Over the next few days, Meng Chao took things easy and continued training as usual.
His Contribution Points, however, skyrocketed like a burst bladder.
Besides Yan Zhennan, he had also farmed an Elite Monster—the head of the Yan Family, "Elite Citizen Yan Hengbo."
Even among Elite Monsters, there were distinctions of size. This martial arts Grandmaster who had personally created Ripple Force brought Meng Chao three-digit Contribution Points every single time!
Combined with the many martial arts experts throughout the Yan Family Corporation, who brought him several hundred or even over a thousand Contribution Points every day, it felt incredible.
However, Meng Chao had also noticed something: as Modified Ripple Force became more widespread, once the newly added Contribution Points each day reached their limit, they turned downward and gradually declined.
That was understandable. The future had already changed, and the contribution had already been made. A mere basic force-generation method could not possibly provide infinite Contribution Points.
Judging by the current daily decline curve, he could harvest several thousand Contribution Points from Modified Ripple Force alone, not to mention gaining ties with the Yan Family Corporation. He was already very satisfied.
At last, the day of the Undergraduate Three Trials' first trial—the school examination—had arrived!
Banners hung high at the school gates.
Colorful flags fluttered across campus.
Eight senior classes, nearly five hundred students, were locked in a fierce contest, competing for one hundred and fifty advancement slots.
The hot blood of youth was about to turn into boiling magma and blow the ceiling off the fifteenth floor of the Cultivation Center.
In the large conference room on the top floor of the Cultivation Center.
Dozens of large screens monitored the various examination halls.
Another screen displayed the constantly shifting score rankings.
School leaders and senior class homeroom teachers sat below. Whenever the rankings changed, subtle ripples crossed their faces. Even amid their laughter and conversation, the air was thick with sourness and even the scent of gunpowder.
Dragon City's resources were limited, and competition was everywhere. Humans had to compete with monsters, and humans had to compete with one another. Students fussed over rankings inch by inch; which teachers and school leaders did not want to contend against other classes, other key high schools, especially those lofty Municipal Key High Schools?
This year's senior cohort had performed quite well, faintly brushing the tail of the City Key High Schools.
Principal Sun was nearly seventy. In his youth, he had fought zombies and monsters, leaving behind deep-rooted injuries. He had gradually become a shriveled little old man with a stooped back who dozed all day long. He planned to give off the last of his lingering heat for another two years before retiring. Usually, he did not manage much, and he could still keep calm with a smiling face.
Academic Affairs Director Ma Qingyun, however, was in his prime and handled most of the daily work. He dearly hoped to take another step forward after Principal Sun retired.
This year's students had achieved excellent results, making him especially excited. His horse-like face had turned bright red, making him look exactly like the nickname students had secretly given him—a Big Macaque leaping and scrambling about.
Devil Yan remained expressionless, lightly tapping the table with his fingers as he studied the Wild Bull Technique in his mind.
The homeroom teachers of the eight graduating classes all put on the humility of top students:
"No good, no good. Our Class One isn't up to much this year. Only a little over thirty can outrun Bolt."
"Our Class Two is even worse. These lazy bugs are all limp-handed and weak-footed, not even as good as Olympic weightlifting champions from the Earth Era. Sigh, I'm worried sick!"
"If even your Rocket Class says that, then wouldn't our Parallel Class be completely finished?"
"What do you mean, 'finished'? Who doesn't know you're all holding back a breath, waiting to take a shot at our Rocket Class? Take Old Wang from Class Six—he looks harmless to man and beast on the surface, but he secretly formed a study group. Who knows what Marvelous Skill and Unique Art they're training? Old Wang, stop hiding. Tell us about it!"
"No, absolutely not." Wang Longjun shook his head with a solemn face. "What Marvelous Skill and Unique Art? Why don't I know anything about that?"
Before his words had even faded, the Limit Fist Strength ranking on the large screen trembled violently.
Someone had charged up the rankings.
Since every class was marked with a different color, everyone saw it at once:
"Class Six, Chu Feixiong. Limit Fist Strength: 249.5 kilograms. Twenty-first on the fist strength rankings!"
"Whoa!"
"A student from a Parallel Class actually has greater Limit Fist Strength than most students in the Rocket Classes?"
"Old Wang, that's not honest of you. You still say there's no Marvelous Skill and Unique Art?"
The other seven homeroom teachers all slapped the table, laughing and scolding, half in jest and half in truth.
Before they could recover from the shock of Chu Feixiong's fist strength, another Class Six student came galloping after him.
"Class Six, Meng Chao. Limit Fist Strength: 240.9 kilograms. One hundred meters: 9.55 seconds, beating Bolt by 0.03 seconds. His overall score is temporarily nineteenth in the school!"
"Meng Chao!"
"I remember he was a very promising seedling in his first and second years. He was seriously injured later on—he actually recovered?"
Now, even the homeroom teachers of the two Rocket Classes could not hide the envy and jealousy in their eyes.
They had been watching Meng Chao, this promising seedling, for a long time. If not for his injury, he would definitely have been assigned to a Rocket Class in his senior year.
Who would have thought that he would remain in Class Six, recover completely, and even take another step forward? What kind of luck had Wang Longjun stumbled into?
Even Devil Yan let out a soft "Hm?" and specifically pulled up Meng Chao's examination footage.
Academic Affairs Director Ma Qingyun gave a faint snort, though his face showed no extra expression.
"Quite good, quite good."
Principal Sun smiled like a cheerful mascot.
Today was destined to be a harvest day for Class Six. The shocks were far from over.
Not long after Meng Chao achieved a school-wide top-twenty result, another heavy bomb exploded.
"One hundred meters: 9.49 seconds, successfully breaking through the 9.5-second barrier. Limit Fist Strength: 250.1 kilograms, likewise exceeding the so-called 'High School Iron Wall' of 250 kilograms. Zuo Haoran, temporarily ninth in the school overall!"
"That's impossible!"
"A student from a Parallel Class actually broke into the school-wide top ten while nearly a hundred Rocket Class students chased and blocked him?"
"Zuo Haoran, so it was him. Then that... that was no wonder!"
After seeing the name of the record-breaking student, the shocked expressions of the other seven homeroom teachers subsided. They all cast flattering looks toward Academic Affairs Director Ma Qingyun, as though silently praising him: "Director Ma is amazing, teaching such a fine nephew!"
But down in the examination room, the Class Six students were utterly horrified.
They had just been immersed in Meng Chao's "powerful return," thinking he might have the slightest chance of defeating their class monitor, even if only in a single event.
Yet not even half a minute later, Zuo Haoran's overwhelmingly domineering scores shattered their hopes.
Whether in Limit Fist Strength or the hundred-meter dash, their class monitor used flawless performances to tell them what crushing, withering strength truly was.
"What do we do? Zuo Haoran is too strong. He's already twenty points ahead of Meng Chao in the first two events."
"I had thought Meng Chao might beat him by a little in the first two individual events, so that he wouldn't lose too miserably in the shooting test."
"So this guy had never sprinted all-out before. This past week, he must have really gone ruthless. He probably took secret medicine and spent a fortune renting cutting-edge training equipment to stimulate his cells' potential. Damn it, having money really is great."
Everyone ground their teeth anxiously.
Meng Chao and Zuo Haoran exchanged a glance.
The former quickly shifted his calm gaze away, while the latter curled his lips, his face full of undisguised dominance.
"All Class Six examinees, the Limit Strength and hundred-meter sprint tests are complete. Proceed to the indoor shooting range according to your rankings!"
The invigilator was from another school. This was standard practice: schools exchanged teachers to supervise examinations and eliminate any possibility of cheating.
The teacher from the other school was stern and impartial. He did not care about the subtle atmosphere between the students and simply waved them onward.
The tenth through twelfth floors of the Cultivation Center were indoor shooting ranges. At that moment, the rhythmic rise and fall of gunfire rang out without end.
The Rocket Classes had long begun their tests. One exaggerated score after another, mixed with the smell of gunpowder, stimulated the students' nerves and instantly put them in the zone.
Zuo Haoran took the lead and entered Shooting Range Six.
Meng Chao followed close behind.
Somewhat unexpectedly, besides the invigilator, Principal Sun, the Academic Affairs Director, Devil Yan, and the homeroom teachers had all arrived in the shooting range.
"Hello, Principal!"
"Director Ma."
"Teacher Yan, Teacher Wang."
The students hurriedly greeted them, showing particular respect to the Principal.
Though Principal Sun was now merely a shriveled little old man, he had once been a War Hero who turned the tide, bearing the title Heavy Cannon.
If Devil Yan killed monsters like chopping dumpling filling, then Principal Sun was simply a giant meat grinder in a food processing plant.
Students who had watched footage of his training and fierce battles in his youth could never overlap the current shriveled little old man with that mobile humanoid fortress.
"Quite good, quite good."
Principal Sun narrowed his eyes, looking half asleep.
The Academic Affairs Director stepped forward and explained why they had come. "Class Six has performed very well this year. You are temporarily leading the six Parallel Classes. Keep working hard, students!"
Everyone was surprised and delighted, and cheers erupted.
"When Class Six performs well, the homeroom teacher deserves great credit. And the class monitor has also played an excellent leading role."
The Academic Affairs Director gave Zuo Haoran's shoulder a heavy pat and said with a smile, "Keep it up!"
"Thank you for the encouragement, Director Ma. I will." Zuo Haoran held his head high and puffed out his chest, his imposing righteousness returning in full.
The students rolled their eyes, thinking, Who doesn't know you're uncle and nephew by blood? What are you putting on an act for?
"The firearms test is about to begin. Pull yourselves together!"
Devil Yan suddenly glared. "You only get one chance, and marksmanship is the easiest event for opening up a score gap. Forget your previous scores and focus on the targets before you. A moment's carelessness, and you won't even have a place to cry!"
The students' expressions tightened. They hurriedly cast aside distracting thoughts and calmed their minds.
"First group for testing: Zuo Haoran, Meng Chao!"
Following the rankings from the first two events, the invigilator called the top two forward.
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