Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, a week had gone by.
Wang Tianyu had kept to a very regular routine that week.
The classroom, the Martial Arts Hall, and home—those were the only three places he went. Wang Tianyu had settled into a life of shuttling between them.
A week earlier, Wang Tianyu had already raised the Basic Cultivation Method to the twelfth level.
Though he had told himself to observe things a little longer, Wang Tianyu still couldn't control himself.
The morning after he woke up, Wang Tianyu chose to raise the Basic Cultivation Method to its maximum level.
The twelfth level was already the Basic Cultivation Method's highest level. At its maximum, the method strengthened his body much faster than before.
Wang Tianyu could feel his body's strength increasing day by day.
Although the maxed-out Basic Cultivation Method had given Wang Tianyu excellent results in body training,
there was still one nagging doubt in his mind.
This was what Wang Tianyu's system panel looked like now.
"Basic Cultivation Method: Level 12 (cannot be upgraded)."
"Energy points: 2."
Wang Tianyu had already raised the Basic Cultivation Method to its maximum level, but he had only two energy points left.
Wang Tianyu had tried all sorts of things that week, but his energy points hadn't increased at all.
There were no prompts and no sensations. Wang Tianyu could only experiment on his own, little by little.
After investigating for the past few days, Wang Tianyu had also learned what the system inside him could do.
"Spend energy points to directly upgrade a martial arts technique!"
This ability was downright heaven-defying, like paying to win in a game.
While other people were still grinding monsters and leveling up, they might have to leave the game running all night just to gain half a level.
But Wang Tianyu could simply pay for an upgrade item.
After using it, he could level up in a second.
Wang Tianyu now had one of these upgrade "items," but he could only use it twice more.
That left him feeling uneasy, afraid to spend it yet afraid to waste it.
Soon, the day to register for the Martial Arts Class arrived.
Qingjiang No. 2 Middle School, Senior Year 3, Class 4 classroom.
"Those who signed up for the Martial Arts Class selection, come with me. Everyone else, stay in the classroom and study."
It was the homeroom teacher, Yan Jie, speaking. His expression was stern.
Hearing Yan Jie's words, Wang Tianyu stood up.
Nine others stood up along with Wang Tianyu. Chen Yongguo was one of them.
Senior Year 3, Class 4, where Wang Tianyu studied, had forty-two students in total.
Ten students were taking part in this Martial Arts Class selection, nearly a quarter of the class.
That alone showed how passionately ordinary people pursued martial arts cultivation.
As the ten students rose to their feet, waves of encouragement rang out around the classroom.
"Chen Yongguo, good luck! You can definitely become a martial artist. I'm counting on you to look after me when you come back!"
Hearing a classmate he was on pretty good terms with call out to him, Chen Yongguo smiled at him.
"Classmates, you can all do it! Our Senior Year 3, Class 4 is the best!"
The class monitor spoke up. He had excellent grades in the academic subjects and hadn't signed up for the Martial Arts Class.
After all, not everyone—or every family—wanted to study martial arts, or was able to.
At that moment, he was cheering Wang Tianyu and the others on.
"Gou Hongcai, you can do it! I believe in you! When you become a martial artist, I'll be your girlfriend!"
No one laughed at the bold girl. A strange atmosphere filled the classroom.
With the class monitor leading them, the somewhat scattered words of encouragement gradually blended into one.
"Good luck!"
"Good luck!"
"Good luck!"
The shouts grew from one person to a few, then to the whole class, swelling into a mighty roar.
Accompanied by their classmates' well-wishes, Wang Tianyu and the other nine left the classroom and followed behind Yan Jie.
Yan Jie led Wang Tianyu and the others to the school's main sports field.
A Punch Strength Tester stood on the field, with a long line already formed in front of it.
"Get in line here and get yourselves ready. You only have this one chance, so make sure you seize it."
Yan Jie gave Wang Tianyu and the others a few words of advice.
Then Wang Tianyu and the others joined the line.
Quite a few more people joined the line one after another.
After about ten minutes, no one else came to the field.
Wang Tianyu glanced around. Long lines stretched ahead of him and behind him, and there looked to be about two hundred people in all.
Before Wang Tianyu had time to count them, a voice rang out across the field.
"All the students who signed up for the Martial Arts Class are here. There are 193 of you in total. More people have signed up for the Martial Arts Class this year than last year. That is both a good thing and a bad thing."
"The good thing is that everyone's physical fitness is improving. That's a wonderful thing and a sign that the quality of our school's incoming students is improving."
"It's good for the school, but bad for you. Resources are limited, so we've raised this year's punch-strength requirement for admission to the Martial Arts Class. The cutoff is 220 kilograms!"
The voice came from the podium, where a row of school administrators sat.
The speaker was the principal of Second High School. His hair was white, and he looked quite old, but his voice still rang out strong and clear through the speakers.
Quite a few people on the field changed expressions when they heard this.
Most of them could only punch around 200 kilograms.
Last year, the cutoff for the Martial Arts Class had been 200 kilograms.
They had assumed it would be 200 kilograms this year, too. A handful had even secretly hoped the standard might be lowered.
But as soon as they heard the principal's announcement, their hearts sank.
The people didn't even have time to complain before the voice from the podium continued. "I hereby announce that this year's Martial Arts Class test begins now!"
As soon as the principal finished speaking, the teachers maintaining order began organizing the students for their tests.
"Those who fail, stand on the left. Those who pass, stand on the right! Once you've been tested, remember to come to me and sign to confirm your score."
After the testing teacher finished speaking, the line began to move forward.
"202 kilograms. Failed. Next."
"228 kilograms. Passed. Go stand inside the yellow line on the right."
The test proceeded in an orderly fashion.
The line moved quickly, and soon it was the turn of a girl not far ahead of Wang Tianyu.
There were only a few girls in line, and this one happened to be standing so close to him.
Wang Tianyu looked over curiously, wanting to see whether she would pass.
"Xie Hongmei?"
A teacher stood beside the testing machine to record the scores. He was checking her against the registration information in his hands.
"Yes, sir."
"Mm, that's right. Your photo matches your basic information. You can begin."
After closing the file, the teacher recording the scores gestured for Xie Hongmei to start her test.
One of the few girls in the line, Xie Hongmei had caught the teacher's attention.
Xie Hongmei was quite pretty. Tall and slender, she looked fresh and vibrant.
It was only natural that she caught the other test-takers' attention, too.
"A girl, huh? I wonder how strong she is. With those skinny arms and legs, she probably won't make it."
A boy who had already failed stood in the failing section, his tone sour.
"Skinny arms and legs? Her name's Xie Hongmei. She's in my class. I bet she could lift you with one hand."
Someone beside him immediately objected.
Ignoring the discussion below, Xie Hongmei threw a punch.
"Huh? 350 kilograms. Passed. Next!"
The teacher let out a surprised exclamation at Xie Hongmei's result.
She had just achieved the highest score so far.
"Over 300 kilograms! How'd she do that? She's so much stronger than I am."
"The top score came from a girl? That's a disgrace to us guys."
"Then go beat her! Show us what a real man can do."
Listening to the whispers nearby, Wang Tianyu found them rather amusing.
"See that? You got eliminated, you weakling. How dare you call someone else skinny?"
"You got eliminated too. Why are you pretending to be some kind of expert? What a loser!"
"Who are you calling a loser?"
"Whoever answers."
The two people in the failing section started arguing again. Their voices were loud enough to carry all the way to Wang Tianyu.
"Quiet!"
At the testing teacher's sharp command, the two immediately shut their mouths.
"300 kilograms. Passed. Next!"
The person ahead of Wang Tianyu had scored an impressive 300 kilograms, but with Xie Hongmei's result already on the board,
he didn't attract much attention.
Soon, it was Wang Tianyu's turn to take the test.
Standing in front of the Punch Strength Tester, Wang Tianyu took up the stance that let him exert the most force.
Wang Tianyu had no intention of holding back. It would be pointless to do so.
More importantly, Wang Tianyu had seen some information online about the Martial Arts Class test.
Although information about martial arts cultivation was tightly controlled for ordinary people,
less sensitive information could still be found online.
Someone online had said that the better you performed in the Martial Arts Class and the higher your score, the more training resources you could get afterward.
With no intention of hiding anything, Wang Tianyu gathered all his strength and slammed his fist into the tester's sandbag.
"400 kilograms. Very good, young man! That's the highest score so far. Come sign to confirm your result."
Seeing Wang Tianyu's score, the teacher recording the results smiled at him, his tone kind.
"400 kilograms. Passed. Next!"
As soon as Wang Tianyu's result was announced, a new topic sprang up across the field.
"Whoa! 400 kilograms! Who is that? I've never heard of him."
"His name's Wang Tianyu. He's in Senior Year 3, Class 4. I know him."
"That's the highest score so far, right?"
"At least some guy finally beat that girl. It'd be too embarrassing if we joined the Martial Arts Class and got outdone by a girl."
Wang Tianyu's result sparked a wave of discussion, and quite a few students began talking about him.
"Good luck. Relax."
Chen Yongguo was right behind Wang Tianyu. As his only good friend at school, Wang Tianyu truly hoped he would pass the test, too.
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