Destructive Intensity Meter

Chapter 35: Destructive Intensity Meter

The testing continued, and the way everyone looked at Zhou Leng had changed.

Scores in the nineties in other subjects merely meant Martial Arts Ten standards in individual subjects. That was not rare.

But a perfect score in true energy control would have been top-tier even in Yunhua or Jinjing.

Deng Zhijue once again sent the scores to all the students.

At that moment, a student whispered, "Does Zhou Leng count as 'Half-Nine Scores' now?"

The examination grounds immediately became lively with discussion.

The Examiners exchanged glances. They had not expected their casual remark from earlier to come true.

Wei Hong said enviously, "Now Zhou Leng's regular scholarship and Martial Dao scholarship are secured. If he gets lucky, he might even receive invitations from some special training camps."

As Feng Wenhao looked at Zhou Leng's scores, he said, "Zhou Leng, work a little harder. Get above 90 in all four remaining comprehensive-test subjects, become an All-Nine Scores martial arts school student, and crush the Martial University students!"

The entire venue fell silent again.

Wei Hong was stunned for a long while before slowly saying, "Isn't it a bit excessive for a martial arts school student to get All-Nine Scores?"

"I think it's worth trying." Lu Juncai became interested.

"I think it can be done!"

"Go, Zhou Leng!" All the students became inexplicably excited.

"That's All-Nine Scores!" A female student's eyes gleamed.

"The moment to witness a miracle..."

The students chatted and laughed, every pair of eyes sparkling brightly.

Only Chang Luan stared at the pitch-black sky, the ominous feeling in his heart growing stronger.

At that moment, a group of school instructors walked over from nearby.

Leading them was none other than Chief Instructor Huang Jingqiu.

Deng Zhijue hurriedly turned to run over and salute him, but Huang Jingqiu waved a hand. "Continue. Don't mind me. I'm just taking a look around."

Deng Zhijue naturally knew whom he had come to see, and lowered his head to check the time.

"Next is the final comprehensive test. Those who haven't taken a Marching Pill can take one now."

Zhou Leng took out a Marching Pill, swallowed it with water, and waited.

After the break, Deng Zhijue said, "We'll now begin the comprehensive test."

"The four comprehensive-test subjects combine energy and strength, as well as body and technique. None of the four can be lacking."

"We'll now begin the first subject of the comprehensive test: true-energy weightlifting, starting with candidate number 01... Also, Zhou Leng, relax your entire body. Don't obsess over whether you can get all nines. Just perform at your normal level."

Zhou Leng nodded, took a deep breath, and suppressed every stray thought.

Before long, Zhou Leng stepped onto the weightlifting platform and braced the demon-patterned thick steel plate with both hands.

"Begin!"

The weightlifting platform trembled slightly and began pressing downward.

Zhou Leng had already pushed the Mystic Tide Art to its limit. True energy surged through his entire body like a tide, circulating madly.

Powerful strength merged into his bones and muscles, resisting the downward pressure of the thick steel plate.

The numbers on the display leaped and changed rapidly.

100... 200... 300...

Beep...

The weightlifting platform stopped.

The number stopped.

35.

91 points.

"Five hundred kilograms without true energy, over two thousand kilograms with true energy. The weight isn't especially high, but this fourfold ratio is rare."

Everyone nodded lightly.

The others took their turns at weightlifting. Just as before, the Blood-Circulating Stage students all had higher weightlifting figures than Zhou Leng, but not a single one had a multiplier exceeding four.

Wei Hong said, "I can't wait to see the destructive intensity. That's the figure that best reflects actual destructive power."

After everyone finished testing, Deng Zhijue spoke again.

"Our attacks after using true energy differ from purely physical attacks."

"A true-energy attack includes not only the destructive force of the body and true energy, but also the destructive force of cultivation arts and all kinds of powers with unknown properties. The actual destructive effect cannot be measured using simple units like kilograms or newtons."

"To give the simplest example, some true energy contains both ice and fire power, and they're mixed together. No matter how you test it, you can't calculate that in kilograms."

"Some experts even possess particularly unusual power that cannot be detected. The parameters need to be manually changed, and sometimes an advanced Destructive Intensity Meter is required."

Everyone nodded.

"Therefore, maximum destructive intensity will use everyone's previous data together with the effects of their full-force strike to form a special value. This value is not entirely accurate, but it can largely reflect a person's actual destructive power."

"Alright, we'll now use the Destructive Intensity Meter."

The Destructive Intensity Meter was vastly different from the punching-force meter.

The punching-force meter had a contact surface only as large as the back of a chair, while the Destructive Intensity Meter resembled a wall two meters high and two meters wide. The equipment room behind it occupied more than one hundred square meters.

The wall surface of the Destructive Intensity Meter was also leather, but the material was rougher.

The students stepped forward one after another, circulated their true energy, and used their strongest moves to strike the leather wall, excluding leg techniques.

Tiny numbers appeared on the Destructive Intensity Meter's display.

8.

9.

1...

Zhou Leng recalled that his true energy seemed to have changed because of the Frost Giant Tree. He wondered whether the Destructive Intensity Meter could detect it.

Before long, Zhou Leng stepped before the Destructive Intensity Meter, circulated his true energy, and unleashed the most fierce and powerful palm from the Wave-Stacking Palm—a move that required prolonged, motionless charging.

True energy trembled within Zhou Leng's body. It instantly diminished everywhere else, while the true energy in his right arm abruptly increased, thread by thread, converging into one.

Ten Thousand Rivers Return to the Sea.

Bang!

Everyone stared at the display.

56.

4 points.

Almost everyone smiled. He had moved one step closer to All-Nine Scores.

"Very good. Next," Deng Zhijue said.

One student after another tested their destructive intensity.

The more they tested, the happier the instructors became.

The destructive intensity scores of the students behind them were all fairly high. Several had even surpassed 5.

A destructive intensity above 5 was relatively difficult, about as hard as getting 85 points in evasive running.

Previously, aside from Zhou Leng, everyone's evasive-running score had been below 80.

Since destructive intensity best reflected actual destructive power, even Chief Instructor Huang Jingqiu nodded repeatedly.

Deng Zhijue deliberately recorded every student whose destructive intensity exceeded 5 points. He would report them to the martial arts school later as key trainees.

Seeing his own score, Zhou Leng felt both regret and relief.

The regret was that the changes in his true energy apparently amounted to nothing much.

The relief was because he had overthought it. There was no need to hide anything; he could simply test normally in the future.

"Everyone, rest for ten minutes..."

While everyone rested, three operators in the equipment room behind the Destructive Intensity Meter were carefully inspecting it.

"These areas have already lit up orange. Some components or demon patterns have probably been overused and worn down. After today's exams, we'll need to ask Demon Spirit Masters to perform maintenance."

"Strange. It was obviously just serviced before the college entrance examinations."

"Maybe it's been used a little too frequently recently. Anyway, it hasn't turned red yet, so it can still be used."

Ten minutes later, Deng Zhijue spoke while looking at the tablet in his hands.

"Maximum destructive intensity is measured with one punch, while average destructive intensity is determined by attacking continuously for ten seconds, then dividing by the number of attacks to get the average."

"However, in order to comprehensively test every move, this test has one mandatory restriction."

"Once each person selects an external martial art, they must begin from the first form and use the subsequent moves in sequence. After finishing, they cycle through them again."

"Because in combat, you aren't allowed to rely on a single move. You need the coordination of multiple techniques."

"It's extremely difficult to score above 90 in this subject. Prepare yourselves," Deng Zhijue said, glancing at Zhou Leng.

"Alright, begin!"

The students stepped forward to test one by one.

Everyone before him had an average destructive intensity lower than their maximum intensity by as much as 5 points, or even 1 point.

It was soon Zhou Leng's turn.

Zhou Leng held nothing back, swiftly unleashing all eighteen forms of the Wave-Stacking Palm in repeated cycles.

When the ten seconds ended, he looked up at the data.

09.

95 points.

"He broke 95 points..."

"A future real-combat expert."

Zhou Leng left, and the others continued testing.

The instructors' moods grew increasingly bright. Scoring above 80 in this subject was difficult, yet aside from Zhou Leng, several others had scored 85.

After finishing this subject, everyone headed to the final examination grounds.

Chief Instructor Huang Jingqiu lifted his foot to follow, but someone behind him called out, "Chief Instructor."

Huang Jingqiu turned around. It was an operator from the Destructive Intensity Meter.

"Reporting to Chief Instructor, multiple fault lights on this Destructive Intensity Meter have turned red. We need Demon Spirit Masters and engineers to inspect and repair it. It cannot be used for the time being."

"Hm? Wasn't it just serviced? I remember that several of the most easily worn components had just been replaced, at a price of over a hundred thousand."

"We don't know either. After all, the Destructive Intensity Meter is the most complicated instrument."

Huang Jingqiu frowned. "An extra inspection and maintenance session costs at least five hundred thousand... Forget it. Find someone as soon as possible and inspect it properly. Don't delay the monthly examinations."

"Yes."

"For the later classes, have them squeeze in with the other one first. If that doesn't work, use the one at Ru University Campus."

Class 01 arrived at the final examination grounds. Most students stared ahead with expressionless faces.

This was an indoor arena.

Inside the arena stood sixteen identical demonized machines.

Each demonized machine resembled an enlarged black tin can, with its own hollow room inside.

Many students repeatedly drew deep breaths and looked around.

There was an indescribable strange smell here that made people feel stifled.

Yet no one could say what it was.

"Everyone, put on your groin guards, knee pads, and headgear. Put your phones and all other belongings into your backpacks..."

"The first sixteen students, enter in order. Warm up and give it a try first."

It was Zhou Leng's first time entering an Impact-Resistance Machine. He examined it carefully as he walked inside.

The room's inner walls, ceiling, and floor edges were covered in dense arrays of "mechanical-arm boxing gloves."

Silver mechanical arms were wrapped in red boxing gloves.

Hundreds of fists aimed at the center, creating immense pressure.

Not only was Zhou Leng not worried, he was somewhat excited.

Like the Destructive Intensity Meter, the Impact-Resistance Machine was a high-end demonized machine and was extraordinarily effective for training impact resistance.

In real combat, impact resistance was of paramount importance.

If two people had the same weight, realm, strength, experience, and everything else, but one had never trained impact resistance while the other had, the difference in battle would be as vast as heaven and earth.

Buzz...

The Impact-Resistance Machine emitted a faint hum, then slowly rotated toward Zhou Leng.

The arm directly in front of him emitted a red glow. Its boxing glove targeted Zhou Leng's face and struck straight at him.

Zhou Leng made a sideways flash and easily avoided it.

The arm-mounted boxing gloves attacked one after another. Zhou Leng kept shifting, swaying, and dodging.

Zhou Leng did not use any footwork or movement technique at all, choosing only the most direct methods.