Body Constitution Level 6.5

"Why are we going in reverse student-number order this time? Is Xu Ban targeting me?" Zhou Qi shrank his neck.

He had thought he would be tested last. By then, the other students probably would not be paying much attention, so he would naturally avoid embarrassing himself.

Yet it had actually been reversed? Zhou Qi felt the urge to die.

"Go on." Li Yuan patted Zhou Qi's shoulder and smiled. "Whether you stick your head out or pull it back, the blade still falls."

Zhou Qi curled his lips. "Even if you're chopping my head off, at least give me time to wash my neck clean."

Though he muttered under his breath, Zhou Qi's body was honest. Afraid Teacher Xu Bo would scold him, he hurriedly carried his spear to the center of the classroom.

The center of the classroom was a huge circle paved in silver metal, distinctly different from the rest of the floor.

The silver circular floor was roughly twelve meters in diameter. At first glance, it resembled an arena.

Li Yuan, Wan Xiao, and the more than one hundred other students all tacitly stepped outside the silver-floored area.

"Management authorization." Teacher Xu suddenly spoke in a low voice. On his left wrist was a device resembling a smartwatch, emitting a faint red glow. "Class 2, Grade 3. Martial Arts Technique test and body constitution examination, recording simultaneously!"

Immediately.

Whoosh~ The numerous dormant instruments above the classroom instantly began flashing with white light.

The white light shone down, precisely enveloping the silver circular area.

"Hiss~" One of the instruments suddenly shot out two red beams. The scattered red light simultaneously covered Zhou Qi and Xu Bo.

Everyone was already accustomed to this sight.

Only three seconds passed.

Swish! The electronic screen at the back of the classroom suddenly lit up, displaying two extremely conspicuous lines of white text—

"Zhou Qi (Student), Body Constitution: Level 3.9 (Previous Test: Level 3.7)"

"Xu Bo (Teacher), Body Constitution: Level 12.0 (Beyond detection limit)"

"Huh? I haven't been tested in so long, and I actually improved by 0.2 levels?" A trace of secret delight appeared on Zhou Qi's face. "Looks like the effort I put in these past few months did something."

"Your body constitution still hasn't reached Level 4?" Xu Bo frowned slightly.

A body constitution of Level 3.9 was not bad among the millions of Grade 3 students across the province. It could even be considered average.

But Guanshan District No.1 High School was a key high school in the provincial capital. Here, that level of body constitution put him at the very bottom.

"Looks like Old Zhou talks about lying flat, but his body is still honest." Li Yuan could not help smiling.

At their age, body constitution was rising rapidly. Yet improving it by 0.2 levels in three months showed that Zhou Qi had still worked hard in private.

At this rate of improvement, Zhou Qi had hope of reaching Level 4.5 in body constitution by the National College Entrance Examination.

It was just that the school's Life Blood Detection Instrument was somewhat low-grade, so it could not measure Teacher Xu's true body constitution, Li Yuan thought.

Life blood testing instruments were extremely common devices in this era, often found in schools and Martial Halls at every level.

Many households had them as well. Their sensing principles were rather complex. They were specifically used to detect the intensity of a lifeform's blood and vitality, then convert it into the corresponding body constitution level.

A level of 5.0 was the standard for an ordinary adult.

Level 10.0 was the baseline for an Entry-Level Martialist. Only Entry-Level Martialists were martialists in the true sense and could receive national subsidies and many other benefits.

The school's life blood testing instruments primarily served students. Their usual detection limit was Level 12.0. They might seem low-grade, but they were extremely stable and not easily damaged.

For instruments with such high usage rates, durability was the most important thing.

Of course, the body constitution assessment in the National College Entrance Examination did not rely solely on instrument readings. There would also be specialized tests of speed, punching force, and many other aspects, with the final score determined through a comprehensive evaluation.

"For this test, scores will be assessed according to National College Entrance Examination standards. I'll only use roughly level 5.0 strength and speed. I hope you can perform at a standard of 300 points under the scoring system." Xu Bo spoke.

Martial Arts Technique was worth a total of 400 points. Scoring 300 points in this category was the threshold for getting into a Martial Arts University.

Ten meters away, Zhou Qi's palms were already sweating.

Level 5?

That meant the speed and strength Xu Bo would use would both exceed his by a wide margin.

"What are you waiting for? Attack." Xu Bo barked.

"Yes."

Zhou Qi held his spear in the Centered Level Stance, then abruptly stepped forward and lunged. His speed was startling as he crossed ten meters in an instant. The two-meter spear in his hands suddenly writhed and thrust directly at Xu Bo.

The essence of spear technique lay in the thrust.

Zhou Qi's body constitution level might not seem high, but the force he could unleash with a punch exceeded one hundred and fifty kilograms.

He had also practiced with the spear for two years. Even if his talent was ordinary and he was not particularly diligent, he still possessed a basic foundation.

At the very least, that thrust looked convincing.

That was also why students had to wear full-body protective gear during testing.

In cold-weapon combat, even if the weapons had not been sharpened, without protection, one would be injured or crippled.

Whoosh!

Xu Bo, broad and burly yet not wearing any protective gear, appeared to casually shift a step to the left. His speed was not fast, but he easily evaded Zhou Qi's fierce thrust.

The spearhead seemed only a hair's breadth from his body.

At first glance, it looked extremely dangerous.

"That footwork?" Li Yuan's eyes outside the field brightened slightly. He saw the brilliance of Xu Bo's step.

Not an inch too much, not an inch too little.

It conserved stamina to the utmost extent.

It required absolute control over one's own body, along with an exact prediction of the enemy's every attack. Not the slightest error could be tolerated.

"He dodged it?" Zhou Qi in the field immediately pulled back his spear, then spun the spearhead, shaking out a flower of spear-light as he thrust at Xu Bo again.

Yet Xu Bo still only took one step back, seemingly narrowly evading him once more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhou Qi swung his spear with all his strength, thrusting, chopping, sweeping, yet before Xu Bo's exquisite footwork, every attack missed.

"So close, just a little more." Zhou Qi gritted his teeth.

"It isn't just a little more. He's far too far away." Li Yuan sighed inwardly from outside the field.

He saw it clearly. It was not that Zhou Qi's spear technique was too poor, but that Xu Bo's footwork was too exquisite.

His steps were clearly not fast, yet their precision was terrifying. He had already calculated every movement trajectory of Zhou Qi's spear.

And after swinging the spear more than ten times in succession, Zhou Qi was under enormous strain as well. His arms went weak, and his spear momentum slowed.

At that very moment.

Rip!

With the sound of air tearing apart, Xu Bo, who had been evading all along, suddenly stepped forward. The long staff in his left hand shot out with a bang. Like a venomous snake, its tip instantly brushed aside Zhou Qi's spear guard and knocked one end of the spear flying.

Thud~

The staff tip sliced down and lightly tapped Zhou Qi's hand, making pain flare through it. He instinctively released his spear.

Clang~ The spear hit the floor.

The staff had already been withdrawn.

The classroom was silent as death. Every student stared at the scene.

Xu Bo had only taken over their class's martial arts instruction last semester.

Yet during the technique test at the end of Grade 2, Xu Bo had not displayed such astonishing footwork or such control over his strength.

"So this is Xu Ban's true strength?"

"Clearly, Xu Ban is moving very slowly. He might not even be faster than me, but his footwork..." The more than one hundred students were all shocked. Many of them had body constitutions above level 5.0.

In past lessons, these students knew Xu Bo's body constitution was exceptionally powerful and that his martial arts technique was highly sophisticated.

But while teaching them, Xu Bo had never sparred with them using the speed and strength of a level 5 body constitution.

Instructional demonstrations and actual combat were two different things.

Perhaps many students had watched even more impressive combat videos online.

But watching a video and witnessing it up close delivered entirely different impacts.

Beep!

A number had appeared on the screen at the back of the classroom—"245 points."

The score was assessed by the program through a comprehensive calculation of the data, combat process, and result.

During the National College Entrance Examination, each student's technique assessment would also include a manual evaluation.

"My score is actually lower than last semester's?" Zhou Qi muttered to himself, though he did not feel too embarrassed.

At least he had thrust his spear so many times.

...Following student-number order.

One student after another underwent testing. Most had body constitution readings between level 4.5 and level 5.5.

As for the Martial Arts Technique assessment?

The process for most of them was identical to Zhou Qi's assessment.

The students attacked first, while Xu Bo effortlessly avoided attack after attack with his footwork. In the end, he struck out with his staff. Even when many students displayed superior speed and strength, they still could not block it.

Most scores failed to exceed 300 points.

Even Wan Xiao, student number 2, had a body constitution as high as level 6.0, and the speed and strength he unleashed exceeded level 5.0 by a great deal.

Yet he only withstood three strikes from Xu Bo's staff.

In the end, Wan Xiao's Arts Score was 322 points.

He was also the only one in the class so far to exceed 320 points.

"Wan Xiao scored 329 at the end of last semester, right? Why did he regress?"

"It isn't that he regressed. The assessment standard has become much higher. Haven't you noticed that most of our class's scores dropped?"

"Last semester's final was based on Grade 2 standards. This assessment uses National College Entrance Examination standards."

"Only Li Yuan is left."

"I wonder how many staff strikes he can withstand from Xu Ban." Every student's gaze had focused on Li Yuan. Many of the girls were even rather expectant.

Li Yuan ranked among the top thirty in the entire grade in Martial Arts Score, but in Class 2, Grade 3, he was unquestionably number one.

Good grades and a decent personality naturally made someone more popular.

During their student days, most people were not as snobbish as those in society.

"Li Yuan." A faint, almost imperceptible anticipation flashed deep in Xu Bo's eyes.

"Teacher Xu." Li Yuan gripped his spear and walked into the circular field paved with silver metal.

Whoosh!

A red beam shot over, enveloping Li Yuan's entire body.

Three seconds later.

The screen at the back of the classroom displayed the data—"Li Yuan (Student), Body Constitution: level 6.5 (Previous Test: level 6.0)"

(End of Chapter)