"The test is simple. We need to examine your bones."
"Bone aptitude is divided into four grades, from lowest to highest: Ding, Bing, Yi, and Jia. If you're graded Ding, you can leave."
After saying this, Hu Long, Hu Zetong, and more than a dozen other fifteen-year-old boys began lining up.
Unlike the boys taking the test for the first time, the original owner of Hu Long's body had also undergone a bone examination at fifteen.
He knew the test itself wasn't complicated. He just had to stand still.
Bone examination sounded mysterious, but it was actually a way to assess bone development using methods like pressing, pinching, bending, and twisting.
But in the original owner's remaining memories, the examination here seemed to involve something else...
Because there were both boys and girls in the crowd.
Hu Li examined the girls, while Hu Zhenkui personally examined the boys.
Among the boys, Hu Long's earlier display of strength had made the others somewhat wary of him. None dared to line up ahead of him.
Even Hu Zetong obediently stood second.
Though he was unruly by nature, he knew when to accept the truth. He'd lost, and that was that.
So Hu Long was the first to be examined.
Hu Zhenkui was also quite interested in this junior whose performance had surprised him.
Given Hu Long's age, his bone aptitude should have been tested long ago.
He had even dug up the record from back then.
Ding grade, the lowest of the four.
But now, the boy's physical condition was completely different.
With a slight shift in thought, he raised a hand and began patting, grasping, and squeezing various parts of Hu Long's body.
His movements seemed calm and ordinary.
But Hu Long, the one being examined, sensed something strange.
Each time the other man touched him, he felt a faint tingling sensation, like a mild electric shock, triggering an instinctive reaction in his body.
Hu Long instinctively used the force-generating techniques from his Comprehensive Combat Arts, now at the perfected level.
"Hm?"
Hu Zhenkui let out a soft murmur.
The next moment, Hu Long felt all the strength drain from his body. He could no longer move at all.
A little over ten seconds later, Hu Zhenkui withdrew his hand. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes as he gave Hu Long a long look.
"Just as I thought—you have Jia-grade aptitude. And I didn't expect you to have already grasped some Integrated Force... You're truly impressive. Go stand behind me."
"Yes."
Hu Long was secretly startled.
As soon as the other man stopped, the tingling sensation vanished, and his body returned to normal.
He had many questions, but didn't say anything. He simply followed instructions and stood to the side.
When the other Hu family members heard Hu Zhenkui say that he had already grasped some Integrated Force, they all glanced at Hu Long in surprise.
Hu Zhenkui took in Hu Long's expression but thought nothing of it.
It was only natural for ordinary people to be shocked by techniques they couldn't understand.
If they weren't, that would be suspicious.
What Hu Zhenkui didn't know was that Hu Long wasn't shocked by that. He was startled by something else.
[Target: Hu Zhenkui] [Skill One: Spirit Ape Secret Martial Art (Bone Tempering, Ninth Layer)] [Size: 87 MB (Status: Unavailable for Download)] [Description: A unique secret art created by observing the form of the spirit ape. It breaks the limits of the human body and prompts a leap in life.] [Skill Two: Red Sand Hand (Proficient)] [Size: 20 MB (Status: Unavailable for Download)] [Description: A secret art that strengthens the hands. Requires mastery of force to download...] [Skill Three: Mad Demon Staff (Skilled)] [Size: 13 MB (Status: Unavailable for Download)] ...
Hu Zhenkui certainly lived up to his position as clan head.
Aside from ordinary life skills, he had no fewer than five special skills.
The leading Spirit Ape Secret Martial Art required more than eighty megabytes of data—a terrifying amount.
A skill that took an ordinary person decades of hard training to reach master level required only around six megabytes.
This secret art required more than ten times as much.
The other skills at the proficient level also required far more data than usual.
And every one of them required mastery of force before it could be downloaded.
Clearly, these skills were all extraordinary, far beyond ordinary skills.
That force was probably the power that only Secret Martial Artists could master.
Hu Long's heart burned as he looked at them. He wished he could download them all immediately.
Unfortunately, after downloading the Innate Divine Strength talent, his Source Value had already run nearly dry.
Besides, even if he'd saved his Source Value, it wouldn't have helped.
The total Source Value he had accumulated since crossing over still wouldn't have been enough to download this skill.
What's more, unlike ordinary skills, skills like these had prerequisites.
If he downloaded them recklessly, his body might not be able to withstand them. He hadn't forgotten how weak he'd felt after first downloading Unarmed Combat.
He had to take things one step at a time. He couldn't expect to grow fat from eating a single mouthful.
"Ding grade, failed... Ding grade, failed... Bing grade, passed..."
The examinations went quickly. With the boys and girls in separate lines, everyone had been tested in about ten minutes.
Five people passed in the end.
Besides Hu Long and Hu Zetong, there were two other boys and one girl.
The young man in the tank top, with tattoos on his arms, was among them too.
The results soon came out.
Hu Long and Hu Zetong had Jia-grade aptitude.
The girl was graded Yi.
The other boy and the young man in the tank top were graded Bing.
The boy bit his lip, looking somewhat unwilling to accept the result.
After all, just by the name, it was clear that Bing grade was only barely passing. It could hardly be called exceptional.
The young man in the tank top took it much better.
He even had time to comfort the boy, smiling as he said, "Don't lose heart. Aptitude isn't set in stone. Look at me. When I was tested at fifteen, I failed with Ding-grade aptitude. Now I've passed with Bing."
He'd been tested at fifteen too, and his aptitude had also been Ding grade.
"Exactly. Even if you failed, don't lose heart. Bone aptitude really can change over time."
Hu Zhenkui nodded.
A bone examination was much like the ancient art of assessing horses. It wasn't some unfathomable science.
A horse with better bones and tendons would naturally run faster. The same principle applied to people.
The examination used various techniques to assess a person's inborn skeletal structure, proportions, length, and joint shape.
It didn't just assess the thickness of the bones. Through touch, it also evaluated the innate quality of the bones and tendons, whether the shoulders, hips, arms, and legs were suited to the force-generating structure of a given martial art, the strength and elasticity of the tendons and ligaments, and the flexibility of the joints.
From there, it judged the body's foundation and potential for improvement.
Because of the human body's unique nature, it continued to undergo some changes until a person reached adulthood.
There was just one thing he hadn't mentioned.
Bone aptitude could change, but only a small number of people saw any change.
For most people, the results of their first examination at fifteen were already set.
The human skeleton was generally fully formed by the age of fifteen, with only limited changes afterward.
An examination at that age could reveal nearly everything, which was why the clan only tested the bone aptitude of its fifteen-year-olds.
Though some changes were possible, they only amounted to slight improvements.
In practice, they made little difference.
Of course, there was no need to say something so discouraging out loud.
Some of the boys and girls who had failed were already red-eyed. Though some of them didn't even understand how important this was, they knew they'd been eliminated.
Unfortunately, if you lacked aptitude, you lacked aptitude.
After they had left,
Hu Zhenkui turned his attention to the five who had passed.
His gaze lingered on Hu Long and Hu Zetong for a while before he finally spoke:
"I know you must have a lot of questions."
"Now I can tell you: the bone examination is to determine whether you have the aptitude to practice Secret Martial Arts. Congratulations—you're now qualified to learn about them."
"That's one of the reasons the Strength Bearing Festival exists.
"Those with enough strength usually have decent aptitude."
At this,
Hu Long's eyes flickered.
The original owner of his body had already been tested, and his aptitude hadn't met the requirements.
Even if it had improved, it was unlikely to have changed this dramatically.
Compared with Hu Zetong,
the change that had brought his aptitude up to Jia grade was probably due to downloading the Innate Divine Strength talent.
"Of course, innate bone aptitude can help with training in Secret Martial Arts, but it isn't the deciding factor.
"How far you go still depends on your own effort, luck, and understanding.
"Those with good aptitude mustn't become conceited. Those with less aptitude still have ways to succeed."
Hu Zhenkui's gaze passed over the five, calm and steady, as he advised them.
"Yes!"
They answered in unison, their hearts stirred.
Hu Long looked just as excited on the surface.
But inside, he was unconvinced.
Hard work could help someone reach the peak of their natural potential, but it couldn't break through their limits.
It was like studying hard enough to score one hundred on an exam. Compared with the true top students, though, the fact that someone could score a hundred only meant the test was worth a hundred points—not that a hundred was the best they could do.
It wasn't until people grew up that they realized talent mattered far more than hard work.