With two consecutive victories, Chen Yuan had locked down first place in his group. According to the previous month’s rules, he would receive a sponsorship of six taels of silver this month.
There was no need for the remaining two to spar. Gao Mingchang had already sustained internal injuries after being penetrated by the force of Chen Yuan’s Drilling Fist. Even if he stubbornly pushed through to fight again, defeat was inevitable, and doing so would only worsen his injuries. With Huang Yan’s reminder, he figured this out and surrendered directly. However, his expression grew increasingly ugly, and the glare he directed at Chen Yuan became even more venomous.
Gao Mingchang had initially thought today was his lucky day. He had taken great pleasure in seeing Chen Yuan, whom he despised, offend Yu Yan. His draw in the lots had also been favorable; if everything had gone smoothly, securing second place in the group wouldn’t have been an issue.
Yet, he had been reduced to dead last! Moreover, he would have to spend a considerable amount of time recuperating. Forget Chen Yuan—even Cao Yan could likely use this gap to catch up to him. He had tried to be clever but ended up shooting himself in the foot, losing far more than he could ever gain!
As Chen Yuan left the arena, Sun Chengjie was still full of smiles. "Brother Chen, look at Gao Mingchang’s face. It’s as black as coal. He totally deserves it!"
Chen Yuan’s expression remained as calm as usual. Gao Mingchang had tried to poke his eyes out with vicious intent, so he naturally wasn’t going to go easy on him. He thought, "You can go recuperate with that piece of trash, Chen Kai."
His gaze swept past, noticing that Yu Yan was staring at him with a profound look, thinking about who knew what. Chen Yuan calmly retracted his gaze, thinking, "This Yu Yan seems composed on the surface, but he’s actually quite petty. I’ll need to be on my guard against him in the future."
With that, the sparring for their group came to an end.
No surprises occurred in the remaining two matches. Sun Chengjie defeated He Qing and then lost to Xue Anping, finalizing the rankings. The entire sparring session concluded in barely an hour.
Gu Ye murmured with Huang Yan for a moment before solemnly announcing this month’s assessment results. "Yu Yan has trained ceaselessly and made rapid progress. He successfully breached the gate a few days ago, becoming a Skin Gate Martial Artist. This is worthy of celebration, so he is awarded five taels of silver. At the same time, his monthly sponsorship is raised to ten taels!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone turned to look at Yu Yan. That was fifteen taels of silver in total! An astronomical sum they couldn’t even fathom!
Chen Yuan also clicked his tongue slightly. He thought, "The Gu Family really doesn’t mind spending money."
"There is no need to be envious," Gu Ye cleared his throat and continued. "If you can successfully breach the gate within three months, my Gu Family will also reward you with three taels of silver!"
Obviously, this statement was directed at Chen Yuan and the other two in his tier; only the three of them had any hope of breaching the gate within three months.
However, Gao Mingchang, who had originally held the highest hopes, now faced the bleakest prospects. His complexion grew even more unsightly.
Chen Yuan remained impassive, thinking, "A five-tael reward for breaching the gate in two months, and three taels for three months. That’s reasonable enough."
Xue Anping and the others’ eyes flickered as they quietly waited for what came next, wanting to know what the reward would be for successfully breaching the gate in four months.
But Gu Ye did not follow up on that. His gaze swept over Chen Yuan’s trio as he continued, "In this sparring session, Chen Yuan ranked first. His progress is notable, so his sponsorship is raised to six taels. Cao Yan ranked second; her sponsorship of five taels remains unchanged. Gao Mingchang ranked third, and his sponsorship is reduced to four taels."
After saying that, he appraised Chen Yuan with a look of admiration.
He had originally thought that Chen Yuan, as the strongest with a Top D-tier Root Bone, would only be slightly better than Xue Anping and his peers. He hadn’t expected that in just two short months, Chen Yuan would leave two people with Bottom C-tier Root Bones in the dust. Although there was still a gap between him and Yu Yan, he would definitely be of use once nurtured properly.
As for Gao Mingchang, Gu Ye felt no pity in his heart, nor would he be lenient just because the youth was injured. Chen Yuan had been a bit heavy-handed, but it was Gao Mingchang who had provoked him first. He had brought it upon himself.
Cao Yan cast a deep, complex look at Chen Yuan. Her original goal had been to secure second place, which was why she had been willing to shell out five maces of silver to keep the spot. She never expected that, through a strange twist of fate, she wouldn’t have to spend a single coin and would still take second place so effortlessly. More than anything, she was relieved that Chen Yuan hadn’t been so heavy-handed with her.
Gu Ye turned his gaze to Xue Anping’s trio.
He Qing instantly tensed up, his heart leaping into his throat. The scene of Liu Jin being eliminated a month ago was still vivid in his mind. This week, he ranked dead last and was the most likely to be eliminated!
Then he heard Gu Ye announce, "For the three of you: Xue Anping ranked first, and his sponsorship is raised to three taels. Sun Chengjie ranked second, remaining unchanged at two taels. He Qing ranked third, and his sponsorship is reduced to one tael."
He Qing first breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly realized something was wrong. A sponsorship of one tael a month? Wouldn’t that only cover his tuition fees? What would he eat?
His face instantly fell. How was this any different from being eliminated?
After announcing the basic results, Gu Ye continued, "Nourishing vital blood is like sailing against the current: if you don’t forge ahead, you will be swept downstream. You must advance courageously and breach the Skin Gate in one vigorous push. The longer you drag it out, the more silver you will spend, yet your vital blood might not necessarily increase. Therefore, to help you break through the Skin Gate, the sponsorship for all six of you will be increased by another one tael of silver on top of what was just announced."
Gu Ye suddenly changed his tone and spoke in a deep voice, "However, the requirement is that everyone must break through the Skin Gate within four months. Those who fail to do so will be directly eliminated."
The new rule brought joy to some and sorrow to others.
Chen Yuan, of course, was delighted. For him, this was simply an extra boost to his sponsorship. A four-month timeframe was more than enough; his goal was to seize the three-tael silver reward anyway.
Xue Anping, however, wore a heavy expression. He had just been wondering why there wasn’t a reward for breaking through in four months. It turned out that four months was the execution line. Clearly, the Gu Family didn’t want to waste any more time or money, and was forcing them to push with all their might over the next two months. If they pushed through, they stayed; if they didn’t, they were out.
Could he do it in four months?
Sun Chengjie and He Qing felt the pressure mounting like a mountain. Master Huo had said that with six months of bitter training, they might have a hope of successfully breaching the gate, yet the Gu Family was only giving them four months.
This was especially true for He Qing. After the deduction and subsequent increase, even though his beef supply was restored, he only had two taels of silver. His chances of successfully breaching the gate were less than ten percent. Sun Chengjie, at the very least, still had three taels of silver.
Unless... they could get some silver from elsewhere.
Like going into the mountains to hunt. He Qing clenched his fists, a fierce resolve igniting in his heart.
After the assessment ended, everyone went their separate ways.
The group from the Huo Courtyard continued to train bitterly. Chen Yuan aimed to break through the Skin Gate as quickly as possible to get the reward, while Xue Anping’s trio had no choice but to charge forward under the pressure of the four-month deadline.
As fallen leaves piled up, time slipped by in a hurry.
In the blink of an eye, it was dawn again.
Chen Yuan sat up straight in bed, stretched his back, and looked at his interface. He discovered that his Low-key Points were still at 9; they hadn’t changed at all.
He looked closer at the settlement comments:
[Host, your action of publicly falling out with Yu Yan has created an enemy and planted hidden dangers for your subsequent cultivation, which goes against the Low-key principles. Low-key Points +0.]
Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow. This was the first time he had gotten a zero.
But what the system said made sense. It had indeed planted hidden dangers. Was there a better way, though?
He mused, "Should I have taken the silver, put on an act, and taken dead last? That would ruin both my money and my image. Pay more money to bribe Yu Yan? I don’t even have any money! The only funds I have at my disposal are the two taels of silver my aunt gave me last time, and I’ve already spent quite a bit of it. Get on my knees and beg him to let me off? Forget it. The softer I am, the more Yu Yan might push his luck."
Chen Yuan didn’t dwell on it. Since it had already happened, there was no need to mentally exhaust himself over it.
It was merely 3 Low-key Points, after all. If he had chosen to swallow his anger and submit, his losses would have been far greater than that.
That was to say, some troubles in this world were simply unavoidable.
He set the matter aside, dressed neatly, and headed toward the Huo Courtyard.
He wondered how the seven taels of sponsorship would manifest. Getting back those 3 Low-key Points definitely wouldn’t be a problem!