Intermediate Martial Artist, Ninth Rank

"That second-year girl is promising too."

Huang Tao smiled faintly. "She's only just turned sixteen, yet she's already close to the threshold of a Quasi-Martial Artist. Among the girls at the same school, aside from Ding Yi, she should rank second. Perhaps she may even surpass Ding Yi someday."

"Surpassing that little girl Ding Yi won't be easy." Liu Changqing shook his head. "There's something you may not know. Back then, Teacher had considered taking that little girl surnamed Ding as a disciple..."

"Is that true?" Huang Tao was startled.

"There are some secrets behind it that outsiders don't know. In any case, it should be true." Liu Changqing nodded with certainty.

"So that's how it is..." Realization appeared on Huang Tao's face, as though he had finally figured out many things that had puzzled him before. He said regretfully, "If I'd known, I shouldn't have let Northern Martial University take her away so easily."

"You couldn't have stopped them." Liu Changqing shook his head, hesitating before he spoke. "Unless Teacher..."

"Forget it. It's too late to say anything now."

Huang Tao turned his gaze toward the girl in the arena with straight bangs and delicate features, then said, "Her name is Huo Ling'er."

"Huo?" Liu Changqing paused slightly, mulling over the uncommon surname before quickly understanding. "A Pioneer Martial Artist?"

Huang Tao nodded, then frowned. "There's one more person I'm not quite sure about."

"Who?" Liu Changqing asked casually.

"That ordinary-looking boy with the character 'Endure' on his school uniform cuff and a crew cut. His name is Shen Qian."

Liu Changqing followed Huang Tao's gaze. With his eyesight, he quickly found Shen Qian among the crowd.

The crooked character "Endure," written in blue ink, was rather eye-catching and carried an embarrassingly juvenile air. Liu Changqing's mouth twitched before he nodded. "He does look quite ordinary. Well, aside from being a bit fair-skinned... Is there anything special about him?"

"That's precisely what's strange. Though I may not be a particularly competent principal, every year I have to face the educational assessments from the local Martial Arts Bureau. I still have a rough idea of what talents there are in the school."

Huang Tao shook his head. "But Shen Qian... I have no impression of him at all."

"What do you mean?" Liu Changqing did not understand at first.

"I looked through his previous physical test scores for martial arts subjects. They were... very ordinary. In last year's year-end assessment, his Qi and Strength was below a hundred, and his speed hovered between twelve and thirteen seconds."

"But in this preliminary assessment, his Qi and Strength directly rose to one hundred and forty, while his speed broke eleven seconds."

"Oh?" Liu Changqing raised a brow. "Could it be fraud?"

"When they entered earlier, Chen Feng already tested them. If there were really a problem, he wouldn't be standing here." Huang Tao shook his head.

"Hmm... From the end of last year until now, four months. That rate of improvement is passable. Some people are late bloomers. That's normal."

Liu Changqing said indifferently, then rubbed his brow.

"I hope one or two of them turn out to be worth looking at. I can't bear to tell them what they'll have to face... I don't want to be sent back to the bottom of the tower to reflect behind closed doors either. Damn it."

On the field, the "ordinary-looking" Shen Qian discovered an awkward fact.

They were supposedly introducing themselves, but in truth, everyone present except him had more or less met or known each other before.

For example, one person would say, "Ah, we did XXX together last year," and another would immediately chime in, "Yeah, yeah. Do you remember XXX? He was there too..."

However, there was one other person who was just as awkward as Shen Qian: the second-year junior girl.

Clearly, she did not move in this circle either.

The two of them tacitly moved closer, pretending things were not so awkward.

From up close, Shen Qian was certain she was not wearing any makeup, yet her skin was luminous and pleasing to the eye.

"Class 109, third year. Shen Qian."

"Huo Ling'er." The junior girl generously shook Shen Qian's hand.

Her palm was a little rough, but the back of her hand was quite delicate.

Shen Qian silently assessed her, then asked curiously, "By the way, how did a second-year student like you get into the Training Class? Are you taking this year's college entrance exam too?"

"Of course I'm taking it next year." Huo Ling'er looked at Shen Qian as if he were an idiot. "Who said only third-year students can join this Training Class?"

Shen Qian felt insulted by her gaze, but for the moment, he could find no evidence. Fortunately, Zheng Shaoyang came over with the easy familiarity of a longtime friend.

"Shen Qian, you seem to have kept a pretty low profile before. Want me to introduce you around?"

Without waiting for Shen Qian's response, Zheng Shaoyang slung an arm around him and began forcibly socializing.

"Zhou Xiaoguang, Class 110. You definitely know him. He's currently No.7 High School's combat-power ceiling... I think he's already broken through to Martial Artist." Zheng Shaoyang lowered his voice for the last sentence.

Shen Qian had never interacted with the young man standing before him, but he had indeed heard his name many times. If Shen Qian remembered correctly, Zhou Xiaoguang also ranked within the top twenty on Jiuzhou Martial Arts Hall's leaderboard.

Zhou Xiaoguang was fairly handsome, but his features were cold and detached. He merely nodded at Shen Qian as a greeting.

Shen Qian did not think there was anything wrong with his attitude. People who had been praised all their lives were usually somewhat arrogant, so Shen Qian simply nodded back.

After making the rounds, Shen Qian had roughly remembered everyone's names. Still, matching all thirteen people present to their names would take some time.

At that moment, Zhao Hanhai clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Next, let me introduce the Training Class monitor. His name is Chen Feng. He comes from a military background and can be considered your senior. He was also once a student of No.7 High School. You can call him Monitor or Senior Brother Chen. For the next two months, he will be in charge of the Training Class."

Zhao Hanhai pointed to the stern young man beside him, who had remained silent all this time, and introduced him.

"I'm Chen Feng." Chen Feng's voice carried a deep, weighty quality. He was clearly the aloof type, and even his introduction consisted of only four words.

Upon hearing that voice, Shen Qian understood. Chen Feng was the man who had tested everyone's strength from the shadows earlier.

"What's Senior Brother Chen's level?" Huo Ling'er raised a hand, asking the question everyone wanted answered.

"Intermediate Martial Artist, Ninth Rank." Chen Feng did not hide it and answered simply.

Everyone broke into quiet murmurs. Even Zhou Xiaoguang, who had remained aloof all along, was visibly moved.

Chen Feng did not look much older than them, certainly no more than twenty-five. A Ninth Rank Intermediate Martial Artist, only one step away from becoming an Advanced Martial Artist—he could be called a genius.

"Chen Feng happened to be on leave. The principal personally stepped in to invite him here. Back in his day, he was also one of the school's most prominent figures."

Zhao Hanhai smiled slightly, then his expression turned solemn. "This Training Class will have rankings, updated once a week. I hope everyone performs well. When the final results are calculated, those at the top of the rankings will receive extremely generous rewards."

"What exactly are they?" Once again, Huo Ling'er asked without reservation.

Zhao Hanhai smiled without answering. He merely nodded at Chen Feng. Chen Feng extended a hand and made a grasping motion toward the air. The sound of wind suddenly rose, accompanied by a piercing scrape, as a whiteboard from the corner of the empty hall was forcibly seized and pulled through the air by Chen Feng.

"Vital energy."

Shen Qian's eyes lit up.

The revival of spiritual energy had made cultivation possible, and the greatest difference between Beginner Martial Artists and Martial Artists was whether vital energy had condensed within their bodies. It was a qualitative transformation, and also the source of a Martial Artist's overwhelming destructive power.