I Have No Choice But to Take First Place

"Wind Splitting Leg: observed the martial demonstration, benefited greatly, cultivation speed increased fivefold!"

"Wind Splitting Leg reached Great Success, continuing to strive forward."

After school that afternoon, Lu Chong continued training Wind Splitting Leg with his head teacher. In just over ten minutes, he broke through to Great Success.

Head Teacher Wang Tong was startled and had no choice but to stop teaching helplessly. He smiled bitterly and said, "You kid, breaking through in cultivation today is one thing, but Wind Splitting Leg directly reaching Great Success too."

"Looks like in a few days, I won't have anything left to teach you."

Lu Chong quickly humbly replied, "How could that be, teacher? You haven't passed on the school's other three Martial Skills to me yet."

Wang Tong felt a stifled frustration. It really was a slap in the face. Just yesterday, he had warned Lu Chong not to be greedy and set two conditions he thought were harsh.

Who could have guessed that today Lu Chong's cultivation would break through, and even Wind Splitting Leg would directly reach Great Success?

What about reaching Microscopic in a month? With this kid's current freakish level, he'd probably finish it in another three or four days.

"Keep cultivating. We'll talk after your Wind Splitting Leg reaches Microscopic."

Clinging to the last shred of his dignity, Wang Tong continued teaching face-to-face.

Lu Chong didn't say more, but after Wind Splitting Leg reached Great Success, the difficulty increased. Even with the head teacher's Perfection-level guidance, the speed dropped sharply by half.

Now, each hour only added 16% progress.

"A mid-grade Martial Skill really is much harder," Lu Chong thought to himself, not daring to voice it, afraid the head teacher might hit him.

After an hour, the head teacher didn't rush Lu Chong to leave. Instead, he asked curiously, "I heard you were threatened by someone from Class 1 today?"

Lu Chong said indifferently, "It wasn't really a threat. Don't worry, teacher. They just wanted to hire me as a private tutor."

Wang Tong frowned. "Private tutor? I suspect Li Chengjun is behind it, using a honey trap, mixing threats and bribes to pull you into their class."

"Lu Chong, don't worry. Just focus on your cultivation. If you really run into trouble, the Old Principal and I have your back." Wang Tong guaranteed.

"Thanks, teacher. I'm fine, and I'm not interested in their recruitment." Lu Chong reassured his head teacher.

"Good. As a Martial Artist, you still need to be mentally prepared to face conflicts at any time. This might not be a bad thing for you."

After speaking earnestly, the head teacher let Lu Chong leave.

Over the next period, Lu Chong's life became calm and very routine.

During the day, he attended class as usual and took time to guide his classmates in their Martial Skill training.

After school in the evening, he first trained Wind Splitting Leg with the head teacher, then went to practice with Lou Qingqing. When he got home, he used the Medicinal Bath to cultivate the Golden Cicada Robe, and before sleeping, he actively cultivated the Qi Absorbing Art.

Even on weekends, Lu Chong didn't waste time. Instead, he seized the chance to train or spent more time guiding Lou Qingqing to earn extra money.

After all, cultivating the Golden Cicada Robe cost five thousand every day, and he was barely making ends meet.

In such days, his strength grew visibly every day, whether in cultivation or Martial Skills.

Five days later, Lu Chong's Wind Splitting Leg smoothly reached Microscopic.

Head Teacher Wang Tong kept his word. Shocked, delighted, and resigned, he passed on the school's remaining three Martial Skills to Lu Chong.

Time continued to flow. For most senior high students, the grueling sprint phase was hard to endure, but Lu Chong treasured it, never daring to waste a single day.

In the blink of an eye, it was March 29, 2136. Tomorrow was the last mock exam before the College Entrance Exam.

That night at 10:30, Lu Chong rose from the bathtub, another layer of dead skin peeling off his body.

"The Golden Cicada Robe finally reached Microscopic. Over twenty days—not easy!"

A rich metallic luster spread across his skin, as if plated in gold.

Lu Chong extended his right hand and tapped his left arm, producing a solid thudding sound.

When his Golden Cicada Robe was at Great Success, he had tested it at home. Chopping with a kitchen knife had chipped the blade, but his skin remained unbroken.

Now that it had reached Microscopic, he didn't know how strong his defense was.

At the Microscopic level, the Golden Cicada Robe didn't just affect skin and muscle—even his bones began to strengthen, which was remarkable.

Though Lu Chong still looked lean, at 1.83 meters tall, he weighed nearly 500 jin, showing just how dense his body was.

Lu Chong retracted the Golden Cicada Robe's unusual state, and his skin returned to normal. But even in this ordinary form, his defense and physical strength were still terrifying.

After all, to get the Golden Cicada Robe started as quickly as possible, he had spent nearly two hundred thousand over these twenty days, leaving his savings barely above ten thousand.

"But my progress these days isn't just the Golden Cicada Robe."

Lu Chong looked at his personal data—

Name: Lu Chong

Level: Martial Apprentice Stage 8 (18%)

Martial Skills: Nine-Shadow Step Perfection

Monument-Splitting Palm Perfection

Cloud Piercing Finger Perfection

Mountain Leaning Back – Perfection

Eagle Claw Technique – Perfection

Iron Wire Fist – Perfection

Heart-Piercing Kick – Perfection

Wind Splitting Leg – Perfection

Golden Cicada Robe – Microscopic (1%)

For an ordinary person, twenty days might bring negligible progress.

But for Lu Chong, those twenty days had covered a path that would take others years, or even a lifetime, to walk.

His cultivation had risen to Martial Apprentice Stage 8, and aside from Golden Cicada Robe, all eight of his Martial Skills had reached Perfection.

After all, even if Lu Chong didn't actively cultivate those Low-grade Martial Skills, letting them train on their own, twenty days was more than enough to reach Perfection.

This rate of progress was too frightening. Lu Chong himself didn't think much of it, but his Head Teacher, who watched him grow every day, had recently started getting so stressed his nose bled.

Even so, the Head Teacher only knew about Lu Chong's cultivation level and the progress of Wind Splitting Leg. He had no idea that Golden Cicada Robe had reached Microscopic, or that the several newly learned martial arts had all achieved Perfection.

Afraid that his Head Teacher and classmates couldn't handle it, Lu Chong had never revealed his other Martial Skills.

"But now, my consumption is getting bigger and bigger, and my cultivation speed, along with the training speed of Golden Cicada Robe, has slowed down."

He now had to consume five Nutrition Bars a day. Even so, the automatic cultivation speed of Qi Absorbing Art was very slow, with his cultivation level increasing only 5% per day.

As for Golden Cicada Robe, it went without saying. Even with the help of Medicinal Baths after reaching Microscopic, it only improved by 1% each day.

"With two months left until the College Entrance Exam, at this rate, it'll be hard for me to break through to Martial Artist by then."

"And Golden Cicada Robe won't reach Perfection either."

Lu Chong was somewhat dissatisfied. "To speed things up further, I need more money to buy higher-grade Nutrients and more Medicinal Baths."

With no other Martial Skills to cultivate for now, Lu Chong would have to focus most of his time and energy on raising his cultivation level and improving Golden Cicada Robe.

"So, for this mock exam, I have no choice. I have to take first place." Lu Chong made up his mind.

He absolutely couldn't let go of the thirty-thousand prize.