Emerging Talents

Meng Chuan didn't mind; his main goal in coming today was to be able to join the sophomore martial arts classes in the future.

The Martial Arts Arena contained a Wooden Dummy Area, where practicing footwork increased proficiency much faster, while also making it convenient to find people for sparring to quickly improve fist technique proficiency.

Zong Ping, however, wasn't about to indulge Qi Fei and snatched the sensor device to put it on first.

"Stop acting so full of yourself and get in line, damn it!"

Qi Fei just crossed his arms and sneered:

"Fine, fine, you go ahead."

[Test Started]

Zong Ping lowered his waist and arched his back slightly, pulling one hand to his side in a tiger-claw shape, preparing to exert force.

Interesting, this blondie is a good sparring partner.

From Zong Ping's opening stance, Meng Chuan could tell that unlike Wang Yue's amateur Tiger Form, this guy had real skill.

[Blood-Qi Value 7.18, Third Barrier Entered]

"Holy crap, this kid!"

The sophomore martial arts students watching were shocked. If a freshman had this kind of strength, wouldn't all the major martial arts schools be fighting over him? Why would he come to Ping'an Middle School?

Meng Chuan didn't want to wait anymore and stepped forward to take the sensor device from Zong Ping's hand.

"Qi Fei, right? You keep 'settling in,' I'll test first."

Pao Fist was a Xingyi Fist technique, completely different from the opening stance of the Xiangxing Fist Tiger Form.

Meng Chuan took a half-step forward with his right foot, crossed his arms straight in front of his abdomen with the right on the outside and left on the inside, palms facing inward.

Then, he rotated his arms outward, bent his elbows into fists, and pulled them to his waist with the knuckles facing upward, channeling his Blood-Qi into his forearms before striking out with a powerful punch.

[Please remove the sensor device]

[Blood-Qi Value 7.47, Third Barrier Entered]

As the machine emitted the tone signaling the end of the test, the entire room fell silent.

Dozens of eyes were locked onto Meng Chuan.

Shock, surprise, disbelief... all sorts of emotions converged at once.

Someone muttered to themselves:

"Didn't they say he only knew how to throw Wawa Fist? Is the machine broken?"

A sharp-eyed student had already spotted the truth:

"It's not broken. His mastery of Pao Fist is likely approaching perfection."

"Hiss, this kid is terrifying!"

"My uncle didn't lie to me."

Although Zong Ping had a flighty personality, he cupped his hands in respect when facing a peer with a higher Blood-Qi value than his own:

"Brother, you're impressive. Let's spar on the ring in a bit."

He believed his uncle's words now; this guy named Meng Chuan really had some substance.

Meng Chuan returned the salute to Zong Ping:

"No problem. I've been wanting to see the essence of the Tiger Form for a long time."

The Hu Brothers were also full of surprise. They had thought that a freshman like Zong Ping was already impressive enough, but they hadn't expected there to be even higher-level experts.

Qi Fei stood where he was, feeling incredibly awkward. He had practiced Ferocious Tiger Fist last week and only tested his Blood-Qi after feeling he had made progress, resulting in a 6.82.

He had just told these two to "settle in," so if he went up to test now, wouldn't he be a laughingstock?

"I reckon only Brother Qi can suppress these two."

"Go for it, Brother Qi! Our last bit of sophomore pride!"

With only Qi Fei left to test his Blood-Qi, the crowd urged him on:

"Yeah, Brother Qi, hurry up and go."

With everyone watching him, Qi Fei had no choice but to walk up and test with a livid expression.

[Blood-Qi Value 6.78, Third Barrier Entered]

Qi Fei cursed his bad luck; it was even lower than his test result from last week. He didn't know if it was because he had only thrown one punch, causing the value to fluctuate.

Seeing this, Zong Ping laughed out loud:

"Huh? Little Fei, is that all you've got?"

The others looked at Qi Fei's sour face and kept their mouths shut, not wanting to provoke his temper at a time like this.

Qi Fei thought to himself:

The gap in Blood-Qi isn't that big, and I'm a year older with more combat experience.

There's still the ring match to regain my face. I must properly take these two down to salvage my reputation, especially that blondie!

Principal Zong arrived fashionably late, walking over to the side of the grade director.

"How are the test results? How many broke through the third threshold?"

"Including Zong Ping and Meng Chuan from the first year, a total of 16 students have a blood-qi value above four."

"Our school is currently on a fast track of rapid development in the martial path!"

"The number of second-year students who have passed the three blood-qi thresholds has increased by 50% compared to the same period in previous years!"

The director was eager to show progress, paused for a moment, and continued:

"Also, those two, Zong Ping and Meng Chuan, are truly... Principal, you certainly have a keen eye for talent!"

The principal became interested; he knew his nephew's level very well, but he was truly unclear about the strength of Meng Chuan's blood-qi.

He had let him participate in the second-year exam mainly for the sake of the improved Guoyi Fist.

"What is Meng Chuan's blood-qi value?"

"7.47."

"You said how much!"

The director repeated it to the principal in a loud voice.

Principal Zong muttered to himself:

"This test has actually unearthed a true dragon."

Although Meng Chuan's blood-qi strength shocked him, he was someone who had seen great storms and waves, and he quickly regained his composure.

"Those who have passed more than three thresholds, step forward, go under the ring to draw lots to determine your opponents, and finally decide the top three."

After the principal finished speaking, Meng Chuan followed the crowd toward the ring area, thinking as he walked:

"Counting me, there are 16 contestants in total. Most of them have blood-qi values just over 4, just here to make up the numbers.

I need to be careful of the Hu Brothers and Qi Fei, and most importantly, that blond kid named Zong Ping."

"This can be considered my first competition; I must get off to a good start and go all out to bring back first place!"

The draw results for the first round of the competition came out quickly. Meng Chuan's opponent was a contestant with a blood-qi of 4.32, who had just entered the third threshold.

The principal stood in the middle of the ring, coughed twice to clear his throat, waved his hand, and said:

"The match begins!"

The unknown opponent opposite him looked at Meng Chuan as if facing a great enemy; the gap in blood-qi made him feel a bit timid before the fight even started.

Seeing that the other party did not move for a long time, Meng Chuan politely reminded him:

"I'm coming, senior, be careful."

Meng Chuan used his Cun Step to exert force and close the distance, reaching his opponent in two or three steps.

Following that was a plain and unadorned straight Pao Fist; a crisp sound faintly came from the wind of the punch, which was the Ming Jin force hidden within the fist technique.

Meng Chuan did not use his full speed and power for this strike; it was just a probing attack.

The opponent had every opportunity to dodge, but perhaps he was frightened by Meng Chuan's momentum and actually raised his hands, wanting to take it head-on.

A huge sense of oppression struck toward his face; the wind arrived before the fist!

"It's over!"

The opponent actually closed his eyes on the ring, and Meng Chuan wanted to pull back his strength, but it was already too late.

At the critical moment, the principal took a step across and timely intercepted Meng Chuan's fist.

With a loud crack, the opponent's legs went soft, and he almost sat on the ground.

Principal Zong's expression was ugly as he roared:

"Are you looking for death? Why are you closing your eyes on the ring!"

"Next group!"

Although Meng Chuan's performance was unexpected, the performance of many other students was truly poor.

Facing an attack, they didn't know whether to dodge or defend, only knowing how to blindly strike according to the fist manual.

Seeing this situation, the principal thought to himself:

"In the future, we need to increase these kinds of actual combat confrontations between students.

Blood-qi value is only the threshold for Martial University; in the end, one must still show their true mettle through fists and kicks!"