The vast indoor Martial Arts Arena held more than five hundred people, yet it had fallen so silent that a dropped pin could be heard.
Every student looked at Su Ye, the center of attention, with a complicated expression. Some seemed dazed.
Lin Qingyue stood with her hair somewhat disheveled, head lowered and face dark. Her slender body trembled. She still couldn't accept it.
His cousin Su Ling'er had gone deathly pale. Disbelief and fierce jealousy filled her heart.
She simply couldn't accept that Su Ye had displayed such astonishing talent!
Just a week ago, her parents had told her he had yet to temper a Martial Bone and had no talent for martial arts.
Su Ling'er, meanwhile, had outstanding aptitude. She could enter the Key Class even at First High School. She had long looked down on Su Ye as a "martial arts failure."
So what if your academic grades ranked near the top for the past two years, Su Ye? So what if you've mastered all that theory?
Without martial arts talent, it all comes to nothing!
But now, it was as though she had been slapped across the face again and again!
The enormous gulf between what she had believed and what she saw left her feeling hollow.
She recalled the number of Martial Bones Su Ye had revealed at the Su Family home.
He was looking at me like I was a joke. He was toying with me! Pretending!
There's no way he tempered all Ten Martial Bones in this one week!
Alongside her jealousy came anger. She was convinced Su Ye had deliberately concealed his ability a few days ago.
Yet the talent he had displayed left her close to despair!
Her gaze swept the room. Even the scions of great families—Lin Qingyue, Ye Xingli, Fang Yuan, and the others—had been shaken. A wave of helplessness rose within her.
"Class 6 has produced a monster."
"With talent like that, even if he comes from an ordinary family, he might get into one of the Five Great Top Universities when the College Entrance Examination comes around, as long as he keeps it up."
Murmured conversations gradually reached Su Ling'er from the classmates beside her.
They only fed the flames of her jealousy.
The Five Top Academies of Longhua Kingdom were every student's dream!
Anyone who graduated normally could almost certainly reach the Blood Nourishing Realm. The best among them could break into the Origin Fusion Realm, or even higher!
A Blood Nourishing Realm martial artist already stood above ordinary people and enjoyed numerous privileges in society.
That realm was the threshold for opening a martial arts hall, as well as for many senior corporate positions and teaching posts.
At the Origin Fusion Realm, bone and blood fused, the foundation of the Dao became a bridge, and martial arts true essence took shape. A punch could shake mountains and rivers or split peaks and seas. Even across the entire city, such people were major figures—the caliber of secondary school principals!
Every student yearned to enter one of the Five Great Top Universities and pursue their martial arts dream!
Yet across all of Shenyun City—its four major schools and roughly a hundred others—only a few dozen students entered the Five Top Academies each year.
It truly was thousands of troops and horses trying to cross a single-plank bridge. The difficulty was immense.
For Su Ye to receive that assessment after only a month of martial arts training showed just how stunned his fellow students were by his performance.
"That's not necessarily true!"
Su Ling'er spoke without thinking, her face grim as she forced out each word:
"Being fast at martial arts cultivation early on doesn't mean you'll stay fast later!"
"How many brilliant talents became famous across an entire city, only to fail to enter the Five Great Top Universities and fade into the crowd? It's hardly rare!"
Her fierce words and agitated expression drew strange looks from those around her.
"Su Ling'er... isn't Su Ye your relative? Or am I remembering wrong?"
Why did she look like this instead of being happy that her relative had done so well? Were the two of them on bad terms?
Su Ling'er froze at the question. All the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat.
But a few classmates seemed to be comforting themselves—or perhaps they agreed with her:
"True. Martial arts cultivation isn't a road of smooth sailing! A little talent doesn't guarantee you'll make it to the end."
"And when it comes to talent, can Su Ye really compare with Su Ling and Luo Ting?"
Those two names made many students' eyes flicker with awe.
The pair were in a class of their own. Their family backgrounds were remarkable, and their talent was even more extraordinary. The military had selected them for special training.
According to the scraps of information that had leaked out, Su Ling had already tempered at least Sixteen Martial Bones a week ago!
As for Luo Ting, rumor had it she had perfected the Azure Cloud Breathing Technique in just one week. Her speed was even more frightening.
"If Su Ling and Luo Ting were here, they'd naturally outshine him," someone said sourly.
"Besides, do you really think those great-family scions are pushovers?"
"His talent might let Su Ye keep pace with the direct descendants of great families at first, but martial arts cultivation takes resources! Those heirs never have to worry about resources. Their cultivation will only get faster, not slower."
Those words eased Su Ling'er's expression a little!
That's right. Talent is only one part of martial arts cultivation. Resources matter enormously too!
At the thought, her spirits lifted!
The day before yesterday, Mom took me to see Aunt. They found out I have Alchemy Talent.
Aunt said she'd take good care of me and teach me alchemy. I definitely won't lack resources. When the time comes, I might even overtake Su Ye around the bend.
In the arena.
Ye Xingli came back to herself, then sighed helplessly.
He really did steal the spotlight...
She picked up a wooden sword and ran through the Extreme Shadow Swordplay with flawless fluidity. She had clearly mastered it to perfection.
But with Su Ye's brilliant display before hers, even Ye Xingli's impressive performance stirred little excitement among the students.
Sun Rui cleared his throat. His presence spread through the arena, pressing down the noise.
"All right, everyone, quiet down!"
"Next, each homeroom teacher will compile the results and enter them into the system. It will calculate the scores and determine who enters the Key Classes, as well as the top ten in class placement."
"More students tempered Martial Bones this year than in previous years. After discussing it with the teachers, I've decided to add two Martial Arts Classes."
"This year, there will be two Martial Arts Key Classes and eight Martial Arts Regular Classes."
The students jolted back from their shock!
This was what mattered to them personally!
The homeroom teachers compiled the data and entered the results on their phones. About fifteen minutes later, the rankings were ready!
Principal Sun Rui glanced at the list, then smiled and switched on the multimedia screen.
"The following students have been placed in the two Key Classes. The system assigned their classes by lottery."
"Class 1: Peng Jiarui, He Qidong, Zheng Shan..."
He spoke almost casually, yet every word reached every student's ears with perfect clarity.
The students whose names he called jolted, then clenched their fists in excitement!
"I'm in Class 1! Class 1!" Zhang Yuan shot a fist into the air when he heard his name and turned to Su Ye in delight.
Su Ye smiled. "Congratulations."
Seeing how calm Su Ye was, Zhang Yuan suddenly felt less excited. He sighed.
"Now I finally get what people online mean when they say, 'You don't want your brother to suffer, but you don't want him driving a Land Rover either.'"
He was only complaining, though. There was little real bitterness in him.
When the gap between two people seemed bridgeable, such thoughts might take hold.
But Brother Ye... was too much of a freak!
He had thought he already knew how incredible Brother Ye was. Only as the assessments came one after another did he realize Brother Ye was a true master who had been playing the pig to eat the tiger!
An even wilder suspicion formed in his mind.
Could Brother Ye really have broken through just this week?
After all, his performance at the Vast Sea Sword Hall couldn't be faked. Nor could Brother Ye have fooled the hall master, a Blood Nourishing Realm martial artist, or Instructor Li Aoxue about his cultivation.
Wouldn't that mean Brother Ye's talent might not be much worse than Su Ling's or Luo Ting's?
The thought startled even Zhang Yuan!
Su Ling had an Innate True Bone. He was a Heavenly Favored Child raised to inherit the Su Family. Could Brother Ye's talent actually compare with his, even a little?
Sun Rui continued at an unhurried pace. After reading out the students in both Key Classes, he paused. His smile widened as he announced clearly:
"Next, I'll announce the top ten in class placement."
"And present their rewards."
"Students whose names I call, step forward and come up to the stage!"
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