The Viper

Watching the test results on the screen, Chen Mochuan nodded to himself. But he knew this was nowhere near his limit.

In fact, he could clearly feel that he still had plenty of room to understand and improve his Clear Force techniques. If he devoted himself to training for a while longer, he could definitely reach another level in his control over his physical strength.

With the terrifying surge in Blood-Qi Value earlier setting the bar, the students present seemed almost numb by now. The results of this fist-strength test didn't cause much of a commotion, drawing only a small round of discussion.

"95%? That level of control... is way too ridiculous!"

"So what if his control is good? His Blood-Qi Value is so low to begin with. What good is it?"

"You think it's still the monthly exam? Don't go calling his base low anymore. Take a closer look. The absolute force behind that punch already surpasses Wei Shaohua's, and his Blood-Qi Value is over 5..."

"Crap, at this rate, I'm the one bringing up the rear..."

"What I want to know is, how did he raise his Blood-Qi Value so quickly and still train his physical control to this insane level at the same time? It makes no sense..."

"Do you even have to ask? He must have awakened a Spirit Talent too. There's no other explanation!"

Among the crowd, Lu Ren was one of the few who didn't join the discussion. Like a viper lurking in the shadows, he fixed Chen Mochuan with a cold, unblinking stare, unnoticed by everyone else. Deep in his eyes, jealousy, resentment, and a trace of indescribable suspicion churned.

Han Zhen and Lin Hong, both seasoned martial arts teachers, saw far more in the results than the students did.

Lin Hong stepped closer and said quietly, "Old Han, this kid's been learning Clear Force for less than a month, right? From the way he generated force just now, the flow of power was already quite smooth. You've put a lot of work into his fist techniques."

Han Zhen gave a wry, helpless smile. "You might not believe this, but I've only offered him a few pointers at key moments. The specifics of using Clear Force and the insights behind it mostly came from his own repeated practice and experimentation..."

Lin Hong was taken aback at first, but then he remembered Chen Mochuan's baffling rate of progress with the Root-Solidifying Stance, and immediately understood. "That's true... With the talent for understanding and the extreme self-discipline this kid's shown, we really don't need to worry too much about him."

Han Zhen agreed. "Exactly. With a student like him, interfering too much might actually disrupt his own rhythm. We just need to guide him at the right moments and make sure he doesn't take a wrong turn."

Lin Hong nodded in deep agreement and sighed. "To be honest, if his body hadn't developed problems last year and left his Blood-Qi Value low for so long, with his talent and temperament, he probably wouldn't be far behind those two Big Six Seeds at First High School. What a pity."

Han Zhen knew exactly who Lin Hong meant by the "Big Six Seeds." The talent of those two was exceptionally rare in Antu City over the past decade, and getting into the Big Six was all but a certainty for them.

He looked intently at the quiet young man not far away and said softly, "It might not be too late for him to catch up."

Once Chen Mochuan had finished all three fist-strength tests, the two men ended their conversation.

His results were identical for all three punches: 427 kilograms.

That consistency was precisely what showed how exquisitely he controlled his own strength.

As Chen Mochuan left the testing area, he drew the attention of many classmates along the way. Quite a few smiled and spoke to him, and he acknowledged each of them with a nod.

When someone outright asked whether he had awakened a Spirit Talent, he admitted it frankly, setting off another small wave of discussion.

But there was always someone who had to spoil the mood. "Chen Mochuan, what exactly does your Spirit Talent do?"

Chen Mochuan glanced at the tall, burly boy who'd spoken but didn't answer. Even when faced with such an abrupt and unfriendly question, he neither lost his temper nor turned cold. He simply acted as if he hadn't heard and walked straight past him.

"Tsk, why won't he even answer? Awakening a Spirit Talent has made him so high and mighty..." The boy's low muttering came from behind him.

Chen Mochuan still didn't respond. He quickly returned to Li Biao's side.

Li Biao glared at the burly boy, his face full of displeasure. "Is that guy nuts? He deliberately came to ask me about my Spirit Talent before, and I shut him down. Now he's got the nerve to ask you too! Seriously..."

Chen Mochuan glanced over at them. "Maybe he's both nasty and stupid. But someone else is probably using him as a pawn."

"You mean... Lu Ren put him up to it?" Li Biao caught on at once. He looked at Lu Ren, who was standing beside the burly boy, and fell into thought. "He's never liked you, especially after his younger brother lost that challenge last time... I've got a feeling he's plotting something. We'd better be careful."

"Got it." Chen Mochuan nodded.

Ever since the Lu brothers had used an Energy Burning Potion during their last challenge, he'd put Lu Ren on his list of people to watch out for. The two sides had no dealings in their day-to-day lives, though, so they'd remained temporarily at peace.

The exams continued, but after Chen Mochuan, no one else put on a performance that made people sit up and take notice.

After an hour, the Physical Fitness tests for all seventy students in the advanced class were complete.

In terms of Blood-Qi Value, Jiang Hao and Su Zhining, both above 7.5, still led by a huge margin. Li Biao broke into the top five for the first time with a score of 6.96, though he was still far behind them. Chen Mochuan, meanwhile, had finally climbed out of last place in the class.

"Clap, clap, clap!" Han Zhen clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Alright, take a moment to get yourselves ready. Next, we'll be testing you on the Root-Solidifying Stance, Foundation Building Fist, and Simulated Combat."

As usual, the remaining tests would be held in the Virtual World.

Since there weren't enough Virtual Pods for everyone, the students had to go in batches of ten.

"Wei Shaohua, Zhang Maoli..."

The first group, whose names Han Zhen had called, entered their assigned Virtual Pods one after another and began their tests.

With ten students able to take the tests at once, the exams moved along at a decent pace.

About an hour and a half later, it was the last group's turn, including Chen Mochuan.

By then, the individual rankings for the first sixty students in both events had been calculated and displayed in real time on the huge projection screen inside the Martial Arts Arena.

On the Simulated Combat rankings, Jiang Hao and Su Zhining led the rest by a chasm.

Perhaps inspired by Chen Mochuan breaking through to Great Completion in both basic techniques last month, the advanced-class students had generally made striking progress in their technique levels this time.

No one else had reached Great Completion in two techniques, but a full six students had achieved Great Completion in one. This left Han Zhen and Lin Hong deeply gratified.

On the Basic Technique Ranking List, Jiang Hao and Su Zhining still held the top two spots, but the gap between them and the students just behind was no longer very large.

When Chen Mochuan lay down in the Virtual Pod and the hatch slowly closed, nearly every eye outside turned toward him.

Everyone knew full well: the top spot in the basic techniques ranking was about to change hands.