High School Student with Immortal Race System

After explaining the "Challenge Ranking System," the instructor, Sheng Qin, handed out a stack of documents.

"Now that you’re in university, you’re all adults. It’s different from high school. Here, the concepts of ’teaching’ and ’learning’ are separate."

"The university is only responsible for the ’teaching.’ You are responsible for the learning. We will no longer track your basic stats like Qi and Blood Value in real-time. Everything will be judged based on actual combat."

"In your hands are your Class Selection Forms. Aside from the required courses, which are locked in and highlighted, you must choose the rest based on your preferred Cultivation Techniques, Martial Arts, weapons, Body Forging, and so on."

"Note: The required courses are only worth 10 credits, but you need a minimum of 20 credits each semester. You must carefully consider your path, combat intensity, and the pressure of the Challenge Ranking System when making your choices."

Yang Shen looked down and scanned the form. The required courses were mostly general studies, worth anywhere from one to three credits.

The electives, however, were far more complex... a dazzling array of choices.

For example, "Introduction to Spear Technique" was worth one credit, while "Advanced Spear Skill" was worth three.

By his calculation, Yang Shen would need to pick three "advanced electives" this semester... which would almost meet the credit requirement. He could make up the small difference in other ways.

Just then, someone raised their hand. "Professor, are the courses from the Subordinate Schools not on this form?"

Sheng Qin replied flatly, "You won’t engage with the Subordinate Schools until the second semester of your first year. This semester is for strengthening your foundation. This was all in the freshman handbook, which you clearly didn’t read carefully."

The student who had raised his hand lowered his head... ’Probably someone who partied too hard over the summer.’

’I wonder how long he’ll last in Class 1.’

Yang Shen and Xu Bamboo huddled together to discuss their choices. In the end, Yang Shen selected "Advanced Spear Skill," "Advanced Boxing Technique," and "Advanced Step Technique."

For the top student in the year, starting directly with advanced courses was perfectly normal.

As for Martial Arts... given their difficulty and danger, one needed permission from the corresponding advanced course instructor before they could even apply.

Finally, based on his interests, Yang Shen added "Exotic History Research."

Xu Bamboo, on the other hand, chose "Advanced Swordsmanship," "Advanced Step Technique," and "Rapid Reaction."

She chose "Rapid Reaction" because she wanted to develop a resistance to ranged attacks similar to Yang Shen’s, an idea she’d had since the Madman Special Training Camp.

’Jiangti’s courses are probably much more tame and balanced,’ she thought. ’They won’t be riddling students with assault rifles...’

For her last credit, she also picked "Exotic History Research."

’It’s a rare indoor class, so of course I have to pick the same one as Yang Shen.’

’We’re desk partners, after all. What kind of desk partners would we be if we didn’t sit together every day?’

——————

The first day of university came to a complete close. Students living in the dorms returned to their rooms, while the others headed home.

In such a high-pressure, competitive environment, no one was in the mood for a "class gathering." Everyone was a rival. Next month, it could very well be a life-or-death struggle between them.

Classmates? What classmates?

They were just stepping stones on the path of Martial Arts!

Yang Shen and Xu Bamboo got into the car heading back to the Yang Residence.

Yang Shen propped his chin on one hand, letting the wind blow past his face. "This feels completely different from the university I imagined."

Xu Bamboo also sighed. "I know... the pressure is immense..."

The pressure didn’t come from a lack of strength, but from the systemic pressure built into the university.

As someone at the bottom of Class 1’s rankings, her challenge schedule was certain to be packed. The students from Class 2, for instance—many of them were likely targeting Xu Bamboo.

"Don’t worry," Yang Shen said. "Once you master the Secret Transmission of the Ancient Skill, your cultivation level will rise quickly. No matter how many people challenge you, just beat them all back soundly."

Yang Shen, on the other hand, still benefited from the lingering prestige of being the Champion Scholar. Only Jiang Xin had dared to challenge him.

’For the sake of long-term planning, and to avoid wasting too much energy every month...’ Yang Shen thought.

’I should probably make an example out of Jiang Xin and beat him extra thoroughly.’

Back at the Yang Residence, Cao Wei, Yuan Rui, and Tian Zihan had already returned. As expected, everyone was discussing Jiangti’s "Challenge Ranking System," and the general consensus was a sense of speechlessness.

Even for a group as unconventional as Yang Shen’s disciples, the system seemed absurd.

...which meant it was truly ridiculous.

But Yuan Rui, that clever schemer, had a completely different take on it.

"This rule is great! Very pragmatic!"

Tian Zihan, with his massive frame, scratched his head. "Is it? I just feel like it’s dangerous... I’ve already been challenged by two people. They’re both speed-type Martial Artists. They probably want to bully me for being slow."

His rank was already quite low. With bad luck, it would only fall further.

Yuan Rui said confidently, "Don’t worry. They’ll withdraw their challenges."

With that, he cupped his hands in a salute toward Yang Shen. "Master, I have a bold idea."

Yang Shen was intrigued. "Let’s hear it. How bold?"

Yuan Rui explained, "We’re not afraid of challenges, but we are afraid of malicious ones. If someone who is clearly stronger than us right now decides to challenge us, it’s not only meaningless but will also disrupt our daily cultivation."

"In fact, the culture at Jiangti is quite poor. Many people try to get a date by challenging attractive, lower-ranked students. I felt like a few people were looking at me and Cao Wei the wrong way today."

Yuan Rui himself was quite handsome and had many admirers back at Nanliang High School...

He never thought that at Jiangti... good looks would become a dangerous asset!

If you only had the looks without the strength to back them up, you’d likely end up as "prey"...

’Then again... society is pretty much the same...’

Cao Wei snorted coldly. "Only Master is allowed to fight me. If anyone else thinks I’m a pushover, they’re welcome to try!"

Yuan Rui continued, "I know Martial Artists should have a competitive spirit, but from an energy management perspective, we need to be more pragmatic."

"I plan to apply for a club tomorrow. We’ll call it the ’Yang Family Army.’ That way, we publicly declare our allegiance."

"At the same time, I’ll selectively recruit some outstanding students. Many of the higher-ranked ones don’t necessarily come from wealthy families. They might be dirt-poor and buried in loans. A club stipend of a few thousand a month would be enough to convince them to join. Then, we can make them the enforcers for the Yang Family Army!"

"Whoever maliciously challenges us, we’ll maliciously challenge them right back! Unless they’re already number one in the year, there’s no way they won’t be affected. And the ultimate insurance policy in this system is, of course, our Master!"

"Master, you’re number one in the whole university. You might need to step in occasionally to intimidate the riff-raff. Don’t worry, we won’t bother you with ordinary opponents. We’ll do our best to set you up with worthy adversaries—either someone strong or a beautiful woman."

’Why a beautiful woman?’ Xu Bamboo thought.

’Do I count as a beautiful woman?’ Cao Wei thought.

Yang Shen rubbed his chin. "I don’t mind taking action. Crushing a weakling only takes a few minutes. But what’s the point of all this?"

Yuan Rui revealed a knowing smile. "The so-called Challenge Ranking System is based on ’ranking determines resources.’ Therefore, you can think of rank as the ’qualification to receive resources.’"

"So, if we can control the rankings to some extent, we will possess the ’power to distribute resources.’"

"For example, if someone wants to move up, we can arrange pre-emptive challenges to drain their opponent’s stamina. If someone gives us trouble, we can immediately arrange for higher-ranked members to wear them down with successive fights, making them regret it!"

"After operating like this for a while, we’ll be able to systematically exploit the rules, absorb strong fighters into our system, and band together for mutual protection. We’ll use our collective power to crush individuals! Eventually, we won’t even need to fight; just mentioning our name will be enough to make people back down."

Yang Shen’s mouth fell open. "This... won’t the university administration intervene?"

’So the high school Crocodile Influence has become the university Crocodile Influence!’ he thought.

Yuan Rui shook his head. "Impossible. The disciples of the Martial Arts Families are already doing similar things. The only difference is they control off-campus resources. We don’t need to spend any resources; we just need to control the rules."

’We don’t produce resources; we just move them around~’

"In the future, we could even buy and sell ranks. If someone wants to make a push, one of our high-ranked brothers can temporarily step down in exchange for some other compensation. The challenges are so frequent—with 2,000 students, there will be at least 4,000 matches a month in our year alone. It’s impossible for the university to monitor every single one of them strictly."

’Are we fast-forwarding to selling official posts and titles?’ Yang Shen thought.

Yang Shen thought for a moment. "You can play the latter part by ear, but the first part about establishing a club... we can get that started. The priority is to protect you guys."

He didn’t want his disciples to be maliciously bullied by others...

Besides, it was just a club. He wouldn’t have to do anything; his disciples would surely handle all the work.

"But don’t call it the ’Yang Family Army.’ The university might think we’re starting a rebellion."

"Then... what should we call it?"

Yang Shen recalled the "Supreme Disciple" incident from earlier in the day. He tapped his finger on the tabletop. "How about ’Yang’s Disciples’?"

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