Stunning Everyone with His Skills (Part 1)

"What would I blame you for?"

Fang Yu smiled. "There are ten recommended admission spots in the second batch. If I don't get one, it'll be because I wasn't good enough... Besides, if we both get in, we can be roommates for another two years."

Students at martial arts universities were free to choose their roommates.

"Recommended admission?"

"Fang, are you confident you'll get in? If my dad hadn't bought a huge batch of treasures to raise my life level, I wouldn't have any confidence at all." Wang Mo sprang up and leaned in the doorway, looking curiously at Fang Yu. The girl beside him obediently stopped what she was doing.

Fang Yu couldn't help smiling.

At the end-of-year assessment in their third year, Wang Mo's life level had been 18. Raising it by two levels in just a month was extraordinarily fast, even for someone still in the golden age of cultivation.

At level 10, standard punching force was 300 kilograms.

At level 20, it was 2,000 kilograms.

And at level 30, it was 10,000 kilograms.

The higher one's life level, the greater the gap between each level, and naturally, the harder it was to break through.

You got what you paid for in Star Coins-that was no lie... Fang Yu estimated that Wang Mo had spent at least ten million Star Coins over the past month.

After all, Wang Mo had only awakened a Lower Astral Aspect, and as for his martial arts skills, he had still been some way from reaching Lesser Mastery of Minute Subtlety in his physical skills at the end of their third year.

If his Astral Aspect and martial arts skills had not both been unremarkable, his exceptionally high life level alone would have earned Wang Mo a place on the first recommended admission list.

Even so,

a life level of 20 was basically enough to secure him a spot on the second recommended admission list.

Of course, Fang Yu didn't think he had raised it so easily. Wang Mo must have put in a great deal of hard work... He just acted as though it had been effortless.

Wang Mo continued, "Fang, did you awaken a Void Star Aspect over the break?"

"No." Fang Yu shook his head.

"Then you've reached Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety," Wang Mo said confidently. "Right, your martial arts skills were already good... You must have reached Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety."

Fang Yu smiled.

Not denying it amounted to an admission, and there was nothing worth hiding about it.

"Holy shit!"

"Your martial arts skills really broke through?" Wang Mo couldn't help exclaiming. "Fang, you're fucking amazing! Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety in your body-you can circulate your qi and blood! In our year, aside from that freak Wu Ya, you should be the second."

The Wu Ya Wang Mo mentioned

was the true martial arts genius of their year.

He hadn't awakened a Void Star Aspect during the college entrance exam and had been forced to attend a junior college. But in his second year, he had awakened an Upper Astral Aspect in one fell swoop. Combined with his astonishing talent for martial arts, that had made him the undisputed number one in Fang Yu's year.

He had reached Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety two months before Fang Yu.

He was on the first recommended admission list.

"Not necessarily," Fang Yu said with a smile. "At the end-of-year assessment, quite a few people in the other classes could make their muscles and bones resonate perfectly. It's been a while since then, so maybe someone else has made a breakthrough too."

"True." Wang Mo looked thoughtful. "But with your skills at the Subtlety level, your life level must be rising fast too. I remember it wasn't low before. I'd guess you're close to level 17 now, right?"

"You've got an eighty or ninety percent chance of getting recommended admission." Wang Mo seemed quite pleased. "Once we get to Huguang Martial Arts University, at least I won't be on my own."

Fang Yu smiled.

Wang Mo was actually a rather interesting person. His family was wealthy, but he never looked down on classmates for being poor, and he got along well with most of the class.

Of course, quite a few classmates disliked him too.

After all, he never hid the fact that he had money... Rich people, good or bad, were always likely to attract attention.

The fourth-year opening assessment at Wuling Martial Arts College was only held to determine who could transfer to a university. Only students ranked in the top ten percent at the end of their third year could apply.

Of course, students ranked lower who felt they had made tremendous progress over the break could also sign up by paying 1,000 Star Coins, but in practice, few did so.

Besides, many students in the top ten percent knew they had no hope and wouldn't come to the assessment.

In class 5703, only Fang Yu and Wang Mo took part in the second assessment.

At ten in the morning, when Fang Yu and Wang Mo arrived at the first-floor lobby of the Martial Arts Building, they found fewer than two hundred students waiting there.

"Wang Mo."

"Wang Mo came too?"

"He's relying entirely on his family's money. His life level's a little higher, and he dares to show up?"

"The one next to him looks like Fang Yu."

"Yeah, Fang Yu's martial arts skills are decent, but he hasn't awakened an Astral Aspect. What a pity. Both of them are just here to make up the numbers." The students came from dozens of classes, and not many knew Fang Yu. More of them knew Wang Mo.

There were quite a few children from wealthy families at the college.

But few were as high-profile as Wang Mo.

"Mo, looks like they've decided we're just here to make up the numbers," Fang Yu said with a smile.

"Bunch of idiots." Wang Mo looked disdainful. "Fang, don't you think they're like those random bystanders in webnovels, waiting for the protagonist to slap their faces? And I'm the protagonist?"

"A little." Fang Yu nodded.

"Too bad they only dare talk behind my back. No one's actually stepping forward... Slapping their faces later won't be nearly as satisfying," Wang Mo said ruefully.

Fang Yu smiled faintly.

Whether out of jealousy or a sense of superiority, plenty of people talked behind others' backs... But in real life, when there was no grudge between them, few would actually step forward and mock someone openly.

Before long,

several teachers came out.

"Quiet! No talking!"

"Follow the randomized order in the assessment notice. You'll enter the examination rooms one at a time." A female teacher in loose martial arts clothing swept her gaze over all the students. "Remember, the Martial Arts Department and the Ministry of Education will monitor the entire examination in real time. It will be recorded, and AI will do the scoring to ensure absolute fairness... You've taken exams for years and are almost ready to graduate, but I'll go over the rules once more."

"No actions unrelated to the assessment, no prohibited drugs, no..."

"Lastly, I hope everyone takes the assessment seriously and performs at the level you've achieved in your usual training."

"Once all the assessments are over, go have lunch, then gather in the first-floor lobby at two this afternoon. The second recommended admission list will be announced then," the martial arts teacher said. "At the same time, we'll release the application requirements for the third round, the practical combat assessment."

Everyone listened quietly.

"Number one, Luo Pengfei."

"Number two, Duan Bai. Enter your respective examination rooms. Candidates three and four, get ready," the female teacher said. The two students immediately entered the examination rooms through separate passages.

There were two examination rooms, allowing two students to be assessed at once.

"I'm number 114," Wang Mo said quietly. "What about you, Fang?"

"Number 46," Fang Yu said.

"You're that much earlier than me? All right, wait for me when you're done. Lao He sent a message in the dorm group chat, saying we should have a farewell lunch," Wang Mo said. "Private room 12 at Jade Grove Garden."

"All right." Fang Yu nodded.

There were only a little over a hundred students in total, and with two examination rooms, the assessments proceeded quickly. Soon it was Fang Yu's turn. After his identity was verified, he went straight into the assessment area.

The assessment for martial arts college students was actually quite simple.

It consisted of three main parts: Astral Aspect testing, life-level testing, and martial arts skills. Each part was further divided into several smaller tests.

For example, life-level testing included machine detection of qi and blood, a basic punching-force test, and a speed test.

Martial arts skills, meanwhile, included practical combat, maximum punching force, maximum speed, weapons proficiency, and many other aspects... All of them were intended to assess a student's strength comprehensively.

Fang Yu had not awakened an Astral Aspect, so he naturally skipped the first test.

On the second floor, dozens of martial arts teachers sat in a huge office, all watching the enormous projection at the front.

The projection showed what was happening in the two examination rooms.

AI scored the entire assessment, and the teachers could not interfere... But the final list still had to be reviewed and signed by all of them.

Moreover, as the martial arts homeroom teachers for their respective classes, they also cared about which of their outstanding students could make the recommended admission list, for the sake of their own performance records.

For every additional student selected, they received another bonus.

"Yan."

"That's a student from your class, isn't it?" a tall, thin male teacher said, pointing at Fang Yu on the projection. "Why did he skip the Astral Aspect test?"

"Yeah."

"His name's Fang Yu. His skills score ranked in the top ten at the end of last semester." A burly man with a slightly balding head sounded rather regretful. "His skills are very good, and his life level isn't low either. I'd guess his family has invested quite a bit of money in him... Unfortunately, he still hasn't awakened a Void Star Aspect."

He was Fang Yu's martial arts homeroom teacher, Yan Fu.

"He has no chance of recommended admission."

"But his movement technique and saber technique are both good. We'll see if he can make the practical combat assessment list in the end," the burly, balding man said, shaking his head.

Not everyone could qualify for the practical combat assessment either. Only those ranked in the top eighty by total score were eligible.

After all, the practical combat assessment was held on Primordial Star, and it came at a cost... Not everyone could take part.

At that moment,

most of the teachers in the office had stopped paying much attention to Fang Yu after seeing him skip the first Astral Aspect test... Not having awakened a Void Star Aspect put him at too great a disadvantage.

Under normal circumstances, it was almost impossible to make the recommended admission list.

Besides, at the end-of-year assessment in their third year, Fang Yu's martial arts skills had not been far ahead of everyone else's, so he naturally didn't draw much attention.

"The life-level test is starting." The teacher beside Yan Fu pointed at the projection. "Yan, he looks very composed. He seems confident. Maybe his life level is 17."

On the projection, Fang Yu had arrived in front of the qi and blood detector.

"Level 17? Let's hope so." Yan Fu didn't hold out much hope.

Fang Yu was one of the outstanding students in his class, so Yan Fu knew his results well. His life level had been 15.5 at the end-of-year exam in his third year.

In his view,

Fang Yu's family didn't seem particularly wealthy, and he hadn't awakened a Void Star Aspect... Going from level 15.5 to level 17 in a month and a half?

The chances were slim.

But the next instant,

"Level 20.1?" The teacher beside Yan Fu cried out in surprise. "Is the qi and blood detector broken?"

"Level 20?"

"Who? Fang Yu? Level 20?" The other teachers, who hadn't been paying attention, all looked over, scarcely able to believe it... A junior college student had reached life level 20.

That was almost as rare as a student reaching Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety in their skills.

"Level 20? How is that possible?" Yan Fu was startled. "He's risen more than four levels in less than two months? His basic punching force has doubled. How is that possible?"

"Even Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety wouldn't let him improve that fast, would it?"

"Could Fang Yu's family be secretly wealthy? How come I didn't know?"

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P.S. The next chapter won't be out until tonight.