At eight in the morning, at the First High School of Guanshan District, Li Yuan was frowning, turning his pencil while working on a math test paper. He felt a headache coming on with topics like derivatives, limits, continuity, indefinite integrals, and linear transformations. The university content from over a century ago had now turned into questions for the college entrance exam.
People in this era had much better physical fitness and learning efficiency, but the exam difficulty had also increased.
"Math is really hard."
"Memorizing history and biology is much easier than this," Li Yuan muttered to himself, but he still focused on solving the math problems.
Since the second year of high school, Li Yuan's mental power had been improving, which noticeably sped up his thinking and memory. Even though he only spent four hours a day on cultural subjects, his grades in these subjects were still on par with his classmates.
In fact, his ranking in cultural grades across the entire year had improved.
It's important to note that the First High School of Guanshan District was a key school, and average students there would be considered top students in regular high schools.
However, this was close to Li Yuan's limit for cultural studies.
His enhanced memory helped him score better in subjects like language, history, and biology, which required a lot of memorization. But subjects like math and physics remained challenging.
Unfortunately, in the college entrance exam, math and physics accounted for the largest portion of the score.
"I still need to study hard. I must aim for full basic points in math, physics, and chemistry," Li Yuan resolved.
Just then, his smart wristband vibrated twice.
"Huh?" Li Yuan glanced at it, his eyes lighting up.
"Your account ending in 1486 has received 50,000 Blue Star Coins... The balance is now 83,124.64 Blue Star Coins."
"Your account ending in 1486 has received 50,000 Blue Star Coins... The balance is now 133,124.64 Blue Star Coins."
Two deposits—one of 50,000 was a reward from the Star Combat Network, and the other 50,000 was a second-tier scholarship reward.
"Awesome." Li Yuan couldn't help but clench his fist. If he weren't in class, he might have jumped up in excitement.
100,000 Blue Star Coins!
This was the first time in his life that Li Yuan received such a large sum of money.
Most importantly, in a way, this was a reward he earned through his own efforts.
It was fundamentally different from what his uncle and aunt would give him.
It felt like many people remember their first paycheck after starting work. Even if they later earn ten or a hundred times more, that first paycheck holds a special significance.
The first time is always special.
"Brother Yuan, what's up? You look so happy. Did you solve a big problem?" Yan Zhou, sitting next to him, glanced at his own test paper and whispered, "Let me see."
"No."
Li Yuan calmed down, instinctively glancing towards the teacher to see if they noticed him. "I only do the first question each time."
Suddenly, a cold voice rang out, "Some students, don’t think the teacher can’t see you. I just don’t want to call your name. Do it yourself! Can you cheat during the college entrance exam?"
Li Yuan and Yan Zhou both lowered their heads and fell silent.
...
At nine in the morning, in the principal's office.
Principal Tan Zhenlong was working when he suddenly looked up at the flashing projection screen nearby.
"Master, it's Director Wang from the Education Bureau," a gentle voice said.
"Number Nine, answer it," Principal Tan put down his pen. "Activate guest mode."
"Yes."
The office transformed instantly, with beams of light sweeping through, changing the style of the room to make it visually more comfortable.
"Director Wang," Principal Tan smiled.
In the projection, a young man in a jacket appeared, looking about thirty years old.
"Principal Tan, sorry to bother you," Director Wang smiled. "I need to trouble you with something regarding a student at your school."
"A student?" Principal Tan was puzzled.
"This morning, the City Martial Arts Bureau notified us to report on a student from your school named Li Yuan. He should be a senior," Director Wang said. "He just made it onto the Blue Star Youth Rankings yesterday..."
"Li Yuan? I know this student; he's a good prospect," Principal Tan nodded repeatedly. "I understand. I'll gather the information and send it to you right away."
Having worked in education for decades, Principal Tan had encountered similar situations many times.
He quickly grasped what was happening and knew what he needed to do.
"Alright, it's just a routine matter. I won't take up more of your time," Director Wang said with a smile. "You can get back to work."
After hanging up the video call, Principal Tan thought, "Li Yuan? He made it onto the Blue Star Youth Rankings? That was quick."
Yesterday, he had been invited to watch the match between Lin Lanyue and Li Yuan and felt that Li Yuan could potentially make it onto the rankings.
But he didn't expect it to happen so soon.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Number Nine, contact Teacher Xu Bo."
Principal Tan soon connected the call.
"Old Tan, you looking for me?" Xu Bo appeared on the screen, smiling. "What's up? Hurry up and tell me; don’t waste my training time."
"Training during work hours?" Principal Tan shot him a glare.
"It's not a martial arts class in the morning, so what else should I do?" Xu Bo defended himself. "I work hard to train so I can do my job well."
Principal Tan chuckled helplessly. "Forget it. I need to tell you something."
Quickly, Principal Tan explained the situation.
"The Blue Star Youth Rankings? The Martial Arts Bureau? This must be about special recruitment from the Five Major Martial Arts Academies," Xu Bo said, shaking his head slightly. "From my experience, he probably won't qualify for special recruitment."
In this era, the Martial Arts Department in Xia Country had immense power.
The subordinate Martial Arts Halls and Martial Arts Bureaus were also very influential.
"Yeah, I think so too," Principal Tan sighed. "Not having awakened the Martial Spirit means he won't be compatible with any high-level cultivation methods. His physical fitness will lag behind other martial artists in the future, making it tough to get special recruitment into the Five Major Martial Arts Academies."
Xu Bo nodded slightly but said nothing more.
He suspected that Li Yuan's physical fitness was improving rapidly and that he had high potential, but that was just a guess.
Over the years, not just in human civilization but specifically in Xia Country, there were many students like Li Yuan—strong in martial arts and with decent physical fitness, yet unable to awaken their Martial Spirit...
Very few could stand out in the end.
"Let's focus on nurturing him," Principal Tan said after a moment. "Even if special recruitment doesn’t work out, with his grades, getting into a Martial Arts University won’t be hard. His future looks promising."
"In the future, he might even catch up to you," Principal Tan chuckled.
"Let’s hope so," Xu Bo shifted the topic. "By the way, Old Tan, since special recruitment is being filtered, why don’t you just..."
Before Xu Bo could finish, Principal Tan's smile vanished. He waved his hand. "Hang up!"
...
"Special recruitment?"
Xu Bo, wearing martial arts attire, stood in his office and thought, "Forget it. If it’s not happening, I won’t tell Li Yuan. It will only make him anxious."
Xu Bo continued practicing the Basic Cultivation Method.
"After losing my arm, the nerve toxins haven't been completely cleared. My source power isn’t flowing smoothly, and my dantian is also damaged. My physical fitness has dropped by four levels," Xu Bo pondered. "All these years, I've barely managed to maintain level 19."
"But at least I'm still alive."
"As long as I don’t give up, there will always be a glimmer of hope," Xu Bo's eyes sparkled.
...
Li Yuan was completely unaware of the special recruitment qualification filtering for the Five Major Martial Arts Academies.
At noon after class, he told Zhou Qi and the others, "You guys go to the cafeteria first; I have something to do."
His classmates gradually left, leaving only Li Yuan behind.
He approached the classroom door, checked the hallway to confirm that there was no one in the nearby classrooms, and then couldn't hold back any longer. He quickly activated his smart wristband. "Xiao Yu, connect me to my aunt."
"Beep—beep—"
After six seconds.
Buzz~ A projection screen appeared in front of Li Yuan, only visible to him—a privacy screen.
"Xiao Yuan, what’s wrong? Why are you calling me so urgently?" His aunt, Chen Hui, looked a bit anxious, and from the background, it seemed she was in her office.
Chen Hui was a middle school teacher.
"Aunt, put on your headphones," Li Yuan smiled. "I have good news for you."
"Good news?" Chen Hui was taken aback.
She quickly put on her headphones.
"Aunt, it's about the scholarship and..." Li Yuan explained the situation, emphasizing at the end, "You can rest assured, I’m not lying. Both amounts have already been deposited."
As he spoke, Li Yuan sent a screenshot of his account to his aunt.
"100,000 Blue Star Coins?" Chen Hui's mouth slightly dropped in surprise.
That was about her annual salary.
"Great!"
"Great!" Chen Hui repeated, her eyes glistening with tears. She urged, "Xiao Yuan, go eat first. Remember to call your uncle after lunch, around one o'clock. He and the others take a break from one to two."
"He'll definitely be very happy to hear this."
Since her son and daughter entered middle school, along with Li Yuan, Chen Hui had felt a huge financial burden over the years.
Especially this month, her husband, Li Changzhou, had gone to the Northern Frontier Province for a high-paying job.
Chen Hui often worried and couldn't sleep at night, fearing she would suddenly receive bad news.
But she couldn't show this in front of the kids.
Chen Hui knew that while Li Yuan had just received 100,000 Blue Star Coins, it wouldn’t solve all their family problems.
But at that moment, she finally saw a glimmer of hope.
...
After hanging up with his aunt, Li Yuan tried to video call his uncle, Li Changzhou, to share the good news.
Beep—beep—
No one answered.
"Not picking up?" Li Yuan was momentarily surprised, a hint of worry creeping in, but he quickly reassured himself, "They’re probably still busy."
He left a message detailing everything and sent the deposit screenshot to Li Changzhou.
Once everything was set, Li Yuan finally relaxed a bit and left the classroom.
The sunlight in late September fell on the hallway and on Li Yuan.
It felt warm.
"The sunlight today is really nice," Li Yuan smiled as he walked downstairs towards the cafeteria.
(End of Chapter)