Free Web NovelChapter 167: Chapter 143: The Surprising Appearance of Silver
"What? I can’t participate in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament?"
Yu Fei stared at Cao Le’an, his eyes wide.
"That’s right. I looked into it. The Bureau of Education is organizing a separate competition for all you Celestial Prides this March. The results will determine your potential level and, consequently, the resources you’re allocated after enrolling."
Yu Fei was still a bit confused. "So, will this competition give me bonus points on the college entrance exam?"
Cao Le’an was speechless for a moment. "Yu Fei, don’t you know that once you’re certified as a special talent, it’s equivalent to guaranteed admission into one of the Seven Greats?"
"Is that so?"
"Didn’t Yan Sea tell you?"
Yu Fei thought about it carefully. "No!"
Cao Le’an was at a loss for words. "Well, now you know!"
"There’s one more thing. For this Youth Martial Arts Tournament, who do you think we should select from our senior year prep class?"
Yu Fei looked at the old headmaster in shock and asked cautiously, "Shouldn’t it be whoever is strongest?" ’Is the old headmaster planning to pull some strings?’
The old headmaster looked a bit awkward. "Right now, the two martial arts teachers have nominated different people, so it’s hard to decide." frёeωebɳovel.com
"Then have them fight it out! You can’t just talk about who’s a stronger Martial Artist—you have to prove it with your fists!"
Cao Le’an was taken aback. ’I must be getting stupid,’ he thought. ’I’ve been doing administrative work for too long, always trying to weigh the pros and cons. How did I not realize such a simple solution?’
"That makes sense. I know what to do now. Yu Fei, prepare well and strive to take first place. I’m off!"
The old headmaster left as soon as he finished speaking. Without a head martial arts coach, things were truly difficult for him. freewёbnoνel.com
Yu Fei rubbed his temples. ’Strive to take first place?’
He looked at the "Newbie Celestial Pride" section of the *Pingtianxia* forum. There were already twenty-one Celestial Prides in the Inner Qi Realm. In two months, that number would only grow, and he hadn’t even finished refining his five viscera.
"Fuck, they’re all monsters!"
The news from Cao Le’an instantly made him tense.
Although he had used a shortcut to cultivate the second-realm, transcendent-grade Cultivation Technique, the Taiwei Profound Origin Pillar, posts in the "Newbie Celestial Pride" section suggested that his red-grade martial body talent, the Void Martial Body, was still somewhat weak among the other Celestial Prides.
Some of these monsters took over ten hours to open their five viscera, almost three times as long as him. What was even more disheartening was that some show-off kings were even asking, "Is there a time limit for opening the five viscera?"
Yu Fei wished he could run up to these show-off kings, activate his mark, slap them to the ground, and copy their talents.
Among the talents fused into his Void Martial Body was a blue-grade talent related to the stomach, but the stomach was one of the six fu-organs, making it useless for now.
Therefore, Yu Fei speculated that talents for strengthening both the five zang- and six fu-organs might exist; unfortunately, he had never encountered one.
His Void Martial Body was created through fusion, and none of the talents involved in the fusion were related to the five viscera. Yu Fei guessed this was the reason why his opening process was relatively short.
As he continued to refine his five viscera, Yu Fei recently noticed some changes in himself. He no longer needed a light to walk at night, as if he had gained low-light vision. As long as there was even the faintest glimmer of light in his surroundings, he could see everything clearly.
His hearing had grown sharper; if he quieted his mind, he could even hear the faint vibrations of ants walking. His sense of smell had also become more acute, and he could now distinguish the unique scent of every person. He could tell who had been in his room just by sniffing the air.
This was what Yan Sea had referred to as "supernatural qualities."
These abilities didn’t enhance a Martial Artist’s attack or defense, but they made one more well-rounded, increasing their soft power.
After receiving the news from Cao Le’an, Yu Fei doubled down on his cultivation. ’Since I can’t raise my realm for now, I’ll just shore up my other weaknesses. Let them be as strong as they want—I’ll just copy someone even stronger!’
March arrived with the warmth of spring. Hibernating insects stirred, new shoots sprouted, and the world slowly came back to life.
A gentle east wind blew, neither rushed nor harsh. Yu Fei, shouldering his backpack and pulling a suitcase, said goodbye to his friends and family.
Not long after learning about the Celestial Pride Ranking Match on New Year’s Day, Yu Fei received an official invitation. He also got a message from Shen Tuli.
The Celestial Pride Ranking Match was a nationwide event. Performance in this competition would determine a participant’s starting resources after university enrollment.
In reality, this match was initiated by the Seven Greats and organized by the military. Its results were officially recognized, making it equivalent to a college entrance exam exclusively for Celestial Prides.
The certification of special talents had ended at the end of February. During the subsequent gap, even mastering both first-realm foundational Cultivation Techniques would be useless. However, one could still participate in a separate competition for Quasi-Celestial Prides.
He and Shen Tuli exchanged a few quick words before she tossed him a link with a detailed explanation of the college entrance ranking system.
She was very busy and didn’t have time to answer individual questions.
Due to its massive population and vast territory, the Yu Kingdom had countless talented individuals. The standardized college entrance exam system, held on June 7th, was not suitable for all candidates, which led to the policy of early admission rounds.
According to the regulations, there were a total of three early admission rounds.
The first round was the Celestial Pride Ranking Match that Yu Fei was about to participate in. This round would produce S-rank, A-rank, and B-rank placements, which determined resource allocation after enrollment.
The second round was called the Celestial Pride Advancement Match. It was also a nationwide competition, with participants being Quasi-Celestial Pride level Martial Artists—that is, Martial Artists who had mastered the Ox Subduing Pile Skill but had not yet comprehended Ruyi Shen Jin. This category of Martial Artist was more numerous.
The Celestial Pride Advancement Match would produce A-rank, B-rank, and C-rank placements.
The third round was the city-level Youth Martial Arts Tournament that Yu Fei had participated in last year. This round was designed for the even larger population of ordinary Martial Artists. Candidates were recommended by local schools, went through provincial and municipal tryouts, and finally competed in the national Youth Martial Arts Tournament. This final tournament produced B-rank, C-rank, and D-rank placements. These third-round placements were limited by quotas, and anyone who didn’t make the cut received no rank.
