Caught Off Guard by a Fatal Weakness

Shen Qian hadn't found what he wanted among the pile of admissions information for Martial Arts Colleges, so he kept flipping back until he found the Four Heavenly Kings of the nation's Martial Arts Colleges.

Unlike the ordinary martial arts schools crammed together, these four elite martial arts institutions each had their own dedicated page, taking up half a page apiece and radiating an extraordinary air.

Northern Martial University and Hua Martial University stood above the rest.

Northern Martial University was located in China's capital, while Hua Martial University was in the great southern city of Baiyun City. Both had firmly held places in the world's top ten. Shenwu University was in the coastal Magic City, while Suke Martial University was in Gusu City.

Compared with Northern Martial University and Hua Martial University, Shenwu University and Suke Martial University were a notch weaker, but they still surpassed the nation's ordinary key universities and ranked around the world's top twenty.

Remembering his Promise with Ding Yi to meet in North Capital and kiss together... pfft, to strive hard together, Shen Qian's gaze naturally fixed firmly on Northern Martial University.

Northern Martial University's minimum admission requirements from last year were as follows:

In terms of physical fitness: Burst Strength of 145 kg, speed of 10.3 seconds, and a D+ combat rating.

Academic score: minimum 580.

Those two were the most important. Everything else was mere branches and leaves, nothing to worry about.

But one look was enough to give Shen Qian a fright.

The physical fitness requirements were downright monstrous. Those figures were already very close to the threshold for a Quasi-Martial Artist.

And that was only the minimum admission line.

In other words, Shen Qian would have to become a true Martial Artist before he could say he had it in the bag.

At the same time, a question surfaced in Shen Qian's mind.

As the only student from No.7 High School—and even Jing City—to be recommended for admission to Northern Martial University in the past three years, had Ding Yi really merely become a Beginner Martial Artist?

Still, Shen Qian was fairly confident. There were nearly three months left until the college entrance examination. With System Daddy being so reliable, he should be able to reach that level.

What truly made Shen Qian frown was the second requirement: academic score.

He had never studied the intricacies of admissions to Martial Arts Colleges before, so he had naively believed that as long as he raised his physical fitness, he would definitely get into a martial arts program.

Now, Shen Qian realized just how outrageously wrong he had been.

The maximum score for the academic section of the college entrance exam was 750. What did 580 mean? Last year, even the admission line for first-tier universities had only been 550!

Not only did one's physical fitness have to pass muster, one's academic grades actually had to surpass those needed for key universities too!

Shen Qian checked several other schools, only to discover in shock that aside from some third-tier colleges and vocational institutions, most Martial Arts Colleges had rather high academic-score requirements...

What kind of logic was that?

Did they refuse to take reckless brutes?

Just then, he happened to see Wang Yangming and Zhou Xu staring at him. Shen Qian searched his memory and asked, "What did I get on the last mock exam again? Help me remember—was it 504 or 450?"

"405." Zhou Xu and Wang Yangming exchanged a glance and answered in perfect unison.

"I was that far off?" Shen Qian suspected the two of them had remembered wrong, but he had no proof.

Fine. Maybe being wholly immersed in physical training had given Shen Qian an illusion. Actually, my academic score isn't bad. It's passable...

After all, most people planned to grind their academic subjects only when things truly became hopeless.

People always had a strange, syrupy confidence: the reason I'm not good at something is only because I haven't had time to study it properly yet.

That gap of over a hundred academic points made Shen Qian realize with a jolt that if he wanted to enter one of the nation's top institutions, his greatest weakness was not his physical fitness after all.

Wang Yangming could no longer hold it in. "Shen Qian, what exactly are you doing?"

Only then did Shen Qian realize that the two had been staring at him for quite a while.

After thinking it over, he said gloomily, "If I told you that my physical fitness has improved by leaps and bounds recently, and that I have a good chance of touching the threshold of becoming a Martial Artist, would you believe me?"

"Yes." The two nodded at the same time.

Shen Qian was surprised. These two weren't following the script?

"Actually, I'm Marquis Jingcheng's illegitimate son."

"I've already been recommended for admission to Hua Martial University."

The two quickly continued, grinning to themselves.

Only after seeing their cheerful faces did Shen Qian relax.

"I was just wondering what makes top institutions different from ordinary martial arts schools..." Shen Qian said after a moment's thought.

"Stop looking. Institutions like that have nothing to do with us. Other than crushing your confidence, they're useless." Wang Yangming patted Shen Qian on the shoulder, then eyed him suspiciously. "But you really have been acting strange lately. First you paid the registration fee, then you started paying attention to things you never cared about before. Could it be that your physical fitness has actually improved?"

"It has improved a little."

Shen Qian nodded. He did not hide everything from them. That had been his plan as well—to slowly let others accept his changes.

"Looks like it's more than a little." Zhou Xu was curious too. "No wonder we haven't seen you hanging out with us lately. What's your strength at now? Has it passed 100 yet?"

"Anyway, it's already above last year's minimum admission line." Shen Qian answered honestly.

"Did you take some miracle strength pill?!" The two were indeed shocked.

As relatively familiar friends, they had a rough idea of Shen Qian's strength. During the physical test before the New Year, his strength seemed not even to have reached 100. It had only been three or four months, yet that rate of improvement was simply outrageous...

Other than a genius like Ding Yi, the strongest student in the class applying for martial arts programs probably only had strength in the 130s.

Ignoring the two's half-believing, half-doubting looks, Shen Qian flipped another page. He froze, only then realizing there was another page under the "Martial Arts Colleges" section.

"Huh, why is there an introduction to Jiangzhong Military University too?" Shen Qian was somewhat surprised.

Hearing Shen Qian's words, the two who had been discussing whether to pool their money and search online for a miracle strength pill also looked over curiously.

"Jiangzhong Military University?" Zhou Xu asked doubtfully. "I remember that school being entirely administered by Military Martial Artists. It has never recruited students from outside, right?"

"I saw a post online before. It seemed that Jiangzhong Military University still recruited externally ten years ago, but later, for some unknown reason, it became directly affiliated with the military." Wang Yangming recalled.

All three had heard of Jiangzhong Military University. The more mysterious it was, the more it invited discussion.

"That did happen." Top student Zhang Liangwei had somehow come over. Adjusting his glasses, he said, "And when Jiangzhong Military University was still open to outsiders, its ranking even once surpassed Northern Martial University and Hua Martial University."

"That happened?" Shen Qian and the others were all extremely surprised.

Surpassing Northern Martial University and Hua Martial University—what kind of concept was that?

"On one hand, it admitted very few students every year. There was even a saying online that it would admit no one but the top scorer. On the other hand, it was backed by the military. It is said that more than half of the country's martial arts powerhouses came from the military..."

"Then why has Jiangzhong Military University appeared in the admissions guide too? Could it be reopening external admissions?"

The group discussed it excitedly for a while, only to find that the admissions guide gave no explanation. It merely offered a brief introduction to Jiangzhong Military University, with neither reference scores nor a contact number.

"Probably because of its special status. When introducing the nation's Martial Arts Colleges, they couldn't possibly leave it out, so they printed it together with the others. If it were truly reopening admissions, the internet would already be exploding, but I checked just now and didn't find any related information." Zhang Liangwei shook his head.

"Enough, stop letting your imaginations run wild. Even if it starts recruiting, what does that have to do with us?" Zhou Xu's words woke the bunch of deadbeats from their dreams, and everyone immediately lost interest.

Just as Shen Qian was about to speak, Liu Simin knocked on the desk again. "All right, students. You can take the 'Admissions Guide' home and study it slowly. There is still some time before the college entrance examination. Next, the school will conduct a preliminary assessment for students applying to martial arts programs. Everyone, fill out this form..."

A preliminary assessment?

Shen Qian froze. Looking at the form handed to him, he saw that aside from basic information like name and class, the first thing that met his eyes was the physical fitness section.

How was he supposed to fill this out?

For a moment, Shen Qian could not make up his mind.