Following An Lan, Baili An and Old He left the training room.
Only a few students from the Ability Department who had been watching remained behind, buzzing with speculation.
"That was insane. I couldn't see a thing."
"Who is that guy? He actually managed to go blow for blow with Teacher An."
"And let's be honest, even as a guy, watching him wield that sword was kind of… cool."
"So who is he? I didn't bring my phone, can't even snap a picture."
"No idea. Maybe he's a transfer student."
"Or some kind of heir from a powerful family, borrowing our school's name to participate in the national selection."
"Wouldn't it be easier for that kind of person to just go to a high school in the imperial capital?"
"Who knows? Even the top Rocket Class students from our senior year, the ones from the Fan family in the imperial capital, still came to our school."
…
Back in the classroom office, it was just the three of them.
An Lan looked at Baili An and asked, "Coming back at this point, you must be planning to restore your enrollment and participate in the senior-year national selection as a student of Huiping No.1 High, right?"
Baili An nodded. "Yes."
In this world, students were divided into two tracks: Academic and Ability.
The Academic track was like conventional high school, with extra courses related to abilities.
The Ability track focused on maximizing a student's power, training them to become strong ability users. Most students in this track already possessed abilities of significant rank.
The entrance exams for Academic students were similar to conventional exams, but Ability track exams varied depending on the type of ability, and were more complex.
For prodigious youths, even these exams were optional.
The main focus was the Senior-Year National Ability Selection.
This selection took place one week after the standard exams.
Baili An had about a month and a half before the event.
An Lan continued, "As far as I know, this year's senior students don't include any sixth-rank abilities or A-rank mentalists. In other words…"
"No one should be able to resist your illusions in the national selection."
Baili An's eyelid twitched slightly, but he didn't seem overly surprised.
He knew the power of Sharingan illusions better than anyone. Until now, An Lan had been the first person capable of breaking free from them.
But An Lan was seventh-rank, with psychic power far surpassing his.
Seeing Baili An remain calm, An Lan couldn't help but admire him. Old He added,
"But don't get too confident. Every national selection has a few prodigies S-rank ability users or other rare heirs. Even facing special abilities, there's always a risk of failure. With your eyes and your mastery of martial arts, as long as you remain careful, you'll definitely perform well in the national selection."
"I understand," Baili An said humbly.
He hadn't shown his full strength back in the training room anyway. It wasn't appropriate to fully unleash power there.
An Lan shook his head silently. This boy's attitude toward him and Old He was completely different.
Under Old He's guidance, Baili An completed the enrollment process, officially reinstating him as a student of Huiping No.1 High. The school was delighted to have someone of his talent; much of the paperwork was simplified, and even his application for the national selection was submitted on the spot.
At Baili An's request, he was not assigned to An Lan's Rocket Class but to Old He's class instead.
Old He had genuinely helped him a lot during his time away, so this was a small way to repay him.
Once it was confirmed that Baili An would represent Huiping No.1 and Huiping City in the national selection, he also received access to Huiping City's Spirit Realm Secret Area.
Apparently, An Lan the school's only seventh-rank had vouched for him.
The school highly valued him. Even if Baili An had tried to leave in the afternoon, several teachers would have insisted on giving him lessons.
Unable to refuse, Baili An went through a few brief training sessions.
The teacher who offered to teach him close combat and swordsmanship quietly left after a short spar.
The teacher who wanted to guide him in controlling fire abilities gave up after seeing Baili An summon different techniques with just a few hand seals.
Finally, a psychic ability teacher arrived. Seeing that even they couldn't comprehend the mechanics of Baili An's Sharingan illusions, they shook their head and left.
Ultimately, Baili An managed to leave the school.
He wouldn't need to return before the national selection.
According to his plan, he would spend the month before the selection in the Spirit Realm, hunting monsters.
This would allow him to strengthen his body, accumulate essence, and awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan before the national event.
Given the uncertainties in the national selection, only by unlocking the Mangekyo could he truly secure victory.
…
The next morning, Baili An arrived at his destination: Huiping City's only Spirit Realm Secret Area.
As the rarest and most valuable type of secret area, its purpose was to increase a person's power.
Defeating monsters inside produced a special energy that automatically enhanced the user's physique.
Killing specific types of monsters, such as psychic ones, could additionally boost psychic power.
Because of this unique effect and their scarcity, each Spirit Realm Secret Area was an incredibly valuable resource.
Within the Longxia Empire, most of these areas were controlled by official authorities.
Ordinary people could only enter by paying, and even money didn't always guarantee access.
Now, as a representative of Huiping City for the national selection, Baili An gained free entry.
He passed identity verification, then navigated several security checkpoints, all monitored by cameras and uniformed personnel.
Not even a suspicious mosquito could get in here… he thought.
It could easily be mistaken for a military base.
Finally, Baili An reached the secret area's portal.
Even here, two guards a man and a woman watched over the entrance.
Compared to the other serious security personnel, they were more relaxed, sitting and scrolling on their phones. Their chairs looked out of place, clearly brought from somewhere else.
As Baili An approached, the red-haired woman looked up first, her eyes lighting up.
"Oh! Hello, little brother. I don't think we've met before."
"…It's my first time here," Baili An replied calmly.