His consciousness returned from the virtual Imperial Arena, and Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes.
Before him were the bright lights of the public Martial Arts Room, along with the two familiar faces of Qian Duoduo and Shi Potian.
They had just finished their evening Body Refining Technique practice, sitting to one side, drinking water and waiting quietly for him.
The moment Qin Feng opened his eyes, the two of them practically shot to their feet and hurried over.
Their faces showed a mixture of irrepressible curiosity and excitement, yet both had the tacit understanding to hold back from asking the first question.
Qin Feng had been immersed in the Imperial Arena all afternoon, undoubtedly to chase the crucial 50 merit points needed for a C-level contract.
Now, the moment of truth had arrived.
Qin Feng looked at their gazes, full of expectation and a hint of nervousness, then rose from the floor and stretched his slightly stiff body.
Then, he let out a faint sigh.
That single sigh instantly changed the expressions on Qian Duoduo and Shi Potian’s faces.
"Did... did it not work out?"
Qian Duoduo asked tentatively.
"It’s alright, Qin Feng."
Shi Potian also spoke up in a deep voice, ready to console him. "The opponents in the placement matches are too random. A single failure doesn’t mean anything. We all know what you’re capable of. Next time..."
Before he could finish, Qin Feng’s next words cut him off.
"I did it."
A smile finally broke across Qin Feng’s face. "First Rank, 84 points."
The air fell silent for a second.
"Damn it!"
Qian Duoduo was the first to react. He froze for a moment, then laughed in mock anger, landing a light punch on Qin Feng’s shoulder. "You bastard! You, of all people, with your honest-looking face, have learned how to be a prankster! You scared the hell out of me!"
"Hahaha, you got us, Qin Feng!"
Even the normally stoic Shi Potian couldn’t help but laugh, reaching out to clap Qin Feng on the shoulder as well.
Their heartfelt joy and excitement were palpable.
They were genuinely happy for their brother and comrade-in-arms.
"Quick! Quick! Apply now!"
Qian Duoduo, even more excited than Qin Feng himself, urged him on.
"How do you apply again? Let me look it up for you..."
Shi Potian was also getting swept up in the excitement.
He was the type to only let his guard down and joke around with close friends; once you got to know him, that cold exterior melted away.
"That’s a question for Qian Duoduo."
Qin Feng looked toward Qian Duoduo.
"Heh, you’ve come to the right man!"
The moment a procedural question came up, Qian Duoduo instantly came alive. He puffed out his chest and rattled off the details like he was showing off family heirlooms:
"Easy! Just send a private message to Teacher Wu Shangfeng on your Subspace Pass terminal. Remember when we were on Planet Gamma-7 and joined his temporary administrative class group? That means you’re officially under Teacher Wu’s purview. Just send him a screenshot of your Imperial Arena ID, rank, and score. He has the authorization to connect directly to the Imperial Arena’s central database for verification."
He paused, then continued, "Once it’s verified, he’ll deposit the 50 merit points reward directly into your account. Then, he’ll submit your promotion application for the C-level contract to the school’s administrative system. The school’s upper management is super fast with approvals—it’s practically instantaneous. The whole process probably won’t even take five minutes."
"Alright."
Qin Feng nodded and immediately activated his wrist-mounted terminal.
He found Wu Shangfeng’s profile picture in the temporary class group chat, which had been silent for a month. He sent a screenshot of his personal information along with a brief message: "Teacher Wu, I’m applying for the placement match merit point reward and requesting a promotion to a C-level contract."
"Sent. Let’s head back to the dorm."
With that done, Qin Feng deactivated his terminal. The three of them exchanged a smile and left the public Martial Arts Room, walking shoulder to shoulder.
Night had fallen, and the campus was quiet.
The three of them walked back to their dorm, their spirits light and cheerful.
The moment they stepped through the door of Dorm 402, Qin Feng’s wrist-mounted terminal emitted a sharp BEEP.
It was a reply from Wu Shangfeng.
He tapped open the light screen, and a series of concise, impactful lines of text appeared before him.
[Verified.]
[Imperial Arena Placement Match Reward: 50 merit points, issued.]
[Student "Qin Feng," total merit points now 105, meeting the promotion standard for a C-level contract.]
[Promotion application submitted and approved.]
Immediately after, a brand-new electronic contract file, radiating a golden sheen, automatically popped up.
[Congratulations, Student Qin Feng. Your contract has been successfully promoted to: C-Level]
[C-Level Contract benefits are as follows:]
[1. Cultivation Resources (Distributed Monthly):]
[1. Mid-Level Spiritual Energy Potion x 2 (Increases by one Potion per month starting the second month)]
[2. Mid-Level Flesh Repairing Medicine Bath x 2 (Increases by one Bath per month starting the second month)]
[3. Subordinate Spiritual Energy Recovery Potion x 1]
[4. On-campus mentor guidance session x 1]
[5. C-Level customized nutritional meals x 90 servings]
[2. Unlocked Privileges:]
[1. Class A Area, single-person cultivation dormitory (includes private Cultivation Room)]
[2. Class A Area, public Martial Arts Dojo (includes facilities such as an Advanced Gravity Room and simulated combat rooms)]
[3. Eligibility to participate in the Morning Star Inter-school Martial Arts League]
[3. Contract Restrictions:]
[1. If the holder fails to be promoted to a B-level contract or advance to the third academic year within one year, all C-level contract benefits will be revoked, and the contract will be downgraded to D-level.]
[2. Requirement for promotion to a B-level contract: a total of 1,000 merit points.]
Qin Feng, Qian Duoduo, and Shi Potian huddled together, three heads poring over the new contract, reading it word by word.
The entire dorm room was filled with stunned silence.
Qian Duoduo instinctively pulled up the trading platform on the Subspace Network and typed in some keywords.
A series of eye-watering prices popped up.
[Mid-Level Spiritual Energy Potion (Empire Standard Edition), Price per Potion: 100,000 Imperial Coins]
"..."
Qian Duoduo did the math. "Two of them is two hundred thousand!"
[Mid-Level Physical Healing Bath Package (Empire Standard Edition), Price per Dose: 100,000 Imperial Coins]
"Two baths, that’s another two hundred thousand."
"And this one, the Subordinate Mental Power Enhancement Potion..."
Qin Feng’s gaze fell on the third item on the list.
Qian Duoduo immediately searched for it.
[Subordinate Mental Power Enhancement Potion, Price per Potion: 200,000 Imperial Coins.]
"HSSSS—"
This time, all three of them sucked in a sharp breath.
"The mentor guidance... that’s a priceless treasure. You can’t put a price on that."
"The C-Level customized nutritional meals, let me check... Holy crap! One serving costs 5,000 Imperial Coins! Ninety servings a month, that’s four hundred and fifty thousand!"
As they added up the value of each item, the three of them were left speechless.
Two hundred thousand for the Mid-Level Spiritual Energy Potions, two hundred thousand for the mid-level medicated baths, two hundred thousand for the Mental Power Potion, four hundred and fifty thousand for the nutritional meals...
And that wasn’t even counting the mentor guidance, which was impossible to put a price on.
In the very first month alone, the value of the resources the school was investing in a single C-level contract student was a staggering 1.05 million Imperial Coins!
And what’s more, starting from the second month, the quantity of Spiritual Energy Potions and medicated baths would continue to increase!
"..."
Qin Feng was stunned.
Qian Duoduo was stunned.
Even Shi Potian, who was usually the most worldly of them, was stunned.
They knew the resources for a C-level contract would be substantial, but they never dreamed they would be this ridiculously abundant.
This wasn’t just a simple allocation of resources; this was basically paving the road to power with pure, hard cash!
After a long moment, Shi Potian slowly exhaled, breaking the silence.
He said with a sigh of understanding, "I get it now. The C-level contract is inherently designed for Second Level Martial Artists whose life force index has surpassed 10.0. A Second Level Martial Artist’s body has a higher tolerance and a greater demand for energy. These resources are perfectly suited to fuel their rapid growth, allowing them to push for the rank of Third-level Martial Artist as quickly as possible."
His gaze shifted to Qin Feng, his eyes filled with a mixture of awe and admiration.
"It’s just... no one could have possibly imagined that someone with a life force index of just over 3.0 could, within a single month, brute-force their way into obtaining a contract originally meant for a Second Level Martial Artist."
"Heheh,"
Qian Duoduo snickered from the side, patting Qin Feng’s shoulder. "Now this is going to be good! The resources of a Second Level Martial Artist, all for a First-level Martial Artist! Qin Feng, who knows, after a month of this, your life force index might shoot straight to 10.0!"
Hearing this, a look of intense anticipation flashed in Qin Feng’s eyes.
’With such a massive amount of resources, my one and only weakness will be shored up at an unimaginable speed.’
After that, the three of them closely examined the other privileges unlocked by the C-level contract.
A single-person dorm with a private Cultivation Room attached—the accommodations were practically on par with a luxury hotel suite.
However, Qin Feng had no plans to move out right away.
Dorm 402 already felt like home.
The atmosphere of the three of them cultivating and improving together was something he greatly valued at this stage.
The access to the public Martial Arts Dojo in the Class A Area, however, was very useful.
Especially the Advanced Gravity Room inside, which had an unparalleled effect on tempering the body.
Finally, there was the line: "Eligibility to participate in the Morning Star Inter-school Martial Arts League."
"I know about this one!"
Qian Duoduo immediately stepped up to his role as the group’s Intelligence Officer.
"This Morning Star League is the school’s way for you to earn the 1,000 merit points needed to shoot for a B-level contract!"
He explained, "This league is jointly hosted by the seven top Martial Arts High Schools on Morning Star. It’s held once a year and is divided into three divisions: first-year, second-year, and third-year. Martial Artists of the same grade level compete for rankings. It’s not just a symbol of personal honor; it’s also where the seven big Martial Arts High Schools go to flex on each other and prove their strength!"
"The rewards for the league are unbelievably generous! Rumor has it, if you can just break into the top one hundred in the first-year division, the school will straight-up reward you with 100 merit points!"
"The top fifty get 200 points!"
"And if you manage to break into the top ten... that means becoming one of the ten strongest first-years on the entire Morning Star Educational Planet!"
"I don’t know what first place gets. It’s different every year, but it’s guaranteed to be something beyond imagination."
Qian Duoduo’s voice cracked with excitement.
"The school directly awards 500 merit points!"
"I see."
Qin Feng took a deep breath.
The C-level contract was just a new beginning.
The path to a B-level contract was now laid out clearly before him.
’I still need to keep working hard,’ Qin Feng murmured to himself.
He then opened his wrist-mounted terminal—his Subspace Network Pass—and sent a reply to Wu Shangfeng: "Understood, thank you, Teacher Wu."
DING—
Wu Shangfeng’s reply came back instantly.
"You’re welcome. Keep it up (smiley face). Get some rest (night)."
"Good night, Teacher."
"1."