Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence System Is Online

"Xu Zhiming, first place in academics, rewarded with three F-grade potions."

"Xu Zhiming, I'm sorry, the teacher misread last year's rewards; first place in academics only receives three potions."

"Xu Zhiming, the school says your C-grade aptitude makes you a waste of resources, so the academic first-place reward has been given to the first-place student in blood energy."

Martial Era, year 100, April 4th.

Great Xia, Shu Province.

Cloud Water City No. 1 High School.

The rising sun filtered through the gaps in the leaves and the glass, landing on the young man's profile.

Xu Zhiming kept his head lowered, gripping a black ballpoint pen tightly in his hand.

His knuckles were white with the force, turning a bruised purple-red.

He wrote two names stroke by stroke, then slashed them out with a frantic motion.

Xu Zhiming looked up at the mountain of textbooks piled before him, unable to snap out of his daze for a long time.

The words spoken on the podium today replayed in his mind, his emotions refusing to settle.

Rules set in stone, changed on a whim.

They really were something else.

Many classmates watched this scene with a sense of pity.

Last semester, the school had established the rules.

Whoever took first place in both academics and the blood energy test would receive over a million yuan in resource rewards.

If one took first in only a single subject, they would receive half the resources.

Xu Zhiming had taken first place in academics last semester.

But at today's opening ceremony, it was announced that Xu Zhiming would be rewarded with three potions, a total value of thirty thousand yuan.

Over five hundred thousand versus thirty thousand—the difference was like heaven and earth.

Many had expected Xu Zhiming to be furious and vent his grievances in the classroom.

Instead, upon returning to the classroom, Xu Zhiming sat quietly in the corner, remaining in a stupor for several minutes.

"The school is going too far. They could have just separated the blood energy first-place reward; giving the academic winner only thirty thousand is just disgusting."

"They change the rules whenever they feel like it, then brush it off with a casual 'the teacher misread it'."

"No wonder our school can't compare to Yunshui Second High School; it's rotten from the top down."

Listening to his classmates' indignation, Xu Zhiming felt his heart gradually calm down. Even though these students were speaking up for him, most were just watching the show.

From the moment the teacher announced he would only receive three potions, he had questioned it.

The teacher had asked on his behalf, and it was the principal who had made the call.

Anger burned in Xu Zhiming's heart; missing out on hundreds of thousands in resources made his dream of getting into a Martial Arts University feel even more distant.

Those five hundred thousand plus in resources were his hope for entering a Martial Arts University.

For the first time, Xu Zhiming felt the malice this high-martial world held for ordinary people.

He remembered that today was his one-thousand-and-first day since transmigrating into this world.

After a thousand days and nights of bitter cultivation, limited by his aptitude, he had set a goal he could achieve through hard work.

To get into the worst Martial Arts University and see with his own eyes those powerhouses capable of flying through the sky.

Now, his dream had been shattered by a single sentence from the school's administrators.

Like flowers in a mirror, like the moon in the water.

The feeling of hope being extinguished was like holding a broken gall bladder in his mouth, constantly releasing its bitterness.

Xu Zhiming stared at the two names on the paper.

To curry favor with the top student, they would truly do anything.

In the end, it was because he was too weak.

He was furious, but it only ignited his fighting spirit even more.

Sooner or later, he would make these people pay a painful price.

At that moment, he felt someone pat his shoulder, and a voice drifted over.

"Xu Zhiming, how's it going? Trying to compete with the blood energy champion and getting sanctioned for it, huh?"

"We're all C-grade aptitude; no matter how hard you work, the school still doesn't see it, and they didn't even let you into the B-grade class."

The person speaking was the monitor of their Class 10, Grade C—Zeng Hao.

He was a very righteous person, the only drawback being that he constantly went on about how hard work was useless.

Xu Zhiming shook his head.

Usually, his grades in Cultural Studies were stable at second place, occasionally fighting for first.

When the school issued the notice last semester, he had studied Cultural Studies diligently.

At the time, Zeng Hao had indeed warned him, saying it was impossible for him to win the first-place prize, as that reward was reserved for the student with A-grade aptitude.

To draw a conclusion beforehand without even trying to strive for it—

That did not align with his character.

"If I don't try, how would I know it's impossible?"

Zeng Hao patted Xu Zhiming on the shoulder.

He wasn't mocking Xu Zhiming; he just wanted to prove that what he said was correct.

The school was no utopia; it had its own social realities.

And those social realities were largely determined by aptitude.

He actually admired Xu Zhiming for working hard at his cultivation every single day.

With only average aptitude, he had relied on sheer effort to surpass most of them in level.

Most of them in Class 10, Grade C were Level Four Martial Artists.

Level Five was rare, and aside from a very small number of wealthy students who had reached Level Six, there were even some lazy ones with C-grade aptitude who were only Level Three.

Xu Zhiming, through day-after-day of hard work, had reached Level Six Martial Artist relying solely on the meager resource rewards the school gave to the top ten students in Cultural Studies.

"You still don't believe me? I've already told you, effort is worthless in the face of talent."

"That first-place prize is prepared specifically for that person."

Many students nearby nodded.

"That's right, Xu Zhiming's hard work is nothing compared to talent."

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, but that one percent of inspiration is more important than the ninety-nine percent of perspiration."

Everyone in Class 10, Grade C had C-grade aptitude; their talents were all roughly the same.

Now that Xu Zhiming had finally been dealt a blow, many students didn't want to be "rolled" by him anymore.

Today, they would witness the fall of the King of Inner Rolled with their own eyes.

They didn't believe that after suffering such a major blow, Xu Zhiming would still have the heart to keep working hard.

At school, teachers used Xu Zhiming as an example.

Back home, their parents would use Xu Zhiming as an example again.

Some of the students even felt a sense of schadenfreude.

Everyone's martial arts aptitude was about the same, so why did he have to work so hard? Didn't that just make them look lazy?

He even wanted to be a dark horse and snatch the school's top prize for blood energy.

Anyone with eyes could see that the reward, worth over a million, was set specifically for the top-ranked student.

Xu Zhiming lay on his desk and said softly.

"If effort is useless, then how is my blood energy higher than yours?"

Silence.

Endless silence.

Zeng Hao opened his mouth.

Every time he argued with Xu Zhiming, he was shut down by the facts.

"You have to work hard just to reach Level Six Martial Artist, while in the B-grade classes, the lowest level is a Level Seven Martial Artist."

"Doesn't that prove that effort is useless?"

"Among us with C-grade aptitude, only one in a hundred students gets into an undergraduate martial arts program."

Xu Zhiming did not refute this.

Because these were the statistics officially released by the authorities.

Such data, unlike the birth rate data from his past life, was unlikely to be falsified.

It was true that good aptitude allowed for a much faster rate of improvement.

But to say that effort was useless? That was impossible.

If effort were useless, he wouldn't be the top of his class in every monthly test.

If effort were useless, he wouldn't have forced his way into the top hundred, a ranking that usually required B-grade aptitude to enter.

If effort were useless, how could he win the one-thousand-yuan cash prize for the top three in Cultural Studies every semester?

It wasn't because of anything else.

Persistence and hard work.

Ever since transmigrating to this high-martial world and understanding its social structure.

Over two years have passed.

He has trained diligently every single day, never once stopping.

With a blood energy exceeding seven points, his strength has reached that of a Level Six Martial Artist.

Only now does Xu Zhiming truly understand that in this high-martial world, without strength, one can only be bullied.

Today's incident not only failed to crush him but further ignited his craving for power.

He lacks stunning talent, so naturally, the school would not risk offending the top-ranked student just to split a portion of the rewards for him.

Once he receives the three bottles of rewards later, he must work even harder.

Consuming the three potions should boost his blood energy significantly, and combined with the money he has saved up, he might have a chance to aim for a Martial Arts Undergraduate University.

Xu Zhiming's gaze rested on the blackboard, waiting for the homeroom teacher to bring him the reward for first place in Cultural Studies.

Once the reward is in hand, he will head to the school's Martial Arts Hall to train.

He will strive to master the fourth layer of the E-grade Martial Skill, Wind Thunder Fist, within one month.

The school has indeed gone too far.

Changing the rules so brazenly and trying to dismiss him with a pittance of petty profit.

But so what? They are the ones who make the rules.

Xu Zhiming kept comforting himself.

Endure for a moment, but the more he thought about it, the more pathetic he felt; the fire within his heart began to burn.

Just then.

Xu Zhiming saw a line of red text appear on the blackboard.

[Detected daily training time exceeding ten hours, sustained for over one thousand days]

[Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence System activated]

[One part effort for one part reward is too embarrassing]

[Minimum 10x critical hit, maximum 10,000x critical hit]

[The harder you work, the greater the critical hit; the harder you work, the luckier you become]

[Please work hard to cultivate]

Xu Zhiming rubbed his eyes.

Was he seeing things?

He looked again.

The lines of red text had not disappeared.

A smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

He would test the value of this "System" soon enough.

With sufficient strength, he would take everything back.

Ten minutes later.

A male student from a neighboring class walked to the door and asked loudly.

"Xu Zhiming, Teacher Zhang is looking for you; he wants you to come to the office."

Many students in Class Ten watched Xu Zhiming's back with a hint of envy.

Regardless of anything else, three bottles of F-grade potion are quite valuable.

Zeng Hao walked over, lowered his head, and glanced at the two names written on the desk.

"The names of the principal and the top-ranked student in blood energy are crossed out. Xu Zhiming wants to settle scores with them? It's only human nature; if it were me, I wouldn't be able to swallow this either."

"It's a pity that we are, after all, just ordinary people. Even if we are bullied, we can only keep it bottled up inside and continue to live as hard as we can."

Zeng Hao crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it into the trash can, just in case someone saw it.

He would go buy a bottle of F-grade potion tonight and see if he could break through to Level Six.

In the office.

The young teacher with delicate features and black-rimmed glasses stared at a single bottle of potion on his desk, his expression extremely grim.

When he went to collect the potions, he had asked why they weren't giving Xu Zhiming more rewards.

"With mediocre talent, what kind of reward does he deserve?"

Even the three bottles of potion promised at the opening ceremony had been snatched away by others, leaving only one.

It was simply going too far.

"Sigh... how am I supposed to explain this to Xu Zhiming later? I don't know how he will react when he sees this."

"The rewards keep getting slashed; when will the school's atmosphere ever improve?"

He held Xu Zhiming in high regard, and whenever there were school rewards, such as poverty subsidies, he would always fight to secure the highest tier for Xu Zhiming.

Firstly, Xu Zhiming's background as an orphan was an undeniable qualification during the poverty subsidy evaluations.

Secondly, he did not want to discourage a student who was working so hard to improve himself.

Knock, knock, knock...

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