At nine in the morning, the sky was clear and the air was fresh.
Whoosh!
Several birds, purple from head to tail, burst through the clouds and sped over the bustling training ground of Qingshan No. 1 High School.
The hundred-day oath-taking rally was being held there.
Red banners covered the green wire fences all around, each printed with a college entrance exam slogan.
"Heroes contend for supremacy, but with a sharp blade in hand, I will press ever forward and claim the top rank!"
"Who but me shall pluck the laurel from the moon palace!"
"A second faster on your feet, a pound heavier in your fists, and you'll surpass a thousand people!"
"Twelve years to hone a sword, a hundred days to forge glory!"
Guo Renyu looked around at the banners and sighed. "That really gets the blood pumping. My heart's surging just reading them. I can't wait to start working hard right now and show what I can do on the college entrance exam battlefield!"
As he spoke, he took out a piece of crispy pork belly he had bought who knew where and bit off a huge mouthful with a crunch, grease running all over his lips.
"You'd be better off buying antiques from Master Lou. You're almost certain not to strike it rich, but the odds are still better than your chances of getting into college."
Ning Chuan teased him, reaching out with his left hand to pat Guo Renyu on the shoulder.
His right hand, meanwhile, held a battered battle saber.
This saber was no ordinary object.
Worried it wouldn't be safe in the classroom, he had brought it along to the training ground.
"The man who fled fifty paces laughs at the one who fled a hundred. How do two lousy students like you have the nerve to talk about college? You'd better hurry up and figure out which construction site you'll be hauling bricks at after graduation!"
Ma Hai came up from behind, his hands clasped behind his back. He gave Ning Chuan and Guo Renyu a contemptuous glance before striding away arrogantly.
"Pah!"
Once Ma Hai had gone, Guo Renyu spat on the ground and said bitterly, "He's only at Awakening Stage Six. What the hell's he so smug about!
"I'll talk about college if I damn well please. What's it to him?"
Ning Chuan's expression remained calm as he watched Ma Hai walk away. "At Awakening Stage Six, he can get into a key university if he performs as usual. He has the right to be smug."
Judging by previous college entrance exams, someone at Awakening Stage Four could be admitted to one of the universities at the bottom of the rankings.
Someone at Awakening Stage Five could get into an ordinary university.
Awakening Stage Six corresponded to a key university.
Awakening Stage Seven and above were already considered high stages. Those at that level were powerful enough to get into prestigious universities.
As for the top-ranked Galaxy University, that was on another level altogether.
Its admission standards were outrageously strict.
Even someone at Peak Awakening Stage Nine had a slim chance.
Qingshan No. 1 High School was a key municipal high school with more than three thousand students in each year, yet on average, only one gifted student got into Galaxy University every two or three years.
And even then, they scraped in at the bottom of the class.
When Ning Chuan had told Guo Renyu earlier that he wanted to get into Galaxy University, he had mostly been joking.
A hundred days was too short.
"Still, it's not over yet. Anything could happen."
Ning Chuan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward the fence opposite him.
A banner hung there, its gilded lettering especially striking in the sunlight.
"The outcome is not yet decided. You and I could both be dark horses!!!"
Soon, the rally began.
The student representative for the senior year was a girl named Lu Mengyue. She was very pretty, and many students regarded her as the school belle of Qingshan No. 1 High School.
The students cheered as she went onstage to give her speech, and she received louder applause than the school leaders who had spoken before her.
Guo Renyu, however, was unmoved. He hid in a corner at the back, feasting on all kinds of food.
Beside him, Ning Chuan wasn't listening either. He was studying the battered battle saber intently.
If he couldn't figure out what was special about it, buyers would inevitably haggle down the price when he sold it.
"Guo Renyu, watch out!"
In the distance, Su Yun caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. Her pretty face suddenly changed, and she shouted a warning that swept across the entire training ground.
"Whoosh!"
A purple bird the size of a human face was diving rapidly from high above, trailing a piercing whistle of wind as it headed straight for Guo Renyu.
"A Thunder Sparrow!"
Ning Chuan was the first to react. His pupils abruptly contracted as he recognized the bird.
It wasn't a fierce beast, but it carried a trace of Thunder Beast blood. Known for its speed, it could hunt eagles and was an extremely formidable bird of prey.
In a dive, it was faster than a high-speed train running at full power!
However, precisely because it wasn't a true fierce beast and had always been afraid of humans, police departments generally ignored it unless someone reported it.
This Thunder Sparrow had probably gone hungry all winter and been drawn to the food in Guo Renyu's hand.
Guo Renyu had noticed the Thunder Sparrow by now, but he was too weak for his body to keep up with his reactions.
All he could do was let the Thunder Sparrow swoop down on him.
Terror appeared on Guo Renyu's face. Given his physical toughness, the high-speed impact would tear his tendons and break his bones.
Quite a few powerful martial artists at the scene wanted to save him.
But like Su Yun, they were all too far away to reach him in time.
Guo Renyu had deliberately stayed at the very back so he could sneak food.
Ning Chuan was the only person beside him.
His current strength was only at Awakening Stage Four.
Several school leaders broke out in a cold sweat.
This was the oath-taking rally, a grand occasion being broadcast live on television. If a student died here, the public would tear them to shreds with criticism.
Forget hiring a water army-even a navy couldn't wash them clean!
Boom!
At that critical moment, a thunderclap erupted out of nowhere and echoed across the vast training ground.
Quite a few people's hearts trembled in fright.
A dazzling streak of silver light appeared along with the thunder, shooting skyward like lightning born from the void. Too fast to follow, it slashed toward the diving Thunder Sparrow.
It was the blade Ning Chuan had swung!
He had unleashed Flash Thunder Slash.
The silver light flashed past, and with a wet splurt, a blossom of blood bloomed in midair.
The face-sized Thunder Sparrow was precisely split from head to tail. Its two halves brushed past Guo Renyu and struck the ground, leaving a spread of crimson.
"The Thunder Sparrow's ancient bloodline has revealed itself. Flash Thunder Slash has detected a faint intent of thunder within it and entered a state of epiphany. With a flash of inspiration, it has broken through to the Minute Subtlety realm!"
A notification rang out in his mind!
Ning Chuan gained an entirely new understanding of Flash Thunder Slash. It was as though the martial art had undergone a qualitative transformation, improving enormously!
"This..."
Shocked gazes turned toward Ning Chuan, but he paid them little mind. He stared at the battered battle saber in his hand, a flicker of bewilderment and surprise in his eyes.
Even the bloodline contained in an ordinary bird of prey like the Thunder Sparrow could bring his martial art to an epiphany?!
That was absurd!
"Still, it's definitely a good thing!"
A smile appeared on Ning Chuan's lips. "I can choose another B-grade martial art now!"
At the same time, the scene erupted like a pot boiling over.
"His body unleashed thunder when he drew his saber. My god, that's the B-grade martial art Flash Thunder Slash!"
"The thunder was so solid. His realm is definitely high!"
"Who's this big shot? He's actually mastered a B-grade martial art! Ordinary students train in D-grade martial arts at best!"
"He cut down a Thunder Sparrow diving at full speed in one strike. That was so cool! Too bad he didn't save a beauty, or he'd be all over the internet!"
The students on the training ground buzzed with discussion, utterly astonished, their eyes all fixed on Ning Chuan.
Guo Renyu paid little attention. He had just escaped death and broken out in a cold sweat, but before he could relax, he glanced upward out of the corner of his eye and cried in alarm, "Ning Chuan, run..."
Before he could finish, an enraged bird cry drowned him out!
"Screee!"
High above, the other three Thunder Sparrows saw their companion killed. Their ferocity roused, they beat their wings fiercely and dove at Ning Chuan like sharp swords.
Thunder Sparrows were afraid of humans, but they had fierce beast blood flowing in their veins, after all, and were full of wild savagery!
The school leaders were so anxious at the sight that they wanted to curse.
When they had seen Ning Chuan save Guo Renyu, they had been too busy feeling relieved to notice the Thunder Sparrows in the sky.
With three Thunder Sparrows attacking together, even someone at Awakening Stage Six would struggle to resist.
"It's fine."
Ning Chuan's voice was calm. He motioned for Guo Renyu to stay calm, then snapped his arm out and swung the battered battle saber.
Great strength brought great confidence!
"Flash Thunder Slash!"
With a boom, thunder cracked again.
Before everyone's eyes, three long, narrow streaks of silver light appeared, like lightning flashing across the sky. Each slashed toward a Thunder Sparrow diving in from a different direction.
Ning Chuan held only one saber.
But Flash Thunder Slash was a martial art known for its speed.
After reaching Minute Subtlety, it could bring that speed into full play.
In less than a second, Ning Chuan struck three times.
Many people couldn't track the movement well enough, and afterimages lingered on their retinas.
Splurt!
Splurt!
Splurt!
Three muffled sounds of a swift blade cutting through flesh rang out almost simultaneously.
Ning Chuan held the saber in one hand, his face expressionless. A little over a meter in front of him, blood blossomed in midair. None of the three Thunder Sparrows even managed a scream before they were all cut in half, spraying droplets of blood like a torrential downpour and staining the ground at his feet red.
The scene fell silent for several seconds, then boiled over!