College Entrance Exam Guide

When Shen Qian, completely drenched, opened his eyes and saw the faintly glowing green plant in his palm, he could only marvel at how incredible the system still was.

Schisandra grows in water and is naturally adept at camouflage, making it extremely difficult to locate. Most of the medicinal Schisandra used today is artificially cultivated, as the cost of harvesting wild Schisandra is disproportionate to its yield.

Perhaps the enhanced efficacy of the system-produced stamina potion owed something to the presence of wild Schisandra.

Having used the system's Active Auto Mode for the first time, Shen Qian hesitated for a moment before pulling up the dialog box again.

"I want a million."

He typed in his humble wish.

"Target task conditions not met. Auto Mode failed."

The system's prompt appeared almost instantly.

Shen Qian then tried fifty thousand, twenty thousand, ten thousand… but the results were all the same.

Clicking his tongue in disappointment, he continued inputting.

"I want ten girlfriends…"

After some thought, he erased it and changed it to: "I want ten rich girlfriends."

The system remained unresponsive for a long time. Just as Shen Qian was beginning to wonder if it had frozen, a new prompt finally popped up.

"Host, please look in a mirror."

Shen Qian immediately erupted in rage, cursing the system as a blind machine incapable of understanding human aesthetics.

After a while, he calmed down and tried again: "Increase my mental power."

**"Target task conditions not met. Auto Mode failed.

(Note: Host may attempt again after advancing to the rank of Initial Martial Artist.)"**

Shen Qian was slightly surprised.

He had expected the failure, but what did that note mean?

He had once heard Teacher Liu mention that, despite the vast amount of information available online, high-level martial artists were rarely seen on the internet. Much of martial arts knowledge remained a blank slate in cyberspace.

Perhaps there were legal restrictions.

However, based on the scattered information Shen Qian had managed to find, mental power was something exclusive to the Shanhai Realm. Even Black Obsidian Spirit Stones could only passively nourish mental power. But according to the system's words, one could actively enhance it from the Initial Martial Artist stage?

Shen Qian quickly dismissed his stray thoughts.

Whatever the case, his top priority now was to advance to Initial Martial Artist as soon as possible.

—

The alarm clock failed to wake Shen Qian. Instead, Wang Xiaojun, on her way out to buy groceries, noticed that his bedroom door was still shut. Acting on instinct, she decided to check in—only to find her son still sealed within his bed.

However, what truly startled her was the deep, dark circles under his eyes. Her expression immediately shifted, and she began rummaging through the trash bin and under the bed.

Still half-asleep, Shen Qian frowned in confusion.

"Mom… what are you doing?"

Failing to find any 'evidence of crime,' Wang Xiaojun's expression softened slightly. She clicked her tongue and said, "Aren't you supposed to have class today? Why are you still in bed?"

"It's fine. I'll take a taxi—fast and easy." Shen Qian yawned and lazily started getting dressed.

Last night, he had been grinding away at alchemy until four in the morning. If it weren't for the mandatory attendance notice in the group chat, he would have taken another day off without hesitation.

"A taxi?" Wang Xiaojun narrowed her eyes. "That's at least fifty or sixty yuan. Where'd you get the money?"

Now fully awake, Shen Qian barely hesitated before replying with a straight face, "Dad gave it to me."

"Your dad?"

As the financial overlord of the household, Wang Xiaojun's expression instantly darkened. Without another word, she turned and marched straight into the master bedroom.

Barely a few moments later, Shen Liang—who had just returned from a night shift and barely gotten any sleep—was dragged out of bed, looking utterly confused as Wang Xiaojun's interrogative voice rang through the house.

Taking advantage of the commotion, Shen Qian swiftly finished dressing and slipped out the door before he could be summoned as a witness.

—

At Jingcheng No. 7 High School, Shen Qian perfectly timed his entrance into Class 109 just as the bell rang. At the same time, another thought crossed his mind.

If he was worried about oversleeping in the future, couldn't he just use the Auto Mode to wake himself up?

For example, something like "Send me to school at 8:00 AM."

That way, he could close his eyes, open them, and—bam—he's already at school. Perfect.

Ignoring yet another call from his dad, Shen Qian preemptively raised his hand to stop Wang Yangming before he could even open his mouth.

"Don't ask. If you ask, the answer is insomnia. Also, I don't keep tissues in my room."

The words "What the hell were you doing last night?" were forcefully swallowed back down. Instead, Wang Yangming changed his approach.

"You've been absent for two days. Even Teacher Liu didn't say why. Oh, by the way, did you hear? Ding Yi withdrew from school."

Shen Qian was stunned. That fast?

Then he recalled Ding Yi's strange behavior the other day. So that was him saying goodbye?

…A shame. They never even kissed.

"By the way, don't leave after school. I've arranged for some people to block you in."

Wang Yangming was completely bewildered.

"…What?"

"Oh, force of habit. I meant—I've got something to discuss with you."

Patting Wang Yangming on the shoulder, Shen Qian returned to his seat.

—

The morning had four classes in total.

By this point in the final semester of senior year, there wasn't much new material left. Both the first-period math class and the second-period foundational martial arts class were nothing more than endless review sessions.

Martial arts class was held in the large training hall.

During paired sparring, an 'unexpected incident' occurred—Shen Qian accidentally kicked his deskmate, Zhou Xu, clear across the room.

For a brief moment, the entire hall fell silent.

Shen Qian quickly explained that it was just a slippery floor and that Zhou Xu had been distracted.

Sure enough, in the subsequent matches, Shen Qian's performance returned to mediocrity, and the incident was soon forgotten—even Zhou Xu himself started doubting whether he had just stepped on something weird.

"Hide your strength. Advance steadily."

That was Shen Qian's game plan.

The system's origins were unknown. If anyone discovered his secret, he might end up on a dissection table.

It had only been two weeks since he obtained the system, yet his progress had surpassed the past five years.

"…Better to play it safe and stay low-key."

—

After two classes, it was time for the thirty-minute break.

No one left the classroom.

Teacher Liu Simin had already informed them yesterday that she had an important announcement to make today.

Moments later, she walked in, carrying two large boxes filled with booklets.

These were no light materials, but Liu Simin was an Initial Martial Artist, 5th Stage. With a body strength of at least 200 kg, carrying them was a trivial matter.

"Everyone's here, right?" Liu Simin scanned the classroom. "I'm sure you've all heard by now—Ding Yi has withdrawn from school per Beiw's request. He's already headed to Beidu, apparently for a top-level martial arts event this year…"

The class erupted into whispers.

Of course, no one actually cared about the so-called 'mystery tournament.' They were all just jealous that Ding Yi had gotten into one of the top martial arts academies in the country without even taking the college entrance exams.

"Alright, quiet down!" Liu Simin rapped her knuckles on the desk.

"Now, I have something for you all—the official College Entrance Exam Guide jointly issued by the Ministry of Education and the Martial Arts Department. For those taking only the liberal arts exam, there's nothing to worry about. But for those applying for the martial arts exam, pay special attention—physical fitness is just one of the criteria..."

"There are other tests?" Shen Qian was a little surprised.

A month ago, he hadn't thought much about the martial arts exam and hadn't bothered looking into the details. After all, if he couldn't even meet the basic physical fitness requirements, there was no point in wasting the application fee.

"Based on previous years, there are usually also political assessment scores and practical combat scores. Oh, and there's a liberal arts score requirement too, though it's generally not very high," Zhou Xu casually explained from the side.

At this moment, the new class monitor, Lin Xiaoqian, had already started distributing materials. Before long, Shen Qian received a copy of the college entrance exam admissions guide.