Chapter Thirty-Four: Ye Mengyan’s Admiration and the Superlative Major

Then, there would also be three cooldown periods before re-entering the instance. In other words, Yang Feng had a total of six opportunities to enter the instance. Of course, for the last three, he would certainly bring Ye Mengyan along. After all, since he’d started with Ye Mengyan, it wouldn’t be right to leave her behind later. That was something he simply couldn’t bring himself to do.

“Teaming up for six runs through the instance—I should be able to reach level eighteen,” he thought. “There’s no other way. I’ll have to kill you six more times!” Yang Feng looked at the Wind Wolf King lying on the ground and couldn’t help but speak aloud.

Seeing Yang Feng talking to the Wind Wolf King, Ye Mengyan, standing at his side, was visibly astonished. “Yang Feng, why are you talking to the Wind Wolf King? It can’t understand you,” she asked, curiosity written all over her face.

“I don’t care if it understands or not. I’ll say what I want!” Yang Feng rolled his eyes.

“If it can’t understand, then what’s the point of talking to it?” Ye Mengyan pressed further, puzzled by Yang Feng’s response.

Yang Feng rolled his eyes again, unwilling to continue the conversation. Seeing he wouldn’t answer, Ye Mengyan let the matter drop. Still, recalling Yang Feng’s earlier exchange with the Wind Wolf King, she suddenly felt he was a bit foolish. After all, who talks to monsters inside an instance?

To most people, instances were simply places to level up. As for the monsters, they were there to be killed. Although these monsters were slain countless times by adventurers, many adventurers also died at their hands.

“Yang Feng, you really are a strange one,” Ye Mengyan said, unable to suppress a laugh.

“What are you laughing at? Let’s get going,” Yang Feng said, glancing at her, his tone puzzled.

“All right, let’s go out.”

After leaving the instance, Ye Mengyan once again used a Basic Cooldown Scroll. Within a few minutes, the two were back at the Greenhill Town instance.

On their second entry into the hard mode instance, Ye Mengyan seemed like a different person. When she saw a horde of Crow Warriors flying above, her face lit up with excitement. Seeing her so thrilled left Yang Feng at a loss for words. Was running instances really that exciting?

Besides, Greenhill Town was just a one-star instance. Was there really cause for such excitement? Sensing Yang Feng’s bemused expression, Ye Mengyan’s temper flared.

“What’s with that look, Yang Feng? Are you looking down on me?” she demanded.

“What look? What nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever look down on you?” Yang Feng, of course, would never admit to his own inner thoughts.

Ye Mengyan truly was a beauty—otherwise, she wouldn’t be the school belle of East Sea First High. Compared to Gu Panpan, they each had their own charm. Ye Mengyan’s personality was that of a willful young lady, while Gu Panpan was mischievous and clever. Of course, Yang Feng had no particular feelings for either of them. To him, Ye Mengyan was just a classmate, and Gu Panpan merely a friend he’d met by chance.

Less than twenty minutes later, the Wind Wolf King once again collapsed before Yang Feng. The same unwilling look in its eyes, the same stifled expression on its face.

“How many more times?” Yang Feng muttered, glancing at the fallen Wind Wolf King.

After that, he and Ye Mengyan ran the instance five more times, taking less than five hours in total. Ye Mengyan also used up her Basic Cooldown Scroll entirely; the once-lustrous scroll was now dull and indistinguishable from any ordinary scroll. Yet, if one looked closely, some special script could still be seen inscribed on it.

“I’ll take the scroll back and have its energy replenished,” Ye Mengyan said, tucking the scroll away.

The scroll wasn’t a one-time-use item; it simply needed its energy restored once depleted. However, this was a troublesome process—it required a master artificer to refill it by special means. As for the exact method, Ye Mengyan herself had no idea.

After several instance runs, Ye Mengyan’s level had successfully reached fifteen. It wouldn’t be long before she hit sixteen. As for Yang Feng, he was still thirty percent away from reaching level eighteen. Yet, after hitting level seventeen, leveling up became much more difficult.

Now, there were less than two days before the university entrance exams.

“Yang Feng, if I can reach level sixteen before the exams, I’m sure I can get into Tsinghua-Beijing University!” Ye Mengyan exclaimed, excitement glowing in her eyes. She glanced at Yang Feng and asked, “Yang Feng, aren’t you about to hit level eighteen?”

Yang Feng nodded. “Yes.”

By now, Ye Mengyan no longer felt the urge to compete with him. “Yang Feng, if you reach level eighteen, we can both get into Tsinghua-Beijing University together! Then East Sea First High will have two students entering Tsinghua-Beijing University—Principal Qin will be thrilled!”

Having students admitted to Tsinghua-Beijing University was a source of great pride for an ordinary high school. After all, Tsinghua-Beijing University was the highest institution in the Xia Empire, and gaining entry was no easy feat. Only the top students from each school stood a chance. To enroll there was to become one of the nation’s elite.

Each year, Tsinghua-Beijing University admitted only two thousand students, selected from all the high schools across the Xia Empire. Of those two thousand slots, about a thousand were reserved for the great families of Xia. Competing for a place against their scions was a daunting task for ordinary people.

Thus, for the average person, gaining admission to Tsinghua-Beijing University was an achievement worthy of celebration—a matter of honor for one's entire family.

The two of them found a place to sit and rest. With the cooldown scroll used up, they now had to wait for the instance cooldown to pass.

“Yang Feng, have you ever thought about becoming the top scorer in the entrance exams?” Ye Mengyan asked.

“The top scorer?” Yang Feng turned to look at her, puzzled.

“Yes,” Ye Mengyan nodded. “Every province has its own top scorer; Jiangnan Province does too! If you become the top scorer, Tsinghua-Beijing University will grant you a generous scholarship. More importantly, you could qualify for the Supernatural Studies program.”

Yang Feng recalled Gu Panpan mentioning the Supernatural Studies program as well. “Ye Mengyan, do you know anything about this Supernatural Studies program?” he asked.