Free Web NovelChapter 82: Chapter 82: Upgrade—A-level Contract
「Half an hour after the final exam results were released」
「Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo, Vice Hall Master’s Office」
In the spacious Martial Arts Room, under the bright white lights, a burly figure sat cross-legged with his hands in the Five Hearts Facing Heaven Technique.
"Hooo..."
Wisps of wind materialized around his body. Golden particles swirled about him, gathering into a tornado before being sucked into his body like a vacuum cleaner.
A moment later, Yue Feng’s eyes snapped open, and a powerful shockwave of air spread out around him.
A sharp glint flashed in his piercing eyes.
"Master, the final exam assessment results are out!"
Alpha, a red metallic sphere, floated slowly over.
"Project them," Yue Feng said, raising an eyebrow.
"Understood!"
*BEEP!*
A huge green light screen materialized, displaying several lists.
Yue Feng’s gaze was like lightning as his eyes darted, rapidly scanning the contents of the lists.
’Our Celestial Sea City is the capital of Cang Province, the city with the strongest overall power.’
’In the past, Celestial Sea City always had the most students in the provincial top one hundred, and the number one spot was always ours.’
’But in this final exam, Bailu City has caught up. They have the same number of students in the top one hundred as we do, and they’ve even taken the top spot. Wang Qiufeng was surpassed by Chen Li.’
Yue Feng shook his head, muttering to himself.
Then, his eyes fell on Lin Qi, ranked ninth on the Celestial Sea City list, and a smile appeared on his face.
’As expected, Lin Qi didn’t disappoint me.’
’His Talent is even greater than I imagined.’
’A B-level Contract? It’s time for an upgrade!’
...
It was nearly ten o’clock, but the contract department at the Chongming Martial Arts Dojo was still open.
Manager Li stared at the projection before him, his face a mask of agony. Lin Qi’s portrait and name were exceptionally prominent.
Seeing that he was ranked ninth in the entire city made his heart bleed.
A mid-level student who had been ranked outside the top thousand just one semester ago had leaped to become the ninth-ranked genius in the city.
And this wasn’t even his limit, leaving infinite room for imagination.
And this genius was supposed to belong to their Chongming Martial Arts Dojo.
’If we had signed him,’ he thought, ’I can’t even imagine how big my bonus would be. I might have even been able to pay off my mortgage in one go.’
’And then there’s Jiangtao, Lin Qi’s friend. If we’d signed him to the Chongming Martial Arts Dojo, it would have been a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Two top-level geniuses.’
Now it was all gone. Everything was gone!!
Once a Martial Artist signs a contract, they can’t switch to another Martial Arts Dojo unless they join the military.
He glanced at his manager’s darkened office, feeling helpless and a little sad.
’This must be the helplessness of a working stiff.’
...
「Obsidian Martial Arts Dojo」
The head of the contract department also wanted to cry but had no tears left as he stared at the ranking list.
"This Lin Qi... he’s actually a real genius!!"
"The heavens are truly toying with me! How could I be so unlucky!"
"Forget it, forget it. It wasn’t meant to be. Perhaps this student, Lin Qi, was never fated to join our Obsidian Martial Arts Dojo."
"Maybe I shouldn’t have put so much faith in big data. Maybe I should have personally met and evaluated the geniuses I overlooked," he muttered to himself.
...
The final exam was over, but the results and rankings sent waves through the community.
The names of countless geniuses came into the public eye.
Among them was the name Lin Qi.
「The first day of winter break」
Lin Qi got out of his family’s car. The biting winter wind felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze on his face.
His father got out of the driver’s seat, carrying several bags, large and small.
Manager Sun, dressed in a crisp suit with a neat mustache, came out to greet them enthusiastically.
"Student Lin Qi, Mr. Lin!"
"Manager Sun, sorry to keep you waiting!" Lin Qi apologized.
"Not at all!"
"Let’s go!"
Lin Qi nodded and followed Manager Sun into the Martial Arts Dojo.
He asked his father to put their things in his Martial Arts Room while he followed Manager Sun to the Hall Master’s office.
Manager Sun walked ahead, glancing at Lin Qi with a feeling of immense satisfaction.
’The best decision I made this year was signing this genius, Lin Qi.’
He had brought them a huge surprise, and Manager Sun would be rewarded for it.
A moment later, they arrived at the top floor—the Vice Hall Master’s office.
*BEEP!*
Yue Feng turned to face the two who entered, smiling as he extended a hand.
"Student Lin Qi, welcome!"
Lin Qi returned the smile and shook his hand.
"Sit."
The two sat down, and Manager Sun brewed tea for them.
"Here, Lin Qi, try this specially cultivated green tea."
Lin Qi nodded and accepted the cup. The brownish-green tea exuded a fresh fragrance. He took a small sip. It was bitter at first, but a sweet aftertaste slowly emerged.
A moment later, it felt as if a stream of flowing water had washed over his mind. He felt much more awake, his thoughts clearer and faster.
"This... tea?" Lin Qi was quite surprised.
"This specially cultivated green tea can refresh the mind and facilitate epiphanies. It provides a decent boost to one’s comprehension of Martial Arts."
"I’ll give you a few packs," Yue Feng said with a smile.
"Thank you, Hall Master!" Lin Qi did not refuse.
"Lin Qi, you should make good use of those packs. They’re worth 500,000 Xia Country Coins," Manager Sun reminded him.
’500,000 Xia Country Coins?’
Looking at the tea in his cup, Lin Qi was shocked!
"Alright, let’s get down to business," Yue Feng said, waving his hand.
Manager Sun nodded, taking out a file and a tablet and placing them in front of Lin Qi.
Alpha also projected a light screen.
"Lin Qi!"
"Congratulations on breaking into the top nine in Celestial Sea City."
"Although by standard criteria, you haven’t yet met the conditions for an A-level Contract, your Talent and rate of progress are enough for me to make an exception."
"We are upgrading your B-level Contract to an A-level Contract!" Yue Feng said with a smile.
Lin Qi nodded calmly, not surprised by this.
Yue Feng smiled in appreciation, then pointed to the screen and continued.
"According to our Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo’s A-level Contract."
"You will directly receive a grant of 5,000,000 Xia Country Coins. Since you’ve already received 3,000,000 from your B-level Contract, we will give you the remaining 2,000,000."
"Similarly, of the 3,000,000 worth of resources, the remaining 1,000,000 will also be provided to you."
"Not only that, but you will also enjoy a 25% discount at our dojo’s Martial Arts Supermarket."
"You will also receive 500,000 Points for the [Red Dome House]!"
"When you master your third Killing Technique or break through to the Second Realm and need to learn new Cultivation Techniques and Secret Manuals, these Points will be extremely useful."
Yue Feng laid out the benefits of the A-level Contract in one breath.
Lin Qi nodded to himself. It was about what he had expected.
An A-level Contract represented higher status, more money and resources, and a brighter future.
"Of course, I know your mother needs surgery."
"With this A-level Contract, you can jump the queue. I’ve already spoken with the hospital and told them to schedule her surgery as soon as possible," Yue Feng added.
"Thank you, Hall Master!"
Lin Qi thanked him sincerely. This was what he had desperately wanted.
After speaking, he no longer hesitated and signed his name on the new contract.
[Lin Qi]
Yue Feng took a sip of tea and continued to speak.
"Congratulations, Student Lin Qi, on becoming the fourth A-level genius signed by our Red Dome Celestial Sea Branch this year."
"And your friend, Jiangtao. He has proven his Talent and will become our fifth A-level genius in the future."
Lin Qi nodded and posed for a photo with Yue Feng.
After it was over, he suddenly asked:
"Hall Master, is the A-level Contract the highest we can go?"
"For people who haven’t Awakened a Special Ability, is an A-level Contract the ceiling, no matter how good their Talent is?"
This was the question weighing on Lin Qi’s mind.
He wasn’t satisfied with an A-level Contract.
He wanted an even higher contract!
...
