The College Entrance Examination

In the spacious third-floor training hall, a dull thud rang out. The screen of the Punch Strength Testing Machine displayed a string of numbers: "801 kg."

Ji Xuan slowly lowered her hand, a trace of helplessness on her face.

A week had passed since Chen Daolin had knocked Zhang Bailan out with a single blow. Zhang Bailan had been knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital, turning her so-called challenge into a joke. With her unconscious, the helpers she had brought along had no reason to stay, and they all left.

The advanced students at the martial arts hall had also begun looking 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 examination, but she was still nearly 100 kilograms short of the 900 kilograms of punching power required to qualify as a Quasi-Martial Artist. That might not sound like much, but the closer ordinary people got to becoming warriors, the harder it was to improve their physical fitness. Ji Xuan had calculated that it would probably take until after she started university to increase her strength by another 100 kilograms.

Warriors placed great importance on early development. The ages of sixteen to thirty were widely recognized as the golden years for a warrior's training. After that, progress slowed.

Ji Xuan sighed silently.

She lowered her head and glanced at the watch on her wrist. It had a function for measuring her pulse.

Her gaze was deep and distant, and no one could tell what she was thinking.

With the college entrance examination drawing nearer, Ji Xuan, Lin Xiao, and the others devoted more time and energy to studying. They even began missing their daily training at the martial arts hall. Chen Daolin, meanwhile, spent long hours training there each day, often under the guidance of instructor Jiang Nian. He had even stopped going to school. Perhaps because King Kai Fist had tempered his body, his physical fitness was improving even faster than before.

Each of them had chosen their own path.

Chen Daolin's goal was to become a warrior.

Ji Xuan's greatest goal for now was to get into Jiangnan First Military Academy.

June 7 was the first day of the college entrance examination. In Huaxia Country, the examination lasted three days, from June 7 to 9, just as it had before the Great Nirvana Period.

That day, Chen Daolin appeared again after being gone for many days, ready to take the first college entrance examination of his life.

After listening to Ji Father and Ji Mother nag for a while, he chatted briefly with the sisters, Ji Xuan and Ji Han. Then the gates of No. 1 High School slowly opened, and the students who had been waiting for a long time filed inside.

"Big sister." Sitting in her wheelchair, Ji Han gave Ji Xuan a thumbs-up and smiled. "Do your best!"

"Mm!" Ji Xuan beamed.

"Daolin, you do your best, too."

"Mm!" Chen Daolin patted her head. He thought to himself, She probably still doesn't know I've given up on the college entrance examination and plan to become a warrior.

Ji Han watched the young students stream through the school gate, a hint of envy in her eyes.

Chen Daolin sat in his seat in the examination room, his expression calm. Unlike the students who treated the college entrance examination as a major turning point in their lives, he felt much more at ease. It was just a formality.

June 7: science exams.

June 8: liberal arts exams.

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

In a corner outside the examination venue, Zhang Bailan stood with a pretty, delicate-featured girl, her expression cold.

"You know what to do, right?"

The girl looked at Zhang Bailan timidly and nodded as if frightened.

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

Ji Xuan was talking with her family at the checkpoint by the school gate when a somewhat familiar girl suddenly walked up to her. "Ji Xuan." Ji Xuan turned to look. It was a girl from her class whom she knew fairly well. Her name was probably Yang Wei.

Yang Wei chatted with Ji Xuan for a few moments, then handed her a bottle of juice. "We've been classmates all through high school. It must be fate. Let me treat you to a drink. Good luck with your exams."

Ji Xuan opened her mouth, then smiled and accepted the drink. The girl waited until she saw Ji Xuan drink it before leaving with relief.

Inside the examination room, Ji Xuan sat at her desk with her brows knitted, deep in thought as she studied the questions. As time passed, her anxiety grew. Without realizing it, her pulse began to rise, but Ji Xuan remained oblivious.

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

"Xuan, are you all right?" Chen Daolin hurried over and asked anxiously.

Seeing the worry on Chen Daolin's face as he rushed over, Ji Xuan felt warmth in her heart. "I'm fine now," she said.

Chen Daolin comforted Ji Xuan, then joined Lin Xiao, who had hurried over after hearing the news. They stayed with her and talked for a long time.

June 16, a little after seven in the evening.

The college entrance examination scores were out.

Ji Xuan had scored 553.

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

Jiangnan Second Military Academy required a score above the undergraduate cutoff, so Ji Xuan had lost her chance to attend a military academy.

Everyone thought the blow of failing the college entrance examination would leave Ji Xuan heartbroken and dejected. Instead, she made a decision: she would take the warrior physical fitness assessment.

The next morning, before dawn, Ji Xuan stepped outside and saw Chen Daolin coming out of the door across from hers. They exchanged smiles and headed for the martial arts hall together.

The spacious training hall on the third floor was empty.

Ji Xuan stood in front of the Punch Strength Testing Machine and threw a punch. The air trembled.

Thump!

Beep, beep, beep. The Punch Strength Testing Machine sounded three times in a row.

Chen Daolin's eyes lit up. The machine never normally made that sound. It meant one thing: her punching power had exceeded 1,000 kilograms.

Ji Xuan looked at the screen of the Punch Strength Testing Machine. A prominent number was displayed: "1087 kg."

A smile appeared on Ji Xuan's face.

"Test your speed." A voice came from a distance. Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan both looked over and saw instructor Jiang Nian standing in the doorway. No one knew when he had arrived.

Ji Xuan went to the running track for the speed test. Chen Daolin and Jiang Nian stood beside the machine.

Whoosh!

Ji Xuan shot forward like a gust of wind.

"28.6 m/s." Chen Daolin and Jiang Nian both saw the number displayed on the Speed Tester.

Jiang Nian's smile broadened. He patted them both on the shoulders and laughed heartily.

"Our Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District has produced two talents this time!" Jiang Nian said happily, offering them encouragement. "With your physical fitness, passing the Quasi-Warrior Assessment will be no problem. The real challenge is the Martial Artist Practical Examination. That's the true test."

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

Neither of them was the sort to back down. Now that they had decided to become warriors, they would keep moving forward without wavering.

The morning of June 28.

Chen Daolin, Ji Xuan, and Lin Xiao were on their way to Yi'an District No. 3 High School. It was the day they were to collect their graduation certificates and university application forms.

When Lin Xiao learned that Ji Xuan had also met the physical requirements to become a warrior, she looked stunned, then teased them. "Ah, I'm so jealous. You two can go off together from now on, leaving me all alone to go to university."

The three of them chatted and laughed as they entered the classroom of Class 5, Grade 12. When the other students saw Ji Xuan, their expressions turned strange. Almost all of them knew she had fainted in the examination room on the final day of the college entrance examination. Some felt sympathy for her; others secretly took pleasure in her misfortune.

"Chen Daolin, Ji Xuan." A cheerful voice suddenly rang out. Chen Daolin turned and saw Chen Xiao, one of the more outgoing boys in their class, walking over with a notebook.

"What's this?" Chen Daolin asked, baffled.

"Come on, we're classmates. Sign this as a keepsake." Chen Xiao spoke warmly.

The three exchanged glances and nodded. It was only an autograph. They were classmates, after all, so they had no reason to refuse.

As he signed, Chen Daolin got playful and wrote: "Signed for my schoolmate Chen Xiao by Chen Daolin, Earth's Strongest Warrior."

After they had each signed and gone their separate ways, Chen Xiao flipped through the notebook. When he reached Chen Daolin's page, he paused, then curled his lip, tore out the page, and threw it into the trash.

"What a joke."

He had disliked Chen Daolin for a long time. Chen Daolin was always with the two prettiest girls in class, Ji Xuan and Lin Xiao, and always wore an aloof expression.

When he found out Chen Daolin's exam score this time, he had nearly burst out laughing.

"Earth's Strongest Warrior? Why don't you go dream about it?"