Crouching Dragon (Seeking Monthly Votes)

The Virtual Starry Sky assessment ended, but Jiang Ye didn't log out immediately. He remained in the virtual space.

He looked at his hands.

"Beginner level?" Jiang Ye's face was full of surprise.

In that instant, he felt as if he had achieved enlightenment, and his fist technique had broken through to a whole new realm.

Breakthrough during battle!

But breakthroughs during battle were always exclusive to geniuses; they weren't that easy.

Reality wasn't a novel.

Moreover, Jiang Ye had previously felt that his fist technique had hit a bottleneck, requiring a long time to refine and even more so needing an opportunity for enlightenment.

Now, it had been surpassed in the blink of an eye?

While waiting for the System's settlement, Jiang Ye clenched his fists, sensing the strange change that had surged within him earlier.

"Hoo!"

A wisp of energy traveled along his meridians, circulating throughout his body.

With the help of the breathing technique, Jiang Ye quickly sank into the artistic conception.

His fist momentum surged!

"Boom! Boom!"

Fist winds tore through the air, unleashing two thunderous sounds, muffled yet resonant.

It was as if real thunder was sounding!

"Eight Divisions Thunder Sound Fist, thunder leads the way, suppressing demons!" Jiang Ye continuously threw punches.

One after another, faint thunderous sounds exploded, the sound waves constantly vibrating.

Being able to produce tangible thunderous sounds meant proficiency in this advanced Art Technique.

And if one could produce continuous thunderous sounds, two or more in succession, it meant reaching the beginner level!

Throwing out several thunderous sounds with one punch was not just a difference in sound; it represented an accumulation of power.

Moreover, the more continuous the thunderous sounds, the stronger the power, increasing exponentially!

"It really is beginner level!"

Jiang Ye slowly retracted his stance, his eyes shining brightly.

In his original plan, it might have taken him more than half a month to reach the beginner level.

But now, a mere virtual battle had helped him break through.

"Is it because my Comprehension increased by 50%?" Jiang Ye pondered.

Earlier.

Jiang Ting washing his feet had unlocked the 'Saintess as Servant' achievement, which also permanently increased his Comprehension by 50%.

The significant increase in Comprehension not only sped up his cultivation.

It also gave him the opportunity for a breakthrough during battle.

"Is this what it feels like to be a genius?" Jiang Ye sighed.

It felt too good.

Rumor had it that those with innate talent above Dao Bone, those peerless geniuses, could break through realms just by eating and drinking.

Although he wasn't that exaggerated now, he had gotten a taste of it.

However, recalling the battle just now, Jiang Ye still felt a lingering fear.

"The Shadow Clan is truly incredibly troublesome."

Jiang Ye thought of the two-meter-tall Shadow Clan member.

Two meters tall was still within the Infant Body category.

Only when they reached three meters tall were they considered to have entered the Juvenile Body.

Of course, being taller didn't necessarily mean being stronger.

After reaching a certain stage, the Shadow Clan's bodies would slowly shrink again. Adult Body Shadow Clan members were usually about the same size as humans.

But there was no doubt that in the Infant Body stage, taller was generally stronger.

A two-meter-tall Shadow Clan Infant Body had already made Jiang Ye extremely difficult to handle.

Even though he had reached the beginner level in his fist technique, facing it again now, he wouldn't have the slightest chance of winning.

"The Shadow Clan that appears in reality are basically all Juvenile Bodies."

Jiang Ye's heart grew heavy: "If a Shadow Calamity were to appear, it would be a disaster for An City."

In the past, he had only heard that the Shadow Clan was terrifying but hadn't truly understood.

Now that his strength had grown, he was even more wary of the Shadow Clan.

System settlement complete.

[Best Damage: Jiang Ye]

[Best Vision: Jiang Ye]

[Best Martial Arts Will: Jiang Ye]

[Killed 14 Shadow Clan members in 29 minutes, team average casualty rate 79%.]

[MVP for this group: Jiang Ye, 120 points]

The other four teammates also received scores of 60 points or more for breaking through to the fourth stage.

"It really feels great following Brother Jiang."

"Brother Jiang, I'll treat you to a drink later."

The four teammates were full of gratitude towards Jiang Ye.

The feeling of winning without effort was also pretty great.

Meanwhile, in the main hall outside.

The giant screen continuously refreshed the rankings for the third-year students.

Just then, an inconspicuous name surged into the lower ranks of the leaderboard.

[95th Place: Jiang Ye, 460 points]

"It's Jiang Ye!"

"Someone from our class made it into the top 100 in the grade!"

The students from Class Nine who had already completed their assessment were all surprised.

Xu Sisi, who had woken up, also showed a look of relief on her face.

"Losing to a genius like this isn't a big deal." She patted her chest, which she couldn't see.

Some rejoiced, while others worried.

Near the entrance of the hall, a young girl in a red dress watched with changing expressions.

"Jiang Ye? 95th in the grade?"

"His improvement speed is so fast."

Zeng Xueqing frowned slightly. Her own rank was only 86th.

It seemed like a ten-place difference, but in reality, it was less than a five-point gap.

She had to remember that she was a Newborn talent.

And Jiang Ye was only a Primitive talent, yet his strength was already catching up to hers?

"I must work hard to improve and not let him catch up," Zeng Xueqing thought to herself.

She had once actively challenged Jiang Ye. If Jiang Ye caught up to her and then challenged her, she would be the biggest joke.

A person could be a clown, but they absolutely couldn't choose to be one.

At a certain spectator stand.

A cold and proud girl, wearing a shirt and hot pants, with fair and long legs, stood overlooking the entire hall.

Not far away, there was also a young man with a lazy expression.

The two were Zhao Qingli, the top student in the third year, and Wang Ziang, the third-ranked student.

"Jiang Ye?"

Wang Ziang looked at the grade rankings and couldn't help but mutter, "This Class Nine has really produced a dragon."

To him, Jiang Ye's current score was nothing significant.

But he had checked Jiang Ye's previous scores.

The speed of improvement was too fast!

Although it was relatively easy to improve below six hundred points, such a speed of improvement still surprised him.

"What are you muttering about?"

The cold and proud girl glanced at him.

The girl had long, slender legs and a face as fair as snow, but what was most striking was her chest, which seemed about to burst free from her shirt buttons above her slender waist.

At least E-cup!

Wang Ziang couldn't help but glance at it but quickly looked away.

He coughed and said, "You might not believe me, but Director Zhang said something to me before."

"What did he say?" Zhao Qingli frowned.

Wang Ziang clasped his hands behind his back and smiled, "A hidden dragon in the abyss; sometimes, the inconspicuous ones can later surpass the prominent."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingli immediately let out a scoff.

"You, Crouching Dragon?"

She stared at Wang Ziang with disdain. "Did you mishear? The director might have meant Crouching Dragon."

"."

Wang Ziang's expression was blank, his fists clenched tightly behind his back. He thought to himself, Hold it in. I'm third in the grade. It would be a huge embarrassment if she beat me here.

He smiled faintly, his tone light and breezy. "The director wasn't talking about me, but about someone in Class Nine, Jiang Ye."

"Jiang Ye?"

Zhao Qingli scanned the top hundred students in the grade and actually found the name.

"For someone in a regular class to break into the top hundred, their family must be quite well-off." The young lady nodded.

She didn't care.

Compare family background?

In the vast Ancheng, almost no one could compare to her.

Compare talent?

Regular classes are all about raw talent, which made her even less comparable.

Her gaze was no longer focused on students within the school, but on those ranked among the top few in Ancheng First Middle School.

Even more so, her sights were set on the entire Xishan Province.

But just then, Wang Ziang shook his head. "I asked the director. Jiang Ye isn't rich at all; his family's annual income is less than a hundred thousand."

Zhao Qingli's head snapped back.