Her Body Tempering Fist had clearly reached the Major Accomplishment Realm. Every move flowed with effortless ease, carrying a unique softness that let her overcome brute force with skill several times and deflect the puppet's fierce attacks.
1 minute 45 seconds! Xu Yunjing had lasted 105 seconds and handled 51 moves before finally running out of strength and conceding.
Score: 105 × 0.5 + 51 × 2 = 52.5 + 102 = 154.5 points!
"Excellent!" The proctor actually smiled for once.
Song Yunliang was the last to take the stage. The moment he stepped onto the platform, his whole demeanor changed, as if he were a beast poised to strike.
Once the test began, Song Yunliang stunned everyone. Instead of defending passively, he took the initiative and attacked!
When the Iron Puppet used Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain, Song Yunliang didn't retreat. He pressed forward and met its attack with an even more powerful punch!
"Bang!" Amid the muffled impact, the Iron Puppet was actually knocked half a step backward!
"My god! He's going head-to-head with it?"
"That strength is ridiculous!"
Song Yunliang fought with bold, sweeping movements, every strike powerful and heavy. His Body Tempering Fist had clearly incorporated the characteristics of his family's inherited martial arts, making his moves even more fierce and ruthless.
More astonishingly, he seemed to be imitating the Iron Puppet's moves, learning from them as he fought. The longer the battle went on, the braver he became.
2 minutes 10 seconds! Song Yunliang lasted a full 130 seconds and handled 63 moves. In the end, after expending too much energy, he was struck in the shoulder by a cunning Fierce Tiger Pounces on Prey. He staggered backward and conceded.
Score: 130 × 0.5 + 63 × 2 = 65 + 126 = 191 points!
The whole venue fell silent, then erupted in enthusiastic applause and gasps of amazement.
"191 points! That's almost a perfect score!"
"With skills like that, he'd be top-tier even at First Middle School, right?"
"Too bad his Cultural Class grades are holding him back..."
Chen Mo watched Song Yunliang calmly step down from the platform, his heart shaken. Was this what a genius with a Martial Artist family background was like? The foundation built since childhood, systematic training, abundant resources... Those advantages couldn't be made up in a short time.
But he wasn't discouraged. Instead, his resolve to catch up grew stronger. With the system, he had a chance to surpass ordinary people. As long as he worked hard, one day he would catch up to these geniuses—or even surpass them.
Three days after all the tests had ended, the First Mock Exam's total scores and rankings were finally announced.
A fresh score sheet had been posted on the back wall of the Class 7, Grade 12 classroom at Sixth Middle School. This time, it listed not only the class rankings but also the schoolwide rankings.
The students gathered around it, chattering among themselves.
Chen Mo squeezed into the crowd and searched for his name. His gaze scanned from the top down before finally stopping at:
Name: Chen Mo
Total Cultural Class Score: 368/600 (Class Rank: 32, School Rank: 288)
Total Martial Arts Score: 324/500 (Class Rank: 18, School Rank: 165)
Overall Score: 692/1100 (Class Rank: 27, School Rank: 245)
Estimated Citywide Rank: Around 6,200 out of 24,000 examinees
A Martial Arts score of 324! That included 68 points in the Speed Test, 80 in the Strength Test (78 for punches + 82 for kicks), 68 in the Reaction Test, and 108 in the Combat Test. That put him fourth in Class Seven and around the upper-middle of his year.
His overall class rank had leaped from below 45th to 27th, and his school rank had also broken into the top 250. He was still a long way from the top, but the change was nothing short of transformative.
"Chen Mo has improved so much!"
"324 in Martial Arts, 368 in Cultural Class, 692 overall. He's got a shot at getting into a top-tier university!"
"I heard he's been working really hard lately. Looks like it's true."
The comments around him reached his ears. Some sounded surprised, others envious, and a few clearly saw him in a new light.
Zhang Shun pushed his way over and slapped Chen Mo hard on the shoulder. "Brother Mo, you're awesome! 692 points! The top-tier university cutoff was 650 last year, so you're definitely in!"
Chen Mo smiled, but he knew the truth: 692 would indeed have cleared last year's cutoff, but he was still at least 80 to 100 points short of getting into a good Martial Arts university or the Martial Arts program at a key comprehensive university.
Homeroom teacher Old Li walked into the classroom, wearing an unusual smile.
"You've all seen the First Mock Exam results. I want to commend a few students in particular." He picked up the score sheet. "Xu Yunjing, 512 in Cultural Class, 462 in Martial Arts, 974 overall. First in our class, second in the school!"
Loud applause broke out.
"And," Old Li continued, turning his gaze to Chen Mo, "Chen Mo has improved by 18 places in the overall rankings. Most notably, his Martial Arts score has risen from barely passing to a good level. That's remarkable progress. I hope you'll keep it up."
After class, Chen Mo went alone to the edge of the sports field and brought up the System Panel:
[Host: Chen Mo] [Mental Strength: 15.2 (+0.3)] [Qi and Blood Value: 81 (+6)] [Skills:] [Black Tiger Stance Lv.3 (68/300)] [Body Tempering Fist Lv.3 (47/300)] [Mastery of all subjects has improved]
This Combat Test had been a grueling battle, but that very ordeal had brought me unprecedented rewards. After such an intense fight, my Body Tempering Fist proficiency had increased enormously, and my Qi and Blood Value had shot up by a full six points! It was now as high as 81! More importantly, only after experiencing real combat for myself had I truly understood what it was like and recognized just how many weaknesses I still had.
Not nearly enough... Chen Mo stared toward First Middle School in the distance and clenched his fists. Song Yunliang's astonishing 191 points and Xu Yunjing's equally impressive 154 points kept appearing in his mind. They loomed before him like towering mountains. Compared to them, he had only just climbed a tiny hill, and from there caught a glimpse of a vast, boundless world. Still, at least the road ahead was growing clearer. His first priority was to push his Qi and Blood Value past 100 and begin learning Qi and Blood Transportation. Next, he had to work even harder on his Body Tempering Fist and reach perfection as soon as possible. Of course, he couldn't slack off in his Cultural Classes either. He had to make sure he scored at least 400 on every exam!
The road ahead was still long, but this time Chen Mo truly had the confidence and resolve to keep going.
He turned and headed toward the Martial Arts Training Hall. There was less than a year until the Gaokao, and he couldn't waste a single day.
His new training began.
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