Elite Student Assessment

Chen Lie watched his mother leave, then closed the door, walked over to the table, opened the meal box containing the beast meat, and began to eat slowly.

As the first piece of beast meat entered his mouth and dissolved in his stomach, Chen Lie immediately felt a surge of violent energy being birthed within him, yet he did not slow his pace; instead, he accelerated his consumption.

As he ate more and more of the beast meat, the violent energy gradually saturated Chen Lie's body, and he felt his blood vessels throbbing wildly, his pulse becoming powerful and chaotic.

When the final piece of beast meat reached his stomach, Chen Lie immediately stepped out of his room and went to the home training room.

At this moment, Chen Lie felt an intense, aching pressure in his blood vessels, so he hurriedly began to practice the Basic Body Tempering Technique of Taia Star Province.

Because the energy within his body was immense and violent, he started directly with the third form of the Basic Body Tempering Technique.

The third form of the Basic Body Tempering Technique differed from the first two; it consisted of forty-two movements that, when performed in a continuous sequence, could stimulate the rapid circulation of human qi and blood, thereby converting the energy into nutrients to be absorbed by the body.

Of these forty-two movements, by the time Chen Lie reached the seventh, he could already feel the qi and blood within him churning, frantically devouring the violent energy brought by the beast meat.

Over two hours passed, and Chen Lie repeated the forty-two movements of the third form of the Basic Body Tempering Technique ten times.

By now, the violent energy in his body had been almost entirely consumed by his surging cells, and his qi and blood were several times more robust than before.

To avoid the physical depletion that comes from over-training, Chen Lie ended his session in time.

Chen Lie channeled a strand of mental energy to scan his body, discovering that his qi and blood were significantly stronger than just a moment ago; as for the specific value, he would need an instrument to measure it.

I don't know how much my qi and blood have increased this time, but compared to just now, it has at least doubled.

Chen Lie left the training room, returned to his room to change his clothes, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to practice the star-viewing meditation of the Lingguang Divine Refining Chapter.

He had successfully opened his divine sense and cultivated mental energy within his sea of consciousness; because the strength of his mental energy far exceeded that of an ordinary person, Chen Lie could now go without sleep for over ten days without feeling the slightest fatigue.

Because he lacked the assistance of the Spirit Nourishing Flower, his progress in cultivating mental energy was much slower.

A night passed, and he hadn't even managed to light up a single star in the Gui Constellation, the second of the seven mansions.

Early in the morning, Chen Lie got off the bed, washed up, and left home to head to school.

The high school he attended was a Dongchuan Province Key High School; the school's arrangement for martial arts students was that Mondays and Thursdays were mandatory, requiring students to attend classes, while they were free to arrange their own time otherwise.

Chen Lie arrived at his class, Grade 12 Martial Arts Class 16, and found his seat.

His memories of his classmates were already very blurry, so he did not interact with anyone.

Before long, the mentor for Grade 12 Martial Arts Class 16, Ren Hongguang, arrived in the classroom.

As soon as mentor Ren Hongguang arrived, the entire classroom fell silent, save for Chen Lie, who stood up and walked straight to the podium, in front of Ren Hongguang.

"What is the meaning of this? Did you not hear the bell ring? Why don't you return to your seat?"

Seeing Chen Lie walk onto the podium, Ren Hongguang immediately reprimanded him.

"Teacher Ren, my qi and blood value has broken 3. I want to promote to the elite class; could you please sign the form for me?"

"You? Your qi and blood value broke 3?"

Ren Hongguang looked at Chen Lie, filled with confusion: "Didn't you just test a few days ago? Your qi and blood value was 0.93 units then; how has it suddenly broken 3?"

"My qi and blood had already broken 3 long ago, but I hadn't revealed it. As for the last qi and blood test, I had someone else take it for me."

"Hmm?"

Ren Hongguang stepped forward, reached out, and grabbed Chen Lie's wrist, feeling it carefully.

"The pulse is strong, and the flow of qi and blood is steady and powerful. It is at least 3 units of qi and blood, if not more."

Ren Hongguang released Chen Lie's wrist and nodded with a kind expression: "It seems you have indeed been hiding your strength; I won't ask for the reason.

However, because you are already in Grade 12, the review for promoting to the elite class is much stricter than for Grade 10 or 11 martial arts students. You will be tested not only on qi and blood but also on physical strength and comprehension.

Therefore, I advise you to settle down and consolidate further, lest you fail the elite class review and damage your own confidence."

Chen Lie nodded and said: "I understand, thank you for the reminder, Teacher. But I have already consolidated for long enough, so please sign the form for me."

"Very well, come with me to the office."

Having just detected that Chen Lie's qi and blood value was 3 units or higher, Ren Hongguang also believed that Chen Lie had been consolidating for a while, so he nodded in agreement.

Just like that, Chen Lie followed Ren Hongguang out of the classroom and arrived at the office.

Ren Hongguang went to his desk, pulled open a drawer, took out an Elite Student Promotion Assessment Recommendation Form, and wrote his name in the recommending mentor column.

"Fill in your personal information on the recommendation form. I will operate the super-brain on my end. Be at the Elite Student Assessment Center at 12:00 noon today, sharp, to undergo the assessment."

As he spoke, Ren Hongguang handed the form to Chen Lie.

Chen Lie took the recommendation form and said to Ren Hongguang: "Sorry for the trouble, Teacher."

After saying this, Chen Lie turned and left the office.

Chen Lie remembered the Elite Student Assessment Center was next to the elite campus; after grabbing a quick bite at the cafeteria, he headed toward the Elite Student Assessment Center.

Dongchuan Province Key High School was a large-scale senior high school with over fifty thousand students, of which martial arts students accounted for more than thirty thousand.

Yet, among these thirty thousand-plus martial arts students, there were fewer than two thousand elite class martial arts students—not even one-tenth of the total number of martial arts students.

Elite students were those who received preferential treatment from the school regarding martial arts resources.

According to data released by the school, every elite student received at least twenty thousand Star Dollars in resource subsidies from the school each month.

With a monthly resource subsidy of 20,000 Star Dollars on the line, Chen Lie naturally had every reason to strive for it.

Arriving at the Elite Student Assessment Office, Chen Lie walked straight inside.

The first-floor lobby of the Elite Assessment Office was already crowded with people waiting; Chen Lie walked in and found a seat in the waiting area.

The hundred or so chairs in the waiting area were sparsely filled, not because there were many students coming to promote to elite status, but because every student waiting for the elite class assessment was accompanied by their parents.

Chen Lie was not surprised by this, as students who promoted to the elite class were almost guaranteed to be admitted to a key martial arts university in the future. For many families, a student's promotion to the elite class was a major event, and it was common practice for parents to accompany them on the day of the assessment.

Beside Chen Lie, a young woman was encouraging her child; standing before her was a girl with short hair.

"Nini, don't be nervous. You're a second-year high school student now, so the assessment for the elite class won't be that strict. Just adjust your mindset. Our Vitality value has broken 3, which already meets the standard. If you perform normally, you'll definitely pass!"

"Mm, I know, Mom!" The short-haired girl nodded vigorously.

In the seats in front of Chen Lie, a set of parents were both cheering their son on.

"Son, you need to keep a level head. Even though you didn't pass the elite assessment last time, you've been eating beast meat for a month straight, and your Vitality value has already broken 4 units."

"Our Vitality value is well over the requirement, so no matter how strict the elite assessment is for third-year students, you're bound to pass!"

"That's right, your mother is right. I'll go fill out the forms for you in a moment, and let your mother help you adjust your mindset. We'll definitely pass this time!"

Chen Lie turned a deaf ear to the happenings around him, quietly waiting for 12 o'clock to arrive.

Before the clock even struck twelve, the school administrative staff responsible for the elite student assessments had already begun to arrive at their posts behind the counters.

The parents waiting at the scene flocked to the counters to line up.

Chen Lie glanced toward the counters and noticed that everyone queuing up was a parent; there wasn't a single student among them.

Faced with the long, snaking line, Chen Lie did not rush, instead waiting until all the parents had finished their business before calmly walking up to the counter.