Chapter 66: Red List Update (Please Follow)

At the same time, in the principal’s office.

As principal of Tianhai No. 2 High School, he furrowed his brow, leaning close to the projected score sheet.

His entire face nearly pressed against the projection screen.

After a moment, his expression changed; he lifted his head and burst into loud laughter:

“What a surprise—our school’s overall score ranks seventh in Tianhai City.”

“Just barely missed second-class status.”

“Our elite class’s overall performance improved too—Old Zhang, you deserve the most credit.”

Zhang Cheng, sitting on the sofa sipping iced cola, smirked without modesty:

“I didn’t let you down!”

Jiang Zhiguang continued watching the projection, one hand resting on a potted plant.

“Li Zhou remains steadily improving, setting a new record by reaching twelfth in Tianhai City.”

“And Jiang Tao is catching up fast—he’s now fifth in his grade.”

“Most surprisingly, Lin Qi continues his rapid progress, this time entering ninth in his grade.”

“He’s clearly a genuine dark horse—I’m already eager to see how high he’ll climb by the national year-end assessment.”

“I’ll apply for a top-tier genius loan for him. Lin Qi deserves more resources—Old He has no excuse to refuse this time.”

Jiang Zhiguang removed his hand from the potted plant; a sprout emerged and began to grow.

…

Chiqiong Martial Arts Gym, top-floor deputy director’s office.

Yue Feng, clad in black-and-red martial arts attire, was surrounded by swirling blue energy, making him resemble a colossal beast.

He walked slowly out of the spacious training hall into his office, the blue energy vanishing instantly.

“Ding!”

“Master, a message from Sun Wang.”

Alpha announced in midair, projecting a screen filled with data tables.

Yue Feng skimmed through them quickly until he stopped at one set of figures and smiled.

“Lin Qi, ninth in grade, ranked 128th in Tianhai City—massive improvement since last time.”

“My instincts were right.”

“But he still has a long way to go before securing an A-class contract—he must keep pushing.”

…

Chongming Martial Arts Gym

Dongfang Qi closely watched Lin Qi, desperately hoping he would fail.

He opened the backend, accessed the official website, searched for Tianhai No. 2 High School’s scores, and quickly found Lin Qi.

Moments later, she widened her eyes in disbelief.

“How is this possible?”

“He broke into the top ten of his grade and reached 128th in the city.”

Dongfang Qi turned pale; she knew full well that this score and ranking at Chongming Martial Arts Gym qualified him for a B-class contract.

Lin Qi wasn’t lying—he truly had the strength to sign a B-class contract.

Nearby, the supervisor sighed: “No fate.”

Meanwhile, the supervisor of Heiyao Martial Arts Gym frowned, staring at the projected data with a sense of existential doubt:

“Could he really be a genius?!”

…

The next day, evening at Chiqiong Martial Arts Gym

Outside the virtual chamber

“Ah Heng, Qi Ge is now 128th in Tianhai City—I’m 42nd this time. Maybe by the year-end assessment, I’ll surpass you.”

Seeing Guo Heng, Jiang Tao joked.

Guo Heng shook his head: “That’s wishful thinking—I’m already tenth in Tianhai City. You’ll never beat me.”

Nearby, Lu Xiang, Wu Feng, and three others stood watching.

Lu Xiang frowned: “Guo Heng’s two friends from No. 2 High School are truly formidable.”

“That Lin Qi has already surpassed me in Tianhai City rankings.”

Wu Feng also shook his head: “That Jiang Tao is just one rank above me.”

“Guo Heng had good judgment—we underestimated them too much. Now we’re embarrassed.”

“We should apologize—we said some nasty things earlier!”

“Let’s try to befriend them!”

“Especially you, Siying—you said the most unkind things,” Lu Xiang added.

Qiu Siying frowned, her expression dark:

“I won’t do it!”

“I’ll never associate with them.”

…

A few minutes later

Lin Qi felt a tingling sensation all over his body; when he opened his eyes again, he stood in an endless personal space.

He summoned his personal panel.

【Nickname: Yang Jian】

【Rank: Star】

【Win Rate: 94%】

【Points: 357】

【Ranking: 15】

…

Lin Qi stared at the panel. A month ago, he had just advanced to Star Rank and ranked 50th in Tianhai City.

Now, over a month later, he had spent little time at Chiqiong Martial Arts Gym.

Yet his win rate had risen to 94%, and his ranking climbed to 15th in Tianhai City.

“According to Ah Heng, today’s Chi List will be updated again, expanding to the entire Cang Province.”

“More geniuses will appear—I must push harder to raise my ranking.”

Lin Qi’s thoughts formed.

He immediately initiated matchmaking.

Two minutes later

“Ding!” Two figures appeared in the empty arena.

Lin Qi saw his opponent: she wore a tight purple combat suit, her figure curvaceous, skin pale, features beautiful, wielding a steel blade.

He recognized her instantly—it was Qiu Siying from the No. 1 trio.

“Yang Jian!”

Qiu Siying also frowned.

She cursed her luck—why had she been matched against this Yang Jian?

All three of them had faced Yang Jian in sequence; if she lost too, it would be ridiculous.

“Though Wu Feng lost to this Yang Jian, I refuse to believe I will too—I might win,” she thought.

【3, 2, 1…】

【Battle Begins!】

“Ding!”

!

A synthetic voice echoed through the air—the fight officially began.

Qiu Siying blurred forward, swinging her sword; blade-light flashed, invisible killing intent enveloping Lin Qi.

Facing her assault, Lin Qi moved like lightning, thrusting his spear forward.

With precise control, his arm guided the spear like a black venomous snake emerging from its hole, tongue flicking.

Pierce the Clouds!

“Dang dang dang~”

Swordlight and spear shadows clashed violently, wind howling.

“Damn it!”

Qiu Siying launched relentless attacks—she too practiced the “Swift Shadow Sword Art.”

Swift as wind, she aimed to defeat opponents with rapid slashes and thrusts.

But this opponent, Yang Jian, was different—every one of her moves was effortlessly blocked, as if he had predicted them all.

“Too slow!”

“To me, your attacks crawl like turtles!”

Lin Qi mocked aloud.

“You’re asking for death!”

Qiu Siying flew into a rage, swinging her longsword with even greater ferocity.

Her sword thrusts came like a downpour, relentless and continuous.

Technique—Rapid Shadow Downpour!

Beneath the black mask, Lin Qi’s lips curled slightly upward; he retracted his great spear, gathering power, his gaze locked onto the sword technique, searching for an opening.

Just as the blade-light was about to strike his body, Lin Qi exploded forward, thrusting twice in rapid succession.

Piercing!

The first spear blocked the technique, then retracted and lashed out again.

“Ssshh~”

This spear pierced the air, shooting like a dragon, tearing through it with icy, chilling radiance.

“Puff~”

The sharp spearpoint pierced through Qiu Siying’s throat.

【Regretfully, you are dead!】

Qiu Siying collapsed, dissolving into nothingness.

Moments later, she appeared in her personal space, her expression terrified:

“So strong!”

Her signature technique had been shattered by a single casual spear thrust from Yang Jian.

“This spear technique…”

Qiu Siying finally understood why Lu Xiang and Wu Feng had lost—this opponent was too powerful.

“Who exactly is Yang Jian?”

This thought surfaced in Qiu Siying’s mind.

…

【Yang Jian, congratulations on your victory.】

【Points +3】

…

In his personal space, Lin Qi stared at the interface.

“Thrilling!”

“Finally got to teach her a lesson.”

Lin Qi smiled; for some time now, he’d frequently encountered Lu Xiang and the others in the virtual chamber.

He often overheard them gossiping behind his back about him and Jiang Tao, especially Qiu Siying.

It had irritated him deeply—and now that he had a chance to settle the score, he would never refuse.

“Qiu Siying’s strength is decent—even though her sword art broke through to second-rank, to me it’s no different from first-rank.”

Against opponents weaker than himself, Lin Qi routinely crushed them with overwhelming superiority—his dominance was terrifyingly consistent.

“Match me again!”

Lin Qi chose to continue matching; he needed more high-level opponents to hone his spear technique.

…

One hour later

【Yang Jian, congratulations on your victory!】

【Points +3】

【Points: 375】

【Rank: 14】

Lin Qi glanced at the interface; counting Qiu Siying, he had matched six fights, all won, and his Red List rank rose one more place.

He exited the virtual pod.

“Brother Qi, you’re out—the Red List is updating,” Jiang Tao’s voice rang in his ear.

…

(End of Chapter)