Chapter 60: Repaying the Debt

A few minutes later, in Martial Arts Room A128.

"So, the two of you have already signed with the Qiqiong Martial Arts Gymnasium?"

"That's great! I'm also preparing to sign with the Qiqiong Martial Arts Gymnasium," Guo Heng said with a smile.

"By the way, what kind of contract did you sign? Class C?"

Lin Qi and Jiang Tao exchanged glances.

Jiang Tao couldn't hold back and blurted out first, "Ah Heng, we both signed Class B contracts!"

"And Brother Qi is even the Vice-Master. Director Sun personally received us and signed the Class B contract with him."

"Cl... Class B?"

Guo Heng leaped straight out of his chair, disbelief written all over his face.

"You both got Class B contracts? Doesn't that make you the same as me?"

"I wanted to sign a Class A contract, but Director Sun didn't agree and was only willing to give me a Class B!"

Guo Heng was utterly broken, feeling as though he had suffered ten thousand points of critical damage in his heart.

How long had it even been? Lin Qi and Jiang Tao had already caught up to him and were now on the same level as him?

Even though he had a hunch that Lin Qi and Jiang Tao had potential, he hadn't expected them to reach his tier in such a short amount of time.

Wasn't this a bit too fast?

The kind of contract one could sign represented one's status.

A Class B genius simply had a higher status and a greater sense of superiority than a Class C genius.

A Class A genius was currently the absolute top-tier talent, and that was what he had wanted.

Unfortunately, he was only ranked fifth in his grade at Tianhai No. 1 High School and thirteenth in the city, failing to even break into the top ten.

Although he had also received a personal reception from the Vice-Master, the other party had done so out of regard for his elder sister.

As for Lin Qi, what did he have to rely on? He came from an ordinary family background with no powerful backing.

Guo Heng's emotions at this moment were quite complicated.

"Alright, I was just as shocked as you are when I first heard the news. All I can say is that the Qiqiong Martial Arts Gymnasium truly has good judgment for discovering Brother Qi's potential in advance," Jiang Tao said with a chuckle.

"We should head to the Red Realm. If we're late, there won't be any spots left," Lin Qi said, changing the subject.

He sensed that Guo Heng's mood was a bit off and that he probably needed some time alone.

Immediately after, the three of them went to the virtual reality room, entered their respective virtual capsules, and logged into the Red Realm.

[Matchmaking initiated.]

Lin Qi began matching as usual.

A moment later, his figure vanished from where he stood and materialized in the arena.

His opponent appeared as well: a handsome young man wearing a silver combat suit and holding a battle saber.

However, the opponent's nickname made Lin Qi's pupils constrict.

[Nickname: Wind God!]

[3, 2, 1...]

[Match begins!]

As the intelligent voice made the announcement, the opponent vanished from the spot instantly.

Yet, Lin Qi felt a sense of danger he had never experienced before.

...

The next day, in the independent martial arts room of No. 2 High School.

Dressed in a white martial arts uniform and dripping with sweat, Lin Qi picked up a functional sports drink and took a large gulp.

A moment later, he picked up his training spear and began wielding it once more. Waves of spear shadows filled the air, accompanied by the sharp sound of the spearhead piercing through the void.

Lin Qi's mind recalled yesterday's matchmaking match in the Red Realm arena, where he had been matched against the undisputed number one in the Tianhai arena, Wind God.

He was rumored to be the top-ranked student of No. 1 High School—Wang Qiufeng.

"He truly lives up to a nickname like Wind God; his strength is formidable indeed."

Lin Qi could clearly feel his opponent's immense power. The realm of his saber technique was unimaginably high, and Lin Qi hadn't even managed to last three moves before being instantly killed.

His opponent's saber technique was fierce, flowing like drifting clouds, and possessed the speed of a whirlwind.

Lin Qi could find no flaws; all he saw was a flash of blade light before he died.

He could be certain that Li Zhou, the top-ranked student of his grade, was no match for Wang Qiufeng either; there was a whole tier difference in their strength.

This was also his first time facing an expert of such a caliber. This was the absolute peak level of Cang Province.

Even placed across the entire Xia Country, it was a ranking to be reckoned with.

"My spear technique hasn't broken through to the second tier yet. The gap between me and the absolute top-tier geniuses is still quite large. My next goal is to break through to the second-tier spear technique."

Thinking of this, Lin Qi resumed practicing the "Mountain-Crushing Spear Technique".

...

Half an hour later, inside the martial arts classroom.

Zhang Cheng walked down the center aisle, glanced around, and spotted a few faces that were usually rarely seen, among whom was Qiu Jie.

With a smile on his face, he spoke in a clear, resonant voice:

"The martial arts exchange tournament has come to an end. I presume all of you students have now witnessed the level of top-tier experts. If you don't want the gap between you and them to widen any further..."

"Then train your hearts out."

"There is less than a week left until the Cang Province mid-term examination."

"This mid-term exam will be an inspection of your achievements over the past half-semester, and your rankings will all be recalculated."

As Zhang Cheng said this, the atmosphere in the class turned heavy once more, and quite a few people began to grow nervous.

This was no martial arts exchange tournament; this was a mid-term examination that concerned every single one of them.

"This mid-term exam will encompass all martial arts students across the entire Cang Province to establish a unified ranking."

"Everyone's ranking will undergo drastic changes. You might be able to rank in the top 50 in Tianhai City, but in Cang Province, you might not even make it into the top 500."

Hearing these words from Zhang Cheng, the classroom fell silent.

Many people's hearts raced and their palms grew sweaty, while others felt a surge of curiosity about their province-wide ranking.

Lin Qi was no exception. He had a premonition that his ranking would rise significantly in this mid-term exam.

As for how high it would actually climb, it would all depend on this coming week.

...

At noon, in the cafeteria of No. 2 High School.

"Bzz, bzz~"

While eating, Lin Qi felt his phone vibrate. Pulling it out, he saw two transfer text messages.

[Your Industrial and Commercial Bank card ending in xxx received a deposit of 280,000 Xia dollars on November 2 at 11:56. Balance: 705,300.]

[Your Industrial and Commercial Bank card ending in xxx received a deposit of 3,000,000 Xia dollars on November 2 at 11:56. Balance: 3,705,300.]

Upon seeing this, Lin Qi's mood instantly brightened, especially when he looked at the balance of 3.7 million Xia dollars. This was the most money he had ever laid eyes on.

"Brother Qi, the money has arrived! A lump sum of 3.28 million, that's way too much money."

"With this, I won't lack money all the way until the college entrance exams, and it's more than enough to build a foundation for Ah Miao."

"Brother Qi, our lives have completely changed."

Seated across from him, Jiang Tao could no longer suppress the joy in his heart.

"Right, and there are the resources too. They should be delivered in the next couple of days, I reckon."

Lin Qi smiled as well. Indeed, with a massive sum of money, they were wealthy now.

They would no longer be burdened by family troubles.

He immediately operated his phone to transfer 2 million yuan to his mother to pay off the online loans and the debt owed to his uncle's family, and to tell his father to come home immediately.

Given his father's physical condition, staying another day in the Linhai Base would be a tremendous burden on his health.

The money he transferred was enough to completely clear all the family's online loans, as well as the debts owed to his uncle's family.

Even though his remaining balance would shrink by more than half, his mood was genuinely joyful. Finally, there were no debts left in the household.

A profound sense of relief washed over him.

Meanwhile, back at home, Fang Huiyi, upon receiving the transfer notification, felt her eyes grow hot. It felt as though a mountain of heavy boulders had been lifted from her shoulders; she was completely relaxed and finally able to breathe easily.

Fang Huiyi proceeded to send a message to Lin Zhen, thinking to herself at the same time:

"Xiao Qi is truly no ordinary person."

"Ever since he was a child, he has been the smartest kid. These past few years, he was merely lying low and accumulating strength, and now he is finally revealing his brilliance."

...

In the evening, during dinner time, at the school gates of No. 2 High School.

"Student Lin Qi, your express delivery, please sign for it!"

Standing in front of Lin Qi was a sturdy man dressed in a black and red suit, wearing a black hat and a mask that obscured his features.

With both arms, he cradled a half-meter-long black metal box, on top of which rested a black screen.

Lin Qi extended his palm and pressed it against the screen. The next second, the screen lit up, displaying a palm print before emitting a green glow.

"Verification passed, signing complete!"

The sturdy man turned around, walked toward a massive red and white transport truck, and slowly drove away.

As for Lin Qi, he hugged the metal box and turned back toward the school.

Quickly returning to his martial arts room, he looked at the black metal box.

"Inside here are the resources provided by the Qiqiong Martial Arts Gymnasium."

Lin Qi pressed the button on the screen.

"Click!"

The metal box automatically popped open from the top, revealing its contents.