Astonishing Progress

Lin Qi returned to the crowd amid everyone's discussion and saw Jiang Tao give him a thumbs-up.

"Qi Ge, you've already surpassed me!"

Jiang Tao spared no praise as he reached out to bump fists with Lin Qi.

"Bullshit. I'm still no match for you."

Lin Qi shook his head. It was not just him who had been improving rapidly lately; Jiang Tao had been doing the same.

Despite having few resources, Jiang Tao had firmly held his place in the top twenty of the grade. He was a true genius.

"Jiang Tao!"

Not long after, Zhang Cheng called out.

"Go on, Tao Zi. Let everyone else see what you can do too." Lin Qi gave Jiang Tao a push.

"Watch me!"

Jiang Tao rubbed his hands together excitedly. After a month of consuming huge amounts of resources, he had grown taller again, already breaking through 1.9 meters.

He had become even more muscular. The chiseled muscles beneath his dark skin radiated an intense sense of oppression.

Bang! Bang!!

Jiang Tao's fists shot out like massive cannons, slamming into the punching target.

His explosive power while running was astonishing, leaving everyone able to see only an afterimage.

Punch force: 913.2 kg! Speed: 18.1 m/s

Jiang Tao let out a breath of stale air, steam rising from his body as he grinned at Lin Qi.

"Tao Zi, congratulations. The top ten of the grade is no longer a problem for you at all."

Lin Qi congratulated him.

"Of course. I'm determined to make the top ten in the grade." Jiang Tao laughed as well.

"Lin Qi and Jiang Tao... it looks like both of them will get incredible results in this Monthly Exam."

Not far away, Li Zhou watched Lin Qi and Jiang Tao with curiosity in his eyes.

"Interesting!"

"Qi Yuelin, punch force: 960 kg."

"Yu Jing, punch force: 980.1 kg!"

Bang!

"Li Zhou, punch force: 1035.9 kg!"

"He broke a thousand kilograms!"

Everyone around them was stunned as they looked at the number on the electronic screen.

"That's outrageous. Once punch force exceeds 900 kilograms, it becomes incredibly difficult to improve any further."

"If the students from the regular classes found out, they'd probably be scared to death. The gap is too huge."

"Li Zhou is seriously a monster!" Jiang Tao sighed and shook his head.

"Has Li Zhou already broken through to the First Realm?" someone asked in shock.

"Probably not. Li Zhou was simply born with a better physique, so he's stronger than the others," Zhu Yuqi said, shaking her head.

Lin Qi was secretly astonished as well. A punch force above one thousand kilograms was normally a characteristic only seen after breaking through the First Realm and reaching the Second Realm.

Zhang Cheng also looked at Li Zhou with some surprise.

"This kid is clearly far more outstanding than the others."

Li Zhou continued with the speed test, but his speed did not exceed 20 m/s, because that was the minimum speed of a Second Realm Martial Artist.

"Quiet!"

As soon as Zhang Cheng spoke, the noisy class immediately fell silent.

"Alright, the first round of testing is over."

"It's time to begin the weapon technique test."

"Everyone, follow me!"

After speaking, Zhang Cheng led the two teachers out of the classroom. The other students followed behind them, full of confusion.

"Strange, weren't we supposed to test weapon techniques?" someone asked doubtfully.

But no one could answer his question.

Everyone crossed the hallway and arrived at the far end of the other side of the teaching building. There was a metal door there, which Zhang Cheng opened after entering a password.

He was the first to step inside.

The others followed him in. When Lin Qi stepped onto the floor, he realized it was made of custom tiles.

"This is..."

Someone pointed ahead in surprise.

Lin Qi looked over and saw ten egg-shaped machines neatly arranged in the room. He recognized them at once—they were Virtual Cabins.

"I'm sure you all recognize these: Holographic Virtual Cabins!" Zhang Cheng introduced them, patting one of the cabin doors with a hand.

"From today onward, all weapon technique assessments will be conducted in the Virtual World."

"And the accuracy is extremely high, so I can slack off a little too."

The students gathered around the Virtual Cabins. Someone asked curiously,

"Teacher Zhang, how are we supposed to take the test?"

"It's simple!" Zhang Cheng pointed ahead as one of the teachers turned on the projector.

A massive 3D projection appeared before everyone, and images and text began to emerge.

"You should all have Red Realm accounts. Log in as usual."

Search for Tianhai Monthly Exam through the Panel functions. After entering, input your name, exam number, and the weapon manual you have learned, then you can begin the test.

Your task is to defeat the tester. The AI will evaluate your strength and convert it into a score.

"So memorize your exam number now. You'll enter the Virtual Cabins in groups of ten, starting from the last-ranked student."

All the rules and everyone's exam number appeared on the green projection screen.

Zhang Cheng began explaining the rules.

Lin Qi and the other ten students were about to enter the Virtual Cabins when he noticed something strange about Chen Zichuan in the corner.

Chen Zichuan stared curiously at the Virtual Cabins, looking helplessly at how everyone else operated them. He looked exactly like Jiang Tao when he had first seen a Virtual Cabin.

"Tao Zi, Chen Zichuan seems like he hasn't used a Virtual Cabin before. Go teach him."

Lin Qi said.

"Alright!" Jiang Tao nodded and quickly walked over to Chen Zichuan.

After explaining things to him, Jiang Tao nodded from time to time.

Only then did Lin Qi feel at ease enough to enter a Virtual Cabin.

At the same time, martial arts students from major middle schools throughout Tianhai City were all undergoing Martial Arts Assessments.

Tianhai No. 1 Middle School, Martial Arts Assessment Classroom

The spacious classroom covered more than a thousand square meters. Thirty brand-new Virtual Cabins were placed inside.

A group of young men and women stood around them. Their eyes were bright, their expressions proud, and powerful auras radiated from their bodies.

The air was thick with competition.

"Guo Heng, I heard you're going to fight for a place in the top five of the grade in this Monthly Exam?"

In front of a Virtual Cabin, someone asked Guo Heng curiously.

Guo Heng's lips curled upward slightly.

"Of course. My Blade Technique has already broken through to the Second Order. There are only a handful of people in the class stronger than me."

"I'm not just aiming for the top five in the grade. I'm also aiming for the top fifteen in Tianhai City's overall ranking."

He clenched his fists and thought, I have to catch up to my sister.

He suddenly thought of Lin Qi and Jiang Tao. They were from No. 2 High School.

He wondered what rankings they would reach in this Monthly Exam.

Buzz—

Lin Qi's body went numb. When he opened his eyes again, he had already entered the familiar Red Realm Personal Space.

He opened the Panel, searched for Tianhai Monthly Exam, and another new Panel popped up.

[Please enter your name, manual, and exam number!]

[Name: Lin Qi]

[Manual: Mountain Shattering Spear Technique]

[Exam Number: 20455060...]

Lin Qi clicked confirm, and the surrounding space changed in the next second.

The next instant, he found himself inside a spacious room. The floor and walls were made of hard white metal.

Countless images of weapons were painted on the walls.

[Candidate Lin Qi, welcome to the Tianhai Monthly Exam Battlefield. Prepare for the Martial Arts Assessment!]

[Assessment Content: Defeat the assessor!]

[You have three minutes to prepare.]

Looking at the prompt on the Panel, Lin Qi thought of the Arena. It was almost exactly the same.

If the assessor was as rigid as the one from the Man-Machine Test, how could it test his Martial Arts?

As he pondered this, he also selected his weapon—the black great spear he was most familiar with.

The three minutes passed quickly.

Whoosh—

In the next instant, a figure appeared before Lin Qi.

It was a man wearing a white combat suit and a pure white mask, holding a Silver Spear.

The number "1" was clearly marked on his chest.

[Assessment preparation begins!]

[Assessor: Number 1]

[3, 2, 1...]

[Assessment officially begins!]

The intelligent female voice announced that the assessment had officially begun.

The next instant, the assessor charged forward. His Silver Spear danced as the spear shot forth like a dragon.