The girl named Shiyi responded with a nod. She wore a ponytail, her eyes and eyelashes were long, and her face was round, with cheeks puffed up like she was holding two small buns.

After Bai Pu left with Shiyi, the old principal wondered aloud: "Li Ling, what's Bai Pu's background? He's only attended school for a few days, and the Great Tang Group is willing to donate such expensive equipment. This is very peculiar."

Li Ling looked around and whispered: "Old Principal, this equipment is actually compensation given to Bai Pu by someone else, and Bai Pu has donated it to the school himself."

"Oh? Then why did he use the name of the Great Tang Group..."

Li Ling sighed lightly: "Bai Pu told me that if he donated in his own name, the school might mistakenly believe he's some wealthy benefactor and place too many material expectations on him, which would create unnecessary psychological burdens."

The old principal sighed softly: "This child is kind-hearted but overly cautious, imagining human nature to be too greedy."

Li Ling said: "It might be related to his upbringing. Bai Pu was abandoned by his parents at a young age and grew up in a shelter. Due to health reasons, he never had many friends and even dropped out of mandatory education to recuperate. He is very cautious of many people, including me."

Upon learning about Bai Pu's background, the old principal felt a pang of sympathy and said emotionally: "He's like a towering tree that grew from the weeds. Despite such a dark childhood, he has maintained a kind heart, which is rare! His excessive self-protection is only natural and nothing to criticize."

...

"Bai Pu, this is the classroom for the third year (3) class. You can come and listen to the lectures anytime."

"Bai Pu, this is the dormitory area. The school has arranged a dormitory for you. I'll take you to the gatekeeper to get the key."

"Bai Pu, up ahead is the cafeteria. You can use my meal card; there should be enough money for your meals in the next few days..."

Shiyi was quite lively, hopping along like a cheerful little deer.

Bai Pu's gaze seemed unfocused, but he was actually reciting textbook content in his mind while also listening to Shiyi explain the school's layout.

Shiyi handed the meal card to Bai Pu, which had a green sticker of a cartoon frog on it.

Bai Pu took the meal card and asked, "If I use your meal card, what will you do for your meals?"

Shiyi smiled, her slender eyes squinting: "My grandfather lives at the school, so I can join him for meals."

"When does this year's college entrance exam start?" Bai Pu asked as he pocketed the meal card.

"Oh my, you're the first candidate I've seen who doesn't know the date of the college entrance exam..." Shiyi teased. "The exam starts on June 7th and ends on the 9th. It hasn't changed in years."

"So, there are 12 days left," Bai Pu calculated.

"Yes, actually, at this point, no one is really focused on reviewing anymore. After three mock exams, we've learned what we needed. From now on, it's all about how well we perform on the day."

Shiyi suddenly exclaimed "Oh" as she realized, "You're an Awakened, so you'll be taking the Awakening Scroll, which is different from our ordinary exam. After taking the cultural subjects and virtual combat, you'll also have the 'Mirror Plane' Spirit Realm exploration test."

The Spirit Realm exploration test is held in the 'Mirror Plane' of the Spirit Realm.

The college entrance exam in Huaxia is a high-impact 'world event' that has been recognized by the Spirit Realm Will.

The Spirit Realm Will specially opened the 'Mirror Plane' and placed Awakened candidates in batches into multiple identical plane worlds. The findings from their exploration in the Mirror Plane would translate into their "Spirit Realm Exploration" scores.

Bai Pu already knew that the Spirit Realm Exploration score carried a very high weight, accounting for 60% of the total Awakening Scroll score! The other two areas, cultural subjects and virtual combat, each account for 20%.

Ultimately, the value of an Awakened is measured by their exploration ability in the Spirit Realm.

Bai Pu thought, this should be a major advantage for him.

After all, Bai Pu awakened too late. Although he had reached more than halfway to Level 2 through hard training in the Bone Mountain Range, it was impossible to reach Level 3 in the remaining 12 days.

The recently opened Boundary Land in the country did not have anything like the Bone Mountain Range, filled with nonsensical skeleton monsters.

Bai Pu's ability to clear monsters quickly was mainly due to the Flesh Armor's two-minute group magic damage effect. Any slightly intelligent enemy would run away when Bai Pu activated Flesh Armor. So, with other monster groups, Bai Pu really couldn't clear them quickly.

Consider that it took Qilin and others over a year to reach Level 3, showing how slow the level advancement is for an Awakened.

If the college entrance exam only tested hard strength, Bai Pu might not be a match for those elite rich second generations. Under the conditions of simulated combat, the second Talent of the Heart of Evolution—Pure Blood Protection—was reduced by more than half because there were no suitable monsters to enslave.

Now, with the Spirit Realm exploration subject, Bai Pu's confidence naturally increased significantly.

"However, I can't be too optimistic. I must acknowledge my deficiencies. My combat specialty is still a shortcoming. I only have an Advanced Level 1 Fighting Specialization and Advanced Level 1 Two-Handed Hammer Specialization, which is a clear gap compared to those prodigies who have been refining their combat skills since childhood."

The last time Bai Pu fought Assassin Fish Intestines, he temporarily experienced the Fight Specialization at Advanced Level 5 of Blood Hand Columbus Gundam, and its power left a lasting impression.

Fortunately, this time's journey in the Black Mist Valley yielded a large number of Life Source Points and preserved many strong genetic fragments from Skeleton Warriors and Bone Mages.

These Elite Level undead monsters have quite the combat specialization. For instance, many Skeleton Warriors have advanced Level 3 fighting specialization, and quite a few have advanced Level 3 two-handed sword specialization.

Bai Pu plans to utilize his third talent ability, the [Genetic Fragment], over the next few days to deeply experience combat with high specializations. This is akin to having countless teachers giving demonstrations and guidance, allowing Bai Pu to progress much faster than ordinary Awakened individuals.

...

Morning.

Shiyi, dressed in a blue sailor uniform, stood on the deserted playground, facing her personal information terminal, and started the accompaniment.

With the sunrise as her backdrop, she danced an energetic and lively dance.

"Video: Dancing in a sailor uniform, recording complete, ready to upload!"

Shiyi opened a certain short video platform and uploaded the sailor uniform dance video.

"So, you're a short video creator," Bai Pu's voice rang out.

Shiyi jumped in surprise. Seeing that it was Bai Pu, she couldn't help feeling both embarrassed and annoyed: "When did you get here, and why didn't you make any noise!"

"I got here earlier than you, but you just didn't notice me," Bai Pu curiously asked, "You're not shy about dancing for so many viewers online, why can't you do it in front of a classmate?"

"That's different!" Shiyi jumped up in response.

Bai Pu waved his hand: "No worries, you really don't have to mind. I was busy reciting my lessons and just glanced at you, didn't watch closely."

"..."

Watching Bai Pu walk away, Shiyi felt even more annoyed.

"I dance so beautifully, many fans online praise me as a favorite, and he was lucky enough to see me, yet he didn't even take a proper look!"

"He's such a typical straight guy with no appreciation for aesthetics!"

Reflecting on it, Shiyi recalled that lately, Bai Pu seemed to just cycle between the classroom, cafeteria, dormitory, and the virtual combat room, always very consistent.

As the college entrance exams approached, classmates had gradually become accustomed to this peculiar person on campus.

Every time Bai Pu walked into the classroom or cafeteria, the girls would sneak a glance at him, stifle their laughter, and sit up straight to reveal their gentle and elegant side.

Then they'd secretly glance back, checking if this bright and handsome young man had noticed them.

However, Bai Pu never seemed to look directly at anyone. His eyes, like stars in the night, never focused on anyone.

The classmates even gossiped about Bai Pu.

The girls inquired about this top-grade nobleman, who was so handsome that they couldn't take their eyes off him, and who was also a prodigy who awakened early.

Some boys said sourly that Bai Pu wasn't some nobleman, he grew up in a shelter and dropped out of middle school. He came to Seventeenth Middle School just for appearances, and surely isn't good at academics.

Many girls didn't believe this and went to ask Shiyi.

What could Shiyi say? She had to keep silent.

But Shiyi knew, what those boys said was the truth.

Analyzing rationally, it would be impossible for Bai Pu, who dropped out of middle school, to score well in academic subjects with just these few days of hard work.

Then why was Bai Pu working so hard? Shiyi couldn't find an answer.

Did Bai Pu know his classmates talked about him like this? Shiyi didn't know either, but she knew Bai Pu surely didn't care about these discussions.

Just like a soaring eagle doesn't care how the poultry on the ground would critique the shadow it casts.

Thinking of this, Shiyi felt a slight worry, stemming from a youthful, budding heart opening to feelings.

She disliked fighting and loved dancing; she and Bai Pu were people from two different worlds. Perhaps these past ten or so days would be the only time they'd spend together in their lives!

No matter whether Shiyi liked it or not, time was slipping by, the countdown to the college entrance exams was turning page by page, finally stopping at zero.

The college entrance exams of the Spiritual Era year 806 arrived as scheduled.

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