Before long, a car pulled up in front of him. He opened the passenger door, got in, and after shutting the door, greeted Cheng Zitong in the driver's seat. "Good morning, Teacher."
Cheng Zitong studied him for a long moment, hesitating before asking, "Finished the exam?"
Chen Chuan nodded, pulled the unlimited defense license from his pocket, and handed it over. "Here it is."
Cheng Zitong snatched off his sunglasses, took the license with great care, and examined it several times. Finally convinced, he said, "It really is. You... sigh, you always manage to give your teacher a surprise."
Chen Chuan looked at him, thinking, *As long as it's not a scare, Teacher.*
Cheng Zitong handed the license back and instructed, "Put it away safely. Don't go losing it." Still finding it hard to believe, he asked, "Tell me, how did it happen so fast?"
Chen Chuan replied modestly, "Perhaps it was because I arrived fairly early."
He recounted the key points of what had happened. It had taken only two days from start to finish, and after hearing the whole story, Cheng Zitong leaned back against his seat, his gaze unfocused as if digesting the information. Only after a good while did he look straight ahead and speak.
"To avoid acquaintances, I deliberately went somewhere out of the way. I'd barely settled in when I got your call, so I hurried back through the night, wondering if you'd run into some sort of trouble.
"Don't blame me for worrying. The ones who set out from the academy a few days ago for the Grade C license probably won't be back for a month or so, yet you went for a Grade B certificate and somehow finished first? If I didn't know how reliable you are, Chuan, I would've doubted whether you even went."
At that, he couldn't help but chuckle. He patted the steering wheel and sighed with feeling. "Splendid. Truly splendid."
After a moment, he sat up straight and looked at Chen Chuan. "The two of us need to get our stories straight so nothing slips out when we talk. Getting the license in your first year gives you a shot at a slot to Center City."
Chen Chuan nodded.
Cheng Zitong proceeded to align their stories. His spirits were soaring with genuine joy. This was a student he had trained with his own hands; he had watched Chen Chuan grow step by step from a novice who knew next to nothing into someone who now held an unlimited defense license.
He felt heartfelt delight for his student, alongside the pride and accomplishment of a mentor. For a teacher, what could be more gratifying than seeing one's student succeed?
Finally, he cautioned, "Still, don't be in too much of a rush. You're still a month away from finishing your full first year at Wuyi Academy, and applying to Center City involves a formal process. There isn't enough time right now anyway. Once you finish this semester and enter your second year, I'll sit down with you and figure this out properly."
Chen Chuan nodded. "Though I'd like to reach Center City as soon as possible, I'm not fully prepared yet either. I plan to use these next few months to keep improving."
Cheng Zitong started the car. "Haven't had breakfast yet, right? Come on, I'll treat you to a good meal first to celebrate you getting that defense license."
Chen Chuan went with Cheng Zitong for a hearty breakfast, after which mentor and student returned to the academy together.
Their return caused no stir and drew little attention, seeming just like any ordinary day. Yet both of them knew that certain things were already different.
Back in his dorm, Chen Chuan took a quick shower. Before unpacking his things, he walked into the living room, picked up the telephone receiver, and placed a call to Gao Ming.
Once the line connected, he said, "Hello, Gao Ming. It's me."
Gao Ming's voice came through. "Cousin, weren't you away training with your teacher?"
Chen Chuan replied calmly, "The training yielded results. Everything went smoothly, so I'm already back."
This was their agreed code. They had previously arranged that "training results" would substitute for the unlimited defense license; saying this meant he had already secured it.
There was a brief pause on Gao Ming's end. Then he said in an apparently calm tone, "Then I must congratulate you, Cousin."
Chen Chuan said, "Gao Ming, we'll talk more once you're back."
"Understood, Cousin."
A trace of excitement, barely perceptible, crept into Gao Ming's voice. "It's been a while since I visited Aunt and Uncle. With your summer vacation coming up, it's about time I came back to pay them a visit."
With a click, both hung up at the same time.
Both understood clearly that now that the unlimited defense license was in hand, the next step was planning how to enter Center City and contend for that slot.
***
Meanwhile, in Wubian City, over three hundred kilometers from Yangzhi City, Wei Jun was mulling over the contents of his upcoming exam. This time, the candidates were required to deal with a group of death-row convicts.
The convicts would be released into the wilderness before the test, provided with some water, food, and weapons. The candidates were required to capture or kill them within a set time limit.
The exam presented little difficulty for him. He would buy detailed dossiers on the convicts from their guards beforehand, and he could deploy manpower to help him track them down. In the end, he would only need to step forward and finish them off. Besides, he had firearms with him; when the time came, it would likely take nothing more than firing a few rounds.
Securing a Grade C unlimited defense license should pose no problem. Although the two-year validity period annoyed him slightly, after graduation he could train for another year or two and go for the Grade B certificate.
There was no recommended student in his cohort at the academy who could compete with him. Once he graduated next month, he could leave for Center City, where better training methods, greater resources, and superior guidance awaited, alongside opportunities to expand his network in preparation for joining the corporation his family served.
Even so, he needed to run through the rosters once more at this juncture to ensure no surprises arose.
Last time, Shen Zheng had nearly secured the recommendation to Center City simply because he obtained an unlimited defense license. At the time, not a single student in the entire school was a match for him, and a certain senior's slot had almost been usurped. Fortunately...
Yet precisely because of Shen Zheng's precedent, they took this matter with utmost seriousness. They would never allow another student to test for an unlimited defense license outside their arrangements! It had to be crushed in the bud!
He summoned his butler and instructed, "Teacher Tan said back then that I needed to master stance jin before going to Center City. I've nearly mastered it now. My unlimited defense license is almost in hand too, but nothing can go wrong at the final step. Check for me if any students have been away recently."
The butler replied confidently, "Young Master, I've kept an eye on that all along and have detailed records."
"Bring them here for me to see," Wei Jun said.
The butler complied, stepped away to retrieve the papers, and soon returned to present a file respectfully.
"Since the start of the term, these are all the students who have left the academy over the past few months. The rough dates of their absences are all recorded."
Wei Jun took the folder and flipped through it. He looked at the third-years first, though he knew the Mutual Aid Society suppressed whichever outstanding commoner students it could and co-opted the rest. Under their control, hardly anyone stepped out of line anymore, so he skimmed past them after a few glances.
His primary focus was the second-years, as that grade was also eligible to test for the license. In particular, he had met several influential scions from other cities this time who, like him, hoped to go to Center City, and they had traded information.
From them, he had heard a story: just last year in Guanbi City, a second-year commoner student holding a weapons license had gone alone to test for the unlimited defense license. With that student's strength, passing was practically guaranteed, but the news leaked, and someone had him disposed of on the road.
Supposedly his limbs had been broken before he was encased in concrete and sunk to the bottom of a lake. Whether it was true or not, Wei Jun couldn't say, but if true, he could only call them brazen. Doing so carried the suspicion of provoking the Evaluation Panel and entailed massive repercussions.
While it was difficult to trace back to them as long as they didn't do the deed personally, the corporation backing them could very well draw scrutiny from above.
Fortunately, he had no need to worry about such things. In Wuyi Academy, the most talented among the second-years was Geng Zheng. At first, Geng Zheng had refused to join the Mutual Aid Society, but they had eventually pulled him in anyway. The medicine needed to treat his family had to come from Center City, and only they could supply it. There was no fear of him acting out.
After flipping past the second-years, Wei Jun paid little mind to the first-years, since those students could hardly pose a threat to him.
Still, since the pages were already open, he cast a few extra glances over them.
The most talented among the first-years was undeniably Chen Chuan. Defeating that good dog Zhong Wu during the entrance exam had left a deep impression on him, and even his moving out of the academy seemed related to it. Crucially, Chen Chuan had yet to join the Mutual Aid Society.
Noticing that Chen Chuan's whereabouts seemed somewhat irregular, Wei Jun frowned and pointed at the entry. "What's the deal with this Chen Chuan? Has he been away from the academy all this time?"
The butler answered respectfully, "Young Master, we looked into it. Although this student is often away from the academy, the longest he's been gone is only seven or eight days. We confirmed he stays at a martial hall in the south of the city, training under Supervisor Cheng. He took another trip recently, but he returned to the academy just yesterday. Most likely, he was being taught some proprietary technique."
Having heard this, Wei Jun dismissed the thought. "Fine, you may go. I need to prepare for the upcoming assessment."
***
Meanwhile, two li away from his luxury hotel, Deng Fu, Tai Dongwei, and Geng Zheng were lodged in the same dormitory.
They had also learned about the exam content and felt that while it posed some difficulty, passing wouldn't be hard if they gave it their all.
Yet they were forced to forfeit.
And forfeiting this time meant they would never have another chance to test for the defense license in the future.
Tai Dongwei didn't know what Deng Fu and Geng Zheng were thinking, but as for himself, though he had long claimed not to care, a pang of discomfort still lingered when the moment of surrender actually arrived.
He thought to himself that perhaps he hadn't truly let it all go.
With a quiet sigh, he recognized that this was simply how the world worked, and there was nothing he could change.
He looked over at Geng Zheng, who sat with a defiant expression on his face, wondering if the kid might end up pulling some stunt.
Only Deng Fu, reclining halfway on his bed and absorbed in reading a collection of stories, appeared entirely at ease. Tai Dongwei figured the man had long since seen through it all; caring about nothing meant feeling no sense of loss, and perhaps even coming out ahead.
Sharp as ever, Deng Fu noticed Tai Dongwei looking over. He cast a glance back with a wry smile, then looked at Geng Zheng. Seeing the younger student sitting in silence, he chuckled, closed his storybook, and spoke up. "Little brother, what's on your mind? Still dwelling on it?
"Let your senior teach you a lesson today: don't squabble over the short term. What does a momentary humiliation matter? Don't work yourself up over it. You've got plenty of days ahead. As long as you work hard to stay alive, let me tell you, you'll see all sorts of bizarre things. Hosts and guests swapping places, top and bottom turning upside down—none of it is impossible."
Tai Dongwei's heart stirred.
Geng Zheng couldn't help but ask, "You mean...?"
Deng Fu grinned. "I'm just telling you to try and live a long life. Nothing more." With that, he propped his head on his arm and went back to his book.
Chapter 153