Practical Combat Exam

That girl was Shen Xingyue.

The moment he saw her, Dai Fei immediately covered his mouth.

Rumor had it that Shen Xingyue had quite a bad temper. Once, a guy from their class with a fairly high Life Energy Level had tried to secretly hold her hand during a sparring match. She had nearly chopped his hand off.

Yet at that moment, Shen Xingyue acted as though she had not heard him. She merely glanced at Xu Ziming before continuing onward.

"Come on, let's eat." Xu Ziming helplessly patted Dai Fei on the shoulder and followed her out.

The noon break passed in a flash, and soon it was time for the practical combat assessment.

Xu Ziming arrived at the assessment classroom, which was actually the same room they had previously used for combat training.

As he lay down in the Virtual Pod again, a pale blue beam swept across his face.

"Identifying facial features..."

"Identification successful. Xu Ziming, Class Five, Year Three. Activating assessment permissions..."

The next moment, Xu Ziming appeared in the assessment classroom.

Almost everyone in the class had arrived. About two more minutes passed.

Only then did Ma Mingyu shout, "The practical combat assessment begins now!" His voice was spirited and resounded through the spacious classroom with considerable authority.

"Come up in student-number order. First, Cai Xiao."

"Having C as my first letter really sucks. I have to go first every time." He pulled a miserable face, smacking his lips as though he had already prepared himself to be brutally beaten.

As he walked to the center of the classroom, a screen instantly appeared overhead.

[Cai Xiao (Student), Life Energy Level: 2.6.]

It was neither a good nor bad result, enough to give him some chance of getting into a Martial Way undergraduate program.

As everyone knew, in Suzhe Province, passing the score cutoff did not guarantee admission to an undergraduate program.

"Homeroom teacher, please go easy on me. I've only practiced my saber techniques for a few days."

He looked utterly lifeless, his face drooping as he begged for mercy.

"I won't be the one assessing you." Ma Mingyu smiled.

Immediately afterward, a virtual figure materialized out of thin air.

"To prevent excessive differences between teachers and students during assessments from keeping students from displaying their true strength, this year's format has changed. This is the virtual body of last year's top student in the class-placement assessment. We'll assign your Martial Way scores based on your performance."

"Don't worry. We've only replicated his martial techniques from back then. As for his Life Energy Level, it will be adjusted to match yours."

As Ma Mingyu's words fell, the virtual figure's body fully took shape. It looked like a sharp and spirited young man, with a Life Energy Level of exactly 2.6.

The moment those words came out, many of the students present were too shocked to speak.

They had not expected to compete against last year's top student. The eyes of many students who considered their martial techniques fairly good now gleamed with eagerness, while a trace of fear flashed through others' eyes.

Xu Ziming narrowed his eyes and calmly looked at the virtual figure ahead. "Last year's top student..."

"Beep, beep, beep. Character generation successful."

With the electronic voice, the virtual figure in the arena completely solidified.

Ma Mingyu swept his gaze across the room. "The trial match officially begins!"

The moment he finished speaking, the virtual body moved.

There was no flashy Opening Stance. It simply took a step forward.

Yet the instant that step landed, every student below felt an inexplicable pressure.

Like an undercurrent beneath the water—unseen, yet instinctively terrifying.

Cai Xiao's expression instantly turned serious. At first, he had merely been modest. In truth, he had practiced harder than anyone over the past two days.

But the virtual body was too fast—so fast that he had no time to react. He instinctively raised an arm to block, and in the next moment, a tremendous impact slammed into his entire arm.

This was bad. It felt like getting hit by a truck!

"Riiip—" He stomped down hard, dragging his foot across the floor and leaving a white streak before finally stopping his retreat.

But he had already stepped out of the designated area...

"Cough! Cough!"

Having come to a stop, Cai Xiao struggled to raise his arm, but the muscles in it continued to tremble uncontrollably.

[Assessment complete. Time used: 4.5 seconds.]

[Score: 108 points. Failed.]

His assessment result instantly appeared on the electronic display, and the entire classroom fell into boundless silence.

Cai Xiao was already considered an average student in the class, yet he had not even lasted five seconds.

Still, no one dared to mock him. What if they called someone else Five-Second Bro, only to become Three-Second Bro themselves in the next round? That would be a disaster.

"Is the gap really this huge?" At last, someone broke the silence and voiced what everyone was thinking.

Xu Ziming's expression did not change. Just as he had expected, how could someone who had ranked first in the grade possibly have weak martial techniques?

It looked easier than sparring with a teacher, but it was actually harder. The gap was even between people their own age, which made it all the more despairing.

The assessments that followed were like a one-sided massacre. More than half the class went up, yet not a single one lasted beyond ten seconds.

Dai Fei did not even last three seconds.

Modern technology could already give AI emotions, and as the matches continued, a hint of impatience appeared on the virtual body's face. Clearly, it no longer wanted to keep fighting these instant-kill battles.

"Next, Xu Ziming!"

Ma Mingyu's voice rang out as his gaze fell on the distant youth.

"A-Ming, be careful. I'm starting to suspect the school gave this guy cheats. He's practically inhuman. Our Life Energy Levels are clearly the same, but there's no room to fight back at all."

Xu Ziming nodded and walked forward to the center of the classroom.

[Xu Ziming (Student), Life Energy Level: 3.1.]

As he stepped forward, the data on the electronic screen changed accordingly, and the virtual body's aura rose by the same amount.

"Begin." The moment he came to a stop, Ma Mingyu's voice sounded.

The virtual body stepped forward once more, intending to repeat its previous method of victory.

But to Xu Ziming, that speed was no longer impossible to track.

"Bang!" Xu Ziming grabbed the incoming fist, then twisted in an extremely strange manner and flung the virtual body away.

Surprise finally appeared on the virtual body's face. It quickly lowered its body, rolled across the ground once, and stood back up.

"Xu Ziming blocked it! Someone finally made it past ten seconds!"

Excited voices rose from nearby, but they did not know that Xu Ziming was not merely lasting ten seconds. Next, he would thoroughly defeat last year's top student!

A hint of satisfaction had already appeared on Ma Mingyu's face. This virtual body was merely recorded from that student's class-placement exam last year. It was not actually that strong.

The other students in the class were simply far too weak.

Fortunately, he still had Xu Ziming!