At 2 p.m., students began trickling into the classroom and taking their seats.
Evan Lin sat at his desk, looking completely relaxed.
After what happened in the morning, Evan had already stirred up a wave of complicated emotions in Exam Room 11.
Most of the students agreed with Evan’s actions that morning—after all, what Mr. Jack Yuan said insulted everyone at Capitalview First High.
2:40 p.m.
Footsteps echoed outside the classroom.
Soon, Autumn Zheng appeared at the door, holding a stack of test papers wrapped in kraft paper.
"She’s pretty!"
"We’ve got a hot teacher proctoring!"
"At least it’s not that idiot from this morning. Just looking at him made me not want to do the test!"
Whispers broke out below. Autumn Zheng entered the classroom, swept her gaze over the students, and spoke softly: "You have five minutes to use the restroom. In five minutes, I’ll hand out the test papers. For the first fifteen minutes after you receive your paper, you’re not allowed to start answering. Only when the exam bell rings at three o’clock can you begin."
"Nothing unrelated to the exam is allowed on your desks."
As Autumn Zheng spoke, her eyes swept over the students again and again.
She hadn’t asked who Evan Lin was during lunch, planning instead to find him during the afternoon math exam.
At 2:45 p.m., Autumn Zheng handed out the test papers.
Evan Lin sat at his desk, quickly scanning the contents of the paper.
"The multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions are medium difficulty. I could finish all of them in half an hour, tops."
"Then there’s a multi-variable nonlinear system to solve, two proof questions, and the final capstone problem..."
The capstone problem was a geometry derivation—complicated diagrams, just looking at it made your scalp tingle.
Evan glanced over it, his expression completely calm.
To Evan Lin, the difficulty of this test paper was acceptable, but for the other students in Exam Room 11, it was downright tragic.
As soon as the exam bell rang, Evan picked up his pen and began answering.
To call it answering would be an overstatement; it was more like just filling in the answers.
His pen moved swiftly, completing everything in one go.
Huh?
Originally, Autumn Zheng was patrolling the exam room, trying to find the student handpicked by Professor Gu. She immediately noticed what was happening over here.
On the surface, the test paper didn’t seem difficult, but it was full of hidden traps and mathematical pitfalls—the kind Professor Gu loved most.
Having followed Professor Gu for years, Autumn Zheng knew this well. Seeing a student quickly fill in all the multiple-choice questions, then flip to the back and start on the final problem, she was quietly amazed.
Autumn Zheng silently walked over to Evan’s side.
With a glance, she saw Evan writing formula after formula on the paper without pausing, and the auxiliary lines he drew were all perfectly placed.
In less than five minutes, the student before her had solved the hardest problem, then began working on the second-to-last big question.
Formulas, derivatives, proofs.
A stream of mathematical frameworks flowed from the student’s pen; the elegant strokes even mesmerized Autumn Zheng.
Fifty-five minutes after the exam started, Evan set down his pen.
Only then did Autumn Zheng, standing to the side, snap out of her trance from all those numbers and formulas.
Handing in.
Evan gave his paper one last look, grabbed his backpack, and got up to leave.
Finished already?
Holy crap!
No way, this guy’s a monster!
The other students in Exam Room 11 were still frantically scribbling, racking their brains, and could only marvel at how fast Evan finished. But by now, no one doubted his math skills.
After Evan left, Autumn Zheng didn’t immediately check the name on the paper. Instead, she started from the last problem and carefully reviewed the solution steps and logic.
By the end, even Autumn Zheng had to admit the auxiliary line was a stroke of genius—its effect was overwhelming.
Genius.
Autumn Zheng muttered to herself, flipped to the name section, and when she saw the name written there, she finally let out a long breath, her eyes full of amazement.
No wonder he was the student handpicked by the teacher.
Autumn Zheng recalled Evan’s profile when he left, and remembered seeing him at the school gate that morning—it was the same Evan.
But besides that, Autumn Zheng felt Evan’s appearance was strangely familiar, though she was certain she’d never met him before.
...
After leaving school, Evan went straight home. These past few days, he’d been taking a Nourishing Spirit Pill every day. In the spiritual well of his dantian, a small pool of qi had already gathered—even though the amount was still thin, if he focused it all into one punch, it could shatter a small mountain.
Once the exam is over, it’ll be winter break—almost New Year’s. He could finally go home for a while.
Evan’s eyes were calm, with a hint of indescribable anticipation.
It had been three hundred years since he’d spent New Year’s with his mother. This year, he could finally enjoy some excitement.
But the duel with Morgan Yang is set for February 14, so before New Year’s, he still had to go to Trinity Peak in Minghai.
Evan couldn’t quite understand Morgan Yang’s reasoning.
He was clearly in Jiangcheng, but for some reason set the duel at Trinity Peak in Minghai.
Speaking of Trinity Peak, ever since his rebirth, Evan had wanted to reach the summit, but always stopped halfway up and never saw the top for himself.
This time, he could finally see what was really on Trinity Peak—was the legendary living Buddha’s nirvana site truly there?
Evan remembered finding a half-mature Brownrock Grass on the mid-slope. If Trinity Peak really held secrets, maybe he could find more spiritual herbs there.
A battle with the so-called Master Morgan was unavoidable.
More importantly, if he could defeat Morgan Yang, then no one in Seacrest or Jinnan would dare challenge Master Lin from Seacrest again!
In fact, the name Master Lin would spread throughout all of Jiangnan, surpassing all rivals.
But if he lost, he’d be doomed forever.
Evan didn’t care much about winning or losing, because he knew that no matter how strong Morgan Yang was, victory would ultimately be his.
I just hope your appearance can satisfy me—as a worthy opponent, at least exchange ten moves with me.
Evan murmured to himself, feeling a bit wistful.
These days, finding a decent opponent was really a pain in the ass.