Inside the room.
Li Ziyu was already lying on the sofa.
A steaming cup of tea sat on the coffee table, while an old television across from him played an old TV program.
Sitting on the sofa and watching television had been one of the habits he kept from his previous life after getting off work.
After so many days since transmigrating, there had always been a taut string in his heart. After this Martial Arts Exam, however, he felt somewhat more relaxed.
After watching for a while, Li Ziyu casually picked up the remote and turned off the television, then began considering what he had gained this time and what he planned to do next.
"Open the system panel."
Name: Li Ziyu. Realm: Level 1 Advanced Martial Artist (+). Combat Skills: Peak Raging Bull Body Tempering Method, Peak Level Movement Technique, Peak Blade Technique, Advanced Vajra Body (+), Gale Blade Technique (+). System: Martial God System. Function: It can absorb all things and increase qi and blood. The remaining functions await the host's own discovery.
After killing that Level 2 vicious beast, the Bloody Violent Bear, he could finally level up!
Looking at the plus sign beside the system's information, the corners of Li Ziyu's mouth unconsciously lifted slightly.
"Peak Blade Technique, Peak Level Movement Technique, Peak Raging Bull Body Tempering Method."
"My attack speed and defense have all reached Peak Level, forming a perfect trinity. I really made the right choice by taking the Martial Arts Exam this time!"
Unlike qi and blood, basic martial skills could not have their cultivation speed accelerated by taking pills or borrowing external forces.
To cultivate basic martial skills to a profound level, there was no other way besides comprehension and day-in, day-out hard training.
As far as he knew, even a martial arts prodigy with extraordinary talent would need at least five or even ten years of effort to cultivate a basic martial skill to the Peak Realm.
Someone like him, who was only seventeen yet possessed two Peak-level martial skills and a Peak Level 2 Body Tempering Battle Skill, was practically unheard of.
Not to mention, this was only one of the gains he had obtained during the Martial Arts Exam.
He could raise his realm now, too!
"System, raise my realm!"
Li Ziyu clenched his fists and shouted excitedly in a low voice.
As his voice fell, the words "Level 1 Advanced Martial Artist" on the system panel were replaced by "Peak Level 1 Martial Artist."
As the realm displayed on the system panel changed,
Li Ziyu felt a wave of heat surge from his heart. Then, accompanied by his heart's pounding contractions, it continuously pressured his blood.
The heat spread through his blood, flowing into every limb and bone.
His body turned bright red, like a fully cooked shrimp, or red-hot magma.
Scalding heat radiated from him, while waves of steaming white vapor continuously rose from his skin and evaporated.
In an instant, the cramped living room was completely filled with mist.
"Mom, someone across the way is taking a bath in their living room! Look, the mist has even reached the living room!"
A child next door, who had been playing, pointed at the floor where Li Ziyu's home was and cried out in alarm.
The adults looked in the direction the child pointed, but saw no water vapor. Everything appeared normal.
They patted the child on the head, assuming he was joking.
"Don't be ridiculous. How could someone be taking a bath in the living room?"
"But I really saw it..."
Inside the room.
Li Ziyu curiously examined his own hands.
The upgrade and the process had been far too agonizing, completely unlike how it was described in the books.
Moreover, it had produced so much vapor that he had nearly felt as if the blood in his body were being boiled. This was absolutely not the phenomenon of an ordinary breakthrough.
However, after searching online for a while, Li Ziyu found the answer.
"It's said that when one cultivates a Body Tempering Method to a profound level and then breaks through their realm, all kinds of extraordinary phenomena will appear."
"This is a transformation caused by the body becoming too powerful. The internet calls it a Limit Breakthrough. It seems that was what just happened to me."
Li Ziyu examined his hands and arms.
Indeed, after this breakthrough, he felt that the skin on his body had become fairer and more resilient.
It was as if a layer of cowhide had covered its surface.
Li Ziyu took a fruit knife from the kitchen and slashed it across his palm.
With a sharp scrape, the tip of the fruit knife struck his skin with a dull thud.
Instead of piercing through his skin and drawing blood as it normally would, it only pressed his skin downward before being bounced back.
"It seems ordinary blades are no longer enough to break through my defense."
Li Ziyu threw several punches into the air. As circles of white airflow followed his fists, a series of explosive cracks rang out.
"My strength has improved as well. If I encountered that Level 2 Beginner vicious beast again, I probably wouldn't even need three kicks. Two punches would be enough to kill it!"
"I could even fight a Level 2 Intermediate vicious beast!"
Li Ziyu thought to himself. The reason his physique was so powerful now was certainly not something an ordinary Peak Level 1 Martial Artist could achieve. The Body Tempering Battle Skill, the Raging Bull Body Tempering Method, must have played a part.
"It's said that above Peak Level, there's an even higher level called Mastery Level."
"When a battle skill is cultivated to Mastery Level, it undergoes a qualitative transformation. Even a Level 1 battle skill can display an effect no weaker than a Level 2 battle skill."
"Tsk, I wonder what would happen if I cultivated all my battle skills and martial skills to Mastery Level."
"By then, challenging opponents above my level would probably be as easy as chopping melons and slicing vegetables."
Night fell.
The moon hung high, and the stars shone bright.
From time to time, dark clouds drifted past, obscuring the starlight and making it flicker in and out of sight.
Many people in Xujiang City had fallen into slumber, but the mayor's office was still brightly lit.
Mayor Wang Jiannan sat upright before his office chair, staring fixedly at the desktop computer screen in front of him.
Behind him, Secretary Wang, the principal of No.1 High School, the principals of No.2 High School and Third High School, and a host of senior officials from the Education Bureau all stared at the screen without blinking. For a moment, even their breathing could not be heard.
"The national Martial Arts Exam rankings are out!"
"Quick! Open the rankings directly to the top twenty and see whether Li Ziyu is in there!"
The clock on the desk pointed to midnight. Wang Jiannan leaned forward nervously.
The custom for the Martial Arts Exam was to release the rankings first and the scores afterward.
The rankings could be checked now.
Secretary Wang immediately stepped forward, took the mouse, and began operating the computer.
He opened the first page of the Martial Arts Exam rankings. Twenty names appeared from top to bottom.
Several principals and the senior officials from the Education Bureau hurriedly gathered around.
The allocation of resources to each city was determined entirely by its local Martial Arts Exam results. If a candidate from their jurisdiction entered the national rankings, the city would inevitably receive more resources. Everyone present would benefit from that.
It could be said that Li Ziyu's national ranking was tied to the interests of every person in the room.
After celebrating with a meal following the Martial Arts Exam, everyone had been too excited, agitated, and anxious to sleep.
So they had all simply followed Wang Jiannan to the office to wait for the Martial Arts Exam results.
"Li Ziyu should at least be in the top ten this time, right?"
"Probably. The candidates from Capital City and Demon Capital are quite strong, but Li Ziyu really did us proud. I estimate he'll rank somewhere between fifth and tenth."
"Impressive!"
The room fell silent. Everyone held their breath and stared unblinkingly at the computer screen.
They looked upward from twentieth place at the bottom.
"Hmm, the people above are basically all from Demon Capital and Capital City. Their educational resources aren't something we can compare with. It's understandable."
Wang Jiannan examined the names one by one from the bottom upward, commenting on each.
"Hmm? Li Ziyu isn't among the names from tenth to twentieth place. Could he be ranked between fifth and tenth?"
Seeing no sign of Li Ziyu between tenth and twentieth place, Wang Jiannan slightly furrowed his brows.
But when he thought of Li Ziyu's performance, he did not panic.
With a click of the mouse, he turned to the next page.
Five more names appeared.
"Hmm?"
"What's going on? How is Li Ziyu not among fifth through tenth place?"
Wang Jiannan was slightly startled. His brows knitted tightly as he looked at the names displayed on the screen. Could he have underestimated the strength of the Martial Arts Exam students from the other cities?
Li Ziyu hadn't made the rankings?
The other principals' hearts sank as well. Could Li Ziyu have fallen outside the top twenty?
The top twenty and the bottom twenty nationally carried entirely different weight. Those in the top twenty were qualified to represent the various martial arts universities in the Youth Martial Arts University League.
But that shouldn't be possible. Li Ziyu's performance in the Martial Arts Exam had clearly been so dazzling.
Could it be...
The principals exchanged glances, thinking of a result they had not even dared dream of.
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