One live combat match after another took place on the arena in the rear playground.
Fortunately, there was only one absurdly gifted wielder of Psychic Power like Su Nianyi in all of Yan'an No. 7 High School.
None of the other matches that followed had anything so outrageous happen.
Everyone underwent Blood Essence Level tests one by one, followed by strength and speed assessments, before entering the arena in an orderly fashion.
They fought one another across the spacious arena, and from time to time, injured students were pulled out by the teachers, or even by Principal Su Nianying of the Outer Scenery Level, using Spiritual Power.
After watching for a while, Li Xijun found little to interest him.
It was only during the second round that Zhou Yibai's suddenly improved Blood Essence Level caught his attention. The other boy had quietly risen to Blood Essence Level 7.8.
Who knew what method or fortunate encounter he had used.
Still, to Li Xijun, who possessed the Grand Luo Mark, it was only mildly surprising.
He sat atop a treasure mountain himself, with limitless prospects ahead of him. He did not care about the other boy's modest progress or little secrets.
The next match that drew his attention was Ye Liuyun's, which he watched for a while.
It had to be said that Ye Liuyun's ceaseless, flowing swordsmanship was indeed an excellent fit for his cultivation technique and state of mind.
Even amid this rather chaotic arena battle, surrounded and attacked by several opponents, his swordsmanship flowed like an endless river, blocking every attack and carving out a victory with strike after strike.
Time passed bit by bit.
Until all ten arenas of the second round had determined their winners.
The martial arts teachers at each arena blew their whistles to gather everyone.
"Come over for Blood Essence, speed, and strength testing. Get ready to enter!"
The teachers' booming voices carried far across the entire playground.
By the time Li Xijun reached Arena No. 9, quite a few people had already taken their places, and those at the front had begun testing.
As the Elite Class member defending this arena, Zhou Shenghao naturally stood at the entrance and underwent testing first.
"Zhou Shenghao, Blood Essence Level: 8.7."
The moment his Blood Essence Level appeared on the nearby screen, the expressions of the more than twenty others in the broad arena changed.
Zhang Haifeng and the other teachers seated on the raised platform above the football-field-sized arena all looked surprised and began discussing it in low voices.
"Blood Essence Level 8.7 by the end of the term—he is unquestionably a Nine Schools Alliance seed."
"More than that. If he can successfully break through to Level 9.1 and maintain this pace of improvement, he might even have a shot at the Imperial Capital Two Heavens."
"I remember Zhou Shenghao's progress wasn't this fast before, was it? Both brothers of the Zhou Family have been quite outstanding this term."
Naturally, Zhou Shenghao did not hear the teachers' discussion on the platform. He simply continued with his speed and strength tests.
"Speed: 19.1 meters per second. Punching force: 924 kilograms."
Those results made the students testing behind him pale.
"There is a Nine Schools Alliance seed in our group."
"We're done for. Doesn't that mean this match has no suspense?"
"Hey, hey, anyone want to team up? Let's take him out first once we get in."
Quite a few people had already begun whispering among themselves.
Especially as one martial arts student after another quickly completed testing, with almost all of them falling far behind Zhou Shenghao, the discussions grew louder.
"Bro, don't make a move once we're in, okay? The defender's a bit fierce. Let's join forces and take him down first!"
A skinny, monkey-like boy who had arrived even later than Li Xijun patted his shoulder, intending to recruit him into an alliance.
Li Xijun, who had already reached the Blood Essence testing device at the entrance, merely smiled.
"You guys are too slow. I'll do it instead."
With that, he stepped into the broad arena. The red light on the Blood Essence testing device flashed, and corresponding words appeared on the large screen.
"Li Xijun, Blood Essence Level: 8.1."
The name that had suddenly jumped into second place on the large screen drew the attention of quite a few people.
The skinny boy behind him saw that Level 8.1 Blood Essence Level and said sourly, "You think we're slow, but with your Level 8.1 Blood Essence Level, you can't beat his strength and—holy shit!"
The sudden cry made the three girls behind them, who had formed a small group and were chatting, frown.
But when one of the girls saw the speed and strength displayed after Li Xijun's Blood Essence Level on the large screen, she let out a classic shriek.
"Ahhh, girls, look!"
"Ahhh, oh my God, girls, the speed and strength testing machines must be broken!"
"Ahhhh, how could this happen?"
Those cries drew the attention of not only the more than twenty people in the arena.
Even the teachers in the stands who had been chatting among themselves.
As well as many students who had finished their tests earlier and were about to find an arena to watch. They all gathered curiously and looked toward the large screen.
"Speed: 19.7 meters per second. Punching force: 966 kilograms."
As those cold figures appeared on the screen, discussion immediately erupted.
"Holy shit, are those speed and strength results even right?"
"The Blood Essence testing device must be malfunctioning. Those speed and strength numbers are practically at Blood Essence Level 9.0."
"Bro, is that even possible?"
"I remember now. Isn't he the one who improved dramatically in the opening monthly exam, then killed that Blood God Cult member at Blood Essence Level 9.0 a while ago?"
"So it's him! That genius who defeated the strong while weak and fought above his level!"
Once someone brought up the matter of him killing the Blood God Cult member against the odds, the students who remembered it all came to a realization and burst into commotion.
At once, not only Ye Liuyun, Zhou Yibai, Su Nianyi, and the others who had already been watching the arena.
Almost every martial arts student who had just finished the first two rounds without suffering serious injuries gathered around curiously.
Even Su Nianying, who had been surveying the whole field from the sky, descended beside Li Xijun.
She directly reached out and felt, squeezed, and pressed several parts of his body.
This prompted a wave of shocked cries from the students, along with plenty of crooked speculation from the adolescent boys and girls.
"Huh, you really did make something of yourself."
Su Nianying could not help feeling surprised as she sensed Li Xijun's nearly perfect body, tempered through training.
"Come find me directly later. No need to wait for the results to be posted."
Having basically reached her conclusion, Su Nianying vanished in a flash and reappeared in the sky.
Just like Su Nianyi at Arena No. 1 during the first round.
Li Xijun, now under the burning gazes of the twenty-nine people in the arena and countless martial arts students outside it.
Genuinely enjoyed being the center of everyone's attention.
Unhurried, he walked step by step to the center of the arena.
This made Zhou Shenghao, who had originally been the focus of everyone's attention, feel as though he had become completely irrelevant.
He slowly tightened his grip around the Tiger-Head Broadsword in his hand and stared sharply at Li Xijun as he walked to the center of the arena. Then the competition teacher's countdown reached his ears.
"3."
"2."
"1."
"Begin!"
The explosive gunshot rang out across the arena once more.
Before you continue