"I'm finally done with the exams!" Li Biao hurried to the entrance of the third examination hall to meet up with Chen Mochuan, his face wearing the relieved, carefree expression of someone who'd just had a weight lifted off his shoulders.
"What kind of ridiculous exam schedule is this?" Li Biao complained under his breath. "We've been testing since seven this morning, and the only break we got was one hour for lunch! Academic Subjects only make up ten percent of the total score. They didn't have to put us through this much, did they?"
"Maybe the Ministry of Education thinks Martial Arts Department students have vigorous Blood Qi and boundless energy. They might be using this packed schedule to test whether our bodies and wills are resilient enough," Chen Mochuan said, offering a teasing reassurance.
"Fine, I guess it's good practice for the tense atmosphere of the College Entrance Exam." Li Biao shrugged helplessly, then remembered what he'd really wanted to ask. "Mochuan, how hard did you think the Martial Arts General Knowledge test was?"
"It was all right. I didn't think any of the questions were especially difficult. I handed it in an hour early," Chen Mochuan replied casually.
Li Biao was momentarily speechless. After a long pause, he said dejectedly, "Then I'm doomed... The whole thing felt pretty hard, and I didn't even finish the last long-answer question before time ran out... I'm afraid I did worse than last time."
As they spoke, the two reached the Martial Arts Arena, which the school had temporarily set up for the Martial Arts Department exams.
Two neat rows of Virtual Pods stood inside, ten in all, along with several specialized measuring devices of different shapes and sizes.
Next came the tests for the various Martial Arts subjects.
As time passed, all seventy students in the advanced class arrived one after another.
Some quietly closed their eyes and rested; others talked in low voices.
Most seemed fairly relaxed. Only a few students with weaker nerves felt the pressure of the approaching tests and looked uneasy.
Still, regardless of how they appeared, everyone was making the most of this precious break, trying to recover from the mental fatigue caused by hours of back-to-back written exams.
Three thirty in the afternoon.
Two figures entered the Martial Arts Arena, one behind the other. They were their homeroom teacher and Fist instructor, Han Zhen, and their Stance Training instructor, Lin Hong.
The quiet chatter died away at once, and the arena fell utterly silent.
Han Zhen stood at the front of the arena and looked around. When he saw that everyone was watching him, he began to speak:
"You should all have had enough rest and be ready to go. I hope you'll give it your best in this citywide exam and get the results you're aiming for."
"We'll begin the Physical Fitness tests now, starting with Blood-Qi Values. I'll call you up in student-number order. Come forward when you hear your name."
He walked over to a Blood Qi Measuring Device that looked like a beefed-up security scanner and used his Personal Terminal to bring up the class roster.
"First, Wei Shaohua!"
Wei Shaohua took a deep breath and strode forward. He stepped into the device with practiced ease, and a warm yellow light emitted by the machine enveloped him.
"Beep... beep..."
About five seconds later, the device gave a short alert.
Wei Shaohua immediately stepped out and looked up at the screen above the machine.
When he saw the words [Blood-Qi Value: 5.01], he let out a long breath.
His Blood-Qi Value had been 4.63 during the last monthly exam, ranking him forty-first in the grade. It had risen by nearly 0.4 over the past month—a remarkable improvement.
Next, Wei Shaohua went to the Basic Physical Fitness Testing Platform, a six-meter-wide, twenty-meter-long stretch of flooring.
Following the test instructions, he quickly completed a series of standard movements: short sprints, repeated shuttle runs, rapid changes of direction, standing vertical jumps, and running jumps.
Before long, his results appeared on the electronic screen at one end of the platform: [Basic Physical Fitness: 425 points]
Wei Shaohua felt calm. It was a solid score, just as he'd expected.
Following the test procedure, after measuring his Blood-Qi Value and physical fitness, Wei Shaohua went to another device, one shaped like a boxing stand: a Punch Force Tester.
He took his stance and, after a brief buildup of force, punched the shock-absorbing pad made of special material.
A set of figures appeared on the screen at once: [Fist Strength: 416 kilograms, Body Control Degree: 83 points]
Seeing the result, Wei Shaohua felt relieved. His recent efforts hadn't been in vain, and he'd managed to gain decent control over his physical strength.
Body Control Degree was the ratio between a person's Fist Strength in kilograms and their Blood-Qi Value. It was often used to determine how well someone controlled their own strength.
In theory, if a Martial Warrior could perfectly control their own strength, their Fist Strength could reach at least one hundred times their Blood-Qi Value—in other words, a Body Control Degree of 100.
In practice, however, Martial Warriors struggled to mobilize the Blood Qi in their entire bodies with precision. Being able to consistently produce Fist Strength five or six dozen times their Blood-Qi Value was already considered excellent.
For this reason, the martial arts pioneers of Hua Nation had integrated and created two basic cultivation techniques, Root-Solidifying Stance and Foundation Building Fist, and promoted them to the whole population.
They not only tempered the muscles and bones, regulated Blood Qi, and improved physical fitness, but also greatly strengthened a Martial Warrior's ability to control their own power.
Once they reached a certain level of cultivation, they could raise their Body Control Degree above 80. Those who excelled in this area could do even better with refined force-generating techniques—some might even exceed 100.
These two techniques were therefore considered the foundation of martial arts and were also compulsory subjects in the Martial Arts Department's College Entrance Exam.
Wei Shaohua threw two more punches, but neither surpassed his first. The system automatically recorded his highest score.
He was already very satisfied with the result. At this rate, there was no doubt his Blood-Qi Value would break through 7 by the College Entrance Exam.
If he could also maintain a Body Control Degree above 80, he'd have a strong chance of getting into one of the Thirty-Six Elite Schools, as long as his other subjects didn't drag him down.
"Good improvement. Keep it up and don't lose momentum," Han Zhen encouraged him after seeing the results.
Then he continued calling names.
"Next, Zhang Maoli!"
A girl stepped into the Blood Qi Measuring Device when she heard her name. Her result came quickly: [Blood-Qi Value: 5.86].
Her value had risen by 0.32 from the 5.54 she'd recorded in the monthly exam. The increase wasn't as large as Wei Shaohua's, but given the general rule that the closer one got to 10, the harder it was to raise one's Blood-Qi Value, it was still a good improvement.
After scoring 512 points in physical fitness, Zhang Maoli tested her Fist Strength three times. Her final result was [Fist Strength: 498 kilograms, Body Control Degree: 85 points]. Satisfied, she returned to her place.
Next, Han Zhen called the students up one after another for testing. Most had made considerable progress, earning his approval and encouragement.
A few students, for various reasons, had made little progress. Han Zhen gave them some pointers, and they all promised to work hard and catch up.
"Li Biao!"
When he heard his homeroom teacher finally call his name, Li Biao leaned toward Chen Mochuan and said excitedly, "Mochuan, watch this. Just wait and see how I steal the show!"
Chen Mochuan said nothing, only giving him an encouraging look.
Li Biao walked briskly into the Blood Qi Measuring Device.
"Beep... beep..."
The test ended, and the screen clearly displayed [Blood-Qi Value: 6.96]. The students watching let out a chorus of shocked gasps.
"Did I read that right? His Blood-Qi Value hadn't even broken 6 in the monthly exam, and now he's almost at 7!?"
"That's an insane increase! Could the device be broken?"
Lin Hong, standing beside Han Zhen, gave two heavy coughs and said sternly, "Quiet! Don't disrupt the exam!"
Most of the students feared their usually strict Stance Training teacher, and the murmurs died away at once.
Li Biao had expected this result.
Ever since his Spirit Talent awakened, his Blood-Qi Value had surged once. Then his family kept supplying him with expensive martial arts supplements and Ferocious Beast meat, and his Blood-Qi Value had continued rising rapidly.
His family owned a Blood Qi Measuring Device, so he tested himself several times every day and knew his condition inside out.
Now that he'd finally stolen the spotlight in front of his classmates, Li Biao felt secretly thrilled.
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