Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40: Zhang Zhiwei Comes to Transfer In
Smack!
Li Mu clapped his hands.
"Right, brewing liquor. Mom, haven't you always wanted to open a traditional-style tavern?"
"And didn't you say that if you hadn't ended up with my dad and become a homemaker, you would have dominated the liquor world long ago?"
"Then let's brew liquor!"
Yang Suying's face immediately turned red.
Somewhat embarrassed, she said, "Actually, I was bragging to you before."
"It's true that I have a brewing talent, but it's only E-Grade..."
"Back then, I almost couldn't even get into university."
"If your mother hadn't had a bit of looks and chased after your father first, where would you have come from?"
Li Mu froze on the spot.
That happened too...?
Yang Suying seemed to sink into a sweet memory.
"Back in university, your father was the genius campus heartthrob. There were always pretty girls around him."
"But your mother had skill."
"A few homemade breakfasts full of love were all it took for me to win him over."
"At the time, I was so smug. I loved showing off in front of all those pretty girls."
"But later, I found out the truth."
"Your father had actually been secretly in love with me all along! He was just too tongue-tied to say it."
"Your father told me that himself!"
Yang Suying looked proud after saying that.
"Mom, is it possible... that Dad said that on purpose so you wouldn't lose face?"
Li Mu poured a timely bucket of cold water on her.
"You little brat!"
Yang Suying gave Li Mu a sharp smack on the head.
But her eyes were full of laughter. Even if that really was the case, it would only prove that Li Qianfeng loved her even more.
"Anyway, by his second year of university, your father was already a Sixth Grade Martial Artist. That was when he really began to rise!"
"Once he had the means, he spent all his money on me."
"The direction of my talent was medicinal liquor with active effects. It's a very awkward field."
"Developing it requires all kinds of medicinal ingredients, so it's extremely expensive."
"It was only because your father supported me financially back then that I was able to truly begin researching my talent."
"Then later I had you. In the Li family, all I did was raise a child and endless chores."
"Little by little, I gave it up completely."
Yang Suying sank into her memories and spoke at length.
Li Mu understood as he listened.
Medicinal liquor really was an awkward field.
It could not compete with medicine in efficacy, and it could not compete with liquor in flavor.
In top-tier brewing companies, brewers with A-Grade and B-Grade talents were everywhere.
When all those people were brought together, along with the power of capital, the liquor you spent ages brewing still might not be as good as a commercial product.
And on top of that, the cost of training a medicinal liquor brewer was terrifying.
Even a B-Grade talent would probably struggle to support it.
An E-Grade talent giving up on it was not a problem at all.
"It's fine, Mom! Go for it boldly. Your son supports this dream of yours!"
Li Mu encouraged her firmly.
Among his divine abilities was Wine-Borrowed Might. Li Mu had not learned it yet, but he would definitely use it in the future.
And if he was going to drink, there was nothing more reassuring than liquor brewed by his own mother.
Besides, his mother really had once had this dream.
He had to support it!
"But..." Yang Suying did not understand why her son had suddenly decided he wanted her to brew liquor.
This really did require a lot of money.
"Don't worry about the money. Just go do it!"
With Li Mu encouraging her so resolutely, Yang Suying truly could not refuse any longer.
She decided to pick up her dream again and start by opening a small tavern.
To be honest, Yang Suying's brewing skills had indeed been properly developed for several years at great expense.
Even now, she could still produce a few decent medicinal liquors as soon as she set her hand to it.
But if she wanted to continue improving, she would need constant research.
Once they had talked it through, Yang Suying excitedly went back to write up her plan.
The next day, the First Battle was over, and the party had ended as well.
Classes were supposed to return to normal.
Li Mu, however, headed straight for... the Abyss.
There was no helping it. All of his arts were crying out to be fed.
Li Mu had to go earn more Triumph Points as quickly as possible.
Today, he planned to join the Reserve Force.
He still had a large amount of Merit Points and Contribution Points that had not yet been settled.
Wang Longcheng had promised him that once he joined the Reserve Force, everything would be counted directly into the Military Merit system.
The military resources that could be purchased with Contribution Points were far better than anything available up above.
And the schedule was much more flexible too.
If he did not want to stay below anymore, he could just say he was coming back to attend class.
If he did not want to attend class, he could just say he was going below to kill monsters.
After all, going to school was just a pretext. Li Mu did not want to officially join the Abyss-Suppressing Army and be bound by Abyss-Suppressing Army law.
Meanwhile, at Blackwater High School, in the school's conference room, a group of school leaders stared blankly at the large screen showing 《School Resource Ranking Public Notice》.
Blackwater High School's position at Number 17 was especially glaring.
Yin Changming and the others did not look very good.
The atmosphere at Blackwater High School was unlike that of other schools, where the hierarchy was strict.
Blackwater High School had been built up bit by bit by everyone banding together, so meetings were also fairly united and relaxed.
"This is too much! Someone is clearly targeting us!"
One school leader slammed his fist onto the table.
"Now our school is really going to lose face."
"Sigh, fortunately, our school isn't afraid of losing face anymore."
Someone tried to comfort the others a little.
"But how is this the same as before?"
"Ever since the First Battle, the media has been hyping up our school."
"If this were in the past, fine."
"But now Blackwater High School has been pushed right into the spotlight."
"Quite a few media outlets are already making a huge fuss over it."
That was true. Many of the school leaders had already seen the latest news.
They had taken Blackwater High School's grand celebration and placed it alongside this ranking.
Phrases like "popping champagne at halftime" and "getting carried away" had all been thrown around.
Some people even said Blackwater High School was the type to start swaggering before it had the right.
In short, they said whatever sounded the most humiliating. That was how they generated attention.
"It looks like the incident at the school gate really had a deep impact."
"The principal of Saint Dragon Martial Academy's brother-in-law has deep roots in the Department of Resources."
Yin Changming let out a sigh.
"But on the day of the First Battle, didn't the Deputy Minister of Resources seem pretty favorable toward Li Mu?"
Someone sounded puzzled.
"That was all just surface courtesy. What leader doesn't say a few encouraging words to the champion?"
"And even if he likes someone, he likes Li Mu the student. That doesn't mean he likes our school."
"Sure, the school's ranking being affected would also affect Li Mu to some extent."
"But do you really think he would oppose an official from his own department because of Li Mu?"
"No matter how you think about it, that doesn't make sense."
After the Vice Principal finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
At this point, they had no way to change anything. They could only accept reality.
Originally, they should have jumped from T4 to at least T2, maybe even T1.
But now, they had only risen from T4 to the bare threshold of T3.
As for the T0 level, there were only four in all of Ironhand City.
One in each district.
Everyone's eyes turned toward Saint Dragon Martial Academy.
Saint Dragon Martial Academy was still, beyond all doubt, the only T0 school in the Eastern District.
Aside from having the highest First Battle score, it was also the only school in the entire Eastern District with two S-Grade aptitude holders.
"No matter how much we talk about it, we'd be better off taking it in stride."
"If Li Mu hadn't appeared, we wouldn't even have made it into T3, right?"
"So what's the point of dwelling on this now? Just keep working. There's still a chance!"
At last, one teacher finally gave everyone a much-needed pep talk.
"It's just a pity."
"All the upper management at Soaring Dragon Martial Academy has been investigated, and the school is currently undergoing rectification."
"A lot of students are looking for opportunities to transfer out."
"We were perfectly positioned. As long as our school had made it into the top ten of the resource ranking this time, we definitely could have taken in quite a few Soaring Dragon students."
"But now..."
Everyone sighed inwardly.
After the First Battle, there had only been two things the school had truly looked forward to.
One was obtaining a higher ranking and more resources, so they could raise the overall strength of the student body.
The other was using that ranking to attract more outstanding students and raise the school's standing once again.
That way, they could fall into a positive cycle.
And Blackwater High School would finally escape the vicious cycle of being stuck at the bottom.
That was why Blackwater High School had held the party, and why the school leaders had been so excited.
This had been Blackwater High School's hope for so many years!
But in the end, no one had expected it to turn out like this.
Several hours had already passed since the ranking had been announced.
If anyone from Soaring Dragon wanted to transfer, there should already have been movement by now.
After all, the school was right across from them.
Just as everyone was at a complete loss, knock, knock, knock!
Someone knocked on the door.
A teacher pulled it open, and standing outside was none other than the Student Council President, Lin Yuya.
Lin Yuya was breathing lightly, excitement all over her face, as she said,
"Teachers, someone has come to transfer in!"
The teacher asked in delight, "From Soaring Dragon Martial Academy? How many came?"
"Just one person!"
"One?"
"From Saint Dragon Martial Academy. Zhang... Zhang Zhiwei!!"