Academy Assembly! Wasteland Exploration Plan!

"Brother Jue, you were really brave just now. That was Su Li!"

"What, could she eat me?"

"Damn, now that I think about it, you two are kind of a good match. Want me to ask a friend from Class Seven to play matchmaker?"

"Get lost!"

Lu Jue lowered his head and finished his last bite of food. After parting ways with Liu Ga, he headed straight for the training grounds.

The afternoon sun blazed fiercely. He trained with single-minded focus until sweat soaked his entire body, then hurried to the central plaza just in time for the academy assembly.

At two in the afternoon, nearly twenty thousand students filled the plaza in a dense sea of black.

In his nearly six years at East City Martial School, Lu Jue could count gatherings of this scale on one hand.

But he knew perfectly well that even with his toes, he could guess the theme of this assembly—it had to be a public explanation regarding tuition fees.

The vice principal stood on the high platform, reading stiffly from a script. His voice spread across the entire plaza through the loudspeakers, dull and interminable.

Lu Jue yawned. Taking advantage of the time, he lowered his head and continued filtering through techniques, his brows drawing tighter and tighter.

He had looked through more than a hundred, yet he still could not find a suitable technique.

He had only relied on the panel to rapidly master Basic Fist Arts and the Basic Body Tempering Exercise after his progress in both had already passed the halfway mark.

The vast majority of ordinary techniques were not much easier than those two basic techniques.

If he wanted to rapidly master one from scratch, the energy required would be far too enormous.

There were six days left before the fight for the slots.

Within those six days, he had to choose a technique, successfully get started, and gather enough Cultivation Resources. Time was extremely tight.

Just then, the whispers of several students beside him drifted into his ears.

"Who's that woman beside the vice principal? Why does she keep her eyes closed?"

"The head of logistics. I heard she's blind."

Blind?

It was as though a bolt of lightning flashed through Lu Jue's mind!

He suddenly recalled the Martial Saint from a neighboring country who had been blinded by a Calamity Beast attack ten years ago. After years of silence, that Martial Saint had actually created the secret art of Sound Location.

When he emerged once more, he had even relied on his hearing, so extraordinary it had entered the realm of sainthood, to perceive the faint sounds of an opponent's qi and blood circulating, predict moves before they were made, and shock the world in a single stroke!

Afterward, in order to benefit blind people across the world, that Martial Saint simplified the secret art and released a castrated version of the technique.

The castrated version was extremely simple and did not place much emphasis on talent. Even blind people with no foundation in martial arts could master it proficiently.

It was only that this technique lacked a crucial core. Even when cultivated to perfection, its effective range was limited to only a few meters around the user.

For martial artists, whose five senses were already powerful, it was rather tasteless.

But Lu Jue saw it as a fragrant bun.

The Hundred Tough Fat Armor talent was essentially a fat enhancement, and it happened to be related to the Spirit Pig, the source of the ingredients.

In other words, the talents he obtained were controllable to a certain extent!

The defining trait of Sound Location was that it took an extremely short time to master.

He could use a small amount of relatively expensive ingredients to rapidly master it, exploiting a bug to obtain an even more powerful talent!

Having settled on his target, Lu Jue put away his phone and continued listening to the speech onstage. At that moment, it had also reached the martial school's plans for the future.

"The path of martial arts is exceedingly long. It is not merely about training, nor is it merely about competing for superiority among martial artists. The vast Wasteland beyond is the future of martial arts. We must reclaim the land that belongs to us and explore more resources."

"The martial school will implement elite education. Once the Exemption Quotas are decided, the school will greatly increase the number of Exploration Plans, arranging for senior instructors to lead everyone into the Wasteland, familiarize yourselves with the Wasteland, and face Calamity Beasts head-on! In particular, all Sixth Grade martial arts students must participate!"

At those words, an uproar erupted below the stage!

Lu Jue felt a chill shoot straight to the top of his head.

The vice principal had spoken for nearly an hour, yet not only had he failed to explain why "free martial arts training" was being abolished, he had instead announced that every Sixth Grade martial arts student had to set foot in the Wasteland?

It was not that he was afraid. He simply found the matter exceedingly strange.

The Martial Arts Examination only involved matches between students. It had nothing to do with the Wasteland or Calamity Beasts.

There was still a month before the Martial Arts Examination. Suddenly requiring every Sixth Grade student to venture deep into the Wasteland at a time like this, under the grand-sounding name of "familiarization" and "exploration," was far too abrupt.

It was like, in his previous life, the college entrance examination was right around the corner, yet the school suddenly ordered a group of senior-year students to put down their test papers immediately and head into the deep mountains and old forests for a month of wilderness survival training, under the grand-sounding name of "developing comprehensive abilities."

It was absurd and utterly unreasonable!

The martial school's resources and the students' years of bitter cultivation had an extremely clear core goal: achieve good results in the Martial Arts Examination and enter higher-level martial academies.

Wasteland exploration was certainly important, but that was usually something one needed to encounter in depth only after entering a martial academy.

Even if some outstanding students had previously stepped into the Wasteland under an instructor's guidance, it had only been to temper their courage and broaden their horizons.

The announcement just now was clearly not for training. They would probably have to prepare to remain in the Wasteland for a long time in the future.

Other than adding danger and wasting time that could be spent training, how much benefit could that bring to the Martial Arts Examination itself?

These past few days, free martial arts training had first been abolished, prices had surged, and now every student was being sent into the Wasteland.

What exactly had happened outside?

Lu Jue's brows were tightly furrowed. As someone at the bottom, perhaps he would only truly learn the truth once some great upheaval erupted?

Half an hour later, the assembly ended, and the students dispersed in an orderly fashion.

Some civilian students had thought the school leadership would announce measures addressing the "abolition of free martial arts training," hoping that some tuition might be waived or more slots added.

They had never expected that after such a long buildup, they would merely be told to prepare to enter the Wasteland.

Still unaware of the gravity of the matter, they began complaining one after another.

Lu Jue ran into Liu Ga, who was preparing to head to the training grounds. He then turned and went to the Technique Hall to borrow Sound Location.

After explaining his purpose and displaying his Basic Fist Arts, already cultivated to perfection, before an elderly instructor, he successfully obtained the technique.

"To think that even with prices soaring today, I can still get a free technique. It really isn't easy!"

Lu Jue sighed. Just as he was about to return to the classroom and carefully study the technique, he suddenly received a call from Third Uncle and Third Aunt.

"Hello, Xiao Jue, that matter I told you about last time is settled! Her grandmother has already agreed to let you two get to know each other first! In two years, we'll be waiting to hold a grandson!"

"Third Aunt, what are you talking about?"

"The School Belle! The School Belle! Didn't I tell you just yesterday? Do you martial artists forget things so easily?"

"This..."

Lu Jue was somewhat dazed. Third Aunt had been far too enthusiastic yesterday, so he had merely humored her with a few words before taking his leave.

He had not expected Third Aunt to be so efficient!

"Third Aunt, I haven't even graduated from martial school yet. I only want to focus on training. Let's forget about this."

"You child—what poor family's child doesn't get married and have children by nineteen or twenty? Her family's conditions are good. They own three properties in our neighborhood. If this works out, she'll definitely be able to support you a great deal in the future!"

"Really, there's no need..."

Lu Jue had a headache. After patiently persuading her for quite some time, he finally convinced Third Aunt.

"Fine, but the School Belle already knows about this. Even if you're refusing, you have to explain it to her in person. I've sent you her Feixin contact. Go talk to her yourself, and be polite!"

"Alright, alright, alright!"

Lu Jue hurriedly agreed, opened Feixin, found the School Belle Third Aunt had introduced to him, and tapped to send a friend request.

"Her username is 'Li'? Why does it sound so full of resentment? Looks like my earlier guess was right—she definitely isn't any proper School Belle."