Chapter 34: Astonishing Progress

Lin Qi walked back into the crowd amidst the chatter, spotting Jiang Tao giving him a thumbs-up.

"Brother Qi, you've surpassed me!" Jiang Tao didn't hold back his praise, reaching out to bump fists with Lin Qi.

"Nonsense, I'm still not quite at your level," Lin Qi replied, shaking his head. He knew he wasn't the only one making rapid progress; Jiang Tao was doing the same. Jiang Tao was a natural talent who had firmly secured a spot in the top twenty of the grade, even without the benefit of many resources.

"Jiang Tao!" Zhang Cheng called out shortly after.

"Go on, Taozi, let them see what you've got," Lin Qi urged, giving Jiang Tao a nudge.

"Watch me!" Jiang Tao flexed his muscles. Over the past month, fueled by abundant resources, he had grown even taller, now standing over 1.9 meters. His physique was more robust than ever, his chiseled muscles rippling beneath his dark skin and radiating an intense sense of pressure.

"Boom! Boom!" Jiang Tao’s fists slammed into the punching target like heavy artillery. His explosive power when running was so astonishing that he appeared as nothing more than a blur.

"Punch force: 913.2kg! Speed: 18.1m/s!"

"Whew!" Jiang Tao exhaled, steam rising from his body as he grinned at Lin Qi.

"Congratulations, Taozi. The top ten in the grade is definitely within your reach now," Lin Qi said.

"That goes without saying; I'm determined to make the top ten," Jiang Tao laughed.

Not far away, Li Zhou watched them, a curious look on his face. "Interesting!"

...

"Qi Yuelin, punch force: 960kg."
"Yu Jing, punch force: 980.1kg!"
"Boom!"
"Li Zhou, punch force: 1035.9kg!"

"He broke a thousand kilograms!" The surrounding crowd was stunned as they stared at the digital display.

"That's insane. Once you pass 900 kilograms, it's incredibly difficult to keep improving."
"If the students in the regular classes knew this, they’d be terrified. The gap is just too massive."
"Li Zhou is a freak of nature!" Jiang Tao sighed, shaking his head.

"Has Li Zhou already broken through to the First Realm?" someone asked in shock.
"Probably not. He just has a naturally superior constitution, giving him more strength than the others," Zhu Yuqi noted, shaking her head.

Lin Qi was secretly startled as well. Breaking a thousand kilograms of punch force was a characteristic typically seen only after advancing from the First Realm to the Second. Even Zhang Cheng looked at Li Zhou with surprise. "This kid... he seems far more exceptional than the others."

Li Zhou continued to test his speed, though he kept it under 20m/s, as that was the minimum threshold for a Second Realm martial artist.

...

"Quiet!" Zhang Cheng commanded, and the noisy classroom instantly fell silent. "Alright, the first round of testing is over. It’s time to begin the weapon proficiency assessment. Everyone, follow me!"

Zhang Cheng led the two other teachers out of the classroom, with the confused students trailing behind.

"Strange, isn't it supposed to be a weapons proficiency test?" someone whispered, but no one had an answer.

They walked down the corridor to the far end of the building, where Zhang Cheng unlocked a heavy metal door with a passcode and stepped inside. The students followed. Lin Qi stepped onto the floor, noting the custom-made tiles.

"What is this..." someone pointed ahead in surprise.

Lin Qi saw ten egg-shaped machines neatly arranged in the room. He recognized them immediately: virtual immersion pods.

"I believe you all recognize these—holographic virtual pods!" Zhang Cheng patted the door of one. "From today on, all weapons proficiency assessments will take place in the virtual world. It’s highly accurate, and it saves me some trouble as well."

The students gathered around, and someone asked, "Teacher Zhang, how do we test?"

"It's simple!" Zhang Cheng gestured forward as a teacher turned on a projector. A massive 3D display appeared, showing images and text. "You all have accounts for the 'Red Realm,' right? Log in as you usually would. Search for 'Tianhai Monthly Exam' in the panel, enter your name, exam ticket number, and the weapon techniques you’ve studied to begin. You simply need to defeat the tester; the AI will evaluate your skills and calculate your score. Now, remember your ticket numbers. Groups of ten, starting from the last, please enter the pods."

Lin Qi and his group prepared to enter. Just then, he noticed something odd about Chen Zichuan in the corner. Chen was looking at the pod with curiosity, looking completely lost as he watched others operate theirs, much like Jiang Tao had when he first saw one.

"Taozi, it looks like Chen Zichuan hasn't used a virtual pod before. Go show him how it works," Lin Qi said.
"Got it!" Jiang Tao nodded and hurried over to assist.

Seeing Chen Zichuan nodding as he received instructions, Lin Qi felt relieved and stepped into his pod.

...

Meanwhile, martial arts students across all major high schools in Tianhai City were undergoing their own assessments. At Tianhai No. 1 High School, a spacious classroom spanning over a thousand square meters held thirty brand-new virtual pods. The students standing around were young, sharp-eyed, and radiating an air of fierce, arrogant power. A thick atmosphere of competition hung in the air.

"Guo Heng, I heard you're aiming for the top five in the grade for this monthly exam?" someone asked.

Guo Heng smirked. "Naturally. My swordsmanship has reached the second stage; there are very few in this class who can beat me. I'm not just aiming for the top five in the grade—I'm going for the top fifteen in all of Tianhai City." He clenched his fist, thinking to himself, "I will follow in my sister's footsteps."

He suddenly thought of Lin Qi and Jiang Tao from No. 2 High School. He wondered how they would rank this time.

...

"Buzz~"

Lin Qi felt a tingling sensation throughout his body. When he opened his eyes, he was back in his familiar personal space within the Red Realm. He opened the panel, searched for "Tianhai Monthly Exam," and a new window popped up.

[Please enter your name, technique, and exam ticket number!]
[Name: Lin Qi]
[Technique: Mountain-Collapsing Spear Art]
[Ticket Number: 20455060...]

Lin Qi clicked confirm. The surrounding space shifted, and in the next second, he appeared inside a spacious room with hard, white metal walls and floors. The walls were decorated with countless illustrations of various weapons.

[Candidate Lin Qi, welcome to the Tianhai Monthly Exam battlefield. Prepare for your martial arts assessment!]
[Objective: Defeat the examiner!]
[You have three minutes to prepare.]

Looking at the notification, Lin Qi thought of the arena—it was almost identical. If the examiner was as stiff as the AI bots used in basic testing, how would it properly evaluate his skill? As he pondered this, he selected his weapon: the familiar black spear.

The three minutes passed quickly.

"Whoosh!"

A figure manifested before him. It was a man wearing a white combat suit and a plain white mask, wielding a silver spear. A number "1" was clearly marked on his chest.

[Assessment preparing to begin!]
[Examiner: No. 1]
[3, 2, 1...]
[Assessment officially beginning!]

The intelligent female voice announced the start. In an instant, the examiner lunged forward, his silver spear dancing like a dragon.