However, although the Qingyuan Sword Trial wasn't "that difficult," the rewards were quite good.
At this point, we had to introduce a special currency used at Qingyuan: learning points.
Learning points were an exceptionally valuable currency. One point had the purchasing power of ten yuan, but ten yuan couldn't be converted back into a learning point.
Their most basic use was paying for meals in the school cafeteria, buying things at the school supermarket, or even paying tuition directly.
Tuition was a particularly good use for them: paying with learning points earned you a thirty percent discount.
And upon graduation, you could go to the School Administration Office and exchange them for cash at a rate of one to ten.
Besides that, learning points had more advanced uses, such as changing seats or even switching classes.
As long as you had enough points, you could do whatever you wanted, to a certain extent.
The only problem was that learning points couldn't be traded between students. You could only use them yourself, for your own benefit.
This rule was tied to how Qingyuan's students earned learning points.
The most common way to get them was through exams. In each monthly exam, the top three in a class and the top ten in a grade usually earned points. The latter were awarded especially well: the top student in the grade received as many as two hundred.
What did two hundred mean? At an exchange rate of one to ten, that was two thousand yuan. With nearly ten major exams a year, you could earn close to twenty thousand.
In other words, you could cover your tuition and living expenses just by studying.
On top of that, students could earn a certain number of points by winning honors in off-campus competitions or performing at school events.
The school forum also offered opportunities to earn points through activities posted at certain times.
As for Zhao Cheng, from the time Qingyuan was reorganized to the introduction of the learning-point system, he had been completely shut out of earning any.
Forget the top ten in his grade—even getting into the top three in his class was an uphill battle for someone of his ability.
Of course, since Zhao Cheng's class had a low average score, the points awarded for placing in the top three weren't worth much. But whether they were worth much had absolutely nothing to do with Zhao Cheng.
His learning-point balance had always been zero.
That was nothing like some of the top students, who paid for not only their cafeteria meals but even their tuition with learning points. They were loaded.
The points didn't come from funding allocated by the education bureau. They were drawn from the cafeteria's profits, the school supermarket's profits, and the school-choice fees paid by some students. Every transaction was publicly available for inspection.
With an entire school supporting a small group of top students, it was easy to provide for them.
And this incentive system worked very well.
Of course, Qingyuan hadn't come up with it. The system had begun to take off around thirty years ago.
At first, it was used only at top-tier schools in a handful of first-tier cities. Only those schools had the resources to manage it.
As the economy continued to grow and people became wealthier, the system spread at astonishing speed, like a prairie fire: first to top schools in first-tier cities, then to those in second-tier cities.
As for a third-tier city like Xiangnan, under normal circumstances, it would take at least another decade. And even then, Qingyuan might not be chosen; at most, it would be Xiangnan No. 1 High School.
After each Sword Trial, the students in the Kendo Class were rewarded with learning points according to their rankings.
But unlike ordinary students, Kendo Class students had additional exchange privileges and could redeem points for certain special items.
When buying these special items, their learning points had three times the purchasing power.
In other words, one learning point was worth thirty yuan.
The points awarded were as follows:
First place: 300 learning points
Second to fifth place: 150 learning points
Sixth to tenth place: 80 learning points
Eleventh to fifteenth place: 60 learning points
Sixteenth to twentieth place: 40 learning points
Twentieth to twenty-fifth place: 30 learning points
Twenty-fifth to thirtieth place: 20 learning points
Thirtieth to thirty-fifth place: 15 learning points
The resources awarded to first place were twenty times those given to the last-place student.
This was what Shi Tianyi meant when he said that resources always flowed toward the strong.
The gap in the Qingyuan Kendo Class might seem brutal, but even the student in last place received purchasing power equivalent to about 450 yuan.
After all, this was school. Real life was even harsher; there was no such thing as a safety net.
The strong truly got everything, while the weak got nothing.
Those who had would be given even more, while those who had nothing would have even the little they had taken away.
After fighting his way to third place, Zhao Cheng had earned 150 learning points in one go. Exchanged for special items, those points were equivalent to 4,500 yuan.
Four thousand five hundred might not sound like much, but Zhao Cheng knew his parents both had full-time jobs, and their combined monthly salary was only around fifteen thousand yuan.
And on that income, they had bought a home in less than ten years, supported two children through school, and never skimped on their pocket money.
As for prices, a bowl of noodles now cost two yuan. That gave you an idea of the purchasing power of 4,500 yuan.
Zhao Cheng had entered the workforce in his previous life and taken a beating from society. In this life, he had embarked on an extraordinary path. That was why he wasn't shaken by the "windfall" of 150 learning points. A real high school student who suddenly came into that much money would surely have been thrown into some turmoil.
There was one more thing: Qingyuan held a Sword Trial every half month.
That showed just how deep Qingyuan's pockets were. It seemed they lacked everything except money.
Many people wondered about this, and plenty of rumors and hearsay had sprung up around it.
It was said that Qingyuan was a trial site for a large-scale project and, due to certain special circumstances, had received funding from a major financial group. That was what had fueled its sudden rise.
"The Kendo Class supply office will open shortly. You placed third this time, so you have 150 learning points. Don't save them—spend them all."
"I can tell your spiritual power is very strong, but your physique is a little weak. You've never taken supplements before, either. So what suits you best right now is Tianxin Pharmaceutical's Three Treasures Health Pill and Three Yang Body Cleansing Water."
"The former nourishes the three treasures from within. Over time, it strengthens the internal organs and fills them with vitality. The latter nourishes the muscles, bones, and skin from the outside. Over time, it makes your bones and muscles stronger and more supple, and your body more open and fluid."
"Neither medicine is particularly potent, but both are well suited to your current stage."
"The Three Treasures Health Pill costs three learning points, and the Three Yang Body Cleansing Water costs five. Exchange your points for twenty-eight pills and thirteen doses of the cleansing water. That should last until the next Sword Trial."
"You should be practicing your sword twice a day. Take one Three Treasures Health Pill after each session. After taking it, circulate your breathing method for fifteen minutes to get the best effect."
"Use the Three Yang Body Cleansing Water when you bathe. Soak your whole body, holding your breath as you do. Don't leave your head out, either. Soak for twenty minutes per dose, then circulate your breathing method for another twenty minutes. That will give you the best results."