Commendation on the Dais

Commendation on the Dais

Li Yuan exited the Virtual Network Pod.

He began his martial arts training for the day, first practicing the Basic Cultivation Method, then drilling his spear techniques.

This had become Li Yuan's habit.

It was not until three-thirty in the afternoon, after Li Yuan had taken a hot shower in the Rest Room, that he left the Martial Arts Room.

As Teacher Chen had said that morning,

at four in the afternoon, the entire school would hold an assembly. Everyone had to gather on the field and could not be late.

He had just closed the door to the Martial Arts Room.

"Li Yuan?" A rather delighted voice came from nearby. "You're still in the Martial Arts Room? Hurry up. I thought I was the only one left."

"Xiao Qiang, you haven't left yet?" Li Yuan smiled, spotting the refined-looking youth at the end of the corridor at a glance.

Whether they were eating, going to the restroom, heading to the field, or leaving school, students liked having company.

Boys were no exception.

After nearly a semester,

Li Yuan and Gu Qianghan had run into each other often.

They had become fairly familiar.

After spending more time together,

Li Yuan had long since discovered that although Gu Qianghan seemed flighty, he had no ill intentions. Everything was written plainly on his face, making him a very good choice for a friend.

"Call me Gu Qiang! Gu Qiang!" Gu Qianghan jumped in agitation. "That's what my sister calls me."

"Your sister can call you that, but I can't?" Li Yuan walked closer with a smile. "Come on, let's head downstairs."

"Of course my sister can call me that." Gu Qianghan walked ahead on the stairs, turning half his head to shoot Li Yuan a glance. "You're not my brother-in-law, so what right do you have to call me Xiao Qiang?"

"So what if I call you that?" Li Yuan smiled. "You can't beat me anyway."

"In this exam, your raw martial arts score didn't seem to be higher than mine."

Gu Qianghan froze.

That was true!

He had seen the score sheet and already knew about Li Yuan's terrifying January Adjustment Exam score. His raw score ranked second in the grade... and he was far ahead of third place.

From the perspective of actual combat, whoever had the higher raw martial arts score often held the greater practical advantage and the higher chance of winning.

"Tch!"

Gu Qianghan suddenly raised his middle finger. "So what if your raw score is higher than mine? I have spiritual aptitude bonus points. I'm second in the grade by total score, while you're only—"

Seeing that Li Yuan did not respond,

"Forget it." Gu Qianghan suddenly realized that was inappropriate. He waved a hand, pretending to be magnanimous. "I forgive you for tricking me during the exam. Just remember to call me Gu Qiang from now on. Xiao Qiang isn't something you should call me."

"Got it, Gu Qiang~~~han." Li Yuan deliberately dragged out the last syllable.

"Damn it, you won't have any friends acting like that." Gu Qianghan glared.

Li Yuan and Gu Qianghan exchanged "friendly greetings" all the way as they entered the field together.

There were only two minutes left until four o'clock.

Most of the school's classes had already lined up in orderly formation.

The lines for Grade 12 Class 1 and Class 2, Grade 3 stood right next to each other.

"Lanyue." The slightly plump girl Peng Qiqi bumped Lin Lanyue's arm. "Look, why is your brother so close with Li Yuan? They even came over together so late."

"Could Li Yuan be trying to sneak across the warehouse in the dark?" Peng Qiqi waggled her brows. "First, he gets on your brother's good side, then he chases you."

"Qiqi, have you read too many romance novels?" Lin Lanyue reached out and pinched her best friend's neck, making Peng Qiqi giggle.

Quite a few boys around them could not help looking over.

In the martial arts classes, there were no shortage of boys who liked Lin Lanyue.

Yet no one dared confess.

"Hehe." Peng Qiqi tried to block Lin Lanyue's hand while muttering softly, "Then tell me, why is he so close to Gu Qiang?"

"Don't you know Gu Qiang's personality?" Lin Lanyue shook her head lightly. "If you pinned him to the ground and beat him several times in a row, he'd be willing to be friends with you too."

"Gu Qiang sparred with Li Yuan?" Peng Qiqi asked in surprise.

"Mm. Their private Martial Arts Rooms are next to each other." Lin Lanyue nodded. "They fought several virtual battles, and Gu Qiang lost every time."

Peng Qiqi fell into thought. "Makes sense. Li Yuan's raw martial arts score ranked second this time and even exceeded 900 points. He's not much lower than you."

"He was 28 points lower." Lin Lanyue emphasized.

She actually paid close attention to Li Yuan's score.

That morning, her homeroom teacher for cultural subjects had immediately told her his score and ranking. At the same time, he had informed her that Li Yuan's "technical skill score ranked first in the entire district and second in the whole city."

At the time, Lin Lanyue had been stunned by Li Yuan's terrifying rate of improvement.

However, before her best friend, she naturally did not want to admit it.

"You remember his score so clearly."

Peng Qiqi giggled. "By the way, last time you said that only someone who got on the dais was qualified to make you like him. I think Li Yuan might surpass your raw score next time."

Lin Lanyue blinked, her long lashes fluttering. "We'll talk after he surpasses me."

"Even if his raw score surpasses mine, his total score will still be lower. The one who gets on the dais is first in total score, not first in raw score." Lin Lanyue said blandly.

Deep down, she felt Li Yuan already had a chance of surpassing her raw score.

"You're a dead duck with a hard beak." Peng Qiqi laughed, then suddenly stuck out her tongue. "Old Xia is coming."

Teacher Xia was the homeroom teacher for cultural subjects of Grade 12 Class 1.

"Today, the leaders visiting our school include Director Zhang of the Guanshan District Martial Arts Bureau, the Guanshan District Education Bureau... Hall Master Zuo of the Starfire Martial Hall Guanshan Branch, Hall Master Song of the Starry Sky Martial Hall Guanshan Branch..." The host teacher introduced the guests present on the dais.

There were more than ten of them.

"Hall Master Zuo came?" Standing in the line, Li Yuan looked at the heroic woman with chestnut curls on the stage, slightly surprised.

By all rights, why would so many leaders attend an internal school assembly?

Even the two major Martial Halls had sent representatives.

"Brother Yuan, didn't you notice? There seem to be quite a few reporters here today." Yan Zhou suddenly spoke in a low voice, pointing to the cameras on both sides of the dais.

"You're right." Li Yuan nodded. He had arrived at the field rather late and had not noticed earlier.

"Honorable leaders, esteemed teachers..." Principal Tan Zhenlong had already begun his animated speech.

As Principal Tan read from his script, he looked at the thousands of students below as though he saw a scene of vigorous life, of all things bursting forth.

Time passed.

As one leader after another gave speeches, the students below began yawning.

Finally,

the most important segment of the day began—the commendation ceremony.

"In this citywide January Adjustment Exam, our Grade 12 students fought bravely to take the lead and achieved outstanding results once again... Wan Qingling... and ten other students ranked in the top ten for total cultural subject scores."

"Lin Lanyue, Gu Qianghan... Li Yuan... and ten other students ranked in the top ten for total martial arts scores. Please join all teachers and students in congratulating them, and I hope everyone can learn from them." The host teacher spoke with impassioned fervor.

Sparse applause immediately rose from below the stage.

Most students had been thoroughly worn down and only wanted to leave quickly and return to their classrooms.

The Grade 10 and Grade 11 students especially mostly felt they had been dragged here to serve as cheap "NPC spectators," constantly exchanging friendly greetings about the leaders in private.

Below the stage,

"Lanyue, it's almost your turn to go up." Peng Qiqi said softly. "Good luck."

First in total cultural subject scores and first in total martial arts scores would, by custom, both take the stage to receive special commendation and take photographs with school leaders.

Lin Lanyue was quite calm.

She had gone through similar things many times during her three years of high school and was very familiar with the process.

However,

the host teacher onstage did not introduce the two top-ranked students as Lin Lanyue and most Grade 12 students had expected. Instead, he handed the microphone back to Principal Tan Zhenlong, who stepped forward again.

"Today's assembly,"

Principal Tan said solemnly, "is not only to summarize the Grade 12 January Adjustment Exam and commend outstanding students. There is also a very special commendation."

A special commendation? Those words immediately drew the attention of many students.

"All students should know that

just one week ago, our Guanshan District suffered a serious Star Realm Creature attack..." Principal Tan's voice was low and heavy.

At that moment, the previously somewhat dreary atmosphere was stirred up considerably. Many students could not help lifting their heads to look at Principal Tan, their curiosity piqued.

A special commendation? What did it have to do with a Star Realm Creature attack?

Even students like Lin Lanyue and Gu Qianghan became quite curious.

"...But when the rank-one Star Realm Creature charged toward the crowd,

at such a dangerous juncture, at such a critical moment, a seventeen-year-old high school student who happened to be passing by disregarded his own safety. He picked up a crude weapon nearby and voluntarily stood between the Star Realm Creature and the innocent civilians..." Principal Tan spoke with deep feeling, recounting the "fierce battle" that had taken place not long ago.

The thousands of students below listened with growing interest.

They found it far more interesting than the leaders' speeches from earlier.

"Wow! Fighting a rank-one Star Realm Creature? Who was it?" Peng Qiqi asked in surprise from within the line. "Lanyue, was it you?"

In truth, it was not only Peng Qiqi. Quite a few Grade 12 students from the Elite Class and other classes had already turned to look at Lin Lanyue.

All the students realized

that since Principal Tan was delivering such a speech, this student who had fought the Star Realm Creature had to be from their school.

In these students' minds, perhaps only Lin Lanyue could barely fight a rank-one Star Realm Creature.

Other than Lin Lanyue, who else could it be?

"It wasn't me."

Lin Lanyue shook her head, a trace of curiosity flashing through her eyes. "Who was it?"

In fact, she had fought Star Realm Creatures before, but always in controlled venues, and the creatures she faced had not been rank-one creatures.

Voluntarily fighting a rank-one Star Realm Creature?

Lin Lanyue asked herself whether she possessed that kind of courage and strength. She did not.

"Ultimately, after an arduous and exceptional battle," Principal Tan continued, "this seventeen-year-old student struggled to kill the Star Realm Creature and saved the lives of a great many innocent civilians."

"To commend this student's bravery and exceptional contribution during the Star Realm Creature attack,

the Jiang City Martial Arts Hall, the Education Bureau, the Starfire Martial Hall Jiang City Branch, and the Starry Sky Martial Hall Jiang City Branch... have decided to jointly award him the model title of 'Young Hero.'" Principal Tan's voice surged with passion, his eyes shining. "Now."

"Let us welcome Li Yuan of Class 2, Grade 3 to the stage."

"To receive the Young Hero title and commendation!"

"Wow!"

Clap clap clap! In an instant, applause like a rising tide swept across the entire field.

The Grade 10 and Grade 11 students stretched their necks, gazing expectantly toward the dais.

They wanted to see which upperclassman was so incredible.

Several classes near the Class 2, Grade 3 line had already widened their eyes at the young figure slowly stepping out from the class formation.

He wore a white martial arts uniform, with a well-proportioned build and striking brows.

Under the gaze of the multitude, the youth was calm and composed. With a faint smile on his face, he walked steadily onto the dais.

..."Lanyue."

"Li... Li Yuan, he really got onto the dais." Peng Qiqi stared wide-eyed at the figure in white, somewhat entranced. Then she suddenly whispered, "Do you really think Li Yuan isn't good enough? If you don't want him, you're not allowed to compete with me for him."

"We'll talk later." Lin Lanyue's gaze remained fixed upon the dais, her eyes unblinking.

(End of Chapter)