"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! 3,800 points, first on the rankings! How on earth did Li Ziyu do it!?"
"How could anyone be this strong!? Wasn't he an orphan? How could he possibly possess this kind of strength!? How am I, Bai Haoran, supposed to surpass him!?"
"Cousin, your strength didn't just exceed my expectations—it nearly scared your cousin sister to death!"
"Hey, before the Martial Arts Exam, my mom even told me to look after you. If she knew about your results now, I really wonder how she'd react. I'm actually looking forward to it."
"Holy crap! Brother Yu is awesome! Brother Yu is number one under heaven!"
"Hiss! How did someone this heaven-defying appear at Third High School? To be this powerful yet conceal it so deeply—what a sneaky bastard!"
Different reactions played out across the Martial Arts Exam grounds. Everyone's eyes were firmly drawn to the name occupying first place on the rankings.
Jealousy, envy, shock, bitterness—every kind of emotion was on display.
"Li Ziyu? Huh, my uncivilized neighbor seems to be named Li Ziyu too. What a coincidence—he actually has a namesake."
The Martial Arts Exam was being broadcast live, and quite a few parents were watching the broadcast. Li Ziyu's Fat Woman neighbor was one of them.
When Fat Woman saw Li Ziyu's name on the rankings, she was somewhat surprised.
However, she did not pay it much attention.
She knew that neighbor's background inside out.
His qi-blood test had been 0.8.
Forget taking first place in Points—he should not even have been qualified to register for the Martial Arts Exam.
Otherwise, she would not have bullied him so brazenly.
Aside from feeling envious, Fat Woman thought no more of it and continued watching her son's broadcast:
"Good, good, good! What a good son! You already have 500 Points? That's enough to qualify for a regular undergraduate martial arts university!"
"I never thought our family could produce a martial artist too! We absolutely have to call all our relatives over and celebrate properly!"
The Martial Arts Exam command room.
The mayor, the principals, and a group of other senior officials emerged from the lounge and headed together toward the broadcast room on the top floor.
It was already the fourth day of the Martial Arts Exam. After watching for several days straight, they could no longer endure it and had all rested for one night.
As they walked toward the command room on the top floor, an argument broke out between the principal of First High School and the principal of Third High School:
The principals of First High School and Third High School refused to yield to each other and engaged in a heated discussion:
"Old Liu, your school has a genius like Li Ziyu, yet you've kept him hidden all this time. You hid him well!"
"Hmph! You were planning to use this Martial Arts Exam to make a spectacular debut, weren't you?"
"Haha, that was quite an elaborate scheme. However, although Li Ziyu's blade technique and movement technique are both Peak Level, when it comes to actual combat ability, he's still a little behind our school's Nangong Ao."
The principal of First High School adjusted his glasses and chuckled.
The principal of Third High School wore an openly disdainful expression:
"Bah, Li Ziyu's blade technique and movement technique are both Peak Level, and his qi-blood and Combat Power are also above Nangong Ao's."
"And you actually said his strength is inferior to Nangong Ao from your school? Aren't you talking nonsense!?"
"What use is being strong in basic martial techniques? In the later stages, doesn't everything still come down to talent?"
"Li Ziyu has a qi-blood-type talent. He's only a little stronger in the early stages. Just wait until the later stages—will a qi-blood-type talent still be enough?"
The principal of First High School sneered disdainfully.
At every Martial Arts Exam, the principal of Third High School had always sat in the back row.
Now, because of Li Ziyu, he had actually gotten to sit alongside him.
He was about to compete for the position of deputy director of the city's education bureau, so he would never give up the opportunity to suppress the principal of Third High School.
The principal of Third High School was no pushover either. His school had finally produced a genius like Li Ziyu, so of course he had to defend him with all his might.
His face flushed and his neck bulged as he argued with the principal of First High School, matching him blow for blow.
They were practically one step away from rolling up their sleeves and throwing punches.
"All right! Stop bickering! You're both principals of a school. What kind of spectacle are you making by squabbling here!?"
Wang Jiannan let out a cold snort, finally making the principals of First High School and Third High School stop arguing.
However, the two still glared furiously at each other. Neither was willing to yield, and they turned their heads away so they would not have to look at the other.
At this moment, Mayor Wang Jiannan spoke again:
"You're all elites of Xujiang City. There's no need to argue over every little detail."
"However, the principal of First High School has a point."
"Although Li Ziyu's basic martial techniques are stronger than Nangong Ao's, a qi-blood talent is indeed only more formidable in the early stages. By the middle and later stages, it still cannot compare with a Speed Talent."
"Let's stop discussing this for now. We'll go take a look at the current rankings. I estimate that Li Ziyu's ranking has already risen to second place by now."
Wang Jiannan's words made the principal of First High School look smug, while the principal of Third High School fell silent.
However, he also knew Wang Jiannan was right.
The qi-blood amplification provided a relatively large boost to Combat Power in the early stages, and the effect was obvious.
But the farther one progressed, the more easily a martial artist in the Grandmaster realm could possess hundreds of thousands of qi-blood. With one punch, the force of their qi-blood surged like a mighty river.
At that point, the difference in qi-blood could indeed no longer be revealed.
But a Speed Talent was different. Even in the later stages, being one second faster than someone else in combat could be fatal.
"Still, it's not bad for Li Ziyu to take second place in Xujiang City's Martial Arts Exam."
The principal of Third High School consoled himself.
Soon afterward, the group advanced in grand fashion to the broadcast room on the top floor and looked toward the Points rankings displayed in the center.
Then...
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"Hiss."
"Hissss!!!"
"First place, Li Ziyu, 3,800 Points!?"
"What's going on?? How did Li Ziyu become number one after just one night?"
Wang Jiannan furrowed his brows and stared suspiciously at the rankings.
On the Points rankings, Nangong Ao, who had originally been sitting securely in first place, had now been replaced by Li Ziyu.
Li Ziyu had more than 3,800 Points, a full 2,000 more than second-place Nangong Ao!
The other principals were equally at a loss.
"Quick! Pull up yesterday's replay of Li Ziyu's battles for me. Let's see what happened!"
Wang Jiannan was the first to recover. He hurriedly ordered the staff member responsible for the broadcast in front of the command room.
A moment later, with the staff member's simultaneous operation, Li Ziyu's battle footage appeared on the broadcast screen.
One slash, another slash, and another slash.
Unlike last time, Li Ziyu's location in the footage had now reached the central region.
The ferocious beasts had also changed from Level 1 Beginners to Level 1 Intermediates and Advanced Level 1s.
Yet Wang Jiannan discovered that Li Ziyu was killing the ferocious beasts even faster than before!
Previously, Li Ziyu had still relied on his movement technique to circle around the ferocious beasts. But in the central region, when facing Advanced Level 1 ferocious beasts, he simply crushed them by brute force!
Some of them were even killed with a single punch, without him drawing his blade!
Everyone present stared blankly at the sight of Li Ziyu violently sweeping through the ferocious beasts on the broadcast screen, unable to speak for a long while.
The entire venue was deathly silent, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Only after a moment did someone swallow and cry out in disbelief:
"This... just what level is Li Ziyu's strength!?"
"Even with qi-blood of 5.99, and mastery of Peak Level Blade Technique and Peak Level Movement Technique, he shouldn't be able to kill Advanced Level 1 ferocious beasts as easily as chopping vegetables, right!?"
"Hiss... one-punch instant kill. Could Li Ziyu be a Level 2 martial artist? But even if a Level 2 martial artist came here, they probably couldn't kill Advanced Level 1 ferocious beasts this effortlessly."
The principals of First High School and Second High School stood with their mouths agape, their faces filled with shock, disbelief, and intense confusion.
Almost instinctively, they turned to look at Wang Jiannan, who was likewise sunk in shock.
"Mayor Wang, can you tell what level Li Ziyu's strength is?"
Before you continue