Chapter 23: Countdown to the College Entrance Examination

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Two weeks later.

Early in the morning.

As usual, Chen Yu came out of “Portal” Square and went straight to the martial arts school.

He would pay the fee, enter, and do the tests… after a round of routine processes, his comprehensive strengths would be displayed on the screen in numerical form.

Internal strength:

 [111GF/h]

 [Warrior level: 0.74]

 [Rating: Not up to standard]

Strength (Not empowered by internal strength):

 [527 kg]

 [Warrior level: 1.05]

 [Rating: Mainstream]

Explosive power (Not empowered by internal strength):

 [43m/s]

 [Warrior level: 1.1]

 [Rating: Mainstream]

Neural response:

 [0.0994s]

 [Warrior level: 1.03]

 [Rating: Mainstream]

In addition to that, several other of his physical attributes were also hovering around the Level 1 warrior standard.

To put it simply, in a situation where there was no outburst of internal strength at all, he was already comparable to an ordinary Level 1 warrior on a 50-50 scale based on his physique alone.

Admittedly, his “gains” from the radiation were still quite significant.

But as his physical attributes continued to strengthen, they continued to decrease sharply in terms of growth.

Two weeks’ time passed by in a flash, as though in a snap of fingers, and Chen Yu gradually hit a “bottleneck.”

In the Foreign Realm, even if he took off his protective suit, the growth of his physical attributes would still only be limited to double-digit figures.

This was quite like a Level 1 warrior constantly initiating outbursts of internal strength to resist radiation, hence he naturally received a limited amount of radiation.

In recent days, Chen Yu had begun considering if he should continue to go deeper.

The deeper one ventured into the source of radiation, the higher the risk of running into danger.

This was a hard choice to make.

The Foreign Realm had never been a safe place…

With respect to internal strength, his speed of “cultivation” was also gradually slowing down.

The strengthening of his physique, as well as the expansion of his abdominal Sea of Qi, would further mitigate the “harm” of cigarettes.

Today, as Chen Yu smoked a Harbin brand cigarette, he came to realize that every inhalation would only increase the value of his internal strength by around 10 points.

One could easily figure out that it wouldn’t be long before “smoking to get rich” would be a thing of the past.

He should think about what his next “cultivation” method would be…

“There are still 16 days left until the college entrance examination, so it shouldn’t be a problem to break through Level 1 as planned. But after that…”

“Sigh.”

“It’s so hard…”

Chen Yu left the martial arts school sighing. Heading down the sidewalk, he returned to the cigarette store.

There were only 16 days left until the college entrance examination.

The atmosphere in Green City was gradually getting more festive.

All kinds of lanterns, slogans, and banners were hung up on both sides of the street.

From time to time, at certain road intersections, people could even see heavily armed police vehicles.

In this highly militarized world of China, the most important festival every year was not the Spring festival, but rather, the July 7 college entrance examination.

The outcome of this examination was a representation of the next batch of specially gifted talents born to the entire nation.

The hope of human survival would thus be increased by another point…

On the day of the college entrance examination, regardless of what city, the streets and alleys would be empty.

Public squares, bars, hotels… So long as there were places showing a live broadcast of the college entrance examination, they would be crowded with people.

And on the actual examination grounds, a seat in the first row could fetch an astronomical price of more than a hundred thousand bucks.

Men and women, old and young, would all be immersed in this annual “carnival of revelry,” where they would all gather together to anticipate the birth of a top scorer.

At this point in time, it was just a dozen or so days left until the college entrance examination. The unruly civilians were becoming exceptionally, but needlessly, excited, and they were growing more and more restless. As a result, the public security department had no choice but to continuously station more policemen all around.

Under the influence of this atmosphere, Chen Yu also couldn’t help becoming excited.

This time, he had to participate in the college entrance examination.

He might even win the title of top scorer.

This was why even though he was trying his best to control himself and stay calm, he couldn’t help but feel hot all over at the thought of what becoming the top scorer of the examination and having the entire city cheering and surrounding him would be like.

…

Back at the cigarette store.

Entering through the front door and going upstairs, he found that Sister Qi was already out of bed and preparing breakfast.

“Good morning.”

“Mmm. Finished with your morning training?”

“Yes, done.”

“Just in time. I just finished preparing breakfast.” Sister Qi untied her apron and said, “Hurry up and eat.”

“It’s barely even eight o’clock, isn’t it?” Chen Yu pulled out his phone and took a look at the time, then asked, “So early?”

“I have an appointment with a classmate today. He works in the Education Bureau and should be able to resolve your issue of attending school. If even he can’t find a solution to this problem, then we’ll be left with no choice but to search for a school outside the city.”

Hearing this, Chen Yu hesitated for a moment and said, “If there’s really nothing we can do, then forget it.”

“What do you mean, forget it? How can we just forget it?” Sister QI raised her chin and said, “I’m very stubborn. The more I’m not allowed to do something, the more I want to do it! I don’t believe I can’t f*cking handle the principals of those high schools.”

Chen Yu: “…” (speechless)

“Eat. Hurry up and eat. I need to leave early…”

After wolfing down a few mouthfuls of food, Sister Qi picked up her bag and left.

She walked out hurriedly.

Chen Yu lowered his head, looked at the remaining food on the table, and smacked his lips.

From a humanistic point of view, this lady boss was undoubtedly a good person through-and-through.

She was so good that she made someone so thick-skinned like Chen Yu feel embarrassed.

In fact, he already had a plan in mind.

If there were still no developments with Sister Qi’s help, when his internal strength completely broke into Level 1, he would find a random high school and take the initiative to go to the school’s management to promote himself.

As long as he could demonstrate his strength before the management team, he was convinced that those high schools would make an exception for him and admit him into their schools…

He finished his breakfast and washed the dishes.

Then he went downstairs to open the store.

As usual, he put 1,000 yuan into the cash register, took out a pack of Harbin cigarettes, and started the day’s cultivation.

At times, he would also lament how he was indeed quite “diligent.”

When it came to undergoing the operation of immersing one’s head into a “smoke jar,” people who had never experienced it before would never really know how terribly uncomfortable it was.

[Subjected to an attack by malignant gases: Internal strength +94]

[Subjected to an attack by malignant gases: Lung health +7; Physical health +5; Physique +7; Immunity +4…]

“Smoking ten cigarettes in one go. I can only gain an additional 90 points.” Inside the glass cabinet, Chen Yu squinted his eyes as he inhaled and exhaled clouds of smoke.

“Is there anything more ‘effective’ than cigarettes…”

“Buzz… Buzz… Buzz…”

Just then, his phone vibrated.

“Mmm?”

Chen Yu frowned. He took out his phone and put it into the cabinet, then answered the call, annoyed.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s your mother.”

“I… Oh, mother.”

“Mmm.”

“What is it?” Chen Yu took a deep breath, and as he puffed out a stream of smoke, he said, “I’m studying now, so I’m a little busy.”

“I know you’re busy.” Mrs. Chen hesitated. Then she said, “I didn’t want to call you, actually. But I thought you should be quite concerned about this matter as well, so I decided to call you.”

“What is it?”

“Your sister…” Mrs. Chen was silent for a moment. Then she said, “Is getting engaged.”

Chen Yu exclaimed, “What?!”