Chapter 114: Chapter 114: What’s More Important, Drinking or a Foot Massage?

"Xiaoweng." Li Xiaoshuang nodded.

Weng Dazheng’s smile stiffened. He glanced left and right, then gave a casual nod. "You guys look around. We’re heading back now. We’ll catch up when we have time."

With that, he led his group away.

Standing by the road, Chen Che noticed that the students classified in the "Dangerous Group" were all sizing him up curiously. However, the moment they saw the emblem on his school uniform, they immediately looked away, clearly uninterested.

Jiang Jingyuan, on the other hand, frowned, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Chen Che, Zong Yudao, and Lin Yi, as if trying to identify his target.

"Who’s he?"

Ye Chao asked hastily after the other group had left.

"Weng Dazheng, my college roommate... He’s a teacher at He City Eighth Middle School now. As for the others next to him, I don’t know them. They’re probably teachers from First Middle School and Sixth Middle School."

Li Xiaoshuang explained casually.

"First, Sixth, and Eighth Middle Schools... those are all famous schools in Hui Province!"

Ye Chao was stunned for a moment, his eyes filled with confusion. "Old Li, did you piss someone off? You two graduated from the same university. How come he got assigned to a key high school in the provincial capital while you ended up at Six Continents High School?"

"I disdain using back-door connections."

Li Xiaoshuang said dismissively.

Ye Chao pursed his lips, clearly unconvinced.

The two teachers walked ahead while the students chatted behind them. Xiao Yang asked curiously,

"There was a student just now... why was he looking at us so strangely?"

After speaking, he looked at Chen Che.

"That’s Jiang Jingyuan."

Chen Che said nonchalantly, "Over winter break, I crushed his deskmate."

HISS~

Hearing this, Xiao Yang sucked in a sharp breath.

!?

Even Ye Chao, who was walking ahead, whipped his head around. He stared at Chen Che in shock while looking to Li Xiaoshuang for confirmation. When he saw Li Xiaoshuang nod, the expression on his face gradually froze.

After a moment of contemplation, he gave an awkward smile.

"Old Li, I just remembered I have something urgent to take care of. Xiao Yang, let’s head back to the hotel first..."

"Teacher Ye?"

Xiao Yang was confused. ’Didn’t we just agree to have dinner together tonight?’

Ye Chao winked, signaling for him to shut up.

’It’s already hard enough to qualify, and now this guy went and beat up a top student’s deskmate. Didn’t you see the undisguised hostility from that other group?’

’Stick with him?’

’We probably wouldn’t even survive the first day.’

"Huh? What about ’the whole package’ tonight...?"

Old Li asked quickly.

Not only did Ye Chao not respond, he walked faster and faster, disappearing down the road in the blink of an eye. Li Xiaoshuang stood stunned for a moment, then turned to Chen Che and said, "If you run into Xiao Yang during the exam, make sure you take him out."

Chen Che: "..."

On the way down the mountain, Old Li remained in low spirits until he took a phone call, which seemed to cheer him up.

He pulled Chen Che, Lin Yi, and the others into a restaurant.

The private room was about a hundred square meters and had two tables. Seven or eight teachers sat at one, while fifteen or sixteen students sat at the other.

"Who are these people...?"

Lin Yi didn’t recognize any of them.

"Old Li’s classmates."

Chen Che said in a low voice.

Before winter break, Old Li had already introduced him to these teachers.

’If I’m not mistaken, the idea now is for everyone to get to know each other and build some rapport.’

Sure enough, each teacher then introduced their own students to the group to prevent them from fighting each other if they met during the exam. Chen Che glanced around and noticed that all these students were ones Old Li had placed in the "Attention Group."

The others were also sizing up Chen Che.

After all, they could tell that Chen Che held the highest status among the students in his group.

Once the introductions were over, the teachers took over the large table in the room, drinking and shooting the bull.

The students’ table, in contrast, was rather quiet. No one was talking. A few shy girls only ate the dishes directly in front of them, only reaching for other food when Chen Che turned the lazy Susan.

Chen Che tried to start a few conversations, but the others just mumbled noncommittal replies, and the table would fall silent again after they answered.

The atmosphere only livened up a little when the topic turned to the competition, but everyone was still sighing in resignation:

"It’s so hard..."

"Yeah, I’m considered top three at my school, but I have no confidence this time."

"I heard that among the students from those He City high schools, the one with the highest Cultivation has already reached the late-stage Seventh Layer. That’s terrifying! I don’t even know how they manage to cultivate that fast!"

"What about you? Are you confident?"

A student asked, seeing that Chen Che hadn’t said anything.

"I’m not sure. I’ll just do my best."

Chen Che said modestly. He couldn’t be too boastful.

No one found his answer strange. In previous provincial competitions, at least six or seven of the qualifying candidates came from He City, with the remaining spots split among the other regions. In some years, He City had even swept all the qualifying spots.

Zong Yudao, always one to show off, slammed the table and declared with roaring confidence,

"We cultivators can tread the heavens and slay gods; nothing is impossible! Just wait until we get to the exam site. Watch how Old Chen and I mow everyone down, seize a Jade Talisman, enter the Immortal Sect tournament, and get guaranteed admission into the Four Great Daoist Schools!"

"Classmate Zong, what’s your Cultivation level?"

a student asked cautiously.

"Qi Refining Second Layer."

Zong Yudao said with a grin.

The others exchanged glances, thinking, ’Even an idiot can pass the city-level competition? The chief examiner must be blind.’

Their table finished eating quickly, but Li Xiaoshuang’s table was still going, and it looked like they wouldn’t be done anytime soon. Chen Che went over and consulted him in a low voice, "Teacher Li, I’m thinking of going back to the exam site for a look around, to get familiar with the conditions there at night."

The exam would last three days, so night battles were inevitable.

"This late? By yourself?"

Old Li was drunk, but his mind was still clear.

Chen Che said, "I’m going with Lin Yi, Zong Yudao, and Su Peng..."

"How about this: all of you go together. That way you can watch out for each other on the road." Before Li Xiaoshuang could speak, another teacher made the arrangement. "Remember to come back early. You have to continue scouting the exam site tomorrow."

The other students all looked to their own teachers, who exchanged glances and didn’t object. And so, with a chorus of reminders like "Be back soon," "Don’t get into any fights," and "Be safe," they all headed out.

Once Chen Che and the others left, the noisy private room suddenly fell quiet.

"Finish our drinks, then go for a foot massage?"

Old Li coughed and asked tentatively. The words had barely left his mouth when the room erupted:

"Drinks? The hell are we still drinking for!"

"What’s more important, drinking or a foot massage? Let’s go now!"

...

「Meanwhile.」

In He City, inside a high-end villa complex.

BEEP~

Jiang Jingyuan casually tapped open his Micro Crystal Brain. The screen flashed, and data coalesced into a photograph.

Immediately, Qi Tianhai’s voice came through:

"Old Jiang, you’re supposed to be prepping for the exam. What do you want a photo of Chen Che for?"

"I ran into some students from Six Continents First Middle School at the exam site today, but I don’t know which one is Chen Che. I’m just confirming."

Jiang Jingyuan said this while reviewing the file Weng Dazheng had given him.

This file was far more concise than the one Li Xiaoshuang had prepared, containing only about ten people. Every single one was close to him in strength.

"Holy crap, Old Jiang, are you planning to get revenge for me?"

Qi Tianhai was thrilled. He had always considered being brutally crushed by Chen Che a disgrace. The hateful thing was, the guy pulled a hit-and-run; after beating him, he never showed his face again for the rest of winter break, leaving him with no chance for revenge.

"Revenge?"

Jiang Jingyuan chuckled and shook his head.

"In a competition of this level, there are so many experts. Whether he can even make it far enough to see me is a question in itself."

Among the eleven profiles in his hand, Chen Che’s name was nowhere to be found.

This meant...

In Weng Dazheng’s eyes, the other guy had no chance of qualifying at all.

"I’ve fought him before. His strength... it’s actually pretty formidable..."

Qi Tianhai said in a small voice. He wasn’t speaking up for Chen Che, just trying to make it clear that he hadn’t lost to some nobody.

Jiang Jingyuan sighed and said helplessly,

"You don’t get it!"