Chapter 56: The First Reward! Is This Young Man Obsessed with Money?

"Now, let us congratulate all the candidates who have secured a spot in the provincial top ten this year!"

"They will represent our Dongjiang Province, heading to the Imperial Capital to participate in the final fifth round of testing, which will determine the ultimate rankings of this year's National College Entrance Examination!"

The midday news was still broadcasting.

The psychological bombardment directed at Zhou Heping had never ceased.

At this moment, he felt as though his old face was swollen from being slapped.

The feeling of trying to show off only to be completely outdone by someone else was utterly miserable...

Lin Guodong naturally would not let go of this opportunity.

He was never one to miss a chance to twist the knife.

"Little Yi is indeed a bit insensible. He didn't even mention in advance that he was going to the Imperial Capital for the final round of exams."

"Well, Director Zhou, thank you for your kind intentions. Little Yi might return a bit late. I'll just rent a car to pick him up myself when the time comes. We deeply appreciate your goodwill."

Xu Qingfang walked to Lin Guodong's side at some point.

With the utmost tenderness, she took her husband's hand.

A smile graced her face as she looked at Zhou Heping.

Zhou Heping felt nothing short of a clown.

He quickly nodded and said, "Uh, well then, I won't disturb you any further..."

Jingle ling~!=

The very moment he prepared to make his escape, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

Stepping out of the Lin family's doorway, Zhou Heping answered the call.

Originally boiling with suppressed anger, the moment he heard the voice on the other end, his attitude instantly turned deferential.

"Chairman, why are you calling me personally? You could have just had Xiao Liao notify me if there was anything!"

Zhou Heping had initially thought that the big boss of his company reaching out to him personally might mean good news.

Little did he know, the very next sentence from the person on the other end left him dumbfounded.

"Little Zhou, it's like this. I heard from Xiao Zhang that you happen to be neighbors with a worker at our company named Lin Guodong, right?"

"The contact number he left on the roster isn't going through, so I reached out to you. Are you at home right now? Can you get in touch with him?"

An ominous premonition welled up in Zhou Heping's heart.

It was somewhat understandable for the chairman of Dingsheng Mining to look for him, but what possible good could come from directly seeking out an ordinary worker?

It had to be good news!

A bad premonition was already taking root in Zhou Heping's mind.

Yet he could only brace himself and say, "Yes, I am, yes I am... He's right next to me..."

"Then hand the phone to him!"

Zhou Heping handed his phone over to Lin Guodong.

Lin Guodong wore a bewildered expression: "?"

Zhou Heping: "The chairman wants to talk to you..."

Lin Guodong took the phone.

Minutes later, he returned the phone to Zhou Heping.

Then, with an utterly baffled expression, he explained the situation to his wife, Xu Qingfang.

"The plant said my performance was good and my targets were met, so tomorrow I'm being promoted to Director of the Asset Department."

Xu Qingfang was overjoyed. Combined with their son's stellar results,

today was truly a double blessing!

"Guodong, does that mean you won't have to go down into the mines anymore?"

Lin Guodong smiled as well, revealing a neat row of white teeth: "That's right, I'll be working in an office from now on, and my salary has increased more than tenfold."

Zhou Heping: "???"

He heard the sound of his own heart shattering.

What on earth was going on?

With a single phone call, the most ordinary worker under his command

had leaped straight up to become his direct superior??

What the hell...!!

...

Tianhai City, First Examination Hall.

Lin Yi stepped out of the dungeon light curtain.

Half a minute ago, he had received the notification that all four rounds of his exams had concluded.

Therefore, he had been teleported out early.

And good riddance—it saved him from sitting around doing nothing in that desolate, empty dungeon space.

He had already eaten his fill of snacks and cola.

"Other people come here to take exams, but you look like you're here for a resort-style vacation."

The moment he stepped out of the dungeon, Lin Yi saw a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Great Xia Ministry of Education looking at him with a beaming smile.

"Congratulations, student Lin Yi. You've secured this year's top scholar position for the entire Dongjiang Province!"

"And a perfect-score top scholar at that."

"Before the exam started, none of us expected that our province's top scholar this year would turn out to be someone whose name we had never even heard before."

Lin Yi: "Wasn't there supposed to be a fifth round of examinations?"

Perhaps having already witnessed boss-tier entities like the Alienated Death Knight and the Shadow Demon Spider—beings whose status reached the King Realm—Lin Yi's horizon was now vastly higher than that of most of his peers.

The monsters in these four rounds of exams weren't even worthy of serving as a warm-up for him.

Thus, he didn't pay Li Yuanjing's praise much mind.

Instead, he calmly asked his own question.

In Li Yuanjing's eyes, this reaction was an even more commendable bonus point.

The composure of this young man far surpassed that of his peers.

"Let me introduce myself first. I am Li Yuanjing, Deputy Minister of the Dongjiang Provincial Department of Education. You can call me Uncle Li."

"Now, to answer your question."

"There is indeed a fifth round, but the testing won't take place here anymore; you'll be going to the Imperial Capital. You can take a good rest for a while at noon, and in the afternoon, I will personally escort you to the Imperial Capital."

"As for the specific details of the fifth round, even I don't know much about them."

"However, it is definitely a special dungeon extracted from the Abyss World. Its difficulty and mechanics won't be explained to you by anyone until you arrive at the Imperial Capital."

"That is also the reason why it was mandatory to confirm that you possess the Abyss Entry Title."

"Alright, that's all for the fifth round. My being here today is mainly to meet you in person and, at the same time, hand over your rewards!"

A thought stirred within Lin Yi's heart.

*Sure enough, there are rewards,* he thought to himself.

Outwardly, however, he remained poised and unyielding, neither overly excited nor sorrowful.

"Come here." Li Yuanjing beckoned to Lin Yi.

Once Lin Yi walked closer, Li Yuanjing produced a black scroll.

With a crushing motion, he shattered it.

Lin Yi felt his vision blur.

It felt just like stepping into a teleportation array, the world spinning around him.

The next moment, Lin Yi noticed the surrounding scenery had changed.

He had arrived in a new underground space.

"This is the Ministry of Education's underground treasury. First, give me your professional ID number so I can have someone wire the money to you."

"The reward for placing first in our province is 1 million Great Xia Dollars, which can be considered your scholarship fund. Don't look down on it."

"In addition, there is a tradable skill point scroll worth 1,000 points. This is also a fixed reward."

"As for the remaining two rewards, you can choose one T2-grade treasure from the treasury list, and claim one skill book from your professional skill book list!"

Lin Yi experienced a jolt of surprise.

*Goodness, 1,000 tradable skill points!*

Merely based on the current standard market prices in the Blue Star world, this value far exceeded one million Great Xia Dollars.

Even for prominent noble clans, unless they belonged to the very top tier,

instantly pulling out 1,000 skill points for their younger generation was no small feat.

However, these 1,000 skill points were somewhat of a tasteless surplus to him.

Therefore, Lin Yi spoke up: "Uhm, Uncle Li, can this 1,000-point tradable skill point scroll be converted into some other reward?"

Li Yuanjing cast a surprised glance at Lin Yi.

In his mind, most people would never refuse skill points.

Yet this kid actually turned them down and intended to exchange them for something else.

Li Yuanjing wondered if the kid wanted to acquire even rarer treasures from the treasury instead.

Hence, he shook his head and said, "This is a fixed-quota reward; it cannot be replaced with treasures from the treasury."

Lin Yi shook his head as well and replied, "No, I don't want to exchange it for treasures from the treasury. I want to exchange it for cash."

Li Yuanjing was left dumbfounded.

*Holy crap, you're turning down skill points and asking for cash instead?*

*Young man, what is wrong with you?*

*Are your eyes glued entirely to money?*