"You can't keep comparing yourself to the monsters at those top schools. You need to understand your own situation. Your Blood Qi Value is only a little over two hundred, yet you made it to the fourth stage of the Challenge Tournament and even forced the fourth-stage NPC to increase its strength. That's already very impressive."
"As I see it, your performance score for this round definitely won't be bad. On top of that, you survived two rounds in the Ranking Tournament. That's proof enough that your martial skill has already reached an exceptionally high level."
Zheng Huai spoke at length, then suddenly asked,
"Your Rolling Stone Fist reached Great Success?"
"Yeah."
Caught off guard by the question, Lin Ye hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.
With his Blood Qi Value, there was no way he could have made it to the fourth stage without a Great Success Grade Rolling Stone Fist to back him up.
"Kid, you..."
Seeing that Lin Ye had still hesitated, Zheng Huai was so frustrated he could barely contain himself, though he also felt a pang of regret.
"If you'd entered the Opening Apertures Realm earlier, maybe you could've taken a shot at East Sea Martial University."
Great Xia Martial Universities were divided into tiers. At the very top were the three leading universities in the nation, followed by seven regional top universities, including East Sea Martial University. Below those were provincial key universities, provincial universities, and ordinary universities.
Lin Ye fell silent. He couldn't very well say that his late rise was because his cheat had waited until he came of age to show up.
When Lin Ye didn't respond, Zheng Huai didn't press him. Instead, he said frankly,
"Don't overthink it. Your results this time are already very good."
"The most important thing is that you showed everyone what they wanted to see. That's enough."
"Don't dwell on getting eliminated in seconds in the third round. Anyone who could do that to you..." Zheng Huai paused. "If I'm not mistaken, they were at least a seeded contestant from another school, and their spear technique had probably reached Great Success. There's no shame in losing to someone like that."
Zheng Huai leaned forward and lowered his voice, his tone turning serious.
"I called you here today because I wanted to give you a heads-up. According to the Bureau of Education's instructions, our principal plans to select five students based on their overall performance in this competition for focused training."
"But... surely I wouldn't make the cut."
Lin Ye frowned. He had made great strides, but overall, his performance shouldn't have stood out that much.
"No, you might... You should be in the running."
"The selection criteria are: an ordinary family background, significant improvement, and potential in actual combat."
Zheng Huai spoke solemnly.
"In this competition, I think you've improved more than anyone else in the school. You went from near the bottom of your grade in the last major exam to probably being in the top fifty this time. In the combat test, you made it to the late stages of the fourth round despite your low Blood Qi Value, and you cleared two rounds in the Ranking Tournament."
"That's enough."
Lin Ye fell silent. "Teacher, but the major exam results aren't out yet. How can you be sure..."
"How can I be sure you've improved the most?" Zheng Huai picked up where he left off. "I may not have the exact scores, but I've taught Martial Dao for over a decade. I've taught thousands of students, if not tens of thousands. I can tell who's improving, who's pushing themselves to the limit, who's got that fire in them..."
"If you're not among the students chosen for this training program,"
Zheng Huai declared firmly, "I'll go make a scene in the principal's office."
Lin Ye's eyes stung. He could feel how much his teacher cared about him—a care that came straight from the heart.
"I was worried your total score might not be enough, so I called you here to ask. But after hearing your report, I'm sure you'll secure one of those spots."
Zheng Huai said with a smile, looking rather pleased.
For a teacher, nothing could be more gratifying than seeing a student succeed.
At that, Lin Ye sprang to his feet and bowed deeply to Zheng Huai. "Teacher, thank you for supporting and nurturing me. I never would've made it this far without your guidance."
Zheng Huai waved a hand and chuckled, looking at the young man before him with satisfaction. He couldn't help recalling the sight of Lin Ye a month ago, struggling to hold a stance in the empty Martial Arts Pavilion after evening study.
"Enough with the formalities. I did help you secure the resources, but in the end, you earned that spot yourself. If you hadn't even qualified for the Ranking Tournament, or if you'd been eliminated in the first round, then no matter how much I pleaded, the school leadership wouldn't have considered you."
"You earned all of this yourself. Treasure this hard-won opportunity, and get into a provincial key university to make your teacher proud."
Zheng Huai joked with a smile.
"Oh, and since this is still confidential, don't go telling people about it. I'll head over to the principal's office in a bit and sound him out about the training plan."
After Lin Ye left the office, Zheng Huai sat in his chair for five minutes. Then he picked up the well-thumbed Senior Year Martial Arts Potential Assessment Manual from his desk. His finger lingered on the pages about "resource allocation standards" for a moment before he closed the manual and headed for the door.
After leaving the Martial Arts Pavilion and walking down the corridor of the administration building, Zheng Huai ran into several Martial Dao teachers from other classes. They exchanged nods, but none of them asked what he was there for.
After all, Zheng Huai wasn't the only teacher who knew that the school planned to give five students focused training. Everyone was naturally there to secure resources for the students in their own classes, so they all knew what was going on and tacitly left one another alone.
The principal's office was on the third floor of the Administration Building.
When Zheng Huai knocked, a steady "Come in" came from inside. He pushed open the door and saw Principal Zhou Zhengming reading a document.
He was in his fifties, with slightly graying hair combed neatly into place. Behind his black-framed glasses, he carried an air of quiet authority. He looked up and saw Zheng Huai, then set down the document and pointed to the chair in front of him. "Teacher Zheng, you're here. Have a seat."
Zheng Huai sat down across from him and got straight to the point. "Principal, I'd like to talk to you about the spots for focused training."
"Mm. I've already received the recommendations from each class."
Zhou Zhengming took a document from his drawer. "Your class recommended Lin Ye, citing his significant improvement and outstanding combat potential. Let's see... Class One recommended Zhou Zhen, Class Three recommended Chen Yuqing, Class Six recommended Chen Mo, and Class Eight recommended a student named Wu Hao..."
After going over the students recommended by the different classes, he paused. "But the final list won't be decided until after the results come out in two days and we've made an overall assessment."
"I understand." Zheng Huai nodded. "I came to ask, if Lin Ye from our class is selected, what would his training plan look like?"
"Heh, Teacher Zheng, you're quite confident."
Zhou Zhengming chuckled and adjusted his glasses. He pulled a document from another pile. "This is the guidance plan issued by the Bureau of Education. Each school can make minor adjustments. The basic package includes one bottle of F-Grade Nutrient every day, one Medicinal Bath Body Tempering session each week, access to the school's Micro Gravity Chamber and Virtual Combat Room, and borrowing privileges for one D-Grade Martial Art."
Zheng Huai fell silent for a few seconds. He pictured Lin Ye at the cafeteria counter, ordering only the basic thirty-yuan meal. In this day and age, not eating enough or eating poorly meant a lack of stamina in one's Blood Qi. That was no good for martial arts training.
"Principal, the plan is comprehensive, but it's still missing a little down-to-earth practicality." Zheng Huai spoke earnestly. "Lin Ye's foundation is weak, and his family's circumstances are ordinary. How about... we also waive the fee for the cafeteria's 'Deluxe' meal plan? Three meals a day, as much as he can eat."
Principal Zhou Zhengming shot Zheng Huai an exasperated look. "Do you think the school's a charity? The exotic beast meat in those deluxe meals costs a fortune. The price has already been reduced with subsidies from both the school and the Bureau of Education. And if we hand out resources this easily, what happens when everyone starts coming to me with sob stories?"
"This kid really is different. He's the kind of seedling who could set the whole Wasteland ablaze with a single spark."
Faced with the principal's refusal, Zheng Huai stood his ground.
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