Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Grandpa’s Coming Home for the New Year, an Invitation from the University Alliance

Zhang Yi, who had been eating casually, sharply caught what his mother was saying.

"Which place? Where is it?" Zhang Yi turned his head and asked his mom.

Zhang Yi’s mother hadn’t expected him to hear her casual remark so clearly. Still, she had nothing to hide, so she told her son what it was all about.

"It’s nothing major, really. It would be better if your grandfather told you about this. After all, your grandpa is a Powerful Divine Being. His backing is the strongest in our entire family! But I can tell you a little bit about it."

"Every year, besides getting into university through the college entrance exams, there’s another group of students who get in through special recruitment! Didn’t you ask me before how some students get guaranteed admission to university through special recruitment?"

Zhang Yi recalled asking his mom that very question when he was a child. At the time, she had simply told him he would naturally find out when he was older.

"I didn’t answer you back then, but I can tell you now," she continued. "It’s very simple! As long as your grades are good enough, or you have a sufficiently powerful background, and you have an invitation letter from your school or some other organization, then you can enter a place called the University Alliance!"

"As long as you get into the University Alliance, avoid being eliminated, and achieve good results, you can get a spot for guaranteed admission. What’s more, you’ll enjoy top-tier resources once you get into university! You could say that getting an invitation to the University Alliance is like getting one foot in the door of every top university in the entire Blue Star Federation!"

"Back in the day, that’s where your father and I met!" His mom’s face grew wistful as she spoke.

At that moment, his dad, who had been quietly eating and letting his wife do all the talking, suddenly spoke up.

"Don’t listen to your mother’s nonsense! Getting an invitation to the University Alliance is like getting one foot in the door of the top universities in the Blue Star Federation. That’s not wrong, but it leaves out a crucial condition! And that is: you have to have the strength!"

"You need the strength to get that extremely rare invitation from your school. You need the strength to enter the University Alliance Training Camp and still achieve outstanding results. And you need the strength to maintain an undefeated record throughout the entire year of assessments in the University Alliance Training Camp! Without that strength, even if you get an invitation and enter the training camp, you’ll just get eliminated and have to go back to studying for the college entrance exams like everyone else!"

"Don’t think it’s a place you can get into just because you have connections. The trials in there are far more brutal than the college entrance exams! The college entrance exams just have you competing against students from across the country. But there, you’re competing against students from the entire Blue Star Federation!"

As he said this, his father’s expression was sterner than Zhang Yi had ever seen it. Seeing Zhang Yi’s stunned reaction, his father’s voice softened slightly as he continued.

"Your mother wants your grandfather to get you an invitation. The main reason is that if you get the invitation and enter the University Alliance Training Camp, you’ll still have plenty of time to prepare for the college entrance exams even if you get eliminated later. It won’t set you back at all! In fact, any benefits you gain while you’re in there would make it a valuable life experience—a net gain! When you go back to take the college entrance exams, you might even get a better score!"

After listening to his parents, Zhang Yi had a rough understanding of this University Alliance that had come out of nowhere.

Simply put, the University Alliance is basically a testing ground set up by all the top universities in the Blue Star Federation to scout high school talent early. Any student on Blue Star, regardless of their region, can enter this training camp as long as they have an invitation from the University Alliance! And if you perform well in the camp, you’ll receive offers—olive branches—from those top universities! Thinking about it, it’s kind of like a combination of an exam prep boot camp and a special admissions track from my past life. But getting into the training camp, receiving the invitation, is just the first step. The real test is getting guaranteed admission to a top university and securing top-tier benefits while you’re in there! After all, it’s not like the college entrance exams. Though the college entrance exams are national, the difficulty varies from region to region. This University Alliance Training Camp, on the other hand, gathers all the top talents from the entire Federation to compete against each other, and they all play by the same rules. So its prestige is immense, and no university would question its value!

A question suddenly occurred to Zhang Yi. Since Mom brought it up today, it must mean this year’s training camp is starting soon. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have mentioned it for no reason.

Zhang Yi told his parents his speculation. Hearing his guess, his mom broke into a smile.

"That’s my son! Of course he’s smart; he inherited my brains! You guessed right! It’s not right away, though. It’s in March, after the New Year celebration each year."

"Your dad told me that your grandpa adjusted his leave this year and will be coming back from the other war zones to celebrate the New Year. When the time comes, as his precious grandson, you’ll definitely have to go see him. So I was thinking that when we’re celebrating with him, I’ll have your dad put in a good word for our precious son."

Hearing this, his dad’s eyebrows twitched. He seemed a little annoyed, but his words were still gentle. "Didn’t I tell you not to rush things? We don’t need to ask. I know my father will agree. Besides, even if he didn’t, I believe our son’s grades are good enough to get an invitation through the school anyway!"

As he said this, his father looked at Zhang Yi with complete confidence.

"Oh, right. Speaking of celebrating the New Year with my father this year... I just remembered. Since he’s coming back from the other war zones, a lot of friends and relatives will definitely be coming to celebrate. We’ll have to hold a family banquet at the very least." His mother chimed in, turning to her husband. "Didn’t you mention before that the eldest daughters of many prominent families want to arrange a marriage with the sole heir of our Zhang Family? When you go to the banquet, you can ask around for our son. The sooner we settle this, the better!"

Zhang Yi had just been listening to his parents talk about going to his grandfather’s for the New Year, nodding along and quietly shoveling food into his mouth. But now that the conversation had suddenly turned to him—and his marriage, no less—even Zhang Yi, a man with the memories of two lifetimes, couldn’t help but blush.

Seeing his embarrassment, even his ever-supportive mother stayed quiet this time. It was his father who spoke to him gravely.

"This is a perfectly normal matter! The more powerful a True God becomes, the more difficult it is for them to have children! There was once a Powerful Divine Being who only thought about having a child after they had already ascended. As a result, they tried for an entire era and still couldn’t conceive! I heard that after exhausting every possible method, they only managed to give birth to half a child! They then had to travel to various Crystal Wall Systems searching for resources just to make that half-child whole!"

As he told this story, his father seemed to recall something, a look of horror appearing on his face.

Zhang Yi was baffled. How can you give birth to half a child?!

But his father quickly composed himself and continued, "Back in the day, I was only eighteen when I met your mother. And by the time we had you, we were already in our forties! Just having you delayed your mother and me from ascending to True God for several long years! If you don’t start looking for a wife now, what are you going to do in the future? Besides, ever since we entered this Age of Divinity, the law was changed long ago. Strength reigns supreme! Polygamy, polyandry... as long as you’re powerful enough, anything goes!"

Seeing Zhang Yi’s unconvinced expression, his father decided to bring out the big guns.

"This also concerns the future development of your Divine Realm! You’re a junior now. You need to decide on the developmental focus for your Divine Realm before your senior year. It’s not too early to start thinking about it! Having someone you know and trust completely to help you develop your Divine Realm will make things easier, no matter which path you choose!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yi thought for a moment. It did make sense, and he couldn’t help but nod.

But he never expected that when the silent Zhang Yi nodded, his parents, who had been trying so hard to persuade him, completely misunderstood.

Our son is finally convinced!