Chapter 65: Cracking the Top Ten (Requesting Follows)

A massive green screen was filled with data and images.

Lin Qi’s gaze swept like radar from the top rank downward, and soon he spotted his own name and avatar:

【Name: Lin Qi】

【Cultural Subjects: 925 (1st)】

【Qi Value: 921 (12th)】

【Martial Arts: 805 (5th)】

【Total Score: 887】

【Grade Rank: 18→9】

【City Rank: 288→128】

【Province Rank: 480】

……

“Grade 9th!”

After seeing his grade rank at ninth, Lin Qi’s lips curled upward.

He had risen from 18th to 9th in grade.

Among single-subject scores, his cultural subjects remained firmly at the top of the grade, unmatched by anyone.

His qi value ranked 12th—his weakness—but he was gradually closing the gap.

As for martial arts, he had astonishingly broken into the top five of the grade, scoring far higher than his actual skill level.

His city rank also surged dramatically, climbing from 288th to 128th, nearing the top hundred.

The newly released province rank surprised Lin Qi: he was already in the top ten of his school.

Yet across the entire Cang Province, he ranked nearly five hundredth.

This showed how many prodigies and experts Cang Province produced—endless and relentless.

“In two months, I moved from 100th in grade to top ten. Give me a few more months, and I’ll keep surpassing everyone.”

Lin Qi thought to himself.

His desk mate Jiang Tao was also checking his own scores.

“Haha, 5th in grade—I’m just a hair behind Zhu Yuqi in fourth!”

“Sixth in martial arts in the whole class!”

“This is solid!”

Jiang Tao stared at his scores and rankings.

He swung a fierce punch at the air, grinning with excitement.

He immediately looked down to find his best friend Lin Qi’s rank—it had become his habit.

“Grade 9th? As expected, solid performance!”

“Martial Arts 805… ranked fifth??”

Jiang Tao froze when he saw this, blinking rapidly, doubting his eyes.

He himself had scored 800 in martial arts, sixth in class.

Lin Qi was right above him—just five points higher.

How was this possible? Was his martial arts worse than Qi Ge’s?

He turned, stunned, toward Lin Qi—just as Lin Qi turned to him and smiled:

“Sorry, Taozi.”

“I won. You can order KFC now!”

Jiang Tao couldn’t accept it—he’d been surpassed by Lin Qi: “Qi Ge, you actually won.”

Reluctantly, he pulled out his phone and placed a delivery order.

Seconds after the scores were released, the classroom erupted.

“Damn, my rank dropped.” Someone groaned, clutching his head.

“Haha, I improved!” Someone shouted in delight.

“I’m only 5,000th in the whole province? That’s way too low!” Someone stared at his province rank in disbelief.

On stage, Zhang Cheng smiled and called out loudly:

“Five thousandth? That’s normal.”

“Do you know how many key middle schools there are in Cang Province?”

“Over eighty key schools, housing tens of thousands of prodigies. Ranking five thousandth is already good.”

“In this world, prodigies are the most abundant thing.”

“By the time of the national final exam, you’ll see even more formidable prodigies—you’ll realize the chasm between you and the top-tier talents.”

Everyone fell silent.

Zhang Cheng was right: as the scope widened, more prodigies emerged—they were all just ordinary ones.

After speaking, Zhang Cheng glanced at the score sheet, his eyes locking on Lin Qi’s name, a look of satisfaction on his face.

“That kid Lin Qi didn’t disappoint me.”

“But just two days ago, I was coaching him on how to break through second-rank spear techniques—and today he scores 805 in martial arts? That’s only achievable by defeating the No. 8 test subject.”

“Fifth in class for martial arts—just ten points behind Zhu Yuqi in fourth. How did he train?”

Zhang Cheng was both astonished and alarmed—he’d never seen such rapid progress.

Li Zhou, the top student in grade, fixed his gaze on the score sheet, his expression tense.

This exam determined whether he could sign an A-class contract.

“Grade 1st, City Rank 7th, Province Rank 15th.”

Seeing this, Li Zhou’s eyes lit up.

Though his city rank improved by only two places compared to last month’s exam, for someone at his level, even one rank was a massive leap.

Most importantly, he now met the standard set by Chiqiong Martial Arts Gym. Farther away, Yu Jing’s face darkened—he remained second in his school, but his city rank had slipped.

From 15th to 20th.

The gap with Li Zhou widened, while Qi Yuelin and Zhu Yuqi closed in behind him.

Especially Jiang Tao and Lin Qi.

“Those former paupers actually caught up.”

His own decline, combined with the rise of people he disliked,

made Yu Jing feel twice as miserable.

……

Room 503, Martial Arts Hall

Lin Qi brought over a table, placing five large bags marked “KFC” on it. Jiang Tao pulled out burgers, fried chicken wings, fries, cola, grilled wings…

!

The entire table was piled high.

“Eat up. A bet’s a bet—this meal cost me over a thousand yuan!” Jiang Tao said to Lin Qi and Chen Zichuan.

Lin Qi didn’t hesitate—he grabbed a burger, opened it, and took a bite, then swallowed a gulp of cola.

Beside him, Chen Zichuan ate without restraint.

“Junk food really is delicious!”

Jiang Tao devoured half a burger in one bite and sighed:

“When I was little, we couldn’t afford KFC—Qi Ge took me there with his own pocket money.”

“You treated us, but we could only afford one burger, one order of fries, and one cola—never more.”

“Later, your family struggled too, so we could only eat it once every long while.”

“When we craved it, we’d wait until we earned money from part-time jobs to buy a meal from Wallace.”

“Now? We’re not short on cash—we can eat as much as we want.” Jiang Tao spoke, moved by memory.

Chen Zichuan chewed a fry and nodded: “Same here. As a kid, I looked forward to my birthday—when Dad would take me to Wallace.”

“But my dad will never come back.”

He was from a single-parent family; his father was a martial artist who died on the battlefield, raised by his mother.

Lin Qi sighed. All three came from ordinary families, all had solid talent, and shared many common experiences.

Chen Zichuan made huge progress in this midterm exam, entering the top thirty of the grade at 25th place—he still has room to climb.

All three now had bright futures.

……

Half an hour later, the three parted ways.

The entire KFC meal was finished—the three of them ate it all, Lin Qi alone consuming ten burgers.

Martial artists have huge appetites, especially good at eating; they can devour a whole basin of regular food in one sitting.

Lin Qi changed into his martial arts uniform, warmed up his body, and then began standing in the zhan zhuang posture.

His gaze locked onto the interface.

【Name: Lin Qi (17)】

【Profession: Martial Artist】

【Template: Yang Jian (8.3%)】

[Talent: Stomach Enhancement, Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor]

[Cultivation Technique: Hunyuan Stance, Five Forms Fist · Tiger Form, Basic Spear Technique, Shattering Mountain Spear Technique]

[Blood Qi Value: 9.21]

[Fist Technique: Second Stage 20%]

[Spear Technique: Second Stage 3%]

[Body Movement: First Stage 95%]

……

Lin Qi glanced at all the data—another huge leap forward compared to the monthly exam.

Before the start of his senior year, he never imagined he’d progress this fast.

The template talent was simply too powerful.

Resources were equally vital; without them, even the strongest talent couldn’t match a wealthy cultivator.

“I now have the talent and decent resources. With time, I’ll reach the pinnacle of Cang Province.”

“Getting into the three top academies will be virtually effortless.”

“My only regret now is my parents.”

Lin Qi thought to himself.

After clearing all the family’s debts, he asked his father, Lin Zhen, to come home.

But his father refused, saying he’d stay a little longer to earn more money.

This puzzled Lin Qi—he sensed something was off.

The family no longer lacked money; there was no need to keep doing the grueling job of a meat cutter.

Was there something he didn’t know?

Lin Qi decided he’d have a serious talk with his father when he returned.

……

(End of Chapter)