AD Calcium Milk

Jingcheng No.7 High School's principal's office.

A middle-aged man with streaks of gray in his hair stood before the window with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Principal!" A knock sounded, and an elderly man of fifty or sixty entered.

The old man had refined features. Compared to the middle-aged man, he carried more warmth and less pressure, yet the look in his eyes when he regarded the other man held a trace of respect.

"Old Zhao." Without turning around, the middle-aged man asked directly, "Have the forms been handed out?"

"They were distributed to each class along with this year's 'Admissions Guide.'" Zhao Hanhai, the senior-year dean, nodded, then asked in puzzlement, "Principal, I don't quite understand. Why suddenly arrange a martial arts assessment? There doesn't seem to have been such a practice in previous years."

"Did you notice that college admissions have expanded this year?" Huang Tao, the principal of Jingcheng No.7 High School, asked.

"I did. This year, Martial Arts Colleges across the country are planning to admit nearly six hundred thousand students, a third more than last year. It is rather unusual... Principal, are you asking because there's some special reason behind it?" Zhao Hanhai froze.

"Even Martial Arts Colleges backed by support from all sides do not have unlimited resources. Using limited resources where the blade is sharpest—that is the meaning of the college entrance examination."

Frowning, Huang Tao tapped his fingers against the desk and continued, "That was the plan laid down by the Martial Arts Department. Yet with this sudden expansion in enrollment, the pressure on the major colleges will inevitably increase. In the long run, that isn't a good thing, unless..."

"Unless what?" Zhao Hanhai asked.

Huang Tao shook his head and turned to another matter. "Yesterday, the City Lord hosted a banquet. The principals of Jing City's nine colleges all attended, and before leaving, the City Lord said something..."

"What did he say?"

"There's just one thing I've never been able to figure out..."

"Principal!" Zhao Hanhai finally raised his voice, unable to endure it any longer.

Fine, you're the principal, but does that mean I, the grade dean, have no dignity at all?

Even a tool person couldn't be ignored forever, could they?

Huang Tao came back to himself and finally realized what was happening. He coughed. "The City Lord's final words were that we should stop hiding what we have, dare to discover talent and promote talent, and also... cultivate talent!"

Zhao Hanhai fell into deep thought at those words. "So that's why there's this assessment?"

"Though the City Lord has always kept a low profile, he has never spoken without purpose. Coupled with this year's expanded enrollment, there is clearly some kind of connection behind it all." Huang Tao nodded.

"So this assessment is also preparation for your next move, Principal?"

"Yes. The City Lord's implied meaning was already quite obvious. If there truly are promising seedlings, I'm afraid No.7 High School will have to bring out some of the resources we've kept at the bottom of the chest."

"If that were all, there would have been no need for the City Lord to specially invite all of you to a banquet, would there?" Recalling the City Lord's character, Huang Tao could not help feeling suspicious.

Huang Tao nodded approvingly. "Correct. Someone else appeared at yesterday's banquet—someone who caught everyone by surprise, though he only showed himself briefly before leaving."

"Who?"

When Zhao Hanhai saw that Huang Tao did not answer and was merely still staring into the distance, something stirred in his heart. He stepped forward a few paces and followed Huang Tao's gaze.

In Jing City stood an extraordinarily unique structure, a tower reaching into the heavens, built in imitation of ancient architecture.

At that moment, Huang Tao's gaze rested upon the Bronze Tower that soared into the clouds.

"Marquis Jingcheng?" Zhao Hanhai's expression changed.

In this age of spiritual energy resurgence, the City Lord of each city was its highest-ranking official and usually its strongest martial artist.

But Jing City was different.

Because Jing City had a Marquis Jingcheng.

Marquis Jingcheng, Gao Wenyuan, was a living legend in Jing City and rarely appeared before the public.

Yet from Huang Tao's words, Marquis Jingcheng had actually made an appearance at yesterday's banquet. There had to be some profound meaning behind it.

"Do you remember?" Huang Tao let out a breath. "Marquis Jingcheng is the honorary principal of Jingcheng Martial University..."

Zhao Hanhai froze, then fell into thought.

Shen Qian walked out of Class 109's classroom somewhat dazed.

He did not understand why the system had done that.

While he had been filling out that assessment form just now, the system had abruptly entered AFK mode again.

In other words, he had not filled out that form himself.

By the time Shen Qian regained consciousness, the form had already been collected.

According to Shen Qian's original plan, he had intended to write down some unremarkable numbers, but when he checked the "AFK Record," he nearly jumped up.

"Burst Strength: 140 kg. Speed: 10.5 seconds."

Those were the figures the system had entered for him.

Leaving aside the fact that being so high-profile completely went against Shen Qian's prudent style, the problem was... his current strength had not even reached that level.

Forget it. When Liu Simin comes to question me, I'll just say I wrote it wrong.

It was only a form, after all. Shen Qian did not take it seriously and quickly forgot the incident.

"Shen Qian!"

Wang Yangming shouted from behind him, hurrying over while panting. "Why were you walking so fast?"

"Was I?" Shen Qian realized that his enhanced stamina had made even his unconscious pace faster than Wang Yangming's light jog, so he slowed down.

"Didn't you say you had something to tell me after school?" Wang Yangming asked after catching his breath.

Shen Qian smacked his forehead. He had nearly forgotten about that.

"I remember you said before that your dad was helping you get some kind of Special Effect Potion. Did you get it?" Shen Qian asked.

"Special Effect Potions aren't that easy to get." Wang Yangming sighed. "I already took a Body Tempering Potion when I graduated middle school. Taking another one wouldn't do much, and in any case, it's impossible for it to help me cross the threshold of 120..."

According to Liu Simin's estimate, although the major colleges had expanded admissions this year, judging by last year's cutoff scores, one still needed strength above 120 and a speed within eleven seconds in the fitness test to stand a chance.

Shen Qian had already heard Wang Yangming discussing it with Zhou Xu. Wang Yangming's strength had only just reached the threshold of 110, while his speed was even further off. He was worse than Shen Qian had been before, at only 11.7 seconds.

"I have a new type of Stamina Potion here. Want to give it a try?" Shen Qian asked bluntly.

To test whether the potion worked on other people as well, Shen Qian had brought a quarter of a normal dose with him. Old Wang was his "lab rat."

"A new Stamina Potion?" Wang Yangming froze, then grew interested. "What brand is it? When did it come out? How come I've never heard of it?"

Shen Qian looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he pulled a green-and-white plastic bottle from his bag and stuffed it into Wang Yangming's hand.

Seeing Shen Qian act so mysteriously, Wang Yangming grew tense as well. He looked around in the same manner before cupping his hands around the bottle and peering through the gap. His expression immediately stiffened.

"...Why does this bottle look so much like AD Calcium Milk?"

"Don't worry about such details. What's inside is a new type of Stamina Potion. I picked it up from the black market. Take it home and see whether it works. If it does, remember to tell me. It's important."

Shen Qian patted Wang Yangming on the shoulder, turned, and left. "I've got something else to do. I'm leaving first."

Wang Yangming stood where he was, staring at the "AD Calcium Milk" in his hand and seriously suspecting that Shen Qian was insulting his intelligence.

Shaking his head, Wang Yangming ultimately fought back the urge to toss the little bottle into a trash can. He casually slipped it into his pocket and headed home.