Chapter 89: Who Counts As A Genius? [2-in-1]
In this short month, Jiang Yan didn’t idle either, asking his family for a bunch of resources and piling them onto his Porcupine Beast.
He and the Porcupine Beast practically soaked in the Spiritual Power Room every day.
Of course, his family wasn’t rich enough to set up a separate Wind Element resource Spiritual Power Room for Big Willow like Ge Bai did.
They chose the public Spiritual Power Room without Spiritual Power attribute distinctions, which still provided obvious benefits for pet beast Spiritual Power improvement.
So, Jiang Yan, who was essentially in seclusion, hadn’t contacted much outside information.
He had no idea how many times Ge Bai had trended on hot searches, nor how popular she currently was in the Spirit Planter circles and the Jinggang City Arena Competition circles.
He only knew that he had worked himself to death cultivating the Porcupine Beast from Mortal Spirit Realm Level 1 to Mortal Spirit Realm Level 5.
This achievement, honestly speaking, was already excellent within the scope of normal junior high students.
Ordinary people needed at least 3 months to reach this level.
Sure enough, Jiang Yan, feeling confident again, deliberately found Ge Bai, wanting to settle the score before graduation.
Hearing Jiang Yan’s words, Ge Bai paused her steps, turned back to look at him, and He Le Yao also looked surprised.
“Jiang Yan, did you contract a second pet beast, or did you cultivate the Porcupine Beast to Transcendence Realm?”
He Le Yao frowned and asked Jiang Yan. Since Ge Bai left school, Jiang Yan took leave the next day, so she really wasn’t clear about his situation and asked very sincerely.
“What?”
Hearing He Le Yao ask this, Jiang Yan thought she was mocking him, sneered coldly, ignored He Le Yao, and spoke directly to Ge Bai.
“My Porcupine Beast is already Mortal Spirit Realm Level 5. Ge Bai, last time I was careless. Let’s battle again today.”
With that, Jiang Yan outlined the Summoning Array, summoning his Porcupine Beast. The Porcupine Beast in mini form did look a bit more spirited than before, and the spines on its body had evolved with black-and-white patterned markings.
Ge Bai glanced at the Porcupine Beast, about to use Spiritual Sense to communicate with the System to check its attributes, but remembered the System was upgrading.
It really was inconvenient. She hadn’t felt the Shen Nong System was that useful before, but now that she couldn’t use it today, she realized all sorts of discomforts.
While reflecting on whether she had been too harsh on the Shen Nong System, Ge Bai took out the upgraded Mobile Terminal from the Spirit Plant Research Institute, and unobtrusively started a scan on the Porcupine Beast.
[Race: Porcupine Beast (Hegemon Level)]
[Spiritual Power Value: Mortal Spirit Realm Level Five (12/500)]
[Attribute: Earth Element]
[Skill: Porcupine Charge-Beginner]
[Skill: Tail Arrow Needles-Beginner]
The pet beast info scanned by the Mobile Terminal was clearly not as detailed as what the Shen Nong System showed, but it was enough.
Seeing this data, Ge Bai strongly resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
She had thought Jiang Yan had some lucky encounter that would surprise her, but it turned out to be so ordinary.
Shaking her head, Ge Bai pulled He Le Yao toward the Exam Room.
“Ge Bai, are you scared? If you’re scared, you can concede.”
Jiang Yan had no intention of letting her off. Seeing Ge Bai turn to leave, he couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth and taunt.
He Le Yao couldn’t stand listening to this. Had Jiang Yan just come out of the deep mountains, completely disconnected from the internet?
She was just about to retort when Ge Bai pulled her back.
“Fine, after the exam.”
Ge Bai was too lazy to waste words with Jiang Yan, but now there were less than ten minutes until the exam started, so settle the Final Exam first.
Getting the affirmative response, Jiang Yan chuckled twice and turned to leave.
A boy following beside Jiang Yan had a face full of worry.
Jiang Yan had gone into disconnected seclusion, but he hadn’t.
Today, as soon as Jiang Yan arrived at school, without saying a word, he dragged him here. He had no idea what was going on, only to see Jiang Yan provoking Ge Bai.
Although he believed his good bro was no slouch, it seemed no matter how you looked at it, Ge Bai’s recent momentum was stronger.
Following Jiang Yan upstairs to their class’s Exam Room, he thought for a moment, then carefully asked Jiang Yan.
“Brother Jiang, can you beat Transcendence Realm Level 1 or 2 pet beasts?”
Jiang Yan wasn’t thinking about the exam at all right now, only pondering how to command the Porcupine Beast to brutally beat the Weeping Ancient Willow in a bit and get back at her.
Hearing this question, he was clearly stunned. This was already the second time in a few minutes he’d heard the term Transcendence Realm—once from He Le Yao, now from his bro.
“What’s the situation? Why is everyone mentioning Transcendence Realm?”
Jiang Yan looked puzzled.
“Of course not, we’ve only contracted pet beasts for less than a month, how could we possibly reach Transcendence Realm? The fastest would be next year.”
Saying this, Jiang Yan was righteous. Even if it was next year in high school first year, reaching Transcendence Realm would still make him outstanding among peers.
Hearing Jiang Yan say this, the boy pursed his lips, gave Jiang Yan a meaningful look, swallowed, and spoke dryly.
“Then Brother Jiang, don’t go find Ge Bai later. Her spirit plant can beat Transcendence Realm pet beasts, and she took down several.”
Jiang Yan froze in place.
——
The Final Exam wasn’t too difficult. He Le Yao answered extremely smoothly, let alone Ge Bai.
Ge Bai, who originally wanted to hand in early, saw He Le Yao still writing furiously in the same Exam Room and decided to sit quietly in the Exam Room waiting for her.
There would be fewer and fewer chances to meet in the future. If she left first today, He Le Yao would definitely nag her about it later.
Waiting until the exam ended, Ge Bai left the Exam Room with the crowd.
“Ah, only now do I really feel like junior high life is truly over.”
He Le Yao started sighing as soon as she exited the Exam Room.
“There’s still high school recruitment. Aren’t you going to prepare properly?”
Ge Bai mercilessly pulled He Le Yao back to reality.
“My school recruitment is simple. Whichever public high school I can get into, I’ll go to that one. Anyway, my parents will pay the tuition.”
He Le Yao was carefree and didn’t take it seriously.
“By the way, Ge Bai, how are your Jinggang No. 1 Middle School school recruitment preparations? With your Jinggang City Arena Competition Preliminary Competition results, it should be a sure thing.”
Ge Bai shook her head.
“Hard to say.”
As the two were talking, Ge Bai’s Mobile Terminal rang.
“Hello, Ge Bai classmate. I’m Teacher Wu from the Jinggang No. 1 Middle School Special Recruitment Office. Your relevant materials have passed the audit. Please come to Classroom 207 on the second floor of Building 1 at Jinggang No. 1 Middle School this afternoon for on-site confirmation. Any issues?”
This teacher from Jinggang No. 1 Middle School Special Recruitment class got straight to the point, probably having recited this standard script countless times, very fluently.
“No problem.”
Ge Bai thought about it. Although it conflicted with the Arena Competition Preliminary Competition, it wasn’t a big deal. Clearly, the Jinggang No. 1 Middle School Special Recruitment was more important.
“Good. Prepare well. This year’s Special Recruitment Exam time is earlier than previous years, and the battle exam is estimated to start tomorrow.”
Seeing Ge Bai agree readily, Teacher Wu kindly reminded her. She was also looking forward to what surprises this recently popular genius young Spirit Planter could bring them.
“Confirmation this afternoon? Exam tomorrow?”
He Le Yao was standing right beside Ge Bai. Ge Bai didn’t avoid her while taking the call, so she heard everything clearly.
“Ah, I was still thinking of calling you to go shopping this afternoon, but no chance now. Hurry back and rest, prepare well.”
He Le Yao knew priorities well and was fully considering for Ge Bai. Seeing she had important business, she quickly urged her to go back.
Ge Bai nodded obediently. “Alright, let’s meet up another day.”
The two walked toward the doorway together. Neither remembered Jiang Yan’s challenge.
Cut to the Exam Room where Jiang Yan was.
After the exam ended, the examinees filed out, but only Jiang Yan stubbornly stayed seated.
The invigilating teacher came over, but seeing he had already packed his stationery and wasn’t overtime answering, said nothing more and started collecting papers on his own.
Once most examinees had left, Jiang Yan dawdled over to the podium, smiling at the invigilating teacher, skillfully pretending to be a good student.
“Teacher Qin, let me help you count the exam papers and Draft Paper.”
This invigilating teacher had taught their class and was naturally happy for Jiang Yan’s help, nodding readily.
Thus, Jiang Yan naturally stayed in the Exam Room to dawdle.
Hoping Ge Bai had already left by now.
Jiang Yan slowly counted the Draft Paper while praying in his heart.
——
“Ms. Ge Bai, are you sure you’re not coming to the Preliminary Competition site today? This will greatly affect your ranking.”
The staff member for the Jinggang City Arena Competition Preliminary Competition received Ge Bai’s call and, upon learning she might temporarily withdraw from the Preliminary Competition, sincerely gave a reminder.
According to the Preliminary Competition rules, players could notify the Competition Organizers at any time to pause related matches.
This way, the Competition Organizers wouldn’t include that player in the day’s random match list.
Although the Competition Organizers wouldn’t reset the ranking of paused players, there were new players and new battle records every day.
Players not continuously participating would see their rankings drop rapidly.
Ge Bai’s current Preliminary Competition ranking was just in the nineties. One day, at most two days without participating, and she’d definitely fall out of the Preliminary Competition shortlist.
“Yes, the Preliminary Competition conflicts with my high school Special Recruitment time.”
There was nothing to hide, so Ge Bai calmly stated the real reason.
Hearing this explanation, the person on the other end clearly paused.
The staff member then realized that this player he addressed as “lady” was young—excessively so.
“Alright, if you have time to continue the Preliminary Competition, feel free to call us anytime.”
The staff member still dutifully reminded her thoroughly. After all, there weren’t many Spirit Planters who could stand out from the Preliminary Competition each year.
“The Jinggang City Arena Competition Preliminary Competition ends in 5 days. We suggest you try to make time on the last day to participate.”
This reminder was already very sincere. Maybe Ge Bai could really kill back into the shortlist on the last day of the Preliminary Competition.
“Okay, thank you. I’ll try to arrange it.”
Ge Bai took these reminders to heart. If time allowed, grabbing a spot in the Arena Competition shortlist wouldn’t be bad.
The sparring work at the Martial Arts School was all done, and the Arena Competition Preliminary Competition was temporarily set aside.
Standing at the entrance of Jinggang No. 1 Middle School, Ge Bai looked relaxed.
Special Recruitment—she had longed for it for years, planned painstakingly for years.
Finally standing here.
Looking up at the gates of Jinggang No. 1 Middle School, Ge Bai dazed for a moment.
“Ge Bai.”
Suddenly, a lively girl’s voice from behind called her back.
Puzzled, she turned around. The little girl waving at her and walking over—she didn’t recognize.
“You’re Ge Bai classmate, right? I just saw your back and knew it was you.”
The little girl was very familiar, bouncing over to stand beside Ge Bai, smiling at her.
“You don’t know me, but I know you. I even watched your match live at the Arena Competition Preliminary Competition site.”
The little girl smiled sweetly, making Ge Bai feel no dislike at all.
“Hello, I’m Ge Bai.”
Ge Bai also smiled, responding politely.
“Ah, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Fang Miao Wen. I’m also here for Special Recruitment confirmation today. We’ll be classmates from now on.”
This little girl was none other than Fang Miao Wen, who had been on the spectator stands that day at the Arena Competition, hugging Big White Bear.
“Ran Cai Jiao is my cousin. She’s been nagging me about you lately, saying she’s planning to invite you to Heng Ran Martial Arts School for another match.”
Hearing the little girl introduce herself, Ge Bai’s smile deepened a bit.
She really liked her senior Ran Cai Jiao, and that extended a bit of fondness to the cousin before her.
“Ah? I still can’t beat King Kong yet. I heard the Special Recruitment Battle Exam starts tomorrow, so probably no time recently.”
Ge Bai had also received challenge messages from Xiao La Jiao these past two days, but had politely declined them all.
“No worries, I was just mentioning it. After enrollment, there’ll probably be plenty of chances for sparring.”
After all these events, it couldn’t be said Ge Bai was more confident, but she was no longer the junior high student from the Welfare Institute a month ago.
Before, hearing Fang Miao Wen say this, Ge Bai would definitely be modest.
But now, hearing these words, hearing Fang Miao Wen implicitly treat Ge Bai as a future high school classmate, Ge Bai didn’t find anything off and accepted it very naturally.
This wasn’t arrogance; it was the confidence Ge Bai had built up for herself during this time.
Fang Miao Wen naturally stood beside Ge Bai, and the two walked toward Building 1 together.
As they walked, Fang Miao Wen didn’t stop talking.
“I heard that starting this year, Jinggang No. 1 Middle School won’t divide into three teams by grade anymore. Only the senior year team has the qualification to represent the school in competitions.”
“Instead, it’s changed to big team mode, where all selected team students from the three grades train together, only divided into starters and substitutes.”
Fang Miao Wen’s understanding of Jinggang No. 1 Middle School far surpassed Ge Bai’s.
Hearing this, Ge Bai got interested.
“All three grades together? Won’t first and second years suffer a bit?”
Ge Bai thought realistically. One more year of study, one more year of training—levels were completely different.
“The team selection standards for students from the three grades definitely differ. This big team mode probably just raises training requirements after joining, mainly pulling first and second years’ training standards up to competition prep level.”
Fang Miao Wen continued.
“Last year’s high school league, Jinggang No. 1 Middle School lost to Shenglan High School. Heard they might not win this year either. Apparently Shenglan High School has produced several geniuses in recent years, all very strong.”
“Jinggang No. 1 Middle School is afraid of losing every year and is getting anxious.”
Yo, geniuses. Ge Bai raised an eyebrow; she was even more looking forward to high school life.
