Shen Han couldn't wait to return home, finally able to relax.
Although the battle for the heaven marrow fruit was extremely dangerous, the harvest left him quite satisfied.
He took out the heaven marrow fruit, which was brimming with Spiritual Qi, placed it in his palm, and began absorbing and refining it.
The pure energy within the heaven marrow fruit flowed from his palm into his meridians and gathered in his Sea of Consciousness. The colorful Chaos Element star immediately became eager, greedily devouring this pure energy. The stars of the other elements didn't receive even a trace, and the surface of the heaven marrow fruit visibly shriveled.
In less than an hour, the energy of the heaven marrow fruit was completely absorbed by the Chaos Element star. The colorful star gradually became radiant and even more brilliant, but after a moment, it returned to calm, restoring its original appearance.
"Is that it?" Shen Han muttered doubtfully. It was still SSS Rank, seemingly unchanged.
Only after careful examination did he realize that the Chaos Element's skill had undergone a new change. The previous skill, Replace, was gone, replaced by a new skill called Skill Bomb.
"'Skill Bomb'? What the heck is this?" Shen Han integrated his Mental Energy into the colorful star and carefully sensed it. A moment later, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face, and he immediately felt that this was a worthwhile gain.
It turned out that previously, using the Replace operation required a Special Ability in his Sea of Consciousness that could be replaced. But after transforming into Skill Bomb, he could directly designate an E-Rank or F-Rank Special Ability to swap with the opponent's Special Ability, eliminating the need to Copy one every time he used Replace.
It was slightly underwhelming, but at least he no longer had to go out and Copy a third party's Special Ability every time before replacing it for someone else.
If he had known, he would have used the heaven marrow fruit on the Space Element. Shen Han still felt a slight regret, though the Space Element star likely couldn't compete with the Chaos Element star.
At this moment, Shen Han's cultivation was only one step away from the Martial Spirit Second Realm. By the time of the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, he would probably be able to Breakthrough to the Third or Fourth Realm.
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 1391/1400 (Martial Spirit First Realm)
Special Ability Rank: Chaos Element - SSS Rank, Lightning Element - SS Rank, Dark Element - S Rank, Fire Element - S Rank, Space Element - B Rank, Ice Element - E Rank, Wood Element - B Rank
Skills: Chaos Element - Sniff (Rank 3/10), Copy (Rank 3/10), Devour (Rank 3/10), Skill Bomb (Rank 3/10)
After witnessing the cultivation of peers like the Lu Brothers and Luo Tingyun, Shen Han felt it would be quite difficult to stand out in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. Compared to the Geniuses from those big cities, his Mental Energy still lagged significantly.
Yang City, Principal Wang Siyuan's Office
"Regarding the heaven marrow fruit competition this time, I don't know if the two of you participated. It doesn't matter if you didn't, but I heard many Geniuses from the Provincial Capital came, all from your cohort. Apparently, some have Awakened SS-Rank Special Abilities." Principal Wang Siyuan called Shen Han and Wen Tingting over. "How about it? Do you have confidence in achieving a good ranking in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination?"
"I just don't know how many Geniuses like that there are. Any one of them would Rank in the top three if they were in our Yang City," Wen Tingting sighed slightly, feeling discouraged.
"There aren't that many Geniuses, but after the heaven marrow fruit competition, several SS-Rank Geniuses should emerge in this year's National Higher Education Entrance Examination," Principal Wang Siyuan lamented. "But you don't need to feel too much pressure. Just perform your best. Whether No. 5 High School and Yang City can achieve a good ranking this year depends on you two."
"Here are 20 bottles of Quenching Spirit Liquid, jointly funded by the Yang City Education Bureau and the school to support you. 10 bottles for each of you. Try to improve your Mental Energy before the National Higher Education Entrance Examination." With that, Principal Wang Siyuan handed each of them an exquisite box. "Each box contains 10 bottles, which are considered high-quality Quenching Spirit Liquid."
"Yang City doesn't Rank high in the province, and the Education Bureau doesn't allocate much funding every year. Whether the school can receive more financial support in the future depends on whether you two can strive for higher rankings. If you can secure a spot in the top 10 in the province, the school will directly reward you 5 million."
Hearing this amount, Shen Han and Wen Tingting were tempted, but immediately felt some doubt. Wen Tingting asked, "But, what is the current cultivation level of the Geniuses in other parts of the province?"
The two of them truly had no concept of the Geniuses from other regions.
"Based on the data of Geniuses in previous years, if you can step into the Martial Spirit Realm, you are basically guaranteed a spot in the top hundred in the province. A significant portion of the final score depends on the practical combat results, but overall, the Geniuses across the province are generally at this level. As for the Top Scorer, last year's Top Scorer had already reached the Martial Spirit Third Realm during the National Higher Education Entrance Examination."
After hearing this, Shen Han felt more certain. Given his current progress, he could push hard during the last month and estimated he should reach the Martial Spirit Fourth Realm by the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. If so, a spot in the provincial top ten was almost guaranteed.
Principal Wang Siyuan then turned to Shen Han and instructed, "I heard that Zhu Wenhan from No. 1 High School recently also Broke through to the Martial Spirit First Realm. The Top Scorer of Yang City must stay here at No. 5 High School, don't let me lose it."
Shen Han smiled, a glint of cunning flashing in his eyes, "Principal, how much does the Yang City Top Scorer get rewarded?"
"Scram."
After leaving Principal Wang Siyuan's office, the two walked side by side. Wen Tingting stared at Shen Han for a long time.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Shen Han asked suspiciously.
"No. Do you know a girl named Wang Gang?" Wen Tingting's question stunned Shen Han. Was a girl's intuition really so accurate and sharp?
"I don't know her. Why? I heard this person managed to grab a heaven marrow fruit," Shen Han replied without panicking, though he felt slightly embarrassed.
"Oh, nothing. I just felt that you two look quite similar," Wen Tingting said, whether intentionally or not.
"Right, besides testing Mental Energy, do you know if the National Higher Education Entrance Examination also tests the Rank of each Special Ability?" Shen Han was quite worried about this question. It would be bad if his SSS-Rank Chaos Element was exposed; that was his biggest trump card.
"Both will be tested. The Mental Energy value will be part of the final score, and the Special Ability Rank also needs to be tested so that university majors have a reference when selecting candidates."
"So that's how it is."
That's not good. If that's the case, figuring out how to conceal the SSS-Rank Chaos Element Special Ability is paramount.
If the SS-Rank Lightning Element was exposed, so be it—there was nothing he could do. His original plan was to use an A-Rank Lightning Element for the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, but now that it was SS-Rank, he needed a better excuse.
Seeing Shen Han's conflicted expression, Wen Tingting smiled meaningfully. "It would probably be very difficult for you to hide or disguise your Special Ability Rank. The instruments used for testing in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination are extremely precise to ensure fairness."
"Who said I wanted to hide or disguise my Special Ability? I want to know if there's a way to directly conceal an entire element's Special Ability," Shen Han guessed that Wen Tingting already knew about the Wang Gang incident, and both parties understood without explicitly stating it.
"Conceal an entire element? Looks like you have quite a secret."
"Well? I've told you such a secret. Can you help me with this small favor? I don't want people knowing about my Innate Dual Elements," Shen Han said, feigning mystery.
"There is a way, but why should I help you?" Wen Tingting gave a sly smile.