No Need to Fight, You Can Enter the Top Three

Xu Zhiming finished a round of Rolling Heavenly Thunder and glanced at the time.

It was already half past six in the evening.

Almost time to go downstairs and temper Zeng Hao and the others.

Lately, he had been practicing Wind Thunder Fist on the first floor, which let him improve his strength while also tempering Zeng Hao and the others—killing two birds with one stone.

Doing this wouldn't affect his improvement efficiency.

Going down to the first floor, he saw many people gathered together, with Huang Yilong at the center.

At Huang Yilong's feet sat a bucket of crimson liquid, and a strong smell of blood faintly drifted through the air.

Xu Zhiming raised an eyebrow. This was good stuff.

Monster Beast Essence Blood—the power inside seemed somewhat strong, stronger than any he had drunk before.

Seeing the crowd was a bit large, he didn't push his way in. Instead, he stood outside to see what was going on.

"Come, let's test your Vitality points first, so I can better allocate the Monster Beast Essence Blood based on your Vitality."

"Oh, and your martial skills too—what level have you reached?"

Huang Yilong's voice rang out.

Zeng Hao was the first to step forward.

During this time, his Vitality had been increasing very quickly.

And after telling his family about Xu Zhiming's matter, his mother was very happy and gave him twenty thousand yuan to buy potions to improve, pushing hard to get into even the worst Martial Arts University.

Zeng Hao didn't have high expectations for himself—the worst Martial Arts University would do.

Looking at the free Monster Beast Essence Blood here, taking it should boost his power quite a bit.

No one around spoke up first.

They all seemed a bit embarrassed to state their Vitality and martial skill levels.

Seeing this, Zeng Hao stepped forward.

He remembered Xu Zhiming saying, if you don't give it a try, how can you say you've lost in advance?

Whatever, that was the gist of it. He was a martial artist with a bad memory and couldn't recall the exact words.

"I'll go."

Zeng Hao stood beside the Vitality Testing Device.

"Vitality: 7.99."

"Not bad, you might have a shot at the worst Martial Arts University."

"Yeah, I remember a week ago when he first came, his Vitality wasn't even seven points."

Zeng Hao smiled a bit sheepishly.

"It's all thanks to Xu Zhiming's help. I couldn't have done it on my own."

"Teacher Huang, my Wind Thunder Fist is at the fourth level."

Huang Yilong nodded.

"Drink five milliliters of Monster Beast Essence Blood. If you can refine it all within ten minutes, you'll pass."

"Right, everyone else, hold on. Let's see how Zeng Hao performs first."

"It's not easy for me to hunt a monster beast—this is all the essence blood I have."

Zeng Hao tilted his head back and drank. Instantly, it felt like he had swallowed lava.

His face flushed bright red, and in his mind, a massive, terrifying Demon Wolf seemed to roar.

His soul trembled, as if he might pass out at any moment.

He closed his eyes, forcing down the urge to collapse and sleep.

He had to seize this opportunity and get into a Martial Arts University.

"Roar... roar..."

Zeng Hao let out occasional bellows, venting the pain.

Watching this, the others immediately had second thoughts.

Especially those whose Vitality was originally lower than Zeng Hao's.

Eleven minutes later, he suddenly opened his eyes. His body looked like it had been pulled out of water.

At his feet, there was nothing but sweat.

"Teacher Huang, I've successfully refined it."

"Eleven minutes and one second. A bit off, but not bad."

Huang Yilong waved his hand.

"Tell them, what did it feel like?"

Zeng Hao was stunned for a moment, meeting the expectant gazes of his classmates.

"Really tired. It felt like my soul was being torn apart by a terrifying Demon Wolf."

"I almost couldn't hold on and passed out. Look at all this sweat on me—you can tell."

Zeng Hao felt a pang of disappointment inside.

But it was still okay. He had at least managed to hold on.

Hearing Zeng Hao say this, combined with his performance just now, the vast majority of students had already backed out.

"I'll pass. I don't think I can last long."

"Me too. I'm wearing thin clothes—too much sweat and I'll be exposed."

Most of the girls gave up instantly. With that much sweat, their clothes would probably be plastered to their bodies.

Wang Ma stepped out after hearing Zeng Hao finish.

He gently patted Zeng Hao on the shoulder.

"You're really impressive!"

Zeng Hao looked at this tall guy, at least over two meters, with his upper body bare.

Second place of Yunshui Second High School, Wang Ma.

In the past, someone like that would never have spoken a single word to him on purpose.

It was all because of Xu Zhiming, who taught him the meaning of persistence and hard work.

"Haha... thanks for the compliment."

Many cast envious glances at Zeng Hao.

Wang Ma had a pretty good reputation at Yunshui Second High School. He didn't judge people by their status.

He wouldn't talk to you more just because you had high talent.

Nor would he look down on you because your talent was low.

He most liked chatting with people who worked hard and kept improving themselves.

Wang Ma's gaze landed beyond the crowd.

With his height, a full head taller than the other students, he easily spotted the person practicing Wind Thunder Fist behind the crowd.

A glint of battle intent flashed in his eyes.

His voice rang out like a great bell.

"Xu Zhiming, want to have a match?"

The vast majority of eyes turned sharply toward the distance.

The students on the outermost edge saw Xu Zhiming first.

They hadn't expected Xu Zhiming to be watching from outside.

"Competing at anything is pointless. Better to go Practice Fist and Spear."

Wang Ma paused, then couldn't help but laugh.

"Good, good. I knew we were the same kind of people!"

"Then let's do it next week. After Cloud Water City decides the top three to represent the city in the Joint Examination, we'll spar again."

Xu Zhiming was taken aback. Top three?

Wang Ma raised an eyebrow. Looked like he'd let it slip early. Since he'd already said it, no harm in saying it all.

"Sorry, it's about the previous Three Cities Joint Examination. It's been changed to the Nine Cities Joint Examination now, and each city sends three people to participate."

"So it's just the two of us fighting for third place."

Wang Ma said casually.

There was some bitterness in his heart. Fighting for third place—saying it out loud felt a little shameful.

But he knew he couldn't beat Feng Li, nor could he beat Qiu Yingzong from Yunshui First High School.

He'd been a bit worried about Qiu Zhenghua before, but it didn't seem necessary now.

The guy had been beaten into severe injury and was lying in the resource room. How could he compete with him?

His only real competitor was Xu Zhiming.

Xu Zhiming raised an eyebrow. The rules had changed again?

If there were only three spots, then he wouldn't hold back.

Going by surface-level strength, he really wasn't a match for Qiu Yingzong.

"No need to fight for it. You're definitely getting into the top three."

As soon as he said that, everyone present was stunned.

Their thoughts were the same as Wang Ma's—there were only a few capable people in all of Cloud Water City.

Judging from the combat strength Feng Lishen had displayed in the past, he was unfathomably deep.

There was someone at First High whose talent wasn't great, but who had plenty of resources; his blood energy far surpassed Xu Zhiyuan and Wang Ma.

Wang Ma looked at Xu Zhiming in confusion. The third place was his?

Could it be that Xu Zhiming knew he was hiding a trump card?

"You two, the sparring match can be next week."

"This is Level 35 beast essence blood. It'll do a lot for both of your blood energy."

"If you want to compete, then compete over who can drink more. What do you two think?"