"I… somewhat understand your way of thinking now," Long Lu said at last after some careful consideration. "However, while I am okay with doing things your way, the rest of the class…"

"I leave that up to you," I replied, chuckling. "I'm not very good at being a leader, so you will have to take on that role for me and assemble the class together. Convincing them will be left to you as well. As long as you can do that, we will be able to succeed in this exam."

"That's a pretty difficult thing to ask, but… I'll try," Long Lu sighed. "Which class are you thinking of teaming up with?"

I smiled. "Haven't decided yet. Before anything else… I need to do some research over the weekend."

"I see. What's your phone number?" He asked, pulling out his cellphone. "I'll add you for quick communication."

I took out mine as well and exchanged numbers with him, then left the room followed by the girls. Da Bao said he would try and contact the ones who left, but it probably wouldn't be of any use. I wasn't all that concerned though, as Long Lu could definitely rally them together — he had the air of a leader in him.

Worst comes to worst… I abandon the rest of the class and just go for a personal achievement in order to enter the Student Council. That meant our class might not be first by the time this year is over, but compared to the benefits I could gain from being in the Council, that was of little consequence.

*****

After grabbing a quick lunch at the Recreation Campus, we headed for our dormitories. Upon getting there, however, I saw a post-it note on the door, apparently directed towards me.

"… Meet me alone tomorrow at 8 AM, 1st Floor Men's Bathroom, Main Campus," I read aloud.

"Hm?" The girls looked at me in confusion.

"What? Do you not see the note?"

"No… what note?"

"Uh… the one that's right on the door."

"I don't see anything…" Lan Xiao Su murmured. "Wait."

A white glow enveloped her body as she closed her eyes and opened them again. "Level One Enchantment Magic — Inspect."

She placed her hand on the door, right where the note was, and her eyes widened. "There's really something here… it's been enchanted to make it invisible to anyone who's not a specific set person… in other words, you, Xuan Kai."

"Huh… but who would do such a thing?" Feng Mian murmured in thought. "Xiang Peng? No… she wouldn't try to talk to us after being told to stay away…"

As I racked my brains out, I finally found the answer after several minutes of silence. Chuckling, I shook my head.

"I completely forgot about you, you bastard… to think you would reach out to me on your own."

"What…?" the girls glanced at me in confusion, but I just waved their puzzlement off.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go meet this old friend tomorrow by myself, you guys just do whatever."

"Um…" the girls exchanged glances, but eventually agreed.

That night, we spent another 8 months in the Void Realm cultivating. It didn't do much, and quite frankly, it was getting boring. We needed some real combat experience before cultivating would start helping again. To be honest, I was kind of excited to see what kind of Battle Soul I would awaken… a Human-type, perhaps, or some kind of Chaos Element one?

But putting all those thoughts aside for now… I had someone to meet tomorrow — and they could very well be tied to the exam on Monday.

*****

- The Next Morning -

I walked through the empty hallways of the Main Campus, alone and silent. It was the weekend and quite early in the morning, so it made sense that no one else was here. The Recreation Campus, on the other hand, was blooming with people — no surprise there.

It didn't take me long to locate the 1st floor men's bathroom, where the note had said to be at 8 AM today. I pulled out my phone and checked the time — it read 7:55. I was 5 minutes before the stated time still, but normally, you'd think one would arrive early…

Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me and immediately spun around to see the person I had been waiting for — or rather, had been waiting for me.

"Geez… did you have to sneak up on me like that?" I chuckled.

The boy laughed. "It was hardly sneaking up if you found me anyway. As sharp as ever, Xuan Kai."

I smiled. "As tricky as ever… Ming Hao."

"Woah, you still remember my name?" He blinked in surprise.

"Think about it. It may have felt like a long time, but really, it's only been… what, four months since we last met?"

In reality, it was over four years for me thanks to all the time spent in the Void Realm, but he didn't need to know that.

"I suppose that makes sense," he said with a shrug.

"So? What did you want to talk to me about? With you, I doubt it's just wanting to see me again."

"Haha, that's part of it, but you're right — it's not all."

I raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue.

"It's about the special exam on Monday…"

I laughed darkly. "… As expected. You want to team up?"

"Like, the two of us? That would be… detrimental to both of us — the essence of this exam is to form allianc-"

"Yes, yes, I know," I cut in. "I'm talking about our classes. What class are you in?"

"1-A," he replied.

"I see. And do you have a grasp on the rest of your class?"

"I do — I've managed to secure myself a position as leader, more or less."

"Hm, why am I not surprised?" I smirked.

"Heh, being Vice-President at Shenzhen Magic High's Student Council is really coming in clutch now, experience-wise."

"So, how about it? We can form a long-term relationship between our two classes — I'm even willing to let 1-A win this one for free."

At this, Ming Hao folded his arms and looked into my eyes knowingly.

"You damn rascal, you think I don't know what you're thinking? If we place first, we'll be targeted by the other two classes — of course you don't want to end up first."

"Well, we'll be supporting you, so it'll be a 2v2 — 1-A and 1-D against 1-B and 1-C. Unless, of course, those two classes don't form an alliance, in which case that would be even better for us."

"That's true, but how do I know you won't… say, betray me?"

"Do I seem like the kind of guy who would do that?"

"Yes. Absolutely yes."

"…" I fell silent and gazed at him awkwardly. I had been expecting him to say 'no', but… the certainty in his voice…

"But," he then continued, a wry smile on his face. "I do think that an opportunity to collaborate with you is hard to come by, so I'll accept your offer."

"You're willing to place the rest of your class's interests at risk just to fulfill your own satisfaction of wanting to work with me?"

"Of course. I only respect those stronger than I am, like yourself. Anyone who is weaker, I spare no consideration for. That's what my father taught me."

"Don't tell me… you're still holding a grudge over that time I beat you in the Advancement Exams?" I sighed. "Get over it… it's been such a long time."

"Only four months, no? In your own words," he cackled. "But no, jokes aside… it's not because I'm unable to take that defeat. It's because… well, let's just say there's something special about you, and I want to figure out what exactly it is. Ever since that time I dispelled your mana using my special ability and gathered it for further research… I've been confused. Lost. Even with all the resources of the Ming Family, I have yet to find a single scientist who is able to decrypt the mysteries within your mana energy."

"Well, I don't particularly care if you try to investigate me, but…" my tone dropped and turned dark. "If you get in my way, or leak any false information about me to anyone else, derived from your so-called 'research'…"

"You'll kill me? Yeah, yeah, all that edgy dark protagonist stuff," he laughed. "Lighten up, man! Relax! Think of this as just a personal hobby of mine. I won't tell anyone else about my findings — after all, I hope to remain in a friendly relationship with you. You're far scarier and strong than what most people can tell."

"Hobby? More like obsession," I scoffed. "Well, I won't try and stop you as long as you don't interrupt any plans I have. But regarding the special exam on Monday… I leave that to you."

"Of course," he chuckled. "What's your phone number? I'll text you information on all of my classmates later to help you decide who to pair up with who."

I nodded and exchanged contact info with him, then parted ways as there was still others things I wanted to do today — namely, get in touch with some senior students. I asked Ming Hao to see if he knew anything about how to enter the Student Council here, but he said that he was just a first year here as well. Despite being from one of the major families of Fragment just like Xiang Peng, even he didn't have that info.

So, I was left with no other choice but to try and interact with some older students.

Knowledge was power, after all. With it, my chances of entering the Student Council and obtaining those rewards would increase dramatically — there was no reason not to do this.