What I Want

As they walked, the students of Class 01 entered their student ID numbers into Martial City and scanned them with their phones.

Feng Wenhao swept his gaze across the class. Of the fifty students, fewer than ten possessed Demonic Wristwatches. Then he glanced at Zhou Leng's wrist.

"What's your rank on the Ru City Freshman Ranking? I'm over nine thousand three hundred," Feng Wenhao asked.

With a light tap, Zhou Leng sent the screen projection floating before Feng Wenhao.

"Rank 2,946? Your current physical test scores are still from the college entrance examination. Once today's tests are over, you'll climb at least five or six hundred places."

Zhou Leng said, "Don't forget that plenty of people took Perfection Pills and have already advanced to the Blood-Circulating Stage. I'm still at the Qi-Nourishing Stage. I lag far behind in both total true qi and true qi intensity. Besides, after advancing to the Blood-Circulating Stage, their bodies will grow stronger too. Their overall test scores will definitely crush mine."

"That's true. But they forced their way into the Blood-Circulating Stage with pills, so their body tempering isn't complete. You still have a chance to compete with them."

"What rank is Zhou Leng?" the bald Wei Hong asked as he leaned over.

"2,946," Feng Wenhao said.

"Damn! With that ranking, you should be in the top ten at our martial arts academy. Weren't your physical test scores pretty bad?" Wei Hong asked, puzzled.

Feng Wenhao said, "The Freshman Ranking and the other rankings don't just look at test results. They also consider military merit and the like. He has over forty military merits. How many do you have?"

"Where would I get that much military merit? I worked myself to the bone, and I only got twelve," Wei Hong said.

Feng Wenhao said, "Hehe, a few of us got lucky and earned a little more military merit. Those truly formidable people had already farmed over a hundred military merits before enrollment."

Wei Hong said, "Zhou Leng, our class is counting on you. You might fall a little short in the first few months, but once you advance to the Blood-Circulating Stage, you'll be the only one capable of going toe-to-toe with Xu Kang'an from Class 02. Still, don't get your hopes up too high. Xu Kang'an wasn't the fiercest in our class, but his late-game potential was the strongest."

Feng Wenhao asked, "You two were classmates in high school?"

"Yeah. After the college entrance exam, he didn't take a Perfection Pill. He cultivated his way to Qi-Nourishing Perfection, and his strength far surpassed ordinary Martial Arts Ten students. Our homeroom teacher regretted it terribly. Back then, he never thought Xu Kang'an had such incredible staying power. If he'd known, he would have fought to the death to stop him from applying to a martial arts academy."

Feng Wenhao looked at Zhou Leng and said, "With Xu Kang'an around, keep a low profile during the first semester. Then, in the second half of next year, surpass him!"

"I think that'll work," Wei Hong said.

"Ask Xu Kang'an what rank he is," Feng Wenhao said.

"Give me a second."

Before long, Wei Hong said, "He's 802nd."

The people around them all fell silent.

Zhou Leng's ranking was already high enough, yet he still trailed Xu Kang'an by more than two thousand places.

"We're at the test grounds," Zhou Leng said.

Instructor Deng Zhijue shouted loudly.

"Everyone, put on your student IDs and enter according to your student numbers."

"There are six physical test subjects. Using true qi is forbidden. Once discovered, you will be disqualified immediately."

"The 5,000-meter sprint will begin in batches due to the large number of people. Later, everyone will be running together. Ignore the others. The demonic instruments will use your student IDs to give you fair scores..."

"In the technological era, an amateur 5,000-meter time was around fifteen minutes, while the world record was around twelve minutes and thirty seconds—roughly 6.7 meters per second."

"For martial arts academy students, the passing score of sixty is twelve minutes, far beyond the champions of the past."

"So what does a perfect score of one hundred for the 5,000 meters mean? Ten meters per second—running under eight minutes and twenty seconds at nearly the speed of a 100-meter sprint in the technological era."

Hearing that number, everyone's hearts sank.

Going from 6.7 meters per second to 10 meters per second did not seem like much, but once one reached the limits of the human body, every tiny improvement was exceedingly difficult.

Without true qi, maintaining a speed of ten meters per second over 5,000 meters was nearly impossible.

"Good. Ten people per group, take your places in the corresponding lanes..."

Zhou Leng glanced at his student ID. 0109.

Zhou Leng walked to the starting line. Together with several others, he lowered his body slightly and assumed a starting stance.

"Run!"

At Instructor Deng Zhijue's command, the ten students shot out like arrows loosed from a bowstring.

"Go, Zhou Leng!" Feng Wenhao shouted, walking to the starting line with the second batch of students.

"Run!" Deng Zhijue gave the order, and the second batch began.

Before long, five groups of students were running on the track at once.

Zhou Leng held first place with an absolute advantage.

Deng Zhijue and several other instructors swept their gazes across the fifty students.

Deng Zhijue commented, "This Zhou Leng is quite good. His college entrance physical test score was only in the sixties, but judging from his current speed, eighty-five points is the floor."

Another instructor said, "That Chang Luan is not bad either. After all, he's advanced to the Blood-Circulating Stage. His speed far exceeds those who started alongside him."

"Those who advanced to the Blood-Circulating Stage with Perfection Pills have unstable qi and blood. Look—their bodies sway much more than the other students'."

"That's why we have entrance tests. Once they fully absorb the medicinal effects, ordinary students will find it difficult to catch up to them."

"Still, this Zhou Leng, the supplemental-admission student, is truly steady. His breathing is steady, his steps are steady, his center of gravity is steady... Hm? He seems to have improved far more noticeably than during the supplemental admission test."

"His supplemental-admission sprint score was eighty-eight, not quite ninety. Today, he might very well break ninety."

"Let's see how many of his final scores exceed ninety. With 'half-nine' results, the martial arts academy scholarship and Ru University scholarship will both be secure."

"I wonder if he has what it takes to contend for the best martial arts scholarship."

The instructors observed and commented at the same time.

Zhou Leng remained firmly in absolute first place.

As seconds ticked by, those Blood-Circulating Stage students overtook the others.

However, apart from Lu Juncai, no matter how the others accelerated, they only fell farther and farther behind Zhou Leng.

Before long, Zhou Leng charged across the finish line.

The detector at the finish line transmitted the data to the tablet in Deng Zhijue's hand.

The instructors all looked over.

Deng Zhijue slowly said, "Zhou Leng's 5,000-meter sprint result: nine minutes, thirteen seconds, zero five. Ninety-four points."

"That's a good start!" The instructors nodded repeatedly, smiles on their faces.

"This result isn't high for a Blood-Circulating Stage student, but for a Qi-Nourishing Stage student, it's exceedingly rare."

Soon, the whole class had finished running.

"Rest for ten minutes, then proceed to the evasive run field. I'll send screenshots of the results to the class group."

Everyone hurriedly checked.

Seeing his score of eighty-seven, Chang Luan smiled. This score was far higher than his previous physical test result.

Then he looked at Zhou Leng's score, his brow furrowing slightly.

Tao Bing, with blue hair, said quietly beside him, "Zhou Leng and Lu Juncai are tied for first, both with ninety-four points. Lu Juncai is in the Blood-Circulating Stage."

Chang Luan sighed and said, "I'll talk to him again."

With that, Chang Luan walked toward Zhou Leng.

"Zhou Leng, shall we talk somewhere to the side?"

Zhou Leng glanced at Chang Luan. "Sorry, but during the exam, I don't want to be distracted."

Chang Luan said, "Why ruin the harmony between classmates over the results of one or two tests?"

"Up to now, everything has been harmonious. I also want harmony. I'm just afraid someone else doesn't."

Zhou Leng's gaze remained focused. His mind was wholly on the tests, utterly unmoved by external matters.

"Name your price. I can give you everything you want," Chang Luan said in a low voice.

Zhou Leng said, "You have no idea what I want, and you can't give me what I want."

Chang Luan stared at Zhou Leng for a long time before turning and leaving.

Feng Wenhao walked over and asked softly, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Zhou Leng said.

Feng Wenhao looked at Chang Luan's retreating back and said quietly, "He's very active in the group chat and has been messaging quite a few classmates. He definitely wants to compete for class monitor, and perhaps even for the position of this year's senior disciple. If you can avoid offending him, don't offend him."

"Mm. It's fine."

Chang Luan walked back and stood where he was, feeling gloomy.

Over the past few days, he had been making moves everywhere. Including himself, Class 01 had seven Blood-Circulating Stage students on the surface, and two had agreed to fall back slightly in exchange for pills.

But there was no way to rule out the possibility that others would score higher than him.

He had also contacted powerful Blood-Circulating Stage students from other classes.

A few could not even be bothered to acknowledge him. The highest-scoring one, Xu Kang'an, was the same, completely unwilling to cooperate with him.

Clearly, more than one person wanted to contend for the position of senior disciple.

Tao Bing said quietly, "Do you want me to make a move? It doesn't matter if my score is a little worse."

Chang Luan said slowly, "Wait a little longer. Let's see how things go."

Before long, the entire class entered the evasive run field.

It was a serpentine track, with densely packed multi-barrel ball launchers positioned along both sides.

Deng Zhijue shouted, "According to student number, charge in one after another at fifteen-second intervals. Ready... run!"

The student with number 01 gritted his teeth and rushed inside.

After only a few steps, a twenty-barrel ball launcher went bang, firing a full twenty tennis balls that scattered like celestial maidens flinging blossoms, flying straight at him and raining down over his head.

The student hurriedly dodged, but more than five tennis balls struck him.

He gave a muffled groan, clenched his teeth, and kept running.

The second student saw the tennis balls rolling across the ground, and his heart sank.

The farther back one went, the harder it became.

"Next!" Deng Zhijue's voice rang out.

The second student began running.

Soon, it was Zhou Leng's turn.

Zhou Leng charged in like a leopard, though he did not use his full strength.

Bang!

The first wave of twenty tennis balls fired. Zhou Leng drove off with his right foot, his body suddenly accelerating and springing forward, instantly evading every ball.

When he reached the middle section, more than a dozen ball launchers suddenly fired in unison. Over a hundred balls erupted from both sides like a torrential downpour.

Whether he accelerated or retreated, there was no way to dodge them all.

Zhou Leng immediately stopped, twisted his body to evade, and writhed at high speed like an upright earthworm.

Smack! Smack!

Two hits.

Zhou Leng continued running.

"His movement technique has reached minor mastery. Not bad. This time, he also has a chance of reaching ninety points," an instructor said with a slight nod.

Student number 08 ran at full speed, but he vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Whoosh...

What had just passed him?

Could someone overtake him even with a fifteen-second interval?

The dejected number 08 watched helplessly as Zhou Leng sped along the serpentine track ahead.

"Students who finish, go to both sides of the track to pick up the balls and throw them back into the ball launchers!" Deng Zhijue shouted.

The students ahead began picking up and tossing back balls.

Before long, Zhou Leng dashed through the finish line.

"How many points did Zhou Leng get?" one instructor could not help asking Deng Zhijue.

Deng Zhijue glanced at the tablet in his hand and said quietly, "Fifty-two seconds, zero seven, for the full course. Hit seven times. Ninety-four points."

"This kid has some real skill."

"His reaction speed and visual tracking ability are extremely strong."

The instructors watched the figure bending down to pick up balls. He looked utterly ordinary.

After the second subject ended, Deng Zhijue sent a screenshot of the class's results to the group chat.

Zhou Leng stood in first place by a cliff-like margin. The student in second had only eighty-eight points.

Looking at that score, all the students fell silent.