See you at the college entrance exam

Su Yu watched her earnestly fabricate a story, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

"Yeah."

Su Yu played along, pretending to imagine for a moment. "Maybe my brain will suddenly go 'ding' and bind a system or something."

A casual, offhand remark.

But it spoke the truest secret of all.

Lin Xiaoxiao was momentarily distracted by Su Yu’s rare smile.

She suddenly realized that today’s Su Yu seemed different from usual.

The boy who was always frowning, with a look of endurance and weariness in his eyes, now carried an indescribable calm.

It felt like a peerless blade hidden in its sheath, finally revealing a glint of cold edge.

Lin Xiaoxiao dropped her playful expression.

She stepped forward, staring intently into Su Yu’s eyes.

“Su Yu.”

Her voice became serious, more so than ever before. “Tell me the truth.”

“Do you really want to get into Kyoto’s No. 1 Martial Arts University?”

Su Yu’s smile faded.

He looked at Lin Xiaoxiao, his deep eyes still and unwavering, showing only absolute determination.

“Yes.”

No extra explanation.

Two words, spoken with force.

Lin Xiaoxiao stared at Su Yu for several long seconds.

She found no trace of vanity, arrogance, or jest in those eyes.

He was serious.

He really wanted to go to that seemingly unreachable place.

Lin Xiaoxiao bit her lower lip, as if making an immensely heavy decision in her heart.

She took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was low, meant only for the two of them.

“Perfect.”

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at him. “My family has a special recruitment slot.”

“Do you want it?”

The evening breeze continued to blow.

Leaves rustled softly.

Su Yu stared at Lin Xiaoxiao’s earnest eyes, stunned for two or three seconds before slowly replying.

“A special recruitment slot?”

He frowned slightly, his voice carrying a reasonable suspicion. “From Jiangcheng Martial Arts University? Or some key martial arts university in a province?”

Su Yu instinctively made a judgment in his mind.

Given the Lin family’s wealth, arranging a guaranteed admission slot to a key martial arts university in Jiangcheng or a nearby province—while extremely difficult—wasn’t entirely impossible.

That would already be an immense favor, one he felt was too heavy to bear.

But then.

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at him and gently shook her head.

She met his probing gaze and repeated herself, word by word, with absolute clarity:

“It’s from the capital of Great Xia.”

“The No. 1 Martial Arts University.”

Boom!

Su Yu’s pupils contracted sharply, and his heart skipped a beat.

He stared hard at the girl before him. Even having lived two lives, even having just awakened his system, his mind went momentarily blank.

A special recruitment slot?

A slot for the Great Xia Capital No. 1 Martial Arts University?!

How was that possible?

The slots for Kyoto Martial Arts University had always been the focal point of games played by provincial governors, military bigwigs, and top-tier families.

Every single slot represented incalculable resources and power!

A family like the Zhao family—local heavyweights in Jiangcheng with assets over a hundred million—had to scheme and buy his liberal arts scores just for a regular university admission slot.

And now.

Lin Xiaoxiao casually mentioned that her family had a special recruitment slot?

And she wanted to give it to him outright?

Su Yu looked at Lin Xiaoxiao, his expression completely changed.

He had always known she came from a well-off family, but now it was clear: this wasn’t just “well-off.”

This was sky-high connections!

“You…” Su Yu opened his mouth, rarely at a loss for words.

“Don’t ask how I got it.”

Lin Xiaoxiao avoided his probing gaze, her tone hurried. “As long as you say yes, this slot is yours. No college entrance exam, no fighting for those hundred spots.

“Direct admission.”

At that moment, the streetlights flickered on one after another, casting a warm yellow glow on Lin Xiaoxiao’s face.

Su Yu looked at her.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

A special recruitment slot. A shortcut to the top.

If he nodded, he wouldn’t even need to reveal the existence of his system or take any risks. He could walk steadily into Great Xia’s highest martial arts academy.

It was a shortcut that countless people wouldn’t even dare dream of.

But.

Su Yu slowly closed his eyes, and in his mind, Zhao Ze’s condescending face appeared.

“You have no background, no resources. You think passion and hard work are enough?”

“If hard work mattered, what would be the point of talent and family?”

Zhao Ze’s mockery was still fresh in his memory.

If he accepted this slot, how would he be any different from Zhao Ze?

Besides, that was Lin Xiaoxiao’s family slot.

How much would Lin Xiaoxiao have to sacrifice to offer him a resource of this level?

Debts of gratitude were the hardest to repay.

And let’s be real.

He had his system now. He had 328 bucks in his pocket!

Why couldn’t he charge in with his own strength and trample those so-called geniuses underfoot?

Su Yu opened his eyes again.

The shock in them had completely faded, replaced only by a calm and pride as solid as rock.

“Xiaoxiao.”

Su Yu spoke, his voice soft but carrying an undeniable firmness.

“Thank you.”

“But I don’t want it.”

“Don’t want it?”

Lin Xiaoxiao froze in place. The dim streetlight stretched her shadow long.

She looked at the boy, standing in his worn-out, washed-thin uniform, with eyes so calm they were unsettling. She felt a surge of absurdity.

That was a special recruitment slot to the No. 1 Martial Arts University in the capital!

Countless dignitaries across Great Xia would pay a fortune, bankrupt themselves, or even start a bloodless war for a chance at that slot.

And now, it was handed to Su Yu on a silver platter.

And he refused?

“Su Yu, do you even understand what this slot means?”

Lin Xiaoxiao stepped forward, her voice carrying a frustrated, almost reproachful edge.

“It means you don’t have to fight millions of high school seniors across the country for that single-plank bridge!”

“It means even if your qi and blood value is only 0.8, you’ll still enjoy the top-tier martial arts resources of Great Xia!”

“You wanted to go to Kyoto Martial Arts University, didn’t you? This is your only chance!”

She stared straight at him, trying to find a shred of impulsiveness or pride in his deep eyes.

But there was nothing.

Nothing at all.

Su Yu’s gaze was like a dry well—not even a ripple.

“I know.”

His voice remained soft, but his resolve was unshakable.

“But I can’t take it.”

He looked at Lin Xiaoxiao’s face, flushed with urgency, and truly understood her goodwill.

In this high-martial world of the weak being prey to the strong, having someone willing to hand over such a resource—that was a debt heavier than the sky.

But precisely because it was too heavy, he couldn’t bear it.

Why would the Lin family give such a precious special recruitment slot to an outsider?

Maybe Lin Xiaoxiao was driven by her obsession to repay a life-saving favor. But what about the Lin family elders?

Would they agree?

And besides—

He had his system now.

He had those 328 bucks and fifty cents.

“Xiaoxiao, saving you a year ago was just something I did on a whim.”

Su Yu turned around, his back to the streetlamp, hiding most of his face in the shadows.

"You don’t owe me anything, and I’m not about to use that incident to gain something in return."

"See you at the college entrance exam."

With that, he didn’t give Lin Xiaoxiao a chance to respond. Hands stuffed into his school uniform pockets, he strode straight into the dim street of the old town, where more than half of the streetlights were broken.

Decisive.

Clean.

No hesitation. No loose ends.

Lin Xiaoxiao stood there, watching the silhouette gradually dissolve into the darkness, biting her lower lip hard.

"Too proud for your own good!"

She stomped her foot in frustration, though her eyes inexplicably reddened.

She thought Su Yu was clinging to his pathetic pride.

A civilian with a blood energy value of 0.8, turning down a shortcut to the top, insisting on crashing headfirst into the wall of reality.

"Fine! You want to take the exam on your own?"

She shouted after the blurry figure disappearing into the night.

"Let’s see how you manage to pass the qualification line in the Martial Arts Exam three days from now!"

No reply.

Only the rustle of night wind sweeping dead leaves along the ground.