"Xu Lei."
After school that afternoon, an unexpected figure appeared at the classroom door.
Zhang Bailan, who was usually so proud, had a broad smile on her face as she stopped a refined, handsome young man who was just about to leave.
"Zhang Bailan, what is it?" Xu Lei asked gently, though his brows furrowed slightly when he noticed the students nearby looking over.
Zhang Bailan was feeling a little nervous, but she remembered what her father had told her that day. The man standing before her could be an important turning point in her life. Her spirits lifted, and she tried to make her smile even more charming. "Xu Lei, I heard you're really good at math. There are a lot of things I don't understand. Would you mind tutoring me?"
Most ordinary guys would have found it hard to resist such a beautiful girl lowering her guard and pleading so sweetly. Though Zhang Bailan's charms hadn't won Xu Lei over, he still found it difficult to turn her down.
"Well..."
Xu Lei hesitated.
Just then, Ji Xuan came out. When Xu Lei saw her, his expression changed slightly, and his tone immediately grew firm. "Sorry, Zhang Bailan. I have something to do. Maybe another time."
Xu Lei stepped past Zhang Bailan and left.
Zhang Bailan watched him go, her expression shifting repeatedly. Then she suddenly turned toward Ji Xuan, gritting her teeth.
Zhang Bailan had been watching Xu Lei closely. How could she not tell that he'd been wavering, only to firmly reject her as soon as Ji Xuan appeared?
"Ji Xuan, you woman—you've ruined things for me again!" Zhang Bailan now hated Ji Xuan with all her heart.
Ji Xuan had no idea she'd unwittingly become someone's enemy. She left the school with Lin Xiao and Chen Daolin, heading for the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District.
Inside a car behind them, Xu Lei watched Ji Xuan's disappearing figure, then silently rolled up the window.
They belonged to two different worlds. He would let this love, which had never even begun, end here.
As the second young master of the Xu Family, one of Huaxia's top families, Xu Lei knew he had no say in whom he married. So even though he'd fallen for Ji Xuan, a girl unlike any other, at first sight, he had only watched her quietly from afar until their high school days came to an end.
Their family backgrounds meant they could never be together.
Before long, Chen Daolin and the others arrived at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. It sprawled there like a gigantic beast, covering more ground than a high school. The main entrance was wide enough for ten cars to pass through side by side. Inside the grounds stood three enormous silver-white buildings, shaped like spaceships.
"Senior Sister!"
"Hello, Senior Sister!"
The students they encountered in the hall noticed the Advanced Martial Arts Student badge on Ji Xuan's chest and greeted her respectfully.
Chen Daolin and Lin Xiao, both intermediate students, were completely overshadowed.
The hall had three enormous buildings: one for beginner students, one for intermediate students, and one for advanced students.
In the past, Ji Xuan would part ways with Chen Daolin and Lin Xiao here and head to the advanced students' building alone. But she hadn't gone far when she noticed Chen Daolin silently following her.
"Hey, you're going the wrong way," Lin Xiao said in surprise.
"I'm not lost. I forgot to mention it yesterday, but I've already reached the advanced student level," Chen Daolin said with a shrug.
"Seriously? You only became an intermediate student recently. You reached the advanced level that fast? You're making that up, right?" Lin Xiao didn't believe him.
She was the one who usually trained alongside Chen Daolin in the intermediate students' building. She knew him even better than Ji Xuan did.
Ji Xuan stood there, her clear eyes fixed on Chen Daolin. He met her gaze calmly.
She nodded. "I'll take you to get tested." She was direct. Whether Chen Daolin was telling the truth or not, a test would settle it.
Reason told her that Chen Daolin couldn't have undergone such a dramatic change overnight—unless he'd illegally taken some kind of performance-enhancing drug.
But those drugs were expensive, and ordinary people had no way of getting their hands on them. They couldn't afford them, either.
Lin Xiao's eyes shifted as she grinned. "I'm coming too."
Ji Xuan didn't object. It wouldn't hurt to bring her along.
The rules allowed only advanced students and hall staff into the advanced students' building. But rules were one thing, and people were another. If someone inside vouched for you, few would bother to make an issue of it.
So the three of them entered the building together. The first and second floors were large lecture halls, each spacious enough to hold thousands of people. The hall's instructors taught their classes there. Ji Xuan led the two of them up to the third floor, where only advanced students were allowed.
The third floor held a large training hall, a hundred meters long and wide. More than a dozen people were there already.
After greeting them with a smile, Ji Xuan led her companions over to a man in his thirties who was sitting in the corner, drinking water. "Brother Luo, this is my classmate, Chen Daolin. He'd like to take the test to become an advanced student."
Brother Luo looked at Chen Daolin in surprise. "Ji, you said he's your classmate? He's so young and already this capable? Impressive."
Brother Luo got straight to it, leading them to a machine. Beside it stood a black punching pad. He switched the machine on, then turned to Chen Daolin. "Hit it once with all your strength."
Chen Daolin was familiar with the Punch Strength Testing Machine. Intermediate and advanced students, even warriors, had to take a punch-strength test to qualify. Strength was one of the most important factors.
To become a warrior, a person had to meet three basic physical requirements: strength, speed, and neural response.
Strength: a punch of at least 900 kilograms.
Speed: 25 meters per second.
Neural response speed: above the minimum passing standard for warriors.
Only after meeting all three requirements could someone earn a Quasi-Martial Artist certificate and take the Martial Artist Practical Examination. Passing that exam made them a true warrior.
Students, however, faced less demanding standards. In fact, they only needed to meet the requirements for strength and speed.
The standard for an advanced student at the hall was a punch strength of 700 kilograms and a speed of 22 meters per second.
That might not sound too difficult, but even after the Great Nirvana, when viruses had strengthened people's genes, most people still only reached the intermediate student level, even with specialized training. Very few made it to the advanced level. That was clear from the fact that only four out of the five thousand students at Yi'an District No. 3 High School had become advanced students.
After nearly three years of hard training, Chen Daolin had only just reached the intermediate student standard. Even so, he was already one of the few students at his school to do so.
Before Chen Daolin could step forward, Lin Xiao tugged at his sleeve and asked worriedly, "Can you actually do it? What if you fail and embarrass yourself?"
Chen Daolin shot her a look and ignored her. He walked straight up to the Punch Strength Testing Machine, took a deep breath, and focused. His eyes fixed on the target as he slowly settled into a proper punching stance. He was like an arrow about to leave the bow, his body forming the bow and his fist the arrowhead.
A thought stirred in Chen Daolin's mind.
King Kai Fist!
BOOM!
A tremendous force burst from within him. His whole body shuddered. Without time to think, he unleashed the punch he'd been building up and slammed it into the black punching pad.
SMACK!
The pad shook. A moment later, the machine beeped and displayed a number.
"1005 kg."
"Holy crap!" Brother Luo had been paying little attention, but Chen Daolin's punch made him snap to attention. When he saw the number on the screen, his eyes lit up, and a look of disbelief crossed his face. The curse slipped out before he could stop it.
Ji Xuan and Lin Xiao were even more stunned. At the sight of Chen Daolin's punch-strength reading, their beautiful eyes went wide, and their mouths fell slightly open.
"Hold on," Brother Luo said excitedly. He fiddled with the machine, then looked at Chen Daolin expectantly. "Test it one more time."
Chen Daolin didn't hesitate. He threw another punch. That first one hadn't even been his full strength.
Let's go with eighty percent!
King Kai Fist!
BAM!
The punching pad shook.
"977 kg."
"Ha ha ha!" Brother Luo slapped his hands together and came over to Chen Daolin, his gaze burning as if he were looking at a treasure. Chen Daolin felt uncomfortable under his stare. "What a talent! Our neighborhood has another one! You're only eighteen this year, right, Chen?"
"I'll turn eighteen in three months," Chen Daolin replied.
Brother Luo nodded, then grew excited again. "So you're still seventeen. A seventeen-year-old warrior! How long has it been since our neighborhood had one? I need to notify the instructor right away."
"Brother Luo, I haven't taken the speed test yet," Chen Daolin said calmly.
"Oh, right, the speed test. Look at me—I got so excited I nearly forgot." Brother Luo smacked his forehead and eagerly led Chen Daolin over to another track, then turned on the Speed Tester.
The track was only sixty meters long. Chen Daolin activated King Kai Fist, and the moment he pushed off, he was already at the other end.
"Stop!" Brother Luo called out, even making a dramatic gesture. Ji Xuan and Lin Xiao exchanged exasperated looks. Brother Luo was usually so composed, but now he was as excited as a child.
Chen Daolin walked over and checked the number on the screen: "27.9 m/s."
The qualifying speed for a warrior was 25 meters per second.
Chen Daolin nodded without much surprise. King Kai Fist enhanced his overall physical abilities: strength, speed, reflexes, defense... In other words, with a twofold increase from King Kai Fist, his usual intermediate-level strength of just over 500 kilograms could exceed 1,000 kilograms. The same went for his speed.
Once again, Chen Daolin hadn't used his full strength. Yet he had still exceeded the qualifying speed for a warrior.
The only drawback was that he couldn't maintain the King Kai Fist state for long. It was a burst technique that placed a tremendous strain on his body. If he pushed past his limits, the consequences would be severe.
Still, Chen Daolin was more than satisfied.
The rest was simple. Chen Daolin earned his advanced student badge and met Jiang Nian, the instructor of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District, who had hurried over after hearing the news. He was the most powerful person at the hall. Even many warriors addressed him respectfully as "Instructor."
Jiang Nian wasn't particularly interested in ordinary warriors, but becoming one at eighteen was different. Such a young warrior clearly had greater talent and a bright future. And discovering a talent like that in his own neighborhood would look good on Jiang Nian's record, too.
Chen Daolin had already decided to become a warrior, so he readily agreed when Jiang Nian urged him to take the Quasi-Martial Artist Assessment on July 1, after graduating from high school.
Ji Xuan and Lin Xiao were still bewildered and incredulous. Chen Daolin had been perfectly ordinary just yesterday, and now he was about to become a warrior?
For reasons of his own, Instructor Jiang Nian immediately ordered that Chen Daolin's test results be kept secret. Under the orders of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall instructor in Yi'an District, few people would dare challenge his authority in the district.
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