Chapter 124: Breaking Through the Mountain! [Fifth Update! Please Support with Votes!]

Zhang Wenhao walked home alone, his head bowed, yet his thoughts were entirely consumed by Qian Ning. Reflecting on the call she had just made, a sense of desolation washed over him.

In truth, Qian Ning was far more in danger than he was. Even though that assassin named Jin Chengxun was investigating him in Jiang City, his ultimate aim was to use Zhang Wenhao to find Qian Ning. Now that Qian Ning had completely severed ties with her organization because of him, Zhang Wenhao couldn’t help but worry about her. As a lone woman, could she truly protect herself?

At last, he realized how deeply he missed Qian Ning. Her words had struck a chord within him. Even Zhang Wenhao himself didn’t know if he would ever have the chance to see her again; meeting her would require countless conditions to be met. First, Qian Ning had to survive. Second, unless she eradicated the threats from her organization, she would never dare appear before him. This was something Zhang Wenhao understood all too well.

Yet, fulfilling these two conditions was a daunting task.

Shaking his head, Zhang Wenhao forced himself to stop thinking about Qian Ning. There was nothing he could do to help, and the more he dwelled on it, the more anxious he felt. Walking home, he immediately took a cold shower upon entering. The night air was only three or four degrees Celsius, and the tap water was icy and bone-chilling. Still, the cold didn’t harm his body; instead, it sharpened his senses.

He knew the only thing he could do now was to live his life well until Qian Ning appeared of her own accord. Otherwise, he might never see her again or even receive news of her. Perhaps one day she might die. Perhaps one day she would find a safe place, change her identity, marry, and have children. Countless possibilities existed, but none of which Zhang Wenhao would ever learn about.

The tedious life of high school resumed, and everyone around him was pouring their efforts into preparing for the college entrance examination. Zhang Wenhao looked forward to the three thousand points the system would reward after the exam. He had already begun plotting his next skill goal: High-Energy Wave Manipulation—a profoundly mysterious skill with clear scientific explanations.

He had read about High-Energy Wave Manipulation in the system. High-energy waves were not limited to electromagnetic or ultrasonic waves but were energy-bearing fluctuations emitted by all objects. These waves inherently carried energy, but it was difficult for the human body to control them.

This was neither a fantastical ability nor science fiction fantasy. In the future world where the Super Learning System existed, this skill had been proven and successfully developed by humans. High-energy waves would be akin to an extension of human power—not bound by physical form like limbs, because this power was intangible.

Consider the echolocation of bats in flight, using sound waves to detect their surroundings. This was one type of high-energy wave, though the bat’s waves were too weak to do more than perceive objects. Radar systems designed on this principle function similarly.

Microwaves heating food operate on electromagnetic waves—high-energy waves with sufficient energy to heat objects.

In medicine, radiotherapy for cancer treatment, while strictly nuclear radiation, is itself a form of high-energy wave. However, because this radiation is uncontrollable, it damages healthy tissues during treatment.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) also relies on high-energy waves.

In short, high-energy waves are already well-utilized in the modern world, but the unfortunate truth is that humans can only use machines and instruments to harness them, unable to wield these waves directly as bats do.

Fortunately, technological advancements often surpass imagination. In the era of the Super Learning System, humans had succeeded in integrating this skill into their own bodies.

Zhang Wenhao was drawn to this skill because of its vast potential applications. At a basic level, it could substitute for his ears and eyes, enabling him to perceive things beyond the reach of his five senses, thus heightening his awareness of danger.

At an intermediate level, he might use high-energy waves to penetrate objects and inspect their interiors. This ability would be useful not only in everyday life but also in advancing other skills, such as medicine.

If he mastered this skill, he could immediately detect the root cause of a critically ill patient’s problem, unlike the time he almost lost a woman injured in a car accident due to her heart condition. If he had possessed this skill then, he could have identified the issue promptly and administered the most precise and effective treatment.

At an advanced level, this skill’s potential would exceed imagination. High-energy waves could become an invisible hand capable of accomplishing anything for him.

The allure of this skill was immense. Yet, it required six thousand points to unlock. Currently, Zhang Wenhao had only one thousand forty points. If he earned three thousand points after the college entrance exam, he would reach four thousand. He resolved to find a way to quickly accumulate the remaining points and reach six thousand as soon as possible.

As the weather grew warmer and the exam date approached, Jiang City was engulfed in a tense atmosphere. For families with senior high school students, the college entrance exam largely determined each young person’s future path. In China, the impact of this exam on society was profound.

On June 7th, Zhang Wenhao entered the exam hall with his admission ticket, ID card, pencils, and pens. Coincidentally, his exam was held at his own school, while Su Ruoran’s was at the Thirteenth Middle School.

Unlike most parents who waited at the school gate, Zhang Wenhao’s parents remained at home, calmly waiting. On the first day, his mother even began preparing an unprecedented feast to celebrate his success.

Song Yanni, an intern teacher without official status in Jiang City, was not assigned to proctor other exam halls, so she stayed at their school, her mind filled with thoughts of how Zhang Wenhao would perform.

For Song Yanni, her six-month internship hinged on these two exam days. Originally, she was to return to school to prepare her thesis defense before the exam results were announced. Fortunately, many interns from the same school were assigned to senior high classes across various cities, leading the school to postpone the thesis defense until July 1st, after most provinces released exam results around June 23rd.

The first exam was Chinese.

Though Zhang Wenhao’s essay writing was competent, scoring a perfect essay was a stretch. Perfect essays tended to be eccentric and required the luck of finding a grading teacher who favored such style; otherwise, they could lose fifteen or twenty points. Zhang Wenhao was confident of scoring around fifty-five for the essay, while the other questions posed no major difficulty.

The second exam was math, his strongest and most confident subject.

Unlike the essay, math answers were clear-cut, with each question having a standard solution. With the Super Learning System, math, once his weakest subject, became his greatest strength. Achieving full marks was well within reach.

The third exam was English.

Though Zhang Wenhao’s English rivaled that of any native speaker with higher education, answering Chinese-set English questions perfectly was still challenging. For instance, you might say “Sunday,” but the correct answer might be “Seventh Day.” Who could you argue with?

The fourth exam was the humanities comprehensive test.

This exam relied heavily on rote memorization. Questions on history and politics had exact answers in the textbooks. While not as rigid as math, as long as the general meaning was correct, full marks could be awarded. Zhang Wenhao had memorized all textbook and lesson content, making a perfect score here even easier than math.

Upon leaving the exam hall, cheers erupted around Zhang Wenhao. Many students flung their stationery into the air, shouting with joy. After three years of relentless pressure, this moment was a complete release—a feeling known intimately by anyone who had experienced it, like Sun Wukong breaking free after five hundred years beneath the Five Elements Mountain.

In contrast, Zhang Wenhao remained far calmer than anyone else. His stress had mostly vanished since the Super Learning System’s arrival. The difference between before and after the exams was negligible. The only distinction was that he had completed a major life task—and done so impressively, giving his all.

Song Yanni waited outside the exam building. The moment Zhang Wenhao emerged, she hurried over, eager to ask, “Wenhao, how did it go?”

Zhang Wenhao smiled faintly, winking at her. “One hundred percent.”

Transformed instantly, Song Yanni joined the hundreds around her, tossing her LV handbag into the air, leaping high with arms outstretched, and shouting excitedly, “YES!”