77: I am still the flower of the motherland

Professor Gu Xinrou finished reading the message on her phone and said some inexplicable things.

Before Shen Bei could understand what she meant, Professor Gu Xinrou led him to the Martial Arts University auditorium.

At this time, many students were sitting in rows below, led by their teachers.

Shen Bei took a look and saw that besides the freshmen, there were also second-year students!

What kind of scene was this?

What happened…

Soon.

Principal Zhang walked into the auditorium with a gloomy expression and icy eyes.

He was clearly not in a good mood.

He stood on the stage and almost immediately got to the point without any preamble:

"Today, I've gathered all the students here for two main things. Listen carefully!"

"First, at the end of this year, a National Exchange Competition will be held among all Martial Arts Universities."

"In the past, there were similar exchange activities, but their scope was very small, like the provincial exchange competition held in the provincial capital, Shenyin City. Cross-provincial ones were rare, let alone nationwide."

"But this year is different from previous years; it's a National Exchange Competition! It's the first time it's been held nationwide!"

"Here, I must give you a strict order: whether you are a first-year or second-year student, you must get into the top…"

Principal Zhang paused here, his gaze sweeping over the students below, then he spoke again with a powerful voice: "Get into the national top 20!"

As soon as these words came out.

The teachers below twitched their mouths, their expressions instantly becoming dejected.

Was this goal… a bit too ambitious?

It should be known that there are 293 Earth-Grade cities nationwide.

Adding the four municipalities, as well as provincial capitals and regions, and leagues.

That means 333 Martial Arts Universities will participate!

A National Exchange Competition, among so many teams, to get into the top 20…

To be honest, dreaming was easier.

As teachers, they knew the state of Lingnan City's students and had a pretty good idea of their capabilities.

Leaving aside other things, if Lingnan City, a small place like this, hadn't been mentioned by a certain celebrity during the Spring Festival Gala, who would even know where it was?

Compared to those economically developed cities, it was simply the younger brother of younger brothers.

With a struggling economy, talent was also a concern.

But Principal Zhang didn't allow for any other opinions from the teachers, almost roaring: "I don't care what methods you teachers use, if the students don't achieve this goal, all your salaries and performance bonuses will be deducted!"

The teachers' Faces turned green…

The students, however, were discussing animatedly:

"What? National Exchange Competition, top 20?"

"I heard that in the coastal Earth-Grade city Martial Arts Universities, the government provides various subsidies to students, with even the most ordinary students receiving five attribute Medicinal Pills a month."

"Reincarnation is truly an art."

"Fight a hammer, this goal is too high. Top 200 would be more reasonable."

"Principal Zhang wants Face too, you know…"

"This Face is not easy to earn. Just the provincial capital's Martial Arts Universities alone number 23… which means, for this goal, we have to defeat at least 4 provincial capitals. Isn't that ridiculous?"

…

The students saw things much more clearly than the principal.

In liberal arts universities, who is first and who is second is hard to say and hard to contend for.

But in Wu Ke universities, sometimes it's much more obvious.

A simple calculation revealed that this was an impossible task.

But Principal Zhang didn't care; the task had been assigned anyway.

Effort plus… luck, he supposed.

Then, Principal Zhang announced another matter: "Quiet down, I'll talk about the second thing."

"Some of you may have heard that a few days ago, a subterranean cave appeared in Shanhai Pass."

"According to the statistical report, the military lost more than ten Martial Artists at the Third-Grade realm, and over a hundred Martial Artists below Third-Grade!"

"Shanhai Pass Martial Arts University also lost three instructors! Several students are still missing."

"For this, the nation allocated extra resources to Shanhai Pass Martial Arts University for subsidies, among which… was a portion of resources that should have originally belonged to Liaobei Province."

"I'm sure everyone has seen that our Lingnan City Martial Arts University's resource library is almost empty!"

"Everyone covets the resources allocated to Shanhai Pass Martial Arts University. We are all human; if we think this way, others will too!"

"You are students, treasures of your families; their students are also students, also treasures of their families."

"But they earned theirs with their lives! What has our Lingnan City Martial Arts University done? We haven't made any contributions! We have no right to be resentful or indignant about this."

"But no matter what, since we are people of Lingnan City, we must consider the Martial Arts University!"

When Principal Zhang said this, his tone faintly carried a hint of weariness.

At this time, everyone didn't want to contend, didn't want to fight.

But they had no choice but to contend, no choice but to fight!

Who wanted to die?

No one wanted to die!

The stronger one was, the greater the probability of survival.

"However, national resources are limited. The Medicinal Pills, weapons, and other resources useful for Cultivation produced each year are all finite."

"If you have more, I have less; if you have less, I can have a little more."

"For the school, I also didn't want to set such a high goal for the National Exchange Competition, but I had to do it."

Huang Jing's expression suddenly turned somewhat cold as he said: "If you don't contend, our Lingnan City Martial Arts University will have no say among the national Martial Arts Universities, and the resources we can allocate in the future will become increasingly scarce!"

"The fewer resources, the slower your growth, which will lead to a vicious cycle."

"Only you people must step forward! Step forward without hesitation!"

"Of course, we cannot sit back and do nothing now; we must do something."

"In a word, a peaceful environment cannot create strong people!"

"I announce that one month from now, all first-year and second-year students will be shuffled, and second-year students will lead first-year freshmen to assist the military and the Patrol Bureau with missions!"

"Our Lingnan City Martial Arts University must make a name for itself, to show the higher-ups that we are not freeloaders who take resources without doing any work!"

"Whichever team completes the most missions and performs the best will receive extra rewards!"

"Specific details have been sent to all teachers; please plan ahead. Meeting adjourned!"

Principal Zhang swept his gaze over everyone one last time, and his figure disappeared at the doorway.

At this moment, inside the auditorium, without the principal's presence, the students' clamor grew even more agitated.

Some students were even scared into cowards, their voices high-pitched and thin, almost on the verge of tears and snot:

"Holy crap! What the hell is this? Why are we suddenly going out to do missions?"

"Wait, what kind of missions are these? Cleaning?"

"Are you out of your mind? The missions are definitely about interacting with the military and the Patrol Bureau."

"Hiss~~ It won't be fighting villains, will it?"

"You're already answering your own questions."

"Isn't this decision a bit rash? I'm still a flower."

…

The students were stunned.

Especially the first-year freshmen, who had just completed Stance Training, and whose Martial Skills had been chosen under the guidance of their teachers.

But one month of Cultivation was really too short.

Facing Martial Artist criminals who committed all sorts of evil and were brutal in society, they would have almost no power to fight back.

This was almost equivalent to putting their lives in the hands of the second-year students.

And the second-year students were also terrified.

They felt that Principal Zhang was playing a bit too big to secure resources.

Although all second-year students were Martial Artists, and not a few were even Second-Grade, with a very few even reaching Third-Grade.

But they had absolutely no experience in life-or-death combat with criminals!

A huge sense of unease and fear spread among the students, like a tangible entity, making them breathless.

At this moment, Professor Gu Xinrou twirled a strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear, and whispered: "Shen Bei, what do you think?"

Shen Bei's voice was unhurried, soft, and gentle, his answer very direct: "I think with my eyes."

Professor Gu Xinrou's lips moved a few times, and she blinked her eyes, asking curiously: "Will there be any unexpected surprises?"

Shen Bei didn't say anything, just bared his teeth and smiled.

At this time, although the Unlucky Four were sitting in various corners of the auditorium.

Their gazes, by chance, all turned towards Shen Bei.

Slurp… This was a strong leg to lean on!