The first day of the Quota Competition.
The morning mist had yet to fully disperse, but the martial school's duel zone was already shrouded in an almost solid tension.
At the center of the vast circular arena, sixty-four platforms stood grimly in the formation of the Eight Trigrams, silently proclaiming the brutality that was certain to unfold today.
Over ten thousand students poured in like a tide, taking their seats according to grade-level sections.
Some were contestants making one final gamble; others had long since decided to give up or pay the exorbitant tuition, coming only to watch the matches.
Most contestants looked pale, drawing deep breaths again and again as they tried to calm their drumbeat hearts.
For many who could not scrape together the one hundred thousand in tuition, this was not merely a contest—it was a crossroads of fate. Failing to obtain a Tuition Exemption Quota meant leaving the path of martial arts forever and returning to that hopeless world at the bottom.
Within the shadows of the stands, a youth desperately swung his fists, attempting one final breakthrough. His coarse-cloth Training Clothes were already soaked through with sweat.
No one knew his name. He was merely one among countless Commoner Students. Those callused hands had carried crates taller than himself through countless late nights, all for the meager money needed to buy cultivation resources.
In the nearby aisle, several children of the Great Families, dressed in lavish clothes, chatted and laughed as they casually swept their gazes over their plainly dressed peers, their eyes filled with undisguised superiority.
At that moment, every young face bore its own fate. Some clenched their only pair of fists; some touched the protective talismans on their chests; others merely stared blankly at the platforms, the light already gone from their eyes.
The moment Lu Jue and Liu Ga stepped into the area, a heat wave mixed with anxiety and resolve rushed at them.
A burst of noise utterly out of place amid the surrounding tension came from near the entrance to the duel zone.
A group several hundred strong had gathered there. Unlike the other students, who were eagerly searching for seats or warming up, they held up signs in orderly formation yet with furious emotion, shouting in unison:
"Cancel the Quota Competition!"
"Cancel the Diversion Policy!"
"Return the right to fair martial arts practice to commoner students!"
"Oppose the monopoly on resources! We need opportunities!"
The slogans rose wave after wave. Students turned to look; some showed sympathy, some scoffed, but even more wore expectant expressions.
At the very front of the protest group, the girl leading them was particularly eye-catching.
She looked around sixteen or seventeen, dressed in neat white Training Clothes. She stood as straight as a green pine, her features delicate, but her eyes shone with startling brilliance, burning with a determination beyond her years.
Unlike the others, she did not shout herself hoarse. She merely held up the largest sign calmly, upon which two enormous, glaringly scarlet characters had been painted: "Fairness."
Seeing the curiosity on Lu Jue's face, Liu Ga lowered his voice. "That girl leading them is Su Xiaowan from Fifth Grade."
"I heard she's extremely talented, but she's a little too stubborn. With her strength, she could easily place in this Quota Competition, yet she gave up her registration and organized the students to protest instead."
"These past few days, protests and marches have broken out at martial schools everywhere. They oppose this Quota Competition and the subsequent Diversion Policy, believing they have completely blocked the path of advancement for Commoner Students!"
She had the strength to compete for a quota, yet gave up the right to register?
Hearing this, Lu Jue could not help shaking his head.
He respected such behavior, but he did not truly understand it.
In his previous life, perhaps the voices of ordinary people could have fought for their rights through public opinion.
But in this world where Might Reigns Supreme, the status of commoners had become even humbler.
Ideals without strength to support them were like duckweed without roots; once wind and rain came, they would scatter and vanish.
Moreover, it was the Jin Kingdom government—not East City Martial School—that implemented the Diversion Policy. More than seventy percent of the martial school's expenses were borne by the government. Once that funding was sharply reduced, the foundation sustaining free martial arts training for tens of thousands would collapse. Even if they forced the martial school into a corner, they could not change reality.
But the crux was that ordinary commoners had no right to enter the city center. That doomed their protest to be futile from the very beginning; they could only pour all their grievances upon the one martial school they could actually reach.
"She doesn't understand."
Lu Jue spoke softly, as though speaking to Liu Ga, yet also as though talking to himself. "In this world, the volume of one's voice has always depended on the weight of one's fists. Shouts without strength behind them are, in the end, castles in the air!"
Just as the two passed by the protest group, one of the girls in the crowd seemed to recognize Lu Jue and immediately went to whisper something to Su Xiaowan.
Su Xiaowan's eyes lit up. She immediately stepped forward and blocked Lu Jue and Liu Ga's path.
She raised her head to look at the taller Lu Jue, her clear gaze meeting his without retreat. Her tone carried an urgent sincerity.
"Are you Senior Student Lu Jue? I'm Su Xiaowan from Fifth Grade!"
She spoke slightly quickly, clearly unwilling to miss this opportunity.
"We are fighting for a fair chance for all commoner students. We've all heard about how you publicly refused Zhao He. You come from a commoner background and have such backbone—you are exactly the voice we need! If you can join us and represent the commoner students of Sixth Grade—"
"Sorry."
Lu Jue cut her off, but Su Xiaowan only paused briefly. As she gathered her words, her gaze grew even more fervent.
"Senior Student, the path of martial arts for us commoner students has already been blocked. After the Quota Competition, countless people will lose their chance to practice martial arts."
As she spoke, she extended the bright red sign marked "Fairness" slightly toward him, as though offering him a banner and extending a heartfelt invitation to Lu Jue.
"Please join us, Senior Student. Demand that the martial school cancel this unjust Quota Competition and fight for true fairness for all of us commoner students!"
Her voice was clear and bright, carrying the distinctive texture of a young girl's voice. Behind her, the protest group also looked at him expectantly. Those gazes held passion, innocence, and the last thread of hope in a desperate situation—but lacked the most fundamental understanding of this world.
"I understand the effort you've made."
"Forgive my bluntness. Speaking up for commoners is a good thing, but you have chosen the wrong method. You have placed your hopes of changing fate in the mercy of others and the concessions of the system, while abandoning the only thing that is truly reliable."
Su Xiaowan froze where she stood. She seemed to understand a little, yet there was unmistakable unwillingness in her eyes.
"But Senior Student Lu Jue, if even we give up speaking out, then this world will never hear the voices of commoners! The rules are unfair—are we supposed to accept them in silence?"
"You still don't understand what I mean."
"Then what exactly do you mean? You're strong and can obtain a quota, so you can stand above us and accuse us of using the wrong method?"
Su Xiaowan's emotional words instantly drew the attention of those around them. The students in the protest group unconsciously gathered closer, their faces carrying the same stubbornness and grievance as they asked one after another:
"Senior Student Lu Jue, are you really unwilling to join us?"
Under everyone's gaze, Lu Jue stopped and looked back at them. His eyes were calm, yet carried a clarity that saw through the affairs of the world.
"I won't join you. I'm not good with words and can't shout pretty slogans. The only thing I can rely on is these fairly hard fists."
"How should I put it? Though I know the hope is faint, and there is a nine-in-ten chance it will be like a moth flying into flame—"
"I still want to try, to see whether these fists of mine can blast open the so-called Class Chasm and fight my way to the Apex of the World!"
"When that time comes, every step I take will carve out, for those who come after me, a broad road without high walls or shackles!"
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