Chapter 40: The Reward for First Place

“What? Principal, you’re dismissing me? No, please don’t!”

Cai Weisong’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, staring at Principal Luo in terror as he continued to tremble and plead, “I’ve been at this school for so many years, you can’t just fire me! I’ve contributed to the school! Look at this arena—it was built with my own money! It cost me everything I had, and I haven’t earned a single cent back!”

Principal Luo’s tone had been somewhat polite at first, but hearing this, his expression turned furious. He snapped, “You have the nerve to mention that? Sure, you spent money, but only because you planned to charge for using the arena later and turn a profit! And now look at your shoddy workmanship—the arena’s destroyed! If you want, take the ruined thing with you when you go!”

Cai Weisong shrieked in despair. He hadn’t expected Principal Luo to be so ruthless. Admittedly, he had wanted to make money off the arena, but he never imagined that the battle between Su Ye and Yu Zhisha would leave it in such a wreck. What was he supposed to do now?

He looked desperately at Su Ye, knowing full well that everything that had happened was because of him. If Su Ye would forgive him, perhaps he could stay at the school.

“Su Ye, it was my fault as your mentor—I shouldn’t have underestimated you. The way I treated you—it was only because I expected so much of you. Please, try to understand my position! I beg you, don’t let Principal Luo dismiss me. I can’t lose my job as a mentor! Su Ye, I was doing it for your own good! In fact, it’s me, your mentor, who feels the most pain over all this. Is there any student who doesn’t thank their mentor when they leave school?”

But Su Ye’s eyes were as cold as ice. He said in a deep voice, “For my own good? Ha! That’s where you’re wrong. A student like me, even if I left this school for ten or twenty years, even until my dying day, would never thank a mentor like you! You brought this on yourself—you deserve what’s coming!”

Cai Weisong let out another wail. Now, he had lost both his money and his job. The position of mentor had brought him so many benefits, not to mention the bragging rights among his relatives and friends. And now, it was all gone in an instant.

Worse still, he had failed the Yu family after working for them. What would they do to him?

He had considered that kicking Su Ye out of his spiritual sea might provoke retaliation, but he’d been too eager to curry favor with the Yu family to care. He never imagined retribution would come so swiftly.

He was so wracked with regret he could barely stand it. “No, Su Ye, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have expelled you, please forgive me!”

Seeing his shameless groveling, Su Ye’s anger only intensified. He kicked Cai Weisong hard, sending him sprawling on the ground, and barked, “Get out!”

Principal Luo, equally unmoved, signaled for the people beside him to haul the limp, paralyzed Cai Weisong away and toss him out.

“Let’s not be affected by this disgraceful mentor!” Principal Luo said with a smile. “Now, let’s move on to the awards—”

The tense atmosphere shifted the moment the word “awards” was mentioned. All the students and teachers turned their attention forward. One reason they had participated in the competition was for the prizes.

While few coveted the first prize, the rewards for the top ten were still highly sought after.

Even Ning Shuang was scanning the area eagerly, wanting to see what the prizes would be.

As Principal Luo offered his congratulations, the crowd’s restless mood slowly calmed.

“First, let me congratulate you all on the successful conclusion of the challenge! And congratulations to the top one hundred students—you all get prizes! Especially the top ten, and most importantly, the first place winner! Haha, our champion this year is Su Ye from First High School of Yang City—”

As Su Ye listened to these words, he felt a faint sense of oppression. He could tell Principal Luo was in a hurry—his usual lengthy speeches had been cut short by more than half.

“Congratulations, Su Ye! This graduation challenge counts towards your final graduation results. Haha, in less than a month you’ll graduate, and then countless Spiritual Energy Universities will be vying to recruit you! Come on, let’s present the awards!”

Ning Shuang approached quietly and whispered, “Congratulations! First place! Don’t forget, when you get your prizes, I get to pick three things first, okay?”

“Of course!” Su Ye had agreed to Ning Shuang’s terms when he returned to school—no matter his final ranking, she would get first pick of three items.

Ning Shuang beamed. “Then I’ll choose those three boxes!”

After a short wait, the prizes for first place arrived—five items in total, and three of them were indeed boxes.

Unbothered by the watching crowd, Ning Shuang smiled and took the three boxes, their contents a mystery even to Su Ye. But judging from the remaining two prizes, the boxes must be valuable.

Of the two left, one was a card—containing twenty million.

The other was also a card: an internship opportunity at the headquarters of the “Yang City Martial Alliance.”

The students who had ranked in the top hundred looked at the items in Su Ye’s hands with undisguised envy. For some prodigies, the money was no big deal—they’d have that much sooner or later. But the internship with the Martial Alliance was exceedingly rare! If he passed, he could even stay at the Martial Alliance headquarters in the future.

The Martial Alliance—its influence ran unseen beneath all of Yang City’s affairs, wielding tremendous hidden power.

Su Ye had been about to exchange pleasantries with Ning Shuang, but she whispered urgently, “Be careful on your way home, do you understand?”

Su Ye’s brow furrowed, the oppressive feeling he’d just shaken off returning with a vengeance.

After collecting her own prize, Jiang Liuying hurried over, her voice tight with anxiety. “My father is here in person, waiting outside! We need to leave now!”

Su Ye and Jiang Liuying quickly left the school, and as they reached the gates, they saw rows upon rows of cars lined up ahead.

The vehicles filled every visible space, but not a single person stepped out; everyone remained seated inside. From the look of things, they’d been waiting for quite some time.

In other words, even as the challenge was still ongoing, the various families had already arrived and gathered outside the school—just without entering the grounds.

“There! This way!” Jiang Liuying had clearly just gotten a call, and she headed straight toward one of the limousines parked outside.

Su Ye followed her into the car and found, as expected, Jiang Ziyang, the head of the Jiang family, already inside. But his face looked troubled, as if something grave weighed on him.

Before Su Ye could even sit, Jiang Ziyang sighed and said, “Su Ye, you’re too merciful! Why didn’t you finish off Yu Zhisha?”

Su Ye was taken aback—he hadn’t expected that to be Jiang Ziyang’s first question. “I’ve already destroyed her Thunder Veins and shattered her meridians. She’ll never be able to stir up trouble again.”

“She may not, but what about the others?” Jiang Ziyang replied grimly. “When your nine Thunder Veins were stolen, the Yu family only claimed one! Now you’ve acted against Yu Zhisha, but you didn’t show enough force. I fear that the others who possess the remaining eight veins may soon take action! As long as Yu Zhisha lives, some families will still cling to hope—hoping she might somehow recover…” As he spoke, he signaled for the cars to head home.

The entire motorcade—more than twenty vehicles—swept grandly back to the Jiang family estate.

Su Ye clenched his fist in silence, then suddenly asked, “Patriarch Jiang, do you know who took my Thunder Veins back then?”

“You want revenge? That’s dangerous! It could get you killed!” Jiang Ziyang’s deep eyes locked unblinkingly on Su Ye.

Beside him, Jiang Liuying trembled, worry flashing across her exquisite face. She opened her mouth to speak but swallowed the words back down.

“I must have my revenge!” Su Ye declared with steely resolve.

A faint smile flickered across Jiang Ziyang’s heavily lined face. “You truly are his descendant. Some things run so deep in the blood, they can never be erased! If you want vengeance, your chance will come soon. For the next few days, while Yu Zhisha is being treated, you’ll be safe. Use the time to grow stronger!”

Su Ye knew full well that his safe departure from the school was thanks to the Jiang family.

Sadly, he realized the fallout from all this would surely implicate them. How he wished he had true power—then he wouldn’t have to watch the Jiang family be drawn into peril on his account.

But where was he to find such strength?

He glanced at the two cards in his hand—one with twenty million, the other, the Martial Alliance internship.

It was something, at least—a piece of the power he needed.

Soon, their convoy arrived at the Jiang family estate. But as soon as they stepped out of the cars, they saw the third steward, covered in blood, racing toward them in a panic, his arm twisted at a grotesque angle.

“Patriarch—something terrible has happened!”