Chapter 350 - 348: Celebration Party

Chapter 350: Chapter 348: Celebration Party

Yu Jing thought of the Insect God Association.

Ever since an assassin targeted Lin Qi during the Spring Festival, he knew the Insect God Association was behind it.

But the assassination had failed, and his handler had lost contact with him ever since.

This had left him on edge for quite some time.

Now, Lin Qi had defeated every top genius his age, cementing his place as the true strongest freshman.

’His Talent must be even greater than an SS-level genius. His rank within the Insect God Association would be higher, too.’

’I wonder if they’ll contact me again.’

...

Meanwhile, in the First Institute’s section, Li Zehao was seething with rage.

’The person I hate most is surging ahead, while I’m being left in the dust.’

The pain was like a fire searing his heart.

...

「Azure Sky Sixth Institute, Villa 01」

「In the Martial Arts Room」

WHIRR!!

The white Virtual Cabin slowly opened, and Lin Qi rose from within.

He glanced at the time on the wall: 15:20.

After finishing the global tournament’s final day in one go, a wave of hunger washed over Lin Qi.

"Little Chan, order me two Level 4 Nutritional Meals!"

"Yes, Master!"

The black-haired Little Chan replied obediently.

Lin Qi nodded. Little Chan was just like a real person, and having her company every day made practicing his Martial Arts much less tedious.

「Ten minutes later」

In the spacious living room, Lin Qi opened a white meal container and began to eat his lunch.

At the same time, his gaze locked onto the golden panel before him.

[You engaged in a fierce battle with your opponent Miyamoto Genichiro. Your mastery of Spear Technique has improved. Spear Technique +1%]

[You engaged in a fierce battle with your formidable opponent Victor Christopher. Your mastery of Spear Technique has improved. Spear Technique +1%]

[You engaged in a fierce battle with your opponent Havier Wright. Your mastery of Spear Technique has improved. Spear Technique +2%]

[You battled several formidable opponents. Your mastery of the Body Technique has significantly increased. Body Technique +5%]

[Spear Technique: Tier Three 66% → Tier Three 70%]

[Body Technique: Tier Three 60% → Tier Three 65%]

...

Lin Qi felt a sense of satisfaction as he looked at the improved stats.

’Competing really is a huge boost for my Martial Arts!’

The purpose of these major tournaments was to foster competition among geniuses and promote the advancement of Martial Arts.

It was true—clashes between geniuses really did lead to greater improvements.

Lin Qi could sense that Miyamoto Genichiro, Victor, and Havier had all improved to varying degrees during their fights with him.

But they were still no match for him.

’Havier and the others are strong, but they’re still not strong enough!’

None of them had pushed him to his limits; they couldn’t even fight him on equal footing.

’Otherwise,’ he felt, ’I could have made even greater progress.’

Their special Power had only served to narrow the gap between them.

’Now, I just have to wait for my reward!’

Lin Qi’s thoughts turned to the prize money. According to the rule of an additional ten million for each round, he had fought his way to the finals and become champion.

The prize money alone should be around 130 million, and Lin Qi grew excited just thinking about the number.

’That’s an incredible amount of prize money. Even after spending 50 million to buy the Water of Rebirth, I’ll still have 80 million Xia Country Coins left for my daily Cultivation.’

’They say that besides the prize money, the top four finishers get special rewards.’

’As the champion, my reward should be the best of all.’

Lin Qi calculated silently, eagerly anticipating both the prize money and the other rewards.

...

「8:00 PM, Villa 01」

Lin Qi’s luxurious villa was unusually lively.

"Coming through, make way!"

"Grilled fish is here! And the big pot of stew, and barbecue!"

Students from the Sixth Institute carried platters of delicious food into the villa one after another.

It was a party to celebrate Lin Qi winning the freshman tournament championship.

"Brother Qi, congratulations on winning the championship!"

Huo Wanyang raised his glass, his tone laced with respect. His form of address had even changed from "Lin Qi" to "Brother Qi."

CLINK!

After they clinked glasses, Huo Wanyang downed his drink in one gulp, his expression complex as he looked at Lin Qi.

The global freshman tournament had been a real eye-opener for him. Although he was an SS-level genius...

...but there were still gaps between SS-level geniuses. At his best, he was on the same level as people like Kong Ruoxuan and Wang Mingxi.

After all, he hadn’t mastered a Little Divine Power, to say nothing of Lin Qi, who was now in a league of his own.

He knew he likely wouldn’t be Lin Qi’s match in the future, either.

"Brother Qi, congratulations on winning the championship!" Duan Chuchu chimed in.

Not only them, but Ao Feng, Li Lei, Ruan Qian, Ruan Yu, and the other S-class geniuses all came over as well.

No one dared to address him by his full name.

"Brother Qi!"

A loud voice rang out from the doorway, and Wan Ming walked straight in, dressed in a special blue school uniform.

Behind him were Yu Zhuoran, Pei Jiu, Xia Lian, Han Zhen...

All the geniuses from the Tenth Institute had come. Apart from Xiang Long and Shen Zhenzhen, the other ten were all here.

"Brother Qi, we came to join the party too!"

"And to congratulate you on winning the championship!" Wan Ming said with a smile.

"Thanks for coming, everyone!"

Lin Qi was quite surprised. He had only tentatively invited them, not expecting that they would all actually show up.

Yu Zhuoran looked at Lin Qi with a complex expression, but still managed a smile.

"Lin Qi, congratulations on winning the championship!"

Lin Qi smiled. "You’re very strong. We should spar sometime."

Yu Zhuoran smiled back. "Alright!"

Pei Jiu also stepped forward with a laugh. "Lin Qi, I was originally hoping to compete with you, but now it seems I overestimated myself."

Lin Qi laughed. "Competition is a good thing!"

He then exchanged a few words with everyone, and the atmosphere was extremely friendly.

However, when the other students in the hall saw Yu Zhuoran and his group arrive, they and even the top S-class geniuses of their own institute felt a bit awkward.

The difference in their status was too great.

But seeing how enthusiastically this group of top-tier geniuses treated Lin Qi, they inexplicably felt a surge of confidence.

’What’s there to be afraid of?’ they thought. ’Even Awakened geniuses are just people Brother Qi has defeated.’

With this thought in mind, the atmosphere among them became lively again.

Lin Qi joined in, clinking glasses and drinking with everyone.

Then, they all enjoyed the delicious food and the joyful party.

Seeing this, Yu Zhuoran and his friends found themselves joining in before they knew it.

"Everyone!"

Jiangtao suddenly stood up and spoke, and the entire living room fell silent.

"Let’s all congratulate Brother Qi on winning the global freshman tournament championship!"

"Brother Qi, may you one day become a Ninth Realm Title Level Martial Artist!!!"

"Yeah!"

Everyone stood up and raised their glasses!

"To Brother Qi, for winning the championship..."

All eyes turned to Lin Qi. He slowly stood up with a smile, raised his glass, and said:

"I wish you all the best as well!"

"Cheers!"

The crowd raised their glasses, toasted in the air, and then downed their drinks in one go!

...

Two hours later, the party ended, and the guests departed.

The lively hall grew quiet and empty, with only the smart robots left to clean up the living room.

BUBBLE BUBBLE!

In a corner of the hall, Lin Qi and Jiangtao sat across from each other, a steaming hot pot between them.

Jiangtao spoke slowly, "Brother Qi, you were truly magnificent today!"

"All eyes were on you. Millions of geniuses from 76 countries around the world witnessed you take the championship."

"Everyone knows about the genius from Xia Country, Lin Qi, nicknamed the Mountain Monarch, who swept through his peers undefeated."

"’Unfortunately, my opponents weren’t strong enough!’"

"That line was so badass!" Jiangtao said, his face flushing with excitement and his tone filled with envy.

After calming down a bit, he took a big gulp of beer and said:

"Brother Qi, I have to keep working hard too!"

"Being an S-class genius is just the starting point. I’m going to become an SS-level genius and catch up to you, Brother Qi!"

Lin Qi picked up a slice of cooked Unihorned Black Pig meat, dipped it into a special red chili sauce, and said with a smile:

"You will, and SS-level won’t be your final stop either!"

In his view, SS-level was just the beginning for Jiangtao.

In this global freshman tournament, Jiangtao had already demonstrated strength on par with the top tier of S-class geniuses.

Given a few more months, he could probably dominate the S-class geniuses.

Once he Awakened a Special Ability, he would instantly become an SS-level genius.

If his Talent improved further in the future, becoming an SSS-level genius wasn’t out of the question.

...

Two hours later, Jiangtao returned to his own villa.

Lin Qi, for his part, went back to his spacious Martial Arts Room.

He sat cross-legged, looking at the messages on his phone. They were congratulatory texts from his Senior Brother Li Qing, Wang Zixuan, and his teacher.

Senior Brother Li Qing and Wang Zixuan also had major tournaments to prepare for and didn’t have time to attend the party.

As for his teacher, Mu Hong, he was still on the battlefield in North River Province and had no free time; just being able to get online to watch the match was a struggle for him.

"Master, the prize money has been deposited!"

The black-haired Little Chan suddenly announced from the side.

Lin Qi’s eyes lit up. "Project it!"

"Yes!"

With a wave of her slender hand, Little Chan projected a series of green screens in front of Lin Qi.

It was the prize money from the Disaster Beast Trial Tower and the global freshman tournament.

Both prize pools were settled today, at midnight on the last day of April.

[Student Lin Qi, you performed exceptionally well in the Disaster Beast Trial Tower for the month of April, ranking first in the Azure Sky Sixth Institute. The academy will award you a prize of 5,000,000 Xia Country Coins!]

[For ranking first among all freshmen, the academy will award you a prize of 8,000,000 Xia Country Coins!]

[As the first freshman to clear the 7th floor of the Trial Tower, the academy will award you a prize of 12,000,000 Xia Country Coins!]

[For ranking first in the Tenth Academy, the academy will award you a prize of 20,000,000 Xia Country Coins!]

...

Lin Qi’s eyes lit up after reading the rewards.

The rewards from the Disaster Beast Trial Tower were much higher this time because of the added prize for ranking first in the Tenth Institute, which hadn’t existed before.

This meant he could now claim the rewards for Ordinary students as well as the rewards for the Tenth Academy.

Getting two sets of rewards all for himself was an incredible feeling, and it seemed the academy had no intention of fixing this "bug."

If anything, it was their way of compensating him for previous losses.

All the prize money added up to a total of 45,000,000 Xia Country Coins!

After looking it over, Lin Qi realized this was far more money than he had received before.

And this was just the prize money from the Disaster Beast Trial Tower. Next up was the reward for the global freshman tournament.

He opened it, and another large block of text and a long string of numbers appeared before his eyes.

...