After Lin Yi, a few other students trickled in.
In the end, a generous count put the total number of students at just over twenty.
Still, that was more than Lin Yi had expected.
With fifty-four students in the class, that meant nearly half of them had shown up.
Of course, among those twenty-odd students,
a few had already registered for the Martial Arts exam.
The reason they still came was either because they were like Lin Yi, wanting to get some more studying in,
but that was unlikely.
It was more likely that, outside of school, they simply had nowhere else to go.
The Martial Arts exam registration fee was thirty thousand, and tuition at a Martial Arts Hall was even higher.
The cheapest lessons cost a few hundred, while more expensive ones started at a thousand and up.
Plus, you had to buy at least ten lessons at a time, which was another considerable expense.
Not every student's family could afford such costs.
The bell for class rang.
Their homeroom teacher, Liu Song, walked in carrying his teaching materials.
His eyes swept across the classroom. When he spotted Lin Yi among the twenty-odd students,
a flicker of surprise unconsciously crossed his face.
But the look vanished after only a second or two.
"Alright, let's get ready for class!"
Liu Song got into teaching mode, lowered his head, and opened his book.
He began today's lesson...
Every student in the classroom listened with rapt attention.
The SCRATCH, SCRATCH sound of pen tips on paper was especially distinct.
They were all keenly aware that, apart from excelling in their studies, they had no other path forward.
If they wanted to get into a regular university and find a good job in the future, their only hope was to study hard on their own.
Otherwise, in an era where Martial Arts was everything,
making a name for oneself was next to impossible.
It would be difficult to even earn enough to eat.
When the forty-five-minute class ended, Liu Song pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
After dismissing the class, his gaze slowly landed on Lin Yi.
He then walked over to Lin Yi and gently tapped on his desk.
"Come to my office in a minute!"
Lin Yi paused, looking up at Liu Song.
He gave a slight nod. "Okay!"
After the other students had trickled out of the classroom,
Lin Yi packed up his books and put away his class notes.
Then, he stood up and headed for his homeroom teacher's office.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
Lin Yi knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Liu Song's voice came from inside the office.
Lin Yi pushed the door open and walked in. "Teacher Liu, you were looking for me?"
"Close the door behind you," Liu Song said with a nod.
Lin Yi closed the door and walked to his teacher's desk.
"Do you have any plans for tomorrow or the day after?" Liu Song asked with a smile.
Lin Yi shook his head.
The next two days were the weekend, and Lin Yi had no plans.
He had just accepted a new Demon Hunting mission, but too much had happened the previous night, and he hadn't had a chance to look at it after getting home.
Besides, based on his experience with Demon Hunting,
most missions had to be completed at night anyway.
'What kind of demon would be dumb enough to wander around in broad daylight?'
So, his days were completely free.
Seeing him shake his head, Liu Song smiled and said, "That's perfect. I have a friend who runs a Martial Arts Hall. They're holding a city-wide Martial Arts competition next week and are in need of a sparring partner."
"It pays five hundred an hour. If you're free, you should go give it a try."
"You'll also get some practical combat experience out of it..."
After Liu Song finished,
Lin Yi looked at him in surprise.
'A sparring partner? This is obviously just a way to help me make money.'
'Five hundred an hour? That's practically a handout.'
It wasn't that Lin Yi hadn't looked into being a sparring partner before.
He had always wanted to find a part-time job to earn some money in his free time.
But the listings for Martial Arts Hall sparring partners online
only paid about eighty an hour, and they had realm requirements.
You had to be at least Third-Rank or higher.
And that was just for entry-level partners. The higher your realm, the more you were paid.
But being a sparring partner was just a side gig. Cultivators with truly high realms wouldn't be doing that kind of part-time work.
So the highest-paid partners were only One-Star, and definitely none were at the Two-Star Realm.
Even a One-Star sparring partner only made 180 an hour.
That was already considered a very high price.
Besides, it wasn't a stable, long-term gig.
Not every Martial Arts Hall needed to hire outside help.
And now Teacher Liu was offering him a sparring job for five hundred an hour?
Lin Yi wouldn't believe for a second that the pay didn't include a "sponsorship" or "friendship" bonus.
"Teacher Liu..."
"Enough. If you're free, just go give it a shot."
"I'm not the one paying, my friend is. He's in a rush to find a sparring partner, see? He was originally planning to find someone from another Martial Arts Hall, but I heard about it and put your name forward."
"Of course, I recommended you because I want to help you out."
"Registration is closing soon. After this weekend, there are only three days left."
"Right now, the most important thing for you is to earn money."
"My friend said that as soon as you walk through the doors of the Martial Arts Hall, the clock starts. At five hundred an hour, if you stay for a full ten hours, that's five thousand a day."
"If you spend both days of the weekend there, that's ten thousand. You'll have earned at least a third of the registration fee, right?"
When Liu Song finished,
Lin Yi looked at him, his eyes filled with gratitude.
'My teacher has really gone to great lengths to help me earn the registration fee.'
'He's tried every method he could think of...'
If he refused now, he would just be seem ungrateful.
Besides, Lin Yi was truly desperate for money.
He didn't just need the registration fee; he was short on rent money, too.
Even though he had just completed a Demon Hunting mission, it had only paid 15,000.
He was still halfway short of the registration fee.
If he could earn that ten thousand over the weekend,
he would only be five thousand short of the registration fee.
And earning that last five thousand would be much, much easier.
"Thank you, Teacher Liu..."
Lin Yi's eyes welled up as he gave his teacher a deep, respectful bow.
Liu Song smiled and waved his hand. "Don't thank me. He had to hire someone, right? Might as well keep it in the family. Besides, you need the money."
"I'll write down the Martial Arts Hall's address for you later. You can just head over there directly tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Teacher Liu!"
Lin Yi nodded again.
After a few more words of advice from his teacher, Lin Yi left the office.
The moment he stepped out,
the bell for the next class rang.
Lin Yi froze, his expression growing grim.
'Crap, I forgot to go to the bathroom...'
A mild but insistent urge told him there was no way he could last through the entire period.