Chapter 5: Quota
Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Quota
Fang Chen sat down beside his father and said softly, "Dad."
His father, Fang Lin, wasn’t particularly old, but his face was already covered in wrinkles.
He had a habit of putting on a smile whenever he saw people. Right now, looking at his son, his face was full of gratification. "Haha, Chen’Er, come, come, sit down. You have a great chance with today’s matter!"
He lowered his voice, carrying a simple, unadorned pride. "Both you and your cousin Shanqiang are at the second tier, but you stepped into the True Martial Realm much earlier than he did. You are the undisputed number one genius of our village! Hahaha..."
Fang Chen gave a few polite responses and said no more, casually grabbing a handful of melon seeds from the table and cracking them open.
"It’s not that simple," he thought with a clear mind. "After all, I have a different surname. In a village where clan concepts are deeply rooted, unless I’m the only choice, getting their full support once there’s an internal competitor will be virtually impossible."
He sighed inwardly.
The Great Zhao Kingdom’s major exams were divided into liberal arts exams and martial exams. The liberal arts exam cost very little and was hardly a financial burden. The martial exam, however, was completely different. The registration fee alone was a staggering five hundred thousand Zhao Yuan.
His family’s daily food and living expenses were no more than eighty-something Zhao Yuan a day, amounting to a total annual expenditure of about thirty thousand. Even if his family pooled everything they had, they could only scrape together fifty thousand. This registration fee of five hundred thousand was nothing short of an astronomical figure for an ordinary family.
The martial exam was the most highly valued selection process in the Great Zhao Kingdom. It was commonplace for candidates to get injured, and they could even lose their lives on the testing grounds. This fee covered a full set of armor and weapons, free medical rescue, the construction and maintenance of wilderness testing grounds, and the cost of hiring high-level Martial Artists to escort them along the way. It was also said that many Demon Beasts would be captured for practical combat testing.
If a candidate unfortunately died, their family would receive a handsome pension. All these expenses were ultimately shifted onto the candidates’ shoulders.
Of course, if one was a Superpower User who had awakened a fourth-tier Superpower or higher, this registration fee would be completely waived. Therefore, those who eventually embarked on the path of the martial exam were either extraordinarily talented or came from wealthy families.
For someone like Fang Chen, who was merely a second-tier Superpower User, without the full clan’s support, the country would view him as having limited potential on the Martial Dao, meaning his cultivation value was low.
In his eyes, this exorbitant fee was more like a filtering process. "If you don’t have money or talent, why even bother attending a Martial Arts Academy!" he thought.
At seven o’clock sharp, the patriarch, Li Hongxuan, cleared his throat, and the entire venue fell silent. After a brief opening remark, he cut straight to the point.
"Haha, this is the most joyous occasion for our Li Family Village in decades! Someone from our village is finally going to take the martial exam and apply for a Martial Arts Academy!"
A round of applause echoed from the audience.
"Today, two youths from our village—Li Shanqiang and Fang Chen—have both stepped into the True Martial Realm and successfully awakened their Superpower! It is truly a double blessing and a cause for celebration!"
Another round of enthusiastic applause broke out.
"My biggest advantage is that I stepped into the True Martial Realm at sixteen. With Grandpa putting it this way, it creates the illusion that Li Shanqiang and I are at the exact same level, casually wiping out my two-year head start in bitter cultivation," Fang Chen sneered inwardly from his seat.
Looking troubled, Li Hongxuan shifted the topic. "However... As you all know, most of the people in our village are not wealthy.
"As the patriarch, I haven’t been able to save up much wealth over the years either.
"Over the past couple of days, I discussed this with the heads of each branch. We figured that if we all pooled our money together, we could at least help one of our children go a little further.
"But after fundraising for the past few days, the spare money from each family truly wasn’t much... Even at maximum capacity, we only gathered enough for one child’s registration fee.
"As for... exactly who will go, I’d like to hear everyone’s opinion," he concluded with a sigh.
This news wasn’t a secret; almost everyone in the village already knew about it. To put it bluntly, today’s meeting was a binary choice concerning their Destiny.
As soon as Grandpa Hongxuan finished speaking, Uncle Decai, who was sitting in the front row, was the first to speak. His booming voice was blunt and outspoken.
"Dad, I’ll just say it straight. This is money pooled by everyone in the Li Family Village, so naturally, it should sponsor a child of the Li family. I support the second brother’s Shanqiang going!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the smile on Fang Lin’s face instantly froze, making him look rather embarrassed.
He subconsciously turned to Fang Chen, still habitually trying to smooth things over, and let out a dry, low laugh. "Haha, your Uncle Decai is still as straightforward as ever... He doesn’t actually mean any harm. In past years, he’s also supported our family quite a bit..."
The old man nodded noncommittally and swept his gaze over the others. "Since the eldest has started, let’s go in order. Everyone, share your thoughts."
Uncle Dayuan immediately followed up with a smile. "Haha, Shanqiang, aren’t you going to thank your Uncle Decai?"
A young man who was slightly shorter than Fang Chen but had a much sturdier, heavily muscled build stepped forward. He walked briskly in front of Li Decai, unhesitatingly fell to his knees with a THUD, and solidly kowtowed.
"Thank you, Uncle Decai!"
A satisfied smile appeared on Li Decai’s face as he made a gesture of helping him up. "Haha, get up quickly. This child is truly filial. The people of our Li family should all be this sensible, reasonable, and capable."
After Li Shanqiang returned to his seat, his father, Li Dayuan, shifted the conversation.
"However, I don’t completely agree with what big brother just said.
"I believe this quota should go to someone who is virtuous and talented.
"Fang Lin is also considered a part of our Li family, so his eldest son, Fang Chen, is naturally qualified to compete for this spot.
"It’s just... from what I heard of Chen’Er and Dad’s conversation earlier, it seems you only awakened a second-tier Superpower?" he said, turning his scrutinizing gaze toward Fang Chen.
"Haha, second brother remembers correctly, Chen’Er is at the second tier."
Fang Lin hurriedly chimed in. The smile remained on his face, but he looked even more constrained.
"There you have it," Li Dayuan said, spreading his hands. "If Chen’Er had awakened a third-tier Superpower, then I, Li Dayuan, would be the first to raise my hand in favor of giving him these pooled funds! But it just had to be a second-tier... This..."
"What’s wrong with a second-tier? Isn’t your Shanqiang also a second-tier?"
A clear female voice suddenly interrupted him.
The speaker was Fang Chen’s aunt, Aunt Dehui. She had a fiery personality and stood up immediately, declaring, "Since they are both second-tier, no one should be pointing fingers! Moreover, Fang Chen stepped into the True Martial Realm at the age of sixteen, a whole two years earlier than Shanqiang!
"As for virtue?
"Over the years, whenever any family in the village needed help with something, wasn’t Fang Chen the first to arrive?
"During the autumn harvest, when manual labor was required, he put in more effort than even us elders! If you ask me, Chen’Er is the one who truly lives up to the phrase ’virtuous and talented’!"
"San! You’re just a woman, it’s not your place to interrupt here!" Uncle Decai’s face darkened as he scolded her sternly.
"Just a woman?"
Aunt Dehui’s eyes flashed with anger as she jumped up abruptly. "Does being a woman mean I didn’t chip in any money? Since I contributed money, I have a say!
"I support Fang Chen! Besides, big brother, you better remember clearly—I am the fourth child, and Fang Lin is San!"
After saying that, she let out a heavy HMPH, jerked her head away, and sat down, her chest heaving violently from anger.
Seeing the discussion falling into a stalemate, most of the other people present—who were from the lineage of Li Hongxuan’s brothers—muttered vaguely and directly abstained, indicating that it was fine whoever took the money.
At this time, Uncle Dayuan stood up again. "Yes, what Dehui says is true. Our Shanqiang also awakened a second-tier Superpower, but the ability he awakened belongs to the Elemental Element.
"In other words, our Shanqiang has the potential to become a Mage in the future."