"Cut the crap!"
Lin Xiaoxiao directly pulled open the car door, sat inside, and rolled down the window.
Her sunglasses slid back onto her face, hiding her eyes.
"Once I give something away, I never take it back."
"Think of it as... a thank-you gift for calling me 'sister'."
"See you at the exam tomorrow."
Vroom—
She floored the accelerator.
The off-road vehicle let out a roar and quickly vanished into the night.
Su Yu stood there.
Staring at the priceless jade bottle in his hand.
After a long moment.
He tucked the bottle into his pocket and turned to walk toward the old city district.
A lady's favor is the hardest to repay.
---
The next day.
Jiangcheng No. 1 Martial Arts High School.
Nine in the morning.
The sports ground was packed with people, the atmosphere ten times crazier than the day before.
Because today, the results were out.
The weighted total of the cultural and martial arts scores would directly determine who qualified for the afternoon practical combat assessments.
In the center of the sports ground.
A holographic projection screen the size of a three-story building flashed with piercing blue light.
Everyone raised their heads.
Holding their breath.
Staring fixedly at the screen.
"They're here!"
Someone shouted.
On the screen, data scrolled down like a waterfall before finally freezing in place.
The name at the top was enlarged and bolded in glaring gold letters.
【First Place: Su Yu】
【Cultural Arts Score: 500 (Perfect Score)】
【Martial Arts Score: 500 (Qi-Blood 10.4, Converted to Perfect Score)】
【Weighted Total: 1000 Points】
Boom!
The entire sports ground erupted!
"Double perfect score?!"
"My god! Since Jiangcheng was founded, has there ever been a top scorer with double perfect scores?!"
"Cultural arts perfect score—fine, but martial arts perfect score too? Where the hell did this monster Su Yu come from?!"
At the edge of the crowd.
Li Jianguo, the homeroom teacher of Class 3, stared at the name on the screen with wide eyes.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.
It was over.
Completely over.
A once-in-a-lifetime genius with double perfect scores should have been the greatest highlight of his teaching career.
But for a mere million, he had personally pushed that genius to the opposite side.
He could already imagine the fury with which the principal would tear him apart after the college entrance exams.
The screen scrolled down.
【Second Place: Lin Xiaoxiao】
【Cultural Arts Score: 496】
【Martial Arts Score: 500 (Qi-Blood 406.0, Converted to Perfect Score)】
【Weighted Total: 990 Points】
In the crowd.
Lin Xiaoxiao, wearing a baseball cap, looked up at the rankings.
She pouted.
"That last cultural arts question on dissecting alien beasts—looks like I lost points there after all."
But when her gaze moved up.
And she saw the name firmly fixed above hers.
The corners of her mouth lifted into a faint smile.
"You're something else."
The screen scrolled further.
Third place.
Fourth place.
Until the fifth line.
【Fifth Place: Zhao Ze】
【Cultural Arts Score: 480】
【Martial Arts Score: 500 (Qi-Blood 10.3, Converted to Perfect Score)】
【Weighted Total: 980 Points】
In the rest area.
Crack!
The wine glass in Zhao Ze's hand shattered into fragments.
He stared at the top of the holographic screen, at that name so glaring it nearly drove him insane—
【First Place: Su Yu】!
His entire body trembled violently from rage, jealousy, and humiliation.
"Impossible... absolutely impossible!"
Zhao Ze clenched his teeth, his eyes bloodshot with madness, a beast-like growl tearing from his throat.
"A bottom-feeder who can't even reach 1 Qi-Blood, surviving on government relief—how dare he crawl above me?!"
He couldn't accept it!
Three days ago, Su Yu's Qi-Blood was a pathetic 0.8!
But now, the big screen clearly showed—Qi-Blood 10.4! A perfect martial arts score!
What made him even more jealous to the point of vomiting was Su Yu's perfect 500 in cultural arts.
If!
If only Su Yu had signed that damn agreement three days ago!
Then that perfect 500 in cultural arts would have been Zhao Ze's!
With his own Qi-Blood of 10.3, Zhao Ze would have stood as the undisputed top scorer of Jiangcheng with a perfect 1000, enjoying the cheers of a hundred thousand people!
Not like now, stuck in fifth place.
Looking up at the insolent poor wretch he used to trample underfoot—too dirty to even glance at—who had stolen all the glory that should have been his!
"Su Yu..."
Zhao Ze's face twitched, his expression completely twisted.
"Young master, calm down," the butler said nervously, handing him a towel.
"Total scores are just vanity. With 10.4 Qi-Blood, it's worthless in real combat! As long as you're in the top ten, you're qualified for this afternoon's arena matches."
"In the arena, that kid won't stand a chance against your Shattered Rock Palm technique."
Zhao Ze clenched his fists.
"You're right."
"Combat."
"In front of all of Jiangcheng, I'll personally cripple him!"
---
Two in the afternoon.
Jiangcheng No. 1 Martial Arts High School, indoor combat arena.
The circular stands, capable of holding thirty thousand people, were packed to capacity.
The city's elites, martial arts gym owners, and military representatives were all in attendance.
At the center of the arena.
Stood a massive alloy platform, fifty meters in length and width.
Below the platform.
The top ten candidates—including Su Yu, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Zhao Ze—stood in a line.
The atmosphere was heavier than ever.
Everyone knew that the upcoming battles would decide who got the two special admission spots for Kyoto Martial Arts University.
Suddenly.
The noisy arena fell silent without warning.
An indescribable pressure instantly swept through the entire venue.
The air felt thick.
Breathing became difficult.
Ordinary spectators in the stands felt an urge to kneel to the ground.
As for the official martial artists with Qi-Blood over 100, their faces turned deathly pale as they felt their Qi flow sluggish and stagnant.
Su Yu stood below the platform.
Following everyone's gaze.
On the highest viewing stand of the combat arena, a towering figure had appeared without anyone noticing.
He radiated no flashy, glowing aura.
He made no deliberate movements.
He simply stood there, like an insurmountable mountain.
Jiangcheng Martial Arts Association President.
Lei Potian.
A top-tier Grandmaster.
A terrifying existence with over a hundred thousand Qi-Blood!
One man alone could secure an entire city.
Lei Potian looked down from on high, sweeping his gaze across the ten candidates below.
He paused briefly on Lin Xiaoxiao and gave a slight nod.
Then, his eyes passed over Su Yu.
Without lingering.
"Jiangcheng Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, practical combat assessment."
Lei Potian's voice wasn't loud, but it rang out clearly like thunder in everyone's ears.
"There is only one rule."
"No-holds-barred combat."
"Until one side falls or voluntarily surrenders."
"Death is on the table."
The last four words sent the temperature in the venue plummeting to freezing.
Death was on the table.
That was the brutality of martial arts.
Once you stepped onto the arena, you were no longer a student or a child—only a warrior.
Of course, if things truly got life-threatening, he, as the referee, would step in immediately to stop it.
"The drawing of lots begins."
Lei Potian raised his hand.
The massive holographic screen above the arena immediately began frantically rolling the names of the ten contestants.
Everyone held their breath.
Ding.
The screen stopped scrolling.
The first match's pairings were suddenly frozen in place.
【First Match: Su Yu vs. Zhao Ze.】
Whoosh—
The entire venue erupted in uproar.
First place against fifth place!
A common-born genius against a young master from a noble family!
Without any warm-up, their fated showdown kicked off in the very first round!
Beneath the arena,
Zhao Ze stared at the names on the screen.
At first, he was taken aback.
Then, a grim, bloodthirsty sneer curled up at the corner of his mouth.
He turned his head.
From a few meters away, he locked his gaze onto Su Yu, unblinking.
He raised his right hand and slowly, deliberately, drew his thumb across his own throat.
Making an exceptionally arrogant throat-slitting gesture.
As for Su Yu,
His hands were still shoved in his pockets.
He didn't even spare Zhao Ze a glance.
Instead, he calmly began to walk.
Stepping onto the alloy stairs, one step at a time, as he climbed toward the arena that would decide his fate.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
