CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 37 MARTIAL ARTS SCHOLARSHIP

Deng Zhijue was flipping through the tablet while taking notes.

"There are three types of Martial Arts Hall scholarships suitable for Zhou Leng, two types of Ruda scholarships, four types of city scholarships, and five types from the Martial Guard Department."

"Scholarships of the same type can’t overlap unless there are special circumstances, so I’ve chosen the following four scholarships."

"Exemplary Martial Arts School Student Scholarship, ¥10,000 per year, 10 Qi Nourishing Pills, 10 Blood Replenishing Pills, and 10 Great Nourishing Pills."

"Ruda Advanced Individual Scholarship, ¥30,000 per year."

"Rucheng Martial Arts Diligence Award, 10 Blood Replenishing Pills, 10 Great Nourishing Pills."

"Martial Guard Department Elite Freshman Award, 1 Replenishing Essence Pill, 50 Great Nourishing Pills."

"Of course, these rewards are for a first-class scholarship, if it’s second-class or third-class, the rewards will be lower."

Wang Boxiong said, "The scholarships from the Martial Arts Hall and the Martial Guard Department are fine, what do you think about those from Ruda and Rucheng?"

Deng Zhijue answered, "The Ruda Advanced Individual Scholarship is not difficult; after all, he’s a ’Quan Jiu.’ The principals of Ruda would be delighted and wouldn’t let others take this spot. As for the Rucheng Martial Arts Diligence Award, there are many contenders, so it’s hard to say."

Wang Boxiong quickly checked the information and said, "You help him apply for the other three, and I’ll inform the Martial Guard Department. As for the Rucheng Martial Arts Diligence Award, there was an incident last year, making it contentious. Switch it to the Rucheng Martial Arts Newcomer Award, which, although it only has five Blood Replenishing Pills, is certain to be earned."

"Yes."

"Once he completes Blood Transport, have him train in the Demon City to accumulate 100 war merits. Only after advancing to Private can he meet the final selection for the Martial Guard Department Elite Freshman Award. But there’s no rush; finishing within two months is fine."

"Yes."

"Any lone Demon Hunting Gold from the Demon City Army recently?"

"There are some, but the current demon hunting targets are too dangerous for him. I checked, and even the lower-rank demons are Humpbacked Demon Dogs and Steel-skull Sheep Demons. The former is somewhat powerful, and the latter appears in groups, making them unsuitable for a freshman like him."

"Hmm, let’s forget it then."

Deng Zhijue tentatively asked, "Do you think there’s any special Martial Guard Department or national scholarship suitable for him?"

Wang Boxiong’s eyelids slightly drooped.

Deng Zhijue immediately saluted and said, "I take my leave."

After saying that, Deng Zhijue left, closed the door, and took a breath of relief.

Wang Boxiong’s fingers moved slightly, and the large screen in front constantly changed until it stopped.

The central position on the big screen displayed a line of text.

Martial Guard Department Elite Training Camp (First Year).

Wang Boxiong carefully reviewed the content.

This training camp lasts thirty days, with one Blood Replenishing Pill, one Qi Nourishing Pill, and three servings of Meat Herbal Cuisine provided daily.

If the training camp performance is in the top ten, there will be a pill reward worth approximately ¥300,000 in total.

Wang Boxiong knew well that the most valuable aspect of this Elite Training Camp was not the inherent guidance or the pill rewards, but the connections made after entering and the attention from higher-ups.

However, this Elite Training Camp from the Martial Guard Department could only be considered third-class.

The first-class was organized by Yunhua, Jinjing, or the Military Academy, with guidance from Grandmasters.

The second-class was co-hosted by major forces, with limited resources, focusing on honing, and guidance from peak Inborns.

The third-class was ordinary elite training camps, only guided by ordinary Inborns.

"Only top military students and those from Yunhua Jinjing are eligible for the first-class training camps. The second-class has uncertain timings, so he can only participate in the third-class..."

"For him, it’s better to sell the spot at a high price to exchange for pills to make up for shortcomings..."

Wang Boxiong lightly tapped the table with his index finger, then looked at Zhou Leng’s scores.

That string of scores over 90 would make ordinary students envious, yet made Wang Boxiong sigh softly.

Among just Rucheng freshmen, over 500 people had a perfect score of 100 in the five-pill subjects; Zhou Leng’s average in these subjects didn’t even hit 95.

He desperately needs pills to make up for his shortcomings.

Wang Boxiong slightly raised his head, recalling the year he first entered Yunhua Martial Arts Academy.

That year, he received a spot in the Yunhua Elite Training Camp, weighed the pros and cons, sold it for a full ¥50 million, and then went crazy on pills the following year to make up for his weaknesses.

Selling the spot was the only choice for Yunhua Jinjing’s civilian students.

With insufficient foundation, neither connections, Grandmaster guidance, nor experience would matter much.

Likely, one wouldn’t even keep up with the regular progress of the training camp.

"Since Chen Fenghu is also interested in Zhou Leng, why not..."

Outside the Martial Arts Room of the class, Zhou Leng, like his classmates, was slowly walking out step by step.

After a while, he merged onto the main road, encountering other class’s Martial Arts School freshmen.

Martial Arts School freshmen from different classes looked at each other, sighed long, and trudged forward.

Under the night, the "elderly" Martial Arts School students slowly moved, just short of needing a cane.

It took Zhou Leng a long time to reach the Martial Arts Hall’s gate, realizing he couldn’t go on like this.

Even if he got home like this, it would be hard to recover by tomorrow.

He could only eat the Great Nourishing Pills left under the Frost Giant Tree and have a backup serving of Meat Herbal Cuisine. Ideally, sleeping under the Frost Giant Tree would allow for quick recovery.

Zhou Leng hesitated for a moment, hailed a taxi, and arrived at Xiaoru Village.

Huang was not there.

An elderly passerby, seeing Zhou Leng’s walking style, whispered, "Why does this kid keep doing frog jumps?"

Deep into the night, Zhou Leng, alone, gritted his teeth, moving with a strange gait, slowly climbing.

Suddenly, rustling noises came from the front.

Zhou Leng’s stance lowered, arms raised in front, adopting a defensive posture.

A large and six small black shapes darted out, the eyes of the nighttime wild boars glowing with a faint green light.

"It’s me, a friend of Huang’s." Zhou Leng waved to the familiar wild boars.

"Grunt, grunt..."

The large wild boar grunted a few times and turned to leave.

The six small wild boars turned back before leaving, casting curious glances at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng exerted all his strength to reach the base of the Frost Giant Tree.

Huang circled Zhou Leng a dozen times, suddenly baring his teeth, showing a fierce look, and growling from his throat before barking wildly.

After barking for a while, Huang stared with slightly red eyes, bit Zhou Leng’s pant leg, and attempted to drag him away.

Zhou Leng said, "It’s not because someone hit me, it’s defensive training, part of the cultivation process."

"Woof?" Huang lifted his head, eyes clear.

"It’s really due to training, not injury. Come on, I need to go take some medicine."

"Awo." Huang let out a small bark, followed beside Zhou Leng, eyebrows furrowed with worry.

Zhou Leng consumed a Great Nourishing Pill, warmed up some frozen Meat Herbal Cuisine, and ate it heartily.

First, he sat down to meditate and manipulate Qi, then slipped into a sleeping bag to rest and recuperate.

After Zhou Leng fell asleep, Huang circled him several times, looked up at the tree canopy, stood on his hind legs, and repeatedly bowed with his front paws.

The Frost Giant Tree remained unresponsive.

Huang tried to act cute, even rolled around, but the Frost Giant Tree was unmoved.

Finally, Huang let out an "Awwoo," and dejectedly lay beside Zhou Leng, slowly falling asleep.

In the morning, at the entrance of the 01 Class Martial Arts Dojo, the students filled the ground, seated.

These usually energetic Martial Cultivators were now bruised and lethargic.

They didn’t even want to stand.

"Have you taken your medicine?"

"Had to, or it’d be deadly."

"During a video call with my mom yesterday, she was so scared she rushed to deliver medicine overnight."

"Same with my dad, he brought the whole family to find me, thought the Demon was attacking the city."

"Hmm? Isn’t that Zhou Leng? Something’s off."

Classmates all turned to look at Zhou Leng.

He walked relatively steadily, his wounds were relatively healed, his bruises relatively faint; in all aspects, he surpassed all the classmates.

"Did you eat a whole Innate Magical Beast?" Wei Hong exclaimed wide-eyed.

"Nope, just ate a lot of Meat Herbal Cuisine and Great Nourishing Pills," Zhou Leng replied.

Feng Wenhao hurriedly said, "Don’t randomly eat pills, save up to buy Replenishing Essence Pills."

"Okay." Zhou Leng nodded.

"A legendary person is always legendary; we aged fifty years overnight, while Zhou Leng only aged ten."

Soon after, Instructor Deng Zhijue approached with a smile.

In a gentle and friendly tone, he said, "Dear students of Class 01, considering the injuries you sustained during yesterday’s assessments, today’s military training will have only one task."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Instructor!" Wei Hong said with gratitude.

Deng Zhijue glanced at Wei Hong and added, "A fully equipped 20-kilometer weighted run."

The whole class was dumbfounded, eyes bearing two words.

Beast.

Feng Wenhao said, "Fully equipped weight means 30 kilograms."

Wei Hong added, "20 kilometers, that’s like a half-marathon, usually no problem, but now, who can run it?"

Deng Zhijue checked the time and said, "You have half an hour to prepare, go to the Martial Arts Dojo to get your weighted backpacks. In half an hour, four classes together, 20-kilometer fully equipped weighted run. Top ten will be rewarded with three Great Nourishing Pills today, an additional three for first place."

Nobody dared to speak for fear of cursing out loud.

Too beastly!

"Instructor, could you go easy on us?" Wei Hong’s eyes welled with tears.

"The sooner you finish, the sooner you go home. See you in half an hour," Deng Zhijue waved off casually.

In front of the Martial Arts Dojo, cries of anguish filled the air.

"I want to go home!" Wei Hong shouted.

"Assessments hurt the body, military training hurts the heart, harder than falling in love."

"I once had my heart towards the bright moon, but alas, the bright moon... kicked me into a stinky gutter."

Jokingly complaining, the students walked into the Martial Arts Dojo, picked up 30-kilogram backpacks.

"Alright, the instructors still have a shred of humanity; besides weight blocks, there’s also water and a Marching Pill inside."

Everyone sat on their backpacks.

Yesterday, they were still interested in the magical equipment of the Martial Arts Dojo; today, they couldn’t be bothered to take another look.

"The Rucheng Freshman Chart is about to be updated, what do you think?" Wei Hong asked.

"That monstrous Giant from Mountain and River Origin is surely first, no doubt. Do you know how many subjects he excelled in?"

"Not sure."

"Weighted run, weightlifting, punching power, total True Qi, True Qi strength, Qi manipulation weightlifting, maximum attack intensity, and average attack intensity, excelled in eight subjects. Highest score in a single subject reached 209 points. Do you know how much weight he lifted without True Qi?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Over 5000 kilograms."

"Is he even human? Even masters in Vitality Stage might not be that strong, right?"

"That’s not all, he even complained about the defensive training targeting him, saying his body was too big to dodge and block well, but at the end of the defensive phase, a funny incident happened, guess what?"

Everyone shook their heads again.

"He squatted down and covered his head, those mechanical arms smoked and broke down mostly, while he only suffered minor skin injuries. The instructors at West Sea Martial Arts Academy laughed while giving him a score of 90."

"Truly inhuman!"

"That’s the level of dominance at Yunhua Jinjing. At our normal Martial Arts Academy, we aim for Half Nine, among the Top Ten pursue Quan Jiu, while Yunhua Jinjing aims for Super Resolution."