Level Three Limit

Seeing Fu Chengya's results, Zhao Liang nodded. "That's not bad. Generally speaking, if a Gene Potion improves you by no more than 45 percent, that's Poor. Between 46 and 50 percent is Pass. Between 51 and 55 percent is Good. From 55 to 60 percent is Excellent. Fu Chengya's result can be considered Good."

However, Fu Chengya showed little joy. As a First Class Student, taking a potion was basically guaranteed to result in Good, and Excellent results were even possible. Yet he had not achieved Excellent, and Shen Tuohua had not emerged yet. His results would probably surpass Fu Chengya's.

As for Pass and Poor, those generally only appeared after Second Class Students or Third Class Students took potions.

At the twenty-one-minute mark, Shen Tuohua finally emerged from the room as well.

"Brother Zhao, my optimization is complete. I can be tested now."

"Good. Begin the test."

Brimming with confidence, Shen Tuohua walked up to the testing machine and began the Three Physical Tests.

Shen Tuohua's final results came out as well: left fist strength, 638 kg; right fist strength, 646 kg; punch speed, 12.8 per second; neural reaction, 0.049; optimization increase, 56 percent; overall strength assessed at mid-Level Six Warrior.

"Shen Tuohua's results are good. Your Gene Potion improvement has been rated Excellent. To receive an Excellent rating, you should have quite an achievement ahead of you."

Hearing Zhao Liang's assessment, Shen Tuohua became even more spirited. The Second High School students who had come with him eagerly clustered around him, treating him like the center of the world.

Fu Chengya's expression became even uglier. His Good rating was certainly decent, but Shen Tuohua had actually received Excellent, immediately overshadowing him. It was difficult for someone as proud as him to accept.

"All right, you've all seen the effects of taking Gene Potions. Most of you are currently Level Three Warriors. Train hard and reach Level Three Peak as soon as possible so you can take the potion. I look forward to seeing the next Excellent rating among you—perhaps even a Special rating."

"Brother Zhao, is there a rating higher than Excellent?"

"Of course. Some Universal Potions can improve strength by more than 60 percent. As for potions made through Personal Customization based on one's individual condition, a successful one can generally improve strength by 70 percent. That is a Special rating. Of course, I do not recommend taking Privately Customized Potions. If they fail, the price you pay is simply too great."

The students all nodded. Everyone knew how important Gene Potions were, and they knew even more clearly what the improvement percentages meant.

Generally speaking, when Third Class Students took Gene Potions, there was a high chance of receiving Poor. Better results would be Pass.

When Second Class Students took potions, there was a high chance of receiving Pass. Better results would be Good.

When First Class Students took potions, there was a high chance of receiving Good. Better results would be Excellent.

As for Third Class Students and Second Class Students achieving Excellent or Special, it was not impossible, but they would have to take customized Gene Potions.

Personal Customization was like gambling, but the chance of winning was very low—at most 20 percent.

Once a customized potion failed, that Martial Artist would lose their potential. Not only would they need many precious medicines to recover, but the next time, they could only take a Universal Potion. Furthermore, their improvement rating could be no higher than Poor, never exceeding 45 percent. Their future would basically be ruined.

Thus, customized potions were a double-edged sword, and there was an 80 percent chance they would harm the user.

After Zhao Liang finished speaking, he turned and left. As a General Level Martial Artist, he needed to spend more of his time in the Wilderness Area rather than dealing with these student-level brats.

Once Zhao Liang left, the testing hall erupted.

Fu Chengya shot Shen Tuohua a resentful glare. "Shen Tuohua, don't think that just because your Gene Potion worked better than mine, you'll be able to stay above me forever. We're both Level Six Warriors now. I'm only at the early stage, and you're only at the middle stage. I'll enter the Wilderness Area soon. As long as I kill more monsters, I can earn more money. I'll have plenty of opportunities to improve my strength. This is only the beginning."

Shen Tuohua replied without any courtesy, "Are you the only one who can enter the Wilderness Area? I'm already a mid-Level Six Warrior, and I'll soon join an Adventurer Team and enter the Wilderness Area too. Fu Chengya, stop dreaming. I'm definitely taking the title of First Person among this year's newcomers at Raging Wind Martial Hall!"

Fu Chengya stopped arguing with Shen Tuohua and began shopping online instead.

After a Martial Artist's Gene Optimization was complete, they would choose techniques and weapons in preparation for entering the Wilderness Area. In truth, many students had already studied certain weapons beforehand and had long since made their plans.

Besides cold weapons, some Martial Artists chose firearms. However, those who chose firearms were generally Martial Artists with less talent. They might not have much of a future in fights involving cold weapons, so they took the firearms route instead.

The advantage of firearms was that they were easy to learn. Martial Artists with such outstanding physical qualities could train with them easily. Their drawback was that their potential was limited.

Seeing this, Lin Zhen stopped paying attention to what Fu Chengya and Shen Tuohua would choose. It was better for those two to compete. People would temporarily stop focusing on him, and he could use these days of peace to continue improving his strength.

In fact, no one had much time during this period. For the final First Class Student slot, nearly every student had gone all out, hoping to reach Level Three Peak in the shortest possible time.

Lin Zhen's neural reaction had long since met the requirement, and his punch speed was not far from Level Three Peak either. His right fist was close as well, but because his left hand had lacked training, it was still far from Level Three Peak. Even though he had mastered the Breathing Technique, he could not leave everyone else too far behind in a single leap.

Ten days passed quickly. Lin Zhen had barely left the Martial Hall during those days. He trained his punches during the day, and at night, when no one was around, he privately trained his Mental Power.

His Mental Power training progressed quickly. More and more of the Cyan energy mass in his mind began undergoing Silver-level Transformation. Threads of silver energy grew increasingly numerous, already accounting for a quarter of the total. He was now a Mind Power Master at the early silver level.

He could control three Flying Knives at once, and their power even surpassed that of a handgun.

Under his deliberate training, his left fist strength also improved rapidly, finally breaking past the 390 kg mark today.

He threw a punch into the target, and the number "397 kg" appeared.

"Not bad. My left is 397, my right is 399. I count as Level Three Peak now. My punch speed has also reached 7.99 punches per second, already at the Level Three Limit. I can more or less take the Gene Serum now."

The customized Gene Potion he had ordered had arrived that morning. The timing was perfect.

At this time, everyone was training desperately. Lin Zhen knew that several Second Class Students were also about to reach Level Three Peak, though they were still slightly slower than him. If he took the potion now, he could secure the final First Class Student slot.

Just as Lin Zhen considered whether to take the potion immediately, Zhao Liang walked over and said, "Lin Zhen, the Police Station called me. The detention period for those hooligans is almost up, but Zhang Huai hasn't visited them even once. It seems he knows going would be useless, so he is simply letting his lackeys stay locked up instead of coming to ask us for mercy."

"He actually hasn't cared about them at all?" Lin Zhen truly had not expected that.

"Yes. The Police Station can only hold them for fifteen days at most. They'll definitely be released after fifteen days. He would rather let his lackeys suffer than lower his head and settle with us."

"Hmph! Is he counting on us not daring to do anything to those bastards? Since he refuses to lower his head, then break one leg each for those punks!" Lin Zhen gritted his teeth, anger rising in his heart.

"Should we take the initiative and arrange a meeting with Zhang Huai? It would be best if we could negotiate compensation. Otherwise, if we break those hooligans' legs ourselves, people will have something to hold against us."

"How many more days can those hooligans be held?"

"At most four more days. They have to be released after that."

"Fine. Three days from now. I'll meet Zhang Huai three days from now." Lin Zhen made up his mind.

"Three days? But..."

Zhao Liang hesitated. Lin Zhen knew what he meant. It was simply that Lin Zhen was still too weak and not qualified to negotiate with Zhang Huai.

Lin Zhen smiled. "Brother Zhao, you don't need to worry. I've already reached Level Three Peak, and I can take the Gene Potion now. Once my Gene Optimization is complete, I won't be the same rookie I am now."

"But even after Gene Optimization, you'll still... Ah! I nearly forgot. You chose a Privately Customized Potion! Lin Zhen, are you really confident you can succeed?"