Chapter 4 I only wish that my country and family will be forever safe and sound!!

For a moment.

Silence fell outside the auditorium.

Zhang Yongan was silent. He hadn't expected the current plight of students and teachers at martial arts colleges to be so dire.

This was primarily due to the Federation's increasing emphasis on cultivating key talent. With thousands of martial arts colleges like theirs across China alone, it was natural that they weren't given too much attention.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Some private martial arts colleges were no worse than undergraduate schools.

Those martial arts colleges could actually be called large-scale martial arts academies. Those who could enter them for training had neither money nor resources.

And Shanhe Martial Arts Vocational College was a public institution.

Tuition was almost completely free.

It was open to the descendants of military veterans, almost all children from ordinary families.

Naturally, they didn't have the resources to devote to training.

Zhang Yongan nodded, reassuring everyone:

"Not really."

"We were all comrades in the 649th Army, and we're still comrades now at school. I'll find a way to provide resources for the students."

"Alright, don't keep the students waiting in the auditorium too long."

"Let's go in together."

Seeing that Zhang Yongan was a kind person, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Among martial artists, there are some with short tempers, and the slightest misstep can easily lead to severe punishment.

This also revealed Zhang Yongan's character.

In the auditorium.

Many students, dressed in black martial arts uniforms, sat quietly in their seats.

Even without a teacher present, no one spoke.

Zhang Yongan immediately recognized the military-style management and strict discipline.

"Very good spirits."

As Zhang Yongan and the teachers walked toward the podium, they took their assigned seats.

Zhang Yongan sat in the center.

The student union president was the first to stand up, facing the crowd, and said:

"Everyone."

"Stand!"

With a clatter, all the students immediately stood up, their movements smooth and their eyes determined.

The student union president said, "Salute!"

The students raised their right arms in a standard military salute.

Seeing this,

Zhang Yongan and the other teachers also stood up, stood at attention, and returned the salute.

"Salute!"

Everyone lowered their hands and sat down quietly!

Zhang Yongan glanced at the students present. They were well-trained.

It was a pity that there were not many martial artists present due to a lack of resources.

After more than a decade of fighting on the battlefield,

Zhang Yongan had a deep understanding of one truth:

It's never one's own talent that holds them back. Even a pig can be transformed into a powerful warrior with resources.

He was surrounded by countless warriors with poor qualifications, who had rapidly increased their strength by plundering vast resources on the alien battlefields.

Among them were also some mid-level warriors.

Many students looked at the newly appointed principal with curiosity.

Dressed in black, he stood tall and proud!

He wasn't young,

but he had a rather domineering aura.

Chu Zihang stood up and introduced the students present:

"Standing before you is Principal Zhang Yongan, a recipient of First Class Merit from the 649th Army, a peak-level Third-Rank warrior, and a battalion commander!"

"Now, Principal Zhang, please give the address."

The crowd applauded.

Although the students' eyes were full of energy and spirit, there was no excitement in them.

They had already resigned themselves to their fate.

This school's principal was only at the peak of the Third-Rank, and already the strongest among the teachers.

Look at the Magic City Martial Arts University.

Among its faculty, there are over a dozen Grandmasters, and even some seniors have peak Third Rank strength.

Compared to that, they're utterly shabby.

Even strict military discipline doesn't matter; on the battlefield, it's all about Qi and blood strength.

As Zhang Yongan stood up, he seemed to detect a hint of meaning in the students' eyes.

It felt like despair.

Being in a martial arts college is like being stuck in a quagmire.

While the Magic City Ministry of Education has been very considerate of them, it will definitely not waste resources to help them escape this predicament.

Because they have no value.

He spoke calmly to the students:

"For centuries, aliens have invaded Blue Star and opened stargates!"

"We sacrificed the lives of millions of warriors to build towering walls around China's ten stargates, deploying countless guns and artillery. They are known as the Ten Star-Suppressing Gates!"

"Our Star-Suppressing Gates in Magic City and Kyoto even extend into alien territory."

"We occupied hundreds of miles of their land."

"At Magic City's Star-Suppressing Gate, facing their counterattack, our 649th Army fought to the death, becoming a legend in China!"

"You've heard the history of the 649th Army so many times that your ears are callused."

Many students looked up, seeming to sense a difference between the new principal and the previous ones, but that was all.

He stopped talking nonsense, looked around at everyone present, and said:

"I don't like to talk nonsense."

He looked at Vice Principal Chu beside him and said firmly:

"Bring out the student resource bank card."

Chu Zihang immediately pulled out the school's annual education funds, which had just been transferred from the Magic City Ministry of Education.

Zhang Yongan held up the card and looked at the crowd:

"This is all the money the Magic City Ministry of Education has given our school for the year. It's only five million."

"According to the information I just checked, Magic City Martial Arts University in the Magic City area is allocated three billion yuan annually!"

"Are you convinced?"

The many students in the audience were silent. Wasn't that as it should be?

With such poor qualifications and even paying little tuition, the Federation naturally wouldn't give them much.

The student union president stood up and said,

"Modu Martial Arts University is ranked second among Chinese martial arts academies, while our Shanhe Martial Arts Academy is ranked 4321st."

"There are 4322 martial arts academies in China."

"Second to last."

"We surrender."

"We accept our fate. After all, they are so much more talented than us."

Zhang Yongan remembered the student union president who spoke. He seemed to be one of the few juniors who had achieved a breakthrough to the first-rank martial arts level.

He gazed at the student who had spoken, his eyes blazing as he declared:

"No, a warrior never surrenders."

"And never resigns himself to fate."

"Admittedly, my martial arts foundation was damaged. After retiring from the front lines, I was assigned to this school as principal. I'll live a quiet life, and I've accepted my fate."

"But then I suddenly realized: Rather than accepting my fate, I'd rather fight it!"

"A warrior must fight."

"My martial arts foundation wasn't seriously damaged, and my cultivation has recovered. It's a miracle!"

As soon as he finished speaking,

the Qi and Blood Power within him was unconcealed, fully exposed.

Chu Zihang and several teachers, who were closest to him, felt it most intensely. This rich Qi and Blood Power was actually mid-grade!

Mid-grade is equivalent to fourth, fifth, or sixth grade!

Chu Zihang and the teachers exchanged glances and concluded that Zhang Yongan must have obtained some kind of resource, allowing him to break through from the peak of the third grade to the fourth grade.

But what they didn't know was that

Zhang Yongan was no longer at the peak of the Third Rank; his strength had already fallen to the early stages of the Third Rank.

Zhang Yongan's voice reached everyone.

"And now, you've accepted your fate. I won't agree."

"Since a miracle has befallen me, it means it can befall you, too. I am your miracle!"

The students perked up!

"In the future, you will have everything that Magic City Wuda has, and even what Magic City Wuda doesn't have."

"I promise you that by the time you graduate, everyone will be a warrior."

"It won't be like the past, where graduates from this school would be reduced to the lowest echelons of society!"

These words filled the students with excitement.

The Student Union President called out to Zhang Yongan again:

"Then, President, what is your miracle?"

Zhang Yongan smiled faintly and pointed to his heart.

He meant that the system was hidden within, unspoken.

The student council president suddenly realized:

"You mean that miracle is the heart of a warrior!"

"It's the unyielding spirit of a warrior who never gives up!"

Zhang Yongan's eyes were blazing as he said, "It's the belief that our country will be forever safe and sound."

A hush fell over the crowd.

He added:

"I can definitely give you more than you ask for."

"The resources and techniques are absolutely on par with those offered by top martial arts universities."

"Perhaps you find it hard to believe now, but it will be realized in the near future!"

"You too are destined to step onto the battlefield and avenge your fathers who fell there!"

As soon as these words were spoken,

both students and teachers were met with disbelief.

What did the new principal mean by that?

He was going to provide them with a wealth of resources and

many techniques to train them!

Vice Principal Chu's eyes widened. As someone who had read Zhang Yongan's profile, he knew full well that Zhang Yongan was a man without any connections, and his meager retirement pay was probably less than two million.

Say these words now, it was obviously impossible to achieve. Unless he sold his storage ring,

he could only repay the price of his words.

But seeing Zhang Yongan's conviction, his throat knotted, unsure what to say.

He could only swallow the truth he was about to say, watching the glint in the other teachers' eyes.

Although the eyes of the many students in the audience revealed eagerness,

they felt more like empty promises.

Zhang Yongan's words were not empty words. His strength had already reached the middle stage of the fourth rank, and would continue to rise steadily. He could go to the alien battlefield alone to seize resources, which would also allow these students to cultivate.

If the students succeeded in their cultivation, his strength would also increase rapidly.

Although this martial arts school was a junior college,

the students were more eager to cultivate and become warriors than those at ordinary martial arts universities.

The passion for battle was deeply hidden in their eyes, a look not seen in many undergraduate martial arts schools.

Among Zhang Yongan's graduating class,

only a few were still on the front lines. The rest were merely using the Martial Arts University as a springboard, with no desire to fight and gain merit on the front lines!

Zhang Yongan deeply despised these useless people who took federal resources but didn't go to the battlefield.

Just as Zhang Yongan was about to say something else,

the auditorium door opened, and a teacher said anxiously:

"The person who went to plunder resources from the alien race has returned."

"But only one!"