Shock

"Uncle Li, hello. My name is Chen Hao. I'm a senior trainee at the martial arts hall. I'd like to go upstairs and test my physical condition." Chen Hao stopped upon hearing this and explained to the old man before him.

Uncle Li looked at Chen Hao with some confusion and was about to refuse when a voice came from inside the training hall. "Is that Chen Hao? Uncle Li, let him in."

Chen Hao's heart stirred at the words. "Hall Master, it's me." Then, with a slight smile at Uncle Li, he pushed open the door and walked in.

The decor of the training hall on the fourth floor was much more upscale than the third. At that moment, only one person was sweating it out inside.

The shiny bald head was unmistakable; Jiang Nian's state showed he'd been training for quite a while.

Seeing Chen Hao enter, Jiang Nian stopped his movements. "What brings you up to the fourth floor, kid?"

"I feel like my physical condition has improved a bit, so I wanted to come test it out and see how my fist strength is. My technique was too poor before, after all."

"Hahaha, you just learned the basic blade technique. There shouldn't be much improvement in your power output. Once you reach beginner level, or even proficient level in the basic blade technique, that's when you'll really be able to unleash your strength." Jiang Nian laughed upon hearing this.

"Come on, let's head to the fist strength testing machine. Let me see just how strong your punches are now." Jiang Nian speculated inwardly. Last time Chen Hao tested, his full-power punch was around 1200kg. Only two days had passed; at most, he'd probably only gained a hundred or two hundred kilograms.

Seeing Jiang Nian's dismissive attitude, Chen Hao didn't explain. He walked over to the fist strength testing machine, stood steady, adjusted his breathing, and then exploded into motion.

The proficient-level basic blade technique had fully unified his body, his spine arching like a longbow.

With a boom, his fist slammed into the punching target, which shuddered violently.

"Beep."

The display on the fist strength testing machine clearly showed a set of numbers—4786kg!

Jiang Nian was startled by the noise. He rushed over to the machine in a flash. When he saw the numbers on the screen, his jaw nearly dropped.

"Four thousand seven hundred eighty-six kilograms? What the hell, are you a monster?!" Jiang Nian stared at Chen Hao, his eyes full of shock.

Then Jiang Nian's expression turned serious. "Have you been cultivating gene energy? Where did you get the cultivation method?"

Chen Hao shook his head. "What gene energy cultivation method? I haven't practiced anything like that. Ever since I woke up from that coma last time, my physical condition skyrocketed. After that, I realized I could sense a lot of things in the air around me. Last night, when I got home, I unintentionally absorbed some of that cool, refreshing energy into my body. Then I felt my strength surge again, so I came to the hall to test it. I was actually going to ask you, instructor—what's going on with me?"

Jiang Nian looked at Chen Hao with a complicated expression. He'd assumed Chen Hao had gotten a gene energy cultivation method from the Thunderclap Martial Arts Hall or the military. He never expected Chen Hao had started cultivating gene energy on his own.

This kind of talent was probably only heard of during the Great Nirvana. After the Great Nirvana, he'd never heard of anyone successfully cultivating gene energy independently.

Succeeding without a method wasn't the main point. What mattered was that what Chen Hao described was so similar to the awakening of a Spiritual Thought Master.

He'd already thoroughly investigated Chen Hao's background. Before this, Chen Hao had been completely unremarkable, until a week ago when he was knocked unconscious by falling glass.

After waking up, he had no major injuries and was quickly discharged. He hadn't expected that at that moment—no, it must have been exactly then—he had awakened his mental power.

Awakening mental power and then cultivating gene energy for the first time, gaining over 3000kg of strength—this was definitely a genius, and an monstrous one at that. Plus, with the awakened mental power? "Chen Hao, have you awakened any other abilities?"

Chen Hao pulled his keys out of his pocket. The keys then floated in his hand before circling around the two of them. "You mean this? I only realized this morning that I could control objects in the room to move, so I practiced at home all morning."

"Mental power! You really are a Spiritual Thought Master," Jiang Nian said, his voice full of emotion but also excitement and fervor.

He quickly moved to the weapon rack, pulled out a few throwing knives, and then rushed back to Chen Hao. "Try this—how many can you control? Then control one of them to strike the punching target."

Chen Hao focused his mind, making several throwing knives dance in the air. Then he frowned. Controlling more than two knives was a bit beyond him.

But two knives were just right for him to fully exert his mental power.

Finally, he controlled one of them, using the handle to smash violently into the fist strength testing machine. A piercing sonic boom instantly filled the training hall.

With a loud clang, the punching target shook violently.

"Beep." The display showed a set of numbers—19144kg.

Staring at the data on the screen, Jiang Nian's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. Though he'd had some guesses, seeing it with his own eyes was still deeply shocking.

The data proved that Chen Hao was indeed the highest-grade type of Spiritual Thought Master—meaning his mental power realm was two levels above his physical realm.

"Hahaha, I never thought the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District would produce a true monstrous genius! And I personally recruited him! Probably only one or two in the entire Jiangnan City. Chen Hao, hurry up and test your speed. After that, we'll test your neural reaction time."

For Jiang Nian, Chen Hao now represented his contribution points. Recommending Chen Hao upward would earn him enough contribution to boost his own strength significantly. Maybe he could even reach the War General Rank.

"Alright, Hall Master." Compared to Jiang Nian's excitement, Chen Hao, though equally thrilled inside, remained calm on the surface.

Soon, the test results came out—

Speed—71m/s

Neural reaction test: Advanced Warrior full marks, Junior Warlord excellent.

Looking at the ratings on the neural reaction testing machine, Jiang Nian was both excited and helpless. He could already tell that Chen Hao's movement technique was on par with his own. And he himself had only barely reached the subtlety level after nearly twenty years of combat.

Jiang Nian admitted he was jealous, but thinking about Chen Hao's boundless future and the huge contribution points he'd get from the martial arts hall, his face flushed red with excitement. He slapped Chen Hao on the shoulder and said, "With your current strength, our Extreme Martial Arts Hall can let you join early without needing the Warrior Combat Assessment. I'll report this right now!"