Martial Arts Scholarship

Martial Arts Scholarship

Deng Zhijue flipped through his tablet as he summarized.

"There are three Martial Arts Hall Scholarships suitable for Zhou Leng, two Rucheng University Scholarships, four City Scholarships, and five Martial Guard Department Scholarships."

"Scholarships of the same category cannot overlap without special circumstances, so I chose the following four scholarships."

"Outstanding Martial Arts Student Scholarship: 10,000 yuan per year, 10 Qi Nourishing Pills, 10 Blood Replenishing Pills, and 10 Great Replenishing Pills."

"Rucheng University Advanced Individual Scholarship: 30,000 yuan per year."

"Rucheng Martial Arts Diligence Award: 10 Blood Replenishing Pills and 10 Great Replenishing Pills."

"Martial Guard Department Elite Newcomer Award: one Essence Replenishing Pill and 50 Great Replenishing Pills."

"Of course, those are the rewards for first-class scholarships. Second- or third-class scholarships will offer less."

Wang Boxiong said, "The Martial Arts Hall and Martial Guard Department scholarships are no problem. What do you think about Ru University's and Ru City's?"

Deng Zhijue said, "The Rucheng University Advanced Individual Scholarship won't be difficult. He got a 'Full Nine'; Ru University's presidents will surely be overjoyed and won't let anyone squeeze him out of that spot. The Rucheng Martial Arts Diligence Award has a lot of competitors, though. Hard to say."

Wang Boxiong briefly checked the information and said, "Help him apply for the other three. I'll notify the Martial Guard Department. As for the Rucheng Martial Arts Diligence Award, there was trouble with it last year, so it'll be hard to fight for. Replace it with the Rucheng Martial Arts Newcomer Award. It only has five Blood Replenishing Pills, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

"Yes."

"Once he reaches the Blood Circulation Stage, have him go to Demon City for some experience. He needs to accumulate 100 Battle Merit and be promoted to Private before he can meet the final selection requirements for the Martial Guard Department Elite Newcomer Award. But there's no rush. He just needs to finish within two months."

"Yes."

"Has the Demon City Army had any solo Demon Hunt Bounties lately?"

"There are some, but the current targets are all too dangerous for him. I checked. Even the lower-level Demonic Beasts are Humpback Demon Dogs and Steel Skull Sheep Demons. The former are rather powerful, while the latter appear in packs. Neither is suitable for a freshman like him."

"Mm, then forget it."

Deng Zhijue probed, "Do you think there are any special Martial Guard Department or national scholarships suitable for him?"

Wang Boxiong's eyelids sank slightly.

Deng Zhijue immediately gave a military salute. "This subordinate will take his leave."

After saying that, Deng Zhijue left, closed the door, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Boxiong lightly moved his fingers. The huge light screen before him kept changing before quickly stopping.

A line of words appeared in the center of the large screen.

Martial Guard Department Elite Training Camp (First Year).

Wang Boxiong carefully flipped through the details.

This training camp lasted thirty days. Every day, participants received one Blood Replenishing Pill, one Qi Nourishing Pill, and three meals of Meat Medicinal Cuisine.

If their training camp results ranked in the top ten, they would also receive medicinal pill rewards worth roughly 300,000 yuan in total.

Wang Boxiong knew perfectly well that the most valuable part of this Elite Training Camp was neither Innate Guidance nor the medicinal pill rewards, but the connections made after entering it and the attention from higher-ups.

However, this Elite Training Camp of the Martial Guard Department could only be considered third-rate.

First-rate camps were hosted by Yunhua, Golden Capital, or Military Universities, with Grandmaster Realm guidance.

Second-rate camps were jointly held by major factions. They had few resources, focused on tempering, and offered Peak Innate guidance.

Third-rate camps were ordinary Elite Training Camps with only ordinary Innate Guidance.

"Only top military academy students and students from Yunhua-Jingjing qualify for first-rate training camps. The timing for second-rate ones is uncertain. He can only attend a third-rate one..."

"For him, it would be better to sell the spot at a high price, exchange it for medicinal pills, and make up his shortcomings..."

Wang Boxiong lightly tapped the desk with his index finger, then looked at Zhou Leng's scores.

That string of scores above ninety would have made ordinary students envious, yet it made Wang Boxiong sigh softly.

Among Ru City's freshmen alone, more than five hundred had scored a perfect 100 in the Five Pill Subjects. Zhou Leng's average across those five subjects was not even ninety-five.

He needed medicinal pills too badly to make up his shortcomings.

Wang Boxiong slightly raised his head, recalling the year he had first entered Yunhua Martial University.

That year, he had obtained a place in Yunhua's Elite Training Camp. After weighing the pros and cons, he sold it for a full fifty million, then spent the next year devouring medicinal pills like mad to make up his shortcomings.

Selling the spot was the only choice for commoner students at Yunhua-Jingjing.

When one's foundation was lacking, connections, Grandmaster Realm guidance, and even one's résumé had limited use.

There was even a high chance they could not keep up with the training camp's normal pace.

"Since Chen Fenghu is also paying attention to Zhou Leng, perhaps..."

Outside the class Martial Arts Hall, Zhou Leng walked out step by step with the rest of his classmates.

After walking for a while, he merged onto the main path and encountered Martial Arts Hall freshmen from other classes.

The Martial Arts Hall freshmen from different classes looked at one another, let out long sighs, and staggered onward.

Under the night sky, the "elderly" Martial Arts Hall students slowly shuffled along, only lacking walking sticks.

It took Zhou Leng a long time to reach the Martial Arts Hall gate, and he realized he could not go on like this.

Even if he went home like this, he would have difficulty recovering by tomorrow.

He could only eat the Great Replenishing Pills he had left beneath the Frost Giant Tree, along with a spare serving of Meat Medicinal Cuisine. It would be best to sleep beneath the Frost Giant Tree so he could recover quickly.

Zhou Leng hesitated for a moment, then hailed a taxi and rode it to Xiaoru Village.

Big Yellow was not there.

An old man passing by watched Zhou Leng walk and muttered quietly, "Why does this kid always do frog jumps?"

Late at night, Zhou Leng was alone, gritting his teeth as he slowly climbed with strange steps.

Suddenly, rustling sounds rang out ahead.

Zhou Leng lowered his stance, put his arms before him, and assumed a defensive posture.

One large and six small black shadows darted out. The wild boars' eyes glowed with an eerie green light in the night.

"It's me, Big Yellow's friend." Zhou Leng waved at the familiar wild boars.

"Oink, oink..."

The large wild boar grunted a few times before turning and leaving.

Before turning away, the six little wild boars gave Zhou Leng several puzzled looks.

Zhou Leng used every ounce of strength in his body to reach the Frost Giant Tree.

Big Yellow circled Zhou Leng more than ten times. Suddenly, he bared his teeth, his fierce appearance fully exposed, a low whimper rumbling in his throat before he began barking wildly.

After barking for a while, Big Yellow glared with slightly reddened eyes, bit Zhou Leng's pant leg, and tried to drag him outside.

Zhou Leng said, "I wasn't beaten up. It was impact resistance training, part of cultivation."

"Whine?" Big Yellow raised his head, his eyes clear.

"It really was caused by cultivation, not an injury. Come on, I need to take some medicine."

"Aw." Big Yellow gave a soft cry and followed beside Zhou Leng, his brows furrowed with worry.

Zhou Leng ate a Great Replenishing Pill, heated up the cooked frozen Meat Medicinal Cuisine, and began wolfing it down.

He first sat in meditation to circulate his qi, then lay down in his sleeping bag to rest and recuperate.

After Zhou Leng fell asleep, Big Yellow circled him several times, raised his head toward the tree canopy, stood on his hind legs, and repeatedly pressed his front paws together in supplication.

The Frost Giant Tree gave no response.

Big Yellow acted cute and rolled around, but the Frost Giant Tree remained unmoved.

In the end, Big Yellow let out an "Awoo," lay down beside Zhou Leng in low spirits, and slowly fell asleep.

Early the next morning, the entrance to Class 01's Martial Arts Hall was packed with students sitting all over the ground.

These martial arts students, normally bursting with energy, were all battered and bruised, listless and drained.

None of them even wanted to stand.

"Did you take medicine?"

"How could we not? We'd die otherwise."

"When I video-called my mom yesterday, she was scared silly and brought me medicine overnight."

"My dad too. He brought the whole family looking for me, thinking demons were attacking the city."

"Hm? Isn't that Zhou Leng? Something's wrong."

The students one after another looked toward Zhou Leng.

His steps were relatively steady, his wounds relatively healed, and his bruising relatively light. In every aspect, he absolutely surpassed all his classmates.

"Did you eat an entire Innate magical beast?" Wei Hong asked in shock, eyes wide.

"No, I ate a lot of Meat Medicinal Cuisine and Great Replenishing Pills," Zhou Leng said.

Feng Wenhao hurriedly said, "Don't take medicine recklessly. Save some money so you can gather enough for an Essence Replenishing Pill."

"Mm." Zhou Leng nodded.

"A badass is a badass no matter when. We aged fifty years overnight, but Zhou Leng only aged ten."

Not long after, Instructor Deng Zhijue approached with a smile on his face.

In a kind and friendly tone, he said, "Dear Class 01 students, considering that yesterday's test assessment resulted in your injuries, today's military training has only one item."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Instructor!" Wei Hong said, his face full of gratitude.

Deng Zhijue glanced at Wei Hong and added, "A twenty-kilometer fully equipped weighted run."

The entire class stared dumbfounded. In everyone's eyes were written two words.

Beasts.

Feng Wenhao said, "Fully equipped means thirty kilograms."

Wei Hong said, "Twenty kilometers is equivalent to a half marathon. It would be one thing in normal times, but can humans run that now?"

Deng Zhijue checked the time and said, "You have half an hour to prepare. Go inside the Martial Arts Hall and get your weighted backpacks. Half an hour from now, four classes will run twenty kilometers fully equipped. Today's top ten will receive three Great Replenishing Pills, and first place gets another three."

The students tightly shut their mouths, afraid they would curse aloud.

Too beastly!

"Instructor, can't you show us a little mercy?" Wei Hong felt his eyes filling with tears.

"The sooner you finish running, the sooner you go home. See you in half an hour." Deng Zhijue waved a hand and left with an easy stride.

At the Martial Arts Hall entrance, cries of misery filled the air.

"I want to go home!" Wei Hong shouted.

"The test assessment wounds the body, military training wounds the heart. It's fucking harder than dating."

"I offered my heart to the bright moon, yet the bright moon... kicked me straight into a stinking ditch."

Joking and complaining, the students entered the Martial Arts Hall and picked up their thirty-kilogram backpacks.

"Fine, the instructors are still human after all. Besides the weight blocks, there's water and a Marching Pill inside."

Everyone sat on their backpacks.

Yesterday, they had been filled with interest in the Martial Arts Hall's Demonic Equipment. Today, they could not be bothered to spare it another glance.

"The Rucheng Freshman Ranking is about to update. What do you think?" Wei Hong asked.

"That freak giant Shan Heyuan is definitely first. No need to even think about it. Do you know how many subjects he got a Super Score in?"

"No idea."

"Weighted run, weightlifting, punching power, Total True Qi, True Qi Intensity, qi-infused weightlifting, Maximum Attack Intensity, and Average Attack Intensity. Eight subjects with Super Scores. His highest score in a single subject reached 209. Do you know how many kilograms he lifted in True Qi-less Weightlifting?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Over 5,000 kilograms."

"Is he even human? Even a Vitality Stage expert might not be that strong, right?"

"And that's not even the end. He even complained that Blocking and Impact Resistance was targeting him. His body was too large, so he couldn't dodge or block properly. But the impact resistance stage turned into a joke. Guess what happened?"

Everyone shook their heads again.

"He hugged his head and squatted on the ground. Those mechanical arms punched until they smoked and seven or eight out of ten broke down, while he only suffered a few superficial injuries. The instructors from West Sea Martial University laughed as they gave him ninety points."

"He really isn't human!"

"That's the kind of dominance Yunhua-Jingjing has. Ordinary Martial Arts Halls like ours chase after Half Nine, the Top Ten Martial Arts Universities chase after Full Nine, and Yunhua-Jingjing chases after Super Scores."