I Have High Hopes for You (Thanks to Wandering Lone for the Silver Alliance!)

I Have High Hopes for You (Thanks to Wandering Lone for the Silver Alliance!)

The setting sun slanted down, bathing the campus in a golden afterglow.

Students poured out of the classrooms in groups after class, dressed in matching school uniforms and martial arts uniforms. In a bustling tide, they headed toward the cafeteria amid laughter and chatter.

Li Yuan and Wan Xiao left the senior-year teaching building, went around a large flower bed, and entered the office building.

At the end of the left corridor on the first floor was Xu Bo's office.

It was called an office, but it was actually an astonishingly spacious Martial Arts Room.

"Reporting."

"Reporting." As the two arrived at the door, Li Yuan swept his gaze over the room and estimated that this Martial Arts Room covered more than five hundred square meters.

This was his second time here.

Numerous instruments, such as the Life Blood Detection Instrument and the Fist Strength Testing Ground, had been set up inside, and they were clearly more advanced.

Cold weapons such as spears, staffs, and axes were also arranged along one wall. Most were unsharpened.

But there were sharpened cold weapons as well.

Li Yuan even caught sight of a separate bathroom and Physiotherapy Room at the far end of the office.

"Li Yuan, this is a real martial artist's training room. Even ranked martial artists can train here without worry." Wan Xiao muttered softly beside him, a hint of envy in his eyes. "My family's training room is less than a hundred square meters. It isn't even one-fifth the size of Teacher Xu's, and we don't have a dedicated Physiotherapy Room."

"If I need physical therapy, my dad has to drive me to the Martial Hall. It's a real hassle."

Li Yuan said nothing.

A Physiotherapy Room? His home did not even have a separate training room.

As for going to the Martial Hall? He could not afford it.

As far as Li Yuan knew, a martial artist's training room like this one, spanning several hundred square meters, would cost tens of millions of Blue Star Coins just to renovate.

In Jiang City, even unfinished apartments in a slightly better location could cost over twenty thousand Blue Star Coins per square meter.

By Li Yuan's estimate, this Martial Arts Room was worth at least twenty million Blue Star Coins in total.

What was Jiang City's average monthly salary? Li Yuan remembered seeing it on the news not long ago. It should have been 11,342 Blue Star Coins.

The median income was even lower.

"You two, come in." Teacher Xu Bo stood in the center of the Martial Arts Room. His entire body was like an iron tower, and that metallic right arm in particular brimmed with intimidation.

Xu Bo's aura was more restrained than it had been in the classroom.

Yet somehow, he felt even more dangerous.

"Teacher." Li Yuan and Wan Xiao behaved very obediently.

"Wan Xiao, I've already submitted your class transfer application. It should be approved before six tonight. Once it goes through, report directly to the Elite Class tomorrow." Xu Bo looked at Wan Xiao.

Wan Xiao's nickname was Bear. He was built like a mountain, yet before Xu Bo, he actually seemed somewhat small.

"So soon?" Wan Xiao was caught off guard.

"Don't worry. I'm not chasing you away." Xu Bo's voice was cold, but he was very patient. "Once your spirituality awakens, you can cultivate an Advanced Cultivation Method. Its cultivation efficiency far surpasses the Basic Cultivation Method."

"The college entrance exam is drawing ever closer. You awakened your Martial Arts Spirituality rather late. If you enter the Elite Class sooner, you might gain even one more point on the exam."

Xu Bo continued, "Once the application is approved, the introductory sections you tested just now and that suited you will be sent to your school account. I remember your family has a training room, so don't stay for evening self-study tonight. Go home and try cultivating them one by one."

"After you report in tomorrow, the Elite Class teachers will teach you one-on-one until you have fully mastered them," Xu Bo said.

"Thank you, Teacher." Wan Xiao said gratefully.

He already understood that Xu Bo was not trying to drive him away. On the contrary, he was sincerely considering what was best for him.

"Go." Xu Bo waved a hand.

Wan Xiao bowed, then turned and left.

"Li Yuan." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan again, curiosity flickering in his eyes. "Your spear technique and movement technique should both have reached the third stage."

Third stage? Li Yuan froze.

In ordinary high school instruction, there was no distinction of first stage, second stage, or third stage.

There were only technique scores.

"Oh, I forgot." Seeing Li Yuan's expression, Xu Bo realized this and said, "That's how ranked martial artists refer to it. Let me put it another way. Have you reached Gold Rank on the Starry Sky Fighting Net?"

"I reached it half a month ago," Li Yuan said.

Blue Star, and even the Seven Great Planets, had Virtual Networks spanning their respective planets. Their realism exceeded 70%, and the most popular game within those Virtual Networks was Starry Sky Fighting Net.

"Starry Sky Fighting Net is special. It isn't merely a game." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan. "It mainly tests a person's Martial Arts Technique, and it trains people well too."

Li Yuan could not help nodding.

The reason Starry Sky Fighting Net was so widespread, and why the entire Seven Star Alliance heavily promoted it across every planet, was inseparable from the enormous benefits it brought to reality.

"Being able to hold your ground in Gold Rank means your spear technique and movement technique should both be at the third-stage level." Xu Bo said, "For someone your age, reaching this level in Martial Arts Technique is very impressive."

Li Yuan smiled. "It's because you taught us well, Teacher."

A rare smile squeezed onto Xu Bo's cold face.

"Your physical fitness has improved very quickly as well." A trace of curiosity showed in Xu Bo's eyes. "Can you tell me why?"

He truly was curious.

"I've just been cultivating normally." Li Yuan shook his head. "You should know my family circumstances, Teacher. I can't afford those special medicines."

"Don't worry. I'm not suspecting you of using banned drugs that stimulate life potential," Xu Bo said.

In this era, some special treasures could rapidly improve physical fitness, but most did so by overdrawing one's life potential—pulling up seedlings to help them grow.

Using them would cause severe aftereffects. At best, one's strength would find it difficult to improve any further; at worst, one's lifespan would be shortened.

Several decades ago, when the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam had first begun, many students secretly used them in hopes of getting into a good university.

Later, as the rules of the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam were refined, such medicines and medicinal liquids were classified as banned drugs and could not be freely produced or used.

Before the college entrance exam, students would undergo comprehensive testing with various devices.

"Such improvement through normal cultivation alone? Very good!" Xu Bo rarely showed a smile. "I have high hopes for you becoming a martial artist."

"You have high hopes for me?" Li Yuan was stunned.

After the other man took over as homeroom teacher, Li Yuan had indeed received considerable attention.

But it had only been the attention a teacher gave to a good student.

Having high hopes for him becoming a martial artist? This was the first time Teacher Xu had said that.

Becoming a martial artist was far too difficult!

"Teacher, I still haven't awakened my Martial Arts Spirituality," Li Yuan could not help saying.

"Is spiritual awakening that important?" Xu Bo asked in return.

Li Yuan was puzzled. Wasn't it important?

"It is very important." Xu Bo spoke as if to himself. "But in a certain sense, it is not important either."

Li Yuan grew even more confused.

"What is Martial Arts Spirituality? In essence, it is compatibility with the Seven Great Advanced Cultivation Methods," Xu Bo said.

"Only when compatibility exceeds ninety percent can one cultivate an Advanced Cultivation Method ahead of time, greatly increasing the rate at which one's physical fitness improves," Xu Bo said. "Then the hope of becoming a powerful martial artist rises greatly."

"This is why the Seven Star Alliance places such importance on Martial Arts Spirituality."

"This is also why the nation's five most prestigious schools favor students who have awakened Martial Arts Spirituality."

"After all, cultivating an Advanced Cultivation Method earlier gives one a higher chance of becoming a ranked martial artist. And the younger one becomes a martial artist, the greater one's hope of achieving great things."

Li Yuan could not help nodding.

When one was young, one's blood and vitality were abundant, making breakthroughs in martial arts cultivation easier.

"Martial arts cultivation is a wondrous evolution of life." A glimmer of light shone in Xu Bo's eyes. "In truth, humanity still knows very little about life cultivation. Whether the seven Basic Cultivation Methods or the Seven Great Advanced Cultivation Methods... they were all gradually summarized over centuries by the many high-ranking martial artists of the Seven Star Alliance."

"More than eighty years ago, during the first Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, the Seven Star Alliance had only announced three Advanced Cultivation Methods."

Li Yuan's eyes brightened slightly.

Much of the information Teacher Xu had revealed was something he had not understood before.

"The purpose of every cultivation method is to drive life's evolution and continuously improve our physical fitness." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan. "And you, merely by cultivating the Basic Cultivation Method and without any precious resources, have improved your physical fitness faster than most students in the Elite Class."

"What does that mean?"

"Your true talent may be very high." Xu Bo sighed softly. "You simply aren't compatible with any of the Seven Great Advanced Cultivation Methods."

(End of Chapter)