The top ten in the class placement tests!
They were the ten students with the most outstanding results among those pursuing martial arts since the start of senior year at Shenyun First High School!
They were the best of the four hundred-plus students present—and, from a certain perspective, even the best of nearly fourteen hundred students in the entire year!
This is what makes this world different from my previous life.
A world where martial arts reign supreme!
Seeing everyone's expressions, Su Ye could not help marveling at it once again.
After all, at his high school in his previous life, awards for the top ten in the year or the best in individual subjects might have filled the recipients with pride and made everyone envy them.
But students who excelled in high school would not necessarily become the elite or live well once they entered society.
This great era of martial arts was different.
Martial arts were power in themselves!
Excellent results represented not only tremendous potential and a promising future, but also strength that already surpassed their peers!
That was something tangible!
Sun Rui's gaze swept over the ten students who had excelled across the three rounds of testing. It lingered briefly on Su Ye, and he even gave him a warm smile before speaking:
"The top ten in the class placement tests are listed in no particular order."
"Ji Xuan, Li Yue, Qiu Yan, Fang Yuan, Ji Lin, Ji Xiaofang, Yao Hong."
After a pause, Sun Rui exhaled and continued:
"Ye Xingli, Lin Qingyue... Su Ye!"
With the teachers leading the applause, the scattered clapping gradually swelled, its thunderous roar filling the entire Martial Arts Arena.
Although they were supposedly listed in no particular order, the sequence in which their names were called clearly meant something!
After all three rounds of testing!
Perhaps Su Ye's low martial bone count had sparked some debate in the first round.
But taking all three rounds together, he was already the "number one in the class placement tests" in the minds of the vast majority of students!
The thunderous applause and the students' envious gazes focused on Su Ye, yet his expression barely changed. He simply walked straight onto the stage, calm and composed.
The sight made many of the teachers nod in approval.
Judging by this, the young fellow had a good temperament!
"Su Ye, stand here."
Yao Hong smiled at Su Ye, directing him toward the center spot with a seemingly playful glance.
The others readily made room for Su Ye in the middle without any objection. After all, his results truly were "unmatched."
Su Ye did not waste time declining. He stood in the center and looked at the students below, unable to suppress a small swell of satisfaction.
Even with the Manifestation Talisman, he had spent the past week seizing every minute and every second to cultivate.
Scene after scene from the past week flashed through his mind.
At home, he had been drenched in sweat, his whole body aching, yet he had still persisted in practicing the Tiger Form Thirty-Two Styles.
With cicadas calling deep into the night, he had been mentally exhausted, yet he had still persisted in practicing the Azure Cloud Breathing Technique.
And there was the Extreme Shadow Swordplay he had practiced at the Vast Sea Sword Hall while facing the other students' ridicule...
The hardship has finally paid off. I made the top ten!
Looking down at the certificates prepared below, he could not help letting the corners of his mouth rise.
These were more than just certificates!
Sure enough, Sun Rui called out:
"To reward these ten students for their hard work and dedication."
"Each student in the top ten of these class placement tests will receive a thirty-thousand scholarship, as well as permission to read any one book worth fifty Contribution Points on the third floor of the school library."
A thirty-thousand scholarship!
Many students' eyes lit up. For the vast majority of ordinary students, that was no small sum!
It was enough to buy six Bone Tempering Pills!
Even if used to pay tuition, it would cover around two years!
And that library reading privilege was worth no less than the thirty-thousand scholarship!
The library's first and second floors were freely open to students and held "general-purpose books."
But only teachers or students granted special permission could enter the third floor, which held many rare cultivation texts, martial skills, and breathing meditation methods!
Hearing this, Su Ye's smile grew even brighter.
Mom, Dad, I've earned this money back for you...
His parents' combined monthly salaries barely exceeded ten thousand.
They also had their mortgage and all the other pressures of daily life. There was no shortage of expenses.
He could easily imagine how hard it had been to scrape together that fifty thousand. They might well have taken out a bank loan or borrowed from someone.
And through the Vast Sea Sword Hall and his top-ten placement, he had already earned back forty thousand!
Besides, even with the Manifestation Talisman, sufficient resources would still greatly accelerate my martial arts cultivation.
Without the Qi Recovery Pill I traded for with Zhang Yuan, I couldn't possibly have tempered ten martial bones by now.
Su Ye understood this clearly.
Money! Resources!
This was the greatest obstacle confronting countless students determined to pursue martial arts.
So naturally, he would not pass up any opportunity to earn money.
Lin Qingyue came onto the stage with a sour expression on her pretty face. She deliberately avoided Su Ye and stood on the other side.
Soon, the award ceremony began.
Su Ye received his certificate and a Library Card, posed for a photo, then left the stage.
As they were leaving, Lin Qingyue suddenly approached Su Ye and spoke in a low, icy voice that only the two of them could hear:
"Su Ye, I did underestimate you."
"But do you really think a little talent can match the foundation a great family has built over centuries? Don't be so naive!"
"This is the closest you will ever get to me!"
"Before long, I'll show you where the real gap between us lies!"
Talent?
Plenty of people had talent!
Yet the Four Great Families stood far above everyone else and had endured for centuries. That was a true foundation!
Su Ye's performance in these tests had indeed surprised her, but so what?
She, Lin Qingyue, could eat Bone Tempering Pills and Qi Recovery Pills like candy, and drink all kinds of energy-restoring potions like water. Could Su Ye do that?
She would charge ahead, continuously tempering her martial bones and progressing at tremendous speed without slowing down.
Su Ye, however, would slow down because of resources and all sorts of other problems!
Moreover, her Lin Family had all kinds of superior breathing meditation methods, top-tier Third-Rank Martial Skills, and even private instructors to guide her cultivation.
None of those were things Su Ye could have!
She seemed to have been holding this in for a long time. After coldly saying her piece, she did not wait for Su Ye to answer, instead striding off the stage with an air of utter arrogance!
Su Ye merely paused for a moment, a faint smile appearing on his face.
The gap? The closest we'll ever be?
Perhaps that's true—only you've got it backward!
The Su Ye of today was no longer who he had once been. His resolve to pursue martial arts stood firm, and with the maturity of two lifetimes, he naturally would not engage in some petty contest with Lin Qingyue out of spite.
Facts spoke louder than words!
After the top ten had left the stage,
Sun Rui stepped forward again and spoke concisely:
"Next, I have an important announcement."
"To promote interaction between students from different schools."
"Under the military's leadership, Shenyun's four major high schools will open the Monster Subduing Tower in one month and hold the 'Four School Joint Event.'"
The moment he said this, the entire crowd erupted!
Before you continue