Chapter 194
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Chapter 194: Title
Hu Mei’s expression immediately fell when she heard him bring up the matter.
"Let’s not talk about that. Just mentioning it exhausts me," Hu Mei declared, pulling out a chair and slumping into it with the air of someone haunted by unpleasant memories.
This drew Yang Xingyu’s attention, and even Zhan Yuan paused his keyboard typing to glance over.
"What’s happened? Share it with us—maybe we can help," Zhan Yuan offered, tossing a juice bottle across the room. "Here, drink something first."
Hu Mei effortlessly caught the bottle and twisted it open. The sweet-sour tang lifted her mood slightly as she took a sip.
"You can’t help. None of you can," she lamented, casting a mournful look at them. "Unless you plan to attend school in my place?!"
The latter part of her statement left Zhan Yuan and Yang Xingyu speechless. They’d expected various complications, but never this.
Yang Xingyu cleared his throat. "…To be honest, I’d nearly forgotten your College Entrance Examination is this year. But given you haven’t studied for half a year… are you certain you’re prepared?"
"A crash course should suffice for regular subjects. My Bloodline Awakening sharpened my mind. The Spiritual Cultivation Subject won’t be trouble either—practical experience covers most of it, and I’ll brute-force the theory through memorization."
Her explanation only deepened their confusion.
Zhan Yuan frowned. "Then why the distress?"
Hu Mei adopted the expression of one facing execution. "The sheer volume! A gigabyte of materials! I’m just a poor, weak, and helpless College Entrance Exam candidate—woe is me!"
"And starting tomorrow, I must cram all neglected studies."
Watching Hu Mei’s dramatic despair, Zhan Yuan clicked his tongue and turned to Yang Xingyu. "Since when does the Special Bureau demand this? You’re extraordinary individuals now—why bother with exams?"
"Are you suggesting Practitioners should remain illiterate?" A cool voice tinged with amusement cut through the air.
The group turned to see a striking figure in azure robes gliding through the doorway, ink-painted fan fluttering gracefully.
Yang Xingyu brightened. "Young Master Leng! How timely—we were just speaking of you!"
Leng Xingwen’s lips curved as he addressed Zhan Yuan. "Scholarship knows no bounds—this truth holds equally for cultivation."
Zhan Yuan coughed, scratching his neck in embarrassment.
Hu Mei interjected with self-mocking humor: "Even if I wanted to quit, my parents would team up for a classic ‘parental tag-team discipline session’ if they knew."
Zhongxia had implemented Twelve Years of Free Compulsory Education decades prior, virtually eradicating illiteracy among Hu Mei’s generation. Yet this guarantee didn’t extend to university admissions—it merely enabled underprivileged students to continue studies.
Before the Awakening of Spiritual Energy, the College Entrance Examination dominated every student’s existence. Post-Awakening, "Why study when we can cultivate?" became fashionable rhetoric. Fortunately, Zhongxia’s Education Bureau swiftly countered this by emphasizing academic importance through new policies—and debunking online myths.
After all, when all Blue Star inhabitants could cultivate, relying solely on this path for success proved as treacherous as conventional routes. Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy interwove with cultivation—knowledge dormant today might prove vital tomorrow.
Yang Xingyu chuckled while patting Hu Mei’s shoulder. "Thank the stars I’ve graduated!"
Zhan Yuan nodded vigorously. "I never finished university, but at least passed the exams. Besides," he added with ghostly pride, "the mortal world’s rules don’t bind spirits. Thank darkness the Underworld lacks such hassles—I’d perish again from paperwork!"
Amusement flickered across Leng Xingwen’s features.
"Ah, Young Master Leng," Yang Xingyu suddenly recalled, "what brings you here today?" He gestured around his office—Zhan Yuan’s occasional haunt and Hu Mei’s impromptu playground.
Leng Xingwen remarked, "By the door. I happened to be passing and decided to enter."
Hu Mei drained her juice in several loud gulps, scratched her cheek absently, then rolled gracefully into a transformation. Where the woman had been now sat a pristine nine-tailed fox, her snowy fur catching the light as she materialized before the two men and lingering spirit.
"Ah, this form suits me better," she declared, springing onto the chair and then the table with liquid poise. Her luxuriant tail swept rhythmic arcs through the air as she settled into a regal crouch.
During her time in the Mountain and Sea Realm, an encounter with the nine-tailed fox tribe’s ancestor had purified Hu Mei’s bloodline. No longer confined to her half-human state, she’d mastered seamless transformation after weeks of disciplined practice.
Yang Xingyu tracked the pendulum swing of her tail with amused vigilance. "Mind you don’t sweep the teapot into oblivion," he warned without moving from his relaxed slouch.
The fox snorted, whiskers twitching. "As if I’d forget my own tail’s reach after visiting this den a hundred times."
Zhan Yuan’s chuckle drew attention as he turned to Leng Xingwen. "Brother Yang mentioned you’ll attend the Eastern-Western exchange meeting. What’s your strategy for the Battleground, Young Master Leng?"
The fan in Leng Xingwen’s hand described an idle arc. "Four words suffice – meet each move as it comes. With cultivation levels capped, victory lies in depth of comprehension." His gaze grew distant. "Those Western non-humans… I’ve only glimpsed them through screens thus far."
No false modesty colored his words – this measured pragmatism typified ancient practitioners. Nations might share intelligence, but true capabilities remained veiled like swords in scabbards.
A crystalline chime interrupted them. Zhan Yuan flushed as he withdrew what appeared to be a smartphone but radiated underworld energies. Scanning the message, he abruptly shut his game interface. "Urgent summons from the Nine Nether," he blurted, already phasing into transparency. "Continue this over bloodpool wine next week!"
His afterimage lingered as Yang Xingyu grimaced. "That panicked exit… Last time he moved so fast was during the Nine Nether collapse."
"Whatever recalled him can’t be trivial," Leng Xingwen mused, fan stilled. "We might find ourselves involved sooner than…"
"Don’t speak ill winds!" Yang Xingyu and Hu Mei chorused. The fox’s ears flattened as the human raked nervous fingers through his hair.
Hu Mei’s tail bristled. "They wouldn’t drag a college examinee into supernatural troubles… would they?" Her golden eyes narrowed at Leng Xingwen. "You don’t share Xiao Tianji’s cursed foresight, I trust? No apocalyptic prophecies from you!"
"Merely observing patterns," the scholar demurred, though his smile faltered. Privately, he acknowledged Xiao Tianji’s predictions invariably heralded chaos – the man could forecast sunshine and summon hailstorms.
"By the Black Tortoise, no!" Yang Xingyu shuddered. "His last three Weibo posts predicted demonic incursions, a ghost tide, and that cursed rain of spiritual frogs!"
Their shared laughter held nervous edges.
Meanwhile in Yama Palace, fading footsteps echoed through the suspended courtroom. Zhan Yuan found the celestial administrators in the inner sanctum, their usual gravitas deepened by some unseen weight.
"Your Eminences." His bow held uncharacteristic formality.
"You’ve been observing the human realm’s awakening." Yama’s statement brooked no denial.
The judge extended a jade tablet shimmering with fresh sigils. "We detected Earth Deities manifesting – land spirits, mountain guardians. Document their numbers and titles."
Zhan Yuan’s brow furrowed. "But the Manifesting Divine Faith hasn’t…"
"Precisely why this concerns us," the judge interrupted. "The Ghostly Emperor reshaped our realm during the first Awakening. Now as World Laws solidify…"
Yama’s claw traced glowing characters into Zhan Yuan’s interdimensional token. "These symbols will placate territorial deities. They govern wandering souls within their domains – cooperation is preferable to conflict."
The messenger stared at the transformed artifact, its new markings pulsing like a heartbeat. Somewhere beyond the underworld’s obsidian arches, tectonic shifts in cosmic order whispered of approaching storms.
