“Your Highness must be joking.”
Chi Zhuo’s reply came a beat slower than usual—but that pause was just right.
And that tiny delay alone was enough to please Ji Chenxi. A smile tugged at his lips. “Yeah, I was joking. Senior, don’t take it seriously.”
Ji Chenxi said goodbye without the slightest sign of hesitation. Just like he’d said before, he first sent out his spiritual power to check the situation outside. The area beyond the underground maze didn’t look much different from before—still packed with people. The only change was that they weren’t here for Chi Zhuo and the poisonous spider anymore.
They were here for him.
Ji Chenxi took out two gold coins, each stamped with the emblems of the Royal Academy and the First Military Academy. He tossed them lightly into the air, catching them with lazy ease. Now that Chi Zhuo didn’t need to take part in this game anymore, his hunger for those huge points had faded. He even found himself wondering if he shouldn’t have used Lu Jianhan’s hand earlier. If he hadn’t, maybe he could’ve fought a little longer. But when you’ve got a ready-made card in hand and don’t use it, that doesn’t make much sense either.
After a quick scan of the outside, Ji Chenxi turned and headed back into the cave.
Lu Jianhan fell silent for a brief moment when he saw Ji Chenxi return so soon. Then he asked, “You’re not back because you’re eyeing the points in my hand, are you?”
Ji Chenxi raised a brow. “I’m already the undisputed first place—so long as these two gold coins in my hand don’t get snatched away.”
“If Your Highness wanted to take our points, you could’ve done it earlier. No need to wait until now.” Bai Anran knew exactly how many points he had. Among the other freshmen, his score would count as high—but compared to Ji Chenxi’s, it wasn’t even a drop in the ocean. “So you came back because you want us to guard your points?”
Ji Chenxi nodded in approval. “Even though I could handle it alone—those people probably couldn’t take my points anyway—there are still several days left. I’ll need to rest at some point.”
There were only three S-rank freshmen in total. If two of them stood on his side, then the rest of the assessment would feel like playing house with kids.
Lu Jianhan and Bai Anran were still suffering from the poison debuff. No one had shown up with an antidote, so for now, they had no choice but to rely on Ji Chenxi. Lu Jianhan had already been forced into cooperating with him once under pressure, so he didn’t care if it happened again.
As for the others, even though a few of them were A+ rank, they couldn’t possibly handle being hunted down by all the freshmen from two top academies. On the surface, it looked like Ji Chenxi had coldly abandoned them to avoid being dragged down. In truth, though, he had given them a chance—to blend into the other freshmen and stop living like fugitives.
After that, the next few days turned into a full-on manhunt. The other freshmen went crazy trying to chase Ji Chenxi down, all hoping to snatch the points from his hands. The problem was simple—no one could beat any of the three of them. Even Bai Anran, who looked like the weakest link, was a solid S-rank. In some ways, he could totally crush an A-rank without breaking a sweat.
And since most of the freshmen had zero real combat experience, even the way they tried to hunt them down felt clumsy—almost cute. Ji Chenxi didn’t take them seriously at all.
The grand freshman trial was practically turning into a camping trip thanks to him. Lu Jianhan handled catching fish and hunting prey. Bai Anran gathered wild vegetables and mushrooms. Lu Jianhan cooked and made soup too. As for Ji Chenxi? He just ate, drank, and occasionally bullied a few freshmen for fun.
Lu Jianhan, who had to find prey, prep the ingredients, and cook every meal: “…”
He seriously suspected Ji Chenxi brought him along just to get a free cook.
With such an overwhelming gap in strength, the final stretch of the trial felt even easier than when the senior students were around. At least among the older students, there had been quite a few who could actually fight. But most of the freshmen? They didn’t even know how to properly use their spiritual power or apply real combat skills.
By the end of it all, Ji Chenxi took first place with barely any effort. Lu Jianhan came in second. Bai Anran took third.
The ranking was so flat and predictable that Lu Jianhan felt no sense of achievement at all. But then he thought about it—if he hadn’t chosen to cooperate with Ji Chenxi at the start, he might not even have made third place. Thinking that way, he felt a lot more balanced.
When the exchange event between the two schools wrapped up, the Imperial Royal Academy produced the first-place winner—and that winner was the Third Prince himself. Second and third both went to the First Military Academy. Sure, Ji Chenxi’s presence played a part, but the results still showed real strength. Both schools’ leadership were extremely satisfied.
By the later stage of the trial, Ji Chenxi had already lost most of his interest. The moment it ended, he boarded the aircraft and started fiddling with his light brain.
The old butler piloted the aircraft back while briefing him on the current situation, including matters related to the Lan family.
“Lan Mu showed up at this freshman trial. On its own, that’s nothing. It could be explained as him trying to avoid the eldest prince and second princess. But with Your Highness present at this trial, every move he makes will be overanalyzed. Not to mention the senior officials watching the event. Who knows if any of them are aligned with your elder brother or second sister.”
Ji Chenxi tapped his fingers lightly. “Exactly. This game can’t stay under control for long. The fight for power could surface at any moment. Call Wu Xiang over. I need to make sure our camp has no traitors.”
The butler acknowledged quietly.
Ji Chenxi’s fingers flew across the interface. The virtual screen flickered rapidly before his eyes as he filled in the gaps in recent information, weighing the current situation and considering whether there were any hidden risks.
He even logged into the dark web once.
The most eye-catching messages were from Lu Tu.
There were only a few, sent at different times. At first, Lu Tu had messaged him casually, like normal small talk. But then, as if something had happened, the tone suddenly turned urgent—three urgent messages in a row. After that, days later, there were just two scattered follow-ups.
Ji Chenxi frowned slightly as he read through them. Part of him felt Lu Tu couldn’t possibly have run into real trouble. But another part worried that Lu Tu might have already left Gu Hechuan’s side and encountered something during the return trip.
After a moment of thought, he sent a single question mark.
The reply came almost instantly.
【Sweetheart, where have you been this past month? Why haven’t you replied to any of my messages?】
【Nothing much. Haven’t logged into the dark web lately. Did you handle your matter?】 Ji Chenxi already sensed something was off, but he played along.
【All handled. But Bai Wei, isn’t it a bit too much of a coincidence that you reply right after the Royal Academy and First Military Academy freshman trial ended? Don’t tell me, sweetheart, you just finished participating in the trial?】
Lu Tu said it half-jokingly. Ji Chenxi had already expected this, so he wasn’t surprised at all. He admitted it openly.
【Yeah. I’m one of the Royal Academy’s freshmen this year.】
He answered so quickly that all the information Lu Tu had gathered instantly became useless.
【Why don’t you just say you’re the Third Prince, Ji Chenxi, while you’re at it?】
Ji Chenxi let out a soft laugh and typed back:
【I can still say that now if you want. Your instincts are way sharper than I thought. Even Hechuan never once suspected I was Bai Wei. You figured it out after just one meeting.】
Lu Tu replied: 【All thanks to that blurry photo from the Night Wanderer. You haven’t changed that much from the picture. If Crow saw it, he’d probably know your identity the second he laid eyes on it.】
Ji Chenxi was just about to tell him not to mention this to Gu Hechuan and end the topic there when a new message from Lu Tu popped up.
【Sweetheart, Morningstar is coming to the Imperial Capital. He’s expected to arrive in two days. You and that… someone of yours better tone it down a little.】
Ji Chenxi narrowed his eyes slightly.
【That someone? Who?】
【Your boyfriend? Your partner? Or maybe just a suitor? Whatever. You can insist you two were fighting back then—I’ll believe you.】
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
