Chapter 22: Results Revealed! Provincial Champion!

The next morning, on college entrance exam results day, sunlight filtered through the curtains as Lin Ye lay sprawled in bed, snoring. He'd spent the past few days grinding in Thunder Martial Hall's training chambers. While other examinees relaxed post-exams, Lin Ye refused to slacken—his current strength still felt pitifully weak.

The smart lock on his door blared an alarm, accompanied by frenzied knocking. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Zhou Mingyu again," Lin Ye groaned. No one else battered doors like a SWAT raid.

He shuffled to the entrance in pajamas, squinting at his disheveled friend. Zhou Mingyu, dark circles under his eyes, waved a greasy breakfast bag. "Results day! How are you still asleep?!"

Lin Ye grabbed the scallion pancake, took a bite, and washed it down with milk. Zhou Mingyu had already commandeered the computer desk. "Don't tell me you pulled an all-nighter?"

"I… rushed here to check your results first!" Zhou Mingyu deflected, avoiding mention of his own sleepless anxiety. "Haven't even looked up mine!"

"Sure, sure. Let's get this over with." Lin Ye smirked, indulging his friend's act.

Zhou Mingyu pulled up his Liberal Arts College Entrance Exam score first. "678 points!" He punched the air, spilling milk across the desk. Out of 750 total, 678 guaranteed a C9 Alliance university—though not TOP5, it was stellar.

Lin Ye gripped Zhou Mingyu's shoulders. "You did it, Mingyu!"

Zhou Mingyu clasped Lin Ye's hands, eyes glistening. Memories of their shared struggles in the training chambers surfaced—E-Class Awakeneds pushing each other past every limit.

"Now for your turn." Zhou Mingyu refreshed the Martial Arts Exam rankings. The top entry blazed:

Yunzhou Provincial Champion: Lin Ye — 15,945 Points

Zhou Mingyu vaulted from his chair, milk carton toppling. "PROVINCIAL CHAMPION! Take that, all you doubters!" His joy eclipsed his own triumph.

Lin Ye's chest swelled. He'd anticipated this, yet the raw euphoria of seeing "Champion" beside his name was incomparable.

Unbeknownst to Lin Ye and Zhou Mingyu, an online firestorm had erupted around the provincial champion. For years, the title had been monopolized by elite examinees from Jiangning City, Yunzhou's provincial capital. Yet this year, an E-Class Awakened from backwater Qingyang City had claimed it. The internet exploded.

The top ten trending topics were all variations of:

"Dark Horse Alert! Provincial Champion from Nowhere!"

"Shocking! An Awakened Provincial Champion?!"

"E-Class Special Ability Users Rise Up!"

But skepticism drowned the celebrations:

"Biggest joke of the year—E-Class as champion?!"

"Qingyang City exam rigged."

"Investigate Lin Ye's score NOW."

On Jiangning Elite High's forum, a pinned post titled "Special Ability Class vs. Exam Fairness" had surpassed a million comments. User "Frost Controller" posted their B-Class Special Ability certification: "I nearly died killing an Ironhide Rhino. How'd an E-Class do better?"

The most vicious reply came from a Jiangning Third High student: "Dissect Lin Ye for doping checks." The most absurd? An anonymous claim: "I'm his neighbor. He eats corpses in graveyards nightly."

Other viral comments included:

"If an E-Class Awakened really won, I'll livestream washing my hair upside down!"

"Saving this comment. Can't wait for the backtracking!"

As the frenzy peaked, Qingyang City's official site released Lin Ye's exam highlights—edited to exclude the Bloodthirsty Frenzy Bear finale.

The footage silenced trolls:

"Holy shit! He one-punched a Tier-1 Ironhide Rhino?! That's beyond Tier-1 Special Ability Holder strength!"

"Looks like a power-enhancement type, but how? He's just an Awakened!"

"What the hell—it's Lightning-Type?!"

"You call this E-Class? I'm not a kid—stop lying!"

Though debates raged, the tide had turned. Skepticism dissolved into awe.

Meanwhile, the storm's eye trained obliviously in Thunder Martial Hall. Lin Ye had fled here after his phone imploded with calls—former bullies, distant relatives, and fair-weather "friends" suddenly desperate to reconnect.

Sweat dripped from his thunder-patterned back as he hammered a force-measuring pillar with Thunder Fist basics, suppression cuffs weighing his wrists. The tungsten-steel擂台 trembled with each strike.

"I'm still just an Awakened, but my power rivals Tier-1 Special Ability Holders. Once I get cultivation manuals at university…"

"Lin Ye! I've been searching everywhere!" A melodic voice cut through his focus.

At the training room entrance stood a woman he'd never met—late 20s, wearing a mint-green blazer and ponytail, her posture radiating military precision.

"Me?" Lin Ye pointed at himself. "Do I know you?"

"No time." She seized his wrist. "You're coming with me."