Ranking Third!!

"How is this possible!!!"

Chen Zhen stared fixedly at the scene before him, disbelief thick in his lone eye.

One punch!

It had been only one punch!

Yet the Blood Qi Layer Eight Martial Arts Puppet had been defeated.

Such combat power...

Hiss!!

For a moment, even Chen Zhen could not help sucking in a sharp breath.

"No! This kid's martial art..."

However, Chen Zhen had become an instructor of the Martial Arts Class, so he was naturally no ordinary man. With one glance, he could tell that Lu Sheng's martial art seemed far from simple.

"A Blood Refining Martial Art!!"

A brilliant gleam flashed in Chen Zhen's lone eye.

"Judging by Lu Sheng, he seems to have cultivated this Blood Refining Martial Art to the major mastery stage. Such talent..."

Even Chen Zhen's breathing could not help growing somewhat hurried at this moment.

The commotion around Lu Sheng naturally drew the attention of the other students. Even the Martial Arts Class students currently fighting puppets could not help looking toward Lu Sheng.

"This guy..."

Bai Mo frowned slightly as he watched Lu Sheng defeat the Blood Qi Layer Eight puppet.

One had to know that even now, he was still tangled up with his own Blood Qi Layer Eight Martial Arts Puppet and had yet to defeat it. Yet Lu Sheng had already done so.

Hmph!

As a member of a Martial Arts Family, Bai Mo had always stood among the best, whether in his previous class or in the Martial Arts Class.

He had never even paid attention to this former classmate of his.

Even though Lu Sheng had displayed some talent during the previous ranking, it had not been enough for Bai Mo to take him seriously.

But now...

Though Bai Mo did nothing, seeing Lu Sheng's results surpass his own still made a trace of dislike for Lu Sheng rise in his heart.

He immediately snorted coldly and focused completely on battling the Martial Arts Puppet before him.

Lu Sheng's performance had also given Bai Mo a sense of crisis.

Nearby, Chu Yanran wore tight-fitting clothes that fully revealed her well-developed figure, shaped in a perfect S-curve.

She looked toward Lu Sheng, surprise surfacing in her eyes as well.

"I never expected Lu Sheng's talent to be so powerful. Even Bai Mo has not defeated the Blood Qi Layer Eight puppet, yet he did it! Perhaps... I should get to know him better!"

Chu Yanran thought to herself.

It was not only the two of them. As the Martial Arts Class students throughout the Martial Arts Training Hall watched what was happening around Lu Sheng, all kinds of thoughts arose in their hearts.

Yet among those thoughts, the majority were still shock!

Soon, the defeated Martial Arts Puppet slowly recovered, and its aura surged once more.

Blood Qi Layer Nine!!!

An even more immense aura spread from the Martial Arts Puppet's body, carrying a pressure that swept mightily toward Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng frowned slightly.

"Sure enough, it has crossed two realms. Just one exchange already made me feel a faint sense of pressure..."

"But..."

The corners of Lu Sheng's mouth rose slightly.

Tenacity triggered!!

Although supportive Martial Arts Talent would not bring Lu Sheng any obvious boost, it could produce extremely good effects at certain crucial moments.

And on top of that...

Ronin triggered!!

Defense increased by twenty percent!

"Come fight!!"

The activation of his two talents gave Lu Sheng tremendous confidence.

He immediately charged toward the Martial Arts Puppet!

But this time...

Although Lu Sheng had already used all his strength, when his fist landed on the Martial Arts Puppet, waves of stabbing pain instead shot through his own hand.

As the puppet's cultivation rose, its body had also become tougher and more rigid.

Yet an even fiercer excitement surged into Lu Sheng's eyes.

"Perfect. Let me see exactly where my limit lies!!"

Lu Sheng roared low, his fists driving forward wildly.

Punch shadows poured forth in a frenzy, like a torrential downpour, crashing continuously onto the Martial Arts Puppet.

Boom boom boom!!!

Wave after wave of reverberating impacts echoed through the training ground.

In the corner, Chen Zhen's gaze remained fixed on Lu Sheng. The shock in his lone eye gradually faded, replaced by an exceptionally intense appreciation.

"Both his talent and combat power are excellent. Even facing a Martial Arts Puppet whose cultivation far surpasses his own, he can still charge straight at it... This boy's temperament is superb as well!"

"Not bad, not bad!!"

Chen Zhen rubbed his chin, his gaze toward Lu Sheng growing increasingly satisfied.

A moment later, although Lu Sheng had used all his strength and even triggered Strong Strike several times during the battle...

The gap in cultivation was ultimately not so easily crossed.

After holding on for a full incense stick's worth of time, Lu Sheng lost to the Martial Arts Puppet after one lapse in attention.

Although Lu Sheng felt somewhat regretful, his eyes were incomparably bright.

"My current combat power is probably around Blood Qi Layer Nine. If I can cultivate the Arhat Fist to the perfected stage, I might be able to defeat it!"

"Of course, Martial Arts Puppets are still somewhat different from real martial artists. But at the very least, I can now be invincible beneath Blood Qi Layer Nine!"

Lu Sheng made an assessment of his current combat power in his heart and was fairly satisfied.

With Lu Sheng's defeat, the students in the first round of testing also finished one after another.

Chen Zhen did not announce their results. After calling the students of the second round forward, he summoned Lu Sheng aside.

From his seat, Bai Mo watched Chen Zhen call Lu Sheng away alone and could not help frowning slightly.

"This guy... Even the instructor wants to see him privately?"

For some reason, ever since Lu Sheng had been the first to defeat the Blood Qi Layer Eight puppet, Bai Mo had found him increasingly unpleasant to look at.

He always felt that this guy had stolen the spotlight that should have belonged to him.

Meanwhile, in the corner, Chen Zhen looked at Lu Sheng before him, his expression suddenly turning somewhat solemn.

"Lu Sheng, where did your martial art come from!"

Aside from the Black Market, the Martial Alliance, and martial arts inherited by Martial Arts Families, there was another way to obtain martial arts!

The Demonic Cult!

When Demons descended, the martial artists of Great Xia were certainly all hot-blooded people, but there would always be some opportunists who chose to defect to the Demons and become their spies within Great Xia.

These people were called the Demonic Cult!

Within Great Xia, the Demonic Cult was like a rat crossing the street, hated and beaten by all.

Yet Great Xia was unable to pull out this cancerous existence by the roots.

At times, in order to expand their membership, the Demonic Cult would even use martial arts as bait to beguile Great Xia's martial artists into joining them!

Given Lu Sheng's background information, Chen Zhen feared that Lu Sheng had been beguiled by the Demonic Cult in order to obtain martial arts. That was why he had specifically called Lu Sheng over to question him.

After all, Lu Sheng's talent was right there for all to see. So long as he did not die young, he would at the very least become a Viscera Refining Realm martial artist and might even surpass the Viscera Refining Realm.

Chen Zhen did not want Lu Sheng to take the wrong path because he had mistaken wolves for friends.

Seeing Chen Zhen's solemn expression, Lu Sheng was somewhat baffled. He said blankly, "I got it from the Heaven and Earth Dojo! As long as you pass their assessment, you can obtain martial arts for free!"

Hearing Lu Sheng's explanation, Chen Zhen suddenly recalled the existence of the Heaven and Earth Dojo.

"So that's how it is!"

Chen Zhen nodded, then looked at Lu Sheng with a trace of envy in his eyes.

"So... you've joined the Heaven and Earth Dojo now?"

Obtaining martial arts from the Heaven and Earth Dojo was no easy matter. Although the Heaven and Earth Dojo claimed to give martial arts away for free, one still had to pass its tests.

And those who could pass were generally quite talented.

Besides obtaining martial arts, they could also join the Heaven and Earth Dojo and become Outer Disciples of the Heaven and Earth Dojo.

Since Lu Sheng had obtained martial arts from the Heaven and Earth Dojo, that naturally meant he had already joined it.

"Mm!"

Lu Sheng nodded in reply.

Joining the Heaven and Earth Dojo was no secret, so Lu Sheng naturally did not hide it.

Chen Zhen patted Lu Sheng on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Not bad, not bad. Becoming an Outer Disciple of the Heaven and Earth Dojo is quite rare in Cloud City, but with your talent, it is only natural!"

"Outer Disciple..."

Lu Sheng rubbed the tip of his nose.

So in Chen Zhen's eyes, he was merely an Outer Disciple of the Heaven and Earth Dojo...

Still, that made sense. Aside from his First Senior Sister and Second Senior Sister, his teacher had only accepted him as a disciple.

It was perfectly normal for Chen Zhen to think he was merely an Outer Disciple.

After all, becoming an Outer Disciple and having the backing of a force as mysterious as the Heaven and Earth Dojo in Cloud City was already extremely impressive.

If Chen Zhen knew that those Outer Disciples of the Heaven and Earth Dojo called him Third Senior Brother at every turn...

Lu Sheng cast Chen Zhen a discreet glance and hurriedly nodded.

After clarifying where Lu Sheng's martial art had come from, Chen Zhen finally relaxed and gestured for Lu Sheng to find somewhere to rest.

He then began observing the other students taking the assessment.

As time passed, roughly half an hour later, this Ranking Assessment finally came to an end.

Chen Zhen had recorded every student's results in the document in his hands.

"Assemble!!"

Chen Zhen stood in the center of the training ground, his voice like a great bell as it suddenly exploded.

Everyone immediately rose to their feet, lined up before Chen Zhen, and looked at him with anticipation in their eyes.

Chen Zhen did not waste words and immediately announced the rankings.

"First place, Hong Wu!"

"Second place, Jian Yunlong!"

Hearing Chen Zhen's words, Lu Sheng raised his brows slightly and turned his gaze toward a burly young man and another young man with an extremely calm expression.

They were none other than Hong Wu and Jian Yunlong, ranked first and second.

Both had reached Blood Qi Layer Nine. Hong Wu in particular had cultivated to the peak of Layer Nine and was about to break through to the peak of Blood Qi.

It had been within Su Yu's expectations that the two of them would take first and second place.

The next moment, Chen Zhen's voice rang out once more.

"Third place... Lu Sheng!!"