CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 33: WHAT I WANT

Class 01 students walked while entering the student card numbers into Martial Arts City and scanned them with their phones.

Feng Wenhao glanced around the class, fifty people, with less than ten having Demonized Watches, then looked at Zhou Leng’s wrist.

"What’s your rank in the ’Rucheng Freshman Chart’? Mine’s over 9300." Feng Wenhao asked.

Zhou Leng gently pushed, and the screen projection floated in front of Feng Wenhao.

"Rank 2946? That’s still based on the exam scores from the college entrance exam. Once today’s test is done, you could at least jump up by 500 or 600 spots."

Zhou Leng said, "Don’t forget many people took Perfection Pills and have already advanced to the Blood Transporting Period, while I’m still in the Qi Nourishing Period. My True Qi quantity and strength are far behind, especially since advancing to the Blood Transporting Period makes their bodies stronger, and they’re sure to crush me in comprehensive exams."

"True, but they rely on pills to rush through, leaving their bodies incompletely tempered. You still have a chance to compete with them."

"What rank is Zhou Leng?" Bald Wei Hong leaned over to ask.

"2946," Feng Wenhao replied.

"Impressive! That ranking should be in the top ten of our Martial Arts Hall. Isn’t his physical exam score supposed to be low?" Wei Hong wondered.

Feng Wenhao said, "The freshman chart and other lists don’t just look at tests; they also consider war merits. He has over 40, how many do you have?"

"Where’d you get so many war merits? I fought tooth and nail and only got 12," Wei Hong said.

Feng Wenhao said, "Heh, our luck was slightly better, so we got a bit more merits. Those even better than us farmed hundreds of war merits before school started."

Wei Hong said, "Zhou Leng, our class is counting on you. You might have fallen short in the past few months, but once you advance to the Blood Transporting Period, you’ll be the only one able to compete with Xu Kang’an from Class 02. But, don’t get your hopes up too much; Xu Kang’an isn’t the strongest in our class, but he has the most endurance."

Feng Wenhao asked, "You two were classmates in high school?"

"Yes. After the college entrance exams, he didn’t take any Perfection Pills, achieving Qi Nourishing Perfection through cultivation, way beyond normal Top Ten Martial Arts students. Our homeroom teacher regretted not realizing Xu Kang’an’s endurance was so strong; otherwise, they would have tried anything to stop him from enrolling in the Martial Arts Hall."

Feng Wenhao looked at Zhou Leng, "With Xu Kang’an around, you should lay low for the first semester and surpass him in the second semester next year!"

"Sounds like a plan," Wei Hong said.

"Ask what Xu Kang’an’s rank is," Feng Wenhao said.

"Hold on."

A while later, Wei Hong reported, "He’s ranked 802."

Everyone around fell silent.

Zhou Leng’s rank was already high, yet he was still over two thousand ranks behind Xu Kang’an.

Zhou Leng said, "We’re at the testing site."

Instructor Deng Zhijue called out loudly.

"Everyone, wear your student cards properly and enter according to your student number."

"No Qi Manipulation is allowed in the six physical exam subjects; once found, you’ll be disqualified immediately."

"The 5000-meter sprint starts in batches because of the large number of people. You will all run together later; don’t pay attention to others; the demonized instrument will give you a fair score based on your student card..."

"In the technological era, amateur 5000-meter run times are around 15 minutes, with the world record being about 12 minutes and 30 seconds, roughly 6.67 meters per second."

"Our Martial Arts School’s passing mark of 60 points is 12 minutes, well beyond past world champions."

"For the 100 points in the 5000 meters, it requires running at 10 meters per second, close to the speed of a 100-meter dash in the technological era, finishing in 8 minutes and 20 seconds."

This number struck a chord with everyone.

From 6.67 meters per second to 10 meters isn’t much, but once reaching the human body’s limits, each improvement becomes extremely difficult.

Maintaining a constant 10 meters per second over the 5000-meter distance without True Qi is practically impossible.

"Alright, ten people per group, stand on your designated tracks..."

Zhou Leng glanced at his student card, 0109.

Zhou Leng stepped up to the starting line, crouched slightly with the others, ready to start.

"Run!"

Instructor Deng Zhijue commanded, and ten people shot out like arrows from a bowstring.

"Go, Zhou Leng!" Feng Wenhao shouted, as he and the second batch of students moved to the starting line.

"Run!" Deng Zhijue commanded again, and the second batch began running.

Soon, five groups of students were running on the track simultaneously.

Zhou Leng held an absolute lead in first place.

Deng Zhijue and several instructors scanned the fifty students.

Deng Zhijue commented, "This Zhou Leng is exceptional. His college entrance exam physical scores were only in the 60s, but judging by his speed now, he’s at least scoring 85."

Another instructor said, "That Chang Luan is also good, after all, he advanced to the Blood Transporting Period, his speed far surpasses those who started together."

"Those who advanced to the Blood Transporting Period with Perfection Pills have unstable Qi Blood; look, the swaying of their bodies is noticeably greater than other students’."

"That’s why exam tests are needed when school starts. Once they fully absorb the pill’s power, regular students can hardly catch up."

"However, this supplementary enrolled student Zhou Leng is really steady, with stable breathing, strides, and balance... Hmm? It seems he’s improved significantly since the supplementary exam."

"His sprint score in the supplementary exam was 88, not reaching 90, but today he might exceed 9."

"Let’s see if he scores over 90 in several items. If he gets ’half 9’ results, the Martial Arts Hall scholarship and Ruda’s scholarship are secured."

"I wonder if he has the ability to contend for the best martial arts scholarship."

The instructors observed and commented.

Zhou Leng maintained an absolute first place position throughout.

As time passed, several classmates who had reached the Blood Transporting Period surpassed the others.

Yet, apart from Lu Juncai, no matter how they accelerated, the gap with Zhou Leng only widened.

Soon, Zhou Leng crossed the finish line.

The end-line detector transmitted the data to the tablet in Deng Zhijue’s hand.

The instructors all looked over.

Deng Zhijue slowly said, "Zhou Leng’s 5000-meter sprint result was 9 minutes, 13 seconds, 05, scoring 91.4 points."

"That’s a great start!" The instructors all nodded, smiling.

"This score isn’t high for a Blood Transporting Period student, but for a Qi Nourishing Period student, it’s very rare."

Soon, the whole class finished running.

"Take a 10-minute break before entering the dodge run area. I’ll send screenshots of the results to the class group chat."

The crowd hurriedly checked.

Chang Luan saw his score of 87 and smiled; this score was far higher than his previous physical test.

Then he looked at Zhou Leng’s result and frowned slightly.

Nearby, the blue-haired Tao Bing whispered, "Zhou Leng and Lu Juncai are tied for first, both with 91.4 points, but Lu Juncai is at the Blood Transporting Period."

Chang Luan sighed and said, "I’ll talk to him again."

With that, Chang Luan walked towards Zhou Leng.

"Zhou Leng, want to chat on the side?"

Zhou Leng glanced at Chang Luan and said, "Sorry, during the exam, I don’t want to be distracted."

Chang Luan said, "Why harm the harmony between classmates over a score or two?"

"Until now, everything’s harmonious, and I’d like it to stay that way, but I’m afraid someone doesn’t want harmony."

Zhou Leng’s gaze was focused, fully dedicating himself to the test, not affected by external factors at all.

"Name a price, I can give you everything you want," said Chang Luan sternly.

Zhou Leng replied, "You don’t know what I want, and you can’t give it to me."

Chang Luan stared at Zhou Leng for a long time, then turned and left.

Feng Wenhao came over and whispered, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Zhou Leng said.

Feng Wenhao looked at Chang Luan’s back and whispered, "This guy is very active in the group, has talked to many classmates, certainly aiming for class president, maybe even wants to compete for the title of this year’s senior apprentice-brother. It’s best not to offend him if possible."

"Hmm, it’s fine."

Chang Luan went back and stood in place, looking sullen.

He had been reaching out these days, and including himself, there were seven students at the Blood Transporting Period in Class 01, with two willing to lag slightly behind in exchange for pills.

But there was no way to prevent others from surpassing him in scores.

He had also contacted other classes’ experts at the Blood Transporting Period.

Some couldn’t be bothered to deal with him, and that top-scoring Xu Kang’an was the same, entirely uninterested in cooperating with him.

Clearly, more than one person wanted to compete for the senior apprentice-brother title.

Tao Bing whispered, "Want me to take action? My scores being a bit lower doesn’t matter."

Chang Luan slowly said, "Let’s wait and see the situation."

Soon, the whole class entered the evasive running course.

The serpentine track had dense multi-barrel ball throwers on both sides.

Deng Zhijue shouted, "Follow your student number, with a 15-second interval, charge one after the other. Ready... go!"

The student with student number 01 reluctantly dashed in.

After just a few steps, a twenty-barrel ball thrower made a bang, ejecting a full twenty tennis balls, scattering like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers, flying directly overhead.

This student hurriedly dodged, but more than five tennis balls hit him.

He grunted and gritted his teeth, continuing to run.

The second student saw the tennis balls rolling on the ground and felt a sinking heart.

The further it got, the harder it became.

"Next!" Deng Zhijue’s voice rang out.

The second student started running.

Soon, it was Zhou Leng’s turn.

Zhou Leng dashed in like a leopard, but didn’t use his full strength.

Bang!

The first wave of twenty tennis balls was launched, and Zhou Leng pushed off with his right foot, his body suddenly accelerating and darting out, instantly dodging all the tennis balls.

In the middle of the run, suddenly, more than a dozen ball throwers fired simultaneously, with over a hundred tennis balls erupting like a torrential downpour from both sides.

Whether he accelerated or retreated, it was impossible to completely dodge them all.

Zhou Leng immediately stopped, twisting his body to dodge, his body twisting quickly like a standing worm.

Pa! Pa!

Two hits.

Zhou Leng continued to run.

"Minor achievement in body technique, not bad, this performance can also reach 90 points," a coach nodded slightly.

The student with student number 08 ran with all his might but vaguely felt something was wrong.

Whoosh...

What passed by him?

How could he be overtaken with a 15-second interval?

The frustrated student number 08 helplessly watched as Zhou Leng sped through the serpentine track ahead.

"Students who have finished running, pick up balls along the path, and toss them into the ball throwers," Deng Zhijue shouted.

The students at the front began picking up balls and tossing them back.

Before long, Zhou Leng crossed the finish line.

"How many points does Zhou Leng have?" a coach couldn’t help but look at Deng Zhijue.

Deng Zhijue glanced at the tablet in his hand and quietly said, "The whole time 52 seconds 07, hit 7 times, 93.4 points."

"This kid definitely has some skills."

"His reaction and visual perception are very strong."

The coaches looked at the figure bending over to pick up balls, seemingly ordinary.

The second test ended, and Deng Zhijue screenshotted the whole class’s scores and sent them to the group.

Zhou Leng was at the top like a cliff, with the second place only at 79.8 points.

The classmates looked at the score and all fell silent.