Terrifying Rewards!

The vast conference room gradually filled with noise.

Martial arts teachers from various cities no longer cared about keeping their voices down and began discussing the matter urgently.

Finally, someone could not hold back any longer and questioned him.

"Lu Jing, after the rules are changed, how will the rewards be calculated?"

As soon as those words were spoken, the discussion quieted down.

The martial arts teachers all stared intently at the short, plump figure in the center of the room.

Under the Rookie Tournament's original rules, the top ten received identical rewards: five million Star Coins and a C-rank martial skill.

They had brought their students here precisely to let them compete for those resources.

"In a battle royale format, there can only be one winner. Naturally, all the rewards will go to that winner."

Lu Jing grinned and said as though it were only natural,

"Whether they're first-years or second-years, the reward will be worth one hundred million Star Coins."

The hopes the martial arts teachers had been holding onto finally died. Looking at Lu Jing's gaping grin, they felt as though they were staring into the jaws of some ravenous beast.

Lu Jing's appetite was anything but small!

For a moment, outrage swept through the room.

"No, we don't agree!"

"That's right! All the promising students are in Wuyi. You're trying to monopolize the rewards!"

"Lu Jing, we're all equals. The Rookie Tournament rules aren't yours to decide alone!"

"Everyone, calm down. Isn't this meeting meant for discussion?"

Lu Jing raised a hand in a calming gesture. His smile gradually faded into a serious expression.

"Everyone, ask yourselves honestly: even if the rules remain unchanged, can your students really make it into the top ten?"

The expressions of more than half the martial arts teachers darkened. That was no different from slapping them across the face.

Someone could not help standing up and saying unhappily,

"Even if Wuyi has many geniuses, at least the promising students from our other cities should have a chance."

"That is true. The old rules were designed for that purpose, but..."

Lu Jing shook his head and sighed.

"Have you ever considered why the Federation established Martial Arts Classes in the first place?"

The subject suddenly rose to a much loftier level, leaving the martial arts teachers unable to refute him easily. They all looked at Lu Jing with uncertainty.

"In the Rookie Tournament, each grade has ten slots, but among those ten, at most one or two can go to New Continent."

"I want to ask you all: where do the rest go?"

Lu Jing swept his gaze around the room, his expression growing increasingly solemn.

"I'm sure you all know that most of them sign contracts with major companies and secure themselves good futures."

"But that is not the original purpose of Martial Arts Classes!"

"The Federation established Martial Arts Classes to uncover geniuses left behind on Old Continent—true geniuses capable of resisting Feral Beasts and conquering the stars!"

"Since only one or two students go to New Continent each year, why should we still spread out the resources and use them to train talent for those companies and conglomerates?"

When his words fell,

the venue fell silent for a moment. All the martial arts teachers calmed down and considered what Lu Jing had said.

Perhaps Lu Jing did have selfish motives, but his reasoning was not wrong.

Just then,

Yuan Hongyan suddenly rose to her feet and said with a beaming smile,

"Old Lu, it's been a year, and you still love preaching lofty principles."

"But I'm happy to hear it today. I agree to changing the rules!"

"Hm?"

Lu Jing froze. He had never expected Yuan Hongyan to be the first to agree.

After all, among the annual Rookie Tournament top ten, aside from Wuyi, Five Plains City had always claimed the most slots.

After the rules changed, they would also suffer the greatest losses.

Unless...

Lu Jing met Yuan Hongyan's smiling, crescent-shaped eyes and suddenly felt a bad premonition.

The other martial arts teachers looked at one another, all guessing that Yuan Hongyan must have some hidden trump card.

But since Yuan Hongyan had agreed, and with Lu Jing's lofty reasoning, they could no longer refute it easily.

In the end, everyone unconsciously turned their eyes toward the first row.

Wan Keshan was slumped in his chair, holding a teacup as he watched the show.

From beginning to end, he had not said a word.

"Wait, why are you all looking at me?"

With everyone's gazes gathered on him, Wan Keshan shifted awkwardly in his seat.

Everyone's faces darkened at his words, and Lu Jing coughed lightly.

"Old Wan, what do you think about this?"

He had no choice but to ask. Although he was the strongest martial arts teacher in Wuyi City,

within this conference room, Wan Keshan was the true number one in combat strength.

Moreover, Wan Keshan was famously unreasonable. It was not as if he had never caused trouble before.

"Hehe, don't worry. I'm the most reasonable person around."

Wan Keshan chuckled twice, his gaze drifting between Lu Jing and Yuan Hongyan.

"A rule like raising poisonous insects—where the strong only grow stronger. It seems you're both very confident in your students!"

Yuan Hongyan kept her mouth shut and ignored Wan Keshan.

"Old Wan, that's going too far."

Lu Jing looked righteous, his expression unchanged as he said,

"Even if my students win the championship, it will still be for the Federation's talent cultivation. If a genius like Mu Yu truly emerges, our entire Martial Righteous Province will be honored..."

Wan Keshan waved a hand to cut him off impatiently.

"Enough. Don't preach your lofty principles to me. I never said I disagreed."

Lu Jing froze, then asked hesitantly,

"You agree?"

Yuan Hongyan's gaze also sharpened as she stared at Wan Keshan.

"Old Lu, there's one thing you said right."

Wan Keshan set down his teacup, rose to his feet, and looked at Lu Jing.

"It's better to concentrate resources instead of wasting them."

With a meaningful smile, Wan Keshan pulled up the Teacher Li beside him and turned to leave.

"Then it's settled."

Yuan Hongyan acted swiftly and decisively, getting up and leaving the room.

Lu Jing stood where he was, watching their retreating backs with uncertainty.

The meeting ended perfectly, and the new rules were established as he had hoped.

Logically, he should have been happy.

Yet Yuan Hongyan and Wan Keshan had agreed so readily in succession that it left him doubting himself.

"Student Li, Student Zhao, this is your dorm room."

Ren Ming led Li Qingshan and Zhao Hongzhou into the room.

The room was simply furnished, containing only two single beds and some disposable toiletries.

But aside from that, there were also two things that absolutely should not have been in a dorm room.

"Virtual Pods!"

Zhao Hongzhou cried out and hurried forward, carefully stroking the Virtual Pods' metal shells.

Li Qingshan stared at the two Virtual Pods, equally puzzled.

"Student Ren, does Wuyi No. 1 High School really have so many Virtual Pods?"

According to Wan Keshan, each of Wuyi's ten high schools should only have ten.

"Student Li, you misunderstand. These two Virtual Pods were prepared for tomorrow's Rookie Tournament. Every dorm room has them."

Ren Ming gave a simple explanation, then reminded the eager Zhao Hongzhou,

"These Virtual Pods were temporarily transferred from the Federation by the school. Their systems have been locked by the AI Brain, so they can only be used for the Rookie Tournament and cannot connect to the virtual Battle Space."

"It's fine. As long as I get to experience a virtual battle tomorrow, this trip will have been worth it."

Zhao Hongzhou rubbed his hands excitedly, his enthusiasm undiminished.

Li Qingshan, meanwhile, was considering Ren Ming's words.

There were a total of seven hundred and fifty first- and second-year participants in this Rookie Tournament, which meant there were seven hundred and fifty Virtual Pods.

The combined number of Virtual Pods in all the Martial Arts Classes across Martial Righteous Province was only around seven hundred and fifty.

With such a huge investment, there had to be major changes to the Rookie Tournament rules!

Unfortunately, Ren Ming only had a partial understanding of the matter as well, so Li Qingshan could not get an answer from him.

However, Ren Ming brought up something else.

"Student Li, Yu Yuanjun's cousin Fu Wu will also be participating in this Rookie Tournament. You should be careful."

"Fu Wu?" Li Qingshan raised a brow when he heard that familiar-sounding name.

"Is Fu Wu strong?"

"Very strong! Fu Wu is the number one second-year student at Wuyi No. 1 High School." Ren Ming thought for a moment, then added,

"Student Li, you're competing in the first-year division, so you won't run into him. As long as you're careful these next two days, you should be fine."

"Alright, got it."

Li Qingshan remembered the name but did not think much of it.

After all, when he beat Yu Yuanjun, he had been "acting according to the law."

If someone really came seeking revenge over that matter, he could also take up the weapon of the law to "protect" himself.

After confirming the dorm's location,

Li Qingshan and Zhao Hongzhou followed Ren Ming downstairs, joined the other students, and headed toward the athletic field together.

The athletic field was packed with people. All the teachers and students from every city had gathered there.

Before long, a short, plump figure stepped onto the stage with a microphone.

"Hello, students. I'm Lu Jing, a martial arts teacher from Wuyi No. 1 High School. I'll now announce the rules of this Rookie Tournament..."

There was no long-winded speech. In just a few sentences, Lu Jing explained the rules of the Rookie Tournament.

But those few sentences were like a massive boulder crashing into a still lake.

The entire athletic field erupted into an uproar.

"What battle royale mode? They're clearly trying to cut off our path!"

"A reward worth one hundred million Star Coins? Sounds nice, but who besides Wuyi City can snatch it?"

"I had a chance to fight for the top ten, but now the reward is gone just like that?"

Under the new rules, only first place in each of the first- and second-year divisions would receive a reward.

Although the reward worth one hundred million was tempting, those two spots were simply beyond their reach!

Such aggressive rules were difficult for the overwhelming majority of students to accept.

Especially those students who had originally hoped to compete for the top ten. They were furious and rushed to their martial arts teachers to protest.

For a time, the entire athletic field seemed to turn into a marketplace, filled with clamor.

Amid the commotion, one figure remained utterly unmoved.

Li Qingshan stood where he was, his eyes shining with a terrifying brightness!