One Punch per Zhou Xiaoguang

The next morning, Shen Qian went to school carrying five evenly divided portions of Stamina Potion.

Although brewing the potions last night had gone fairly smoothly, when he checked the AFK Record afterward, he found that the time spent searching for Seven Flavors Fruit had increased. Shen Qian estimated that the Seven Flavors Fruit in South Gate River had nearly been picked clean.

That was only normal. Wild Seven Flavors Fruit was scarce to begin with, and its growth cycle was far longer than that of cultivated Seven Flavors Fruit. Fortunately, Shen Qian would not need to brew medicine much longer.

During the break between classes, Shen Qian called over Lin Xiaoqian and her group of girls and sneaked into the storage room again.

Ignoring Wang Yangming, who had followed them in awkwardly, Shen Qian took the five bottles of diluted Stamina Potion from his backpack and handed them to Lin Xiaoqian and the others.

"If you've never used Body Tempering Potion before, the effects should be at their best. Your strength should increase by at least 10 kg. Of course, it won't matter if you have used it before—you should still be able to gain close to 10 kg."

Shen Qian explained briefly, then reminded the five girls to make good use of the coming golden week and maximize the potion's effects.

Lin Xiaoqian and the others were all rather excited. The reason they wanted to buy Special Effect Potion was mainly because their physical fitness had hit a bottleneck. With it, they could apply to better martial arts schools.

"No need to thank me. I'll put in a few more good words for you with Little Ding from now on."

Lin Xiaoqian said with a grin, "As for the money, my dad will transfer it to your card within two days."

Shen Qian understood why it would take two days. They had to test the effects first, which was only reasonable.

With that matter settled, Shen Qian estimated that by tomorrow, an enormous sum of 225,000 would be added to his card.

It was another day spent immersed in books. From time to time, Shen Qian asked Zhang Liangwei or Lin Xiaoqian questions. Since he had begun studying science and engineering materials, simply burying his head in books was no longer enough.

Fortunately, Zhang Liangwei and Lin Xiaoqian had both accepted his help, so they did their utmost to assist him.

Partway through the day, Shen Qian received a call from the grade director, Zhao Hanhai. He was asking whether Shen Qian would attend training that evening, apparently because they were counting heads.

Thinking that he had already been absent for more than two weeks, and that it would be rather inappropriate not to show up again, Shen Qian immediately said that he would not be absent that night.

The day's classes soon ended. Old Wang and Zhou Xu did not invite Shen Qian to team up at the VR Hall either. It seemed that Liu Simin's earnest speech in class today had finally made the two realize that the college entrance exam was near and time was pressing, so they had both resolved to go home and train their physical fitness.

But based on Shen Qian's understanding of those two idiots, they would revert to their old ways within three days.

After packing up his desk, Shen Qian headed to the old Physical Testing Hall.

Most people had already arrived at the Physical Testing Hall. For some reason, Shen Qian felt that everyone looked rather solemn.

Influenced by Zhou Xiaoguang, most of the Training Class did not think much of Shen Qian and simply ignored his arrival.

Shen Qian glanced at Zhou Xiaoguang, who stood at the front, and felt somewhat emotional.

Everyone had an aura, but it was even more apparent in martial artists. When an aura reached a certain level and underwent a qualitative change, it became what was known as Aura, even pressure—like the oppressive sensation Shen Qian had felt when he first faced Liu Changqing.

When he had first joined the Training Class, Shen Qian had also felt pressure from Zhou Xiaoguang. But now, that pressure had vanished without a trace.

As an Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artist, Shen Qian did not know Zhou Xiaoguang's upper limit in physical fitness. But in a direct fight, Shen Qian had absolute confidence that he could crush him, even without relying on the system dad.

He just did not know whether he could manage one punch per Zhou Xiaoguang.

At his current rate of progress, perhaps he would be able to do it effortlessly in a few more days.

"What are you looking at?" Sensing Shen Qian's gaze, Zhou Xiaoguang turned around with a frown.

"Nothing. I suddenly thought you looked pretty friendly," Shen Qian said with a smile.

"Hmph!"

Not understanding why, Zhou Xiaoguang assumed Shen Qian was trying to ease their relationship. He disdainfully turned his head away again.

"Shen Qian, you're here!" Zheng Shaoyang was the only one who greeted Shen Qian. He quietly edged over and spoke in a low voice.

As for Huo Ling'er...

From the moment Shen Qian entered, she had arrogantly raised her chin. Her pout was practically screaming, "I'm very angry."

It seemed that Shen Qian's move of turning around and fleeing as soon as he saw her last time had really stuck in her craw.

More than happy to take it easy, Shen Qian did not take the initiative to speak to her. Instead, he asked Zheng Shaoyang, "What's going on? The atmosphere feels pretty heavy."

"The training content has completely changed during the two weeks you were gone."

Zheng Shaoyang gave a bitter smile. "Before, we sparred among ourselves. Everyone looked serious, and people got injured from time to time, but compared to the past two weeks, that was child's play."

"Oh? So what did it become?" Shen Qian asked curiously.

"Take last week, for example. That mysterious powerhouse, Liu Changqing, came again. He brought a cage. Do you know what was inside it?" Zheng Shaoyang wore a mysterious expression.

"Do you know how tall the grass is on the grave of the last guy who liked to keep people in suspense?" Shen Qian replied with a cold smile.

"Hey, isn't that just how everyone talks?" Zheng Shaoyang chuckled, then lowered his voice. "Inside that cage was... a demon beast!"

"A demon beast?" Shen Qian was taken aback, then gave Zheng Shaoyang a suspicious look.

After the spiritual energy resurgence, most beasts living in the restricted zones had undergone some degree of mutation, but not all mutated beasts could be called demon beasts.

Shen Qian was not yet sure how demon beasts were ranked, but according to something his biology teacher had casually mentioned, even the weakest demon beasts could rival human Beginner Martial Artists.

The Iron Eater Beast that had nearly gotten Shen Qian killed seemed to have been the lowest-ranked demon beast.

What had Liu Changqing brought a demon beast for? Surely he was not going to make everyone fight it to the death?

"According to Class Monitor Chen, that mutated husky really was a demon beast... though only a cub. But it had eaten people before. Just looking into its eyes was frightening," Zheng Shaoyang said, still shaken.

"And then?"

"Everyone had to fight it, and no weapons were allowed..." Zheng Shaoyang said bitterly. "They stopped using the ranking rules. Only those who defeated it head-on received a reward."

"The reward was... military-grade Bone Quenching Potion!"

Bone Quenching Potion?

Shen Qian was startled. Though he did not know the exact effects of Bone Quenching Potion, anything with "Potion" in its name was generally quite valuable.

"Did you succeed?" Shen Qian asked.

"No. That demon husky was only a cub, but its combat power was comparable to a true Quasi-Martial Artist. And its murderous aura was too strong. When it pounced at me, my mind went completely blank... Forget me—even Zhou Xiaoguang was bitten by it." Zheng Shaoyang's voice grew even lower.

"Who passed in the end?"

"There were two chances. Only six people passed in the end, not even half... Huo Ling'er passed too. She seems to have made another breakthrough recently. She's terrifyingly strong."

Shen Qian nodded, unsurprised. Huo Ling'er had opened four acupoints, and this should have been the period when her strength was growing rapidly. She had surely already surpassed ordinary Quasi-Martial Artists.

Zheng Shaoyang was about to say more when the doors were pushed open and Chen Feng strode in.

Behind him were Zhao Hanhai and Liu Changqing, who was still dressed in his old robe. Zhao Hanhai kept frowning as he said something to Liu Changqing, but Liu Changqing merely nodded from time to time, wearing a careless smile.

"What's that sound?"

Shen Qian and Zhou Xiaoguang spoke almost simultaneously, one after the other.

Clank... clank...

The others were initially stunned, but they soon heard it as well—a dull sound like iron chains dragging across the ground.

After Chen Feng and the other two walked out, another group of people slowly emerged from the pitch-black corridor behind them.