Weekly Test! Challenging Wei Zhe!

At last, Wei Zhe shot Chen Fan a venomous glare and forced a cold snort through clenched teeth. Reluctantly, he turned and retreated into the line.

As he backed down, the tense atmosphere in the training hall immediately eased.

The looks the surrounding students gave Chen Fan suddenly became incredibly complicated.

There was awe and surprise, but more than anything, there was pity from those waiting to watch the show.

The new kid had offended Wei Zhe. His days ahead would likely be difficult.

Yet Liu Haifeng's next move left everyone dumbfounded.

The fury radiating from him, fierce enough to freeze the air, vanished without a trace the moment Wei Zhe backed away.

In its place was a smile so warm it was almost fawning, as though the raging lion ready to devour someone just moments ago had been nothing but a collective illusion.

"Ahem."

Liu Haifeng cleared his throat twice and patted Chen Fan affectionately on the shoulder, his voice so gentle it could drip water.

"Chen Fan, don't take it to heart. That Wei Zhe is just a spoiled troublemaker. He has a bit of talent, so he thinks he's bigger than heaven and earth. With me here, he won't dare do anything to you!"

In the corner, Wang Zhen's mouth twitched violently at the sight.

Good grief. With how fast he changes faces, it's a waste of talent that he isn't performing opera.

Liu Haifeng changed the subject, a sly glint flashing in his sharp, hawk-like eyes.

He decided to give Chen Fan a little stimulation.

"Chen Fan, do you know what the Weekly Test for Grade Six, Class One is for?"

Without waiting for Chen Fan to answer, Liu Haifeng lowered his voice and coaxed him along in an almost magical tone.

"The Weekly Test doesn't just measure the results of your cultivation. It's also the sole criterion for deciding how your cultivation resources are distributed over the coming week!"

"Our class gets the best resources in the whole school, but... they aren't handed out from one big communal pot!"

He held up one finger.

"The higher you rank, the more resources you get! The top ten each receive an extra half a Primary Qi-Blood Potion every week!"

"And first place..."

Liu Haifeng deliberately paused, his burning gaze fixed on Chen Fan's calm face. Then he spoke, stressing every word:

"First place gets a full three Primary Qi-Blood Potions every week!"

Boom!

Three!

Those words exploded in Chen Fan's mind like two thunderclaps!

He knew better than anyone how frighteningly valuable the Qi and Blood Potion was.

A single one had made his qi and blood surge by nearly one cal.

If he had three every week... just how frightening a level would his cultivation speed soar to?

Under Liu Haifeng and Wang Zhen's expectant gazes, Chen Fan didn't make any bold declarations. He didn't even nod.

He simply turned in silence and walked back to the corner he had occupied earlier, under dozens of astonished, bewildered gazes from the class.

Then he lowered his waist and planted his feet.

Once again, he assumed the Five Elements Stance, his posture perfectly standard yet carrying an unprecedentedly weighty presence.

All the noise, discussion, and scrutiny around him seemed to be shut out entirely by an invisible wall. In his world, only his surging qi and blood and his purest hunger for strength remained.

"..."

Watching Chen Fan enter a state of cultivation in an instant, without a single distraction, Liu Haifeng's smile froze.

He met Wang Zhen's gaze across the room. Each saw utter shock in the other's eyes, along with a delight that was almost spilling over.

What kind of monstrous mentality is this?!

An eight-year-old child hears about such an enormous benefit, and his first reaction isn't wild joy or making a solemn pledge, but... starting to cultivate immediately?

How the hell is he eight??

Time flew by amid monotonous yet efficient cultivation.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

During that week, Chen Fan's life was compressed to the utmost.

Classes, cultivation, meals, home, cultivation. Back and forth between two places, simple to the point of monotony, yet utterly fulfilling.

Like a sponge thrown into water, he frantically absorbed the more advanced Martial Dao knowledge taught in sixth grade and the weekly Qi and Blood Potion, turning it all into nourishment for the growth of his own strength.

Late at night, all was quiet.

Inside a bedroom in the old house on the edge of the city.

Chen Fan finished a day of arduous cultivation and slowly exhaled a long breath of white vapor.

The vapor actually hung together in the air instead of dispersing. Like a little white dragon, it lingered for a moment before slowly fading away.

Without pausing, he silently dragged a metal box out from under the bed and took out the military-grade Qi-Blood Detector his father had left behind.

He switched it on with practiced ease and pressed his index finger against the cold testing port.

"Beep!"

A dim blue screen lit up, and the numbers on it jumped wildly at a speed far beyond anything before, almost enough to make one's heart tremble!

10.3!

11.5!

12.6!

Every jump in the number represented the results of his week of arduous cultivation.

Finally, under Chen Fan's calm, unruffled gaze, the frantic numbers gradually slowed, then settled firmly in place.

They stopped at a new height, one enough to drive any of his peers to despair.

[Qi and blood: 13.9 cal]

Slowly withdrawing his finger, Chen Fan clenched his hand into a fist.

"Thirteen point nine cal. Not bad!"

A rare smile appeared on Chen Fan's face.

The day of the Weekly Test.

Inside the Martial Dao Training Hall of Grade Six, Class One, the air seemed to have been sucked dry, and a strange atmosphere of grim tension and agitation hung over the room.

Nearly forty students stood in formation. No one spoke; only the sound of suppressed breathing rose and fell.

Everyone's eyes drifted, intentionally or otherwise, toward two figures at the very front of the line.

One was Wei Zhe. Tall and broad, he stood with his arms folded and his chin slightly raised. The fluctuations of qi and blood coming from him far surpassed those of his peers. Like a small volcano, he radiated a scorching pressure, and the arrogance and fighting spirit in his eyes were undisguised.

The other was Chen Fan.

He stood not far from Wei Zhe, small and thin, his expression as calm as an ancient well, as though the tension around him had nothing to do with him.

"Tap, tap, tap."

Liu Haifeng and Wang Zhen strode into the hall, one behind the other.

Liu Haifeng's gaze swept over the room like a hawk's, briefly resting on Chen Fan and Wei Zhe before a meaningful smile curved his lips.

He stood at the front of the line, his voice ringing like a bell. "You all know the rules of the Weekly Test. Based on last week's rankings, you'll challenge those above you in order, from lowest to highest. The winner takes the loser's rank."

At that point, he changed tack, his voice suddenly turning stern.

"But today, we're adding a new rule!"

"To prevent certain people from issuing malicious challenges and wasting everyone's time, and to ensure fairness, starting today, the difference in rank for each challenge cannot exceed five places!"

Boom!

The moment he said it, an uproar broke out.

Wei Zhe's face darkened instantly, and his fists clenched sharply at his sides.

He wasn't stupid. This rule had clearly been made to protect the new kid!

He was ranked first, while Chen Fan didn't even have a rank. Under this rule, he had no chance to deal with him personally in the arena!

The humiliation of being looked down on burned in his heart like poisoned fire.

Yet just as anger churned in Wei Zhe's heart and he thought he could only watch Chen Fan remain unscathed today, Liu Haifeng's next words took him by surprise.

"However..." Liu Haifeng's gaze drifted toward Chen Fan, as though he were announcing something trivial. "As a new transfer student, Chen Fan has no initial ranking. Therefore, he has one priority challenge that can ignore the difference in rank."

"He may challenge anyone here to determine his initial ranking!"

The gloom on Wei Zhe's face was instantly replaced by a savage delight.

He abruptly stepped out of line and unleashed the full force of his qi and blood, which had reached 15 cal. Like an invisible wall, it bore down hard on Chen Fan.

He fixed Chen Fan with an intensely oppressive stare, the mockery in his voice almost tangible.

"Chen Fan, do you dare challenge me?"

Several of his followers immediately caught on and burst into grating laughter.

"Haha, would he dare? An eight-year-old little baby can't hide behind the teacher fast enough!"

"Exactly! Brother Wei's qi and blood were already close to 16 cal last week. What's this kid going to fight him with? His head?"

"If you know what's good for you, challenge someone outside the top twenty. You might still save a little face. Don't refuse the face you're being given!"

The foul abuse surged in like a tide.

Liu Haifeng's face turned ashen with anger. A martial artist's aura several times more terrifying than Wei Zhe's erupted from him, and he was about to suppress these students who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth with thunderous force.

But the second before he spoke.

Chen Fan, who had been silent all along like an old monk in meditation, slowly lifted his eyelids.

There was no anger or tension in his eyes, only a bottomless calm.

His gaze passed over all the jeering students and landed squarely on Wei Zhe.

In an instant, that simple movement seemed to press a mute button on all the clamor in the hall.

In the deathly silence, where a pin could have been heard dropping, Chen Fan took a step forward.

A calm voice, yet heavy as a thousand weights, rang clearly in everyone's ears.

"I challenge you."