ability users, might as well buy a block of tofu and bash their heads in.
"Hey, just now, only Astret walked this way. You guys, do you think this attack could have been caused by him?"
"Astret is actually a super genius, just secretly hiding his strength, waiting to amaze everyone in tomorrow's college entrance exam?"
Xiao Ya blinked, suddenly fantasizing.
"You've watched too many web novels about pretending to be weak, haven't you? You can even come up with something so outrageous."
The earring-wearing youth was a bit speechless, "To hide strength, one must also have the conditions to hide strength. An E-rank ability awakener would be doing well to have an attack intensity of 300 calories."
"The corridors on both sides of this place lead outside. That powerful ability user must have left from the other side, which is why we didn't encounter him."
Ability rankings are not determined out of thin air, but based on developmental potential.
An E-rank ability, from its very root, limits Astret's upper potential.
"That's true too."
Xiao Ya thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
And Tang Qi, who had been listening to the whole conversation, thought of the tall figure who had just left. A sudden, unfounded doubt arose in her heart about her previous certainty:
Was Astret really overestimating himself by participating in the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam?
...The liberal arts college entrance exam in Jiang City was held in the teaching buildings of various middle schools.
The martial arts college entrance exam, however, was held in the military zone near the outskirts.
Students needed to gather at the municipal stadium first, and then be uniformly transported to the military zone.
The gathering time was 8 AM.
So, the next day, Astret woke up early and put on his gear.
In addition to the F-rank weapon, the Black Obsidian Spear, about 2.1 meters long, on his back, he also wore an F-rank black battle suit and black combat boots.
The battle suit and combat boots were made from fierce beast hide, making them very tough.
When fighting fierce beasts, they were not easily damaged and could also block some damage.
"Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, here I come!"
With a focused gaze, Astret strode out of his room, his steps steady... Jiang City, Jinxiu Community.
This was a famous villa community in Jiang City.
Inside one of the villas, Tang Qi finished breakfast, put on her gear, and was about to leave when she was suddenly stopped by a noble lady who looked seven or eight parts similar to her:
"Xiao Qi, you and Xiao Ming are in the same exam hall, right?"
"Mom, didn't I tell you last time? There's only one martial arts college entrance exam hall in all of Jiang City, so of course, we're in the same exam hall."
While answering, Tang Qi was also performing her final equipment check.
She had awakened a special B-rank ability, Shadow Cat.
When her ability was activated, her physique, flexibility, and reaction speed would all greatly improve.
Therefore, the weapon she chose was a relatively flexible dagger.
Her battle suit was also form-fitting and lightweight.
"Then if you happen to meet Xiao Ming in the exam hall, help him out if you can.
After all, your cousin only has an E-rank ability, and it's too dangerous for him in the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam."
The noble lady couldn't help but instruct, "Also, you must pay attention to your own safety. Even if your score is a bit lower, don't force yourself to fight high-level fierce beasts."
Although Tang Qi really wanted to say that the martial arts college entrance exam map was huge and the probability of encountering him after entering the exam hall was almost zero,
she still nodded, seeing the worry in her mother's eyes: "Got it."
After saying that, and confirming that all her equipment was in order,
Tang Qi got into the car the driver had parked at the door and headed to the municipal stadium... Jiang City had three high schools, with a total of nearly three thousand third-year students.
Excluding the students taking the liberal arts college entrance exam, there were still 1,400 who were taking the martial arts college entrance exam.
To transport all these over 1,400 candidates to the exam site, the city dispatched nearly forty buses.
These forty-plus buses were neatly parked outside the municipal stadium, according to different schools and classes.
Arriving candidates simply needed to enter their corresponding bus.
"Son, for this martial arts college entrance exam, I don't ask for you to get a good score; the most important thing is to pay attention to safety!"
"Dad, I know."
"Daughter, be careful to protect yourself in the exam hall!"
"..."
Some of the candidates arriving at the municipal stadium were alone, while others were accompanied by their parents.
For those accompanied by parents, the most frequent admonition in the last few words before getting on the bus was to pay attention to safety.
Astret, who had just arrived at the municipal stadium, saw this scene from afar and couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
As an orphan in his previous life, he also yearned for parental love.
Unfortunately, even after transmigrating, he was still alone... Taking a deep breath, Astret composed himself.
Among the many buses, he found the bus for Class 5, Senior Year, of Jiang City Second High School, and walked straight onto it.
"Huh? Is that Astret? I never noticed it usually, but he looks quite handsome in a battle suit."
"Why didn't I notice his sharp demeanor before?"
"Oh, so handsome!"
"..."
Because of his predecessor's introverted personality, Astret was considered one of the most inconspicuous people in Class 5.
Even if he missed class one day, probably no one else would notice except his best friend Zhang Hao and the class teacher.
Of course, Astret's own conditions were very good; he was 1.86 meters tall and quite handsome.
It was just that his predecessor liked to slouch and his gaze was often evasive, which made him seem unremarkable.
Now that Astret had transmigrated, his eyes no longer darted around; instead, they were clear and bright, and he stood ramrod straight.
Coupled with a black battle suit and the thick, long, and fierce Black Obsidian Spear on his back,
he gave off a completely refreshed impression, appearing sharp and powerful.
This caused many girls on the bus to cast surprised and fervent gazes at him.
Seeing Astret walk up, the class teacher Chen Fan, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat and responsible for counting people, was also stunned.
But he quickly reacted and checked Astret's name on the roll call.
As time slowly passed, the names on Class Teacher Chen Fan's roster were gradually filled. When the last Class 5 student participating in the martial arts college entrance exam arrived,
Class Teacher Chen Fan announced, "Everyone from Class 5 is here. Let's go."