College Entrance Exam

In the spacious third-floor martial arts hall, a dull thud echoed as the screen of the Punch Strength Testing Machine displayed a string of numbers: "801kg."

Ji Xuan slowly retracted her hand, a look of helplessness appearing on her face.

A week had passed since Chen Daolin knocked out Zhang Bailan with a single strike. At the time, Zhang Bailan had been sent to the hospital unconscious, turning the so-called challenge into a joke. Following her collapse, the helpers she had brought along could no longer stay and scattered one after another.

The senior students at the martial arts gym began to look at Chen Daolin with awe.

Ji Xuan stared blankly at the screen of the Punch Strength Testing Machine. There was only one month left until the college entrance exam, yet she was still nearly 100kg short of the 900kg punch strength required for a prospective martial artist. One shouldn't underestimate those 100kg; as ordinary people get closer to becoming martial artists, it becomes increasingly difficult to improve their physical fitness. Ji Xuan had calculated that it would likely be after she started university before she could increase her physical strength by that much.

Martial artists place great importance on their early development; the ages of 16 to 30 are widely recognized as the golden years for martial arts cultivation. If one passes this period, the rate of progress slows down.

Ji Xuan sighed silently in her heart.

She lowered her head to look at the watch on her wrist, which featured a "pulse testing" function.

Her eyes were deep and profound, though it was unclear what she was thinking.

As the college entrance exam drew closer, Ji Xuan, Lin Xiao, and the others poured more time and energy into their studies, even falling behind on their daily training at the gym. Chen Daolin, however, spent a vast amount of time in the gym's training hall every day, frequently receiving guidance from instructor Jiang Nian, and even stopped attending school altogether. Perhaps due to the way the King Kai Fist tempered his body, his physical fitness was improving even faster than before.

Everyone had chosen their own path.

Chen Daolin's goal was to become a martial artist.

As for Ji Xuan, her biggest goal at the moment was to get into the Jiangnan First Military Academy.

June 7th was the first day of the college entrance exam. In Huaxia Country, the exam lasted for three days—June 7th, 8th, and 9th—just like the exams before the Great Nirvana.

On this day, Chen Daolin, who had been missing for many days, appeared once again, ready to face the first college entrance exam of his life.

After being nagged by Ji Father and Ji Mother for a while, and chatting with the sisters Ji Xuan and Ji Han, the gates of No. 1 High School slowly opened, and the long-waiting examinees filed inside.

"Big sister." Her younger sister, Ji Han, sat in her wheelchair, gave Ji Xuan a thumbs-up, and smiled slightly. "You must do your best!"

"Mm!" Ji Xuan beamed.

"Brother Daolin, you do your best too."

"Mm!" Chen Daolin patted her head. He thought to himself that this girl probably didn't know he had already given up on the college entrance exam to focus on becoming a martial artist.

Ji Han watched the young students pouring into the school gates, a hint of envy in her eyes.

Chen Daolin sat at his assigned seat in the exam hall with a calm expression. Compared to the students who viewed the exam as the most important event of their lives, his mindset was much more peaceful; it was nothing more than going through the motions.

June 7th, science exam.

June 8th, liberal arts exam.

In the blink of an eye, it was June 9th.

In a corner outside the exam hall, Zhang Bailan stood with a delicate-looking girl, her expression cold.

"Do you know what to do now?"

The girl glanced at Zhang Bailan timidly and nodded as if startled.

"Good. Go ahead. Once it's done, I'll transfer the money for your mother's hospital bills into your account." Zhang Bailan curled her lips.

Ji Xuan was talking to her family in front of the school gate's security checkpoint when a familiar-looking girl walked over. "Ji Xuan." Ji Xuan turned to look at her; it was a girl from her class she was on decent terms with, seemingly named Yang Wei.

Yang Wei chatted with Ji Xuan for a few moments and handed her a bottle of drink. "We've been in the same class for these years of high school, so it's fate. Let me treat you to a drink, and I wish you success in the exam."

Ji Xuan opened her mouth and smiled as she accepted the drink. The girl only felt at ease to leave once she saw her drink it.

Inside the exam classroom, Ji Xuan sat at her desk with a furrowed brow, lost in thought as she stared at the questions. As time passed, her anxiety grew, and her pulse gradually rose without her even realizing it.

Chen Daolin arrived at the Yi'an District People's Hospital. Ji Xuan had already woken up and was lying in her hospital bed with a smile, talking to her parents and sister.

"Xiao Xuan, are you okay?" Chen Daolin walked over quickly, asking with concern.

Seeing Chen Daolin rush over with such a worried expression on his face, Ji Xuan felt a warmth in her heart and said, "I'm fine now."

Chen Daolin comforted Ji Xuan, and later, he and Lin Xiao, who had heard the news and arrived, spent a long time talking with her.

June 16th, past 7:00 PM.

The college entrance exam scores were released.

Ji Xuan's score was 553.

She was 8 points short of the undergraduate cutoff of 561.

Since getting into the Jiangnan Second Military Academy required a score above the undergraduate line, Ji Xuan had lost her chance to enter a military academy.

Just when everyone thought Ji Xuan would be heartbroken and devastated by the failure of the exam, she made a decision: to participate in the martial artist physical fitness assessment.

The next morning, before dawn, as soon as Ji Xuan stepped out of her house, she saw Chen Daolin emerging from the door across the hall. The two shared a smile and headed toward the martial arts gym together.

The spacious third-floor martial arts hall was empty and deserted at this time.

Ji Xuan stood before the Punch Strength Testing Machine and threw a punch, causing the air to tremble.

Bang!

Beep, beep, beep. The Punch Strength Testing Machine emitted three consecutive sounds.

Chen Daolin's eyes lit up. The Punch Strength Testing Machine did not usually make this sound; emitting it meant only one thing—the punch strength had exceeded 1000kg.

Ji Xuan looked at the display screen of the Punch Strength Testing Machine in front of her, where a conspicuous line of numbers read: "1087kg".

A smile appeared on Ji Xuan's face.

"Test your speed." At this moment, a voice came from afar. Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan looked over simultaneously and discovered that the martial arts hall instructor, Jiang Nian, was standing at the doorway, though they hadn't noticed when he arrived.

Ji Xuan walked over to the speed testing track, while Chen Daolin and Jiang Nian stood beside the machine.

Whoosh!

Ji Xuan's entire body rushed forward like a gust of wind.

"28.6m/s." Chen Daolin and Jiang Nian both saw the number displayed on the speed tester's screen at a glance.

The smile on Jiang Nian's face grew rich, and he couldn't help but pat both of them on the shoulders, laughing heartily.

"Our Yi'an District Extreme Martial Arts Hall has produced two talents this time!" Jiang Nian was extremely happy and encouraged them, "With your physical fitness, passing the prospective martial artist assessment will be no problem at all. The key is the martial artist actual combat assessment; that is the true test for you."

Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan exchanged a glance, both wearing determined expressions.

Neither of them were weak-willed people. Since they had already decided to become martial artists, they would walk that path unswervingly.

June 28th, morning.

Chen Daolin, Ji Xuan, and Lin Xiao were walking on the road toward Yi'an District No. 3 High School. Today was the day to collect graduation certificates and volunteer application forms.

Upon learning that Ji Xuan had also successfully reached the physical fitness level of a martial artist, Lin Xiao showed a shocked expression before teasing them, "Sigh, I'm really envious of you two. From now on, you two can fly off together, leaving me all alone to go to university."

The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked into the classroom for Grade 12, Class 5. When the other students saw Ji Xuan appear, their expressions were somewhat strange. After all, almost everyone knew about Ji Xuan fainting in the exam hall on the last day of the college entrance exam; some felt sympathy, while others felt schadenfreude.

"Classmate Chen Daolin, Classmate Ji Xuan." An enthusiastic voice suddenly rang out. Chen Daolin turned his head and saw Chen Xiao, a relatively active boy in the class, walking over with a notebook.

"What is this..." Chen Daolin was puzzled.

"Everyone, we've been classmates for a while, let's sign this as a memento," Chen Xiao said enthusiastically.

The three of them exchanged glances and nodded. It was just a signature, and since they had been classmates, they certainly wouldn't refuse such a request.

While signing, a playful mood struck Chen Daolin, and he wrote: "Signature for my classmate Chen Xiao, left by the Earth's strongest martial artist, Chen Daolin."

After they had finished signing and parted ways, Chen Xiao took the notebook and flipped through it. When he reached Chen Daolin's page, he froze for a moment, then curled his lip, tore out that page of signatures, and threw it into the trash can.

"What kind of nonsense is this."

He had long disliked Chen Daolin, who spent every day with Ji Xuan and Lin Xiao, the two prettiest girls in the class, all while maintaining a cold and indifferent expression.

After finding out Chen Daolin's score on this year's college entrance exam, he had almost burst with joy.

"Earth's strongest martial artist? Why don't you go have a dream instead?"