Chapter 6: Martial Arts is a Money Pit.
"Maybe I have a high talent?" Li Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.
He couldn't help but think of the last remark on the data panel of the Divine Palace: "Contains a certain type of high-level spirituality that has not yet awakened."
Li Yuan trusted the detection of the Divine Palace panel; it had never been wrong over the past year.
It should be more reliable than Professor Xu Bo's speculation.
The information provided by Professor Xu Bo today also gave Li Yuan more ideas.
Previously, although Li Yuan had searched many times on the virtual network, he often couldn't find much information due to insufficient access rights.
"Do I have high talent? I possess the Divine Palace of the mind; perhaps this is also a kind of talent," Li Yuan silently pondered.
Over the past century, numerous cultivation methods have gradually become accessible, and with the development of technology, a large number of martial practitioners have emerged in human civilization.
And for those extraordinary martial artists who can fly through the skies and survive even under nuclear explosions, whose growth experiences are not filled with legends?
Li Yuan didn't believe that the Divine Palace of the mind that he possessed would be an exception.
"Teacher, what should I do?" Li Yuan asked proactively.
He was clever; since Professor Xu Bo had proactively called him over, it surely wasn't just to encourage him a bit.
"Persevere," Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan. He had originally intended to say 'step by step,' but changed the word at the last moment.
Seeing Li Yuan's puzzled expression, Xu Bo continued, "Your progress has been very fast. There's no need to worry too much about the unawakened martial spirit. With your achievements, it'll be easy for you to get into the Martial Arts University."
"Through normal training, at most two to three years, your physical fitness should reach level 10.0,"
"Once you become an advanced martial artist, higher-level cultivation methods will no longer be beyond your reach."
"Who knows, maybe in the future you'll create a set of advanced cultivation methods tailored specifically for yourself," Xu Bo chuckled.
"Creating cultivation methods?" Li Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Can I really do that?"
"Haha, what's impossible?" Xu Bo chuckled, "How old are you? You're young, with unlimited possibilities ahead."
"Even the founders of the Three Great Martial Halls, who knew what achievements they could have made when they were young?" Xu Bo smiled at Li Yuan, "The founders of the Three Great Martial Halls are distant figures, but shouldn't you at least aspire to surpass my ambitions?"
"My physical fitness is only at level 19."
Li Yuan held his breath.
Since Xu Bo became his martial arts class instructor, Li Yuan had always regarded him as his goal.
Now he realized that Xu Bo's strength and physical fitness were actually at level 19.
No wonder he's a top-level martial arts teacher.
"Let's talk about something practical," Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan and said, "Although your martial spirit hasn't awakened yet, your physical fitness and martial arts skills are quite impressive. Considering your family situation, I will apply to the school to grant you a third-class scholarship."
"A third-class scholarship?" Li Yuan's eyes lit up.
Martial arts training requires a lot of resources.
Therefore, for students with excellent martial arts achievements, the government provides various bonuses and subsidies starting from high school.
As the top high school in Guanshan District and a provincial key school, it receives more funding from the government compared to ordinary schools.
During each major unified examination, martial arts achievements within the top hundred of the year level receive additional rewards.
The top fifty receive a reward of two thousand Blue Star coins.
The top thirty receive a reward of five thousand Blue Star coins.
The top twenty receive additional rewards of two doses of basic vitality potions, on top of the rewards given to the top thirty.
The top ten in the grade receive an additional individual martial arts training room, on top of the rewards given to the top twenty.
The rewards mentioned above are for examination achievements.
Scholarships are more special, combining academic performance with family background, and usually require a teacher's recommendation to be considered.
Very few people receive the scholarships.
"Your progress has been significant, but your martial arts ranking is still within the top thirty of your year level. If you aim to apply for scholarships higher than third class, it will be quite challenging," Xu Bo explained. "However, there's still hope for a third-class scholarship. Of course, even if you are approved, it's not much money—just twenty thousand blue star coins. Don't think it's too little."
"Thank you for your efforts, teacher," Li Yuan felt deeply grateful.
"Twenty thousand blue star coins? That's equivalent to two months' salary for me,"
All the scholarships I've received since high school don't add up to twenty thousand blue star coins.
"Is there something specific you want me to do, teacher?" Li Yuan asked.
"You don't need to do anything special, just focus on training and aim for good scores," Xu Bo waved his hand. "Go have your meal now. I'll inform you once the application is processed."
"Got it," Li Yuan said, leaving. As he closed the door behind him on his way out.
He watched Li Yuan leave.
"This kid, does he still think I want something from him?" Xu Bo chuckled softly.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed slightly.
The man, as sturdy as a tower, now revealed a hint of pain on his face.
"Need to take medicine again?" Xu Bo gritted his teeth against the pain and headed towards the therapy room.
.....
He walked out of the office building.
"Good." Li Yuan couldn't help but clench his fist, struggling to contain his joy.
Before entering the office, he had a feeling that something good was about to happen.
But he hadn't expected it to be this good.
"Before, did Teacher Xu not mention these things because he thought my past performance was good but not excellent enough?" Li Yuan wondered to himself. "Is my performance today good enough?"
Li Yuan has read many books.
In some stories, many seniors like to promote their juniors.
But the premise is that the juniors are worthy of promotion.
"If I'm not diligent enough, not excellent enough, then even if opportunities come my way, I'll miss them," Li Yuan silently thought to himself.
"Should I send a message in the family group?" This thought crossed Li Yuan's mind briefly before he immediately dismissed it.
Phew!
A gust of wind passed by, helping Li Yuan become even calmer.
"No rush."
"Teacher Xu is a top-tier teacher, but he's not part of the school's management. Even if approved, it'll probably take some time for the application to go through," Li Yuan thought to himself. "If it doesn't work out, it'll just be a momentary joy."
"It's better to wait until the scholarship/grant actually comes through before telling Uncle and Aunt."
"Well, this matter can't be told to other classmates either," Li Yuan had already thought it through. "Teacher Xu called me alone and let Wan Xiao leave first, probably because he didn't want others to know."
"If the school wants to publicize it, let them announce it later."
The experiences all along, along with some books he had read, made Li Yuan understand that 'success comes from secrecy, and failure from disclosure.
Don't go around spreading things that haven't been settled yet.
"'Let's go eat first.' Li Yuan regained his composure and ran to the cafeteria."
...
At Guanshan District No. 1 High School, there are more than 6,000 students, so the cafeteria is very large.
Li Yuan entered the cafeteria entrance.
"Yuan ge, over here." Zhou Qi, squatting at a distance, waved and called out. Wan Xiao, Yan Zhou, and more than ten other boys were occupying two large tables, eating.
Li Yuan smiled and walked over when he saw the scene.
The male students in the class like to eat together in groups.
"Yuan ge, here are your two portions of nutritious meals." Zhou Qi pushed two specially prepared meal boxes in front of Li Yuan while eating.
"Who swiped the card? Was it Yan Zhou?" Li Yuan asked with a smile as he sat down and started eating.
"Speaking of which, I still owe you," Yan Zhou chuckled.
"The breakfasts I brought you, like the hot dry noodles and soy milk with eggs, altogether cost less than fifty blue star coins," Li Yuan shook his head. "These two nutritious meals of mine will cost around one hundred and fifty blue star coins."
Among all these male students here, there's a significant difference in the prices of the meals they are eating.
Like a regular meal with two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, or three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, a single serving costs less than twenty blue star coins.
Zhou Qi and Yan Zhou are indeed eating this kind of meal.
Because they have evening cultural classes and won't engage in vigorous physical activity afterward, their energy expenditure is relatively low.
For someone like Li Yuan who engages in high-intensity martial arts training in the evening, a regular meal is not sufficient. Over time, this could lead to depletion of the body's qi and blood.
He must eat the specially prepared nutritious meals from the cafeteria, but they are also much more expensive.
One serving costs seventy-five blue star coins, and Li Yuan needs to eat two servings.
To be precise, Li Yuan's regular three meals a day add up to nearly three hundred blue star coins per day in expenses.
"At least 8,000 blue star coins per month."
This is far from enough to support Li Yuan's regular training. Occasionally, he also needs to consume various expensive qi and blood tonics and supplements.
If you include therapy, the monthly expenses are a staggering figure.
This is because Li Yuan is a student and can continuously practice in the school's martial arts room. Various training equipment like cold weapons, sandbags, and places to practice spear techniques are all well-equipped.
The effectiveness is not as good as a dedicated martial arts training room, but the advantage of the school's martial arts room is that it is free of charge.
If one were to go to a formal martial arts gym in society, the rent is calculated by the hour, which is simply unaffordable for ordinary families.
Martial arts indeed consume a lot of money; it's no empty talk.
That's also why Li Yuan is eager to be admitted to one of the top five prestigious universities.
Because his martial arts training has progressed to this point, Uncle Chan and Aunt are finding it very difficult to continue supporting him.
.....
Walking out of the cafeteria.
"Brother Yuan, we are heading to the Culture Building. See you tomorrow," Zhou Qi and Yan Zhou said to Li Yuan.
"Alright," Li Yuan nodded.
In this era, students start from the first year of high school, studying cultural subjects every morning and practicing martial arts every afternoon.
In the evening, it's up to the students to choose which path they want to take based on their own desires.
There are only twenty-nine martial arts universities in the entire Xia Kingdom.
However, there are over a thousand cultural universities nationwide.
If applying to a martial arts university, cultural grades are converted into a total score, accounting for 10%.
If following the path of cultural courses, martial arts grades will be converted and account for 30% of the total score.
Although the choice between martial arts and cultural paths is decided during the voluntary selection process, most students begin to lean towards one path starting from the first year of high school.
Li Yuan returned to the martial arts classroom.
Looking around, there were fewer than ten people left in the classroom, making it feel empty.
In Class 3 (2) of Grade 12, most students have chosen to focus on cultural courses, which is also the choice of the vast majority of students.
"It's indeed difficult to aim for a martial arts university," Li Yuan thought to himself.
Jiangbei Province has millions of college entrance exam candidates each year.
Jiangbei Martial Arts University, the only one of its kind, admits fewer than ten thousand students annually, accounting for less than 1% of all candidates.
As the top high school in Guanshan District and a provincial key institution, it's also challenging for them to have more than a hundred students admitted to martial arts universities each year.
The sky is not yet dark.
The dozen or so people in the classroom are mostly chatting with each other.
During the evening martial arts practice, there is no teacher supervision; it relies entirely on self-discipline.
"Li Tianyou." Li Yuan glanced at the figure in the corner of the classroom
A boy about 1.8 meters tall, with a somewhat thin face, dressed in martial arts clothing, was silently and seriously practicing basic cultivation techniques.
He was not at all affected by the chatter of others.
From the sweat dripping from his forehead, it was clear that he had been practicing for quite some time.
"Such dedication!" Li Yuan sighed to himself. "No wonder he is the top hard worker in the class."
He didn't disturb anyone else.
Li Yuan took a spear from his weapon cabinet, chose a bright spot in the classroom, and began practicing his spear techniques.
Why not practice the basic cultivation techniques?
Because Li Yuan wakes up around three in the morning every day, comes to school, and practices basic cultivation techniques alone in the empty martial arts classroom for over two hours.
Then, around six o'clock, he goes to the cafeteria for breakfast and proceeds to study in the cultural classroom.
In the afternoon, he practices cultivation techniques with everyone else for two hours.
Every day's cultivation practice is divided into two to three sessions, totaling about four hours, which has been repeatedly experimented with by numerous martial arts experts and proven to be optimal.
Evolution of life, physical conditioning of muscles and bones, recovery, and growth all require time.
Going too far is as bad as not going far enough.
In the remaining time, Li Yuan devotes himself to refining his spear techniques and body movements.
Two hours later.
The school bell echoed across the campus, and students in the classrooms had already left one after another. Except for Li Yuan, who was still practicing spear techniques, only Li Tianyou remained, practicing swordsmanship.
Suddenly.
In Li Yuan's field of vision, suddenly appeared a piece of information visible only to him.
[Your spear technique proficiency has increased from Stage Three 36% to Stage Three 37%.]