Sky Wings

Xi City Seventeenth High School.

Formerly Xi Village Middle School, it was a rural high school that mainly served the vast countryside in the western suburbs of the old city.

Later, Xi City's education system underwent reforms, and this rural high school was incorporated into the urban school system and renamed Xi City Seventeenth High School. However, this did not bring any substantial change to the school.

Creak!

The army-green jeep stopped in front of the school gates.

The group got out one after another.

"What kind of school is this? It's so run-down!" Su Xiaoxiao took off her sunglasses, looked around, and could not help complaining.

"You needed to say that?"

Li Ling snapped at Su Xiaoxiao. She could call her alma mater shabby, but she would not tolerate anyone else saying it.

The gates of Xi City Seventeenth High School were weathered and mottled, while large patches of plaster had fallen from the outer walls like scars.

The ground was concrete, but it was riddled with cracks, with hardy weeds forcing their way through the gaps.

The school was not large either. There was only one teaching building, while the rest were single-story tiled houses. Surprisingly, though, these buildings had all been carefully repaired. They looked decent enough, with no dangerous structures among them.

According to Li Ling, the current senior year at Seventeen Middle School had only three classes in total: two academic classes and one Combat Class. The student body was not particularly strong, and many were left-behind children whose parents worked away from home.

What surprised Bai Pu, however, was that the students seemed rather well-behaved. He saw none with dyed hair, jewelry, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, or any other signs of bad conduct. Most hurried along, and some even carried books in their arms.

No students came over to disturb Bai Pu and the others. At most, they would turn back curiously for a glance after passing by.

The principal was an old man with a full head of silver hair, though he still seemed vigorous. Li Ling treated him with great respect. She had heard that the Old Principal had worked at Xi City Seventeenth Middle School for over twenty years; when Li Ling had attended high school, he had already been the principal.

After hearing Li Ling explain their purpose, the Old Principal readily agreed. He even teased, "Li Ling, you were the golden phoenix that flew out of our poor little corner. Who would have thought that ten years later, you'd bring another golden phoenix back with you?"

Li Ling looked around with some emotion and said, "Principal, I never realized my alma mater was in such difficulty. I haven't come back all these years, and I haven't been able to help much."

"Don't say that. You've helped the school plenty. If not for the money you donated to repair the teaching building, the students would still be studying in unsafe classrooms. You had your own difficulties—I understand that..."

The Old Principal went on and on, laying bare Li Ling's past.

Li Ling had been born in the countryside, and her parents worked in Jiangnan Base City. She had studied in the Combat Class at Xi City Seventeenth Middle School and had been one of the left-behind children.

Through hard work, Li Ling entered a military academy and successfully awakened two years later. Now, she held important posts in both Great Tang Group and the God Strategy Army. She had some standing in Jiangnan District and could be said to have turned her life around.

Of course, the price was becoming a career soldier, leaving her with far less freedom than other awakened ones.

Su Xiaoxiao examined the cracked concrete ground and said, "How about I submit an application to the organization and donate some money to level the ground and repaint the walls?"

The Old Principal chuckled. "Donations are welcome, but there's no need to spend it on the ground or walls. It would be better used to improve the meals for the Combat Class children... Rural kids work hard. They just lack nutritious mutated beast meat. If we could ensure they got enough nutrition, perhaps we might produce a few more Li Lings."

Su Xiaoxiao fell silent. Mutated beast meat was not cheap; it came from awakened ones hunting mutated beasts in the Wilderness Area. Improving the meals was also a long-term investment, not something a small sum could solve.

"At least the facade should be improved..." Li Ling said. "When new students see a school like this, half their enthusiasm will be gone before they even enroll."

"You don't know this, Li Ling, but our school is about to be shut down. Where would new students come from?" The Old Principal shook his head. "The document issued by the Education Department this year lists Xi City Seventeenth Middle School as one of the schools scheduled for closure and merger within the next five years. We can't put on airs when there's no need for a pretty facade..."

"Ah?!" the three of them exclaimed. Bai Pu had a favorable impression of the Old Principal and asked, "Is it because the university admission rate is low?"

"Not really. Our school's academic results aren't bad. While we haven't produced any top students admitted to the Eight Famous Schools, quite a few get into key universities," the Old Principal said, smacking his lips as though he had a toothache. "It's just that the Combat Class admission rate is poor. It never meets the required target."

After digesting the news, Li Ling could not help asking, "If the school is shut down, where will the students go?"

"The document says they'll merge into Xi City Ninth Middle School," said the Old Principal.

"Ninth Middle School? That school isn't much better, is it? And it's quite far from here," Su Xiaoxiao said.

"Fifteen kilometers. If they don't board, the round trip takes two hours by bike every day." Li Ling sighed. "Back then, I chose not to attend Ninth Middle School precisely because it was too far."

As they spoke, the group arrived at the principal's office.

Bai Pu was surprised again. The principal's office was actually a small shack made of corrugated iron. Such metal sheds did not retain heat in winter and became unbearably hot in summer. They were usually used as carports.

The Old Principal accepted the student registration file Li Ling had brought and personally handled Bai Pu's enrollment, even waiving the academic proficiency test.

As the Old Principal put it, the academic proficiency test was for Ordinary Exam candidates. Bai Pu would be taking the Awakened Exam in the future, so he did not need it. An awakened one's identity was the best credential.

Afterward, the Old Principal assigned Bai Pu to the only senior-year Combat Class—Senior Year 3 Class.

The homeroom teacher was named Ren Zhenghua. Upon hearing that Bai Pu was an awakened one, he was not only astonished but thrilled. He quickly arranged a seat for Bai Pu beside the Combat Class's best student, claiming it was so the student could learn from Bai Pu.

Bai Pu hurriedly declined Teacher Ren's kind offer. Over the next two months, he would likely spend very little time at school, so there was no need to take up a good seat. A desk in the back row would be enough.

Teacher Ren gave Bai Pu the high school textbooks he had treasured for three years. They were densely marked with key points and annotations. Having taught for twenty years, he knew the important material by heart and no longer needed the textbooks to teach.

After completing the enrollment procedures and obtaining his qualification for the college entrance exam, Bai Pu and the others left in the army-green jeep.

Looking back at the mottled walls of Xi City Seventeenth Middle School, Bai Pu deeply felt that although this school was shabby and its student body was not strong, it truly possessed an atmosphere of striving upward.

From the principal to the students, nearly everyone had clear goals and knew exactly what they should do and what responsibilities they bore.

"It's a pity for a school like this to be shut down and merged..." Bai Pu said softly.

"It can't be helped. Awakened ones are the priority now. If the Combat Class admission rate is poor, then in the eyes of the education authorities, the school has failed," Su Xiaoxiao said.

Combat-track students who entered university might not all advance to become awakened ones, but their strong physiques and abundant energy made them more sought after in other professions than ordinary people who had never undergone training.

That was why the admission rate of Combat Classes mattered even more in the eyes of the education authorities.

Li Ling joked, "If you can fight your way through tens of thousands of awakened candidates and take first place, maybe you could save the school from being shut down."

Bai Pu smiled modestly and did not make any bold claims. Sitting in the back seat, he flipped through the textbooks Teacher Ren had given him page by page.

"Aren't you reading too fast?" Su Xiaoxiao could not help leaning over to speak to him.

Bai Pu smiled. "Actually, I studied these textbooks on my own before. I'm going through them now to see how much I still remember."

"The academic portion of the Awakened Exam isn't very difficult. What truly widens the gap are the simulated combat results and Spirit Realm exploration results! Those two require real strength," Li Ling said.

Bai Pu quickly finished one book. After closing it, he said, "I understand. Can you tell me roughly what level last year's Top Scorer was at?"

"I know!" Su Xiaoxiao said. "Last year's Top Scorer was named Wan Zhen. His Heroic Profession was Sky Wings!"