Only after ordinary people awakened could they break through their accumulated qi and blood and become quasi-martial artists.
Quasi-martial artists could use genetic agents to unlock their genetic locks and break through the upper limit of their qi and blood.
As qi and blood rose, combat power would rise with it.
But as the Martial Association President had said, the ratio between qi and blood and combat power would remain within a fixed range.
As for exactly how much combat power one possessed, that still depended on the realm of the cultivation technique.
Simply put, the better the technique and the higher one cultivated its realm, the stronger one's combat power would be.
In theory, one's combat power could pull far ahead of one's qi and blood.
In reality, however, not many people could accomplish that.
For one thing, high-level techniques were exceedingly rare. Ordinary people had no way of obtaining them. At most, they could learn the ordinary punches and kicks in Martial Arts True Understanding, or the techniques found everywhere in martial arts schools.
For another, cultivating the realm of a technique was also extremely difficult.
The realms of a technique were divided into Initiation, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Perfection, and Subtlety.
The farther one went, the harder cultivation became!
Ordinary people could cultivate to the Initiation realm at most.
Yet Ling Yutang had cultivated his family's Ruyi Fist Style to the Major Accomplishment realm, clearly putting in considerable effort.
Although Ruyi Fist Style was not some profound technique, being able to reach this step was already extremely rare.
That was why the Martial Association President was quite satisfied with Ling Yutang.
"It's just that... his combat awareness is a little lacking. At most, he's probably two-star!"
Qi and blood and combat power could only measure the quality of a person's basic foundation.
In actual combat, victory or defeat still depended on combat awareness.
Take a wolf and a tiger, for example. In terms of combat power, a wolf was obviously far inferior to a tiger.
But if that wolf had keen combat awareness, there was still a chance it could wear a tiger down to death.
And Ling Yutang was clearly lacking somewhat in this regard.
"But it doesn't matter. Perhaps he simply hasn't participated in enough actual combat!"
"With more training, he still has plenty of room to improve!"
After observing for a while, the Martial Association President had already analyzed Ling Yutang more or less completely.
At that moment, the examination on the platform was also nearing its end.
Wei Xin sent a fierce Cleaving Wind Palm Style rushing in. Before Ling Yutang could react, it was already braced against his throat.
This was the death gate!
Ling Yutang had lost!
"All right!"
The Martial Association President promptly called a halt and walked over with a broad smile.
"Yutang, very impressive!"
"Wei Xin is one of the strongest Level Two examination officers in our Martial Arts Association!"
"His qi and blood value is as high as 32. The fact that you were able to fight him for so long is enough to prove your strength!"
As he spoke, he nodded at Team Leader Wang.
"Record it: Ling Yutang has passed the Level Two Martial Artist examination!"
"Issue him a Level Two Martial Artist badge!"
Team Leader Wang hurriedly recorded it.
Ling Yutang revealed a hint of delight when he saw this.
"Thank you, Uncle Wu! I still have many areas where I need to work hard!"
The Martial Association President nodded.
"Your combat awareness still has considerable room for improvement!"
"But it doesn't matter. Our Martial Arts Association's Genius Competition is still some time away. With some targeted training, it won't be a problem!"
Ling Yutang had initially felt secretly delighted when he heard the Martial Association President's praise.
But when he suddenly heard him mention combat awareness, his heart jolted.
Although the Martial Association President had phrased it tactfully, he could clearly sense that the man was rather dissatisfied with him in this area.
The Martial Association President did not notice anything unusual about Ling Yutang.
He said to Team Leader Wang,
"All right, you can continue with the rest!"
"If there are any promising prospects, remember to inform me promptly!"
Then he turned back and smiled at Li Yutang.
"Come, Yutang. Come sit with me."
"In a moment, I'll have them finish preparing your Level Two Martial Artist badge and send it over to you!"
Li Yutang suddenly shook his head.
"Uncle Wu, let's wait here!"
The Martial Association President was astonished.
"Here? Are you sure?"
Li Yutang smiled and said tactfully,
"Yes. I've always known that my combat awareness is quite weak!"
"There are very few opportunities for actual combat at school!"
"There are still quite a few people being examined here, so I want to watch for a while longer. I can also learn from other people's experience!"
The Martial Association President had just mentioned that his combat awareness was weak, and the deep-minded Li Yutang immediately wanted to put on a show and leave a good impression on him.
The Martial Association President found it both amusing and exasperating.
As a seasoned veteran, how could he possibly fail to see through Li Yutang's intentions?
However, he still needed to cooperate with Li Yutang, so he pretended not to know and let him do as he pleased.
"Not bad. You have ideas and know how to strive upward!"
"Your future is boundless!"
Beside them, Team Leader Wang kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart. He immediately patted the examination officer beside him, who promptly vacated two seats.
The Martial Association President pulled Li Yutang down without the slightest hesitation.
The others continued after that.
"First item: qi and blood value, 0.98. Failed! Have you even awakened? And you came here to take the martial artist examination? What a waste of time!"
"Second item: combat power, 99. Failed! Go back and cultivate your technique's realm more. Try to raise your combat power value as soon as possible. You may have a chance of passing the Level One Martial Artist examination next time!"
"Third item: poor combat awareness! Failed! You need more actual combat..."
"..."
One examinee after another stepped forward. More than eighty percent of them failed!
Even among those who passed, most had only barely scraped through!
According to the information provided by the girl at the front desk, today had the largest number of examinees.
Yet even so, only these few had passed. It was enough to show how difficult it was to become a martial artist!
"Yutang, did you see that?"
"Every one of those who passed had outstanding combat awareness and technique cultivation realms!"
"So these two aspects are extremely important to martial artists..."
Although the Martial Association President knew that Li Yutang might merely be putting on a show in front of him, he still instructed and taught Li Yutang as an elder.
"Yes, Uncle Wu. Yutang understands!"
The Martial Association President nodded in satisfaction.
"Next, number 58, Jiang Fan!"
When Jiang Fan heard the announcement, he rose to his full height.
Everyone else had already finished their examinations. Only the Martial Association President, Li Yutang, and the examination officers remained in the room, making the entire space look unusually empty.
As soon as Jiang Fan stood up, everyone noticed him.
When they saw his clothes, several of them couldn't help frowning.
He was from the Outer City!
How could someone from the Outer City at this age possibly become a martial artist?
Among those who had come for the examination today were some older people from the Outer City. They had awakened when they were young, then accumulated for many years before finally having enough money to buy a Level One genetic agent and cultivate until they broke through to become martial artists.
These people usually had extremely poor resources, and their technique realms and combat awareness barely managed to pass.
Jiang Fan looked only a teenager. Could he have come here to try his luck?
How naïve!
Wasn't this just wasting everyone's time?
The expressions of the several examination officers led by Team Leader Wang involuntarily turned cold.
They all thought in unison, We'll see whether you can pass the martial artist certification in a moment!
If you can't pass, we'll make sure you regret it!
Before you continue