Qin Zhengâs expression darkened further. He was silent for a moment before speaking in a hoarse voice, "I know. Itâs not fair."
"Not fair? Itâs more than not fair! This is trampling all over our hard work!"
Wang Tao grew agitated, his voice trembling as he pointed at the students coming and going below the academic building.
"Look at them! Which one of us isnât cultivating with everything we have? Whose parents havenât sold everything they own just to scrape together resources for us?"
"Why do we work so hard? Isnât it all for a chance to compete fairly?!"
"But what about now? Someone with connections just waltzes in and snatches a spot that should have gone to someone more talented, more hardworking!"
"Brother Qin, are we just going to stand by and watch this happen? Can you accept this?!"
Qin Zhengâs fists clenched again.
âAccept it? How could I possibly accept it!â
âHe hated this kind of injustice more than anyone!â
âBut what could he do? Even the school was wary of that womanâs background. What could a mere student like him do to fight back?â
"But... what can I do?" Qin Zhengâs voice was filled with helplessness.
"You can!"
Wang Tao said decisively, "We can protest! We can hold a demonstration! We can unite all the students who are unhappy about this!"
"Weâll use our voices to tell the school, to tell the Education Department, that we wonât accept this injustice! Weâll force them to make that Gu Yuexi take the joint exam!"
"At the joint exam! We can defeat her openly and fairly! For no other reason! For fucking fairness!"
"Brother Qin! This is our only chance!"
Qin Zheng shuddered, stunned by Wang Taoâs words.
âA demonstration?â
âIsnât... isnât that blowing things out of proportion? It would cause a lot of trouble for the school...â
âAfter all, the school had recognized his potential and supported him.â
Wang Tao seemed to see through his hesitation and immediately pressed his advantage.
"I know what youâre worried about! But think about it, if we tolerate this now, what about in the future?"
"Will there be a second, a third person with connections? When that time comes, will commoner students like us ever have a chance to get ahead?!"
"Brother Qin, youâre in the Hidden Dragon Class now. Youâre the hope of all the ordinary students! Only if you step up will everyone follow you! Youâre our backbone!"
Qin Zhengâs heart was in turmoil.
He thought of his father, who had worked himself to death on a construction site. He thought of his mother, who had been utterly humiliated taking out a "naked loan"...
His path had been paved with his familyâs blood and tears!
âDidnât he want fairness more than anything?â
âBut...â
"I... Iâm not good with words..." Qin Zheng finally forced out, looking troubled. "I donât know how to convince them... to join me..."
âIt worked!â
Wang Taoâs heart leaped with joy. He knew Qin Zheng had been persuaded!
"Donât you worry about that!"
Wang Tao immediately puffed out his chest and promised, "The speechâIâll write it!"
"You just need to stand in front of everyone and read it! Thatâs all it takes!"
Qin Zheng looked at Wang Taoâs eyes, full of expectation and trust, then glanced down at his own hands, calloused from years of arduous cultivation.
He was silent for a long, long time.
Finally, he gave a heavy nod.
"Okay... Iâll try!"
...
Wang Tao returned to the classroom, a gleeful smile plastered on his face.
âIt worked!â
âQin Zheng might be a bit of a simpleton, but as long as heâs willing to step forward, his reputation and influence could definitely rally a huge crowd!â
âOnce the demonstration starts and things blow up, the higher-ups will have to give some kind of explanation, right?â
âAs long as Gu Yuexi is forced to take the joint exam, Iâll have the chance to humiliate her thoroughly in the arena!â
âAs for whether Qin Zheng would offend someone important, or if the protest might spin out of control... what did that have to do with him, Wang Tao?â
âHe just needed to use Qin Zheng as a weapon to achieve his own goals!â
Wang Tao sat down at his desk, pulled out his phone, and began to rapidly type out the speech for the demonstration.
His mind was already filled with fantasies of the joint exam, imagining the righteously indignant candidates teaching Gu Yuexi a harsh lesson!
âHe, Wang Tao, wouldnât even have to lift a finger!â
âHe just needed to hide in the background and let Qin Zheng and those outraged students be the ones to stick their necks out and avenge his sister for him!â
"Hmph, so what if you have connections? So what if you have a powerful background?"
"When the time comes, youâll learn that strength is the only thing that matters!"
...
ăElsewhere.ă
Gu Yuexi had already brought Chu Sheng to Du Nan First Middle Schoolâs Central Hall.
Just before leaving, Xiao Ran had given her an extra 100,000 Points, telling her she could exchange them for resources at the schoolâs Central Hall.
So, she decided to stop by and see what it was all about.
Stepping into the Central Hall, she found the interior was far grander than it appeared from the outside. It had clearly been expanded using a space-type Array.
The hall was bustling with people, but most were students rushing about with weary expressions.
In the very center of the hall hovered a massive screen of light, scrolling with various mission details. The surrounding walls were lined with individual exchange windows.
Gu Yuexi walked up to an empty window and lightly swiped her points card over the sensor area.
VMMMMâ
The wall in front of her instantly transformed into a giant touch-sensitive light screen, displaying countless exchangeable resources sorted by category.
[Elixir Medicine], [Spiritual Materials], [Cultivation and Martial Arts Techniques], [Array Professional Resources], [Beast Taming Professional Resources]...
The dazzling array of options was overwhelming.
"Bzz bzz? (So much good stuff?)"
Perched on Gu Yuexiâs shoulder, Chu Shengâs compound eyes lit up.
âIn his eyes, this wasnât a list of resourcesâit was the menu for an all-you-can-eat buffet!â
Gu Yuexi, however, remained calm. She first tapped on [Elixir Medicine].
First-Grade and Second-Grade Qi Recovery Pills and Healing Pills were all reasonably priced.
But once they reached Third-Grade and above, the prices began to skyrocket exponentially.
A single Barrier-Breaking Pill, which could help break through a Third-Grade bottleneck, cost a shocking 80,000 Points!
The 100,000 Points Xiao Ran had given her sounded like a lot, but in reality, it was only enough to buy one decent Elixir.
She then opened [Spiritual Materials]. The Spirit Herbs and Elixirs inside were a bit cheaper than the market price, but similarly, the older and higher-grade ones were absurdly expensive.
There was nothing particularly noteworthy.
Gu Yuexi casually scrolled through the list, just wanting to get a general idea of Du Nan First Middle Schoolâs resource reserves.
As she listlessly tapped open the [Array Professional Resources] list, her finger suddenly froze.
At the very top of the list, two items were displayed in an extremely eye-catching, crimson-gold font.
[King-level Three Stars Demon BeastâMountain-Shaking Demon Ape ⢠Complete Set of Essence Blood (Adult! Contains Origin!)]
[Points Required for Exchange: 12,000,000]
[King-level Four Stars Demon BeastâDeep Sea Profound Turtle ⢠Complete Set of Essence Blood (Adult! Contains Origin!)]
[Points Required for Exchange: 18,000,000]
A rare ripple of emotion flashed through Gu Yuexiâs cool eyes.
âA complete set of Essence Blood from an adult King-level Demon Beast?â
âAnd it even contains its Origin?!â
âThere canât be many of these in the entire country, can there?â
She knew very well that a resource of this level could no longer be measured in money!
âDu Nan First Middle School can actually offer something like this?â
âHowever...â Gu Yuexi had a feeling these two items werenât meant for students at all.
They were purely "treasures of the school" put on display to show off its power and deep foundation.
It was just like the national-level treasures in a museum that are never loaned out. They were just there to say: âSee? Isnât our school amazing? We even have stuff like this!â
Tens of millions of Points... forget students, even the schoolâs teachers or the principal probably couldnât save up that much in a lifetime.
At almost the same moment, Chu Sheng, still perched on her shoulder, sensed Gu Yuexiâs emotional fluctuation through their Blood Covenant connection and instinctively turned his gaze toward the light screen.
When he saw those two lines of crimson-gold text and the long string of zeros that followed, the entire mosquito was dumbfounded.
âHoly crap!â
âKing-level Three Stars? King-level Four Stars?â
âAnd itâs a fucking complete set of Essence Blood?!â
âIf I sucked all that down, wouldnât I evolve into Godzilla on the spot?!â