Chapter 47: The Xia Family's Decision!

Central South University Martial Arts Research Institute.

Xia Xingqiu received a spatial anomaly briefing sent by the Second Sub-region of the Southern Theater Command.

Every week, the military sends such briefings to major martial arts institutions, allowing them to stay informed about the latest developments regarding spatial anomalies and make corresponding preventive and responsive preparations.

Xia Xingqiu read through it carefully from beginning to the end, then rubbed the space between his brows a moment later.

"The Luoxiao Mountains... it seems the situation is far from optimistic."

After a moment of contemplation, he made a call to Xia Yuan.

"Have you looked over the briefing from the Second Sub-region?"

"I have. The spatial anomaly in the Luoxiao Mountains has escalated from a Level 2 spatial incident toward a Level 3 direction," Xia Yuan's deep voice came through the receiver. "I have already issued a reserve order here in Tianheng."

"A new round of war may not be far off."

...

Xia Xingqiu made a round of phone calls, and all parties began to cast their gaze toward the Luoxiao Mountains.

Just as he put down the phone, Zhao Peng walked into the office in a hurried manner to report on the progress of the municipal training class.

Ever since the opening ceremony on the first day, Xia Xingqiu had not personally visited the martial arts gymnasium again.

After all, as a senior executive of Central South University, he had a busy schedule of daily affairs and could not possibly invest a large amount of energy into a training class for high school students.

He primarily relied on the various instructors of the training class to understand the progress.

Through the training and guidance provided by the teachers over the past few days, it was clear that these seventy-eight students were divided into three tiers.

Shi Yu was in a tier of his own, ranking right at the top.

The second tier consisted of Xu Shuo and Sheng Jianxing; they truly lived up to their reputations as the elite among the elite.

One of them had an easygoing temperament while the other was earnest, but neither had failed their talents in terms of martial arts progress.

The third tier comprised the remaining students, led by Shang Shuqiang.

This student from Mingde was quite diligent in his cultivation and could occasionally bring some pressure to the two second-tier individuals, Xu and Sheng.

However, this was all to be expected; everyone had reached a consensus on this before the classes even began.

At this moment, what surprised Xia Xingqiu was the Song family's all-out support for Shi Yu.

"At this stage, the Song family has actually obtained a Heaven-tier staff technique from the Martial Soul Temple for Shi Yu to practice."

Xia Xingqiu gently tapped his fingers on the desktop, his brow furrowed slightly. "This is indeed somewhat unexpected."

"This can also be considered Shi Yu's fortuitous encounter," Zhao Peng sighed. "Even with only the upper volume of the mortal realm, this set of staff techniques has an external price as high as eighty million."

"Even if the Song family has internal channels to get a discount, the price wouldn't be less than fifty million."

"More importantly, even if you stood at the entrance of the Martial Soul Temple with eighty million in hand, they might not even give you the time of day."

"Such peerless martial arts classics are often priceless and unobtainable."

Xia Xingqiu let out a long sigh and slowly said, "We all underestimated Song Yunwei's boldness."

"To make such a huge investment just as Shi Yu is beginning to stand out!"

"From a certain perspective, this is a gamble!"

Xia Xingqiu stood up, walked over to the window, and looked at Yuelu Mountain in the distance, which rose up toward the firmament.

From this angle, Yuelu Mountain looked like a dragon vein winding across the earth.

"Those who accomplish great things either achieve ultimate success or suffer utter defeat; there is never a middle ground."

"This Song Yunwei is well-versed in that principle."

A look of solemnity appeared between Xia Xingqiu's brows. "She is no longer the little princess of the Song family from years ago. If this continues, she will sooner or later surpass her two brothers and become the next queen of the Song family."

Zhao Peng looked at the Dean's back and remained silent for a moment.

He was a martial arts instructor at Central South University and also a member of the Xia family.

When he was in college, it was the Xia family that had continuously sponsored him, providing money, cultivation techniques, training bases, and even access to gravity chambers that ordinary martial artists could never hope to touch.

Generally speaking, a certain level of aptitude corresponded to a certain level of martial arts resources.

Through his contact with Shi Yu over the past few days, Zhao Peng clearly knew what kind of potential was hidden within this Yali Middle School student.

"Elder Xia, what should we do then?"

Xia Xingqiu mused for a moment. "Song Yunwei has her advantages, and our Xia family naturally has our own trump cards."

"She can pour resources into Shi Yu, and the Xia family can do the same—and we can pour even more!"

"In terms of martial arts resources alone, the foundation of the Song family can definitely not match ours."

"Since she has provided Shi Yu with a Heaven-tier staff technique..."

Xia Xingqiu suddenly turned around, a flash of determination in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Then our Xia family will provide him with a Heaven-tier foundation-building technique!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhao Peng's body shook.

He never expected that Dean Xia, who was always so rational, could offer such conditions!

He had just said that Song Yunwei was gambling, yet he was going to gamble even bigger himself?!

A foundation-building technique determines the foundation of a martial artist's path; this is countless times more important than martial skills and combat techniques!

Heaven, Earth, Profound, Ancestral.

Ordinary people can only obtain Ancestral-tier foundation-building techniques, and obtaining a superior Profound-tier technique is already no small feat.

What Zhao Peng received from the Xia family back then was an upper-grade Profound-tier foundation-building technique.

And today, Zhao Peng actually heard that Dean Xia was willing to directly bring out a Heaven-tier technique just to compete with the Song family for a person!

What is wrong with this world...

"Could it be... that we don't need to sign a contract with Shi Yu?"

Zhao Peng couldn't help asking. He had only obtained the corresponding martial arts resources back then after signing a contract with the Xia family.

The prestigious aristocratic families could attain their current status and wealth by no means through charity.

They valued returns; how could they possibly engage in a losing business.

Xia Xingqiu gave him a deep look and sat back down.

"Do you think Song Yunwei and Shi Yu signed a contract?"

"Uh..." Zhao Peng fell silent.

Xia Xingqiu said, "Shi Yu is not yet eighteen years old. According to Great Xia law, he cannot sign a contract directly."

"It must be co-signed through a legal guardian or the school."

"Song Yunwei is the vice principal of Yali School. How do you think she would handle it?"

"A while ago, Xia Yuan fought several rounds with Song Yunwei just to let Shi Yu participate in the Tianheng Special Training Camp, and managed with great difficulty to sign a cooperation agreement with Yali."

"In this agreement, how the martial arts resources inside are distributed is entirely up to Song Yunwei."

"Shi Yu is her student, so of course he listens to her."

Xia Xingqiu smiled half-heartedly. "In this situation, if we want to snatch someone from her hands, how can we not bleed a little?"

"Besides, I believe that when Song Yunwei handed over the Heaven-tier staff technique, she didn't mention at all what she expected Shi Yu to do in the future."

"Therefore, we cannot operate in the conventional way."

Xia Xingqiu thought for a moment longer. "I mentioned an idea to Principal Li a few days ago, planning to let Shi Yu enter the Martial Arts Research Institute in the name of exchange and study, spending some time with us every week to research martial skills, techniques, and so on."

"Principal Li will personally step forward to discuss this matter directly with Principal Zhu of Yali, so Song Yunwei won't be able to say anything."

"Using this opportunity, we will provide the foundation-building technique to Shi Yu in the name of the Martial Arts Research Institute."

"Shi Yu is a smart man, and he will naturally understand."

"In addition, we must pursue a two-pronged approach."

Xia Xingqiu tapped the desk. "In a short while, a training room at the Xingxuan Martial Arts Base might become vacant, and at that time I will have Xia Yuan open the martial arts base to Shi Yu."

"The cultivation environment there ranks first in the entire Star City, and its various facilities are extremely comprehensive."

"This is a condition that the Song family can absolutely never provide."

"As long as Shi Yu visits our side more often and interacts more with our people, camaraderie will naturally develop."

"Humans are emotional creatures; time reveals true character."

Zhao Peng listened in silence as the massive Xia family finally began to stir, utilizing various resources to compete for Shi Yu, this genius martial artist.

And the methods used were entirely upright and above board.

He was just a bit puzzled: why did he say the martial arts base would become vacant? That place was always bustling with people coming and going, and the various training rooms were always fully packed.

Unless...

Zhao Peng was suddenly startled, raising his head to look at Xia Xingqiu. Could the higher-ups already know something?

"Actually, these investments are nothing..."

Xia Xingqiu didn't pay too much attention to Zhao Peng's confusion, simply sighing, "We must take advantage of his third-year high school period before Shi Yu's talent is understood by more people, and win him over properly."

"Otherwise, by the time of next year's college entrance examination, once the Heaven and Earth Rankings are released, Shi Yu's name will inevitably be known to the world."

"At that time, it won't just be the Song family fighting us for him..."

"Those aristocratic families in Yanjing and Donghai are truly as unfathomable as the abyss of the sea."