Questioning

Inside the Virtual World, the examiner had vanished, leaving only Chen Mochuan, who was panting heavily.

He remained in a punching stance, his right fist trembling slightly, his arm muscles aching with a tearing sensation, and beads of sweat the size of beans rolling down his forehead.

The three consecutive bursts of Clear Force at his limit had nearly drained him of all his physical strength and spirit.

This examiner, possessing the strength of a fifth-stage martial artist, was stronger than the vast majority of opponents Chen Mochuan had encountered on the Heaven Martial Battle Net; defeating it had indeed been incredibly difficult.

[Beep...]

[Successfully defeated the fifth-stage strength examiner!]

[Simulated combat assessment complete, comprehensive evaluation of combat performance in progress...]

[Evaluation complete, final score being calculated...]

The cold electronic voice rang out at the right moment, announcing the victory of this arduous battle.

Taking advantage of the gap while the system calculated his score, Chen Mochuan looked at the golden light screen.

[You encountered a strong enemy, endured a bitter fight, and achieved victory, gaining a deeper understanding of Foundation Building Fist and Tiger Fiend Fist.]

[Foundation Building Fist: Great Success (82%) → Great Success (83%)]

[Tiger Fiend Fist: Mastery (2%) → Mastery (5%)]

Engaging in such an intense battle against an examiner who was also proficient in Tiger Fiend Fist allowed Chen Mochuan to gain more insight and improvement in this martial art, with gains even greater than his sparring session with Zhang Mingcheng last night.

Soon, the Assessment System calculated his final score.

[Simulated Combat: 488 points]

Seeing this score, Chen Mochuan was somewhat surprised.

The maximum score for simulated combat is 1000, and the Assessment System divides strength from the first to the tenth stage based on a martial artist's power, with every 100 points representing a stage.

Currently, the top score in the key class for this category is Jiang Hao's 720 points, which means the system determined his actual combat ability has reached the level of an eighth-stage martial artist, even though his Blood-Qi Value remains at the seventh stage.

According to standard criteria, the scoring range for a fourth-stage martial artist is 301 to 400 points, while a fifth-stage martial artist falls between 401 and 500 points.

The 488 points Chen Mochuan received clearly indicated that the system recognized his strength not only as firmly standing at the fifth-stage level but also as being among the best of the fifth stage, very close to the threshold of the sixth stage.

He did not linger in the Virtual World for long; once the assessment ended, he immediately chose to exit.

The moment he stepped out of the Virtual Pod, Chen Mochuan felt as if he had become the focus of the entire examination hall.

After the series of shocks from earlier, most students were now somewhat "immune" to Chen Mochuan's outstanding performance, but their gazes still couldn't help but fall upon him.

However, Chen Mochuan was long accustomed to this; bearing the complex stares of the crowd, he walked back to Li Biao's side with composure.

His best friend immediately pointed at the giant projection screen in the center of the Martial Arts Arena, his tone filled with irrepressible excitement as he praised:

"Brother Chuan, you were absolutely insane today! Your simulated combat score shot straight to 25th place, just barely edging out that kid Lu Ren. His Blood-Qi is so much higher than yours, yet he was still overtaken by you; I bet his lungs are about to explode from anger right now."

Chen Mochuan looked up at the giant projection screen and quickly found his name on the simulated combat leaderboard.

[25] Chen Mochuan: 488 points

[26] Lu Ren: 479 points

He shook his head with a smile, unconcerned, "I just did my best to perform at my own level; what others think has nothing to do with me."

At this moment, the last student also completed the assessment and emerged from the Virtual Pod.

Seeing that all students had returned to their places, Han Zhen checked the time; it was already 6:30 PM. Thinking of the municipal government's call for a curfew, he was about to announce the end of the exam and let everyone go home early.

But just then, a discordant voice rang out abruptly: "Teacher, I believe there is a problem with Chen Mochuan's exam score!"

Han Zhen followed the sound and saw it was Lu Ren, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

As a teacher dedicated to educating, he should treat all students equally, but deep down, he did not like this student because Lu Ren had repeatedly stirred up trouble between classmates, even leading to two students getting into a major fight at school, eventually resulting in both receiving disciplinary marks.

Moreover, as far as Han Zhen knew, this was not the only such instance, which was enough to prove his malicious nature.

On top of that, a while ago, he had seen Lu Ren associating closely with some unsavory characters outside of school. Although he had tried to advise him multiple times afterward, Lu Ren had always ignored him and continued to act as he pleased, which made him dislike him even more.

Now, seeing the other party acting inappropriately again, causing trouble at this time and delaying everyone from going home, he was even more displeased.

However, he suppressed his annoyance and asked in as steady a tone as possible: "Lu Ren, what is your question?"

In truth, Lu Ren regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. Li Biao hadn't intentionally lowered his voice earlier, and those words had reached his ears, stinging like needles; he believed the other party was intentionally mocking and targeting him.

Thus, a surge of anger rushed to his head, and in a moment of impulse, he blurted out the doubt in his heart.

But now, in front of the entire class and the teacher, he had no way back. Knowing that Han Zhen already had a poor opinion of him, he decided to give up on appearances and expose the issue directly.

"My Blood-Qi Value is 5.67 and my punch force is 500 kilograms, yet I only got 479 points! Even if Chen Mochuan's Body Control Degree is high and he has the ability to exceed his stage, I don't believe he could get a high score close to the sixth stage just by defeating a fourth-stage examiner with the same Blood-Qi Value! This is unreasonable!"

Before Han Zhen could reply, Li Biao in the crowd had already shouted, "Heh... you're really something. Just because you can't do it doesn't mean others can't. What a frog in a well!"

Lu Ren glared fiercely at Li Biao but didn't tangle with him, instead locking his gaze onto Chen Mochuan and saying with a provocative tone: "Chen Mochuan! Do you dare to fight me directly?"

This time, Li Biao was the one to speak first again, his words firing like a machine gun:

"Lu Ren, you really have no shame! You were in the second round of assessments and have already rested for over an hour; your spirit has long since recovered. Now you want to challenge someone who just finished their assessment and is mentally exhausted? Isn't that just trying to take advantage of someone's weakness? How can you even bring yourself to say such things?"

Li Biao's words hit the mark. Although the simulated combat took place in the Virtual World and the physical exertion in reality was minimal, the mental exhaustion and fatigue from high-intensity combat were unavoidable.

Lu Ren's expression stiffened, but he quickly reacted and immediately tried to remedy the situation, explaining: "I can wait for him to recover, and then we can..."

"Enough!" Han Zhen interrupted directly, his cold voice carrying an unquestionable majesty, "Lu Ren, are you questioning the accuracy and fairness of the Assessment System issued by the Ministry of Education?"