Equipment Slot

The year is 2096 of the Old Calendar, or 70 of the New Calendar.

February 26th, exactly one hundred days remaining until the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam.

Blue Star, Xia Kingdom, Suzhe Province, Pengcheng City.

Pengcheng No. 3 Martial Arts High School.

The senior high school buildings are connected one after another, each draped with strikingly similar long banners.

"No struggle, no glory; a wasted senior year!"

"One year of exam misery, a lifetime of joy!"

"If you aren't exhausted in your senior year, how can you..."

In the classroom at the end of the first floor, Xu Ziming leans against the back door, staring straight ahead.

Before him lies a report card, freshly printed and still smelling of ink, with the header: "Pengcheng City Senior High First Martial Arts Mock Exam."

He shifts his gaze to the total score for academic subjects: 182 points.

A result within his expectations; his academic performance is decent, allowing him to answer 80% of the questions correctly out of a total of 225 points.

Xu Ziming's gaze drifts downward, landing on the martial arts score that occupies the majority of the report card.

Life Energy Level: 2.3, Score: 138 points.

Reaching a Life Energy Level of 5 qualifies one as a martial artist; at a mere 2.3, his score is naturally abysmal.

Finally, there is the practical combat section. He uses a sword, but his Basic Sword Method is mediocre, resulting in a mere 121 points for practical skills.

The sum of the three subjects is only 441 points.

With this score, he can only get into an average vocational martial arts college in Suzhe Province.

"Stop staring at your report cards and look at me!"

An angry voice erupts from the front of the classroom.

"If you want to get into a Martial Way University this year, your Life Energy Level must reach at least 3.0. Ask yourselves, can you achieve that in the final hundred days?"

Listening to this, Xu Ziming cannot help but sigh inwardly.

Life Energy Level is the standard for assessing a martial artist's vitality since the rise of martial arts in the New Calendar; after seventy years of development, it has become a highly scientific metric.

The Life Energy Level of an average man who has never practiced martial arts is 1.0.

Xu Ziming's meager 2.3 is only middle-of-the-pack even in a standard class, still 0.7 short of the estimated cutoff for the lowest-tier martial arts undergraduate program.

The Martial Arts College Entrance Exam regulations state that only those whose Life Energy Level meets the threshold can participate in the practical combat assessment; otherwise, even if your fist techniques are heaven-defying, it is all in vain.

On the podium, the homeroom teacher Ma Mingyu pauses for two seconds before tapping the desk again.

"You've all seen your scores. Academic subjects are the foundation, accounting for 30% of the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam; you still need to strive for improvement."

He then shifts his tone.

"However, the martial arts score is the true watershed that determines whether you can get into a Martial Way University, especially the Basic Body Forging Method."

He adjusts the watch on his wrist, and the next moment, a massive electronic screen appears at the front of the class, densely packed with text:

Basic Body Forging Method: Specially crafted by the Martial Saint of the Xia Kingdom for youths aged 15-18, this is the safest and most effective body-forging technique, allowing a martial artist to maximize their potential with every movement.

"As I've said before, the basics are the most important. Only by mastering the Basic Body Forging Method and raising your Life Energy Level do you earn the right to compete!"

Xu Ziming turns his head away, bored; he has heard these words too many times over the past three years.

He had memorized them even before entering high school, but talent is limited, and some things do not yield results just because you work hard.

He has struggled for three years only to remain a mediocre person. Thinking of this, he looks away, purses his lips, and gently folds the report card to tuck it into his schoolbag.

His hand accidentally brushes against the Basic Body Forging Method manual resting quietly on his desk.

[Equippable item detected: Basic Body Forging Method]

[Equipment trait preview: Body Forging Acceleration—Increases body forging speed by 50% while practicing the technique, 100% energy absorption during forging, and digitizes cultivation progress.]

[Permanent solidification condition: Practice the Basic Body Forging Method 100 times (If you lack talent, then repeat).]

[Equip?]

What is this? A cheat?

Xu Ziming's heart begins to pound violently, but his expression remains unchanged. If this is real, his cultivation speed will increase by 50%!

Do not underestimate this 50%; it is equivalent to having 150 days left until the college entrance exam.

"Xu Ziming, how did you do?" his desk-mate Dai Fei leans over.

Dai Fei is slightly chubby and wears glasses; his academic scores are even worse than Xu Ziming's, and his martial arts scores are on par, with a Life Energy Level of only 2.4.

He glances at his own report card and smacks his lips. "About the same. But my mom said that getting into a vocational martial arts college isn't bad either. I can teach kids basic breathing techniques in the future; that's a decent job."

His tone is quite relaxed, as if he had long ago accepted his own mediocrity.

"Mm."

Xu Ziming suppressed his excitement and gave a soft response.

Dai Fei came from a well-off family, so he naturally took exams and the like in stride, but things were different for him.

"I'm off, see you tomorrow."

By the time Xu Ziming checked his

Equipment Slot

, class had already ended. Dai Fei had already packed his bag and left without looking back.

Xu Ziming rode his bicycle out of the school gate. On his way home, he always passed the Pengcheng Martial Arts Training Base.

The exterior of the building featured highly futuristic walls, and through the gates, one could see people in martial arts uniforms training with professional equipment.

In the past, whenever Xu Ziming passed by, he couldn't help but steal a few glances before pedaling faster to leave the area as quickly as possible.

Today, however, he felt much more relaxed.

His home was located in an old residential area, where the stairwells were perpetually cluttered with miscellaneous items of unknown origin, looking quite aged.

As he pushed open the front door, he was greeted by the intense, savory aroma of a stir-fry.

"Little Ming is home."

Mother Xu walked out of the kitchen with a beaming smile, wiping her hands on her apron. "Go wash your hands, dinner is ready."

"Big brother!"

Seeing Xu Ziming return, a sweet-looking girl in the room tossed aside the TV remote and flew into his arms.

"Watching TV again? What are you watching?"

"Hehe, it's the Pengcheng High School Martial Arts Tournament that was held a while ago. It was so exciting! I heard they're going to hold it again in two months."

Xu Ziming glanced toward the TV from afar; the screen was frozen on a young man.

In the corner of the screen, the youth's information was displayed: [Chen Jinghao, 17 years old, Pengcheng No.1 Martial Arts High School, Life Energy Level: 4.7!]

"Stop watching, you two, come and eat."

Mother Xu's voice rang out, and the two of them turned off the TV and ran over.

As soon as he sat down, Xu Ziming noticed a thick pile of meat in his bowl.

"Little Ming, eat more. With the college entrance exam approaching, both studying and martial arts training are exhausting. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

From start to finish, Mother Xu didn't ask about his mock exam results, offering only meticulous care instead.

"I know, Mom. Don't worry, I will definitely get into a Martial Way University so our family can move into a big house!"

"Don't worry, maybe in two months, our big brother will be at that Pengcheng High School Martial Arts Tournament too."

Xu Zhiyao waved her chopsticks, looking completely confident.

After dinner, Xu Ziming quickly returned to his room. He opened his bag and took the Basic Body Forging Method into his hands once again.

[Detected...]

"As expected, the golden finger really does exist!"