Chapter 6: The Gold Swallowing Cave

"Maybe I have a high talent?" Li Yuan's pupils constricted.

He couldn't help but think about the last note on the Divine Palace data panel: "Contains some kind of unawakened high-level spirituality."

Li Yuan trusted the detection of the Divine Palace panel, which had never been wrong in the past year.

It should be more reliable than Teacher Xu Bo's speculation.

The information Teacher Xu Bo mentioned today gave Li Yuan more ideas.

Previously, although Li Yuan had searched many times on the virtual network, he was frustrated by the lack of permissions, and many pieces of information were unsearchable.

"I have high talent? I have a Mental Divine Palace, perhaps this is also a kind of talent," Li Yuan muttered to himself.

Over the past century, numerous cultivation methods have gradually been made public. With the development of technology, a large number of martial artists have emerged in human civilization.

And those who can fly and dodge, and even survive a nuclear explosion, which of their growth stories is not filled with legend?

Li Yuan did not think that the Mental Divine Palace he possessed would be an exception.

"Teacher, what should I do then?" Li Yuan asked proactively.

He was very smart; if Teacher Xu Bo had called him in, it definitely wasn't just for encouragement.

"Persist." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan. He originally wanted to say "follow the routine," but changed his words at the last moment.

Seeing Li Yuan's puzzled expression, Xu Bo continued, "Your progress has already been very fast. There's no need to be too anxious about the unawakened martial spirit. With your grades, it's easy to get into a martial arts university."

"Following the normal cultivation, in at most two to three years, your physical attributes should reach level 10.0."

"Once you become a martial artist, high-level cultivation methods will no longer be a constraint for you."

"Perhaps, in the future, you can create your own high-level cultivation method." Xu Bo smiled.

"Create a cultivation method?" Li Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Can I?"

"Haha, what can or cannot be?" Xu Bo laughed, "How old are you? Being young means infinite possibilities."

"Even the founders of the three major martial halls, who could have predicted their achievements when they were young?" Xu Bo smiled at Li Yuan, "The founders of the three major martial halls are too distant, but do you lack the ambition to surpass me?"

"My physical attributes are only at level 19."

Li Yuan held his breath.

Since Xu Bo became his martial arts class teacher, he had always taken him as a goal.

Only now did he realize that the teacher's strength was so high, with physical attributes reaching level 19.

No wonder he was a special-grade martial arts teacher.

"Let's talk about something practical." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan and said, "Although you haven't awakened your martial spirit, your physical attributes and martial skills are quite good. Considering your family situation... I will apply to the school for a third-class scholarship for you."

"Third-class scholarship?" Li Yuan's eyes lit up.

Martial cultivation is very resource-intensive.

Therefore, for students with excellent martial arts grades, the state begins to issue various bonuses and subsidies from the first year of high school.

As a provincial key high school, Guanshan No. 1 High School receives more state funding than ordinary high schools.

Each time there is a major unified exam, the top 100 students in martial arts in the grade receive additional rewards.

The top 50 receive a reward of 2,000 Blue Star coins.

The top 30 receive a reward of 5,000 Blue Star coins.

The top 20, in addition to the top 30, receive two additional bottles of basic blood and qi elixir.

The top 10, in addition to the top 20, receive a private martial arts training room.

These are the exam rewards.

Scholarships are even more special, combining academic performance and family circumstances, and requiring a teacher's recommendation to have a chance of obtaining one.

Very few people receive scholarships.

"You have made significant progress, but your martial arts grade is only in the top 30 of the grade. If you want to apply for a second-class scholarship or higher, it will be quite difficult," Xu Bo said, "But there is still hope for a third-class scholarship. Of course, even if you get it, the amount is not much, just 20,000 coins, don't complain about the amount."

"Thank you, Teacher." Li Yuan was extremely grateful.

20,000 coins? That's equivalent to Auntie's two months' salary.

The total amount of scholarships he had received since high school was less than 20,000.

"What does the teacher want me to do?" Li Yuan asked.

"You don't need to do anything, just focus on your cultivation and get good grades," Xu Bo waved his hand, "Go eat, and I'll let you know when the application is approved."

"Yes." Li Yuan left, closing the door as he exited.

Watching Li Yuan leave.

"This kid, does he think I want something in return?" Xu Bo shook his head and smiled.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed.

The man, who was like an iron tower, now showed a hint of pain.

"Time to take the medicine again?" Xu Bo endured the pain and walked towards the therapy room.

...

Leaving the office building.

"Good." Li Yuan couldn't help but clench his fists, finding it hard to suppress his joy.

Before entering the office, he had guessed something good would happen.

But he didn't expect it to be this good.

"Teacher Xu didn't mention these things before because, although my past grades were good, he thought they weren't excellent enough?" Li Yuan thought, "Is my performance today good enough?"

Li Yuan had read many books.

In some stories, many seniors like to promote juniors.

But the premise is that the juniors are worth promoting.

"If I don't work hard enough or am not excellent enough, even if I encounter an opportunity, I will miss it." Li Yuan thought.

"Should I send a message in the family group?" Li Yuan's mind briefly entertained this thought but quickly suppressed it.

Whew!

A gust of wind blew, making Li Yuan even more calm.

"Not in a hurry."

"Teacher Xu is a special-grade teacher, but not part of the school administration. Even if the application is successful, it will take some time." Li Yuan thought, "If it fails, it will just be a false joy."

"I'll tell Uncle and Auntie when the scholarship is really approved."

"Yes, I shouldn't tell other classmates about this." Li Yuan had thought it through: "Teacher Xu called me alone and let Wan Xiao leave first, probably not wanting others to know."

"If the school wants to publicize it, they will do so later."

His past experiences and the books he had read made Li Yuan understand that "success comes from secrecy, and failure from leaks."

Don't proclaim things that haven't been confirmed.

"Let's go eat first." Li Yuan calmed down and ran towards the cafeteria.

...

Guanshan No. 1 High School has over 6,000 students, so the cafeteria is very large.

Li Yuan had just entered the cafeteria.

"Brother Yuan, over here." Zhou Qi was already sitting and calling from a distance, along with Wan Xiao, Yan Zhou, and over ten other boys, occupying two large tables.

Li Yuan smiled and walked over.

The boys in the class liked to gather for meals.

"Brother Yuan, here are your two nutrition meals." Zhou Qi, while eating, pushed two special meal boxes to Li Yuan.

"Who paid? Yan Zhou?" Li Yuan asked with a smile as he sat down to eat.

"I said I would pay you back." Yan Zhou laughed.

"The few breakfasts I brought you, just hot noodles and egg soy milk, cost less than 50 coins in total." Li Yuan shook his head, "These two nutrition meals cost 150 coins."

The prices of the meals the boys were eating varied greatly.

Ordinary meals with two meat dishes and two vegetables, or three meat dishes and two vegetables, cost less than 20 coins.

Zhou Qi and Yan Zhou were eating these.

Since they went to cultural classes in the evening, they wouldn't have intense exercise, so their physical energy consumption was less.

For someone like Li Yuan, who had high-intensity martial arts training in the evening, ordinary meals were not enough. Over time, it would lead to a deficiency in his body's qi and blood.

He had to eat the cafeteria's special nutrition meals, which were much more expensive.

One meal cost 75 coins, and Li Yuan needed two.

To be precise, Li Yuan's normal three meals a day cost nearly 300 coins.

At least 8,000 Blue Star coins a month.

This was still far from enough to support Li Yuan's normal cultivation, and he occasionally had to consume various expensive qi and blood elixirs and supplements.

If he included therapy, his monthly expenses would be a staggering amount.

This was because Li Yuan was a student and could always train in the school's martial arts classroom, where various training equipment like cold weapons, punching bags, and shooting ranges were available.

The effect was not as good as a private martial arts training room, but the school's martial arts classroom was free.

If he went to a regular martial hall in society, the rent would be charged by the hour, which ordinary families could not afford.

Martial cultivation is a gold-swallowing cave, not an exaggeration.

This was also why Li Yuan was eager to get into one of the five major prestigious universities.

Because, up to now, his cultivation had already put a heavy burden on Uncle and Auntie.

...

Leaving the cafeteria.

"Brother Yuan, we're going to the cultural building, see you tomorrow." Zhou Qi and Yan Zhou said to Li Yuan.

"Okay." Li Yuan nodded.

In this era, students from the first year of high school onwards, study cultural subjects in the morning and practice martial arts in the afternoon.

In the evening, students choose their own path based on their interests.

There are only 29 martial arts universities in the entire Xia country.

And over a thousand cultural universities nationwide.

If you want to apply to a martial arts university, your cultural score will be converted and account for 10% of the total score.

If you choose the cultural path, your martial arts score will be converted and account for 30% of the total score.

Although the final decision on the path is made when filling out the application, most students start to focus on one path from the first year of high school.

Li Yuan returned to the martial arts classroom.

Looking around, there were fewer than ten people left, the classroom was mostly empty.

Some students in Class 3-2 chose to focus on cultural subjects, which was the choice of most students.

"Wanting to get into a martial arts university is indeed difficult." Li Yuan thought.

In Jiangbei Province, over a million students take the college entrance exam each year.

The only martial arts university, "Jiangbei Martial Arts University," admits no more than 10,000 students annually, less than 1% of all candidates.

As a provincial key high school, Guanshan No. 1 High School rarely has more than a hundred students admitted to martial arts universities each year.

It was not yet dark.

The dozen or so people in the classroom were mostly chatting with each other.

Evening martial arts training had no teacher supervision, it all depended on self-discipline.

"Li Tianyou." Li Yuan glanced at the figure in the corner of the classroom.

A boy about 1.8 meters tall, with a somewhat thin face, wearing martial arts clothing, was silently and seriously practicing the basic cultivation method.

He was completely unaffected by the chatting of others.

The sweat on his forehead showed that he had been practicing for some time.

"Really hardworking!" Li Yuan sighed, "No wonder he's the top hardworking student in the class."

Without disturbing anyone else, Li Yuan took out a large spear from his weapon cabinet, found a bright spot in the classroom, and began practicing his spear techniques.

Why not practice the basic cultivation method?

Because Li Yuan would wake up at around 3:00 AM every day, come to school, and practice the basic cultivation method alone in the empty martial arts classroom for over two hours.

Then, around 6:00 AM, he would go to the cafeteria for breakfast and study in the cultural classroom.

In the afternoon, he would practice the cultivation method with everyone for two hours.

The best practice schedule, as determined by many martial arts experts, is to divide the daily practice into two to three sessions, totaling four hours.

Life evolution, the tempering and recovery of the body's muscles and bones, all require time.

Excess is as bad as deficiency.

The remaining time, Li Yuan could use to practice spear techniques and body techniques.

Two hours later.

The school bell rang, and the students in the classroom had already left one by one. Li Yuan was still practicing his spear techniques, and only Li Tianyou was still practicing his sword techniques.

Suddenly.

In Li Yuan's field of vision, a message only he could see popped up.

[Your spear technique level has increased from 36% to 37%]

(End of Chapter)