Dark Horse

"Principal, he's from our Class Seven."

Their homeroom teacher, Zuo Tianchang, was also somewhat surprised, and answered uncertainly.

Hearing that he was from Class Seven, Principal Chen Dao was even more surprised and couldn't help joking, "Your Class Seven is doing well. You've got four students in the school's top hundred in martial arts. If they work hard to improve their academic grades, they could even make a bid for the Elite Class."

"That won't do. There are only four of them, and that's just in the school's top hundred. They're a long way from the Elite Class," Xiang Lin, the Elite Class's homeroom teacher, objected.

"Our Elite Class isn't that weak. We have fifty students, and even the lowest-ranked is ninety-second."

When Principal Chen Dao was contradicted, he smiled and offered no rebuttal.

His outlook differed from those homeroom teachers. He wasn't confined to a single class or person, but considered the whole school, even all of Xinyuan City.

"Everyone, we received instructions from the Imperial City this time. The college entrance exam is set to be reformed: instead of academic subjects and martial arts each accounting for fifty percent, academics will count for thirty percent and martial arts for seventy. The importance of martial arts goes without saying. What suggestions do you have for this schoolwide mock exam?"

"Principal, let's stick with arena battles. They're fairer."

"Arena battles aren't fair at all. Some students rely on agility and can't show their advantages in an arena."

"Then what kind of battle scenario do you suggest?"

"A city defense battle. They'd defend against ferocious beasts attacking the city. That's also a situation most martial artists will face."

"A horror scenario would be best. It could strengthen the students' mental resilience and train their ability to face the ghost race in the future."

Principal Chen Dao listened to their discussion without speaking. If anyone asked him, he would say, "You're right. Let's hear what the others have to say, and then I'll decide."

Once everyone had offered their suggestions, Principal Chen Dao was the only one who had yet to state his position.

"Ahem."

Principal Chen Dao cleared his throat. "Having listened to everyone's suggestions, I think you're all right. In that case, the battle scenarios won't be fixed this time. We'll just generate them at random, and the one-on-one matchups will be random as well."

With Chen Dao's decision, the format for this mock exam was settled.

[Welcome to the battle space. Xinyuan Martial Arts High School's second mock exam begins now]

An electronic voice sounded in Ning Yue's ears. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a room.

At the same time, a piece of information entered his mind.

He understood where he was.

The room was a rest area provided by the battle space. After each battle, there were two options: watch other people's battles or return to the room to rest.

However,

the function for watching other people's battles had been disabled.

The room's furnishings weren't fixed; all kinds of scenes could be conjured up at will.

Apart from being unable to conjure real people, every other function could be conjured up.

However,

that required spending money and having a registered account, while Ning Yue was only a temporary user.

Without further ado, Ning Yue tried sitting in meditation and cultivating the Bitter Bamboo Scripture. Sure enough, it didn't work.

He opened the battle space panel.

[Examinee: Ning Yue]

[Number: 09527]

[Record: 0]

[Rank: 50]

The panel was exceptionally simple. Among the school's more than six thousand students, he ranked fiftieth, a high position.

With my 80 points of qi and blood, I only rank fiftieth in the whole school.

The school really is a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

One had to remember that the last mock exam had been only a month ago. At the time, Liao Dong's qi and blood had been just 86 points, and he had ranked ninth.

He thought of how there were still nearly two months until the college entrance exam, the final sprint.

As time passed, the gaps between the third-year students would only grow wider.

In another month, when the third mock exam came around, 80 points of qi and blood might not even make the top hundred.

However.

In another month, Ning Yue was confident he could break through to the martial arts first rank. Even the Second-Rank Realm or Third-Rank Realm was possible.

[Beep, beep, beep]

[Battle commencing. Randomly matching opponents]

[Opponent matched]

[Randomly selecting battle scenario]

[Scenario selected: a world of ice and snow]

With a series of electronic sounds, Ning Yue's surroundings changed in the blink of an eye.

"So cold!"

Just as he found his footing, a frigid wind howled, ice and snow lashed around him, and snowflakes struck his face.

Even with his iron yang physique, the sudden change in temperature made him shiver.

At the same time, he saw the opponent he had to face.