Chapter 5

But Jiang Xiaohan continued to lecture in a well-meaning manner—

"We've been neighbors since childhood. I know you used to be outstanding and helped me a lot, but those achievements were just kids' play. Now we've grown up, and I'm no longer the girl who would be thrilled just because you helped me get a bird's egg. You shouldn't try to get my attention in this way anymore... Really, Ye Qingyu, for the sake of our past as neighbors, I advise you to accept your fate and not provoke people you can't handle!"

Me?

Trying to get your attention?

Ye Qingyu just chuckled.

Where do you get your confidence from, girl?

Not bothering to say more, Ye Qingyu walked past Jiang Xiaohan and headed towards the testing area.

Jiang Xiaohan's expression changed, and she was convinced that he was angry and embarrassed. She sighed pityingly and said, "I know, maybe I was too direct with my words and hurt your self-esteem, but I really mean well. From the day you failed the assessment, it was destined that we would no longer be in the same world..."

But Ye Qingyu didn't look back.

He went straight to the middle-aged instructor with a goatee and asked, word by word, "Hey, can I take the test now?"

The goatee instructor leisurely picked up his teacup, took a sip, and squinted his eyes, answering irrelevantly, "Do you see the people surrounding the testing area? What do you think they're here for?"

"Maybe to see someone make a fool of themselves," Ye Qingyu said calmly.

"I thought you didn't know, but you do. They're here to see you make a fool of yourself." The goatee instructor's face showed a mocking smile, looking at Ye Qingyu as if he were a clown. "Since you understand, why are you in such a hurry to make a fool of yourself?"

"Maybe the fool will be someone else," Ye Qingyu said with a half-smile.

The goatee instructor picked up the teapot, took a sip, and lounged comfortably. "It seems you still don't know your place... Then wait a bit longer."

"But I don't want to wait anymore," Ye Qingyu countered.

The goatee instructor just sneered.

He looked at Ye Qingyu with a mocking and contemptuous expression, as if he had heard a joke and didn't even bother to say more. Just a poor kid from a humble background, a little bug, daring to defy him?

"Your attitude towards the instructor is so bad, you don't deserve to enter Bai Lu Academy," a young man in fine clothes said smugly as he stepped out of the crowd, his face showing a sense of vindictive pleasure. "I know you haven't seen the results of this year's entrance exam yet. Liu Ye, ranked 1,309th on the overall list, is me. Ha ha ha, I am now a formal student of Bai Lu Academy's first-year upper division. What about you? What are you?"

"Liu Ye, is it?" Ye Qingyu smiled slightly. "Good, I'll remember that. Soon you'll know what I am. Remember, wash your face and kneel down, waiting for me to slap you."

"Defiant to the end, are you? Heh heh, do you think I don't know? Your age is up. If you don't enter Bai Lu Academy, the city lord's mansion will soon take back that badge. You, the despicable clown, will be at my mercy, and you won't even know how you'll die..."

Liu Ye sneered, his face twisted with a vicious and cursing expression.

Ye Qingyu didn't bother to respond.

He turned to the goatee instructor, showing a disdainful smile, and said to everyone around, "Bai Lu Academy having a worthless instructor like you is a disgrace."

"You... What did you say? How dare you!" The goatee instructor was stunned, not expecting Ye Qingyu to insult him. He immediately flew into a rage and slammed his hand on the table.

"I waited patiently for ten days out of respect for Bai Lu Academy. Don't think I was afraid of you," Ye Qingyu sneered. "Not letting me take the test, huh? Fine, you'll regret it. Soon, you'll come to me and beg me to take the test."

With that, Ye Qingyu turned and left resolutely.

"You... Arrogant! Beg me? I'll regret it? Ha ha ha, I think you're really crazy..."

The goatee instructor was shaking with anger. He had never seen such an arrogant and presumptuous young man, who had been eliminated for four consecutive years under his watch and now dared to threaten him?

Meanwhile, the crowd was in an uproar.

Is Ye Qingyu going to cause another big commotion?

It was well known that Bai Lu Academy did not admit students over fifteen years old, so this was Ye Qingyu's last chance. After being mercilessly eliminated four times in a row, would he make a final desperate struggle or create a miracle?

In the past, every time he was eliminated, Ye Qingyu would leave calmly.

But this time, it seemed different.

"What is this kid going to do?"

"Haha, there's going to be a show. Let's follow him and see."

"For some reason, I feel something big is going to happen today."

The crowd followed Ye Qingyu, wanting to know what he was going to do. Besides the ordinary people who liked to watch the show, many young men and women who had already passed the exam followed like a flood.

"Hmph, a last desperate struggle. I want to see what kind of waves you can make, you little clown."

Liu Ye's face changed rapidly. After hesitating for a moment, he finally followed.

For some reason, he felt a faint sense of unease.

The goatee instructor, however, sat in his place with a disdainful sneer.

"I'll wait here and see who ends up begging who!"

...

Jiang Xiaohan stood quietly in place, her face radiant and bright.

At this moment, the image of the boy from her childhood, who had once seemed like a hero to her, quickly faded.

Now, Ye Qingyu seemed more like a self-deceiving clown, making a final desperate and futile struggle.

She was certain that he would only face his fifth failure, and then sink into obscurity forever...

"Why don't you understand my good intentions?" Jiang Xiaohan sighed, shaking her head with a condescending pity.

"Who doesn't understand your good intentions, Xiaohan?" A tall, handsome young man appeared beside Jiang Xiaohan, his tone calm and his smile faint.

"Xiao Fei, why are you here?" Jiang Xiaohan's face lit up with a smile.

Han Xiaofei's face bore his trademark faint smile.

This fourth-year student at Bai Lu Academy, from a noble family, was handsome, refined, and elegant, with perfect family background, cultivation, and talent.

In fact, he had always been the object of many female students' secret admiration. His trademark smile was as warm and soothing as spring sunshine, and countless girls in Luming County were crazy about him.

It was said that even a young female instructor at the academy had once confessed to him, making him one of the most prominent figures at the academy.

"Today is the last day of the academy's recruitment. I came to see, and I heard that the academy has recruited many young geniuses this time," Han Xiaofei said, looking at the crowd flowing away. "Is it Ye Qingyu causing trouble again? What a pity... I heard that you, Xiaohan, once had a crush on him."

Jiang Xiaohan smiled and shook her head. "That was when we were young and naive. I thought he was amazing, but it wasn't a crush... Besides, I've grown up now, and we are destined to be in different worlds... My world is just beginning, while his is destined to be mediocre and fall into obscurity. Everything about him is over!"

"Right, it's good that you can see this, Xiaohan. A martial artist should strive for excellence and not let such a small character confuse your mind. You are a true phoenix soaring in the sky, while he will always be a mudskipper that never jumps over the dragon gate."

Han Xiaofei said this calmly.

...

Ye Qingyu's destination was the second testing area.

The meridian quality testing area.

Since it was the afternoon of the last day, the testing area was sparsely populated, with not a single candidate in sight.

The chief examiner and several Bai Lu Academy students responsible for recording scores were idly chatting behind a large wooden table, waiting for the sun to set, which would mark the end of this year's entrance exam.

In the center of the testing area stood a life-sized yellow bronze figure.

The bronze figure was exquisitely crafted, almost like a work of art, with intricate lines of varying thicknesses etched all over its body, crisscrossing and connecting to different red acupoints. It looked strange and mysterious, representing the twelve main meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians of the human body.

This object was called the "Meridian Bronze Figure."

It was a magical artifact used in the Bai Lu Academy entrance exam to test the quality of the candidates' meridians.

When a candidate was being tested, they only needed to place their hands on the back of the "Meridian Bronze Figure," allowing the spiritual energy stored within the bronze figure to enter their body, which would reveal the quality of their meridians.

Ye Qingyu approached the examination table and handed over his wooden nameplate.

"Number 8888, Ye Qingyu?"

The chief examiner of the meridian quality testing area was an old man with a youthful appearance.

The old man looked at Ye Qingyu with a hint of surprise, clearly having heard of his name before. His eyes flickered with a strange light, but he didn't say anything. After checking the results on the jade slip, he frowned slightly and said, "That's strange, you haven't taken the blood qi test yet?"

"I want to take the meridian test first," Ye Qingyu said calmly.

---

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