Who the hell was calling this early in the morning? Couldn't they let me sleep in?
"Hello, who is this?" Sett had been sleeping soundly when the phone rang and woke him up. Ugh, there went his lie-in.
"Hey, Sett. Let's go test our strength at the martial arts hall today." It was Luo Feng calling. He'd recovered over the past few days and was feeling fine.
"Sure. Let's meet at the hall in an hour," Sett replied.
"Okay. See you then."
An hour later, Sett met Luo Feng outside the hall. "What are you looking at? You're completely absorbed."
"Look, there's an Aston Martin over there. It's the latest model, with flight capabilities. There must be some big shot inside." Luo Feng pointed toward the white sports car nearby.
"Yeah, probably some powerful Martial Artist. Come on, let's go in. No point staring. We'll be able to afford one ourselves before long," Sett said.
"Right. Let's go," Luo Feng replied with a smile. It was only eight in the morning, and the spacious training hall was nearly empty. Even in the evening, when it was busiest, there were only about twenty people.
"Sett, let's see how strong you are." Luo Feng walked over and switched on the Punch Strength Tester. "Go ahead. I've always tested first before, so you can take your turn."
"Fine by me. Watch closely, Madman. Don't let me scare you." Sett rolled his neck and walked up to the tester.
"Here goes!" Sett took a deep breath. He lowered his center of gravity and arched his back. A surge of power traveled down his arm, and his fist flashed out like lightning, slamming into the tester with a bang.
"Beep, beep, beep!" The Punch Strength Tester sounded three times in a row.
Luo Feng's eyes lit up. That sound meant the punch had exceeded 1,000 kilograms. "How'd you improve so much all of a sudden, Sett?" He saw the tester display 1,250 kilograms.
"Eh, it's nothing special. I haven't improved that much. Don't get jealous, bro," Sett said smugly. In truth, that wasn't even the limit of his strength. He'd only used nine-tenths of it this time, worried that using his full strength might shock Luo Feng. Even so, the result was impressive.
"Come on, Luo Feng. Let me show you a little something." Sett launched a flurry of lightning-fast punches. All Luo Feng heard was a steady succession of thuds. In the blink of an eye, Sett had thrown more than ten punches.
The tester kept beeping. Clearly, every punch had exceeded 1,000 kilograms.
"Damn, Sett, quit showing off! You're going to make my brain melt." Luo Feng sighed. "I thought I'd be able to surpass you, but you just keep getting more ridiculous. What have you been eating lately to get this strong?"
Just two months ago, Sett's punch strength had been a little over 800 kilograms. Now it had suddenly jumped to over 1,200, leaving Luo Feng unable to hide his shock. That's terrifying!
Then Luo Feng, unwilling to be outdone, stepped up to the Punch Strength Tester to test his own strength. He took a deep breath, channeled the power from his spine into his arm, and punched the machine.
The tester beeped three times and displayed a punch strength of 1,120 kilograms. "Not bad. You've made a pretty obvious improvement too. Heh."
He seems even stronger than he was in the original story, Sett thought.
Luo Feng knew his own strength had improved by leaps and bounds thanks to his fainting spells. He had no idea why Sett had improved so much, but everyone had their secrets—just like he did. As a good friend, it wasn't his place to pry.
"Not bad, I guess. Still can't keep up with you, though. I could never surpass your punch strength, and now the gap's even bigger," Luo Feng said with a smile.
"Come on. Let's test our speed too." Luo Feng walked over and switched on the Speed Tester. With a whoosh, he shot down the track like a bullet out of a gun.
On the fourth floor, a red-haired man and a bald man were chatting.
"Beep, beep, beep!" The faint sounds from downstairs caught their attention.
The tester downstairs was a basic model. It beeped whenever a punch exceeded 1,000 kilograms. Who could be practicing punches at this hour—and hitting with more than a thousand kilograms of force?
"Could that be Yang Wu?" "Why don't we go find out?" the red-haired man said. The two of them hurried down the stairs to the third-floor training hall, moving like a gust of wind.
After finishing his run, Luo Feng saw that he'd reached 28 meters per second. He was stunned. That was far beyond the threshold for a Martial Artist. "Well, Sett? That's what your big brother can do. Your turn—let's see you run."
Luo Feng grinned. "Don't get cocky. I'll show you what your big brother can do." Sett stretched, then sprinted down the track like the wind.
"Damn, how are you this fast too? I remember speed used to be your weak point." Luo Feng stared in surprise at the Speed Tester's reading: 29 meters per second.
Luo Feng had always been faster than Sett, even though his punch strength had been lower. But now, even in speed, he couldn't match him.
"Heh. Guess I got lucky."
The red-haired man and the bald man walked over to the two of them.
"Hello, Coach." The bald man was Jiang Nian, the hall's head instructor. Luo Feng greeted him, and Sett followed suit.
"We heard the Punch Strength Tester beep for a punch over 1,000 kilograms. And now someone's hit 29 meters per second. Which one of you is this talented?" Jiang Nian asked with a smile.
"Coach, we can both do that," Luo Feng said, a little sheepishly. Jiang Nian and the red-haired man exchanged glances, both visibly surprised.
"These two are Luo Feng and Sett. They're only seventeen or eighteen, and among my students, they're two of the most talented. I can't believe they've already reached the strength of Martial Artists," Jiang Nian told the red-haired man.
"What? They're only about eighteen, and there are two of them? Jiang Nian, you've struck gold!" the red-haired man exclaimed.
"Luo Feng, Sett, let me introduce you. This is your senior, Yan Luo."
Yan Luo looked at Luo Feng and Sett and nodded to them.
"Luo Feng, Sett, you took your college entrance exams recently, didn't you? I'd say you should go home and prepare for the Quasi-Martial Artist practical assessment. Then, on July 1, head to Yangzhou City and take the Quasi-Warrior Assessment at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall."
"Exactly. With your strength, going to college would be a waste of talent. The four years at university are when your abilities grow fastest. You should devote yourselves entirely to martial arts. Once you become Martial Artists, joining the Extreme Martial Arts Hall will give you a bright future."
These two Martial Artists held high positions and thought little of wealthy magnates and officials.
"Yan Luo's right. You both joined us as trainees when you were sixteen, and in less than two years, you've reached this level. In Yi'an District, no one's improved faster than you two," Jiang Nian said earnestly.
"Once you become Martial Artists, how about joining the Extreme Martial Arts Hall? It was founded by Hong, the greatest man on Earth, and offers the best training conditions.
"You'll also get your own detached villa, plus a base salary of 20,000 Earth Coins. The money itself might not seem like much, but you know how scarce land is in this age of Base Cities.
"You can't get a villa just by having money. Only people with special status have a chance to live in one. Of course, Martial Artists from our Extreme Martial Arts Hall are eligible."
Luo Feng knew the terms for becoming a Martial Artist were excellent, but he hadn't expected that he could move straight into a huge villa. He couldn't help but gasp.
Sett, on the other hand, already knew that Martial Artists got villas, so he wasn't as surprised.
"Join the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, and you'll have status and money. All you need to do is pursue the limits of martial arts—and the limits of humanity!"
Your senior, Yan Luo, just hunted a monster and earned 100 million Earth Coins.
Luo Feng was completely stunned. He'd known Martial Artists were powerful, but hearing it straight from one of them was far more shocking than the rumors he'd heard.
"Work hard, both of you. Don't waste your talent. With gifts like yours, becoming War General Level is only a matter of time. Then we can team up to hunt monsters." After saying this, the red-haired Yan Luo clapped them on the shoulders, laughed, and left the hall.
"Coach, let's decide after we pass the Martial Artist assessment," Sett said, then led the still-stunned Luo Feng out of the hall.
"Madman, see? That's what being a Martial Artist is like. And you were thinking of going to military school. The freedom and defiance of Martial Artists are so appealing.
"The Base Cities are so cramped. If you stay there too long, you need more room to spread your wings," Sett said to Luo Feng.
"You're right. Good thing you warned me earlier. Going to military school really would've been a waste."
"Haha, Luo Feng, get ready. July 1 isn't far off, and becoming a Martial Artist is getting closer by the day."
"Yeah!"
On the twenty-eighth, the weather was fine and sunny.
It was the day they had to submit their college applications. Sett decided to take one last look at the school and say a final farewell to his ordinary life.
As Sett and Luo Feng ignored the clamoring around them, they crumpled their application forms into balls and casually tossed them toward the trash can at the back of the classroom.
"Three points!" Sett said to Luo Feng with a grin.
The two left the classroom as everyone stared at them in stunned silence.
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