Chapter One Hundred: The Stone of the True Realm

Chu Cheng chatted with Vice Principal Zhang Erxin for a while, but as other school leaders came over to exchange pleasantries, he and Sun Yu took their leave.

On the way back, Sun Yu looked straight ahead, his gaze unwavering, and said calmly, "With your ability, getting into a top-tier university shouldn't be an issue."

Chu Cheng didn't turn his head, replying in a neutral tone, "Yes."

"How many wins did you get in the final round?"

"Ten!"

Sun Yu paused mid-step, standing still as he watched Chu Cheng walk away, his lips twitching. "Given his family background, how is that even possible?"

It was a familiar feeling. The moment Chu Cheng saw him taking the initiative to report to the vice principal, he knew exactly what Sun Yu was up to.

Showing off?

Let’s see how you like it now!

As time passed, more and more candidates returned from the examination hall. Once everyone had gathered, Zhang Erxin led them back to their temporary dormitory.

They would stay here for a few days, using the time to fill out their applications and choose their preferred schools.

Each person had five opportunities to submit applications. Naturally, the first few would be for their ideal universities, but ideals are called ideals precisely because they are hard to reach, so most would not succeed.

Normally, unless your grades far exceed a university's admission threshold and you can be accepted outright, most candidates barely meet the secondary requirement and must undergo additional assessments issued by the schools.

In other words, if you aim too high, you’ll have to go through five extra tests.

Fortunately, Chu Cheng didn't face this problem. The next day, while many students headed to the Mage Tower to submit their applications, he waited alone in the dormitory.

That afternoon, he received a message from Director Zhang Heng, adding him to a group chat called "Stellar Tower Freshmen Group (Temporary)". Besides himself and Zhang Heng, there were three staff members and two other freshmen like him.

For now, Stellar Tower had recruited three freshmen in the Tianshui Province examination district.

After half an hour, someone knocked at the door. A tall, elegant woman stood on the threshold, smiling as she asked, "Are you Chu Cheng?"

"I am," he replied.

"I'm Fang Xi from the admissions office of Stellar Tower. You can call me Sister Fang."

"Sister Fang," he acknowledged.

"Won’t you invite me in?"

Chu Cheng snapped out of his reverie, his gaze lingering on her striking figure, and stepped aside to open the door. "Please, come in."

Once inside, Fang Xi's expression grew serious. She took out a delicate treasure chest glowing with a faint violet light and handed it to him. "This is your scholarship, Chu Cheng: one hundred Chaos Gold coins and a bottle of River of the Underworld Water for attribute resetting."

"The Heroic Legacy mark and prerequisites will be awarded once you arrive at school and confirm your mentor and legacy."

Chu Cheng reached out to receive it. "Thank you, Sister Fang."

"No need to thank me. From now on, I'm your liaison. Before reporting to the Tower, you can come to me for any external matters."

"Oh, alright," Chu Cheng replied, saying little else. Fang Xi blinked her large eyes.

Big eyes met small ones for a while before Fang Xi said, "If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

"Take care, Sister."

Bang!

The door closed. Fang Xi lingered outside for several seconds, glancing down at her proud figure and pursing her lips.

"One hundred gold, secured!"

Inside, Chu Cheng immediately opened the chest, taking out the one hundred gold coins and a small crystal vial filled with black liquid.

River of the Underworld Water (Rare): Single-use item, a miraculous artifact infused with mysterious power.

Attribute: Upon use, all personal attributes become adjustable for one hour.

Drinking the water allows you to reset all previously unchangeable attributes, professions, and skills, for one hour. During this time, all professions can be deleted, all allocated attribute points revert to free points for redistribution.

All fixed skills become adjustable and can be freely removed, though deleted skills vanish completely and their skill points are not refunded, unlike attribute points.

"Once I obtain the Heroic Legacy, my power will surge."

"Besides, when I return to school, I’ll get another hundred gold coins and a True Realm Stone. Having entered a top-tier academic house, my family will reward me with another hundred gold coins. Altogether, that’s three hundred gold. Even deducting the loan, I’ll have over two hundred, which should suffice for now."

(PS: To stabilize the book’s economy, the family rewards have been revised: ordinary universities now grant ten gold coins instead of fifty; first-tier universities fifty instead of a hundred; top-tier universities one hundred instead of three hundred.)

Over the next few days, Chu Cheng stayed quietly in the dormitory, mostly browsing the local TS City network.

News of his special admission to Stellar Tower had already spread, and people constantly invited him to explore TS City. Finding it bothersome, he refused them all.

On the morning of the fourth day after the college entrance exam, Vice Principal Zhang Erxin announced their return to school.

Those who had already completed their applications were fine; those who hadn't had to go back.

If they wanted to apply afterwards, they would have to use the universities’ official websites, then pay to transmit their application through the City Hall’s Chaos Net to the universities’ admissions domains.

So most candidates finished their applications within these three days, securing their school choices early.

Half a day later, the magic airship brought them back to Fifth High. As soon as they stepped off, they saw a huge banner hanging at the school gate:

"Congratulations to Chu Cheng on his special admission to Stellar Tower, a top-tier academic house!"

Admiration, envy, all kinds of looks ensued.

There was no peace after returning, too: meetings, awards, and endless formalities. It took several days before Chu Cheng finally received a True Realm Stone and a hundred gold coins from the principal.

True Realm Stone (Divine Artifact): Contains miraculous power, capable of resurrecting the dead.

Attribute: Upon activation, instantly revives a target perfectly, restores all status, removes all negative effects, and grants Chaos Divine Power for one minute.

Chaos Divine Power: All attributes +100, life regeneration +100, mana regeneration +100, chaos power +1000, movement speed +100%, advanced body protection, divine armor, true attack, all for one minute.

Note: If stored in inventory, the True Realm Stone activates automatically. Resurrection time can be set.

Note: The True Realm Stone can be activated to revive other targets.

Note: Resurrection cannot be dispelled, prioritizing at the law level.

"Truly a divine artifact!"

For mortals, the True Realm Stone is the finest resurrection tool, even superior to so-called perfect resurrection spells, with minimal side effects.

Repeated deaths and resurrections, even with the True Realm Stone, will still affect the integrity of one’s soul, accumulation over time, but one or two uses pose no problem.

Chu Cheng immediately stowed the items in his pack, feeling a wave of reassurance.

Such an artifact is like insurance: it doesn’t mean you can throw caution to the wind, but with it, you can face the future with greater peace of mind.