Chapter Four: The College Entrance Examination

The college entrance examination was a major event, even for those who practiced cultivation. After all, the higher the score, the better the university one could enter, and the brighter one's employment prospects would be. This was a matter that concerned the grand plans for the rest of one's life.

Admittedly, with her constitution, she could survive just by picking up things, even without working. But she truly didn’t want to be unlucky anymore! She couldn’t save, she spent everything she had every day, and any windfall she used to buy a car would end up with the car breaking down, or the house she bought would collapse. So, her first goal here was to get into a good university, find a good job, save money, and buy a car and a house. Also, she was determined to break her bad habit of picking up random things.

Jiang Wangshu clenched her paws in her heart, secretly determined, as she commanded the impatient Little Black to help her wash up and get ready. Once everything was in order, she sat on his arm and shot straight toward the exam site.

One girl and one fish dashed down the street in a whirlwind, attracting plenty of attention. A kind-hearted aunt gave them a lift for a floor, but the vehicle broke down before they’d gone five hundred meters.

“Oh, what happened! I just checked this yesterday!” the aunt exclaimed, slapping the hood.

Jiang Wangshu was self-aware enough to quickly get out. “Auntie, thank you, we’ll go ahead first!”

Without waiting for a reply, she ordered Little Black to charge forward at full speed.

Little Black shot her a glare, let out a low growl, and took off running.

After Jiang Wangshu left, the aunt, who had been about to call for repairs, suddenly found her car was working again. “What a ridiculous problem!”

With a frown tinged with anger, she smacked the roof, her voice rising: “This junk is interfering with my chance to see beautiful girls and handsome boys.”

Irritated, she stowed the car in her spatial pouch and conjured up images of Shen Wangshu and Little Black in her mind. With that vision, she angrily gobbled down ten bowls of rice.

Avoiding accidents, dodging fights, and even tripping up fleeing criminals, Jiang Wangshu finally managed to direct Little Black to the test site with immense effort.

“Repeating the announcement: Candidate Jiang Wangshu, please report to Ring Number Five. If you do not arrive within thirty seconds, it will be considered a voluntary forfeiture…”

The booming broadcast echoed as Jiang Wangshu hurriedly tucked away her honorary pose, grabbed the black hair hanging from Little Black’s chest, and yanked hard.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

“…Three, two, one.”

Just as Little Black’s foot touched the stage, the countdown ended.

The proctor’s eyebrows twisted tightly as he checked the list again—the candidate was listed as female.

With a disgruntled snort, he said, “Jiang Wangshu, get your boyfriend off the stage. The college entrance exam is no joke! No substitutes allowed!”

“Pfft!” snickered Huo Jinyu, a fellow candidate on the same stage, clutching her stomach. “This is the first time I’ve seen someone so blatantly try to cheat.”

Every year, plenty of substitute test-takers were caught, but this one was truly foolish. At the very least, she could’ve used a more advanced illusion spell, instead of making it so obvious at first glance.

Huo Jinyu couldn’t help but laugh, stretching lazily, not taking Jiang Wangshu seriously at all. “Let’s get started! I’m waiting to go home for breakfast!”

Her implication was clear: she expected to finish this battle quickly.

Jiang Wangshu protested, “He’s not a person, he’s my contracted beast! Look, look!”

She pulled down the hair covering the contract mark on his head, dangling his head down so the proctor could see clearly.

The proctor blushed, looking away, and scolded, “Such a young age, behaving so improperly. I know you two are close! Now get him off the stage!”

Jiang Wangshu was dumbfounded. “No, Teacher, you must be mistaken. That’s the—”

The proctor quickly covered her mouth and whispered, “I know, I know. No need to shout about such things!”

She nodded, enlightened—it seemed contract beasts weren’t allowed in the exam.

“Little Black, you’d better get off the stage!”

She waved him away and turned to face Huo Jinyu.

The proctor glanced at Little Black standing beside the ring.

Sunlight spilled over the handsome youth’s face, his spirited brows giving him a roguish charm—a true bad boy, the type young girls would be drawn to. Whose daughter was this, forming a soul contract with a boy at such a young age? It might be fine now, but what if they fell out in the future? There’d be trouble then.

Young people these days!

He shook his head and said no more. “The exam begins!”

Jiang Wangshu stood her ground with difficulty, not showing a trace of fear. Her poised demeanor made Huo Jinyu take a second look.

Huo Jinyu assumed a stance. “Make your move! I’ll let you go first.”

Jiang Wangshu smiled, thinking, “System, make a move! Anything will do, just make it impressive!”

The currency system found its core data was jumbled today and was busy sorting things out. Hearing her, it looked up in confusion and struggled to think. “Um, Host, how about this skill?”

“Divine Dragon Soaring! Yes, that one!” With such an awesome name, it had to be powerful—surely enough to take this show-off down.

Jiang Wangshu brimmed with confidence.

A primordial aura of a divine dragon rose, putting Huo Jinyu on high alert. What kind of skill was this? The aura was terrifying!

Whoosh!

Jiang Wangshu soared into the air, flying freely as the image of a divine dragon flickered behind her.

Wow!

Her first flight was both exhilarating and terrifying—her eyes grew wide with wonder.

For the first time, she felt a sense of belonging in the world of cultivation.

Huo Jinyu gasped, taking several steps back. Still at the Qi Refining stage, yet able to use a Foundation Establishment flight technique? This was a strong opponent—she couldn’t be careless.

She held her breath, bracing herself.

After ten seconds in the air, Jiang Wangshu slowly descended.

The novelty faded, leaving her stunned. “System, where’s my attack? Don’t tell me this skill is just flying around!”

The currency system burst into tears, “Aaaah! I’m sorry, honorable host, my database is completely scrambled! The names and items are all mixed up!”

Frantically, Jiang Wangshu opened the skill page and, before touching down, scrolled through, only to find a mess of garbled text and pixelated images.

Could her bad luck even corrupt the system?

Her vision dimmed as she clicked a random skill.

At the same time, Huo Jinyu’s heavy fist, as forceful as a thousand catties, whistled through the air.

She could only watch helplessly as the world spun and she was sent flying off the stage.

The proctor’s face twisted into an expression beyond words. “Candidate Huo Jinyu wins.” Such a display, all sound and fury, but when it came to damage… what an unlucky child, truly exasperating.

The currency system cheered, “Dearest host, your luck is off the charts! You just used an ultra-cheap point to activate ‘Absolute Healing!’”

“See if you’re not hurt at all!”

Jiang Wangshu slowly got up, her tone low and threatening. “Didn’t you say you couldn’t heal me?”

“‘Absolute Healing’ is stored in the level five database. I’m just a level one system, so I can’t refresh it! If the database hadn’t crashed, it wouldn’t even have shown up! Boohoohoo!”

Jiang Wangshu closed her eyes in despair, giving up all hope in her own luck.

How foolish she’d been!

She’d thought that if the system was unlucky, she wouldn’t be. She’d even been relieved that her morning misfortunes had lessened, forgetting that the system was now part of her—if the system was unlucky, so was she!

Infuriating!

Huo Jinyu had won, but felt no joy. She walked over to Jiang Wangshu.