Chapter 35: The Eve of the National College Entrance Examination—A Million Skill Points to Invest in Forbidden Spells!

"Agreed!"
"No objections!"
"Agreed!"
For a moment, the entire conference room was filled with voices of consensus. Seeing that the majority had voted in favor, Qi Guoguang stood up and said, "Then the meeting is adjourned. I am going to submit the data to the authorities."
"Meeting dismissed!"
Qi Guoguang walked out of the conference room, a flicker of worry clouding his eyes. What a troubled year it had been!
Just over ten days ago, during the alienation of the field World Boss in Canglan City, he had witnessed a mage master who was a dual-fire and wind specialist, capable of firing four consecutive seventh-tier skills. Now, in the Abyss, another figure had emerged—the Abyssal Flame Emperor—who could cast eighth-tier spells beyond his comprehension with a mere flick of his hand.
The similarity between the two was striking. Analyzing their magical imprints, it was clear: they were both very young—far younger than himself.
Qi Guoguang felt a sense of powerlessness. It was the frustration of someone who had dedicated an entire lifetime to this path, only to realize he could never compare to true geniuses of magic.
"Oh, heavens, why are you so cruel to me?"
...
Meanwhile, in Jiang City, Lin Yi walked out of the Treasure Pavilion and headed toward the other end of the street for life-professionals.
He hadn't spent much time leveling up over the past ten days. The leveling zones and dungeons surrounding Jiang City were far below his current level. Even if he went, the experience gained would be negligible. Lin Yi had no interest in such low-yield efforts.
With the grand examination approaching, other students were grinding levels like crazy, yet Lin Yi had spent the last ten days lounging at home.
It was worth mentioning that the Jiang family seemed genuinely grateful for Lin Yi saving Jiang Chen. The very next day, the elder Jiang Xuan had personally brought the now-recovered Jiang Chen to express their thanks, leaving Lin Yi’s parents both startled and flattered.
Lin Yi had received a scroll of 200 freely tradable skill points and a set of silver-tier mage gear. It was an incredibly valuable gift. Lin Yi estimated that if he sold it, he could easily fetch tens of thousands of Daxia coins.
Lin Yi had come to the Treasure Pavilion today to sell that set of gear, along with two gold-tier items he had been keeping, through Zhang Dahai. Having seen platinum-tier equipment before, Lin Yi found the silver-tier set uninteresting. Most importantly, it looked quite ugly to wear.

He didn't want to sacrifice his image for a mere boost in stats, so he sold it.
Lin Yi walked into a shop that specialized in buying back skill books and skill point scrolls. This shop had been recommended by Zhang Dafu. Thanks to his connections, all the skill point scrolls in Lin Yi's possession were sold at approximately 10% above the market price.
After clearing out these supplies, Lin Yi received a text message from Daxia Bank:
[Your card ending in 4396 has received a transfer of 749,680 yuan. Current balance: 1,293,346.21 yuan!]
Lin Yi's savings had officially surpassed the one-million mark. As expected, selling goods was the fastest way to get rich, especially when it came to tradable skill point scrolls.
They seemed to be the ultimate hard currency across the entire Blue Planet, comparable to the gold of his previous life on Earth. The price of skill point scrolls was locked across the planet—they never depreciated, only rose. This was likely why his good friend Zhang Shan had mentioned that his father kept several scrolls in his possession; their value appreciated faster than interest on a fixed deposit.
[Ding! Detecting that your savings balance has exceeded one million, your talent "Gift of the Gods" has unlocked a new function!]
Lin Yi was startled. Wow, a million in savings, and another function unlocked! He opened his talent interface to check the details.
[Skill Evolution: You can consume 1,000,000 Blue Planet currency and the corresponding skill points to evolve an eighth-tier or higher skill into an alienated version, granting it greater power and enhanced effects!]
[To facilitate a comparison, your eighth-tier fire skill has been evolved into its alienated version for free upon awakening. Subsequent use of this function will consume the corresponding currency, and each use will increase the cost further.]
Lin Yi was stunned. Good heavens, his talent had truly turned into a "pay-to-win" feature. Not only could he spend money to speed up skill point acquisition, but now he could even evolve his skills! This was truly "pay to become stronger."
Did skills have alienated versions? Was his eighth-tier fire skill, "Supreme Sublimation: Fire Spirit Avatar," actually different from the eighth-tier skills of other fire-specialized mages? Well, his skill was a bit of a "Frankenstein"—a transformation-state skill that also dealt high, large-area damage. It was indeed significantly stronger than an ordinary eighth-tier fire skill.
It seemed he would have to put "earning money" on his agenda!
Lin Yi checked his personal panel and looked at his skill points:
[Allocatable Skill Points: 974,639]
Counting the daily freebies from the last ten days, he was nearing a million skill points as well!
Lin Yi hadn't forgotten the small goal he set nearly a month ago on his awakening day: to upgrade "Fireball" into a Forbidden Spell. Now, that goal was within reach. Should he spend some money to speed it up?
However, when he opened the store interface and saw that it would cost 100,000 Daxia coins to exchange for just over 80,000 skill points, he winced. That was more than one yuan per skill point!
Although for anyone else, the ability to buy a skill point for just over a yuan would be a dream come true, Lin Yi had the privilege of getting them for free. This created a psychological gap.
No more spending! He couldn't afford to keep "paying to win," or the million in his account would vanish in an instant. He was only missing about 30,000 points. If he just left it idling until night, he would have enough.
...
In the afternoon, Lin Yi returned to school. Tomorrow was the annual college entrance examination for new professionals in Daxia. For the students who had only recently awakened and were still wet behind the ears, this was the first major turning point in their lives—either leap over the dragon gate and soar to the sky, or live a mediocre life.
Returning to school was mostly to be lectured by teachers and the principal, receiving "chicken soup for the soul" and warnings. They told everyone not to be nervous and to perform as usual.
Lin Yi originally had no interest in such gatherings, but he couldn't refuse Zhang Shan, who had been asking to see him. It had been a month. Since the results of the national exam were released on the same day, there was no waiting. Everything was decided on the spot. Usually, after the exam, everyone would go their separate ways, never to return to high school again.
Lin Yi agreed. The pre-exam session didn't last long, ending in less than half a day. Lin Yi exchanged well-wishes with Jiang Ya, Zhang Shan, and a few other close classmates before heading home.
When he arrived, he found that his father had unusually finished work early. He had taken time off to eat dinner with him, and his mother, Xu Qingfang, had prepared a table full of his favorite dishes.
His parents were very happy, but Lin Yi could tell they were actually more nervous than he was. Tomorrow was the most important day of their child's life; no one could truly understand the feelings of parents in that situation.
After a hearty meal, it was nearly nine o'clock. Lin Yi took a shower and lay in bed. He had to wake up early tomorrow, so he needed to sleep early.
Before drifting off, Lin Yi opened his personal panel one last time. His skill point balance had finally caught up with his savings, surpassing the seven-figure mark.