Transcendent Dawn

“Transcendent exists in our world, causing riots and demonstrations in countries around the globe!”

“Ancient Gods? Aliens? Are you ready for the deepest secrets of the world?”

“Secrets of the Transcendent! Unraveling the mysterious phenomena around the world!”

…

Crazy!

The internet has gone crazy!

Ximen Ping stared at the screen, transfixed. Since the exposure in Yingle State, there had been continual revelations about the presence of the Transcendent in other countries, and the entire world seemed to have turned topsy-turvy.

“Look…did you see? It’s real… I was right.”

A voice message from Ayun arrived, his words barely coherent with excitement.

A voice message from Ximen Ping in response.

“Forget about your worldview… Damn, all the temples and Taoist temples around here are overflowing with people… And all those monks and Taoists are saying they’re not accepting disciples… How unfair.”

Ayun’s response came quickly, a hint of frustration in his voice.

“I think… Is the end of the world coming? Should I stock up on food and water?”

After discussing with his best friends and classmates, Ximen Ping went out shopping with his mom. Compared to the conditions abroad, the orderliness in the Summer Country was still quite good, somewhat similar to the bustling scene of Spring Festival shopping when the supermarket shelves were swept clean.

…

It continued like this for over a week.

As he saw his home piled high with various supplies, and the supermarket owners still cheerfully ordering their employees to restock the shelves, Ximen Ping began to see the light.

The Transcendent’s existence seemed to be true.

But Blue Star kept revolving as usual, and there were no signs of the world ending.

Everything was just as it had been before.

On the contrary, his own end seemed to have arrived!

“Ding! Test taker Ximen Ping, ID ***, college entrance examination scores: Chinese 88, mathematics 91, English 66, Comprehensive 150…”

Listening to the emotionless electronic female voice on the phone, Ximen Ping distinctly felt two murderous glares at his back.

His academic performance had always been pretty good, enough to ensure he at least passed.

But this time, he had clearly messed up the college entrance examination. His ranks were so abysmal that it would only admit him to a third-tier university. ꞦÃＮ𝘖ʙĘš

“Mom, dad… Listen to my explanation! Ahh!!”

The pitiful scream of a distressed teenager echoed throughout the apartment building.

…

During the night.

“Sob… I messed up. Now there are two paths for me: either go to the New West or retake a year.”

Ximen Ping, curled up in bed, complained to his best buddy, Ayun.

“At this point, you’re still thinking about going to college?”

Ayun typed back quickly: “Let me tell you, I’m already in East City. I found a solid fight club – the New Moon Fighting Gym… A fight broke out there before, and it was like something out of a movie, but sadly it was censored on the internet. But the rumors about it in the local area are buzzing, I know that the owner of the gym, Cheng Feng, must have some real stuff. I have to take him as my master!”

“I’m really envious of you.”

Ximen Ping spoke enviously, “But I don’t want to retake a year. I’d rather die than do that! I’ll just go to New West… It seems like the government is heavily supporting culinary professions right now, with high subsidies.”

“I really can’t stand you… I have to go. I signed up for a devil’s hell-style training camp. I’m too tired…”

Ayun went offline.

Ximen Ping held his phone, speechless for a long time.

The one who was most heartbroken about his failed entrance exam was actually himself.

It was only when it was late at night that his pain gradually surfaced, keeping him awake.

But no matter how heartbroken and pained he was, if asked to retake a year, he would refuse completely. He had had enough of high school life. He was afraid that stress would make him start losing hair, turning him bald at a young age.

“I can only find a decent third-tier university…sigh…”

He hopped online, randomly browsing through the admissions guidelines of several third-tier institutions.

Compared to first and second-tier universities with rather standard names, the names of third-tier universities varied greatly. There were many diploma mills pretending to be legitimate schools, some without even the proper qualifications to teach. They refused to recognize their diplomas and were solely out to scam people, leaving the unsuspecting parents and students crying without tears.

Ximen Ping had seen too much of it on the news, so he was cautious and only checked the official education bureau website.

He skimmed through more than five hundred institutions until he was dizzy.

His finger flew across the screen, finally reaching the end of the list.

“This is… so confusing. Where should I go to college?”

Ximen Ping grumbled, his pupils suddenly dilating, “Huh? Wasn’t there a few minutes ago… How did another school pop up?”

He was sure just a moment ago, the last third-tier university on the list was the ‘Dawn Information College’. But now, there was suddenly another school at the end – ‘East City Mystery College’!

“Did I end up on a fake website?”

Ximen Ping rubbed his eyes, logged out of the website and logged back in, and carefully checked the URL. He found he hadn’t ended up on a fake site and the list of third-tier institutions did have one more choice at the end—an oddly named ‘Mystery College’!

“It’s fake, right?”

He climbed out of bed, switched on the desk lamp and flipped through the paper career guidance materials. He was sure that this college was not in the book list!

‘It’s not in the books, but it’s on the official site. Could it have been newly established? Established so recently that it didn’t make it into the printed career guidance materials, but could jump in line for this year’s college admissions? If a college with such resources existed, how come there was no publicity at all? It just hung there, like a forgotten orphan.’

Ximen Ping narrowed his eyes suspiciously, feeling like he had pointed out a logical inconsistency.

“It must be a scam, they’ve even hacked the official website!”

But his curiosity got the better of him and he couldn’t resist checking out ‘East City Mystery College’ online.

He typed in the search term and got the results quickly. The first link was the school’s official website.

Once inside, the layout and design were barely tolerable; it seemed like something a third-rate workshop hastily slapped together. Or maybe it was outsourced to a university professor who in turn assigned it to a postgrad student who dumped it as an assignment on a university student!

“This has to be fake, right?”

Ximen Ping looked at the college’s introduction on the site:

“East City Mystery College is a privately operated college recruiting students worldwide, offering majors related to Mysterious Studies, Magical Creature Studies, Herb Identification, Culinary Arts, etc. We hope to cultivate excellent Transcendent talents, help young Transcendents to better understand their own strength, and make the world a more beautiful place – Dean Bai Jing.”

“A college cultivating Transcendents? If Ayun knew this, would he break down in tears? The thing he’s been searching for all this time is right under his nose…”

Ximen Ping mumbled to himself, “Of course… it could just be a scam!”

…

The next day, Ximen Ping, who hadn’t slept all night and had dark circles under his eyes, waited until working hours and immediately dialed the local bureau of education: “Hello, I would like to ask, is East City Mystery College a recognized third-tier institution?”

“What are you talking about?”

A yawn came from the other end of the phone, “What Mystery College? I’ve never heard of it… Oh, hold on, there actually is one. According to the latest documents, there is a private school with this name. As it was established just this year, only the online version is updated. The paper version of the college application guide will update next year…”

Thud!

Ximen Ping dropped his phone on the ground, with his mouth agape, looking like a frog frozen in shock: “It…it’s real!”

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