Chapter 37: Geniuses Are as Numerous as Fish Crossing a River (Requesting Follow Reads)

Lin Qi heard his classmates’ astonished voices but felt no particular pride.

Inside, he felt only a faint ripple.

Jiang Tao silently marveled: No wonder he’s Qi-ge—no matter the situation, he always stays calm, unmoved even as mountains collapse; compared to him, I’m still far behind.

…

“I think everyone needs to take a look at their rankings in Tianhai City.”

Class teacher Yan Hong suddenly spoke up to remind them.

Everyone’s attention shifted to the city rankings.

“This month’s Tianhai City exam included all ten key high schools and forty-three regular high schools in Tianhai City.”

“But unfortunately, in this month’s city-wide ranking, only one student from our school made the top ten.”

Li Zhou frowned at the score sheet, his mood plainly written on his face.

After Yan Hong spoke, some students immediately lost their composure.

Lin Qi glanced over and spotted Li Zhou’s ranking.

【Grade 1, Tianhai City Rank 9】

“Damn, I just noticed—Li Zhou is only ranked 9th in Tianhai City? Barely scraped into the top ten.”

“Li Zhou’s blood qi is 9.8—that’s almost breaking into the first realm! And yet he’s only 9th? How strong are the top eight?”

The class erupted in shock, unable to believe what they were seeing.

“Look—Yu Jing, grade 2, is only 15th, far behind Li Zhou. Qi Yuelin is even worse, only 24th.”

“As for the rest, they’re all ranked below 40th.”

People hadn’t realized until now—those top students in their class barely ranked at all in the entire city.

Yu Jing and Qi Yuelin, hearing the discussions, both looked grim.

“Damn—I’m grade 7 and only 100th in the city? Barely made the cut.”

Jiang Tao smiled bitterly, his earlier pride gone.

Many couldn’t accept this ranking—martial cultivation students aren’t given city-wide rankings until senior year, so no one knew their true standing.

Now that they saw the real rankings, they all felt shattered.

Yu Jing’s expression was the worst—he’d always felt he was barely behind Li Zhou at Tianhai No.2, even close to surpassing him.

Now he saw the gap was enormous—how could he accept it?

The entire class felt a massive blow, their spirits severely shaken.

Yan Hong spoke again.

“In Tianhai City, among ten key high schools and thousands of students, geniuses are as numerous as fish crossing a river.”

“If you don’t work hard, you’ll be eliminated. Keep pushing—this is only the beginning.”

“Next, the mid-term assessment will reveal the scores and rankings of every senior-level martial cultivator across Cang Province.”

“Then you’ll compete against even more geniuses, and your rankings will drop further. Only true geniuses can swim against the current and rise higher.”

Each of Yan Hong’s words pressed down like a heavy mountain on everyone’s shoulders.

No one could remain calm.

“Alright, rankings are out. The martial chamber and scholarships will be handled tomorrow. I’ll post the score sheet in the group. Class dismissed.”

Yan Hong announced loudly.

The students began packing up and leaving the classroom.

“There are too many geniuses—we still need to work harder,” Jiang Tao shook his head.

“Our current rankings are low, but with our talent, there’s still huge room for improvement,” Lin Qi said calmly.

“Exactly!” Jiang Tao nodded.

“Chen Zichuan, congratulations on your huge progress.”

On the way to the martial chamber, Lin Qi spoke as they met Chen Zichuan.

“Yeah, Chen Zichuan, you’re clearly another genius—jumped from 50th to 35th in grade, up fifteen spots, second only to Qi-ge,” Jiang Tao gave a thumbs-up.

Chen Zichuan, rarely smiling, replied: “Thanks for the praise.”

…

Back in the martial chamber,

Lin Qi changed into his martial uniform, swallowed a blood qi capsule, and prepared for today’s training.

Tonight was the last time he’d train in Jiang Tao’s martial chamber.

Tomorrow, he’d have his own private martial chamber.

Thinking of this, he checked his panel.

【Name: Lin Qi (17)】

【Profession: Martial Artist】

【Template: Yang Jian (6%)】【Talent: Stomach Enhancement, Dragon Spirit, Tiger Vitality】

【Techniques: Hunyuan Stance, Five Forms Fist—Tiger Form, Basic Spear Technique, Crumbling Mountain Spear】

【Blood Qi: 8.2】

【Fist Technique: Stage 2, 10%】

【Spear Technique: Stage 1, 92%】

【Movement Technique: Stage 1, 87%】

…

Lin Qi looked at the data, exhaled, and realized—in just over a month since unlocking his template, his progress had been enormous.

His blood qi had reached 8.2, just 1.8 away from the second realm.

His fist, spear, and movement techniques had all advanced significantly, exceeding his expectations.

!

“These gains were expected—thanks to Dragon Spirit, Tiger Vitality, I can train longer each day, with boundless energy, rapid recovery, and high efficiency.”

“If I still can’t break into the top twenty under these conditions, I might as well go smash my head against a tofu block.”

“With this progress, the second-tier genius loan is no problem.”

“Now I just wait for tomorrow’s Star Rank event,” Lin Qi clarified his thoughts and began practicing the stance.

…

Principal’s Office

On his ergonomic chair, Jiang Zhiguang stared intently at the projected table.

“These results…”

“Are impressive!!”

Jiang Zhiguang’s expression shifted, breaking into a smile as he lifted his pale green teacup and drank deeply.

“Tianhai City’s ten key high schools are divided into three tiers: No.1 High, No.8 High, and Advanced High are Tier One.”

“Advanced High, No.3 High… these three are Tier Two; our No.2 High and three others are Tier Three.”

“Compared to past monthly exams, we had zero students in the top ten—this year, we have Li Zhou.”

“Not just Li Zhou—everyone else’s rankings are higher overall than previous cohorts.”

On the sofa, Yan Hong sat upright, analyzing the score sheet meticulously, creating various pie charts.

Across from her, Zhang Cheng lounged with one leg crossed, extinguished his cigarette, and grinned:

“Li Zhou made the top ten on his own merit, but the class’s overall performance? That’s my doing.”

His gaze settled on Lin Qi’s score on the sheet, and he smiled.

“Old Zhang, bringing you here was absolutely the right call,” Jiang Zhiguang said, smiling rarely.

“But after this monthly exam, major martial chambers—especially the Big Three—will start moving.”

“Fighting over geniuses, signing contracts, offering sponsorship.”

“I wonder how many of our geniuses will land an A-class contract.”

Zhang Cheng shook his head: “That’ll be hard. Right now, only Li Zhou, Yu Jing, and Qi Yuelin have a chance.”

…

The next day, No.2 High

In the martial chamber

Zhang Cheng stood in the center of everyone.

“First thing: anyone who dropped out of the top thirty in this Tianhai City exam—sorry, your martial chamber is being reassigned starting today.”

“Pack up your things and hand over your chamber.”

“Lin Qi, you’re assigned to Room 503…”

Lin Qi nodded—he finally had his own martial chamber; from now on, he wouldn’t need to come to the common chamber at 4 a.m.

The whole class already knew he was the grind king who woke up before dawn to train.

“You’ve all seen your rankings, right?”

“Feeling the pressure?”

“Good—turn that pressure into motivation. Train until you drop. If you don’t die, train harder. Raise your ranking.”

“I want every single one of you to improve your ranking by the time Cang Province’s assessment comes.”

“If you lack the will, leave now—make room for those willing to push themselves.”

Zhang Cheng roared, and everyone immediately began practicing martial arts.

……

(End of Chapter)