A New Mission, Money in Hand

"A property in Qinghe Garden!"

In the room, Qin Dahe and Li Xiufen were thrilled when they heard the city announcement.

In downtown Rongcheng, there were many residential communities built specifically for martial artists' families.

These communities were all upscale, but there were still differences among them.

Qinghe Garden was the most upscale of them all, whether in terms of its surroundings or anything else. There were even rumors that its security guards were martial artists.

"Thank you, President!" Qin Chen said to Zhu Yuan.

Zhu Yuan had only just said he had made the arrangements, and the announcement had come immediately afterward. Clearly, he had timed his visit.

"I told you, this is what you deserve. Besides, I only told the city lord's manor about your situation. Issuing this announcement wasn't the Martial Artist Association's doing," Zhu Yuan said with a smile.

Qin Chen smiled and didn't stand on ceremony. How could he not understand? The Martial Arts Association must have told the city lord's manor about him and the Zhao Family.

That was why this reward included a property, so he could move as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, the reward would most likely have consisted only of prize money and martial arts. As for a house, he would have had to buy one himself.

Besides, a property in Qinghe Garden was probably very hard to buy.

"There's something else I need to tell you!" Zhu Yuan suddenly grew serious, looking very solemn.

Qin Chen said nothing, simply waiting for him to continue.

"Do you know about the General Star Selection?" Zhu Yuan began.

"The General Star Selection?" Qin Chen shook his head, but inwardly he stirred. Judging by the name, the selection sounded impressive.

"It seems your instructors haven't told you about it yet."

"The General Star title was first proposed by our Dragon Country. This year, each of the four theater commands will select one General Star. If they enter the military later, they'll receive special training."

"Don't you have a grudge with the Zhao Family? Getting certified as a martial artist can only keep your family safe. But if you want to settle things for good, becoming a General Star might be an option," Zhu Yuan suggested.

"Hm?" Qin Chen was instantly interested, though he was also puzzled.

The Zhao Family had a Four-Star Martial Artist. It was beyond his expectations that simply becoming a General Star could settle the matter for good.

Zhu Yuan smiled and explained, "Once you become a General Star, the military will immediately award you the rank of major general. Of course, before you actually join the military, the rank is just a title and won't give you any real authority. But with that title, there will always be a way to deal with the Zhao Family."

Qin Chen instantly understood what he meant. Even if it was only a rank without real authority for the time being, there would probably be countless people eager to curry favor with him. There were a hundred ways to deal with the Zhao Family.

"What are the preliminary steps for this General Star Selection?" Qin Chen was interested.

To be honest, he could take his time with the Zhao Family and deal with them once he was strong enough, but that would take time. He, however, didn't want to wait any longer. If he could settle it sooner, he would have done it immediately.

Seeing Qin Chen's interest, Zhu Yuan smiled. His main purpose in coming here today was to tell Qin Chen about this, although Qin Chen might not necessarily be selected in the General Star Selection.

Still, there was a chance. If Qin Chen really was selected, Zhu Yuan, as president of the Rongcheng Martial Arts Association, would reap many benefits.

"To be selected as a General Star, the first thing you need is to take first place in the Rongcheng Genius Training Camp!"

[Ding! The General Star Selection mission has begun...]

[First stage of the mission: Take first place in the Rongcheng Genius Training Camp.]

[Mission rewards: One wind Elemental Mark fragment, one ice Elemental Mark fragment, and Star Body Tempering Art, Volume One.]

The sudden system mission caught Qin Chen off guard.

This mission... is it a free point? Qin Chen wondered as he looked at it.

With his current strength, he could kill even Yu Yang and Xu Fei with a single punch. They posed no competition at all.

That seemed unlikely. Judging by the difficulty of the previous missions, the system wouldn't give him a freebie.

But he couldn't figure it out for now, so he could only accept the mission first.

"Next, take first place among all the Genius Training Camps in Jiang Province!"

"Finally, take first place among all the geniuses in the Western Theater Command, and you'll be the first General Star," Zhu Yuan said slowly, watching Qin Chen fall into thought.

To become a General Star, one had to fight through every obstacle, competing against geniuses at every turn.

For Qin Chen to take first place in Rongcheng was as certain as a nail driven into a board, and even Jiang Province was practically in the bag. But the entire Western Theater Command would be difficult. With more than ten provinces and hundreds of cities, there were too many geniuses.

After chatting for another few minutes, Zhu Yuan stood up. "I won't disturb you any longer. Also, Xu Hua will arrange for a moving company to come. You can move to Qinghe Garden today."

"Xiao Chen, see the president out!" Seeing that Zhu Yuan was leaving, Qin Dahe hurriedly spoke.

Zhu Yuan waved a hand. "No need. Pack your things!"

With that, he left without any fuss.

Two hours later, the moving company arrived downstairs.

Just then, Qin Chen received a call from the school principal, asking him to come over. He said the prize money had arrived. It wasn't just the school's prize money; the two million from the city lord's manor had also been transferred to No. 1 Middle School's account, and it would all be given to him together.

Qin Chen thought it over and decided to go at once. After all, there was hardly any need for him to help with the move personally.

"Director Xu, sorry for the trouble of escorting them over!" Qin Chen said to Xu Hua.

When they moved to Qinghe Garden, they would have to verify their identities upon arrival. With Xu Hua, a director of the Martial Arts Association, there would be no problem at all.

"It's no trouble. If you have something to do, go take care of it." Xu Hua was more than happy to help.

He could hardly ask for a better chance to build a closer relationship with a genius like Qin Chen.

Qin Chen didn't linger. Half an hour later, he arrived at the school.

"You brat, you came back without even saying hello. If I hadn't heard the city announcement, I'd have thought you were still training hard at the Genius Training Camp!" Principal Luo Jianhui said, looking at Qin Chen.

That city announcement had nearly scared him out of his wits. Qin Chen had returned without a word and gone straight to getting certified as a Two Star Martial Artist.

If the city lord's manor hadn't called afterward, he would have thought he had misheard.

"I've been busy, haven't I? No. 1 Middle School is my alma mater, so of course I was going to come back. I just hadn't had the chance before you called me!"

"Would you have been this eager if it weren't for the money?" The principal wasn't buying it and spoke irritably.

"All right, give me your account number. I'll have the finance office transfer the money to you!"

About ten minutes later, Qin Chen heard the notification for a text message.

Two million two hundred and fifty thousand. He looked at the principal, who really had given him a reward of one hundred and fifty thousand.

Of the two million two hundred and fifty thousand, two million came from the city lord's manor, making it an official reward.

Another hundred thousand was for entering the Genius Training Camp, also an official reward.

The final hundred and fifty thousand was the prize money from No. 1 Middle School. The original maximum had been a hundred thousand, but the principal had paid Qin Chen an extra fifty thousand out of his own pocket.

Fifty thousand wasn't much, but as principal, he had already done Qin Chen a great favor by getting the school's prize money approved so quickly. The fact that he had contributed fifty thousand himself showed how highly he valued Qin Chen.

"Don't get all emotional!" The principal waved a hand as he looked at Qin Chen's expression.

"I'm not. I was just thinking, isn't it a little too little?" Qin Chen said with a smile.

The principal glared at him. Fifty thousand was several months of his salary.

"Also, the fourth-grade martial art you were awarded will be mailed directly to your home. A fourth-grade martial art, kid! Train hard. If you can master it to the utmost, then with your current strength, you'll be among the best in the second grade," the principal reminded him.

Qin Chen had been certified as a Two Star Martial Artist. Even if he had the lowest combat power among Two Stars, once he added a fourth-grade martial art, he would surpass many Two Star Martial Artists.

Ordinary Two-Star Martial Artists didn't have fourth-grade martial arts.

But it still depended on how Qin Chen trained.

Geniuses, too, needed to keep working hard and growing. There was no shortage of geniuses who had grown arrogant and conceited from the start, only to fade into the crowd.