The Three Great Martial Halls

After the dull morning Cultural Class ended, the main event everyone had been waiting for began: the Three Physical Tests.

Sixth High School was not one of the Base City's key high schools, but many Martial Halls had still sent representatives. After all, talented individuals occasionally emerged even from ordinary high schools.

There were twelve graduating classes this time, with nearly seven hundred students taking the graduation exams. As soon as the Cultural Class results were released, the physical tests began.

The physical tests were conducted in the school's activity hall. There was a Punch Power Tester here, which could test both punching power and punch speed.

There was also a Neural Reaction tester. Students had to stand inside it while three-dimensional images simulated infrared attacks around them, testing their neural reaction results within one minute.

The students lined up outside the hall, while the judges' seats inside were already completely filled.

Besides the proctors, representatives from many Martial Halls had seats as well. Number Plates on the tables bore the names of major Martial Halls, such as "Raging Wind Martial Hall," "Long Wind Martial Arts Academy," and "Dragon Slayer Martial Hall."

Naturally, there were military representatives as well, since many people wanted to join the army.

Besides Martial Halls and the military, students could also enter government departments, but they still had to meet certain assessment standards. Those who fell below the passing line could only continue on to university for further study. However, university graduates basically had no chance of becoming Martial Artists and could only remain ordinary people.

Thus, attending university was the worst choice in this era. High school graduation was a dividing line in life, a matter that would affect one's entire future.

"Number one! Sun Wei from Class Nine, Senior Year! Enter!"

Hearing his name called from afar, Lin Zhen, who stood at the very end of the line, felt rather annoyed. The ranking was actually arranged from back to front. He had handed in his paper first, yet he was ranked last. How long would he have to wait?

Sun Wei, number one, entered nervously. He was a somewhat shy-looking boy.

"Begin. First event: Punch Power Test."

Sun Wei walked up to the Punch Power Tester. It was a massive rubber pad, and students were required to strike it with all their strength. Only one punch was allowed.

"Begin. Use your greatest strength. Start with your left hand!"

"Ha!"

Sun Wei shouted and threw a punch.

The mercury column beside it shot upward, and the electronic screen immediately displayed a number.

"103 kg!"

The Martial Hall representatives watching him shook their heads slightly. That result was too poor, barely stronger than an ordinary person. He had failed.

The minimum requirement for Martial Halls to recruit students was 200 kg of punching power. He was far from it.

His right-handed punch reached 112 kg, which was also a failure.

"Punch Speed Test. Begin. Strike continuously at your maximum speed. Time limit: one second."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"71 kg, 68 kg, 66 kg, 62 kg!"

"Four punches per second. Testing complete. Next is the Neural Reaction test."

Sun Wei walked over to the Neural Reaction test looking ashen. The space around him immediately sealed shut, and countless infrared attacks came shooting at him.

The attack speed simulated an automatic rifle firing from one hundred meters away, requiring students to react by evading.

As soon as the test began, countless bullets flew at him from every direction. Sun Wei could not make any effective evasive reactions. He could only roll and scramble about chaotically, hoping to dodge a few more.

But those bullets were fired according to his movements. Wherever he dodged, they struck. When the minute ended, the results came out.

"Sixty bullets in one minute. Fifty-nine effective hits. One successful dodge. Three effective evasion movements. Overall result: Neural Reaction of 0.43/s."

Sun Wei emerged from the testing device. There was no need to say anything more—the gates of university stood open for him.

The following string of tests was equally disappointing.

After a full three hundred students had been tested, only three had passed. The best was from Class Two, with a maximum punch power of 221 kg, a punch speed of 5.7/s, and a Neural Reaction of 0.097/s. He was still some distance from the qualifying standards of the three top Martial Halls and was only recruited by a small Martial Hall.

A one-percent acceptance rate made the Martial Hall representatives drowsy, while the military recruited fewer than ten people.

"Looks like Sixth High School really is Sixth High School. It's hard for any genius to emerge here." The representative from Long Wind Martial Arts Academy twirled a pen in his hand. Not a single record had been made on the paper before him.

The Dragon Slayer Martial Hall representative smiled. "We were prepared for this when we came. Today is graduation exam day for all the high schools. The Martial Halls have concentrated their attention on the first, second, and third high schools. I hear those schools are packed with geniuses. If we didn't hold such low positions in our Martial Halls, we would have gone there long ago."

"Exactly. Whoever discovers and recruits talent gets a bonus from the Martial Hall. Looks like I have no hope of getting one today." The Long Wind representative looked rather dejected.

"Don't be hasty. Half the students haven't taken the test yet. Maybe a genius will appear." Only the Raging Wind Martial Hall representative remained calm. He had a target in mind.

As they spoke, Ouyang Yu walked in.

"Testing begins. Punch power, left hand."

Ouyang Yu stood expressionlessly before the testing machine and fiercely drove out a left-handed punch.

Boom!

The mercury column shot straight upward, and the electronic screen immediately displayed the result.

"266 kg!"

"Wow! Not bad! Could he be left-handed? If that's his off hand, then he has good potential." The Dragon Slayer Martial Hall representative's eyes lit up. At last, he had seen someone decent.

"Right-hand test. Begin."

"291 kg!"

After Ouyang Yu finished his right-handed punch, the Long Wind Martial Arts Academy representative's eyes lit up as well. With just a little more training, this boy's punch power could exceed 300 kg. He was talented.

"Punch Speed Test. Begin."

Ouyang Yu held his breath and launched a continuous barrage of heavy punches with both hands. A string of numbers flashed across the display.

"216 kg, 225 kg, 222 kg, 228 kg, 217 kg, 229 kg!"

"Test complete. Six point two punches per second. All results valid."

The representatives from Long Wind Martial Arts Academy and Dragon Slayer Martial Hall looked at one another, both sensing competition. This Ouyang Yu was quite good. Though not an exceptional genius, he was outstanding within Sixth High School and worth competing over.

Only the Raging Wind Martial Hall representative remained unmoved. As Huaxia's number one Martial Hall, Raging Wind had higher recruitment standards. Ouyang Yu's results were not enough to tempt him. Better to lack than to accept inferior candidates—that was Raging Wind's principle.

Unless Ouyang Yu's Neural Reaction was exceptionally impressive, his performance was still insufficient.

Next came the Neural Reaction test. Ouyang Yu performed well there too. Facing the barrage of bullets, he did not panic but reacted calmly. Though his movements were not especially fast, he often responded in time, and he even succeeded on several occasions.

The results came out after one minute.

"Ouyang Yu. Sixty bullets in one minute. Fifty-one effective hits. Nine successful dodges. Twenty-one effective evasion movements. Overall result: 0.082/s."

"We at Long Wind Martial Arts Academy want this one!" the Long Wind Martial Arts Academy representative announced immediately.

Before his words had even faded, the Dragon Slayer Martial Hall representative laughed. "You're too late. Ouyang Yu, before I came, your Uncle Zhang already said you were reserved for Dragon Slayer. A generous contract has been prepared for you. You can sign it right now."

Ouyang Yu smiled as well. "I'll listen to Uncle Zhang. I'll join Dragon Slayer."

The Long Wind Martial Arts Academy representative dejectedly set down his pen. He had finally found someone he liked, only to discover he had already been reserved.

Ouyang Yu's signing caused quite a stir. The first person from Sixth High School to sign with one of the three great Martial Halls had appeared.

After signing the contract, Ouyang Yu changed into the Dragon Slayer Martial Hall uniform and officially became a Martial Artist trainee of Dragon Slayer Martial Hall.

His gaze swept toward the end of the line, and Ouyang Yu sneered inwardly. Lin Zhen, Lin Zhen. I'm a Martial Hall trainee now. Let's see how I crush you under my heel from now on.