Testing Begins

When Yang Sheng arrived, the other Lower Registry students had all arrived early as well.

Some sat, some stood. Some were expressionless, while others were utterly dejected.

After all, this test would essentially determine their future fates. It was impossible not to be nervous.

The host brought over a box containing several small balls.

Each person drew a ball in turn. Inside was a slip of paper with a number written on it.

One person drew the slip for first to compete. His legs went weak, and he collapsed into a chair, clutching his hair in despair.

Yang Sheng actually remembered him.

Though he was also a Lower Registry student, he was as diligent as Yang Sheng. After three years of hard training, he had reached Lesser Completion of Bright Force.

But like Yang Sheng, his assigned opponent was a second-year student who was nearly at Great Completion of Bright Force.

The students who drew later positions felt slightly relieved, but soon became dejected as well.

Even a later position only meant they would be eliminated a little later.

Yang Sheng opened the slip in his hand.

Ten.

He would be the last to fight, facing Li Ya.

As the time reached exactly eight o'clock,

the stands around the martial arts arena filled with people.

This time, in order to demonstrate fairness, the school had invited not only distinguished guests from the business and government sectors, but also city residents to watch.

Jiang Tian arrived at the stands at that moment. After briefly greeting Liu Jianming, he found a seat in a private box, pinched a pebble between his fingers, and closed his eyes to rest.

Liu Jianming said to Liu Chang beside him, "Teacher Jiang truly deserves to be called a veteran teacher. He can actually remain so calm at a time like this."

Liu Chang covered her mouth and giggled, pointing at the pebble in Jiang Tian's hand. "Dad, didn't you notice that he's grinding that pebble so hard that bits are falling off it?"

Liu Jianming looked closely and saw that Jiang Tian had nearly ground the pebble away.

"Cough, cough." To save Jiang Tian some face, Liu Jianming coughed.

"It's eight o'clock. The test has begun."

In the martial arts arena, after the host announced the start of the test,

the first pair of contestants entered the ring.

The two displayed obvious differences once they stepped out.

The Lower Registry student had almost never seen a scene like this before. He walked into the fighting circle timidly, shrinking in on himself.

His opponent had clearly experienced such grand occasions before. Calm and composed, he approached him and provocatively pressed his forehead against the other student's.

The referee separated them and read out the rules.

"For this test, both sides have signed an agreement. Life and death are not guaranteed. However, take note of two points. First, you must obey the referee's commands without question. Second, you may not expand the battle area and risk harming innocent bystanders."

After the rules were read, an alarm bell rang.

The Upper Registry student struck first, his violent fists raining down on the Lower Registry student.

The Lower Registry student could only defend passively, retreating again and again.

The intense battle from the very start stirred up the emotions of everyone in the stands.

The clamor seemed to drown out heaven and earth.

The loudest voices came from the invited Upper Registry residents and the school's Upper Registry students.

Seeing the Upper Registry student seize the advantage from the start, they cheered wildly.

"Kill him! Kill these Lower Registry people! Lower Registry people don't deserve to attend the same school as us!"

After enduring nearly a hundred blows, the Lower Registry student finally found an opening.

He blocked one of the Upper Registry student's punches, then surged forward to counterattack.

But Jiang Tian frowned in the private box. "He fell for it."

Sure enough, that opening had been a deliberate flaw offered by the Upper Registry student.

As the Lower Registry student focused his attention on attacking, he failed to notice the triumphant sneer on his opponent's face.

A fist that had been waiting in ambush shot upward.

It slammed directly into the Lower Registry student's jaw.

A sharp crack rang out.

The Lower Registry student's jaw was shattered by the powerful punch, and several teeth flew out with blood.

His consciousness instantly faded, and his entire body flew backward.

But his opponent clearly had no intention of letting him go.

Before the Lower Registry student could hit the ground, the Upper Registry student twisted his waist and gathered strength.

Liu Chang's eyes widened instantly. "That's the Heart-Piercing Elbow!"

With one explosive elbow strike, he drove it directly into the Lower Registry student's chest. A heavy bang sounded.

The Lower Registry student's downward momentum was forcibly reversed, and he flew straight backward.

He hit the ground, rolled several times, and stopped moving.

The referee immediately went forward to inspect him and found that his eyes were wide open and blood was flowing from his seven orifices. There was a small depression in his chest, while his entire back had burst open.

His abdomen was completely deformed. Every organ inside had been smashed apart by that blow, and all life had left him.

The referee raised both hands toward the host's platform and crossed them into an "X" above his head.

The host's platform immediately announced the result.

"Contestant Number One, dead."

The entire stands fell silent for several seconds. Then the Upper Registry people erupted with a roar loud enough to lift the roof off the martial arts arena.

Meanwhile, the Lower Registry residents and students in the stands all watched the Lower Registry student being carried away.

Some sighed, some wept, and some were furious yet helpless.

To them, such things were nothing out of the ordinary.

The victorious Upper Registry student took off his shirt, raised both hands high, and roared as he accepted the congratulations of those from his own registry.

In a private box in the stands, Chairman Xu chuckled.

"One to zero already. Boss Wang, what score did you bet on again?"

The middle-aged man Chairman Xu called Boss Wang sat on the sofa, holding binoculars in both hands as he looked toward the arena, an expensive cigarette hanging from his mouth.

He grinned. "Of course, ten to zero. Any bet other than ten to zero is just throwing money away."

Chairman Xu shook his head. "Only the first match should be exciting. Everything afterward will just be one-sided slaughter. It'll get tiresome."

Suddenly, he thought of the Lower Registry student named Yang Sheng whom Liu Jianming favored.

"I really don't know why Liu Jianming thinks so highly of someone like him. His opponent is Li Ya, who is far stronger than the other Upper Registry students. I truly don't understand what he and Jiang Tian are planning."

Inside the martial arts arena's waiting room, several Lower Registry students saw the match end so quickly and nervously rose to their feet.

"The first guy died."

"I heard he reached Lesser Completion of Bright Force a long time ago. His foundation was solid too."

"What a pity."

After that, everyone fell silent.

The atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

Yang Sheng, on the other hand, crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the wall behind the seats, and closed his eyes.

Several insights rose in his mind once more.

Some were insights from correcting his punching posture during his recent training, while others had come from fighting in the Stellar Martial Arts Match System.

Now, as he filled in the gaps and recalled them again, Yang Sheng absorbed and assimilated them.

"The ring's been cleared. It's your turn to go up."

Several people turned back to look at a Lower Registry student standing behind them.

Among them, he was the student who had reached Lesser Completion of Bright Force only slightly later than Yang Sheng.

So when he had been notified that he would participate in this test, he felt as though the sky had collapsed.

Under everyone's gaze, Number Two gritted his teeth and walked out with heavy steps.

PS: For the sake of reading flow, I'll update this entire part today, around eight or nine chapters.