Principal Chu Jianghe swept his gaze over the young, fearful faces below, but a curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.
This grand gift risked his entire class career.
Not only did he divert 80% of the school’s teaching funds for the next semester, he also threw in the retirement allowance he had saved over twenty years since retiring plus the military merits from his service that he had been reluctant to spend, converting them all into rewards.
To give Lanjiang No. 3 High School a chance to turn things around at the city-level Newcomer Class Holder Tournament, Principal Chu Jianghe had gambled everything, and if the school still ended up at the bottom this year he would resign in disgrace because he would no longer have the face to continue leading Lanjiang No. 3 High School.
If he had not considered that the school still needed to keep running afterward, he would have wagered even the final 20% of the education funds.
“This time, the school really went all out!” Principal Chu Jianghe said as he watched the students fall silent at the mention of the rewards, and the few who had been shouting about withdrawing a second before now stared at him expectantly.
As expected, as long as the reward was attractive, even if it was dangerous these boys and girls would be tempted, and Principal Chu Jianghe expected this scene and was not very surprised.
This was the fearlessness of the young: as long as the reward was right, even the Secret Realm could serve as a team-building exercise.
“Ahem!” Seeing all the students looking at him, Principal Chu Jianghe stopped teasing and, like a magician, pulled a virtual list from his backpack and projected it into midair.
『Lanjiang No. 3 High School Newcomer Trial, Poison Desert Reward List!』
『Reward 1: Set of primary Strength/Intelligence/Agility/Constitution enhancement potions (4 bottles), all members of a team ranked in the top 10 receive them!』
『Reward 2: 100,000 copper-coin cash reward, all members of a team ranked in the top 10 receive it!』
『Reward 3: B-rank class outfit of choice, all members of a team ranked in the top 5 receive it!』
『Reward 4: A-rank Defense item Earth-Element Heart-Guard Mirror… it could passively help the Defense survive one fatal attack, awarded to the top 3 individual scorers!』
『Reward 5: Skill Advancement Book, one copy, unique, exclusive to the individual who ranks first!』
A low hum sounded.
The contents of the reward list were clearly reflected in each student’s pupils, and every item struck at the students’ hearts like a heavy hammer.
There were five rewards, and each was extremely precious and valuable.
Reward 1’s primary enhancement potions, when consumed, could randomly increase a class holder’s Four Dimensions attributes by 1–3 points per use, with a maximum of 10 uses, and since a class holder only received 1–5 free attribute points after each level-up depending on rank, the effect of the four bottles was equivalent to four Level 5 attribute boosts.
Moreover, even if they did not use them and sold them, each bottle could be sold for around 20,000 copper coins.
As for Reward 2’s cash, 100,000 copper coins was more than enough for students to buy a complete D-rank class holder outfit, which was the standard setup for most ordinary class holders in the city-level Newcomer Class Holder Tournament, while Reward 3’s selectable B-rank outfit worth 500,000 was enough to make them stand out in the tournament because the B-rank set’s high attribute bonuses and far stronger set skills compared to a D-rank set would easily crush same-level class holders.
Reward 4’s A-rank Defense item Earth-Element Heart-Guard Mirror was essentially a class holder’s second life, and such life-saving equipment had a minimum grade of A-rank and sold for at least 1,000,000 on the market.
As for the final reward… the Skill Advancement Book… it was even rarer on the market and was an item whose value was incalculable.
After use, it had a certain chance to raise a skill’s grade by one tier, and the skill’s effectiveness would become stronger, transforming the mediocre into the extraordinary; the higher the skill grade used, the greater the gains after a successful upgrade, making its value incalculable.
Although the market price was only 500,000 per copy, it was even rarer and more precious than an A-rank Earth-Element Heart-Guard Mirror.
After all, life-saving gadgets were not uncommon on the market and belonged to items money could buy, but Skill Advancement Books could not be purchased just with money, and whenever one appeared on the market it was immediately scooped up by major forces and the military.
“How is it?” Principal Chu Jianghe asked, looking at the students below whose breathing had grown heavy, his voice full of provocation, “As I always say, the bigger the waves, the pricier the fish! Do you dare fight for these rewards? With them, I guarantee you will far surpass your peers at the upcoming city-level Newcomer Class Holder Tournament and become a dark horse!”
“You might even break into the top 100, the top 30 in the whole city and win city-level rewards! Think about how generous the combined rewards from these two tournaments will be then; this little trial’s danger is nothing!” he continued.
He swung his hand sharply and shouted, “Look me in the eyes! Tell me! Will you, like cowards, give up this precious chance to improve yourselves and go straight home, or will you lay a foundation for your future paths as class holders, crush those arrogant guys from other schools in the league, go into the Poison Desert, and seize them, damn it!”
“Seize them, damn it!” a chorus of students shouted.
“Go for it! Fortune favors the bold!” someone else yelled.
“Let’s do it! It’s just poisonous bugs; my attributes include high poison resistance!” another student shouted.
“It’s only a 30% death rate, not even a fatal wound!” someone argued.
“Wait, who said they were going to quit just now? Go ahead and quit then! Don’t steal the rewards from me!” another voice snapped.
“Sisters, charge! The Earth-Element Heart-Guard Mirror’s appearance really hit me… I really want one!” a girl screamed.
Where great rewards were offered, brave men were sure to appear, and following Principal Chu Jianghe’s forceful exhortation most of the students on the scene had their fighting spirit and greed ignited, their fear was instantly thrown to the winds, and all they saw in their eyes was the glittering reward list.
Even the few girls who had been wavering clenched their fists now; there was no more hesitation in their eyes and they were clearly mentally prepared to continue participating in the Newcomer Trial.
At the same time, the class holder squad on the distant steel fortress watched the scene below erupt with passionate students, and serious faces finally showed a few pleased smiles, for this was what the next generation of defenders of Great Xia should look like.
Principal Chu Jianghe’s heavy-handed reward provocation was ruthless, but it was certainly effective.
Principal Chu Jianghe had already told their team leader yesterday that he would bring Lanjiang No. 3 High School’s students to the Poison Desert for training today, and they had no intention of stopping them, since they had earlier only deliberately shown an oppressive atmosphere to test the students.
At the edge of the crowd, Lu Sheng’s gaze lightly swept over the highly tempting reward list, but his face showed no ripple as if he were looking at an ordinary supermarket promotion, and he even leisurely pulled his phone from his pocket, the screen still displaying his sister’s streaming room with her carefree, smiling face.
Beside him, He Wanying’s gaze constantly followed Lu Sheng’s profile, and just as the boys not far around her would occasionally glance at her pretty profile, she likewise felt neither nervous nor excited.
“Are you confident you can win all the rewards?” he asked.
Lu Sheng suddenly looked at her and asked abruptly in a flat tone as if inquiring about the weather.
He Wanying nodded without the slightest hesitation and said in a resolute tone, “I will get all five rewards; they all belong to you!”
He Wanying did not hide her voice, and when she said that the few students who had been pricking up their ears froze instantly and all turned to look at her with expressions full of disbelief.
Was big campus belle He on the wrong medication today; why was she acting so strangely?
First she had clung to Lu Sheng and obeyed his every word, and now with an E-rank masseur’s class she was making such grand promises, and afterward she would hand over all the rewards she fought tooth and nail to obtain to Lu Sheng?