"Brother Yuan! You're so freaking awesome!!!"
As soon as Xu Yuan finished answering the questions, Fatty rushed over.
His chubby face was flushed bright red with excitement!
A martial skill at the Transformation Realm—that was seriously freaking awesome!
Forget a remote little city like Yang City. Even in ranked cities, people who could train a martial skill to the Transformation Realm were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns!
"Basic stuff. How much did we collect?"
Xu Yuan waved a hand, looking utterly unconcerned.
Basic stuff?
What was basic stuff?
Fatty didn't understand, but he didn't ask. He hurriedly handed Xu Yuan his phone. "I only had a little over two hundred in my balance before. Now there's over eight thousand three hundred. We collected eight thousand one hundred in total!"
That much?
Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. Martial arts students really did have money.
Tsk, tsk. Add the six thousand from before, and that's fourteen thousand!
It's like picking money up off the fucking ground. Sweet!
With that thought, Xu Yuan had Fatty transfer him eight thousand, leaving him a hundred for his trouble.
Fatty was delighted and didn't think it was too little at all. He had only tapped his phone a few times. A hundred yuan was already pretty sweet.
I'd do that again anytime!
Watching the two of them fiddle with the transfer, the students who had placed bets nearly ground their teeth to pieces.
That fucker Xu Yuan really deserved to die!
But when they looked at Zhang Baosheng's unfocused eyes, they felt better.
Compared to that guy, what did losing a little money matter?
"Assemble!"
Soon, Niu Gang's booming voice rang out again.
Everyone already knew the assessment results, and some had even posted about passing on their Heavenly Messenger Moments to show off, but they still had to go through the proper procedures.
A sense of ceremony was important.
The students quickly lined up, facing the solemn members of the invigilation team.
As No. 3 Middle School's principal, Zhou Tai had barely made his presence felt earlier, but now he stepped forward.
"I'm very pleased with everyone's performance today!"
With a kindly smile, Zhou Tai set the tone for his speech before continuing:
"Three students at Skin Grinding Seventh Stage, and one martial arts prodigy. Since No. 3 Middle School established its martial arts class, we have never achieved results this good. As your principal, I'm proud of you! No. 3 Middle School is proud of you..."
Zhou Tai truly lived up to his position as principal. His polished phrases came one after another, his voice so impassioned and stirring that even those who had failed felt they shared in the glory.
And that was precisely why he had been asked to speak now.
A brute like Niu Gang couldn't say anything like that.
If he took over, he might just unleash a torrent of abuse.
And Niu Gang's thoughts at that moment weren't far off.
A bunch of useless trash. What's there to praise?
Especially those dozen or so students with tier-two talent who hadn't passed. They had actually lost to Luo Han, who only had tier-one talent. As far as Niu Gang was concerned, they deserved a hundred punishment laps around the field!
"Now, students whose names I call, step out!"
After three minutes of grand-sounding platitudes, Zhou Tai finally got to the point:
"Zhang Juye, Liu Yin, Zhou Ling, Huang Yun, Hou Le, Lin Qingqing, Zhang Mingyu, Chen Jiayu, Xu Yuan..."
As each name was called, those who had passed stepped out and formed a new line to the side.
"Congratulations on passing this year's martial arts class assessment and securing a brighter future for yourselves!"
As he spoke, Zhou Tai led the applause!
Clap, clap, clap...
Thunderous applause instantly filled the examination hall!
"Brother Yuan! We passed! We really passed!"
Fatty was so excited that he clapped his Skin Tempering Fourth Stage palms red!
Xu Yuan didn't feel much. Passing the assessment had been expected.
He was already thinking about taking Sun Hao out to do good deeds.
I wonder what reward the Beast Ranking will give me for rising to ninth place?
Zhou Tai waited until the applause died down, then turned toward those who hadn't passed and continued with a smile:
"Those who didn't pass, don't be discouraged! The assessment is over, but your lives have only just begun! As long as you're willing to work hard, whether you take the college entrance exam or join the Divine Guard Army, I believe you can all carve out bright futures for yourselves!"
Hearing this, everyone knew they were about to arrange things for those who had failed.
Sure enough, a moment later, Zhou Tai said, "If you choose the college entrance exam, go to Director Li. He'll take you to the academic affairs office to register shortly!"
"If you choose to join the Divine Guard Army, register here with Commander Cao."
Zhou Tai extended a hand, inviting Cao Wanwei forward to speak.
Cao Wanwei wasted no time. He immediately stepped forward, a smile appearing on his resolute face. "I'm Cao Wanwei, commander of the Divine Guard Army's Fifth Battalion in Yang City. Let me first welcome all of you to join us!"
"I won't go on about lofty principles like defending our homes and country. I'm a rough fellow, and I'm no good at that stuff. I'll only tell you this: join the Divine Guard Army, and as long as you dare to fight and strive, your prospects won't necessarily be worse than those of the students who passed!"
Without any hesitation, he pointed at the students who had passed. "Take me, for example. I didn't pass back then either. But now, I'm at the perfected Bone Tempering Ninth Stage, only a single step away from the Blood Exchange Realm!"
As his words fell, the pressure of the Bone Tempering Ninth Stage erupted with a boom!
A faint yet palpable pressure instantly enveloped the students!
Xu Yuan's breath caught, and every hair on his body stood on end!
It was as though what stood before him wasn't a person, but a ferocious tiger about to choose someone to devour!
How terrifying!
Facing someone like this, never mind winning-even making a move would take immense courage!
This was what they called rank pressure!
The pressure lasted only two seconds before Cao Wanwei withdrew it.
A smile bloomed on his face again. "Of my classmates who passed the assessment back then, only two or three are stronger than me now. Consider for yourselves which path you want to take!"
By the time he finished, the eyes of the students who hadn't passed were positively shining!
Their gazes toward Cao Wanwei instantly filled with longing and admiration.
The Bone Tempering Ninth Stage was very powerful!
At least in a place like Yang City, that made him a top-tier powerhouse!
Even with only a tier-one Bone Forging method, a standard punch could deliver twenty thousand jin of force!
What did twenty thousand jin mean?
An adult elephant only weighed twelve or thirteen thousand jin!
Using only the strength of his arm, a Bone Forging stage-nine powerhouse could send an adult elephant flying with one punch!
How formidable was that?
"He really has the nerve to sell them that line. How many people like him does he think there are?"
Seeing the students' blood boiling at the speech, Chen Rui couldn't help curling his lip.
"There's no helping it. Divine substance is growing more concentrated, and more and more Weird Beasts and aberrant plants are mutating out there. The Divine Guard Army needs people."
Niu Gang sighed. "Yang City only has it this good because of its location. There aren't any deep mountains or ancient forests nearby. Otherwise, who knows how many people would've died."
At this subject, Chen Rui and Lin Yuan beside him immediately grew somber.
Weird Beasts and aberrant plants kept emerging.
For fifty years, it had never stopped.
Although human powerhouses continued to emerge as well, they were still struggling to cope.
Great Xia was relatively well off. Its large population produced plenty of powerhouses.
Though quite a few large forests within its borders were spawning Weird Beasts and aberrant plants at a frenzied rate, they could still barely keep them suppressed.
Some small countries near enormous primeval forests were on the verge of being wiped out.
"Sometimes I envy ordinary people. The less they know, the less they worry. Unlike us, living with our hearts in our throats."
Chen Rui sighed too.
Every country on Earth Star tightly restricted the truth about Weird Beasts and aberrant plants to prevent widespread panic.
What ordinary people knew was only the barest surface.
A few scattered Weird Beasts slipped into cities and ate people, and the incidents made the news. That was all ordinary people could learn.
Only after reaching the Bone Forging Realm were people qualified to know the true situation.
While they were talking, Cao Wanwei had already led a group of students to the other end of the examination hall.
Computers had been prepared there for students to register for enlistment.
However, not everyone who had failed followed him. Around a dozen went to Director Li instead, intending to take the college entrance exam.
No one said anything about that.
Everyone had their own ambitions. They couldn't force people into the Divine Guard Army, could they?
"Director Niu, I'll leave the rest to you," Zhou Tai said.
"Mm. Go attend to your work, Principal Zhou."
Niu Gang nodded, and Zhou Tai left with the school administrators and those dozen or so students.
Before leaving, he looked at his own son, Zhou Ling, then at Xu Yuan, another trace of regret appearing in his eyes.
"Happy to have passed the assessment?"
The moment Zhou Tai and the others left, Niu Gang turned to Xu Yuan's group with a half-smile.
Everyone tensed. Was this brute about to pull something?
"Some of you are already planning to go celebrate, aren't you? Thinking you're so amazing for passing that you absolutely deserve a treat?" Niu Gang continued.
Everyone looked awkward.
Niu Gang had hit the nail on the head.
Some had even been calling for a group meal in the class chat just now.
"You're celebrating too soon!"
Niu Gang's expression suddenly darkened. "Compared to the geniuses in those big cities, you're far, far behind!"
"Forget anywhere distant. Just take Cloud Sea City, the closest one to us. A level-two city with three million people, five or six thousand martial arts students in each cohort, tier-four talents by the handful, and no shortage of tier-five and tier-six geniuses!"
"In Yang City, the Skin-Polishing Fifth Stage guarantees you a pass. In Cloud Sea, stage six walks the streets, stage five is worth less than a dog, and stages seven and eight only count as excellent. Only those at stage nine, or even already at Bone Forging, count as the cream of the crop!"
"And they're the ones you'll compete against in the martial arts entrance exam!"
"Tell me yourselves, what do you have to be happy about? Do you deserve to be happy?"
At those words, all thirty of the previously jubilant students lost their smiles.
Even Zhang Juye, Zhou Ling, and the others wore solemn expressions, their gazes extremely grave.
Everyone knew Niu Gang was exaggerating to deliberately knock them down a peg, but he wasn't actually exaggerating by much.
A small place like Yang City really was far behind those ranked cities.
"Of course, you don't need to belittle yourselves too much!"
As though changing masks, Niu Gang smiled again. "It's not as if Yang City has never produced anyone whose name shook Great Xia!"
"I don't need to say much about Jiang Qingyun, do I? His cultivation conditions back then were worse than yours, yet through his own hard work, he got into Kunlun Martial Arts University, one of the four great universities. Now, he's even transcended the Physical Body Realm and become a Divine Realm powerhouse renowned throughout the world!"
"As his fellow townspeople, even if you can't match him, surely you won't fall too far short, right?"
Everyone was speechless, their faces darkening.
All this talk about hard work, and not a single word about talent.
Jiang Qingyun had tier-seven divine talent. He had perfected Skin Tempering within one year of joining the martial arts class, entered the Bone Forging Realm in his second year, and was already a Bone Forging stage-seven powerhouse when he took the martial arts entrance exam.
Moreover, Jiang Qingyun was also a martial arts prodigy.
By the martial arts entrance exam, he had trained two tier-one martial skills and one tier-two martial skill to the Transformation Realm!
During the practical combat assessment, he had pounded plenty of geniuses from level-two and even level-three cities until they howled.
How were they supposed to compare?
Compare, my ass!
"All right, that's enough talk. Now let's discuss what resources you'll receive for passing the assessment."
Feeling he had knocked them down enough, Niu Gang got down to business:
"First, one tier-two martial skill each. Choose any one of the following three."
"A kicking technique, Savage Bull Mountain-Treading Strike!"
"A fist technique, Thousand-Jun Rock Breaker!"
"A saber technique, Eightfold Surging Wave Slash!"
Hearing the names of these three martial skills, the boys looked excited, and even Xu Yuan was no exception.
A tier-two martial skill was worth over a hundred thousand, even two hundred thousand yuan!
The dozen or so girls, however, seemed somewhat disappointed, muttering about when the school would finally obtain a tier-two martial skill suitable for girls.
Niu Gang saw and heard them, but ignored it and continued, "Next is free access to train at the Azure Cloud Martial Arts Base!"
"Teacher Lin will issue your passes to the Azure Cloud Martial Arts Base shortly. For the next four months, you can train there for free, right up until the martial arts entrance exam!"
"Finally, cultivation stipends for the top ten in the assessment. First place gets fifty thousand a month, second place thirty thousand, third place twenty thousand, and the rest ten thousand a month."
"You can spend that money however you want, but if you aren't buying cultivation resources, don't let me catch you. Otherwise, not only will you lose your future payments, you'll have to cough up everything you've already received!"
At this point, Niu Gang paused, seemingly remembering something, then put on that half-smile again.
"Forgot to mention: besides cultivating, you'll also have to go out on a mission to hunt Weird Beasts once a month over the next four months. So spend this time building up your courage. Don't piss yourselves in fright when the time comes!"