January 6, 2043.
Li Yuan did not cultivate the Starry Sky Spear Technique or the Dragon Movement Secret Manual in the Virtual Network today.
So, just after three in the morning, he left home as usual.
"It had been several days since I last saw Jiang City at three in the morning." Li Yuan looked up at the pitch-black sky. "I still can't slack off on daily cultivation."
He arrived at his personal Martial Arts Room at school.
As usual, he first cultivated the Basic Cultivation Method for two hours before beginning his spear practice.
Whoosh!
Whoosh! Spear shadows shifted unpredictably as the long spear in Li Yuan's hands transformed endlessly.
As his footwork moved, his spear was sometimes like a violent storm, sometimes dreamlike and hazy, and sometimes fierce and berserk.
At times, he suddenly thrust straight ahead, and the spearhead's speed would soar, making even the air rumble and explode.
Li Yuan had long since mastered the eighteen spear forms of the Rock Spear Technique to the utmost degree.
"I've already comprehended all five ultimate moves of the Rock Spear Technique."
"According to Teacher Xu Bo's guidance, what I need to do now is practice them again and again, etching the circulation of force behind those five ultimate moves into my bones." Li Yuan thought to himself. "In the end, I won't need to deliberately use any particular ultimate move, yet every spear technique I unleash will reach a flawless state of perfect force."
"Body-Mind Unity."
"That would be Fourth-Stage Spearmanship." Li Yuan pondered. "The improvement of technique can only depend on myself."
"According to the intelligent instructor, breaking through from Peak Third Stage to Fourth Stage is something extremely mystical—a breakthrough in which the mind and consciousness perceive the body."
"Some martial artists might simply sleep, feel it, and break through."
"Some martial artists might gain insight through repeated life-and-death clashes and thereby break through."
"But more martial artists remain trapped at Peak Third Skill Stage for their entire lives."
"From Third Stage to Fourth Stage, there is no path guaranteed to succeed." Li Yuan reflected. "What I need to do now is cultivate again and again."
"A thousand times isn't enough."
"Then ten thousand times!"
"First, I'll train my spearmanship to 99% of the Third Stage." Li Yuan's heart brimmed with desire. "Then I'll enter virtual combat and fight in real battles."
Years of spear practice had taught Li Yuan something.
If he could not break through?
Then his accumulation was insufficient! Then he needed to practice!
"Read a book a thousand times, and its meaning will reveal itself." Li Yuan swung his great spear. "The spear is the same."
"I've only ever heard of spear masters who practiced their way to mastery."
More than an hour later.
[Your spearmanship realm has risen from Third Stage 90% to Third Stage 91%]
Past seven in the morning, Li Yuan arrived in the classroom.
Most of the students had already arrived.
However, compared with the usual scene of most students studying diligently on their own, the classroom was much more stifling today. Most people were distracted and absent-minded.
"Old Zhou, why are you hanging your head?" Li Yuan sat down and pulled out a test paper as he asked.
"Brother Yuan, the January Adjustment Exam results are about to come out." Zhou Qi said gloomily. "Aren't you nervous?"
"Not nervous." Li Yuan shook his head. "There's only a difference of a few points."
"I forgot you're a martial arts student. Cultural Courses only account for 100 points for you." Zhou Qi sighed. "But I'm a cultural student. If I do badly, I'll go home and get skinned alive."
"Then they should call you Zhou Bapi." Li Yuan said casually.
Zhou Qi shot Li Yuan a helpless look and could not even be bothered to argue.
"You didn't tell your family that you awakened Martial Arts Spirituality?" Li Yuan asked.
"I did." Zhou Qi said. "But what good did it do? My dad just asked me whether, with only a few months left, I could still get into a Martial Arts University."
"A person should know his own limits. I never expected to get into a Martial Arts University anyway." Zhou Qi said. "So I've decided not to go to the Elite Class."
"I just need to learn the Advanced Cultivation Method."
Li Yuan was speechless.
Indeed, Zhou Qi's physical fitness was only Level 4.3 even now, and his Martial Arts Score was terrible.
It could not be called wrong for him not to enter the Elite Class.
"That's not bad either." Li Yuan smiled. "You've awakened Martial Arts Spirituality and can cultivate the Advanced Cultivation Method. Your Martial Arts Score will improve much faster."
"Even if you take the cultural route, Martial Arts Score still makes up 30%."
"Mm-hmm." Zhou Qi nodded.
At that moment.
The cultural homeroom teacher, wearing a Chanel-style jacket on top and pencil pants below, appeared at the classroom's front door.
Teacher Chen's face was dark as water. He held a stack of test papers and two ranking sheets.
Instantly!
The classroom fell silent. Everyone knew that the rankings were about to be revealed.
Especially those students who had chosen the cultural path—each of them became nervous, and many could not help lowering their heads.
They all silently chanted in their hearts, "Don't call my name."
Of course, a small number with excellent grades entertained their own hopes. "Maybe I did well this time and can move up a few places."
Martial arts students like Li Yuan were comparatively calmer. After all, they at least had a rough idea of their own martial arts scores.
Bang! The test papers were thrown onto the podium.
The atmosphere became even more oppressive.
"This January Adjustment Exam truly tested your actual standards. Every one of you usually loafs around—when it comes to Cultural Courses, you don't study properly; when it comes to martial arts, you don't train properly..." Teacher Chen's voice was icy. "Every one of you thinks that just because you're at Guangao High School, you can get into a top-tier university? Dream on!"
"Based on the citywide rankings this time, some of you will have difficulty even getting into second-tier universities. I won't call out names—you know exactly who I'm talking about!!" Teacher Chen berated them like a machine gun.
Many students lowered their heads even further.
The January Adjustment Exam.
As the first major unified exam of senior year, the academic-subject papers were actually deliberately difficult. The goal was to crush the students' confidence so they could settle down and review more seriously.
At this stage, Teacher Chen, as their cultural homeroom teacher, would never allow the students under his care to develop arrogance.
He scolded them in one breath for more than ten minutes without repeating himself.
Even Li Yuan, whose mental fortitude was strong, began wondering whether he was one of the "very few people," the "rat droppings," the "certain people" Teacher Chen had mentioned.
Finally.
"But there are also a very few students who made great progress, and they should still be encouraged." Teacher Chen said it lightly. "All right, I'll announce the academic-subject results first. Listen carefully."
In high school, there was no concern for protecting the privacy of students' grades.
"Li Shutong, 889 points." Teacher Chen paused. "Second in the grade for Cultural Courses."
A wave of gasps immediately rose. Scoring above 850 in Cultural Courses meant being an absolute academic genius.
"Li Wanxing, 868 points."
"Zhou Qi, 849 points."
Zhou Qi, who had been hanging his head, immediately raised it slightly, his face full of pride. His academic grades were quite good.
One student's score after another was announced. Some beamed with joy, while others looked dejected.
Where there were rankings, some rose and some fell.
Half the people would always be dissatisfied.
"Li Yuan, 742 points." When Teacher Chen read Li Yuan's name, he added, "Not bad. You've improved greatly."
Immediately, many students looked at Li Yuan, making him feel rather awkward.
Those who scored over eight hundred did not receive praise.
Yet he was being praised for scoring seven hundred?
"Brother Yuan, didn't you only score a little over six hundred last time?" Zhou Qi stared wide-eyed at Li Yuan. "You improved by nearly a hundred points?"
"Yeah, I spent a little more time reviewing lately." Li Yuan smiled.
"Bullshit." Zhou Qi immediately retorted. "When have you ever come to the cultural classroom for evening self-study?"
"I reviewed in the Martial Arts Classroom." Li Yuan answered frankly.
One score after another was read aloud.
Li Tianyou scored 586 points, already near the bottom of the class. His citywide grade ranking for Cultural Courses was probably even worse than last time.
In fact, among the dozen or so martial arts students, Li Yuan's academic score was already far ahead by a cliff-like margin.
After finishing the academic scores, Teacher Chen did not pause at all before saying, "Now I'll announce the Martial Arts Score. Listen carefully."
Everyone pricked up their ears.
Now that they knew the academic scores, once they knew their Martial Arts Score, they could calculate the conversion and learn their total scores.
Teacher Chen looked at the second score sheet, then unconsciously glanced at Li Yuan, seeming somewhat hesitant.
"Li Yuan." Teacher Chen paused before slowly saying, "827 points."
Boom!
The entire classroom instantly erupted. Many stared at Li Yuan in astonishment.
They suspected they had heard wrong.
After all, this Martial Arts Score did not include the converted academic points. In other words, the total score was only 900 points.
Li Yuan had actually exceeded 800 points?
And by several dozen points!
Although Li Yuan had stolen the spotlight during yesterday's Martial Arts Assessment, he had not been like Lin Lanyue, riding alone through a thousand troops. Yet this score was truly outrageous.
"827 points? Brother Yuan, your converted cultural score is 74 points. Add that..." Zhou Qi was already calculating rapidly for Li Yuan. "Holy shit! Brother Yuan, your Total Martial Arts Score is over 900 points!!"
"Your raw score is 901." Even Zhou Qi could not help shouting.
"901 points?"
"A raw score above 900? Li Yuan?" Every student was shocked.
It was simply too fierce.
Academic scores might rise dramatically in a short period, but Martial Arts Score generally improved very slowly.
"Cough, cough, quiet!" Teacher Chen coughed twice, making the class quiet down again.
"Li Yuan did indeed perform well this time."
"His physical fitness score was 438 points, third in the grade." Teacher Chen said. "His Martial Arts Technique... 389 points, first in the grade."
"His individual Martial Arts Technique score was also first in all of Guanshan District and second in Jiang City."
Boom!
All the students in the class were once again excited and stunned.
Whether it was the 389-point Martial Arts Technique score or his second-place individual ranking in Jiang City,
both were somewhat beyond their understanding.
Normally, a martial arts score like this should not appear in an ordinary class like theirs.
It was simply surreal.
"389 points?" Li Yuan remained very calm inwardly and muttered to himself, "Not bad. It seems that if I want my Martial Arts Technique score to exceed 390 or even approach full marks, I'll probably need to reach Fourth-Stage Spearmanship."
His Total Martial Arts Score of 901 was already far better than Li Yuan had expected.
"Teacher, Li Yuan's Total Martial Arts Score is 901. What rank is that in the grade? Did he make the top ten?" Suddenly, a student could not help shouting.
The others all looked at Teacher Chen with equally curious and expectant gazes.
A total score above 900.
Even without bonus points for spirituality, his grade ranking was probably astonishing.
Li Yuan could not help looking at Teacher Chen as well, his fist tightening slightly.
Could he make the top five?
"In raw scores, Li Yuan is second." Teacher Chen said directly. "First in raw Martial Arts Score is Lin Lanyue from the Elite Class, with 929 points."
"As for the final total score, Li Yuan is sixth in the grade and 212th in the city." A rare smile appeared on Teacher Chen's face. "Based on previous years' rankings, this score gives him hope of charging into the Five Great Prestigious Schools."
Clearly, Teacher Chen was satisfied with Li Yuan's performance beyond measure.
"The Five Great Prestigious Schools?"
"His citywide rank is already in the two hundreds?"
"Sixth in the grade?" The other students were even more stunned and could not help looking at Li Yuan.
"Brother Yuan, you're fucking amazing!!" Zhou Qi was even more excited than Li Yuan.
"Sixth in the grade?" Only the faintest smile appeared on Li Yuan's face as he inwardly sighed. "Still one place short?"
(End of chapter)
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