Translator: CinderTL
The next day, Jiang Ye arrived at school early, carrying a large bag of potions on his back.
Wang Zi'ang was already there, and he immediately waved Jiang Ye over.
"Jiang Ye," Wang Zi'ang called out from the mission board. "Come submit your mission."
"Submit my mission?" Jiang Ye walked over.
After watching Wang Zi'ang's demonstration, he finally understood.
To claim rewards for completed missions, one had to submit the mission details here. The school would then review the submission before issuing the rewards.
Without hesitation, Jiang Ye quickly filled out the form.
As soon as he finished submitting, a system notification popped up:
[You have achieved a new achievement: First Sect Mission Completion. Calculating rewards...]
[You have slain multiple enemies stronger than yourself and assisted the sect in eliminating two enemies far stronger than you.]
[Unlocked Title: Striking Stone with an Egg!]
[Striking Stone with an Egg: When facing opponents of higher cultivation realms, there is a chance to deal 100% increased damage and inflict a continuous bleeding effect.]
As the subtitles scrolled across the screen, Jiang Ye froze in shock.
"Holy shit!"
"Smash a rock with an egg? 100% damage increase?!"
Jiang Ye's mind reeled. "This is insane!"
Even the Beauty's Inquiry skill only granted a 50% damage boost.
100%? He couldn't even imagine it!
And according to the system's description, it also inflicted a persistent bleeding effect—a bug-level ability that defied all conventional methods of stopping blood loss.
"Too bad it's another probability-based skill," Jiang Ye muttered, glancing at the panel.
Probability was a fickle thing.
With good luck, every strike could land a critical hit.
With bad luck, you might not trigger it once in an entire match.
"Jiang Ye," Wang Zi'ang said with a grin, "next time there's a team mission, count me in."
This operation had truly convinced him of Jiang Ye's strength.
Jiang Ye nodded.
Just then, a cold, aloof girl with snow-white legs strode into the classroom, her gaze fixed downward.
"Class Monitor," Jiang Ye said, approaching with his backpack. "I brought all twenty medicine bottles."
Zhao Qingli nodded and placed an elegant briefcase on the table.
Click.
The suitcase opened, releasing an enchanting medicinal aroma.
"What's this?" Jiang Ye stared at the golden-bronze fruit lying inside, shaped like a ginseng root.
"This is a top-grade yellow tier Martial Ginseng," Zhao Qingli explained. "Net weight: 500 grams."
"Martial Ginseng? Top-grade yellow tier?" Jiang Ye's eyes widened in surprise.
Martial Ginseng was the preferred martial dao ingredient among martial arts experts. Unlike tiger or leopard gallbladders, it could be eaten raw without any preparation.
However, Martial Ginseng came in various grades, classified by the celestial-terrestrial-profound-yellow tiers. The celestial and terrestrial tiers were nearly extinct, leaving only the profound and yellow tiers available on the market.
Top-grade yellow tier Martial Ginseng was considered the pinnacle of medicinal herbs accessible to ordinary people, with a market price of at least 20,000 yuan per 100 grams.
500 grams would be worth a hundred thousand yuan.
Yet, according to their previous agreement, Jiang Ye was only entitled to 200 grams.
Zhao Qingli declared proudly, "I couldn't find 200 grams, so consider the extra 300 grams a gift."
"A gift of 300 grams?" Jiang Ye stared in disbelief.
He quickly understood and didn't press the matter further.
After all, 200 grams was a substantial amount. What business would give away such a quantity at once?
This was her way of thanking Jiang Ye for saving her earlier, a silent understanding between them that needed no words.
Zhao Qingli reminded him, "Martial Ginseng is very effective for breaking through bottlenecks. Save it for critical moments—don't waste it."
"Alright," Jiang Ye nodded.
Soon, Cao Feng entered the classroom to begin the Martial Arts Class.
Time flowed.
As dismissal approached, Zhang Jianwu called Zhao Qingli over.
A moment later, Zhao Qingli returned to the classroom with her backpack and summoned Jiang Ye and Wang Zi'ang.
"They're paying us now."
Zhao Qingli opened her backpack, revealing a thick stack of banknotes.
She counted out fifty thousand and handed it to Jiang Ye. "Yours."
Jiang Ye accepted the heavy wad of cash, his heart swelling with satisfaction.
In both his past and present lives, this was the first time he'd ever possessed such wealth.
I've earned enough for the next cosmic tempering session, Jiang Ye mused. But I still need another hundred thousand for the remaining two sessions.
"Save up gradually," Zhao Qingli advised. "The school also offers generous scholarships based on monthly exam rankings."
If he could break into the top fifty in his grade, he would receive a reward of 10,000 federal currency.
For the top twenty, the reward doubled to 20,000.
The higher his ranking, the greater the bonus.
Jiang Ye returned to his seat, silently strategizing.
After school, he withdrew another 10,000 federal currency and purchased ten bottles of Dragon Ascension Potion from Zhao Qingli before leaving campus.
Jiang Ye's life settled back into its familiar routine, a monotonous cycle between two points:
Training.
Day after day, he trained relentlessly.
Apart from his academic classes, he devoted nearly all his time to honing his skills.
To his surprise, the knife wound on his shoulder healed completely in just one week.
This reinforced Jiang Ye's understanding of the formidable resilience of his Upper A-tier physique.
For an ordinary person, such a wound would have taken at least one or two months to fully recover.
With his injury healed, Jiang Ye could now push himself even harder.
For example, he transitioned from taking the potion twice a week to three times, and eventually to five times a week.
Through continuous experimentation, he discovered that his current physical condition allowed him to completely negate the potion's side effects, as long as he didn't inject it daily.
Under this intense cultivation, his strength improved by leaps and bounds with each passing day.
Time flew by like an arrow.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
February 28th.
Just before the monthly exams, a familiar face appeared in Senior Class One.
That day, a burly young man with a sharp, pointed head stood at the classroom door.
He introduced himself, "My name is Li Zhichao, from Senior Class Nine."
Jiang Ye's eyes flickered slightly in the crowd.
Li Zhichao, an old classmate from Class Nine.
Once hailed as Class Nine's top genius, he had finally achieved Perfection in his cultivation method and transferred to the Elite Class.
Moments later, Li Zhichao entered the classroom.
"Old classmate, long time no see," Jiang Ye greeted him, stepping forward.
"Jiang Ye!" Li Zhichao's eyes lit up. "It has been a while."
Jiang Ye chuckled, "You've changed a lot in just a few months."
Back then, Li Zhichao had been quite thin. Now? He had become remarkably muscular.
"Changed a lot?" Li Zhichao nodded, grinning widely. "Now that I'm getting two injections a day, I'm definitely far stronger than before."
"..."
Jiang Ye's eyelid twitched. Good grief, two injections a day?
Even after undergoing cosmic tempering, he wouldn't dare go to such extremes!
Li Zhichao chuckled. "How about you? How have you been lately?"
Jiang Ye nodded. "Not bad. Everything's normal."
Li Zhichao said, "I saw your ranking in the last monthly exam. How did you drop out of the top 100 in the grade? Are you having trouble adjusting to the Elite Class?"
Jiang Ye hadn't participated in the previous monthly exam due to his injuries, so his ranking had naturally plummeted. However, Li Zhichao was unaware of this.
At that moment, Li Zhichao thought to himself, Even though Jiang Ye entered the Elite Class before me, with these two injections a day, my strength is improving at an alarming rate. I might even surpass him soon.
Just as Li Zhichao was lost in thought, Cao Feng strode into the classroom and announced sternly, "The monthly exam is about to begin. Everyone, prepare yourselves!"
His words sent a jolt of energy through the entire class.
As the College Entrance Examination drew nearer, the pressure of Third-Year High School life intensified. Each monthly exam had become the most important event in everyone's minds.
"The monthly exam is finally here," Jiang Ye thought, feeling well-prepared and genuinely excited.
(End of the Chapter)