Starry Sky Professional

With Fang Xing's current strength, his progress in the arena battles has naturally been smooth and victorious.

As the exams progressed from eight to four, then four to two, the number of arenas gradually decreased, yet the audience for each battle only grew larger.

Until…

"The final match, Fang Xing versus Liu Wei, you two will decide the first and second place in this practical exam!"

On the stage, Xia Long looked at both sides, a faint smile on his face.

Regardless of the outcome, the top two spots for practicals were already claimed by his class.

The principal will have to give out more rewards this year, right?

If either of these two gets into college, I definitely deserve a big bonus!

"Ah Xing…"

Liu Wei looked at Fang Xing, a glint of eager anticipation on his face. "Come on… I've long wanted to see your real strength."

As he spoke, the muscles on his body rippled like water, looking extraordinarily strange.

Fang Xing suddenly let out a sigh.

Liu Wei is strong!

Awakening a supernatural power is like defying fate, and it’s a tremendously impactful strength-based power!

If they were to fight, he’d need to give his all to deal with Liu Wei.

This might reveal some things.

After all, the Jade Skin technique represents the pinnacle of the third realm, where the progress in foundational skills shows his exceptional insight.

But the high level of physical refinement was hard to explain, even with great talent, it couldn’t be achieved without a large investment of resources.

‘Being second in practicals is a decent rank, especially since... there's still the written exams!’

‘A hot-blooded youth finally facing an old friend in battle, narrowly winning after a tough fight—that’s just not my style...’

Fang Xing, having made up his mind, finally spoke, "I concede..."

"Concede?"

Xia Long's eyebrows furrowed, while the surrounding students and teachers were in an uproar.

"Concede? Why concede?"

"Rumor has it that Liu Wei and Fang Xing are good friends, childhood companions... Maybe he couldn't bear to go against him?"

"Nonsense! I've been in tight quarters with my childhood pal, and when we sat for our high school entrance exams, I didn’t hold back, ended up making him look like a bruised fruit... Isn't a friendly spar between friends a normal thing?"

"Hmph, foolish! As synthetic humans, we have nothing to rely on but our performance... Grades from the first year finals are crucial for future university entrance. If there's a tie, comprehensive file reviews might be conducted, and then this single piece of historical performance might just tip the scale... How unwise of Fang Xing!"

Some admired him, while others scoffed.

Liu Wei's face suddenly turned somber, "Why?"

"I don't want to fight you, that's reason enough."

Fang Xing exhaled deeply, "Besides... being second in the practical isn't so bad."

Liu Wei felt a stir within, understanding that the final score for the finals comprised both written and practical exams combined.

And his academic performance?

It couldn't be called disastrous, but it always slightly lagged behind Fang Xing's.

"Well then, since the party involved concedes, Liu Wei wins this match!"

Xia Long cleared his throat, a slight smile appearing on his face, "This concludes the end of the term exams, scores will be released shortly!"

With intelligent grading systems in place, the written exam scores had long been finalized.

The delay was merely for the practical results.

Soon, Fang Xing saw his score.

[Written Exam Score: 874]

[Practical Performance: 98 Points]

[Total Score: 175.6]

"Hmm? Did I get first place in my grade?"

Fang Xing was a bit dumbfounded, then understood instantly, "It seems those top students in the written exams all lost pretty badly in the practical this time..."

"How is this possible? I'm only third?"

Liu Wei, seeing his own results, found it hard to accept.

"This is quite normal. The total score is composed of 90% practical performance and 10% written exam score. You were first in practical performance with a score of 100...but your written exam score was 840, giving you a total of 174, just one point behind Bai Lianyi, putting you in third place..."

Xia Long looked at Fang Xing again, "Though you admitted defeat knowing you couldn't win, which is a kind of courage...some teachers believe you were avoiding the fight, which slightly affected your score. Otherwise, you could have been second in the grade, as your practical performance typically gets 99 points... Fang Xing, you need to keep pushing forward; this score can be easily surpassed by others."

"Yes, teacher."

Fang Xing nodded, "I plan to spend this summer vacation focusing on study and practice..."

"Very good. I hope the three of you can maintain this progress, and I'll apply for scholarships for you next semester."

This time, the classmates truly gave him a good name, securing the top three places in the grade, even forcing the principal to toast him a few more times at the banquet...

"Thank you, teacher."

Fang Xing glanced sideways at Liu Wei and Bai Lianyi, feeling a bit odd.

Recalling the dog-walking woman Jing Xia encountered that day, he decided it would be best to stay home this summer and explore this other world.

As for living expenses?

Anyway, scholarships are coming soon, so there's no need to go out and work part-time.

...

"It's finally over..."

Happy Home Community.

Fang Xing closed the door to his room and sprawled comfortably on his bed.

With final exams over, the school had begun its vacation.

Two months of holiday were ample for him to delve deeper into that otherworldly realm!

"Power, I need more power!"

Thinking of Liu Wei's progress, Fang Xing felt a prickling sense of discomfort.

It wasn’t the familiar adage of fearing your brother’s hardship but also fearing his success.

Rather… Liu Wei's transformation was somewhat unusual!

To others, it might seem normal, yet the original character had grown up with Liu Wei.

In addition to the occasional signs Liu Wei had shown, Fang Xing couldn’t help but feel danger creeping closer.

‘It might be that I’m overthinking, and Liu Wei simply got lucky with a genetic mutation, gaining powers…’

‘But… it’s better to cut ties sooner rather than later.’

Fang Xing confronted his inner thoughts; there was a need to distance himself from Liu Wei to ensure this original friend wouldn’t notice anything strange about him!

‘Even though I have the memories of my predecessor... I am not truly the original Fang Xing.

The habits of a traveler like me still leave traces.

Others may not realize, but Liu Wei might detect them… thus, have I been gradually distancing myself from him?

Even unconsciously?’

Fang Xing sighed deeply.

The original's friends were ultimately not his own.

In the novels he read in his past life, protagonists who immediately adopted a new family and bonded deeply with friends weren’t his style.

Without the memories of the original, such bonds felt utterly fake.

‘I am who I am; being true to myself is enough…’

Fang Xing sighed again, deciding to indulge in a game to commemorate his bygone youth.

"Hmm, the new eighteen-plus game just dropped something fresh. Let me critique it thoroughly…"

He put on his holographic glasses, immersing himself in the latest masterpiece, oblivious to the passage of time outside.

He didn't know how long how time had passed, but when Fang Xing satisfiedly sighed and removed his glasses, he discovered that the sky had already turned pitch black.

“Hmm? The takeout has arrived?”

Fang Xing glanced at the notification and walked to the door, where he found two courier packages.

Upon opening them, he found a wig inside, along with a vintage robe he had requested.

To impersonate someone from another world, having long hair seemed necessary. Given the limited time, a wig would have to suffice for now.

Retro style was also fashionable on Chuying Star, so purchasing a set of ancient garments didn't appear out of place.

These garments resembled the wide-sleeved robes of the alternate world. Adding the deliberate aging process he had requested, using coarse linen dyed blue, they appeared virtually indistinguishable.

“After a good meal and drink, tomorrow it's time to traverse worlds... This time, I'm heading to 'Qinglin Market' over there...”

After spending some time learning the foreign language, Fang Xing had largely mastered it, at least sufficiently for face-to-face communication without much trouble.

He had even once discreetly approached a few farming areas and exchanged some words with some seemingly honest farmers, without exposing any flaws.

“Two months of time, hopefully, I can achieve some results... At the very least, I need to find a channel for 'Innate Pills'...”

Progressing in martial arts is relatively easy if ample resources are available.

Advancing from the first stage 'Flesh and Blood Realm' to the second stage 'Muscle and Bone Realm' isn't a big issue with enough 'Vitality Pills'.

But advancing from 'Muscle and Bone Realm' to 'Gemstone Polishing Realm' poses some challenges.

Training the internal organs and strengthening the internal breath is not a quick task and is something that many high school students fail to accomplish, ultimately missing out on university.

“With 'Innate Pills', the path to the Gemstone Polishing Realm would be smooth for me... If I further develop 'Great Dragon Stance' to the fourth stage and comprehend the 'Dragon Intent', I can smoothly ascend to the fourth stage of martial arts—'Courage and Spirit Realm'!”

“If I reach the 'Courage and Spirit Realm' by the time I'm in my third year of high school, not only will university be secured, but I might even reach for top-tier schools... Although the ultra-elite 'Blue Star University' and 'Nine Swords Academy' would still be challenging...”

Fang Xing silently planned his future, his eyes growing ever brighter.

“In such a brilliant interstellar era, wouldn't it be a pity not to venture to the forefront of the waves?”

(End of Chapter)