Even though we called it a school tournament, the funny thing was that there was only one match for each year. In other words, once my regular class beat the elite class, that was it for us. We had no other matches. That sort of made sense in a way, given that most tournaments only had one match a day and there were the other years who had their own exhibition matches.
Once I descended the stage and met up with my friends, who were being thawed out of the ice, the four of us suddenly found ourselves surrounded by our cheering classmates. Students from the regular class flooded into the technical area, screaming themselves hoarse.
"You did it! You bastards actually did it!"
"I can't believe you pulled it off! I never dreamed that regular class students can defeat elite class students!"
"How did you do that!?"
"What was that spirit beast at the end!? No, rather, why are you able to command spirit beasts?!"
"I'm sorry," I said firmly, helping my friends up. Tong Xue, Hao Ren and Qin Ying still looked dazed even after they had been freed from the ice. "I'll be bringing my friends to the infirmary. They need rest, especially after a harsh battle like that."
Even though I wanted to add, "a harsh battle that NONE of you participated in," I held my tongue. There was no point provoking a squabble with these superficial leeches. I wasn't sure why they were celebrating in the first place. they never cared about the tournament before, and not even one of them agreed to help us fight against the elite class despite the four of us sending them multiple requests during class throughout the previous month.
To say that I held a grudge against them was an understatement, but I wasn't petty enough to gloat and rub it in their faces. Oh, I still remembered how they dismissed us and said that we would definitely lose, and even asked us why we bothered trying when the results were inevitable. Even though I assured them that we stood a chance if we worked together, they refused to believe me, instead regarding me with skepticism or expressions that told me they thought I was mad or delusional.
I wanted to gloat, "I told you so." But that would just make me look childish and petty, so I ignored them and accompanied the academy medics who had brought out gurneys to stretcher my three friends off to the infirmary. I spent the rest of the day there watching them recover swiftly under the healing arts of the medic corps.
I wasn't Yun Che, so I could never become some great genius doctor who could go Against the Gods. Except that his so-called godlike medical skills were always almost forgotten for the majority of the story unless they were required to advance the plot, and he spent more time mastering overpowered techniques to beat up other people and annihilate entire sects just because they touched his women. And yes, women as in plural. The guy was a misogynistic prick who cheated on his women by having multiple wives. Okay, the setting allowed for polygamy, but c'mon…
I had read a few web novels and manhuas where the protagonists were some genius doctor (son-in-law, reincarnated genius doctor, doctor from the future, a hidden genius who was taught by his grandfather/master when living in the mountains) who could do a lot of incredible things with acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine while deriding western medicine and making western educated doctors look like a joke, but somehow their doctor skills were mostly used to support their overpowered combat ability. with the exception of Ye Wu Tian, for some reason, Chinese doctors were all overpowered fighters who could paralyze their opponents by hitting the right acupoint or some bullshit like that.
Okay, I was digressing. I had nothing better to do but to rant while waiting for my friends to recover, after all.
"We won? We really won?" Tong Xue asked once he was back to full health. He checked himself before glancing at his smartphone, his eyes wide. "Whoa! They even posted a video of our match online!"
"How did you do that?" Hao Ren asked, staring at me. He had recovered earlier than Tong Xue and already watched the whole video on his phone. "What was that Abyssal Serpent? Why do you have something like that under your command?"
"That is quite the dangerous spirit beast," Qin Ying murmured, concerned. "And it doesn't even look like it listens to you. Are you sure it will be all right to keep it?"
"Yeah. I think I can get him to obey me once I attain peak Mystic rank." I sighed and scratched my head. In place of gym badges, I needed the corresponding rank in order for the spirit beasts to obey me. It made sense, though. Why would a Mystic ranked spirit beast obey a Yellow ranked cultivator who was weaker than it? I wondered if breaking through to beginner Mystic rank would be enough to earn Hei Ba's respect, but somehow, I doubted it.
As the four of us conversed, I glanced at the curtains partitioning us from the rest of the infirmary. The elite class students were all lying in bed, asleep after receiving treatment. Unlike my classmates, Kuang Zhe and the rest had suffered much more serious injuries, so they required more intensive healing from the medic corps.
I kind of felt bad for unleashing Hei Ba on Long Fan Xue now, considering that she had held back and shown mercy when freezing my friends.
Afterward, we were called to the podium for the awards ceremony, to officially announce our regular class's victory over the elite students. Though my friends and I left the infirmary earlier, the elite class limped to the field shortly after we appeared, still recovering from their wounds. None of them looked very happy, their sobriety in direct contrast to the buoyant mood of the regular students.
The principal welcomed us onto the stage with a smile, gesturing toward the elixirs, high grade spirit stones and other resources on the table. Apparently, these were all ours. I couldn't help but marvel at how generous the Divine Path Academy was, though I recalled that these were originally meant for the whole of the elite class.
Now the four of us would share a whole class's worth of resources. Incredible. This definitely was not intentional on the academy's part.
"We will be promoting you four to the elite class," the principal said. Teacher Wang was delighted when she heard that, but I shook my head.
"Sorry, sir, but is it possible for me to remain in the regular class?"
"Hmm? I mean, if that's what you want, but are you sure?" The principal was surprised. I nodded firmly.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, I got kicked out of the elite class because my cultivation was crippled. Nobody, except Li Wang, helped me, and instead they all wanted me out."
"That's…" Teacher Wang Fei protested, but the principal silenced her with a glare.
"You were among those most vocal about wanting to expel student Song Jun Wen from the academy because you thought he was useless after his cultivation was crippled," the old man said gravely. Teacher Wang gulped and looked away, her face burning in embarrassment. My former classmates hung their heads in shame, with the exception of Li Wang, who stood a distance away and watched them with a neutral expression. He smiled when our eyes met, and gave me an encouraging nod. I did a salute.
The principal turned back to me and nodded. "I understand your feelings. Sometimes, it's not the prestige that matters, but also the environment. A toxic atmosphere will impede your development. Such abuse is more often destructive than motivating. And since Teacher Jiao was among those who fought hard for you to remain in the academy, I believe you will fare better under his tutelage. In fact, I believe the tournament's results today are an indication of his better teaching methods."
"No, not at all. The four students achieved everything through their own hard work. I did nothing to contribute." Teacher Jiao shook his head frantically, but the principal raised a hand and smiled at him.
"You gave them an environment that was conducive for their development, and I'm sure your encouragement motivated them. I'm not deaf, I know what you've been doing for your students, despite the limited resources you have."
He turned to Qin Ying, Tong Xue and Hao Ren. "What about the three of you?"
"I'm staying with Song Jun Wen," Tong Xue said. "I'll follow him wherever he goes."
"Same," Hao Ren agreed. "I feel like I'll progress more if I stay with him in the regular class than if I go to the elite class."
"We've been looked down upon by the elite class for too long," Qin Ying added bitterly. "I don't want to be a part of them."
The elite students winced, as if they had just been slapped. Probably since this tournament was streamed publicly, they had just been humiliated in front of everyone watching this online.
"Understood." The principal nodded and then waved to the resources on the table. "But I'm sure you won't say no to your prizes."
"We will accept them, if you don't mind." I bowed my head politely.
"Of course, of course." The principal chuckled. "You have more than earned the prizes with your splendid performance. And I knew you would prove your detractors wrong. The people who wanted to expel you will be dealt with." He lowered his voice and winked. "Good job, Song Jun Wen."
"Thank you, sir."
As the four of us collected the prizes, I noted the contents. High grade spirit stones that would be beneficial for me, and even certain materials such as spirit ores. But among the materials, what caught my eye was a mystical piece of wood from what was known as the Dragon Tree, which was known for its rich qi and incredible durability.
I was going to ask the others if they minded giving that to me. The high-grade spirit stones would naturally be divided equally among us four, but I could give the other three all of the spirit ores as long as I could get the Dragon Tree wood.
Oh, and the elixirs. Apparently, there were a few weird pills that were supposed to help us breakthrough in our cultivation, but I didn't believe that nonsense. Elixirs and spirit pills, in the end, were better considered as supplements rather than Deus ex Machina that guaranteed a breakthrough in cultivation. I didn't want to rely on them because they reminded me too much of steroids. Perhaps they didn't have side effects, but far too many people depended overly on spirit pills to the point where they just popped pills and neglected their training.
I believed in hard work far more than some magical medicine that could miraculously increase your cultivation. Like, please, reality wasn't so convenient or easy. If you wanted to be strong, you had to do it the hard way, not resort to steroids or magical pills. Otherwise people would just look for elixirs instead of putting in any effort in their training. These were just supplements, not the main source of one's strength.
Again, I would just divide that among my friends. Maybe take my share and eat a few like vitamins or supplements, but not put too much faith into them helping me breakthrough.
"We struck gold!" Tong Xue said excitedly when we descended the stage. Hao Ren nodded.
"It's all thanks to Song Jun Wen. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have won."
"You get to choose what you want first," Qin Ying said. I smiled and shook my head.
"We will divide it equally. I couldn't have done it without you guys, so I say we split it into four equal parts. I just have one request, but we can iron out the details later, after the whole tournament ends. What do you say we meet at my house for a celebration feast? We can discuss it then."
"Good idea." Tong Xue nodded, but the other two weren't as assenting.
"Hey, what do you mean divide it equally?" Hao Ren objected. "You did most of the work, you worked the hardest! You're the MVP, and the main reason why we won! You should get the lion's share of the prize!"
"I agree," Qin Ying said sternly. "You deserve way more than one quarter of the rewards."
"Um, let's discuss it later," I said, glancing back at the principal. Then I turned toward our approaching classmates, who were fidgeting anxiously and looking at us in anticipation. "Uh, can I help you guys?"
"Well…" One of our classmates stepped forward, looking around nervously. "If you don't mind, could you give us some leftovers?"
"Yeah!" Another classmate added eagerly. "This is a class victory, right? You're not going to hoard the prizes to yourselves, right?"
"C'mon, please share some with us!"
"We won't ask for much, just a bit."
I couldn't help but be appalled by their shamelessness. Qin Ying, Tong Xue and Hao Ren appeared to feel the same way, judging from their stormy expressions.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Tong Xue almost yelled. "You guys forfeited the match! None of you stepped up to fight with us! You know the rules – those who forfeited don't get any share of the rewards! You didn't contribute anything at all, yet you still have the audacity to ask for a share of the rewards? Just how thick-skinned can you be?"
"But the four of you can't just monopolize everything!" A classmate protested.
"Like hell we can't!"
"Don't be selfish!"
"Who's being selfish?" Hao Ren asked coldly. "When we asked you guys to help out, you refused. All those days after school when we called for strategy meanings or asked you to train with us, but you disappeared. Giving excuses, saying that we will lose for sure. None of you risked any danger fighting on the stage like we did. None of you put in any effort or worked hard to improve yourselves. None of you lifted a finger to participate. And yet you want some of the benefits without doing any work at all. And you call us selfish? Have you looked in the mirror?"
"Class rep! Please say something!" In their desperation, the other regular students turned to Qin Ying, who had remained silent all this time. However, she simply glowered at them.
"I agree with Tong Xue and Hao Ren."
"What?"
"No way…!"
"We have been constantly asking you guys for help, but you turned us down. Even mocked us, or insisted that we would lose. And now that we won, you suddenly want a share of the prize that we worked so hard to earn, even though none of you contributed at all? Do you think I'm a sucker? That I'll be so softhearted that I'll allow you guys to take advantage of me? Of us?"
Qin Ying had enough of their nonsense, having already experienced the pain of being exploited by loan sharks. That was why she ruthlessly shut her classmates down.
"Before complaining about our so-called selfishness, why don't you guys self-reflect? You only know how to slack off and dismiss others, yet you want to benefit off the hard work of others? Maybe, for once, you guys should start diligently training."
With that, she whirled away and stomped off. Tong Xue, Hao Ren and I exchanged a glance and followed her, leaving the stunned members of our regular class behind.
Qin Ying was right. These leeches weren't worth our attention at all.