Chapter 2 - The Heavenly Father Finally Hangs His Blessings!

It was quite a coincidence that Su Mu and Su Ye shared the same birthday, and today marked Su Mu's 18th birthday in this world.

After today, Su Mu could indulge in the pleasures of adulthood, like... hehehe... staying up all night at internet cafes playing games with friends.

Su Mu was delighted, "You even prepared a gift for me? What is it?"

Su Ye opened the refrigerator, inside which was a frozen cake with a simple design, clearly homemade.

"Did you make this yourself?" Su Mu was pleasantly surprised.

He had a sweet tooth but had hardly indulged over the past year.

His abilities didn't allow for such luxuries... Money had to be saved for his sister's medical treatment, and other expenses were cut whenever possible.

He hadn't expected his sister to secretly prepare such a sweet surprise for him.

How could anyone not adore such a clever, cute, and understanding sister?

Su Ye nodded, "Mhm, I learned how to make a no-bake cake from the internet."

She brought out the cake, cut a piece, and fed it to Su Mu, asking expectantly, "How is it, does it taste good?"

"It's delicious, especially sweet," Su Mu gave a thumbs-up, lavishing praise without skimp, and fed his sister a piece as well, "You try it too."

After a bite, the softness of the cake and the sweetness of the fruit filled her mouth, making her eyes squint into crescents, and she laughed with joy, "It really is sweet!"

The siblings enjoyed a few bites of the cake, then put the rest back in the refrigerator to save for after dinner.

"I'll go make sweet and sour spare ribs for you," Su Mu said, pinching his sister's cheek and carrying the ribs into the kitchen. He turned on the stove, and with the flicker of crimson runes, a flame burst forth with a 'whoosh'.

This world's stoves were powered not by gas but by spirit crystals, which were cheaper and safer than traditional gas.

Su Ye followed to assist her brother.

As they were busily cooking, a knock on the door echoed through the apartment.

Su Ye hurried to the door, and upon recognizing the visitor, she called out to Su Mu in the kitchen, "Bro, Pudgy Bird Bro is here."

The visitor was not pleased, "What Pudgy Bird? Don't imitate your brother with that nonsense. Call me Brother Liu, or Dapeng Bro."

Su Ye nodded obediently and responded, "Mhm, okay then, Pudgy Bird Bro."

"You... never mind, call me whatever you like as long as you're pretty," he sighed with a hint of resignation.

It was Su Mu's classmate and good friend Liu Peng. His classmates had taken to calling him Pudgy Bird due to his round figure, which amusingly, broke down from his name 'Peng'.

Who knew why 'Peng' would be associated with 'Pudgy Bird' rather than 'Moon Bird'...

Liu Peng lived in the same residential community and often visited their home, so Su Ye was familiar with him and felt comfortable joking around.

Surprised to see Liu Peng, Su Mu was about to ask why he came when Liu Peng gestured with his eyes and then told Su Ye, "Little Yezi, you go to the living room first. I've got something to discuss with your brother."

Once Su Ye left, Liu Peng lowered his voice, "I've got news. This year the spiritual qi passing score for the cultivation university in Shu Province is going to be 40 points higher than last year!"

"What?!" Su Mu was shocked by the news, and realizing Liu Peng had sent Su Ye away to keep her from worrying, he also lowered his voice, asking anxiously, "Where did you get this information? Is it reliable? How could the spiritual qi passing score suddenly jump by so much?"

"The information is absolutely reliable. You know my uncle works in the provincial admissions office, and he's the one who let it slip. It seems that this year the number of people applying to cultivation universities in Shu Province has more than doubled compared to last year. But the cultivation universities in Shu Province can only admit so many students, so they had to raise the spiritual qi threshold to increase the admissions bar."

In the last couple of years, the admission scores for cultivation universities in Shu Province had been lower compared to those in other provinces, so it wasn't surprising that they attracted a large number of applicants.

But this was bad news for Su Mu.

Su Mu's spiritual qi value was 910, surpassing last year's cutoff of 900. He had thought that even if the cutoff increased this year, it would only be by a few points, maybe ten at most. With a final push over the last half-month, he was confident he could make it to the next round of specialized subject examinations. But he never expected the spiritual qi cutoff to rise by a whopping 40 points this year!

Whoever made this decision was even more ruthless than a scheming planner quietly lowering the payout rates!

How in the world was he supposed to get admitted now?

Thinking about increasing his spiritual qi value to over 940 in just half a month was like expecting to cheat as easily as his brother could.

The problem was, he had been in this world for three years and hadn't even seen the shadow of a cheat.

"What's your plan?" Su Mu asked. Liu Peng's scores were slightly lower than his.

Liu Peng said, "My dad plans to take me to Guizhou Province. According to what my uncle found out, the number of applicants to cultivation universities in Guizhou Province is the lowest among several provinces. They might even lower the passing score, maybe even below 900."

After a pause, he advised, "Why don't you also try for Guizhou Province? We could still apply to the same cultivation university."

Su Mu hesitated.

If things were as Liu Peng described, the success rate of taking the examination for cultivation in Guizhou Province would be much higher.

But if he went to Guizhou Province, what about his sister?

Given Su Ye's current health condition, she couldn't withstand the hardship of travel, and leaving her alone at home was something Su Mu couldn't bear to do. Besides, Su Ye had chemotherapy scheduled for the following week. If he went off to Guizhou Province to register for the exam, who would take care of her at the hospital?

Unable to decide right away, he sighed, "I'll think about it."

Liu Peng knew what he was hesitant about and could not urge him more, only saying, "You need to make a decision quickly. After tomorrow, the registration for cultivation universities in each province will close, and you won't be able to change it. This examination for cultivation is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you miss it, the only other way to study cultivation is through a private tutor or joining a dojo, and that's an expense that ordinary families like ours can't afford."

"I know," Su Mu nodded, saying earnestly, "No matter the final decision, I appreciate your concern."

Liu Peng was also serious, "Why be so formal? We're good brothers! Ever since I saw your sister, I knew you were a brother to me."

"Get lost!" Su Mu raised the spatula, pretending to strike.

Liu Peng, laughing, said, "You don't want me to leave, but I've got to go—my parents are waiting for me to eat dinner... Oh, right, make sure you don't tell anyone else about this news."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed," Su Mu promised.

Such insider information, if leaked, could cause a lot of trouble and might even bring disaster upon Liu Peng's uncle. Naturally, Su Mu wouldn't carelessly spread the word.

"Also, thank you," Su Mu said.

Liu Peng waved his hand and strode off without looking back, showing off with every step he took.

Su Mu watched the ribs blanching in the pot, his brows furrowed in thought.

What should he do?

As he fretted, his vision suddenly blurred with a cascade of numbers tumbling down like a waterfall, filling his eyesight.

Su Mu was startled.

Before he could shout, the waterfall of numbers swiftly converged and transformed into two lines of text floating before his eyes, clear yet not obstructing his view.

"7th Set of National High School Qi Cultivation Technique: 7 points (Slightly Flawed), level 0 grade B"

"Sunflower Brand Qi Refining Pill Incomplete: 3 points (Insignificant), level 0 grade C"

"Huh?!"

Su Mu was taken aback in surprise.

He was familiar with the Cultivation Method and alchemical pill mentioned in the two lines of text.

The 7th Set of National High School Qi Cultivation Technique was a basic Cultivation Method compiled and reviewed by the Ministry of Education and practiced uniformly by high school students across the country, which he practiced daily.

Qi refining pills are commonly used by high school students during the foundation-building stage of cultivation, enhancing the effects of drawing qi into the body and refining qi for true cultivation. Since it's aimed at basic education, the price isn't steep—twelve pills for a hundred bucks, lasting three days.

For many families, spending a few hundred to a thousand bucks a month on their child's education isn't much, and they're willing to spend more if necessary. But for Su Mu, that amount of money was a significant expense, to be saved whenever possible.

He had never bought qi refining pills, only asking a classmate for an empty box and following the list of ingredients on it to prepare his own medicinal materials like ginseng, poria, and costus root. Then he learned how to make pills from the internet and made his own qi refining pills for consumption.

This way, indeed, the costs were much lower, requiring only about a hundred bucks a month, but the effect was genuinely inferior—still, it was better than nothing.

Now, Su Mu realized that what he had learned from the packaging was just an incomplete formula; the factory hadn't provided exact dosages and had even omitted several key Medicinal Materials... No wonder the effects were poor!

At the same time, he felt a mix of relief and fear: having consumed so many imperfect qi refining pills without developing any problems was indeed fortunate...

But why did these two items appear as text before his eyes? And why were they scored and evaluated?

Could it be... this was a Golden Finger?

Do I have a cheat now? Do I finally have a cheat?

After three years, has Heavenly Father finally remembered me?

Su Mu's eyes brimmed with hot tears, and he wept with joy.