"Boom!!!"
The students instantly erupted!
"Holy shit! Am I seeing things? Xu Yuan's punching force was 1,003 jin?"
"Wasn't he only at skin tempering second tier?"
"Was the machine broken?"
"He couldn't have cheated, could he?"
"What's going on with this student?"
Behind the long table, ordinary people like the principal and vice principal still didn't quite understand the situation, but the several bone forging realm experts could no longer stay calm!
They could tell that Xu Yuan really was only at skin tempering second tier, but that was precisely what made it even more unbelievable.
At skin tempering second tier, punching force was usually four or five hundred jin. Even someone practicing a high-level cultivation method couldn't reach a thousand jin!
This was far too outrageous.
Had he secretly taken drugs after the blood test?
That was impossible too.
Any potent drug capable of doubling someone's strength would definitely cause visible abnormalities after being taken!
Bulging muscles and swollen veins would be mild symptoms. They might even bleed from all seven orifices.
Besides, with Chen Rui from the Martial Suppression Department here, anyone secretly taking drugs would never escape his discerning eyes!
What exactly was going on?
They were truly baffled.
"It was a martial skill!"
Just as everyone was puzzling over it, Lin Yuan suddenly spoke.
His eyes were filled with shock!
A martial skill!
He had seen through it!
There was no mistake!
For this kid to throw a punch like that, it had to be a martial skill!
"A martial skill? How could that be? His movements were perfectly standard." Niu Gang frowned.
The punching force assessment had standardized movements. Within those standards, examinees had a hard time drawing on strength from other parts of their bodies.
Whatever punching force they produced could only come from the arm throwing the punch.
"It wasn't a martial skill in the true sense. More precisely, it was the embryonic form of one."
Still shocked, Lin Yuan continued, "He improvised the embryonic form of a martial skill. It has no practical combat application whatsoever. Its sole purpose is to muster as much of his entire body's strength into one punch as possible while using the standardized assessment movements!"
"Last week, this kid said his martial talent was actually very high. I didn't believe him, but now..."
Lin Yuan swallowed and said no more, but his meaning couldn't have been clearer.
Hearing this, the others understood too, and joined Lin Yuan in his shock.
"He couldn't have come up with it on the spot, could he? Had he studied it in private? Or did someone simply teach him?"
Cao Wanwei, the Divine Guard Army commander who had barely spoken, couldn't help asking.
There were indeed geniuses in this world, and he had seen quite a few.
Jiang Qingyun, who had come out of Yang City, for example, was an exceptional genius!
But he didn't believe any genius could create a martial skill in so little time!
Lin Yuan paused, then nodded in agreement. "Commander Cao has a point. He probably studied it beforehand. As for whether someone taught him, that's hard to say. We'll have to wait until he finishes his martial skill assessment."
"Does this count as cheating, then?" Chen Rui asked with a frown, instinctively feeling that something wasn't quite right.
"Cheating?"
Niu Gang shot him a sideways look. "How did he cheat? Did he fail the blood test, or were his assessment movements not up to standard?"
Although he had no fondness for Xu Yuan, at a time like this, he naturally had to speak up for one of his own.
Besides, if Xu Yuan really got branded a cheater, he would lose face along with him.
"Old Niu, honestly... I was just raising the question." Chen Rui looked speechless.
He had only made a remark. Was such a strong reaction necessary?
"Xu Yuan's assessment result stands. You can go."
Niu Gang settled the matter. "Take a five-minute break. In five minutes, we'll begin the second assessment: speed!"
With that, he stood up first and headed toward the speed-testing track.
A long table and chairs had been prepared for the examiners there as well.
Xu Yuan exhaled, the corners of his lips lifting slightly, then turned and walked back to the line.
He hadn't had any other intention behind that little display. The idea had simply struck him, and he would have felt an itch all over if he didn't try it.
Of course, he had considered the consequences and already prepared what to say in response.
He just hadn't expected the examiners to pass him without asking anything.
"Bro Yuan, how did you do that?"
"Yeah, your punching force should only be around five hundred jin, right? How did you hit a thousand?"
When he returned to the line, Fatty and some students who hadn't mocked Xu Yuan much crowded around him.
Even top students like Zhang Juye and Liu Yin cast curious looks his way.
"Xu Yuan really does have something up his sleeve. A thousand jin of punching force at second tier-how did he manage that?"
"Who knows? But he does seem to have changed quite a bit."
"Changed? Has he? I never paid attention to these scrubs. All I know is this guy's always doing rotten things outside."
"I never paid attention either. Last time Xu Yuan asked me how to earn thirty thousand yuan, that was the first time he'd ever spoken to me."
As everyone discussed him, Xu Yuan, the loser in his classmates' eyes, actually became the center of attention for a time.
Xu Yuan, meanwhile, wore a smile as he handled his classmates with practiced ease.
At this sight, Sun Hao felt utterly awful.
His own failure was painful enough, but Xu Yuan's success truly felt worse than being killed!
But why should Xu Yuan get to succeed?
Wasn't he injured?
Even if his injury had healed, how could someone at skin tempering second tier produce a thousand jin of punching force?
Sun Hao didn't understand.
He couldn't comprehend it at all.
He just felt unbearably miserable.
"Hmph, so he punched with a thousand jin of force. At the end of the day, he's still only at skin tempering second tier. He still won't pass the assessment!"
Only after stewing for quite a while did Sun Hao mutter through gritted teeth!
As long as Xu Yuan couldn't pass the assessment, he had nothing to act so cocky about in front of him.
They were both destined to become grunts in the Divine Guard Army. What the hell good was a thousand-jin punch!
As he muttered and thought, it occurred to him again that Zhang Baosheng would definitely make trouble for Xu Yuan after the assessment. Sun Hao immediately felt much better.
Go ahead and show off for now. You'll have plenty to cry about once the assessment's over!
Not far from Sun Hao, Zhang Baosheng's expression was shifting as well.
His own punching force was only 964 jin, yet Xu Yuan had actually broken a thousand!
But he soon came to his senses too!
Xu Yuan was still only at skin tempering second tier. Aside from punching force, his speed and reactions were surely far inferior to his!
Moreover, he had mastered Mountain-Crushing Strike to minor accomplishment. He was nothing like trash such as Xu Yuan, who hadn't even reached the entry level in a martial skill!
In a fight, even three Xu Yuans wouldn't be his match!
Go ahead and show off for now. You'll have plenty to cry about once the assessment's over!
Everyone harbored their own thoughts. Five minutes passed quickly, and the speed assessment began.
The speed assessment was much like a hundred-meter sprint. The difference was that a hundred-meter sprint was scored directly by time, while the speed assessment added another step: the speed detector would calculate the examinee's average speed over a hundred meters.
As the students gathered before the hundred-meter track, Zhou Ling went first again.
Boom!
With the speed detector monitoring the entire run, there was no need for a teacher to shout "Go." Once ready, Zhou Ling shot out like a cannonball!
The students lined up beside the track felt a powerful gust sweep past. The next instant, Zhou Ling slammed into the cushioning foam at the end of the track.
The ten-meter-thick cushioning foam caved in deeply from the impact!
The assessment result appeared on the speed detector's display: 18.23 meters per second!
Very impressive!
Someone practicing the Savage Bull Skin-Toughening Method would need to reach at least skin tempering eighth stage to achieve that speed.
But with the punching force assessment before it, the students didn't react much this time.
On the contrary, they felt that Zhou Ling hadn't performed well.
Zhou Ling himself frowned slightly at the result, but there was no second attempt in the speed assessment. There was nothing he could do even if he wasn't satisfied.
Next was number two, Zhang Juye.
Boom!
19.35 meters per second!
"Whoa!"
The students cried out!
"Holy shit! How was Zhang Juye so fast?!"
"You're so fast, Zhang Juye!"
"Way too fast! He even overtook Zhou Ling!"
Zhang Juye climbed out of the cushioning foam and was quite pleased with his result, but when he heard those ridiculous shouts, the corners of his mouth immediately twitched wildly.
What was wrong with the way these guys talked?
They called him fast, then said Zhou Ling had been overtaken by him.
Was that any fucking way to talk?
Zhou Ling was already unhappy about his poor performance. Now his face turned livid, and he turned to sweep an icy gaze over everyone.
The noisy students stiffened, shrank back, and hurriedly shut their mouths.
...The assessment continued.
Number three, Huang Yun: 17.26 meters per second.
Number four, Liu Yin: 18.33 meters per second.
Number five, Hou Le: 16.31 meters per second.
Over forty minutes later, the speed assessment was nearing its end, and it was Fatty's turn, third from last.
Fatty, whose punching force had been outstanding, delivered a somewhat lackluster performance in the speed assessment.
Speed at skin tempering fourth stage was usually around 14.5 meters per second, but Fatty only managed 13.47 meters per second. Several students at skin grinding third stage were even a little faster than him.
Xu Yuan didn't pull off anything astonishing this time either: 12.92 meters per second. It was faster than an ordinary skin tempering second tier student, but still within the scope of skin tempering second tier.
Zhang Baosheng, Sun Hao, and the others who disliked Xu Yuan all felt better.
Sure enough, second tier was still second tier. What the hell good was powerful punching force!
Next came the reaction assessment.
Like the martial skill assessment, this assessment also took place inside a testing chamber.
The testing principle was simple.
After an examinee entered the testing chamber, the numerous firing ports in its walls would shoot rubber balls at them from various angles.
The examinee's task was to dodge the rubber balls until they were struck by one of the increasingly fast projectiles.
The longer they lasted, the higher their score.
This assessment took the longest. By the time Xu Yuan's turn came, another two hours had passed.
33.6 seconds. That was how long Xu Yuan lasted inside the testing chamber.
It rivaled some students at skin grinding third stage, but everyone only exchanged a few brief comments.
Overall, everyone's impression of Xu Yuan now was that he had something, but not much.
With the reaction assessment concluded, the overall scores for the realm assessment appeared on a display inside the examination grounds.
In a rush, all the students crowded around the display, scrambling to look at it.
First place: Zhang Juye, 68.5 points.
Second place: Zhou Ling, 67.7 points.
Third place: Liu Yin, 67.1 points.
Fourth place: Huang Yun, 63.6 points.
Thirtieth place: Luo Han, 46.1 points.
Fifty-seventh place: Xu Yuan, 30.2 points.
"Bro Yuan! I'm thirtieth! I ranked thirtieth! Did you see?"
Fatty was so excited it was as though he'd been injected with chicken blood!
He was a bottom-feeder with first-tier talent too. When had he ever imagined he would have a day like this?
"I saw. But don't celebrate yet. There's still the martial skill assessment."
Xu Yuan smiled and pointed at the group at skin tempering fourth stage who hadn't made the top thirty. "Those guys' scores aren't much lower than yours. If they perform better than you in the martial skill assessment, they can overtake you and squeeze you out of the top thirty."
After a pause, Xu Yuan continued, "Even if none of them break into the top thirty, there's still me. I'm definitely taking one of those spots. So you need to move up another place in the martial skill assessment, or you'll still get squeezed out of the top thirty!"
"Uh..."
The fat boy's excitement vanished in an instant, and he grew nervous again.
Xu Yuan was a little speechless. "You don't need to panic like that, either. Some of the people ahead of you are bound to be worse than you. Take the guy in twenty-sixth place. His martial skill is only at the beginner level. He's definitely going to drop out of the top thirty."
As he spoke, Xu Yuan felt that something seemed off about the atmosphere. Looking up, he discovered that a lot of people were watching him.
Every last one of them wore an exceptionally strange expression.
Zhang Baosheng was among them. He immediately scoffed. "Xu Yuan, are you talking in your sleep? You're taking a spot? Why don't you just fly up to heaven?"
"Exactly. Thirty points for your cultivation realm, ranked fifty-seventh-how do you even dare say that?"
"And you're lecturing a fat boy who actually ranked in the top thirty? How thick can your skin get?"
A bunch of people who looked down on Xu Yuan chimed in, their faces full of contempt and mockery.
Xu Yuan was only at skin tempering second tier, yet he had the nerve to stand there holding forth on the grand scheme of things. Wasn't he afraid the wind would wrench his tongue?
Watching their expressions, Xu Yuan's expression suddenly shifted slightly. "Since you all think I won't pass, why don't we make a little bet?"
"Two-to-one odds. If I fail the assessment, you put down a hundred, and I pay you two hundred. How about it?"
As he spoke, Xu Yuan's gaze toward these classmates grew warm.
These were all leeks... no, these were his dearest friends and family, his brothers in arms!
Their eyes lit up at his words too.
Wasn't this idiot Xu Yuan practically handing them money?
"Are you sure?" someone immediately asked.
"Of course I am!"
"What if you refuse to pay?"
"You must be joking. With so many of you, would I dare welch on the bet?" Xu Yuan chuckled.
They exchanged glances, then nodded one after another!
"All right, we'll take that bet. If you lose and don't pay up, don't blame us when your arms and legs get broken!"
"Yep, yep. Hurry up and place your bets. We're all friends on Heavenly Messenger. Just transfer the money directly. The transfer records will be the proof!"
Xu Yuan urged them on, a crafty gleam flickering in his eyes.
Soon, the phone in his pocket began vibrating.
[Transfer of 200 from Liu Jiale. Please accept!] [Transfer of 100 from Li Mingyang. Please accept!] [Transfer of 3000 from Zhang Baosheng. Please accept!] [From...]
Xu Yuan held back his laughter as he accepted the money. When he saw the amount Zhang Baosheng had transferred, he nearly burst out laughing.
Your dad came to my house over three thousand and took a big slap from me, and you turned right around and gave that money back to me. Tsk, tsk. Nice work!
In less than three minutes, his Heavenly Messenger account had gained over six thousand!
And so, Xu Yuan's gaze toward his classmates grew even warmer.
These were all such good classmates!
If anyone ever said anything bad about Xu Yuan's classmates, he would be the first to get upset!
After collecting the money from this group, Xu Yuan set his sights on the others.
Everyone... probably thinks I can't pass the assessment, right?
But before he could approach anyone else, Niu Gang's voice rang out!
"The martial skill assessment begins! Everyone, gather over here!"