Chapter 34: Strengthening Heatblast
Zhang Xin said, "The admission threshold for Dijin University is Second Order, fifth stage. With Xiao Ke's cultivation speed, he can definitely reach that Realm before the College Entrance Examination."
Zhang Xu was delighted when he heard this. "Then doesn't that mean he can definitely get in?"
"How could it be that easy?" Zhang Xin shook her head. "Dijin University only recruits 3,000 students each year. Yan City alone has over 1,000,000 people. Just those taking the College Entrance Examination already number in the tens of thousands."
She continued, "Across the entire country, millions of people compete for those 3,000 spots. Merely reaching the minimum threshold is nowhere near enough. They select from the top down, and under normal circumstances, no one at the bare minimum gets admitted."
Although humanity's living space had once been squeezed by Yao Beasts, after the revival of Spiritual Qi, Blue Star's total area expanded dozens of times. Human territory did not shrink but instead increased, and the population remained at around 1,000,000,000.
Zhang Xu began to feel nervous again. "Then does Xiao Ke still have a chance?"
"There is still a chance," Zhang Xin replied. "But that's only the threshold. Every year, countless students apply to Dijin University. Those who barely meet the minimum have no hope at all."
"If he wants to get in, he must at least reach the Eighth Stage, or even the Ninth Stage. Of course, if he can reach the Third Order, it would be a sure thing."
She paused briefly. "However, cultivation becomes harder the further you go, so I don't have much hope for that. Still, at worst, I can talk to the teachers in the admissions office. They should give me some face."
"Of course, the premise is that he reaches Second Order, fifth stage and meets the minimum requirement. Otherwise, he wouldn't even qualify to use the back door."
"And if he performs exceptionally well in the College Entrance Examination, he might not even need it."
Su Yuan frowned. "That's the strongest university in the country. Can you really use the back door there?"
"There are back doors everywhere," Zhang Xin said calmly. "It might not work for others, but they should give me some face. After all, there aren't many Legendary Rank talents in the entire country."
"In an era where Mythical Rank hasn't appeared, Supreme and Legendary are the peak of humanity's future. Such talents aren't as common as cabbages."
She added, "In my year, there were only 24 Legendary Rank talents recruited in total. As for supreme grade, there were only 3. Most of the rest were Heaven Grade."
"For Earth Grade, only those with special talent types who were willing to work hard and had real ability could get in, around 200 people. Below Earth Grade, it's even more impossible."
Zhang Xu said worriedly, "The competition is that fierce? Since Xiao Ke has you as a back door, I'm more concerned about those two children from the Wang and Lin families."
"Xiao Ke has a very good relationship with them. I'm afraid this might affect their friendship. These days, it's not easy to have true friends."
"You mean Wang Zhong and Lin Ning?" Zhang Xin replied. "I'm actually quite familiar with them."
She had lived with Su Ke's maternal grandparents for a long time, and when she visited Zhang Xu's family, she often saw them.
"Under normal circumstances, with their talents, there would indeed be no hope. One has barely acceptable talent but a very common type, while the other has a good type but talent that's too poor."
"If things were the same as before, there would be absolutely no chance for them to enter Dijin University."
Zhang Xu looked disappointed, but Su Yuan caught something in her words. "Xiao Xin, what do you mean by 'the same as before'? Is something going to change next year?"
"Yes, Brother-in-law. Next year's College Entrance Examination will be different, but I can't tell you the specifics. It's confidential."
"Besides visiting you, I came back this time to discuss the details with certain people. Next year, I'll be appearing at the testing grounds as an examiner."
Not a regular proctor, but the person in charge of recruitment for Dijin University in Yan City, responsible for evaluating which students were worth recruiting.
Su Yuan and Zhang Xu were both pleasantly surprised.
"You're going to be an examiner? That's amazing," Zhang Xu said. "In past exams, aside from theory tests, students would duel to determine strength. Will next year be different?"
"I can't say," Zhang Xin replied.
No matter how they asked, she refused to reveal anything.
Zhang Xu understood. "If you can't say it, then forget it. As long as there's hope. Oh my, we've been chatting so long without noticing the time. I need to start cooking. You all wait here."
She hurried into the kitchen to prepare a feast.
Meanwhile, in his room, Su Ke was still fiddling with the Omnitrix.
"There's no point staring at it. Let's try transforming. I hope it doesn't disappoint me."
He rotated the dial to Heatblast and pressed it down.
In the living room, Zhang Xin sensed the fluctuation of Spiritual Energy and glanced toward his room, then calmly turned back to sip her tea.
After completing the transformation, Su Ke examined his Heatblast form in the mirror and immediately noticed the difference.
To the naked eye, Heatblast was slightly taller and more robust than before, especially around the shoulders, which appeared broader.
"Is this… growth? Growing from adolescence toward adulthood?"
The Omnitrix's transformations were closely related to the user's age. Since Su Ke was still young, the Alien Heroes he transformed into were also in their youth forms.
Yet after the Omnitrix absorbed the energy from the crystal core and fed it to Heatblast, it had prematurely pushed him toward an adult form.
"Does any crystal core work, or does it have to be fire-attribute? Or maybe it needs to carry a skill?"
Su Ke still had 2 attribute-less crystal cores. He had planned to use them at the Peak of Ninth Stage to break through to the Tenth Stage and enter the Second Order.
Although the crystal core just now had been used to strengthen Heatblast, the Spiritual Energy feedback had also raised his own cultivation from about 40% to nearly 50% of the Eighth Stage.
After some thought, he decided not to use the remaining cores yet. If attribute-less cores worked universally, there was no reason the Omnitrix would have given the energy exclusively to Heatblast instead of the other Alien Heroes.
Feeling the fire element surging within his body, he could clearly sense that it was stronger than before.
Heatblast's flame intensity was influenced by emotions, but for him, Spiritual Energy was the key factor. The stronger the flames, the faster the Spiritual Energy consumption, requiring constant replenishment to maintain output.
That said, the strengthening brought clear benefits. Heatblast's baseline flame intensity had increased, and the power of his flames was significantly enhanced.
He estimated that the overall destructive power of his flames had risen by about 30%. In other words, even without emotional stimulation, his flames were stronger than before, while Spiritual Energy consumption remained unchanged.
"Not bad at all," Su Ke muttered. "Even without gaining a new skill, Heatblast himself is already a powerful ability. This strengthening is like adding wings to a tiger."
It had greatly enhanced his offensive output and gave him far more confidence in battle.
Su Ke understood clearly how significant this strengthening was. It marked a major leap in his combat power and opened up more possibilities for future growth.
Looking ahead, he felt eager to continue exploring the Omnitrix's potential and push his own strength to even greater heights.
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