The martial arts students' monthly exam began in the morning with a fifty-six-page test paper covering mathematics, language arts, history, geography, and several other subjects.
When many third-year test-hounds saw that thick stack of exam papers, they said, "It's only worth one hundred points. Bring it on!"
In reality, they competed crazily to outdo one another with problem-solving, writing so fast they practically wished they had two more pairs of hands.
After an entire morning of intense exams,
a despondent atmosphere of wailing and lamentation filled nearly the entire school building.
At noon, Li Xijun naturally ate at the school cafeteria.
Though it could not compare to the delicious, nutritious Medicinal Cuisine of the Da Sheng World,
he could now afford the 399-yuan nutritional meal set at the school cafeteria, which was far better than the hundred-yuan nutrition paste he had eaten before.
After a brief lunch break,
the martial arts students of Class Six, Year Three were brimming with energy again.
Based on previous monthly exams, in order to test the students' actual martial arts level,
they would not have students fight one another in pairs like they had during the previous practical sparring sessions.
Instead, the teachers would fight them one by one and score them according to their performance.
Of course, the teachers responsible for testing generally only used the speed and strength of Blood Essence Level 9.0.
However,
when the students of Class Six, Year Three entered the classroom, every one of them stared in stunned disbelief.
That was because the person standing on the martial arts sparring ring was not Zhang Haifeng.
It was Su Nianying, the cool, long-legged beauty of a teacher who had left a deep impression on the entire school that morning.
Moreover, the girl beside her, holding a notebook and writing something down as if recording scores, was Su Nianyi, who had held the top rank in their year since the beginning of term.
They looked at the icy-looking beauty with the dark purple ponytail, then at the quiet girl beside her with waist-length purple hair, holding a sketchbook with a calm expression.
They immediately confirmed the rumors. These two gorgeous women really were sisters!
"Teacher Zhang is sick. I'll be substituting this afternoon."
Su Nianying glanced at Su Nianyi, who was sitting on a small stool in the distance with her sketchbook in her arms, and spoke.
This caused Zhang Haifeng, who had arrived late and was just about to enter, to silently withdraw his right hand from the doorknob and decisively flee back to his office without looking back to recuperate.
For an old hand like him, if an Outer Scenery Expert said he was sick, then he was sick even if he had not been before.
The students in the class naturally did not care about that.
Instead, they excitedly took the stage according to the list displayed on the big screen for practical combat.
However,
the students who went up to fight one after another basically had no particularly impressive performances.
Other than Ye Liuyun, who lasted a little longer on the stage and finally received Su Nianying's comment that he had "grasped the true essence of the Flowing Water Wave-Stacking Method,"
the rest were generally kicked off the stage by Su Nianying within a few moves.
The practical combat list continued until the very end.
Li Xijun's name and Blood Essence Level appeared on the big screen.
Once again assigned the final slot, he was not as relaxed as he had been when fighting Zhou Yibai.
The instant he stepped up, he activated his soul, cautiously probing with his footwork as he prepared his moves.
"If you won't make a move, then let your teacher do it first."
As soon as Su Nianying finished speaking, she struck without a sound, throwing a punch that landed right before Li Xijun.
Bang!
If any other student had faced Su Nianying's proactive punch, they would already have been knocked off the stage.
But Li Xijun caught the trajectory of her punch at half speed.
Still, with a Blood Essence Level of 6.4, his speed could not keep up with Su Nianying in her Blood Essence Level 9.0 state. He could only barely raise an arm to block.
Even so, the thousand-kilogram force of a Blood Essence Level 9.0 punch sent pain shooting through his left arm and chest, leaving him somewhat breathless.
"Not bad. Those eyes really are sharp!"
Seeing the starlight beneath Li Xijun's irises,
Su Nianying felt that her Sister had made the right call in dragging her here.
"You all need to remember this: martial arts are meant for killing. Whether it's fist techniques or blade techniques, the more sudden they are, the more they catch your opponent off guard, the better the effect!"
The icy beauty, who had only spoken once since the practical combat began, seemed to have become interested and began explaining things to the boy before her.
Whoosh!
As she spoke, she instantly lashed out with a powerful kick from an exquisite angle.
Even though Li Xijun had already caught its trajectory, he had no way to dodge and could only take it head-on.
If nothing unexpected happened, this move would kick him off the ring.
But the intense pain across the left side of his body had made his blood essence exceptionally active, causing the thought of using her attack to temper himself and break through to unity of skin and flesh to arise in Li Xijun's mind.
In an instant, his stance changed. The blood essence within his body stirred, and the instinctive thoughts of his Spirit Solidification Realm soul settled between his skin and flesh.
Bang—!
A muffled sound like a strike against a sandbag echoed through the classroom.
Feeling his skin and flesh grow increasingly delighted, Li Xijun felt a comfortable sensation spread from where he had been struck throughout his body.
With such rapid progress, he still has spare time to practice an External Skill from the old era?
Su Nianying tilted her head slightly, wondering why Li Xijun would spend his spare time practicing the old era's tough techniques of externally training the skin.
But seeing that Li Xijun had clearly made a breakthrough, she did not dwell on such minor details. Instead, she intended to help him break through this stage while she was at it.
Whoosh!
The next moment, Su Nianying's figure seemed to vanish from everyone's sight.
Only Li Xijun caught her trajectory, but what he saw were fists raining down one after another like a sky full of flower petals.
He decisively repeated his previous action, gathering his blood essence and soul thoughts at the injuries she inflicted.
He was like a reef in the sea, battered by wave after wave of attacks, yet he stubbornly held his ground.
Not only that, the blood essence in his body grew more and more active. As his blood flowed, it was like surging, churning river water.
Until, at a certain moment, his skin and flesh seemed to melt and fuse into one, while streams of heat flowed from his skin and flesh into the tendons and bones deep inside his body.
Your Martial Arts System: Skin and Flesh Realm, increased from 99% to 100%. Your Martial Arts System: Tendons and Bones Realm, increased from 0% to 1%.
The moment the messages appeared in his field of vision,
Li Xijun felt the blood essence throughout his body flow and circulate as smoothly as he wished, making his skin and flesh incomparably resilient.
When the force of Su Nianying's next punch landed on him, the pain that had once wracked his entire body was instantly diverted by one-third, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.
That immediately changed him from passively taking blows into someone capable of counterattacking.
After catching her movements at half speed in Bullet Time,
he seized the gap between her thousand-kilogram punch shooting out and retracting.
In an instant,
just as the watching students were marveling, "Brother Li really is a legendary punching bag,"
the boy's palm, fluttering like a falling wing, lightly and without the slightest trace of force, slipped through her opening in the narrowest of instants and struck Su Nianying in the chest.
Slap!
A crisp sound like metal striking metal rang through the classroom, instantly plunging the previously lively room into utter silence.
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