Grade B Star-Power Body Tempering Pool

Faced with the objections, Xu Mingde remained unfazed. Instead, he stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the few who had raised concerns. His voice was firm and decisive, carrying an unmistakable authority:

"Everyone, you should know exactly what it means to have the beginnings of Momentum. It means he has reached the true threshold of the Martial Dao earlier than other students. It means that, after breaking through to the Mortal Shedding Realm, he may have a chance to condense True Momentum. It also serves as a ticket to one of the 72 spots in the University Cup. Without True Momentum, talking about a spot is unrealistic.

"In recent years, how many truly talented students has Fenglei Martial University produced?

"Most of the promising students with the beginnings of Momentum are snatched up by Tianshu, Jiuzhou, and Canglan. Of the few left over, most end up at Nanming, East Sea Martial University, and the like."

He paused, his tone turning even sharper. "Now, we have a promising student with the beginnings of Momentum in front of us who doesn't come from a martial family. Are we supposed to stand by and watch him get snatched away? We found him before the other Martial Universities even realized what he was, so we have the advantage. If we can't give him enough support in terms of resources, what will we have to compete with once the others catch on?"

As he spoke, he turned to Ye Wanjun at the head of the table. His tone grew earnest, yet remained firm. "Principal, as the head of the Admissions Office, and with decades of experience judging people, I stake my reputation on this: this young man named Lin Ye is worth investing in."

"I ask you to decide."

The department representatives were left speechless by Xu Mingde's arguments. They all looked to Ye Wanjun, waiting for his decision.

Ye Wanjun had listened in silence, his fingers tapping lightly on the table. He looked at Xu Mingde, visibly worked up, then at Lin Ye's calm, resolute face on the screen, and at the eye-catching "Ranking Tournament Performance Score: 36."

After a moment, Ye Wanjun stopped tapping and spoke slowly. His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced all discussion. "Give him the Foundation-Building Blood-Qi Pill."

"Principal."

The representative from the Resources Department was about to say more, but Ye Wanjun raised a hand to stop him. His gaze was calm, yet carried an unquestionable authority. "Director Xu is right. Fenglei Martial University needs a true genius of its own. A little medicinal resource is worth the gamble on a promising future."

"Also, I'll find a way to cover the shortage of pills."

"That's settled. Approved."

Meanwhile.

It was late summer, and the sun blazed overhead. Just as Zheng Huai was preparing to recover from the bad news his old comrade-in-arms Jiang He had given him, the terminal he'd left on the coffee table vibrated again.

But this time, the caller wasn't Jiang He. It was an unfamiliar number, though the words "Fenglei Martial University" appeared beneath it.

Zheng Huai raised an eyebrow. Fenglei Martial University?

That school ranked dead last among the regional Martial Universities.

What did they want with him?

He tapped to answer the voice call. A man's voice came from the other end, speaking somewhat quickly, with a hint of brisk decisiveness.

"Hello, may I speak with Teacher Zheng Huai from Linjiang District Third High School?"

"Yes, this is he. May I ask who's calling?"

"Hello, Teacher Zheng. Sorry for the interruption. I'm Zhou Ting, a teacher in the Third Academy of the Martial Dao Institute at Fenglei Martial University."

When he realized he'd reached the person he was looking for, Zhou Ting's tone softened slightly, and he quickly introduced himself.

"Hello, Teacher Zhou. May I ask what you need?"

Zheng Huai asked politely, privately trying to guess the reason. Then a possibility came to mind: could this guy be hoping to persuade Lin Ye to go to their school through him?

At the thought, his brow furrowed slightly, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

Fenglei Martial University was near the bottom among the regional Martial Universities. Its resources were average, and so was its platform. With Lin Ye's results, there was no way Zheng Huai would send that boy to Fenglei.

"Teacher Zheng, I'll get straight to the point."

On the other end of the terminal, Zhou Ting came right out with it. "This is about your student, Lin Ye. Our school—or more precisely, our Martial Dao Institute—has completed its assessment and unanimously concluded that Lin Ye, whom you taught, is exactly the kind of talent our university needs. So we'd like to specially recruit him to Fenglei Martial University."

So he was right.

Hearing this, Zheng Huai realized he'd guessed correctly. They really did want to use him to get Lin Ye to attend Fenglei Martial University. What a joke. Still, considering that the other party represented a regional Martial University, Zheng Huai remained respectful and replied tactfully, "Teacher Zhou, whether Lin Ye goes to Fenglei Martial University isn't up to me. Besides, given the boy's results, I think he'd have no trouble getting into any of the regional Martial Universities outside the top three. Ultimately, it's up to him, isn't it?"

"Teacher Zheng, you're right. Under the standard admissions process, Lin Ye can choose any regional Martial University he likes. That's his freedom, but..." Zhou Ting paused. He'd heard the slight displeasure in Zheng Huai's tone, and his own voice grew more earnest. "But Fenglei Martial University has never wanted 'maybe.' We want 'certain.'"

"Don't rush to turn me down. Hear me out."

"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough just now. We're offering Lin Ye a special admission."

Zheng Huai's heart stirred. He could hear how highly the other party thought of Lin Ye.

"As a teacher, you should know that special admission isn't the same as regular admission. As long as Lin Ye is willing to come to Fenglei Martial University, we're willing to give him high-level access to resources."

Zhou Ting paused, then listed a series of conditions they'd prepared.

"First, to address Lin Ye's weakness in Blood Qi Value, we promise to provide him with one Foundation-Building Blood-Qi Pill every week during his first academic year. You may not know this, but these pills are fifty percent more effective than ordinary Blood-Qi Pills on the market. They can build a solid Blood Qi foundation as quickly as possible."

"And to be frank, our Admissions Office director fought hard for Lin Ye at the university's talent meeting before finally securing this."

"Second, he'll have unrestricted access to free D-Grade Martial Art loans. If he performs well, he can also apply to borrow C-Grade Martial Arts, with more than half the fees waived."

"Third, once he breaks through to the Blood-Qi Realm, our university will open its Breathing Technique resource library to him, and he can choose whatever he likes."

"Fourth, we promise that if Lin Ye successfully breaks through to the Mortal Shedding Realm while enrolled, we'll reserve him a spot to use a Grade B Star-Power Body Tempering Pool."

The first three offers seemed fine to Zheng Huai. Even when Zhou Ting mentioned the struggle over the Foundation-Building Blood-Qi Pill, Zheng Huai had taken it as a bit of entertainment. He hadn't thought the pill was anything special. But when he heard the final offer, his breathing quickened slightly.

A Grade B Star-Power Body Tempering Pool?

Really?