Last-Place Elimination System

Gu Yang took a deep breath. The pain in his body still came in endless waves, so he simply lay flat on the ground in the shape of the character "tai," completely relaxing.

White clouds drifted lazily overhead, and the sun seemed veiled by a layer of white gauze, not glaring at all.

Gu Yang quietly watched the blue sky and white clouds like this, with no idea how much time had passed.

"Dong, dong..."

Suddenly, a resonant bell rang out from the depths of the Martial Academy. Qin Hu called out at just the right moment, "Dismissed."

The formation scattered. At that moment, a round-headed, round-brained youth, built like a sturdy calf, came over to Gu Yang. Looking down at him from above, he said bluntly, "Hey, you're Gu Yang? Come with me. Time for lunch."

Gu Yang did not mind the other boy's rudeness. He understood that this was probably Qin Hu's arrangement, so he narrowed his eyes, nodded, climbed to his feet, and smiled at him. "Sorry to trouble you. Thank you."

"Mm." With that, the youth turned and headed for the Training Ground's exit.

The Martial Academy's dining hall stood behind the academy. It was a square, single-story building, its smooth walls painted white, covering at least ten zhang on each side.

At that moment, the dining hall doors stood wide open, and waves of meaty fragrance drifted out. Gu Yang's stomach immediately began to rumble.

That morning, he had only drunk one and a half bowls of thin porridge. He had walked around the city for nearly an hour in the morning, then spent most of the morning at the Martial Academy Training Ground practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art. He had long since been starving. Now, with the rich scent of meat rushing into his nose, saliva flooded his mouth like mad.

"Gulp." Gu Yang swallowed the saliva in his mouth and followed behind the boy leading the way into the dining hall.

Before him stood dozens of waist-high wooden barrels lined up in rows. Rich aromas of meat, vegetables, rice, and flour wafted out from them.

Other than those wooden barrels, the entire dining hall was filled with rows of long tables and benches. Seated there were Martial Academy disciples dressed in standardized white martial uniforms. Not a single cook, kitchen hand, or anyone of that sort could be seen.

At that point, the youth stopped paying attention to Gu Yang. He went by himself to a corner stacked with light-colored round wooden trays, casually took one, and went over to the barrels to serve himself food.

When Gu Yang registered to join the Martial Academy that morning, he had already learned that everything within the academy—martial uniforms, dining hall meals, and all daily necessities—was completely free. Still, he had never expected the dining hall food to be so "lavish."

There were vegetables and eggs, fish and meat.

Unfortunately, meals could only be eaten in the dining hall and could not be packed up and taken home.

Following the example of the boy who had led him there, Gu Yang took a tray himself. He scooped out two ladles of rice, then piled a ladle of vegetable-and-meat stew and a ladle of braised ribs over it, poured a ladle of meat broth on top, and carried it to a long table, where he lowered his head and began wolfing it down.

After two huge mouthfuls of rice soaked in meat broth went down his stomach, Gu Yang let out a satisfied sigh.

He had been in this world for twenty days already, and this was still the first time he had eaten anything oily.

Though he could eat until half full every day, having no meat was unbearable for a modern man like him. His mouth had grown so bland it could hatch birds.

Still, he knew that this body had rarely seen meat before. If he suddenly gorged himself, its stomach and intestines might not be able to take it. So he slowed down and began eating at an unhurried pace.

He chewed carefully and swallowed slowly, taking a sip of egg-drop soup now and then.

After finishing the meal, Gu Yang still felt somewhat uncomfortable in his stomach, but thankfully, it was bearable.

When he left the dining hall, the youth who had led him there had already disappeared.

Gu Yang did not care. He had deliberately memorized the route on the way over. Now, he leisurely followed the same path back and, before he knew it, returned to the Training Ground.

At this time, the enormous Training Ground was completely empty.

Gu Yang did not rest. He went straight to the corner where he had been earlier and continued practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art.

The moment he started, Gu Yang immediately felt something entirely different from his morning practice.

The Blood Nourishing Stance Art's proficiency had risen directly from 1 point to 12 points, and the changes it brought were extraordinarily obvious.

His stance movements became more natural, and his breathing rhythm was much smoother.

The three sets of stance training, with their forty-eight changing movements, flowed together naturally. His movements were finally no longer as stiff as before.

After completing one full set of stance movements, Gu Yang took a deep breath, calming his ragged panting and the heartbeat that nearly seemed ready to leap out of his throat.

It was only one set of movements involving shifts, leaps, punches, and retracted fists, yet Gu Yang felt even more exhausted than if he had run five li. Even the fullness from the lunch he had just eaten had already faded.

"No wonder this is a genuine Martial Path technique... With my current stamina, I can practice the stance training at most three times in a row before I'm completely spent. This stance art consumes far too much strength. If I don't have enough nutrition afterward, I reckon that after practicing for a few days, my qi and blood will start to run deficient. The more I practice, the more I'll damage my body."

As Gu Yang slowly paced around to rest and recover his strength, he silently thought and planned.

"Though the Martial Academy provides one lunch, if I want to push my physical limits and improve myself as quickly as possible, one full meal a day is nowhere near enough. I have to find a way to make money as soon as possible and ensure that I get enough nutrition every day."

Although he possessed the Dao Seed of Creation, the Dao Seed could not make him ascend to the heavens in a single step.

He still needed to expend effort and sweat if he wanted to keep improving and breaking through.

And if he wanted to break through quickly, there was one word he could not avoid: money!

On the road of cultivation, wealth, companions, techniques, and land—wealth came first.

Without money, he could only improve slowly, but that was absolutely not what Gu Yang wanted.

At that moment, he could not help recalling what the tall, thin instructor had told him that morning.

"All Martial Academy disciples take part in a Minor Competition every month and a major competition every year. If disciples who entered in the same year remain among the bottom hundred in the Minor Competition for three consecutive months, they will be advised to leave the Martial Academy. If you don't want to stay here for only three months before leaving, then work hard..."

Within the Martial Academy, competition was everywhere. No disciple could avoid it.

Those at the bottom of the rankings would inevitably leave the Martial Academy one day. On the other hand, those near the top would receive the academy's support, allowing them to progress ever faster. For example, those who ranked highly in the Year-End Grand Competition would receive resource rewards.

If Gu Yang remained at the bottom in the Minor Competitions for the next three months, then he could only stay at the Martial Academy for three months before being advised to return home.

Time waited for no one. Trying to improve his strength at a snail's pace simply would not work in the Martial Academy.

He had to fight, and fighting was his only choice!

While every disciple was doing everything possible to improve themselves, if he did not work hard, he could only leave with his tail between his legs. How could Gu Yang accept such an outcome?

Conversely, if Gu Yang could achieve a good ranking in the Year-End Grand Competition, then the money problem that had been troubling him would be solved as easily as a knife cutting through butter.

"Inhale... Exhale..."

After taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Gu Yang felt some of his strength return. He stopped letting his thoughts run wild and began practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art once more.

"Place the center of gravity between the legs; push, pull, draw, and lift, steady as a roly-poly."

As Gu Yang silently recited the key mnemonic for the stance art, understanding came to him as naturally as water flowing into a channel. He slowly shifted his center of gravity into the triangular area around his hips.

As soon as his center of gravity settled into place, he immediately felt his body become much steadier.

He vaguely sensed that his understanding of the Blood Nourishing Stance Art had improved by another degree.

Sure enough, after he finished one set of stance training, a line of small text suddenly flashed before Gu Yang's eyes.

Skill "Blood Nourishing Stance" proficiency +1

The next moment, Gu Yang suddenly staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

After practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art twice in succession, his stamina had already dropped to rock bottom.

He had still overestimated his current physical condition. He had thought he could practice one more time, but reality proved that two rounds were already his limit.

Gu Yang did not force himself. Taking tiny shuffling steps, he slowly made his way to the wall, leaned against it, and sat down to rest.

At a quarter past the hour of Wei, the disciples gradually returned to the Training Ground.

Seeing this, Gu Yang took a deep breath, pushed himself up, and walked over as well.