Testing Strength

Who is calling so early in the morning? Can't a guy get some sleep? Damn it.

"Hello, who is this?" Sett was sleeping soundly when he was woken up by a phone ringing. Sigh, it's so hard to get a good sleep.

"Hey, Sett, let's go to the martial arts hall today to test our strength." The caller was Luo Feng. Over the past few days, Luo Feng's health had improved, and he was doing just fine.

"Is that so? Then let's meet at the martial arts hall in an hour," Sett said.

"Alright, see you then."

An hour later, Sett met Luo Feng at the entrance of the martial arts hall: "What are you looking at? You're so engrossed."

"Look, there's an Aston Martin sports car over there, the latest model with flight capabilities too. I bet there's some big shot inside," Luo Feng said, pointing to the white sports car nearby.

"Oh, right. I guess it's some powerful martial artist inside. Let's go in, stop staring. It won't be long before we can afford one too," Sett said.

"Yeah, let's go," Luo Feng replied with a smile. It was only eight in the morning, and the spacious training hall was empty with hardly anyone around. Even at night, when it was most crowded, there were only about twenty people.

"Sett, I want to see how your strength is doing." Luo Feng walked over and turned on the punch strength tester: "Come on, Sett. It's always been me going first, so you go first this time."

"If you say so. Watch closely, Madman, don't get scared by me," Sett said, twisting his neck before walking up to the machine.

"Start!" Sett took a deep breath. He lowered his center of gravity and arched his back. A powerful force surged through his arm, and his fist struck the machine like a bolt of lightning with a loud 'bang'.

"Beep, beep, beep!" The punch strength tester emitted three consecutive sounds.

Luo Feng's eyes lit up. This sound from the punch strength tester meant the force had exceeded 1000kg. "How did you improve so much all of a sudden, Sett?" Luo Feng saw the 1250kg displayed on the machine.

"Eh, it's just average. I haven't improved that much, so don't get jealous, brother," Sett said, acting cool. In reality, this wasn't even his full strength; he had only used ninety percent of his power, fearing that showing his full potential would scare Luo Feng. Even so, this was already quite high.

"Come on, Luo Feng, let me show you some real moves." After saying that, Sett unleashed a flurry of punches like lightning. One could only hear the continuous sound of "thud, thud." In the blink of an eye, Sett had thrown over a dozen punches.

The beeping of the tester never stopped, clearly indicating that every one of Sett's punches had exceeded 1000kg.

"Damn, Sett, stop showing off. You're making me feel like an idiot," Luo Feng sighed and said: "I thought my strength would be able to surpass yours, but who knew you'd become more and more of a monster? What have you been eating lately to get this fierce?"

One had to know that two months ago, Sett's punch strength was only a little over 800kg. Now that it had suddenly jumped to over 1200kg, Luo Feng couldn't help but gasp. "Terrifying!"

Afterward, Luo Feng didn't want to be outdone and went to the punch strength tester to test his own power. He took a deep breath, channeling force from his spine into his arm, and then slammed it into the machine.

Accompanied by the "beep, beep, beep" sounds, the machine displayed a punch strength of 1120kg. "Not bad, your progress is quite obvious too, hehe."

It seems to be even a bit higher than his strength in the original story, Sett thought.

Luo Feng knew his own massive improvement was due to his "fainting spells," though he didn't know why Sett had improved so much. However, everyone had their secrets, just like him, so as a good friend, it wasn't his place to ask too many questions.

"It's alright, but it's a pity I still can't compare to you. My punch strength never managed to surpass yours before, and now the gap is getting even wider," Luo Feng laughed.

"Let's go, let's go test our speed." After saying that, Luo Feng walked over and turned on the speed tester. With a swoosh, Luo Feng shot across the track like a bullet leaving a chamber.

On the fourth floor, a red-haired man and a bald man were chatting and laughing.

"Beep, beep, beep!" The faint sound coming from downstairs surprised the two of them.

The tester downstairs was an entry-level punch strength machine; it only made that sound when someone hit over 1000kg. Who could be practicing at this hour, and who could punch with over a thousand kilograms of force?

"Could it be that Yang Wu?" "Let's go take a look and find out." The red-haired man said. With that, the two moved like a gust of wind down the stairs to the third-floor training hall.

After finishing his run, Luo Feng looked and saw his speed had reached 28 meters per second. He was startled himself, as it was significantly higher than the threshold for a martial artist. "How about that, Sett? That's the strength of your brother. You come and run a lap and see."

Luo Feng laughed. "Don't get cocky, let me show you my strength." Sett said, stretching his body before charging down the track like the wind.

"Damn, how is your speed so fast too? I remember speed used to be your weak point," Luo Feng said, surprised to see the 29 meters per second on the tester.

One had to know that while Luo Feng's punch strength was inferior to Sett's before, his speed had always been faster. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, his speed was now inferior to Sett's as well.

"Hehe, just lucky."

Just then, the red-haired man and the bald man walked up to the two of them.

"Hello, Instructor." The bald man in front of them was none other than the master of this martial arts hall, Jiang Nian. Luo Feng bowed upon seeing him, and Sett followed suit.

"We heard the punch strength tester make a sound exceeding 1000kg just now, and then saw a speed of 29 meters per second. Which one of you is so impressive?" Jiang Nian said with a smile.

"Instructor, we both are," Luo Feng said, feeling a bit embarrassed. Jiang Nian and the red-haired man exchanged glances, both seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.

"These two are named Luo Feng and Sett. They are only seventeen or eighteen years old, and they are two of the most talented students I have here. I never expected that in the blink of an eye, they would both possess the strength of a martial artist," Jiang Nian said to the red-haired man.

"What? Only about 18 years old, and both of them? Jiang Nian, you've struck gold," the red-haired man said in surprise.

"Luo Feng, Sett, let me introduce you. This is your senior, Yan Luo."

Yan Luo looked at Luo Feng and Sett, nodding at them.

"Luo Feng, Sett, did you two participate in the college entrance exams earlier? I think you should just go back and prepare well for the prospective martial artist combat assessment. Just come to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yangzhou City on July 1st to take the prospective martial artist assessment."

"Exactly, with your strength, going to take the college entrance exams is simply a waste of talent. The four years of university are the period when your strength will improve the fastest. If you devote yourselves entirely to the martial path now, you will have a bright future once you become martial artists and join our Extreme Martial Arts Hall."

These two great martial artists held high status and looked down upon ordinary wealthy people or officials.

"Yan Luo is right. You two became our students when you were only 16, and in less than two years, you've reached this level of strength. In our Yi'an District, your rate of progress is the fastest," Jiang Nian said earnestly.

"Once you two become martial artists, how about joining our Extreme Martial Arts Hall? Our Extreme Martial Arts Hall was founded by Hong, the number one person on Earth, and we have the best training conditions."

"Plus, there's a detached villa, along with a base salary of 20,000 yuan. Although this 20,000 yuan isn't much, you know how it is. In this era of base cities, land is extremely scarce."

"These villas aren't something you can just move into with money; only those with special status have the opportunity to live in them. Of course, the martial artists of our Extreme Martial Arts Hall can naturally move in."

Although Luo Feng knew that the conditions for becoming a martial artist were excellent, he hadn't expected to be able to move directly into a large villa, and he couldn't help but gasp.

Sett, on the other hand, wasn't all that surprised, as he already knew that martial artists were provided with villas.

"Join our Extreme Martial Arts Hall, and you will have status and wealth at your fingertips. All you need to do is pursue the limits of the martial path, the limits of humanity!"

"Your senior, Yan Luo, just hunted down a monster earlier and earned one hundred million Earth coins."

Luo Feng was completely stunned. Although he had known that martial artists were powerful, hearing it directly from one was far more shocking than all the hearsay he had encountered before.

"You two should work hard and not waste your respective talents. With such great potential, becoming a War-General level fighter is only a matter of time. When that happens, we can even team up to hunt monsters together." After saying this, the red-haired Yan Luo patted both of them on the shoulders, let out a hearty laugh, and left the martial arts hall.

"Instructor, let us make our decision after we pass the martial artist examination," Sett said, before leading the shocked Luo Feng out of the hall.

"Madman, did you see that? This is what a martial artist is. It's a good thing you wanted to go to military academy before; the freedom and unyielding spirit of a martial artist are truly captivating."

"This base city is only so big. After staying here for so long, one needs a larger space to truly spread their wings," Sett said to Luo Feng.

"You're right. It's fortunate you reminded me earlier, otherwise, going to military academy would have truly been a waste for me."

"Haha, Luo Feng, prepare yourself well. July 1st is only a few days away, and becoming a martial artist is getting closer and closer."

"Yeah!"

On the 28th, the weather was fair and the sun was bright.

Today was the day to submit college applications. Sett decided to take one last look at the school to bid a final farewell to this ordinary life.

Amidst a chorus of discordant discussions, Sett and Luo Feng crumpled their application forms into paper balls and tossed them casually into the trash can at the back of the classroom.

"Three points," Sett said to Luo Feng with a smile.

The two of them left the classroom, leaving everyone else dumbfounded.