17: Chapter 17 is a sure thing.

Lin Xiaoxiao's heartbeat actually skipped a beat at this moment.

Ever since she was born, this was the first time she had proactively gotten this close to a boy of her own age.

No matter how proud and natural she appeared on the surface, deep within her sparkling eyes, she still hid a trace of imperceptible nervousness and tentative probing.

She was waiting for Su Yu's reaction.

However, Su Yu did not perceive the complex, swirling girlhood thoughts behind this light punch.

The vicissitudes of having lived two lifetimes, combined with the cruel experience of struggling to survive at the bottom of society for the past three years, had long caused his brain's circuits to automatically filter out so-called romance.

Feeling the soft force on his shoulder, as well as the faint, lingering fragrance that wafted over when the young girl leaned in.

Su Yu's expression remained calm, without any evasion.

He simply took this as a casual way for this Young Miss to express herself among peers, now that she had scored full marks and was in a great mood.

"Good."

Su Yu followed her lead and nodded faintly.

Seeing that Su Yu not only did not dodge but instead obediently nodded.

Lin Xiaoxiao's courage grew even greater.

She pushed her luck and stood on her tiptoes.

A slender arm reached out directly, quite skillfully hooking around Su Yu's neck.

She pressed him down slightly.

The distance between the two instantly closed to less than ten centimeters.

Su Yu frowned slightly.

He could even feel the warm breath Lin Xiaoxiao exhaled against his ear as she spoke.

The young girl's fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose grew stronger, causing him, an outsider who had always been accustomed to being alone, to feel a hint of uncomfortable intimacy.

He turned his head, looked at the pretty face inches away, and spoke in a calm tone.

"Classmate Lin, isn't this a bit too close?"

Upon hearing these words, the arm Lin Xiaoxiao had hooked around Su Yu's neck stiffened imperceptibly.

A suspicious flush instantly climbed up to her fair, white earlobes.

But how could she possibly admit her own little thoughts?

This wealthy Young Miss, hailed by all the boys in school as a high-mountain flower, simply steeled her heart and bit the bullet to keep up her "big sister" persona to the end.

"Close? What's close? This is what we call a pure revolutionary friendship!"

Not only did Lin Xiaoxiao not let go, but she instead pretended to glare back domineeringly and began to prevaricate shamelessly.

"You are now a little brother under my protection! What's wrong with a big sister putting her arm around her little brother's neck?"

"People of the Jianghu don't fuss over trifles, understand?"

Su Yu thought about it and felt it made sense.

He just assumed that this Young Miss was used to being surrounded by people and that her personality carried a bit of childishness and bossiness.

Seeing that Su Yu didn't speak, a trace of slyness flashed in Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes, and she simply pushed her luck to forcibly change the subject.

"Since you're someone under my protection from now on."

The corners of her mouth curled into a mischievous smile, "Then shouldn't you know the rules?"

"Call me Big Sister and let me hear it!"

Facing this slightly willful request, Su Yu looked at her sparkling eyes and shook his head.

"I am three months older than you."

"I don't care!"

Lin Xiaoxiao stubbornly tightened her arm, looking very much like she wouldn't let go unless he called her that.

"Those who have mastered the path are teachers, the strong are to be respected!"

"My Qi and blood value is higher than yours, so I am the Big Sister!"

Su Yu watched her unyielding behavior and sighed inwardly.

This girl was not only stubborn, but also childishly cute.

Considering her good intentions in trying to give him medicine earlier.

Su Yu did not continue to argue.

"Big Sister Lin."

Two extremely perfunctory words.

Without any emotional color.

But to Lin Xiaoxiao, it sounded like the music of the spheres.

"That's more like it!"

Lin Xiaoxiao let go with satisfaction and brushed the dust off her hands.

The joy in the depths of her eyes was about to overflow.

In the rest area in the distance.

Zhao Ze stared fixedly at the two backs in the waiting area acting so intimately.

His fingernails had already dug deeply into the flesh of his palms, and fresh blood dripped through the gaps in his fingers.

Jealousy!

Mad jealousy!

That was Lin Xiaoxiao!

The high-mountain flower that all the top rich kids in Jiang City didn't even dare to look at for too long!

Now she was actually proactively hooking a commoner's neck? And smiling so happily?!

"Su Yu..."

Zhao Ze gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.

"The combat assessment..."

"I must kill you! I must!"

...

"Clang—"

Ten o'clock in the morning.

The Qi and blood tests were all finished.

The broadcast sounded again.

"Will all candidates whose Qi and blood values reached the passing line, please proceed to the teaching building to prepare for the liberal arts comprehensive examination."

"Exam time: two hours."

"Closed book."

The liberal arts exam.

In this high-martial world, while martial power was the foundation, theoretical knowledge was equally important.

Dissection of exotic beast weaknesses, wilderness survival skills, Great Xia Kingdom martial Dao laws, theoretical deduction of High Grade Martial Skills...

This knowledge was the key to determining how long a Martial Artist could survive in the wilderness outside the city.

Even in a top institution like the Imperial Capital First Martial Arts University, if one's liberal arts grades were not up to par, even if one had full marks in Qi and blood, one would be directly turned away.

Su Yu followed the flow of people and walked into the third examination hall.

He found his seat and sat down.

The proctor began to distribute the test papers.

A thick stack, fully over a dozen pages.

The amount of questions was astonishingly large.

Su Yu picked up his black signature pen, and his gaze swept over the first multiple-choice question on the paper.

[Given that a Tier 3 Iron-Armored Rhino is in a berserk state, its abdominal armor thickness is 15 millimeters. Please ask, when using the Yellow Rank High Grade Martial Skill 《Army-Breaking Fist》, how many points of Qi and blood value burst are needed at minimum to penetrate its defense?]

An extremely tricky combat theory question.

But Su Yu did not even have a second of hesitation.

The tip of his pen landed on the answer sheet, directly blacking out option C.

His eidetic memory, combined with the terrifying brain processing speed brought by the Martial Master Realm.

Made doing these questions feel like a college student doing first-grade addition and subtraction.

Zero difficulty.

Swish, swish, swish—

In the examination hall, only the sound of pen tips rubbing against paper remained.

Most candidates were biting their pen tips, deep in thought.

Yet Su Yu's hand was like a precision printing machine, leaving standard answers on the test paper at an extremely uniform and fast rhythm.

History questions.

Legal questions.

Exotic beast dissection essay questions.

...

The exam ended quickly.

He walked out of the teaching building.

The dazzling sunlight spilled onto his face.

The campus was empty, with only a few patrols of City Defense Army soldiers.

Su Yu followed the tree-lined path and walked toward the school gate.

Just as he exited the school gate.

"Beep, beep—"

Two crisp car horn sounds rang out.

That black bulletproof SUV was parked on the side of the road.

The car window rolled down.

Lin Xiaoxiao was wearing a pair of wide sunglasses, one hand resting on the steering wheel.

She tilted her head toward Su Yu.

"Get in."

Su Yu didn't stand on ceremony, pulled open the passenger door, and sat in.

The air conditioning in the car was on high, the seats were top-tier leather, and the wrapping was excellent.

"How did you do?" Lin Xiaoxiao asked casually while starting the car.

"It's in the bag."

Su Yu leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes to rest.

Lin Xiaoxiao curled her lips.

She didn't continue the topic, but stepped on the gas, the SUV let out a low roar, and merged into the main road of Jiang City.

"Big Sister is taking you somewhere."