How the Hell Is He Eight??
At East Sea Martial Arts Elementary School, in the Martial Arts Testing Room.
This was the most important area in the entire teaching building. Its walls were cast from high-strength alloy and embedded with shock-absorbing material capable of withstanding a full-power strike from a Qi and Blood martial artist.
Wang Zhen stood beside the testing device, his hands clasped behind his back.
Dressed in a dark gray Training Uniform, he stood ramrod straight, like a sharp sword in its sheath.
As the homeroom teacher of Grade Four Class One, Wang Zhen was a powerful martial artist himself, and none of the students he had taught had ever been mediocre.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the classroom was somewhat oppressive.
Dozens of students from the elite class stood at the back, their gazes falling in unison on the small, thin figure.
Chen Fan stood at the very end of the group, his expression calm, as though the scrutinizing, mocking looks around him did not exist.
"Instructor Lin, you've brought a transfer student to me. If it's just to go through the motions, there's no need." Wang Zhen turned his head, his deep voice carrying a hint of pressure. "My Class One doesn't take trash."
Wang Zhen still intended to make Lin Tao and Chen Fan back down before things got difficult, saving them from losing face later. After all, they were colleagues at the same school and would see each other all the time.
Lin Tao stood to one side, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as he held back a laugh.
Taking Chen Fan for trash?
Teacher Wang, oh, Teacher Wang, why won't you let me finish what I have to say? Lin Tao thought to himself. Then he looked at Wang Zhen with a smile. "Teacher Wang, won't a test tell us whether he's trash or not?"
"A test?"
Wang Zhen sneered and ignored Lin Tao, turning to look at a tall boy in the class.
"Li Wei, you go first."
"Yes!"
Li Wei answered and stepped out of the group.
A trace of pride showed on Li Wei's face. He was now nine years old and had long since reached the beginner level in the Five Elements Stance.
Even in Grade Four Class One, he was considered above average.
Against students from the ordinary classes, he could be said to have an advantage on an entirely different level.
He walked up to the testing device and took a deep breath. Planting his feet firmly, he clenched his fist as the Qi and Blood in his body surged like a river.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, Li Wei slammed his fist into the sensor plate.
Hum!
The testing device gave a low hum. A blue Light Screen lit up instantly, and a set of readings appeared clearly.
[Five Elements Stance: beginner] [Qi and Blood: 2.8 calories]
At the sight of the readings, the students around him murmured in admiration.
"Li Wei really is impressive. He's already at 2.8 calories on the first day of school!"
"As expected of someone from our class. His Qi and Blood is progressing steadily."
Wang Zhen looked at the Light Screen and nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction appearing on his face.
He turned to Chen Fan.
"Did you see that?"
Wang Zhen pointed at the Light Screen, his tone cold and hard. "That's the average level in our class. At nine years old, more than two calories of Qi and Blood is the foundation for stepping onto the Martial Dao."
"If you can't even meet that standard, I advise you to go back to third grade. Don't waste everyone's time here."
His meaning was plain.
This wasn't a place to play house. If you didn't have the ability, get lost.
Skipping grades in particular was reserved for geniuses, certainly not a privilege for someone with connections to enjoy because his parents were martial artists on the front lines.
The students around them chuckled. Quite a few folded their arms, waiting to see the kid with connections make a fool of himself.
In their eyes, Chen Fan's frail body looked nothing like it could produce 2.8 calories of Qi and Blood.
Chen Fan said nothing.
Chen Fan ignored the gazes around him entirely.
They were just a bunch of children; there was no need to lower himself to their level.
He might as well...
Let his strength speak!
Chen Fan slowly extended his right hand and pressed it against the sensor plate.
He closed his eyes and regulated his breathing.
The instant his palm touched the metal, the power of his Qi and Blood seemed to answer some kind of summons and surged into motion.
After a night of arduous cultivation, that Qi and Blood was even more condensed than it had been yesterday afternoon, like a spring compressed to its limit, ready to burst forth at any moment.
"Rise."
Chen Fan silently uttered the word in his heart.
Hummm!
The testing device shuddered violently, and the numbers on the blue Light Screen began leaping wildly, as if they had gone mad!
0.5! 1.5! 2.5!
In the space of a single breath, the number on the display shot straight up to 2.5!
The chuckles in the classroom stopped abruptly.
The pride on Li Wei's face froze in an instant.
2.5 calories of Qi and Blood?
A Qi and Blood reading like that was considered average even in Grade Four Class One!
In the ordinary classes, he would even be one of the top students!
A rare trace of emotion appeared on Wang Zhen's impassive face. His throat moved slightly as he stared fixedly at the testing device's display.
The number... was still climbing!
When the number passed 2.8, the entire testing room fell deathly silent.
Only the hum of the operating device and Wang Zhen's heavy breathing could be heard.
They echoed in everyone's ears.
At last, the number stopped at a figure that made everyone's scalp tingle.
[Five Elements Stance: beginner] [Qi and Blood: 3.6 calories]
The air in the testing room seemed to be sucked dry at that moment.
Everyone's eyes widened as they stared fixedly at the glaring figure of 3.6.
Even Wang Zhen's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively took half a step back.
3.6 calories?
Was that a Qi and Blood reading a child who had just turned eight could produce?
Wang Zhen's chest heaved as he watched the boy calmly withdraw his hand. His mind went blank.
In all his years of teaching and nurturing students, he had never seen such a terrifying rate of growth.
"Th-this is impossible."
Li Wei muttered to himself, his face deathly pale. The confidence he had shown moments ago had completely vanished.
Just then, Lin Tao, who had been standing to one side watching the show, finally couldn't resist speaking.
Looking at Wang Zhen's thunderstruck expression, he couldn't have been more delighted. He cleared his throat and said meaningfully, "Teacher Wang, I forgot to tell you something earlier."
"What?"
Wang Zhen turned his head stiffly, his voice somewhat hoarse.
Lin Tao pointed at Chen Fan and enunciated each word. "This child first encountered the Five Elements Stance yesterday afternoon. Today is his second day of martial arts training."
Boom!
Those words were like a powerful bomb exploding in Wang Zhen's mind.
His second day of martial arts training?
3.6 calories?
Wang Zhen felt the world spin around him.
Was this something a fucking eight-year-old could do?
Even though Wang Zhen, as the homeroom teacher of an elite class, had seen plenty of so-called promising talents, someone who could compare with Chen Fan...
Had never appeared.
In an instant, Wang Zhen's gaze turned fervent. He suddenly looked at Chen Fan. "Kid, your teacher was wrong. From this moment on, you're a member of our Grade Four Class One!"
Wang Zhen had always been upright and impartial, keeping public and private matters separate. If he was wrong, he was wrong.
So the moment he realized how extraordinarily talented Chen Fan was, Wang Zhen apologized to him.
He paid no heed to his own status as a teacher.