High Martial Arts: Liver Becomes the Master of the Universe

Chapter 16 Application Choices
Hongye Community, 17th floor, Wang Ming's home.

In the small living room, the air seemed to freeze, and everyone's eyes were focused on the small, suspended light screen.

[Morning Star Overall Ranking: 67321]

This string of numbers, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirred up towering waves after a brief silence.

"Sixty-seven thousand three hundred and twenty-one!"

Wang Ming's voice rose sharply due to extreme excitement, even cracking slightly.

He grabbed Qin Dahai's arm and shook it violently. His face, which was usually covered in oil stains and fatigue, was now flushed red, and his eyes shone with an unprecedented light.

"Brother! Did you see that?! Over 67,000th place! We...we got in! We got into one of the top seven high schools!"

Qin Dahai's body trembled slightly as he stared intently at the ranking. His usually calm eyes were now churning with turbulent emotions.

Aunt Li Juan, who was standing to the side, did not understand the specific meaning of martial arts scores, but seeing her husband and older brother's ecstatic expressions, she also became excited, her eyes reddened, and she covered her mouth tightly with her hands.

In their minds, a vitality index of 1.23 is the mark of an absolute top genius, who should be ranked at the top.

The number "more than 60,000" doesn't sound very high.

However, they were unaware of the true meaning behind this ranking.

In this magnificent age of humankind, the empire's territory spans countless star systems, and trillions of humans die every second within its borders.

In order to cope with the endless "Great Expedition", the empire has devoted all its resources to promoting the genetic optimization of all citizens and elite martial arts education.

The result was an explosive outpouring of genius.

Especially on a standardized education planet like Qimingxing, among the tens of millions of test takers each year, there are countless young people who have received the best resources and have extraordinary talents since birth.

Reaching a vitality index of 1.0 is merely obtaining the ticket to participate in this game of geniuses.

An index of 1.2 only means that you have a fighting chance in this game.

Although Qin Feng possessed the "Heaven Rewards Diligence" panel, he only truly exerted his power in a short period of one month.

He caught up with what others had accumulated over three years or even longer through a month of arduous study.

To be able to squeeze into the top 70,000 with a score of 1.23 is itself an almost impossible miracle.

This ranking, neither high nor low, is the most authentic and reasonable feedback on his crazy efforts over the past month.

"Li Juan! Li Juan!"

Wang Ming turned around and shouted loudly towards the kitchen, "Don't just stand there! Hurry! Go to the market! Buy me the best exotic beast meat and the biggest red-feathered chicken! Today! Today we're having a celebration banquet! To celebrate our Xiaofeng getting into the top martial arts high school!"

He turned around, grabbed his older cousin, and vigorously rubbed his head.

"Xiao Hao! And you, Xiao Jie! Did you see that? This is your Brother Feng! Can you see how hard he works? From now on, you should all learn from your Brother Feng! You know? As long as we're willing to work hard, even kids from ordinary families can succeed!"

"Got it, Dad!"

The two boys, barely out of their teens, puffed out their chests and answered loudly, their eyes filled with admiration as they looked at Qin Feng.

Qin Dahai remained silent.

He simply walked over, stretched out his calloused, one arm, and hugged his son tightly, very tightly.

This man, as silent as a mountain, expressed the pride and satisfaction that had been building up for more than a decade in the most direct and clumsy way.

Qin Feng could feel his father's body trembling slightly.

……

The joyful atmosphere of the family lasted until noon.

A more lavish celebration banquet than the last one filled the small dining table.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Just then, Qin Dahai's personal terminal on his wrist suddenly vibrated. He glanced at the caller ID; it was [Factory Manager Wu].

He connected the call.

The portly face of Wu Daqiang, the manager of the alien corpse processing plant, appeared on the screen.

"Old Qin! How's it going? The results were released today, has Xiaofeng's score come out yet?"

Wu Daqiang's voice was filled with obvious concern.

"Out."

A barely suppressed smile played on Qin Dahai's face.

"Tell me already! Stop keeping me in suspense!"

Qin Dahai didn't say much, and directly shared Qin Feng's report card with him.

On the other side of the screen, Wu Daqiang looked at the report card. His expression first showed surprise, then became serious, and finally turned into a knowing admiration.

"Vitality Index 1.23, ranking 67,000... Wow, the competition this year is still so fierce!"

As the plant manager, Wu Daqiang had access to a higher level of expertise, and his vision far surpassed that of Wang Ming.

He knew very well that in today's Qimingxing, it was a pipe dream to break into the top 10,000 with just one month of intensive effort.

"Old Qin, don't let the ranking of over 60,000 fool you. This result is remarkable! Truly remarkable!"

Wu Daqiang said with a serious expression, "These days, which child isn't padded with all sorts of resources from a young age? Xiaofeng was able to catch up to this ranking in the last month, which shows that his talent and willpower are top-notch! This can't be explained by ordinary hard work; he's a true genius!"

He changed the subject, his tone becoming more serious.

"Old Qin, listen to me. When filling out your college application, make 'Qiming First Martial Arts High School' your first choice!"

"First Martial High School is the top of the seven high schools, with the longest history, the strongest faculty, and the most outstanding students who have gone on to reach the Star Sea. Their admission rules include an unwritten principle of 'potential first.' Compared to students who have had abundant resources from a young age and rank highly, they sometimes prefer 'rough gems' like Xiao Feng, who have a late-blooming talent and unfathomable potential. An index of 1.23, coupled with his terrifying resume of surpassing tens of millions of people in just one month, will definitely impress their admissions office!"

"Okay, I've got it. Thank you, Director Wu."

Qin Dahai nodded solemnly.

"Don't thank me! You're my brother!"

Wu Daqiang waved his hand, "Alright, I won't disturb your celebration. If you have any questions about college application, feel free to contact me anytime! I have some connections and can help you find out some inside information."

After hanging up the call, Qin Dahai relayed Director Wu's analysis and suggestions to his family.

As the family was discussing, Qin Feng's personal terminal rang.

It was a message from the class group of Class 5, Grade 9, sent by the class monitor.

[@All members, notice: Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, all students must return to school and assemble in their original classrooms. Teacher Li Weiguo will distribute the "High School Entrance Examination Application Guide" and provide unified guidance. Please be sure to arrive at school on time.]

The message instantly revived the previously dormant class group chat.

[Zhou Heyuan: Received! See you tomorrow!]

[Wang Xiaoyan: I've finally waited for this day! I'm so nervous!]

[Li Kai: I just checked my scores. I'm wondering if I can get into a decent regular martial arts high school.]

[Chen Chong: I'm only ranked 9.16 million, I guess I can only go to the bottom-ranked Martial Arts High School, sigh.]

In the group chat, some are happy while others are sad.

Zhou Heyuan was the most active in the group. He posted his vitality index of 0.96 and his excellent ranking of nearly one million, which immediately attracted a lot of amazement and praise.

It's worth mentioning that although Zhou Heyuan was in the same exam room as Qin Feng and witnessed Qin Feng's terrifying scores, he pretended not to know anything about it in the group chat.

He never said a word of praise for Qin Feng, but instead kept showing off his own achievements.

(End of this chapter)