Locke: Daily intelligence, I'm going crazy finding bargains!

Chapter 56 National Fortune Arena and Spark Program

When Luo Xing arrived at the open-air stadium of Luocheng No. 1 Middle School, it was packed with people.

This meeting wasn't just attended by students from No. 1 High School; all the senior high school students in Luocheng were brought over, making it a very lively event.

He squeezed through the crowd and found Golden Bean crunching on potato chips in a corner of the stands, while Su Mumu sat next to him, looking down at her phone.

As soon as Luo Xing sat down, the microphone on the podium emitted a sharp "sizzle".

Grandpa Wu Tianxiong, dressed in a smart Zhongshan suit, sat imposingly in the center of the podium.

Without much preamble, he tapped the microphone and cut straight to the point: "As you've probably all seen the news, this year's college entrance exam has been moved up a full month. You only have twenty days left!"

The audience erupted in a commotion, with discussions spreading rapidly.

Wu Tianxiong slammed his hand on the table: "Quiet! To allow you to make a final push in these twenty days, all the one-star secret realms around Luo City, except for the Ice and Snow Plains, are open to the public free of charge!"

Instantly, a deafening cheer erupted from the audience.

Once the cheers subsided a bit, Wu Tianxiong cleared his throat and continued, "The second matter concerns last night's beast tide. For those students who lost their initial spirits in the battle, the Mage Association will provide a batch of new spirits free of charge as compensation. As for the other students who participated in the defense, each will be rewarded with 100,000 Rock Dollars, plus ten Gulu Balls!"

The meeting ended quickly, and the students left the stadium one after another. Just as Luo Xing and his two companions were about to sneak out for a meal, they were stopped by two association staff members and taken directly to the backstage lounge.

Wu Tianxiong was already waiting inside. When the three entered, he casually tossed out a small silver cube.

The silver cube unfolded in mid-air, forming a semi-transparent blue barrier that completely enveloped the room, isolating it from the outside world.

The old man's face was somewhat grim. He walked to the table, opened his palm, and there lay three red metal badges. The surface of the badges was engraved with a burning flame, and there was a very faint flow of magic on them.

"Here you go." Wu Tianxiong pushed the badge in front of the three of them.

"This is the Spark Badge. I applied for it for you from headquarters overnight. It's not just an honor, but also represents that you have been officially included in China's 'Spark Program'."

"If you encounter danger in the future, just crush it. The nearest branch of the association will receive an alert and support you at all costs."

Luo Xing put the badge in his pocket and looked up at Wu Tianxiong: "Grandpa, the college entrance exam date hasn't changed in decades, why is it suddenly being moved up? And what's the meaning of this Spark Program?"

Su Mumu and Huang Jindou also stopped what they were doing and listened attentively.

Wu Tianxiong pulled out a chair and sat down, sighing, "Project Spark, to put it bluntly, is about protecting you new generation geniuses from being assassinated by external forces."

He held up four fingers: "In just the past two weeks, four high school students across the country who had formed contracts with overlord-level spirits have died from assassinations by black witch cults and foreign forces. Just yesterday, a candidate for the top scorer chose to defect and joined the United States."

"As for the college entrance examination being moved up, it's not a big secret; the news will report it soon," Wu Tianxiong sighed.

"Because eight countries have jointly launched a challenge against China, and for some reasons that cannot be said, there is no way to refuse. In this competition, the bottom six countries must cede a large amount of resources and high-star secret realms to the top six."

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He slammed his hand on the table and said through gritted teeth.

"These bastards came prepared. Our China's top combat power is indeed strong, and the number of titled mages ranks among the top in the world. But in recent years, the Black Witch Corps and those foreign forces have been specifically targeting and assassinating the new generation of mages, resulting in a shortage of low-star mages."

"The rules of this tournament strictly limit the level of the participants, from two stars to six stars, a total of five levels. We are absolutely confident in the four-star level competition, but we are not sure about the other levels."

"That's why the higher-ups decided to bring forward the college entrance examination, in order to select the top two and three-star talents in the country in the shortest possible time and send them to compete."

Luo Xing narrowed his eyes; the reason was worse than he had imagined.

After the meeting, the three went home. Huang Jindou and Su Mumu still had to prepare for the upcoming twenty-day challenge, while Luo Xing, who hadn't rested for two days, stuffed everything he could into his star chart and went straight to sleep.

The next morning, at 6:00 AM sharp, the system notification sounded.

[Daily intelligence has been updated.]

[Today's intelligence: A mysterious item is hidden in the Los Angeles Dojo's warehouse.]

Los Angeles Dojo? This happens to be the place where Los Angeles participates in the Star Challenge, their first stop in the Star Challenge.

After washing up, he went to the Magicians' Association alone without waiting for Golden Bean and the others, intending to get certified as a three-star magician first.

Luo Xing ignored him and went straight to Wu Tianxiong's office.

The old man was looking down at the documents when he saw Luo Xing come in. He immediately took out a silver badge with three stars inlaid in it from the drawer and threw it at Luo Xing like a dart.

"No need to participate, no need to take the test." Wu Tianxiong waved his hand.

"Go to the awakening room on the second floor and raise the magic limit. By the way, if I want to take the four-star exam in the future, I'll have to go to the association in a second-tier city. Our third-tier city, Luocheng, doesn't have the authority."

Luo Xing took the badge and went up to the second floor, entering the Awakening Room with practiced ease.

As the light of the awakening array faded, Luo Xing clenched his fist and discovered that the magic power within his body had increased exponentially. He tried to sense it and found that his current magic power reserves were enough for him to summon six spirits to fight at the same time.

Back in the office, Wu Tianxiong handed over another dull silver ring.

"Here, the spatial ring," the old man said without looking up.

Luo Xing's eyes lit up. He immediately slipped the ring onto his finger, probed it with magic power, and his smile instantly vanished. The space was only about two square meters in size, much smaller than the star chart.

He rubbed his nose, then sidled up to the desk with a sly grin: "Hey sir, can I sell this thing? How much is it worth?"

Wu Tianxiong's eye twitched, and he kicked Luo Xing in the buttocks.

"Get out of here! You brat, take what you want and get out of here!" the old man said with a laugh. But when Luo Xing ran to the door, he stopped laughing and added another sentence.

"Be careful when you go out, don't die."

"Alright!" Luo Xing waved his hand and left the Magicians' Association.

Next, we should go to the Los Angeles Dojo to see what that mysterious item is.