Lin Qi heard his classmates’ surprised voices but didn’t feel particularly proud.

It only caused a small ripple in his heart.

Jiangtao was secretly amazed. ’That’s Brother Qi for you. He always stays calm, no matter the situation. He wouldn’t even flinch if a mountain collapsed in front of him. Compared to him, I’ve still got a long way to go.’

...

"I think you all should take a good look at your rankings in Celestial Sea City."

Their homeroom teacher, Yan Hong, suddenly spoke up to remind them.

Everyone’s attention shifted to the city rankings.

"For this Celestial Sea Monthly Exam, all ten of Celestial Sea City’s key high schools and forty-three ordinary high schools participated."

"But unfortunately, in the city-wide rankings for this monthly exam, only one student from our school made it into the top ten."

Li Zhou frowned as he stared at the results sheet, his mood plain to see.

After Yan Hong spoke, some students immediately grew anxious.

Lin Qi’s eyes swept over the list, and he saw Li Zhou’s rank.

[First in the Grade, 9th in Celestial Sea City]

"Damn, I just noticed. Li Zhou is only ranked 9th in Celestial Sea City? He almost dropped out of the top ten."

"Li Zhou’s Qi and Blood Value is 9.8! He’s about to break through to the First Realm! To be that strong and only ranked 9th... just how powerful are the top eight?"

The class was in an uproar, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"Look! Yu Jing, who’s second in our grade, is only 15th in the city. That’s a huge drop from Li Zhou. And Qi Yuelin is even worse, ranked 24th."

"The rankings for everyone else are even worse. They’re all below 40th."

They hadn’t realized it until they looked, but now they saw that the top dogs of their class didn’t actually rank that high in Celestial Sea City.

Hearing the others’ discussion, Yu Jing and Qi Yuelin’s expressions turned sour.

"Damn, I’m 7th in our grade but only 100th in the city. I almost didn’t even make the top 100."

Jiangtao gave a bitter smile, all his earlier pride gone.

Everyone found these rankings hard to accept. Martial Arts Students didn’t have unified exam rankings before their senior year, so none of them knew where they stood in the city.

Now that they saw the real rankings, they all felt like they were about to crack.

Yu Jing had the ugliest expression of all. At Tianhai No. 2 Middle School, the gap between him and Li Zhou was tiny, which gave him the illusion that he could surpass him.

But now, it was clear the gap between them was enormous. How could he accept that?

The entire class seemed to have been dealt a heavy blow, and everyone was in shock.

Yan Hong spoke again.

"In Celestial Sea City’s ten key high schools, there are thousands of students. Geniuses are a dime a dozen."

"If you don’t work hard, you’ll be eliminated. So keep working hard. This is just the beginning."

"For the upcoming mid-term assessment, we’ll see the results and rankings for every senior Martial Arts Student in all of Cang Province."

"You’ll be competing against even more geniuses then, and your rankings will likely fall. Only a true genius can swim against the current and keep rising."

Every word from Yan Hong was like a heavy mountain, pressing down on them all.

No one could remain calm.

"Alright, the rankings are out. The assignments for the Martial Arts Rooms and scholarships will be handled tomorrow. I’ll post the full list in the group chat. Class dismissed."

Yan Hong announced in a loud voice.

The students began to pack their things and leave the classroom.

"There are too many geniuses out there. We need to work even harder," Jiangtao said, shaking his head.

"Our ranks may be low now, but with our Talent, we still have huge room for improvement," Lin Qi said, his expression calm.

"You’re right!" Jiangtao nodded.

"Chen Zichuan, congratulations on your huge improvement."

Lin Qi spoke up when they ran into Chen Zichuan on the way to the Martial Arts Classroom.

"Yeah, Chen Zichuan, you sly dog, you’re a genius too! You jumped from 50th to 35th in the grade. An improvement of 15 spots is second only to Brother Qi," Jiangtao added, giving him a thumbs-up.

A rare smile appeared on Chen Zichuan’s face. "Thanks for the praise."

...

Back in the Martial Arts Room,

Lin Qi changed into his Martial Arts Uniform, took a Qi and Blood Capsule, and prepared to begin his training for the day.

Tonight would be the last time he would be using Jiangtao’s Martial Arts Room for his Cultivation.

Tomorrow, he would have his own Independent Martial Arts Room.

Thinking of this, he called up his status panel.

[Name: Lin Qi (17)]

[Class: Martial Artist]

[Template: Erlang God Yang Jian (6%)]

[Talent: Stomach Enhancement, Dragon Energy and Tiger Fierceness]

[Cultivation Technique: Hunyuan Posture, Five Elements Fist - Tiger Form, Basic Spear Skill, Mountain Shattering Spear Technique]

[Qi and Blood Value: 8.2]

[Fist Technique: Tier Two 10%]

[Spear Technique: Tier One 92%]

[Body Technique: Tier One 87%]

...

Lin Qi looked over his stats and let out a breath. It had been just over a month since he’d unlocked the template, and his progress had been enormous.

His Qi and Blood Value had reached 8.2, only 1.8 points away from the Second Realm.

His Fist Technique, Spear Technique, and Body Technique had all improved by leaps and bounds, exceeding his own expectations.

’This progress is to be expected. With the Dragon Energy and Tiger Fierceness Talent, I can spend more time on Martial Arts training every day. I’m full of energy, my body recovers quickly, and my efficiency is high.’

’If I still can’t break into the top twenty with all this, I should just die of shame.’

’Now that I’ve improved so much, securing a second-class genius loan shouldn’t be a problem.’

’Next up is tomorrow’s Star Rank event.’ After clearing his thoughts, Lin Qi began his Cultivation by assuming the Hunyuan Posture.

...

「Principal’s Office」

Seated in an ergonomic chair, Jiang Zhiguang stared with a grave expression at the projected spreadsheet.

"These results..."

"Are really good!!"

Jiang Zhiguang’s expression broke into a smile. He picked up his celadon teacup and took a large gulp.

"The ten key high schools in Celestial Sea City are divided into three tiers based on overall strength. No. 1 High School, No. 8 High School, and Senior High School are the three in the first tier."

"Senior High School, No. 3 High School... those three are in the second tier, while our No. 2 High School and the other three are in the third."

"In previous years’ monthly exams, we never had a single student in the top ten. But this year, we have Li Zhou."

"And it’s not just Li Zhou. The other students’ rankings are also higher overall than in previous years."

On the sofa, Yan Hong sat primly, having already done a thorough analysis of the results sheet and prepared various pie charts.

On the sofa opposite her, Zhang City sat with his legs crossed. He stubbed out his cigarette and grinned.

"Li Zhou making the top ten is a credit to his own efforts, but the class’s overall improvement? That’s a result of my training."

As he spoke, his eyes fell upon Lin Qi’s score on the results sheet, and a smile spread across his face.

"Old Zhang, bringing you here was absolutely the right decision," Jiang Zhiguang said with a rare smile.

"However, now that the monthly exam is over, the major Martial Arts Dojos—especially the Three Great Martial Arts Dojos—are going to start making their moves."

"They’ll be fighting over talented students, signing them to contracts, and offering sponsorships."

"I wonder how many of our school’s prodigies will be able to land an A-level Contract."

Zhang City shook his head. "That’ll be tough. Right now, it looks like only Li Zhou, Yu Jing, and Qi Yuelin have a shot."

...

「The Next Day, No. 2 Middle School」

In the Martial Arts Classroom,

Zhang City stood in the middle of the students.

"First things first. Regarding the Celestial Sea Monthly Exam: anyone who ranked outside the top thirty, I’m sorry, but as of today, your Martial Arts Room belongs to someone else."

"Pack up your things shortly and clear out of your Martial Arts Rooms."

"Lin Qi, you’re moving to Room 503..."

Lin Qi nodded. He finally had his own Martial Arts Room. Now he wouldn’t have to come to the public Martial Arts Classroom to train at four in the morning.

The whole class now knew he was the king of the grind, waking up before dawn just to practice his Martial Arts.

"You’ve all seen your rankings, right?"

"Feeling the pressure?"

"You should be feeling pressured. Now, turn that pressure into motivation and train your asses off. If it doesn’t kill you, train like it will. Push those rankings up."

"One month from now, at the Cang Province assessment, I expect to see every single one of your rankings improve."

"If you don’t have the confidence, you can get the hell out now and make way for students who are willing to put in the work."

Zhang City roared. At his command, everyone immediately began to train.

...