Chapter 24: Arrival! Joy!

Chapter 24: Arrival! Joy! At eight o'clock in the morning, in the No. 1 High School of Guanshan District.

Li Yuan was frowning, twirling his pen, working on the math test in front of him, feeling a headache from derivatives, limits, continuity, indefinite integrals, and linear transformations—topics that were once college-level content a century ago but were now part of high school math exams. In this era, people's physical fitness had greatly improved, learning efficiency was higher, and the difficulty of exams had also increased.

"Math is really hard."

"Memorizing history and biology is much easier," Li Yuan muttered to himself, but he diligently continued working on the math problems.

Since his second year of high school, Li Yuan's mental power had been continuously increasing, which significantly enhanced his thinking speed and memory. As a result, even though he only spent four hours a day on academic subjects, his academic performance had not fallen behind his classmates. In fact, his ranking in the entire grade had improved.

It's important to note that Guanshan District's No. 1 High School is a key school. A mid-level student here would be considered a top student in many regular high schools.

However, this was also close to the limit of Li Yuan's academic learning. His increased memory significantly boosted his scores in subjects requiring a lot of rote memorization, like languages, history, and biology, but math and physics remained challenging.

Unfortunately, math and physics accounted for the largest proportion of the high school entrance exam scores.

"I still need to study hard and strive to get full marks in the basics of math, physics, and chemistry," Li Yuan resolved.

Just then, his smart bracelet vibrated twice.

"Hmm?" Li Yuan glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and his eyes lit up.

"Your account ending in 1486 has received 50,000 Blue Star coins... transferred to account ending in... balance 83,124.64 Blue Star coins."

"Your account ending in 1486 has received 50,000 Blue Star coins... transferred to account ending in... balance 133,124.64 Blue Star coins."

Two sums of money, one 50,000 reward from the Star Battle Network, and another 50,000 as a second-class scholarship.

"Great." Li Yuan couldn't help but clench his fist. If he weren't in class, he might have jumped up in excitement.

A hundred thousand Blue Star coins!

For the first time in his life, Li Yuan had received such a large sum of money. More importantly, this was a reward he had earned through his own efforts, fundamentally different from money given by his uncle and aunt. It's like how many people remember their first paycheck vividly, even if they later earn ten or a hundred times more. The first paycheck holds special significance.

The first time is always special.

"Yuan, what's up? Why are you so happy? Did you solve the big problem?" Nearby, Yan Zhou, who was staring at his own test paper, whispered, "Let me see."

"No."

Li Yuan calmed down, instinctively glancing at the teacher to see if he had noticed. "I only do the first question."

Suddenly, a cold voice rang out, "Some students, don't think I can't see you. I just don't want to call you out. Do it yourself! Can you cheat in the college entrance exam?"

Li Yuan and Yan Zhou both lowered their heads and kept quiet.

...

At nine in the morning, in the principal's office.

Principal Tan Zhenlong was working when he looked up at the flashing light on the projection screen.

"Principal, it's Director Wang from the Education Bureau," a gentle voice announced.

"Number Nine, answer the call," Principal Tan put down his pen, "Activate reception mode."

"Yes."

Swish—the principal's office transformed, with beams of light altering the office's ambiance, making it visually more comfortable.

"Director Wang," Principal Tan smiled.

A young man in his thirties wearing a jacket appeared in the projection.

"Principal Tan, sorry to bother you," Director Wang smiled, "There's a matter concerning one of your students."

"A student?" Principal Tan was puzzled.

"This morning, the City Martial Arts Bureau notified us to report on a student named Li Yuan, a senior at your school," Director Wang explained. "He just made it into the Blue Star Youth Ranking yesterday..."

"Li Yuan? I know this student, he's promising," Principal Tan nodded repeatedly, "I understand, I'll gather the information and send it to you."

Having worked in education for decades, Principal Tan had encountered similar situations more than once. He knew what he needed to do.

"Okay, it's routine business, I won't take up more of your time," Director Wang smiled. "You get busy."

Ending the call.

"Li Yuan?"

"Blue Star Youth Ranking? He made it so soon?" Principal Tan sat at his desk, surprised.

Yesterday, he had been invited to watch Li Yuan and Lin Lanyue's duel and felt that Li Yuan had the potential to make it to the Blue Star Youth Ranking. But he didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

After thinking for a moment.

"Number Nine, contact Teacher Xu Bo," Principal Tan said, quickly connecting.

"Old Tan, what's up?" Xu Bo appeared in the video, smiling. "What's up? Hurry up, don't waste my practice time."

"Practicing during work hours?" Principal Tan glared.

"I don't have martial arts classes in the morning, what else should I do?" Xu Bo said righteously. "I'm practicing hard to do my job well."

Principal Tan smiled helplessly: "Let's not argue, I have something to tell you."

Quickly, Principal Tan explained the situation.

"Blue Star Youth Ranking? Martial Arts Bureau? Must be about special admissions to the top five schools," Xu Bo shook his head. "In my experience, it's unlikely he'll get special admission."

In this era, the National Martial Arts Department, responsible for managing warriors, had enormous power. Its subordinates, the Martial Arts Hall and Martial Arts Bureau, were also very powerful.

"Yes, I think so too," Principal Tan sighed. "Without awakening martial arts intuition, he won't match any high-level cultivation methods, and his future physical progress will lag behind other warriors. It's indeed difficult to get special admission directly into the top five schools."

Xu Bo nodded slightly without saying much. He suspected that Li Yuan's physical improvement was impressive and that his actual talent was high... but that was just his guess. Over the years, not to mention the entire human civilization, even within the country, there had been many students like Li Yuan—strong in martial arts skills and decent in physical fitness but unable to awaken martial arts intuition. Very few of them eventually stood out.

"Still, we should nurture him well," Principal Tan thought. "Even if special admission doesn't work out, with his grades, getting into a martial arts university won't be difficult. His future will be bright."

"Who knows, he might even surpass you in the future," Principal Tan laughed.

"Let's hope," Xu Bo replied, then changed the subject, "By the way, Old Tan, since it's special admission, why don't you first..."

Before Xu Bo could finish his sentence.

"Number Nine!" Principal Tan's smile vanished, and he waved, "Hang up."

...

"Special admission?"

Xu Bo, wearing his martial arts uniform, stood in his office, thinking for a moment, then decided, "Forget it. If it's uncertain, better not to tell Li Yuan. It will only make him anxious."

Xu Bo continued practicing his basic cultivation method.

"After losing an arm, the neurotoxins haven't been fully eliminated, my source power is not running smoothly, my dantian is also damaged, and my physical fitness has dropped by four levels," Xu Bo thought. "But at least I'm still alive."

"As long as I don't give up, there's always a glimmer of hope," Xu Bo's eyes sparkled.

...

Li Yuan was unaware of his selection for the special admission screening of the top five schools.

At noon, after class.

"Old Zhou, you go to the cafeteria first. I have something to do," Li Yuan told Zhou Qi and the others to go ahead.

The classmates gradually left, leaving Li Yuan alone.

He walked to the classroom door, checked the corridor to ensure no one was around, and couldn't hold back any longer. He immediately activated his smart bracelet: "Xiaoyu, connect to Auntie."

"Beep—beep—"

It took six seconds.

Buzz—a light screen projected in front of Li Yuan, visible only to him... an anti-peep screen.

"Xiao Yuan, what's wrong? Why are you calling so urgently?" Aunt Chen Hui looked at Li Yuan, her background showing she was in her office.

Chen Hui is a middle school teacher.

"Auntie, put on your earphones," Li Yuan smiled. "I have good news for you."

"Good news?" Aunt Chen Hui was puzzled.

Soon she put on her earphones.

"Auntie, it's about the scholarship and..." Li Yuan quickly explained, emphasizing at the end, "Auntie, don't worry, I'm not lying. Both sums of money have been credited."

As he spoke, Li Yuan sent a screenshot of his account to his aunt.

"100,000 Blue Star coins?" Aunt Chen Hui's mouth opened slightly in surprise.

That's almost equivalent to her annual salary.

"Good!"

"Good!" Aunt Chen Hui repeated twice, her eyes slightly moist. She reminded, "Xiao Yuan, go eat first. Remember to call your uncle after lunch. They have a lunch break from one to two."

"He'll be thrilled to hear this."

Since her son and daughter entered middle school, along with Li Yuan, Chen Hui had felt immense financial pressure in recent years. Especially this month, her husband Li Changzhou had gone to the war front in North Xinjiang Province for a high subsidy.

Chen Hui often lay awake at night, fearing sudden bad news. But she couldn't show this in front of the children.

Chen Hui knew that Li Yuan's recent windfall of 100,000 Blue Star coins couldn't solve all the family's problems. But at that moment, she finally saw a glimmer of hope.

...

After hanging up with his aunt.

Li Yuan tried calling his uncle, Li Changzhou, to share the good news.

Beep—beep—

No answer.

"No answer?" Li Yuan was puzzled, feeling a tinge of worry. Then he reassured himself, "Uncle is probably busy."

He left a detailed message, explaining everything and sent a screenshot of his balance to Li Changzhou.

Having done everything, Li Yuan finally relaxed and walked out of the classroom.

The late September sunlight fell on the corridor and on Li Yuan.

Warm and comforting.

"Today's sunlight is lovely," Li Yuan smiled, heading downstairs to the cafeteria.