"Hm?"
The stern old man raised an eyebrow slightly. "This fist technique... is rather interesting."
"He should have touched upon a trace of Momentum."
The female expert adjusted her monocle. Data streams flashed rapidly across its lens. "I detected faint fluctuations of mental resonance attached to his punch. It seems to lean toward suppression and stability."
"For someone in the Body Tempering Realm to brush against Momentum shows decent comprehension."
"Director Jiang wasn't wrong about him, either."
The heavyset expert nodded, though there was little excitement on his face. "Still, decent is all he is. Every year, at least a dozen students admitted to our Martial University through the regular assessments show the beginnings of Momentum in some area. Sword Momentum, Blade Momentum, Fist Momentum... We see them all. They're hardly rare."
Their assessment was objective, but harsh.
At a place like Canglan Martial Arts University, where geniuses gathered, the experts had seen far too many astonishingly talented students. So the trace of Momentum Lin Ye had shown only qualified him as a "promising freshman" at Canglan. He was still some way from the caliber of student Canglan wanted to recruit.
"It's a pity the kid's Blood Qi Value is only 335. That's a major weakness," the stern old man said bluntly. "Under our comprehensive evaluation standards, Blood Qi Value is an important factor. He needs at least 360. 335 is too low."
"Even with Rudimentary Fist Momentum, he still doesn't meet the basic standards for the exceptional admissions we're offering this year."
"But doesn't the report say he's only been making progress for a short time? Did he suddenly enter the Opening Apertures Realm before the High School Entrance Exam?"
The female data expert raised a question. "Wouldn't rejecting him outright be too subjective?"
"Are we supposed to make an exception and lower our standards for him?"
The slightly plump male expert interjected, "We can't even be sure he really made that much progress in three months. Who's to say he didn't deliberately put on a show? Besides, I haven't seen anything about this kid that would justify making an exception. Even if we agreed, I doubt he'd impress the people on the review panel."
Generally speaking, their preliminary review team was responsible for screening the more than one thousand recommendations. The remaining hundred or so would then go to the final review team, which would narrow them down to a dozen or twenty candidates for exceptional admission to Canglan.
"All I can say is, fate has its way."
The stern old man waved a hand. "Let's do this. We'll place him in the regular admissions pool. If his total score on the High School Entrance Exam reaches our minimum admission threshold, we'll admit him through the normal process. If it doesn't, we won't consider him."
"Elder Chen's suggestion makes sense."
The slightly plump male expert nodded. "The kid is somewhat unusual, but not enough. He has potential, but he isn't head and shoulders above the rest. We can only file him under our standard talent guidelines."
"Fine."
The female expert felt that this might be somewhat unfair to Lin Ye, but in the world of Martial Dao, until he showed something more exceptional, no one would go out of their way for him. Just like them—they had to review over a thousand candidates within the allotted time. How could they possibly make everything perfect?
"Everyone agrees, so that's settled."
"Next."
The stern old man waved calmly. Lin Ye's information shrank rapidly on the light screen and was filed away, replaced by the details of the next candidate under review.
Fenglei Martial University, Admissions Office Director's office.
Xu Mingde leaned back in his hovering chair. The holographic projection wall in his office displayed this year's estimated difficulty levels for each stage of the High School Entrance Exam.
He rubbed his temples. He had just finished processing a pile of special admissions files and was about to take a short nap when his Smart Terminal suddenly vibrated.
An incoming call appeared at once: Zhou Ting.
Xu Mingde tapped to answer. Zhou Ting's three-dimensional projection appeared before him, with his office in the background.
"Teacher Zhou, is something the matter?"
"Or did you make any discoveries on your trip to Qingjiang Province?"
Xu Mingde leaned back in his hovering chair and asked with a hint of expectation.
"Director Xu, I've found a special prospect. I recommend we activate the Special Potential Talent Recruitment Program."
Zhou Ting nodded, then explained Lin Ye's basic information, his approximate Blood Qi Value, and his key finding: the beginnings of Momentum he had detected.
"Director Xu, I've already sent you the relevant report. I also included the footage of the kid's fight and a screenshot of his score in the sixth round, which I unlocked using my access privileges. I sent everything to your email. You can take a look when you have time."
"The beginnings of Momentum?"
"A perfect score?"
At those keywords, Xu Mingde immediately sat upright, his expression growing more serious. His fingers flicked as he quickly pulled up the report, Lin Ye's fight footage, and the data screenshots Zhou Ting had sent to his email.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. I wouldn't dare lie about something like this."
Zhou Ting smiled wryly. "So, in my opinion, this kid has tremendous potential. I recommend we recruit him now and lock him in early."
Xu Mingde listened, his eyebrows lifting slightly. He said nothing, only opened the video attachment and quickly skimmed through Lin Ye's fight with the lean candidate. When Lin Ye threw his punch, Xu Mingde's eyes lit up.
An expert could tell at a glance.
Just as Zhou Ting had said, Lin Ye's fist technique was powerful and weighty, and there truly was a trace of Rudimentary Fist Momentum hidden between his moves.
"A promising prospect."
Xu Mingde murmured, then spoke decisively. "No need to make a recommendation. Activate the Special Potential Talent Recruitment Program immediately."
Zhou Ting's projection clearly froze for a moment. His tone was surprised. "Director Xu, so soon? I only just sent you the information... Isn't this a little hasty?"
Xu Mingde gave a soft snort and leaned back in his chair. "Hasty? Teacher Zhou, I think we're already too slow. A prospect with the beginnings of Momentum is a hot commodity anywhere. The sooner we start the process, the better. That's how we secure him first. Do you think we're still one of the top three schools like before? Canglan and Jiuzhou have deep pockets and plenty of resources. If we're one step late and lose him, I'll be kicking myself all night."
Zhou Ting nodded, a little surprised, but continued, "And what about the follow-up...?"
Xu Mingde waved a hand. He looked shrewd and capable in the projection. "Don't worry about the follow-up. I'll take care of it. The file review, special recruitment letter, and application lock will all go through the fast track. We'll try to send him his admission notice as soon as he agrees. You handle the follow-up on your end: call him, explain the benefits, give him the enrollment guide, and so on. Also, bring him up at the School Personnel Recruitment Meeting. Vice Dean Liu, who oversees admissions, and I will both give him our full support. I'll talk to Vice Dean Liu, so you don't need to worry about that."
"Fenglei ranks last, so when we're snatching talent, we have to go all out."
Zhou Ting let out a sigh of relief and bowed slightly in the projection. "Understood. Thank you, Director."
"Don't mention it. We're all doing this for Fenglei."
Xu Mingde waved a hand, and the call ended.
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