29: Chapter 29 Principal, you don't want No. 3 Middle School to be at the bottom of the martial arts exam, do you?

Lu Cheng stood on the podium, with Su Wan and the other third-place winner, Wang Chengtang, standing beside him.

Zhou Lize had been beaten so badly he was sent straight to the infirmary; never mind the semi-finals, he wasn't even qualified to compete for third place.

The crowd below was packed.

"Wang Chengtang picked up third place..."

"That can't be helped; Zhou Lize was carried away."

Wang Chengtang's expression was a bit complex.

He had been prepared to stop after the first few rounds, but after fighting all the way through, he somehow ended up in third place.

The way he got this ranking made even him feel a bit undeserving.

Su Wan remained as cold and aloof as ever.

However, whenever someone around mentioned words like "conceding," "having a history," or "secretly betrothed," her fingertips would tighten imperceptibly.

Principal Song Yuanqiao stepped to the front, picked up the microphone, and his voice quickly drowned out the noise of the crowd.

"The school-wide martial arts tournament officially ends here."

"First, congratulations to the three students for winning the top three places in this tournament."

Applause broke out immediately. Lu Cheng, Su Wan, and Wang Chengtang stepped forward one by one to receive their respective rewards.

Although they were just vouchers... the actual prizes had to be collected from the logistics department.

Subsequently, Song Yuanqiao opened the list and continued to speak:

"Next, I will announce the list of students selected for the elite class."

The playground immediately became much quieter.

This was what many people were truly concerned about today.

While the tournament ranking was important, it had nothing to do with the vast majority of them.

There were thirty spots for the elite class, and those with a bit of talent still had a chance to compete for them.

This meant the school's subsequent resources would be tilted towards them, meaning better teachers, higher-spec training, and more opportunities to come into contact with the core content of the martial arts exam.

"Lu Cheng."

"Su Wan."

"Zhou Lize."

Although Zhou Lize's character was poor, his strength was undeniable, and his performance in the previous rounds had been strong enough that the school couldn't kick him out just because of one match.

"Ma Dachun."

"Xia Xi."

"Chen Wu."

"Wang Chengtang."

...

One name after another was called out.

Some were so excited their faces turned red, some lowered their heads in disappointment, and others sighed secretly while clapping.

Lu Cheng stood on the podium and scanned the crowd below, catching sight of that kid Ma Dachun with his punchable "just as I expected" expression.

As for Xia Xi...

Lu Cheng looked around but didn't see her.

She was probably still in the infirmary.

After announcing the list, Song Yuanqiao gave a few words of encouragement, mostly hoping everyone would continue to work hard, sprint towards the martial arts exam, and win glory for the school.

Before dismissing the meeting, his gaze fell on Lu Cheng and Su Wan.

"Lu Cheng, Su Wan, come to my office."

...

Inside the principal's office.

As soon as the door closed, most of the noise from outside was cut off.

The seriousness on Song Yuanqiao's face faded a little, and he gestured for the two to sit down.

"You two performed very well this time."

"Especially you, Lu Cheng."

He said, looking at Lu Cheng with undisguised appreciation in his eyes.

"I originally thought it would be quite good if you could make it into the top ten. I didn't expect you to give me such a big surprise."

Lu Cheng smiled.

"Just good luck."

Song Yuanqiao shook his head. "Today's performance cannot be explained by luck alone."

Lu Cheng pressed down the corners of his mouth... It really could be explained by luck...

After speaking, he took two metal boxes and two cards from the drawer.

"These are the rewards the school has prepared for you."

"Each of you gets a selection privilege for a B-grade martial art, five bottles of high-level blood-qi potion, and 100,000 in cash."

When Lu Cheng heard this reward, the smile on his face became hard to contain; this money was enough for him to get a significant boost.

Su Wan's expression didn't change much, but her gaze flickered slightly.

Her family situation was not much different from Lu Cheng's, and the resources she could obtain in the early stages were too few. With this money, she could prepare for hunting in the Wasteland Zone.

Song Yuanqiao raised his hand and tapped the projector next to the desk.

The next second, the light screen on the wall lit up.

Part of the school's martial arts library was opened directly to the two.

Rows of martial arts names and brief introductions quickly appeared.

[Blazing Flame Combo: B-grade offensive martial art, bursts of multiple impacts in a short time, suitable for close-range suppression.]

[Mystic Armor Protection: B-grade defensive martial art, can form a high-strength protective layer on the body surface, significantly increasing resistance to damage.]

[Thunder Sprint: B-grade movement martial art, explosive speed, suitable for dashing and short-range evasion.]

[Blood Burning Art: B-grade explosive martial art, at the cost of consuming one's own blood-qi, significantly increases strength, speed, and aggression in a short time.]

...

A glance over, and the variety of martial arts was dizzying.

Fist techniques, leg techniques, movement techniques, defensive techniques, explosive techniques, weapon techniques, everything was there.

Lu Cheng looked very carefully.

His strongest output method right now was still the Three Styles of Crushing Fist. The Collapsing Fist - Three Styles: Origin-level martial art was on par with C-grade, but that thing consumed quite a bit of blood-qi.

Although Wandering Step was only a D-grade movement technique, the origin-level was enough for now.

If he really had to point out a weakness, it was the defensive system.

Although he had the damage reduction from [Lone Hero], his basic defense was still too poor.

Once he encountered an opponent with high explosive power who could forcibly break his defense in a short time, he was still prone to suffering.

If he added another defensive martial art... Lu Cheng dared not imagine how tanky he would be.

Thinking of this, Lu Cheng's gaze suddenly stopped.

[Hardening Pulse: B-grade defensive martial art.]

[Significantly increases body defense strength for a short time and can absorb a certain percentage of damage sustained during the duration, releasing it as a pulse-style counter-shock after it ends.]

Lu Cheng's eyes lit up bit by bit.

Good stuff!

Add this to Lone Hero... Lu Cheng dared not imagine who in the same realm... no, even in the Source Gathering Realm, would be able to hurt him!

"I choose this one," Lu Cheng said directly.

Song Yuanqiao took a look and nodded.

"Good eye. This martial art is considered very practical even among B-grade skills."

On the other side, Su Wan was also looking.

But her reading speed was obviously much faster than Lu Cheng's.

These so-called B-grade martial arts might be precious in the eyes of others, but to her, they were really nothing.

In her previous life, she stood too high.

She had seen too many martial arts, secret techniques, and forbidden arts to count.

As long as her realm and physical fitness caught up, it was only a matter of time before she picked many things back up.

These low-level martial arts were not in her requirements.

But after thinking about it, Su Wan finally let her gaze fall on [Blood Burning Art].

This thing was very fierce.

The price was also high.

But if it was just placed in the infinite space to be used on Lu Cheng... then it didn't matter.

Anyway, it wasn't burning the body in reality.

She wanted to see if Lu Cheng could still be so relaxed next time they fought.

"I choose Blood Burning Art."

Song Yuanqiao looked at her with some surprise, but didn't say much, just nodded and recorded it.

After choosing the martial art, the office was quiet for a while.

Song Yuanqiao looked at the two students in front of him, his expression gradually becoming serious.

"The quality of student enrollment at No. 3 High School has been declining for the past few years."

"The city's key resources are tilting towards No. 1 High School and No. 2 High School, and our school's situation is not good."

"In the past, No. 3 High School could still compete, but now... to put it bluntly, we are almost just making up the numbers."

"But this time, I saw hope."

His gaze fell on the two, his tone solemn.

"In the martial arts exam half a year later, it seems that only you two can carry the banner for No. 3 High School."

"As long as you can achieve good results in the martial arts exam, the school will reward you with an extra set of B-grade weapons and a bottle of gene enhancement potion each."

"These two together are worth over a million."

Lu Cheng had been listening quite seriously.

When he heard "over a million," the corners of his mouth could barely be suppressed.

But the next second, he suddenly asked with a smile:

"Principal, I'm only F-grade, do you trust me that much?"

Song Yuanqiao also laughed.

"The God of War back then was only F-grade when he awakened."

"Why do you have to be so self-deprecating?"

Lu Cheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"That's not what I meant."

"I mean..."

He leaned forward slightly, his tone suddenly becoming very sincere.

"You need to add money."

Song Yuanqiao: "?"

Su Wan also tilted her head to look at him.

Lu Cheng continued solemnly:

"You can't wait until we get the results to give us the reward."

"That's called redeeming a prize, not an investment."

"You have to invest first."

"Principal, you don't want No. 3 High School to finish last in the martial arts exam, do you?"

The office was quiet for two seconds.

Song Yuanqiao's mouth twitched fiercely.

Good guy.

He thought this kid was going to say some heroic words, but it turned out he was shaking him down?

Yet, this made some sense.

Su Wan sat quietly on the side, with no reaction on the surface, but her heart moved slightly.

She really wasn't good at doing this kind of thing.

Or rather, with her status in her previous life, she never needed to do this kind of thing; all the resources she needed were obtained from slaughter!

But it's different now.

She lacked resources, money, and time.

Lu Cheng's opening statement, in a sense, also fought for her share.

Song Yuanqiao stared at Lu Cheng for a long time, and was finally amused to the point of laughter.

"You kid..."

"Fine."

"I'll count your argument as valid."

He opened the drawer and took out two more things.

"A 100-hour training card for the school's intermediate energy room."

"A bottle of Bone Cleansing Liquid, to be used before breaking through the flesh."

"These two were not originally on the reward list, but now I'll give them to you in advance."

"But remember, once you take the resources, you have to let your results do the talking."

Lu Cheng's eyes lit up, and he stood up immediately.

"Principal is wise!"

Bone Cleansing Liquid, this is good stuff.

It can further strengthen the body and speed up the quenching process.

For a martial artist in the Body Refining Realm, it is very valuable.

Plus 100 hours of intermediate energy room training time, this wave is simply providing help in snowy weather.

Su Wan also sat up a little straighter and nodded seriously to Song Yuanqiao for the first time.

"Thank you, Principal."

Song Yuanqiao waved his hand.

"Thanking me is useless; bring back results to thank me."

"Go, practice hard."