73: 【Bronze clown mask】

It wasn't until Shi Li left and closed the door that the female Recruitment Officer finally spoke.

“Dean Hu, are you betting on the New Star Cup?”

She thought about it repeatedly, and this was the only possibility.

“Exactly.”

Hu Lan nodded.

The New Star Cup is a national competition for first-year university students.

For various universities, this is a very important competition.

Because it not only concerns the reputation of each university but also their vested interests.

The resources allocated by the state to various universities each year are limited.

Which university should receive more and which should receive less has always been a topic of endless debate among the schools.

So after repeated conflicts, the universities finally reached an agreement: to compete for the allocation of educational resources through various competitive methods.

One of the major components of this was the New Star Cup.

Because the New Star Cup targets first-year students, it largely reflects a university's cultivation level for its incoming students.

The cultivation level of new students, in turn, largely reflects the university's teaching standards.

As key national universities, Tsinghua University and Peking University have consistently achieved undisputed results in the New Star Cup over the years, earning them the title of the Four Great Giants.

However, this year is slightly different; Qingchuan University wants to make further breakthroughs and outperform the rest.

The reason is that this year's New Star Cup will be hosted and organized by Qingchuan University.

“If he can win first place in the provincial competition, it is indeed very likely that he will achieve good results in the New Star Cup.”

The male Recruitment Officer knew that the “certain indicator” Dean Hu suggested to Shi Li should refer to his performance in the New Star Cup.

“Perhaps, but first, he has to be able to achieve it.”

Hu Lan showed neither optimism nor pessimism.

The condition of achieving first place in the provincial competition was set both to motivate Shi Li and to make him further prove himself.

No sooner had the group finished their conversation than they suddenly saw Zhou Dazhuang storming in, without even knocking.

“Did you sweet-talk Shi Li?”

Seeing Hu Lan, he immediately questioned her directly.

After Shi Li left Qingchuan University, he did not go to Dayuan to compare offers.

Although Hu Lan had already spoken, going to compare would be somewhat tactless.

Moreover, from Dayuan's perspective, this could also be seen as showing off, easily offending people for no reason.

It was precisely because Shi Li didn't come that Dayuan naturally concluded that he had already signed with Qingchuan University.

It can only be said that this situation is relatively rare; most students compare offers from several places and think carefully before making their final signing decision.

Therefore, Zhou Dazhuang felt that Shi Li had been swayed by Hu Lan.

“1 million cubic coins? Are you crazy?”

However, when he heard Hu Lan state that number, Zhou Dazhuang was stunned.

It wasn't that Dayuan couldn't afford 1 million cubic coins, but considering Shi Li's personal situation, this price seemed somewhat incredible to him.

It should be noted that the conditions their inspection team had discussed offering Shi Li were only B+ level treatment plus 500,000 cubic coins.

If one thought carefully, they would realize that even the B+ level treatment from one of the Four Famous Universities was a notch or two better than Jiangnan University's A-level treatment.

However, Qingchuan University had already intercepted him, so saying these things was useless now.

As for Shi Li, after he went out, he also evaded the questions from Fang Jinghai and the others.

He was afraid that if they knew how much Qingchuan University offered him, these people would feel unbalanced.

However, even with a high offer, whether he could actually achieve it still depended on his own efforts.

And so, this trial training trip officially concluded.

Unlike their arrival, Jiangnan University specially dispatched an aircraft to send everyone back to their respective cities.

When he returned home, Shi Yuan had not yet finished school.

So Shi Li decided to cook himself.

And because the results of this trial training were excellent, he was in a great mood and decided to challenge a new dish.

When Shi Yuan returned home, he was greeted by a dish of pitch-black, lumpy objects.

“Monster attack!”

Shi Yuan pulled out his cards and assumed a battle stance.

“Do you think the pot was the problem, or the ingredients?”

Shi Li did not deny this failure.

“You're just not going to mention yourself, are you?”

“Do you think my pot was the problem, or my ingredients?”

“What a talent.”

Faced with such a level of blame-shifting, Shi Yuan couldn't help but give a thumbs-up in admiration.

The two brothers ultimately had to order takeout.

After dinner, Shi Li returned to his room.

The first thing he took out was the two-star token card given by Jiangnan University.

He clicked 'use' directly, and text quickly appeared.

【This mission is named: The Despicable Goblin's Return.】

【In the depths of the forest, in those filthy caves, often reside small, ugly, green-skinned creatures—goblins.】

【Individual goblins are weak, so to compensate for their shortcomings, they usually hunt in groups.】

【Today, Gobbu got lost from the main group due to an accident.】

【To return to its tribal group, it thought of three strategies.】

【Please help it make a choice.】

【A. Stay put and wait for rescue】

【Gain DEBUFF [Hunger]: -10 Health per round in the card game.】

【B. Search for food and water】

【Go to the nearest water source according to memory; perhaps tribal tools left behind can also be found.】

【C. Shout for help】

【The shouts for help might attract wild beasts; a “battle” is about to happen.】

“Just pick one.”

Shi Li certainly didn't expect to achieve a perfect clear on his first try.

Compared to the Unique Character Card's star-up mission, this [Despicable Goblin's Return] simulation mission was quite short.

In less than 20 minutes, Shi Li completed the clear.

【You have completed this simulation, with a completion rate of 83%.】

【You can obtain Character Card [Despicable Goblin (Two-Star)] x1.】

【Yes/No to reset this mission for 2200 cubic coins.】

“Wow, that's expensive.”

Although the refresh fee for [Dragon Burial Ancient Tomb] (Star-Up) was 2500, that was for a Unique Character Card's two-star mission, mind you.

The last two-star token card Shi Li refreshed, which was the [Crow Warrior] mission, only cost 1500 to refresh.

Indeed, the higher his rank, the higher the refresh cost.

If his deck depth wasn't so shallow right now, he would definitely decompose a few two-star cards.

He wanted to see if his refresh cost would decrease after decomposition.

“I only have 5000+ cubic coins right now, which isn't enough for many refreshes.

Although an 83% completion rate is quite high, I'll put this simulation mission aside for now; I'm not in a hurry for this card.”

He decided to carefully examine the set of material cards Hu Lan had given him.

There were a total of 4 cards.

【Bronze Clown Mask】: Steadfast Series Trait Material (Two-Star)

【Hard Carapace Shard】: Steadfast Series Auxiliary Material (Two-Star)

【Steadfast Series Medium】: Steadfast Series General Material (Two-Star)

【Powerful Energy Core】: General Material (Two-Star)

……

……