Has This Kid Taken Drugs?

March 30th was the day the mock exam began.

As for the mock exam in academic subjects, it had already ended two days earlier.

No surprises there—Lu Chong had once again taken first place in the entire school, or more accurately, first in the entire city.

However, aside from specialized academic institutions, domestic martial arts universities and comprehensive universities placed far more weight on the martial arts assessment.

In this type of exam, academic scores only accounted for twenty percent; the martial arts assessment was what truly mattered.

The academic exam lasted two days, but the martial arts assessment took a full six days.

The morning of the first day was the Martial Arts Foundation Exam, testing the candidates' basic stats.

This included cultivation level, Basic Strength, Basic Speed, and Neural Reaction, all compiled into a Basic Total Score.

Each category had a maximum of 100 points, for a total of 400.

The rough standard for a perfect score was the baseline stats of a newly initiated Martial Artist.

Of course, if someone exceeded that line, they could earn bonus points.

As for the Martial Skill assessment, it was tested through Practical Application, and it carried the most weight and flexibility in scoring.

Lu Chong arrived at school early in the morning, gathered with his classmates, and then headed to the school's testing station to assess his basic stats.

"Brother Chong, think you can make it into the top ten this time and bring some glory to Class 5?"

Chen Yufei followed behind Lu Chong. Both of their student numbers were toward the back, and they were waiting in line for testing. He didn't care much, though—he was still stuck at Martial Apprentice Stage 3, dead last in the class.

Aside from the Head Teacher, only he and Lou Qingqing knew that Lu Chong was now at Martial Apprentice Stage 8, far ahead of everyone else in the class.

Lu Chong smiled but said nothing.

He had only one goal, but he was afraid saying it out loud would shock others.

The basic testing moved quickly, and Class 5 had almost no standout students.

The best so far was Lou Qingqing, whose cultivation had reached Martial Apprentice Stage 6. Her strength, speed, and neural reaction were all decent, earning her a score of 268—just barely meeting the baseline for a Key Martial Arts University.

Soon it was Lu Chong's turn. He entered a testing room alone.

Outside that room, not only was the Head Teacher Wang Tong present, but even the Head Teacher of Class 1 and Zhou An, the director of the Academic Affairs Office for the senior year, had come.

"Old Li, why aren't you at your own class? What are you doing hanging around Class 5?" Zhou An was a portly bald man, his smile like a Maitreya Buddha.

But across the entire First High School, no student wasn't intimidated by this unremarkable-looking Academic Affairs director.

Zhou An was a genuine Martial Master, and rumor had it he'd cultivated some special Martial Skill that had ruined his figure.

He was a true smiling tiger—the kind of figure students feared most.

Li Chengjun, however, showed no fear of the Academic Affairs director. He just smiled ingratiatingly. "Director, you're here too, aren't you? I'm just taking a look—want to see how that prized student Old Squad Leader has been treating like a treasure is doing now."

"Can't have him wasting away in Class 5."

Wang Tong snorted. "You'd better mind your own class. Don't let us overtake you."

The Academic Affairs director knew these two were old war buddies, not actually enemies. He narrowed his eyes with a smile. "You two... I'm here on Elder Wei's behalf to check on this kid."

"Besides, he took the highest reward in the whole school and all the Martial Skills. I want to see just how capable this kid really is."

Wang Tong turned away, ignoring Li Chengjun, and fixed his gaze on the screen outside the testing room, where the data was updating.

From there, he could see all of Lu Chong's test results inside, along with the scores being published in real time.

Li Chengjun wasn't giving up. He kept muttering, "What a waste of such good talent. If he were in my class, he'd probably be at Martial Apprentice Stage 6 by now."

Wang Tong let out a couple of dry laughs, too lazy to bother with this short-sighted fool.

Just as Li Chengjun was about to keep needling his old comrade, Zhou An's expression suddenly stiffened. "That can't be right?!"

Li Chengjun quickly followed their gaze to the screen data and gaped, blurting out almost the same words. "Impossible—did the equipment malfunction?"

On the screen outside the room, Lu Chong's cultivation test data was displayed—

Cultivation: Martial Apprentice Stage 8 — 80 points

"Bullshit, Li Chengjun, you're a Frog in a Well. Lu Chong broke through to Stage 8 long ago. I saw it with my own eyes."

Wang Tong's eyes went wide as he finally found his chance to fire back. For a moment, he felt completely refreshed and clear-headed.

He coached Lu Chong every day, so of course he knew his current cultivation progress.

Still, if he hadn't seen it himself, Wang Tong wouldn't have believed Lu Chong's cultivation could advance this fast.

Now, at last, after being beaten down for so long, he could regain some psychological balance at others' expense. These past twenty-plus days had nearly suffocated him.

Besides, Lu Chong was his student. No matter how shocked they were, all they could do was envy him.

"This..." Li Chengjun and Zhou An stared at each other, both stunned speechless.

They both knew Lu Chong and were aware of his cultivation level not long ago—he'd just broken through to Fifth Stage. How was he at Stage 8 now?

"Old Squad Leader, you didn't give him some banned substance, did you?"

Li Chengjun snapped out of his daze and suddenly caught on. "That would ruin this kid. Even if his foundation isn't solid, it'll hurt his future potential."

Zhou An also looked at Wang Tong with suspicion but said nothing.

Wang Tong was feeling great when suddenly his integrity was called into question. His face flushed red with anger. "Bullshit! Do I look like that kind of person?"

"I know more about banned substances than you do."

"Don't rush to argue." Zhou An's voice turned serious. "But the kid's cultivation progress really does seem abnormal."

"It's not impossible that he secretly took drugs and ruined his own foundation." Zhou An frowned as he analyzed.

This kind of thing had happened before—in fact, it was quite common.

With the College Entrance Exam approaching, students used those drugs to skyrocket their cultivation, earning extra points in that category without technically breaking the rules.

But it came at the cost of draining the student's potential, harming their long-term development.

Wang Tong knew Lu Chong wouldn't do that. He was about to argue back when he suddenly pointed at the screen. "Why don't you look at his other scores first?"

"If he'd used drugs to boost his cultivation, his other three scores would all show problems."

"Fair point. Let's see." Zhou An calmed down and signaled Li Chengjun to stop making wild guesses. They'd look at the data together.

Just then, on the screen outside the room, Lu Chong's next score appeared.

Basic Strength: 945 kg — 95 points

The moment these numbers came up, Zhou An and Li Chengjun almost simultaneously blinked, then rubbed their eyes hard and looked again.

Same result.

Wang Tong really wanted to rub his eyes too, but he held back, putting on an expression that said he'd known it all along.