The monthly exam had lasted only one day, but its far-reaching effects were only just beginning, causing an enormous stir.
That very night, the news spread throughout the city with the television station promoting it heavily.
All the various powers learned of it.
A ruthless youth had emerged at Qingshan No. 1 High School.
He had crippled the Wei Financial Group chairman's own son right in front of him.
Most importantly,
the youth was exceptionally talented and had earned the attention of Lu Zhan, Qingshan City's foremost Martial Artist.
The Wei Financial Group was utterly helpless.
"In a few decades, Qingshan City might have another Knight Ning!"
The leaders of many powers sighed with emotion.
For ordinary people, however, what mattered more was that Ning Chuan had taken first place in Qingshan No. 1 High School's monthly exam.
And it had been a crushing victory.
Overnight, Ning Chuan became the model child countless parents held up to their own children.
"Look at yourself! You're only at Awakening Stage Seven, and you're already letting it go to your head. Ning Chuan is as strong as a full-fledged Martial Artist, yet he kept his strength hidden all along. Can't you learn a thing or two from him?"
"Dad, I'm only at Awakening Stage Six. I really can't beat you at Awakening Stage Nine!"
"You good-for-nothing! Then how did Ning Chuan manage it? Does he have an extra head or another arm?"
As he was held up as an example countless times, Ning Chuan leaped from the top of Qingshan No. 1 High School's Students Who Must Be Killed Ranking to the top of the ranking at every high school in Qingshan City, firmly etched in the minds of countless students.
The person at the center of the storm, meanwhile, remained as calm as ever.
Over the next few days,
Ning Chuan kept to an orderly routine.
He attended school as usual and continued reviewing his lessons.
March 31, afternoon.
Extreme Path Martial Arts Hall.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Inside a private training room, heavy, muffled blows rang out in rapid succession, almost merging into a single continuous sound.
The sounds came from Ning Chuan.
He was throwing punch after punch at a testing machine.
The conspicuous red numbers on the screen above it refreshed rapidly.
"1845 kg!"
"1822 kg!"
"1819 kg!"
After firing off several hundred punches in one go, Ning Chuan stopped.
He was completely relaxed.
His forehead was dry, and his breathing was steady.
A line of text appeared on the testing machine's screen.
"Your current punching force is 1822 kg!"
Seeing this, Ning Chuan's lips curved up slightly.
The figure was quite good.
More importantly, it would soon rise again!
"Punching force of 1800 kg-that's about the level of most people at Awakening Stage Seven. Ning Chuan, you really are frightening!"
Lu Mengyue walked over, unable to conceal the shock on her pretty face.
Awakening Stage Seven was nothing much to her.
But a month ago, Ning Chuan had not even been at Awakening Stage Four.
Such progress was astounding!
Even her father, Lu Zhan, had never been this formidable!
Ning Chuan smiled. "My physical condition has more or less caught up.
But there's still a gap in coordination.
At Awakening Stage Seven, strength gushes forth like a spring, forming a unified whole, allowing better control over the body.
With every punch, the margin of error can be kept within 10 kg.
Mine is still over 20 kg."
"That's nothing."
Lu Mengyue thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Once your physical condition is there, getting your strength to gush forth like a spring isn't hard. You'll definitely manage it before the college entrance exam."
"More or less."
Ning Chuan grinned and gave an equivocal answer.
Given the extraordinary nature of the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture, even at the basic realm, his punching force at Peak Awakening Stage Nine would be around 6000 kg.
Working backward from that, at Awakening Stage Seven, his punching force would have to reach at least 3000 kg.
He was still more than a thousand short.
That was no small amount.
An ordinary person would need years of arduous training to increase their punching force by that much.
For him, though, as long as his nutrition kept up, it would take a month at most.
"Oh, right, here's the Hundred Beasts Nutrient Solution you wanted."
Lu Mengyue beckoned behind her.
Uncle Yang walked over carrying a black backpack and unzipped it, revealing row upon row of test tubes filled with dark red liquid.
Lu Mengyue smiled. "Buying two hundred tubes with a wave of your hand-you're certainly generous!"
"Wei Qiance was the generous one!"
Ning Chuan joked.
If Wei Qiance hadn't given him another ten million during the monthly exam, he couldn't have afforded two hundred tubes of Hundred Beasts Nutrient Solution, even at the cost price of 150,000 per tube from the Lu Family.
He still had a few million left.
He planned to put it all into his Vajra Body.
"You practically flayed his son alive. How could he not be generous?"
Lu Mengyue rolled her eyes at him, then thought for a moment and asked, "Are you leaving today?"
"Yes."
Ning Chuan nodded slightly. "My flight's tonight. I'll get to the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp tomorrow morning."
He had already arranged his leave from school.
As soon as the school administrators heard he was going to the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp, they approved his leave in a flash, without another word.
If Ning Chuan hadn't politely declined, they would have rallied all the teachers and students and invited some celebrities to hold a grand send-off ceremony for him.
Before long, Ning Chuan said goodbye and left.
Back home,
Ning Chuan looked around and picked out a few changes of clothes, taking nothing else.
Though he called it picking, they were all school uniforms.
There was still some room in the backpack holding the Hundred Beasts Nutrient Solution, and Ning Chuan couldn't be bothered to bring another bag, so he folded the uniforms and stuffed them inside.
Ding-dong...
As the doorbell rang, the landlord came in carrying a lease termination agreement.
"Do you still want these things?"
"No."
"Are you not coming back anymore?"
"I'll come back once, but I won't stay more than a few days."
Ning Chuan spoke.
Each session at the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp lasted two months.
By the time he returned, the college entrance exam would be starting.
He wouldn't stay in Qingshan City long.
A few minutes later,
Ning Chuan signed the agreement and walked out of the apartment building. He looked back at the apartment where he had lived, a trace of melancholy rising in his heart.
After all, he had lived there for a long time.
But the next moment, the melancholy vanished completely.
He had come alone.
He left alone.
Ning Chuan strode away, his gaze resolute, the setting sun shining on him as brilliantly as the rosy clouds of dawn.
Eight that evening.
Qingshan Airport.
The place was packed and bustling with people.
Some couples seeing each other off embraced, tears glistening in their eyes, unwilling to part for a long time.
Some parents seeing their children off offered one reminder after another, every word and gesture betraying their reluctance to let them go.
Compared with them,
Ning Chuan sat alone in the waiting area, a solitary figure who looked somewhat forlorn.
Yet his expression was perfectly calm.
Ning Chuan was well accustomed to solitude.
That had been true in both his previous life and this one.
In all his days in Qingshan City, he had made only one friend, Lu Mengyue, and that friendship had come about only because he had happened to save her life.
Otherwise, he and Lu Mengyue would have been acquaintances at most.
He wouldn't have made a single new friend.
Ning Chuan wasn't socially anxious.
He simply didn't want to take the initiative to huddle with others for warmth.
"Dear passengers..."
A boarding announcement sounded over the speakers.
Ning Chuan stood up, but just as he was about to step forward, a graceful figure blocked his path.
"We're friends, you know. You could at least have told me so I could see you off!"
Lu Mengyue glared at Ning Chuan and spoke irritably.
Ning Chuan was a little surprised. "How did you get here?"
He hadn't told anyone his flight number.
Lu Mengyue raised her delicate brows and said smugly, "My dad is an honorary director of all three of the Federation's major airlines. I asked him to look it up for me."
Ning Chuan: "..."
What a powerful reason!
Ning Chuan coughed lightly. "Well, in that case, could you ask Uncle Lu to get me a free upgrade? First class is awfully expensive!"
Lu Mengyue couldn't help laughing.
The two talked for a while longer, until the announcement came that boarding would soon end.
"I'd better get going."
Ning Chuan waved the plane ticket in his hand.
Lu Mengyue nodded gently.
After a few steps, Ning Chuan turned back. Looking into Lu Mengyue's eyes, he said earnestly, "Thank you for coming to see me off."
"Have a safe journey, and may you flourish on the martial path!"
A brilliant smile appeared on Lu Mengyue's face as she waved vigorously, her beautiful eyes following Ning Chuan's back until he disappeared through the boarding gate.
"You've seen him off. Let's go home."
Lu Zhan appeared quietly from somewhere.
Lu Mengyue thought for a moment, a trace of worry appearing on her pretty face. "Dad, the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp brings together some of the finest geniuses in the Donglin Administrative Region. The competition is incredibly fierce.
Could Ning Chuan suffer a setback he can't bear and fall into a slump?"
"No."
Lu Zhan spoke calmly. Without explaining why, he asked, "Do you know why Ning Chuan wanted to set out alone?"
Lu Mengyue said, "Was he embarrassed to let me see him off?"
"Are you talking about Ning Chuan?!"
Lu Zhan's lips twitched despite himself.
Even when asking for money, he hadn't forgotten to remind Wei Qiance to pay his taxes.
Just now, he had even been thinking of getting him to arrange a free upgrade.
Could someone like that be thin-skinned?!
Lu Mengyue thought of it too and covered her mouth with a smile. "Then why?"
"There's an old saying in the Federation..."
As Lu Zhan spoke, he turned his gaze toward the airfield.
Beyond the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, a plane rose from the ground, accompanied by the roaring wind, as though it meant to pierce the endless eternal night.
"Those who dwell apart are either gods or beasts!"