After two straight victories, Chen Yuan had secured first place in his group. According to last month's rules, he would receive six taels of silver in support this month.
There was no need for the other two to compete.
Gao Mingchang had been injured internally by the force of his Drill Fist. Even if he stubbornly insisted on fighting, he was certain to lose, and would only make his injury worse.
After Huang Yan reminded him of this, he thought it through and conceded.
His face darkened, and he glared at Chen Yuan with even greater venom.
Gao Mingchang had thought today would be his lucky day. Chen Yuan, whom he disliked, had offended Yu Yan, and he had gloated over it.
He had also drawn a favorable match. If everything went smoothly, taking second place in the group would be no problem.
Instead, he had fallen to dead last! And now he'd have to spend plenty of time recovering from his injuries!
Forget Chen Yuan—even Cao Yan might catch up to him while he was sidelined.
He'd tried to steal a chicken, only to lose the rice he'd used as bait; he'd ended up losing both his wife and his soldiers!
After Chen Yuan left the arena, Sun Chengjie was still grinning. "Brother Chen, look at Gao Mingchang's face—it's black as coal. Serves him right!"
Chen Yuan's expression remained calm.
Gao Mingchang had tried to gouge out his eyes, and his intentions had been vicious. Chen Yuan wasn't about to go easy on him.
He could go nurse his injuries alongside that piece of trash, Chen Kai.
His gaze swept past the others, and he spotted Yu Yan watching him intently, his expression unreadable. Chen Yuan couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Chen Yuan calmly looked away.
Yu Yan seemed steady on the surface, but he was actually petty. Chen Yuan would need to be on his guard around him from now on.
With that, the sparring in their group was over.
The other two matches passed without incident.
Sun Chengjie defeated He Qing, then lost to Xue Anping. The rankings were settled.
The sparring ended in barely half an hour.
After a brief, quiet discussion with Huang Yan, Gu Ye solemnly announced the results of this month's assessment:
"Yu Yan has trained diligently without pause and made rapid progress. A few days ago, he successfully broke through and became a Skin Realm martial artist. Congratulations! He'll receive five taels of silver as a reward. His monthly support will also be raised to ten taels!"
At those words, everyone turned to look at Yu Yan. That was fifteen taels of silver! An unimaginable fortune to them!
Chen Yuan clicked his tongue softly, too. The Gu Family really was willing to spend money.
Gu Ye cleared his throat and continued, "There's no need to be envious. If you can break through within three months, the Gu Family will reward you with three taels of silver as well!"
Clearly, he was speaking to Chen Yuan and the other two. They were the only ones with a chance of breaking through within three months.
However, Gao Mingchang, who had originally been the most likely to succeed, now had the slimmest chance. His expression grew even darker.
Chen Yuan kept his expression neutral.
A five-tael reward for breaking through within two months and three taels within three months. That seemed reasonable.
Xue Anping and the others waited with flickering eyes, eager to find out what the reward would be for breaking through within four months.
But Gu Ye said nothing more. His gaze passed over Chen Yuan and the other two before he continued:
"In this sparring match, Chen Yuan placed first and made significant progress. His monthly support will be raised to six taels. Cao Yan placed second and will continue to receive five taels, unchanged. Gao Mingchang placed third, and his monthly support will be lowered to four taels."
After speaking, he regarded Chen Yuan with approval.
He had thought that Chen Yuan, the strongest among the Grade D-Uppers, was only a little stronger than Xue Anping and the others. He hadn't expected Chen Yuan to leave two C-Grade Lower Bone Structures behind in just two months.
Chen Yuan was still some distance behind Yu Yan, but he could still become a capable asset with proper cultivation.
As for Gao Mingchang, Gu Ye felt no pity for him and had no intention of making an exception just because he was injured.
Chen Yuan had hit him hard, but Gao Mingchang had started it. He had brought this on himself.
Cao Yan gave Chen Yuan a long, complicated look.
Her original goal had been to secure second place, and she'd been willing to spend five qian of silver to hold on to it.
She hadn't expected things to work out this way. She'd kept her money and taken second place with ease.
She was even more grateful that Chen Yuan hadn't hit her as hard.
Gu Ye then turned his gaze to Xue Anping and the other two.
He Qing tensed in an instant, his heart leaping into his throat. The sight of Liu Jin being eliminated a month ago was still fresh in his mind.
He'd ranked last this week, making him the most likely to be eliminated!
Then Gu Ye announced:
"Among the three of you, Xue Anping placed first, and his monthly support will be raised to three taels. Sun Chengjie placed second and will continue to receive two taels, unchanged. He Qing placed third, and his monthly support will be lowered to one tael."
He Qing first breathed a sigh of relief, then realized something was wrong.
One tael of support per month? That would barely cover his tuition! What was he supposed to eat?
His face fell. How was this any different from being eliminated?
After announcing the basic results, Gu Ye continued:
"Building up one's qi and blood is like rowing upstream: if you don't move forward, you fall behind. You must press on with courage and break through the Skin Realm in a single push. The longer you delay, the more silver you'll spend, yet your qi and blood may not even grow.
"Therefore, to help you break through the Skin Realm, all six of you will receive an additional tael of silver on top of the support I just announced."
Then Gu Ye changed tack, his voice turning grave.
"However, everyone must break through the Skin Realm within four months. Anyone who fails will be eliminated."
The new rule brought joy to some and worry to others.
Chen Yuan was naturally pleased. For him, it meant an extra increase in support.
Four months was more than enough time. His goal was to earn the three-tael reward.
Xue Anping, on the other hand, looked grave.
He'd been wondering why there was no reward for breaking through in four months. It turned out that four months was the cutoff.
Clearly, the Gu Family didn't want to spend any more time or money on them. They were forcing them to push hard over the next two months.
Make it, and you stayed. Fail, and you were out.
Could he do it in four months?
Sun Chengjie and He Qing felt the pressure even more. Master Huo had said they might have a chance of breaking through if they trained hard for six months, but the Gu Family was giving them only four.
He Qing was in an especially difficult spot. His support had been cut and then increased again, so although his beef supply had been restored, he now had only two taels of silver. His odds of breaking through were less than one in ten.
At least Sun Chengjie still had three taels.
Unless they could find some silver elsewhere.
For instance, by going into the mountains to hunt. He Qing clenched his fists, steeling his resolve.
After the assessment ended, everyone went their separate ways.
The people at Huo Academy continued their arduous training.
Chen Yuan was doing it to break through the Skin Realm as soon as possible and claim the reward. Under the pressure of the four-month deadline, Xue Anping and the other two had no choice but to strive forward with all their might.
Leaves piled up, and time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, dawn came again.
Chen Yuan sat up in bed and stretched, then looked at the panel.
But his Dao of Survival Points were still at 9. Nothing had changed.
He looked at the evaluation:
[Host, you openly fell out with Yu Yan, making an enemy and planting a hidden danger for your future cultivation. This does not conform to the principles of the Dao of Survival. Dao of Survival Points +0.]
Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow. This was the first time he'd gotten zero.
But the system had a point. He really had planted a hidden danger.
Still, was there a better way?
He could've taken the silver and played along, settling for last place—but then he'd have lost both money and face.
Could he have paid more to buy Yu Yan off? He didn't have any money! The only funds he had were the two taels his aunt had given him last time, and he'd already spent quite a bit of that.
Could he have knelt down and begged Yu Yan to let him off? Forget it. The softer he acted, the more Yu Yan might take advantage of him.
Chen Yuan stopped dwelling on it. It had already happened; there was no point in wearing himself down over it.
It was only three Dao of Survival Points.
If he'd chosen to swallow his anger, he would've lost far more than that.
Some troubles in this world simply couldn't be avoided.
He put the matter out of his mind, got dressed, and headed for Huo Academy.
He wondered where the seven taels of support would go. Surely he could make those three Dao of Survival Points back!
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