A Favor

After returning home, Chu Kuang practiced martial arts with Chu Yu for another two hours.

Once they were exhausted from training, he entered the Tian Heng Star Realm and fought ten ranking matches before going to sleep.

Early the next morning, Chu Kuang arrived at the classroom ahead of time, only to hear his classmates discussing something heatedly.

Before he could ask what had happened, Zhang Ming came over, hooked an arm around his shoulders, and said, "Did you see the news? A fight broke out last night."

Chu Kuang naturally knew what he meant and immediately asked, "The alien race attacks?"

"Yeah. Last night, our Tian Yuan C Star suffered more than a hundred attacks simultaneously. One of them happened right here in Tian Heng City. Do you know who was attacked?"

Speaking rapidly, Zhang Ming said with a shocked expression, "It was Ye Qingfeng from Third High. They say Ye Qingfeng had already cultivated Intermediate Internal and External Martial Arts to perfection and would form the Adamantine Body next."

"Even graduates from many Third-Tier Martial Universities might not be able to beat him in a real fight. No wonder he became a thorn in the alien races' side."

At this point, Zhang Ming revealed an envious look.

His martial talent was not particularly high, but fortunately, his family had some money. He had already decided to take the path of Gene Evolution.

However, even if he broke through to the Mortal Transformation Realm on that path, he would still be the weakest kind of blank-slate Mortal Transformation Realm cultivator, with an extremely low chance of breaking through to the Transcendent Realm later on.

In comparison, Ye Qingfeng had limitless prospects. He would most likely reach the Transcendent Realm in the future, and there was even a small chance he could break through to the Divine Treasury Realm. That was a true peerless powerhouse.

Chu Kuang's attention was elsewhere. He had already guessed that Ye Qingfeng was the one who had been attacked.

A grave expression appeared on his face as he could not help asking, "More than a hundred precise decapitation strikes at once... the alien races really went all in. Did any of them succeed in assassinating their targets?"

Zhang Ming's expression also turned grave. "One person died, and three were seriously injured. The one who died was a top-grade bone structure genius from Tian Xing City. At the time, most of his Sky Patrol Guard had been reassigned to protect someone else."

"The other person was not attacked, but he was ambushed and killed by an alien powerhouse instead. They say Tian Xing City's Security Department Director has already been dismissed."

Chu Kuang frowned slightly. Since that person had been suddenly attacked and killed, either the alien races had changed their plans at the last minute, or there had been a problem with the intelligence.

Either possibility meant that humanity's defenses were not truly flawless.

After all, thieves could steal for a thousand days, but no one could guard against thieves for a thousand days.

"Losing only one person is already a pretty good outcome."

Zhang Ming was not overly concerned about it. Instead, he said, "According to the news, the Transcendent Realm alien races on Tian Yuan C Star suffered heavy losses. They should quiet down for a while."

"Besides, with the alien races suffering such heavy losses, maybe we can seize this chance to wipe out the Dark Domain completely."

Chu Kuang shook his head, disagreeing with that view.

Every difference of one Life Level was nearly an absolute form of suppression.

Within a Dark Domain, the outcome was always decided by the strongest experts on each side.

In the Dark Domain on Tian Yuan C Star, no matter how many Transcendent Realm alien races died, humanity could not completely clear this Level 2 Dark Domain as long as those alien Divine Treasury Realm powerhouses remained alive.

In Chu Kuang's estimation, the Dark Domain on Tian Yuan C Star would find it difficult to determine a victor anytime soon.

This kind of Level 2 Dark Domain was awkward. It was a small Level 2 Dark Domain, and true human prodigies were unwilling to break through to the Divine Treasury Realm inside it, because once they did, they would never be able to leave again.

Those willing to break through in such a second-tier Dark Domain were generally Divine Treasury Realm cultivators whose potential had already run dry, and most had only barely entered the Pseudo Divine Treasury Realm.

Anyone with hopes of advancing further in the Divine Treasury Realm would definitely enter a medium- or large-scale Level 2 Dark Domain, or go directly to a Stellar Level 3 Dark Domain to break through.

After all, Divine Treasury Realm experts were still Tier 3 Lifeforms. They could enter and leave Level 3 Dark Domains freely and would not be trapped within a Level 2 Dark Domain.

But relying only on Pseudo Divine Treasury Realm cultivators, it would take merely two or three people to contend against an alien Divine Treasury Realm cultivator. To kill one, however, would likely require more than ten times that number.

Trapping ten times as many Pseudo Divine Treasury Realm experts in a Level 2 Dark Domain was not a worthwhile trade.

In truth, the best way to eliminate a Level 2 Dark Domain was to produce a Young Human King at the Transcendent Realm. Such a genius with Human King potential could fight above their level against Divine Treasury Realm cultivators, and could safely leave after killing them.

But such geniuses were far too rare. The human race of the Tian Yuan Galaxy had only been developing for a little over a century, and no genius of that level had appeared yet.

In fact, forget a Young Human King capable of fighting against the Divine Treasury Realm. Even Transcendent Realm peerless geniuses who could barely contend with the Pseudo Divine Treasury Realm were rarely seen in the Tian Yuan Galaxy.

However, all of that was still far from Chu Kuang. What he needed to do now was cultivate the Iron Armor Technique to mastery as soon as possible.

Not long afterward, homeroom teacher Xu Yue arrived at the office. He also mentioned the attacks, reminded the students to stay safe, and then called Chu Kuang into the office alone.

"I heard you made it into the top three thousand?"

"Yeah. I reached rank three thousand the day before yesterday."

Chu Kuang nodded. He was not surprised that Xu Yue knew.

The Tian Heng Ranking Tournament had been established for high school students in Tian Heng City, so Xu Yue, as his homeroom teacher, naturally had access to firsthand information.

Seeing this, Xu Yue showed a trace of anticipation. "Then when you took leave yesterday, did you use those one hundred thousand Federal Coins to go into seclusion and break through?"

Chu Kuang did not hide it. "I bought a Source Energy Potion and cultivated the Basic Spear Technique to perfection."

"You've got guts. Are you planning to challenge the top thousand?"

Xu Yue could not help smiling.

He understood Chu Kuang's thinking. Generally speaking, something as precious as a Source Energy Potion was best saved for pushing Basic Internal Martial Arts to perfection, or for advancing one's external martial arts and pushing them to perfection.

Using it on Basic Spear Technique was somewhat wasteful. Chu Kuang had most likely done so to rapidly increase his strength, break into the top thousand of the ranking tournament, and then obtain prize money and a larger loan.

It was somewhat risky, but if it succeeded, it could create a snowball effect and quickly raise Chu Kuang's strength.

Thinking of this, Xu Yue took out an application form and handed it to Chu Kuang. "Since you have plans, sign this application."

Chu Kuang took the form and glanced at it, immediately revealing a delighted expression. It was an application form for the Third-Class Scholarship.

Even though it was only a Third-Class Scholarship, it was astonishingly valuable to Chu Kuang.

The standard for the first-year Third-Class Scholarship was three thousand Federal Coins per month.

That amount might not seem like much, but it added up to thirty-six thousand Federal Coins per year. While it was still not enough to buy a Source Energy Potion, it was more than sufficient to cover an ordinary high school student's basic cultivation expenses.

In fact, Lin Shuyao and Jiang Feng were only receiving the Third-Class Scholarship as well.

The top students ranked in the top ten of other classes only received financial aid, which amounted to just one thousand Federal Coins per month. In the Federation higher-ups' assessment, those students did not have enough potential to deserve a reward; they were merely worth supporting a little.

"Normally, first-year students cannot apply for the Third-Class Scholarship unless they cultivate their internal and external martial arts to mastery."

"However, your situation is special. Reaching perfection in a basic cultivation method is much harder than reaching mastery in a beginner cultivation method."

After having Chu Kuang sign the application, Xu Yue smiled and said, "I'll submit the application for you, but whether it passes will still depend on the school leaders approving it."

Chu Kuang smiled slightly. Since Xu Yue had already brought it up, he knew that this Third-Class Scholarship application should not be a problem.

He rose to his feet and saluted Xu Yue. "Teacher Xu, I'll remember this favor."

"Don't be so mushy."

Xu Yue smiled and casually put away the application form before saying, "There's only a little more than a month left before the Final Exam. Everyone is in the final sprint now, and almost every day, someone's external martial arts reach mastery."

"You don't have much time. Seize this window and get into the top thousand quickly. If you delay too long, getting into the top thousand will become much more difficult."

"I understand, but breaking into the top thousand of the Tian Heng Ranking Tournament won't be too difficult for me."

Chu Kuang nodded. Leaving aside other classes and schools, several people in Class Seven alone were close to the limit of minor mastery in their external martial arts.

Within a month at most, at least three more people in the class would reach mastery in external martial arts. By then, competition for the top thousand in the ranking tournament would certainly become much fiercer.

However, Chu Kuang was not worried. After his Basic Spear Technique and external martial arts reached perfection, the Gold-Splitting Spear and Iron Armor Technique had entered a period of rapid growth. Within ten days at most, both advanced martial arts would reach mastery.

With the additional boost from his entries, it would be absurd if he still could not break into the top thousand.

"It's good that you're confident."

Xu Yue smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Try not to go out during this period. The alien races have suffered a major loss recently, and they may be looking for a chance to retaliate."

"I understand."

Chu Kuang nodded, then rose and left the office.

The school's process was quick. Just half a day later, Chu Kuang received this month's scholarship. The full three thousand Federal Coins made his wallet much healthier again.

"Three thousand in scholarship money every month, plus six hundred a day from tutoring. From now on, I'll have a fixed monthly income of twenty-one thousand."

As Chu Kuang calculated his future income, even his martial practice became noticeably lighter.

Twenty-one thousand Federal Coins a month might be nothing to the children of martial artist families, but for a commoner like Chu Kuang, it was quite a considerable income.

After all, Father Chu and Mother Chu's combined annual income was only a little over twenty thousand Federal Coins.

"I owe favors to Xu Yue and Lin Shuyao."

The thought crossed Chu Kuang's mind. He knew Lin Shuyao had helped him greatly.

After all, most students paid only one hundred Federal Coins per tutoring session, yet she had offered him three times that price.

It was definitely not because he taught especially well. In this era, as long as one was willing to spend money, finding a good tutor was not difficult.

If not for Lin Shuyao, even if he taught two classes a day, he would only earn six thousand a month. Moreover, other parents would definitely make him teach the full duration of both sessions.

Thinking of this, Chu Kuang looked toward Lin Shuyao, who was practicing internal martial arts in the distance, before slowly withdrawing his gaze.

Forget it. I'll repay this favor when I get the chance in the future.