Chapter 37: Geniuses are as Numerous as Carp Crossing a River (Please keep reading)

Lin Qi listened to the surprised voices of his classmates without feeling much pride.

Only a slight ripple stirred within his heart.

Jiang Tao marveled inwardly: *As expected of Brother Qi. No matter the occasion, he always remains calm, unperturbed even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him. Compared to him, I am far behind.*

...

"I think it is necessary for everyone to take a look at their rankings in Tianhai City," the homeroom teacher, Yan Hong, suddenly spoke up to remind them.

Everyone's attention began to shift toward the city rankings.

"In this Tianhai City monthly exam, all ten key middle schools and 43 ordinary middle schools in our city participated."

"But unfortunately, in the city-wide rankings for this monthly exam, our school only has one person in the top ten."

Li Zhou frowned at the grade sheet, his emotions written plainly on his face.

As soon as Yan Hong finished speaking, some people immediately became restless.

Lin Qi's eyes swept across the list and landed on Li Zhou's ranking.

[Grade 1st, Tianhai City Rank: 9th]

"Holy crap, I just noticed—Li Zhou is only ranked 9th in Tianhai City. He almost fell out of the top ten."

"Li Zhou's blood qi value is 9.8; he's almost about to break through to the second realm. If he's that fierce and only ranked 9th, just how strong are the top eight?"

The classroom erupted in an uproar, struggling to process what they were seeing.

"Look, Yu Jing, who is 2nd in our grade, is only 15th. He's a huge distance behind Li Zhou. Qi Yuelin is even worse—only 24th."

"As for those further down, it's even worse; they've all fallen below 40th place."

People didn't realize it until they looked, but even the powerhouses of their class weren't all that impressive in the overall Tianhai City rankings.

Hearing the discussions, both Yu Jing and Qi Yuelin looked grim.

"Damn, I'm 7th in our grade, but only 100th in the city. I almost fell out of the rankings," Jiang Tao said with a bitter smile, his previous smugness completely gone.

Many found it difficult to accept these rankings. Before their third year of high school, martial arts students did not undergo unified examinations, so they had no idea where they stood in the city. Now that they saw the true rankings, they felt like they were losing their composure.

Among them, Yu Jing had the most difficult expression. At Tianhai No. 2 Middle School, the gap between him and Li Zhou was very small, giving him the illusion that he could surpass him. Now it appeared the gap between them was massive, and he found it hard to accept.

The entire class seemed to have suffered a heavy blow, their hearts deeply shaken.

Yan Hong spoke again.

"In our Tianhai City, among the thousands of students in our ten key middle schools, geniuses are as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river."

"If you do not work hard, what awaits you is elimination. Continue to strive; this is only the beginning."

"In the upcoming midterm assessment, we will see the results and rankings of all third-year martial arts students in the entire Cang Province."

"By then, you will be competing against even more geniuses, and your rankings may drop even further. Only true geniuses can swim against the current and continue to rise."

Every word from Yan Hong felt like a heavy mountain of pressure pressing down on everyone. No one could remain calm.

"Alright, the results are out. Regarding the martial arts rooms and scholarships, they will be processed tomorrow. I will post the grade sheet in the group. Class dismissed," Yan Hong announced loudly.

The crowd began packing their things to leave the classroom.

"There are too many geniuses. We need to work even harder," Jiang Tao said, shaking his head.

"Although our current rankings are low, given our talent, there is still massive room for improvement," Lin Qi said calmly.

"Exactly!" Jiang Tao nodded.

"Chen Zichuan, congratulations on your huge progress."

On the way to the martial arts classroom, Lin Qi spoke to Chen Zichuan when they encountered him.

"Yeah, Chen Zichuan, you kid are indeed a genius. Moving from 50th to 35th in the grade—an improvement of 15 places—is second only to Brother Qi," Jiang Tao added, giving a thumbs up.

Chen Zichuan rarely showed a smile. "Thanks for the compliment."

...

Back in the martial arts room, Lin Qi changed into his martial arts uniform and took a blood qi capsule, preparing to begin today's training.

Tonight would be his last time training in Jiang Tao's martial arts room. Tomorrow, he would have his own independent martial arts room.

With that thought, he checked his panel.

[Name: Lin Qi (17)] [Profession: Martial Artist] [Template: Erlang Shen · Yang Jian (6%)] [Talents: Stomach Strengthening, Vigorous and Energetic] [Techniques: Round Stance, Five Elements Fist · Tiger Form, Basic Spear Technique, Mountain-Crushing Spear Technique] [Blood Qi Value: 8.2] [Fist Technique: Tier 2, 10%] [Spear Technique: Tier 1, 92%] [Movement Technique: Tier 1, 87%]

...

Looking at the various data points, Lin Qi let out a breath. Since activating the template over a month ago, his progress had been immense.

His blood qi value had reached 8.2, leaving him only 1.8 away from the second realm. His fist, spear, and movement techniques had all made significant strides, exceeding his own expectations.

*This progress is only natural. With the 'Vigorous and Energetic' talent, I can spend more time training every day, I have abundant energy, strong physical recovery, and high efficiency.*

*If I still can't make it into the top twenty with this, I might as well go find a block of tofu to crash into and end it all.*

*With this massive progress, securing a second-class genius loan should be no problem. Next, I just have to wait for tomorrow's Star Rank activity.*

After organizing his thoughts, Lin Qi began his stance training.

...

Principal's Office.

Sitting in his ergonomic chair, Jiang Zhiguang looked at the projected spreadsheets with a solemn expression.

"These results..."

"Are actually quite good!!"

Jiang Zhiguang's expression shifted, and a smile broke across his face. He picked up a pale green tea cup and took a large gulp.

"In Tianhai City, the ten key middle schools are divided into three tiers. No. 1 Middle School, No. 8 Middle School, and the Senior High School are in the first tier."

"The Senior High School and No. 3 Middle School are in the second tier... while our No. 2 Middle School and three others are in the third tier."

"Compared to previous monthly exams, we didn't even have a single student in the top ten. But this year, we have Li Zhou."

"It's not just Li Zhou; the overall rankings of the others are also higher than in previous years."

On the sofa, Yan Hong sat upright, having finished a serious analysis of the grade sheet and created various pie charts.

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

"Li Zhou making the top ten is his own merit, but the overall class performance is thanks to my training."

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon Lin Qi's results on the sheet, and he smiled.

"Old Zhang, it was indeed the right decision to bring you here," Jiang Zhiguang said with a rare smile. "However, after the monthly exam, the various martial arts halls—especially the three major ones—will start making their moves."

"They'll fight for geniuses, sign contracts, and provide funding. I wonder how many geniuses our school has who can sign an A-grade contract."

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng shook his head. "That will be difficult. Currently, only Li Zhou, Yu Jing, and Qi Yuelin have a chance."

...

The next day, at No. 2 Middle School.

Inside the martial arts classroom, Zhang Cheng stood in the center of the room.

"First, let me say one thing. Regarding this Tianhai monthly exam: anyone who falls out of the top thirty, I'm sorry, but your martial arts room belongs to someone else starting today."

"Pack your things in a moment and vacate the rooms."

"Lin Qi, you go to Room 503..."

Lin Qi nodded. He finally had his own martial arts room. In the future, he wouldn't have to come to the classroom at 4:00 AM. Everyone in class already knew he was a "grind king" who woke up before dawn to train.

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

"Do you feel a lot of pressure?"

"It's right to feel pressure. Turn that pressure into motivation. Train like your life depends on it. If you don't die from training, then train until you're on the verge of death to push your rankings up!"

"I hope that in a month's time, during the Cang Province assessment, everyone's ranking will have improved."

"If you have no confidence, you can get lost early and leave the space for students who are willing to work hard!"

Zhang Cheng roared, and everyone immediately began their training.

...

(End of Chapter)