Feeling the wolfish, tigerish gazes around him, Xu Yuan felt a little melancholy.
Actually, when the guy at the gate told him cultivation rooms could be seized, an idea had popped into his head.
Before anyone else found out, he could find some guy with a low score but a rich family and tell him he would swap cultivation rooms with him for a few tens of thousands.
Someone would definitely be willing to take such a good deal.
That way, although Xu Yuan would lose a better cultivation room, pocketing a few tens of thousands would mean he had not lost out too badly.
In the end, however, he abandoned the idea.
Nobody had provoked him, so who was he supposed to screw over?
Picking someone at random to fleece would be a little hard to justify.
Besides, now that he had stepped onto the path of the Divine Martial Dao, fighting was inevitable. Trading blows with his classmates now would count as accumulating combat experience.
And he might not even lose.
Those at skin tempering sixth stage or above would definitely receive cultivation rooms no worse than his, so they would not challenge him.
In other words, anyone who challenged him would be at skin-polishing fifth stage at most.
And against someone at skin-polishing fifth stage, the outcome really was uncertain.
There was at least one thing these green classmates definitely could not match him in.
He was ruthless!
He had killed people!
He had taken those two beasts who killed him and caused his transmigration down with him!
Although those two might have been revived after he transmigrated, Xu Yuan firmly believed he had killed someone-and two people at that!
With these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan slowly raised his eyes toward those watching him like tigers eyeing their prey.
In an instant, everyone who met Xu Yuan's gaze felt a chill in their hearts.
Some of the guys who were fierce on the outside but hollow within lost their nerve right then, hurriedly averting their eyes.
Even the teachers were surprised.
"This kid has quite an edge. Why does he feel like he's seen blood?"
The teacher from No. 5 Middle School looked at Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan shook his head. "He does have a ruthless streak, but he definitely hasn't killed anyone. Otherwise, he'd have been dealt with long ago."
"True. With his level of strength, if he killed someone, there's no way he could escape the Martial Suppression Department's investigation."
The teacher from No. 5 Middle School agreed with Lin Yuan. "But with that fierce edge of his, any of the other kids who challenge him might end up suffering badly."
Everyone nodded, feeling rather expectant.
Having a tough customer emerge among the students was a good thing.
If they were all docile sheep, that would be a real disaster.
As they spoke, a student could no longer resist raising his hand to ask, "Sir, when can we start issuing challenges?"
"Saturday."
The expressionless teacher said, "You may only challenge others on Saturdays and Sundays. Stirring up trouble at any other time is forbidden! Also, each person can only be challenged once a week. Don't get any sneaky ideas about taking turns wearing someone down!"
Enough ants could bite an elephant to death. Although the top students were strong, they could still lose their cultivation rooms if people targeted them with successive challenges.
And once something like that happened, the students would truly become enemies.
The teachers wanted the students to compete, but there had to be limits. If it ended with a bunch of students bearing grudges as deep as the sea, the joke would have gone much too far.
Someone could even die.
Hearing that they had to wait until Saturday to issue challenges, many looked disappointed. Xu Yuan's gaze shifted slightly instead. Each person could only be challenged once a week-this seemed like a business opportunity too!
With so many people wanting to challenge him, wouldn't he get to decide whose challenge to accept?
When the time came, he could simply hold an auction. Whoever bid the most would earn the right to challenge him!
He probably would not make much, but even a mosquito's leg was still meat!
He was a gold-devouring beast right now. Every little bit he could earn counted!
"All right, go to your respective teachers now to collect your martial technique manuals!"
The expressionless teacher paid no attention to their reactions, continuing at his own pace.
The martial technique manuals were not books, but thoroughly modern objects resembling USB drives.
Or rather, they were USB drives; they simply had a different name on Earth Star: electronic slips.
Electronic slips could be read using either a computer or a phone, making them very convenient.
Their security just was not very good. Whether the martial techniques inside were passed on to outsiders depended entirely on whether the students had the guts.
Of course, the main reason for such a casual approach was that second-tier martial techniques were not valuable enough for Great Xia to attach much importance to them. Teaching higher-tier martial techniques certainly would not be so simple.
"Once you receive your martial techniques, memorize them as soon as possible, then destroy the electronic slips. Otherwise, if they fall into someone else's hands, you know the consequences!"
As Lin Yuan opened a palm-sized box, revealing dozens of electronic slips neatly arranged inside, he solemnly warned the students from No. 3 Middle School.
"Understood."
"Got it."
Everyone nodded, indicating they understood.
If an electronic slip fell into someone else's hands, even if it had been stolen or taken by force, it would still cause a great deal of trouble.
Everyone understood that.
"Good. Come up in order, then. Just tell me which martial technique you chose," Lin Yuan said.
With that, everyone stepped forward one by one and gave the name of their martial technique. Lin Yuan handed them electronic slips bearing different-colored labels according to the names they gave.
Xu Yuan observed for a while and discovered that most people had chosen the Savage Bull Mountain-Treading Strike, which complemented the Savage Bull Skin-Toughening Method.
And this was not just the case at No. 3 Middle School. The other four high schools were much the same.
That made things very comfortable.
With everyone choosing the same thing as him, his martial technique coaching business would be much easier!
A dozen or so minutes later, the martial techniques had all been distributed. With a broad wave of his hand, the expressionless teacher led everyone to a passage connecting the outer and inner zones.
Without saying anything, he took out a pass and swiped it over the turnstile at the entrance. The turnstile opened automatically.
Seeing this, the students took out their own passes and swiped their way in one after another.
Xu Yuan also took out his pass, though his was somewhat different from the others'.
Zhang Yaying had knitted him a red card sleeve overnight, with the words "peace and safety" embroidered on it in golden thread. It was very pretty.
The eyes of several nearby girls immediately lit up when they saw it.
"Xu Yuan, where did you buy that card sleeve? It's so pretty!"
Xu Yuan paused, the corners of his mouth lifting involuntarily. "A worldwide limited edition. The only one!"
The girls rolled their eyes.
If he did not want to tell them, he could just say so. A worldwide limited edition, indeed.
The martial arts base's inner zone was divided into twelve sections, each with three floors and twenty-five cultivation rooms per floor.
The twelve sections formed a cylinder, with the divinity-gathering apparatus worth billions right in its center.
Xu Yuan emerged from the passage into the inner zone and saw rows of small rooms with tightly shut doors.
These were the so-called cultivation rooms.
Looking through the corridors between the many cultivation rooms, he saw the divinity-gathering apparatus towering in the center of the base!
The entire device stood three or four stories tall. Its exterior was a high-tech mechanical framework, while at its center floated a massive red crystal, slowly rising and falling!
The crystal was translucent throughout and breathtakingly beautiful. One glance told him it was worth a fucking fortune!
That might have spoiled the mood a little, but it truly was Xu Yuan's first thought.
"You're currently standing on the first floor of Section Twelve. From now on, you'll cultivate in Section Twelve and the neighboring Section Eleven!"
Once everyone had entered, the expressionless teacher's voice rang out again. "The cultivation rooms on every floor are divided into five grades: A, B, C, D, and E. Now, we'll begin allocating cultivation rooms based on your assessment scores!"
"The twelve students with scores above 89.8, go to the grade-A cultivation rooms!"
At his words, Qiao Xueyan, Lin Xiao, Zhang Juye, Zhou Ling, and the other top students from each school stepped forward, heading toward the cultivation rooms closest to the divinity-gathering apparatus.
Everyone else watched, their eyes filling with envy!
After all, paying for a grade-A cultivation room yourself would cost over ten thousand a day!
Envious though they were, few dared covet those rooms.
These top students were all at skin grinding seventh stage or above. Challenging them would just be asking for a beating.
"The twenty-four students with scores above 79.2, go to the grade-B cultivation rooms!"
After the twelve top students entered their respective cultivation rooms, the expressionless teacher's voice continued.
Xu Yuan's gaze shifted slightly, and he stepped toward the nearest grade-B cultivation room.
And the moment he moved, every eye was truly on him!
"Holy shit! Xu Yuan gets a grade-B cultivation room?!"
"Actually, he really does. He scored 80.2!"
"Fuck, I'm challenging him on Saturday. None of you had better steal my chance!"
"Heh, you think you can challenge him just because you say so? Who the fuck are you? He's mine!"
Hearing the voices behind him and feeling everyone's impatient greed, Xu Yuan could not help grinding his teeth.
Every last one of them was treating him like a soft persimmon. If he did not fleece these fuckers until they cried for their mothers and fathers, he would be letting himself down!