His voice rose an octave as he shouted, “Passing through?! You’re just passing through the exam site and decided to register because it looked interesting?!”
“Do you have any idea how long we’ve been preparing for this day?!”
Song Zhiyi looked over as well, a trace of curiosity flickering in her eyes.
Chen Mo pushed up his glasses.
“Can I register?” Lin Yuan asked again.
Jiang Ran took a deep breath, adopting an “I give up on you” tone. “You can. The National Ability User College Entrance Exam is a unified national exam. It doesn’t matter where your household registration or school records are. As long as you’re a citizen of the Dragon Nation, eighteen years old, and have awakened an ability, you can register at any testing site.”
“On-site registration, on-site verification, and on-site assignment of exam numbers.”
He pointed to a small two-story building next to the main combat base building. A sign hung over the door that read: “Out-of-town Examinee Registration Office.”
Compared to the long queue of the main group, the registration office was deserted, with only a few scattered people filling out forms.
“Over there. Just bring your ID and your ability awakening certificate.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
He had his awakening certificate. It was a palm-sized metal card issued by the Ability User Association on his awakening day, recording the time of awakening, the type of ability, and the initial grade.
F-rank lightning system.
He hadn't updated it since his ability rose to E-rank, but that didn't matter.
“Thanks.”
He patted Jiang Ran’s shoulder, stepped out of the queue, and headed toward the small building.
Jiang Ran called out from behind him, “Hey! You’re actually going?”
Lin Yuan turned back and gave him a wave.
Song Zhiyi watched the back of the figure carrying the long spear enter the registration office. Suddenly, she spoke up. “His spear doesn't look like something a student would use.”
Chen Mo spoke up, a rare occurrence for him. “There’s a mark on the spear shaft. It’s very fresh, left by a burn-type ability. At least Tier 2.”
Jiang Ran turned to look at them. “What do you mean by that?”
Song Zhiyi didn't answer.
She stared at the closed door of the registration office, her gaze carrying an unreadable expression.
...
Behind the registration window sat a young woman with her hair in a ponytail, watching a drama on her phone.
Seeing someone enter, she hit pause, looked up, and gave a professional smile.
“Hello, registering as an out-of-town examinee?”
“Yes.”
“ID and awakening certificate, please.”
Lin Yuan handed over the two cards.
The staff member took them and swiped them through a device. His information popped up on the computer screen.
Her gaze lingered on the “Ability Grade: F-rank lightning system” column for a moment. She glanced at Lin Yuan, her eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly, but she said nothing.
“Fill out this form.” She handed him a sheet and a pen.
Lin Yuan took it and scanned the fields.
Name, gender, age, ID number, ability type, current realm, emergency contact.
He picked up the pen and scribbled the details down.
In the “Current Realm” column, he thought for a moment before writing “Tier 1, Level 4.”
The same thing he had told Jiang Ran.
The staff member took the form, verified it, and then clicked around on her computer.
A nearby machine spat out a palm-sized laminated card. It was printed with his photo, name, and a set of numbers—Hangzhou Testing Site, No. 1137.
“The exam starts tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. The location is this combat base,” she said, handing him the card.
“Be here half an hour early. Bring your ID, exam permit, and your own weapons. The exam content and specific rules will be announced on-site tomorrow.”
Lin Yuan took the exam permit and glanced at the back.
The back was printed with exam instructions—over a dozen rules in tiny, dense font.
He skimmed through them; there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Thank you.”
He tucked away the permit and walked out of the registration office.
The sunlight outside was harsher than before. The queue was still inching forward, and Jiang Ran’s group had moved up about twenty meters.
Lin Yuan didn't go back to find them; he would naturally run into them during the exam tomorrow.
Standing in the plaza at the entrance of the combat base, he pulled out his phone to check the time.
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
The superconducting train from Hangzhou to Magic City wasn't until seven in the evening. He had originally planned to wait at the station for four hours, but now he intended to have some fun with this National Ability User College Entrance Exam.
Regarding Magic City Academy, he sent a message to Shen Man.
The wording was simple: “Teacher Shen, I’m in Hangzhou. I’ve registered for the college entrance exam here. I’ll head to Magic City after I’m done.”
In less than thirty seconds, Shen Man’s reply arrived.
“???”
Then a second message.
“You took a superconducting train and managed to run off to join an exam halfway through???”
The third message followed.
“Fine. If you don't do well, don't tell anyone you're the student I recruited.”
Lin Yuan smiled and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.
The exam was tomorrow, while Magic City Academy’s term didn't start for another half month.
He couldn't waste these two weeks.
The reason Lin Yuan chose to participate in the field combat exam was simple. First, he had a sudden spark of interest.
Second, there was still half a month before the academy started.
Lin Yuan had asked Shen Man before; even if he went to Magic City Academy now, he wouldn't be able to receive the full S-rank benefits immediately because they were still being prepared...
Third, participating in this field combat could earn him ability points and the chance to fight other examinees of the same year. He refused to believe Hangzhou didn't have a single examinee worth fighting.
Before Magic City Academy started, he needed to increase his strength as much as possible and prepare for Ten Rounds as One.
To do that, he needed ability points, Bone Tempering Pills, and various auxiliary materials.
He needed money.
He opened his mobile banking app and checked his balance.
The monster materials he had harvested in the wilderness over the past ten days had sold for a good amount. Combined with the S-rank freshman benefit funds Shen Man had advanced him yesterday, his account balance showed: 5,523,800.00.
Five and a half million.
When Shen Man had transferred the money, she had attached a note: “This is your living allowance and resource procurement fee before enrollment. Spend it wisely. Pay for your own milk tea.” This was followed by a milk tea cup emoji.
Looking at the message, Lin Yuan suddenly felt that while Shen Man seemed lazy and never without her milk tea, she was truly reliable when it came to business.
She had advanced the S-rank freshman funds just like that—five million without even blinking.
Of course, this also spoke to the sheer wealth of Magic City Academy; a student who hadn't even officially enrolled could receive five million in advance.
After a moment's thought, he replied to Shen Man: “Teacher Shen, you are the best recruitment teacher in the world.”
Shen Man’s reply was instantaneous: “Speak human.”
“I’ll pay for my own milk tea.”
“Good boy.”
Lin Yuan put his phone away and hailed a maglev taxi.
“Driver, take me to the largest ability user trading market in Hangzhou.”
...
Hangzhou’s ability user trading market was more than ten times larger than the one in Donghai City.
The trading market in Donghai City was just a single street with stalls on both sides and people walking down the middle—at most, it was a bazaar.
Hangzhou’s trading market was an entire building—six floors above ground and three below, with each floor dedicated to different categories.
The first floor was for weapons and armor, the second for pills and spirit materials, the third for techniques and runes, the fourth for monster materials, the fifth for curios and miscellaneous items, and the sixth for the auction house.
The three underground floors were processing areas, offering a one-stop service for forging, alchemy, and rune engraving.
Lin Yuan stood at the entrance of the building, looking up at the massive holographic sign over the entrance.
Rate on N.U.
