High-Level Martial Era - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Chapter 30 B-Level Contract
 

“6.9 grade? Just over three months ago, he was at 6.0 grade? A little over a month ago, 6.5 grade? His physical quality has improved this fast?” Principal Tan Zhenlong was also extremely surprised.

Because of Xu Bo’s multiple recommendations, and the fact that Li Yuan’s special admission information had been summarized a few weeks ago.

Therefore, Tan Zhenlong had a deep impression of Li Yuan.

It’s just that, in his estimation, Li Yuan’s physical fitness would probably have reached 6.6 grade.

After all, under normal circumstances, the further you get in your cultivation, the slower the improvement in physical quality.

“In just over two months, from 6.0 grade to 6.5?”

“And in a little over a month, another 0.4 grade improvement?” Several vice-principals and Martial Hall martial artists were all very shocked.

A sole 6.9 grade in physical quality? Not enough to surprise anyone.

Among the many people present, except for Li Yuan and a few other students, almost everyone else was a martial artist.

The several school leaders present had the lowest physical quality at 9.8 grade.

In this era, martial artists have a much greater chance of holding positions of authority than non-martial artists.

Even compared to students, in the senior year elite class, there are several students with a physical quality over 7.0 grade.

Lin Lanyue, with the strongest physical quality, had already reached 8.5 grade.

But what was shocking about Li Yuan was the speed of his progress.

After all, everyone present knew that Li Yuan hadn’t awakened his Martial Spirit.

He could improve so fast just by practicing the Basic Cultivation Method?

“Good.” Xu Bo’s eyes lit up slightly.

He often observed Li Yuan through monitoring and knew that Li Yuan had made significant improvements in his physical quality.

But he didn’t expect it to be so remarkable.

“Li Yuan,” Xu Bo’s voice boomed like a bell, “continue with the other two tests, focus.”

“Yes.” Li Yuan wasn’t foolish; he could tell from everyone’s reaction that he performed very well.

Moreover, Li Yuan was also aware.

No matter where this mysterious Hall Master came from, this was an opportunity for him.

“Today, I should have heard before that the Martial Hall comes to inspect the school once a year,” the thought flashed through Li Yuan’s mind, “but in the past, they seemed to only inspect the elite class.”

“This opportunity was fought for by Teacher Xu.”

“Many times, good opportunities often only come once or twice.”

Without much thought.

Li Yuan had already arrived at the Fist Strength testing area, got into position, adjusted his posture, and then suddenly unleashed a punch with all his might.

“Bang~” Accompanied by a dull explosion, his fist fiercely struck the huge sensor sandbag.

In an instant.

The screen above the Fist Strength testing area clearly displayed: “454 kilograms (Action Qualified)”.

After testing his Fist Strength.

Li Yuan didn’t stay still; after a brief adjustment, he proceeded to the track’s starting point.

The forty-meter-long test track!

The white light from above the classroom shone down, reflecting on the dark red metallic track.

“Hu!”

After a brief adjustment and taking a deep breath, Li Yuan tensed his legs and his entire body suddenly sprinted forward.

Whoosh!

Like a passing shadow, Li Yuan had already dashed across the track, slamming into the buffer wall at the end of the track.

Tick Tock!

The electronic display at the end of the track now showed the data—”15.1 meters/second”.

“What fast speed.”

“Could the Life Vitality Detector have made a mistake?”

“How could Li Yuan’s empirical data be so high?” a series of low-voiced discussions were exchanged among the school leaders and the five Martial Hall martial artists, all a bit surprised.

Why were they surprised?

Because Li Yuan’s Fist Strength data and Burst Speed data had both exceeded the 7.0 grade physical quality standard set by the Seven Star Alliance.

7.0 grade standard: 15 meters per second, Fist Strength 450 kilograms.

Normally, it’s quite common for actual data to be slightly higher or lower in one aspect.

Like Li Yuan? Both aspects are higher?

Unusual.

“Good.” Xu Bo and Tan Zhenlong exchanged glances, smiles appearing on both of their faces.

“Teacher Xu, I’ve finished the tests,” Li Yuan walked back to the center of the classroom from the far end of the room.

“Old Wan,” Xu Bo looked toward Lord Wan.

“Don’t rush.”

Lord Wan’s face carried an unfathomable smile as he turned to several people behind him, “Instructor Xing, what do you think? Does he qualify?”

The five Martial Hall martial artists looked at each other.

“Lord,” Instructor Xing spoke in a deep voice, “this young fellow’s physical talent is not bad… it shouldn’t be difficult for him to become a martial artist, but he hasn’t awakened his Martial Spirit, so signing him early… might still need to be considered.”

Instructor Xing saw the close relationship between the Lord and Xu Bo, so he didn’t make a definitive statement.

However, everyone present was shrewd enough to understand Instructor Xing’s real meaning—not qualified.

“No rush, take another look,” said Lord Wan with a smile before turning to Xu Bo, “Tie Ta, your student’s strongest aspect should be his Martial Arts Skills, right… Let’s test that and see.”

“You noticed?” Xu Bo said with a smile.

“Life Vitality Detector usually doesn’t make mistakes,” Lord Wan said with a smile, “but he has managed to exhibit extraordinary strength and Burst Speed… this suggests he has a very high level of control over his body, and his Vigor deployment is probably close to Perfection.”

“From his walking posture, his Basic Fist Technique should also be nearly perfected.”

“I estimate that his Martial Arts Skills are the strongest among the students at your school,” Lord Wan said casually, “and most likely, it’s a case of leading substantially.”

Xu Bo and Principal Tan exchanged glances and couldn’t help but laugh.

“As expected of Old Wan, your judgment is still sharp,” Xu Bo said with a laughter.

Xu Bo knew that Lord Wan had been in his position for less than a week.

Without looking at previous data, it was likely he didn’t know about Li Yuan’s selection for the Blue Star youth list.

“Li Yuan, take out your Long Spear,” Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan and commanded, “Let’s proceed with the skill test.”

“Yes.”

Li Yuan walked towards the nearby weapon cabinet; he had already prepared the weapon in this classroom at noon as instructed by Xu Bo.

Meanwhile.

Li Yuan couldn’t help but look again at the middle-aged man in the Tang suit, “Such impressive eyesight.”

Li Yuan had also heard Lord Wan’s speculation.

…

Once ready with his Long Spear, the Martial Arts Skills test commenced, with many devices above the classroom activating.

Li Yuan, holding the Long Spear, stood facing Xu Bo ready for the test.

“Come, attack me. Show me all that your spear technique has to offer,” Xu Bo said in a deep voice, holding a long stick in his hand.

“Yes,” Li Yuan nodded, knowing that his teacher wanted him to reveal his full strength.

Without hesitation.

“Boom!” Li Yuan’s body was like lightning, already showing improvement, stabbing out with his spear fiercely and relentlessly.

“Clang!”

The long stick met the attack, striking the tip of the spear.

If this were a little over a month ago, Li Yuan probably would have had trouble withstanding even this single collision.

But now, his spear technique had taken another step forward.

“Whoosh~” The shaft of the spear followed the motion downward, the rear hand pulling back, followed by a strong push forward, causing the tip of the spear to tremble and draw a large circle, seemingly creating dozens of shadow spears in an instant.

“Teacher Xu’s physical quality seems to be around level 7, attack,” Li Yuan charged forth ferociously.

There’s a saying, ‘the spear fears the shaking head.’

It refers to the bewildering changes when the spear shaft wavers, making the spearhead’s movements unpredictable and marking the most terrifying moment of a spear attack.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

One thrust followed another, a relentless barrage, lightning-fast jabs targeting Xu Bo, each thrust powerful and accurate.

This was indeed Li Yuan’s newly developed killer move—Mountain Ranges and Myriad Forms.

It was a deceptive attack suitable for a spear technique, also apt for group combat.

“Haha, not bad,” Xu Bo laughed, wielding his stick in his left hand, poking out with each strike precisely timed to hit the spearhead of Li Yuan’s attacks.

This prevented Li Yuan from fully unleashing his power.

In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged dozens of moves.

“Li Yuan, be careful,” Xu Bo suddenly roared, changing his footwork as the long stick thrust forth like a spear with lightning speed.

The timing was too good.

This stick thrust came precisely when Li Yuan’s spear had failed to hit and he was withdrawing his power.

“Not good,” Li Yuan’s spear technique immediately adapted, switching from offense to defense, displaying a proficiency in his moves that surprised the martial artists watching from outside the arena.

Without hesitation.

Li Yuan directly employed the ‘Solid Rock Pillar,’ standing firm like a massive boulder, fiercely blocking Xu Bo’s assault.

Dozens more attacks and defenses followed.

Whew!

Xu Bo suddenly backed off, creating distance from Li Yuan and said with a smile, “Alright, that’s enough.”

Only then did Li Yuan stop, his vitality boiling within him.

It had been too fierce.

Teacher Xu’s attacks, seemingly slow, were actually stable, accurate, and ruthless, leaving him with no power to fight back.

“But at least, I’ve defended for so long, much better than last time,” Li Yuan took a deep breath.

At this moment, Xu Bo had already fiddled with his smart ring and said in a deep voice, “Skill assessment over.”

Beep—

On the screen at the back of the classroom, a score appeared—”374 points (College Entrance Exam Standard).”

“374 points?”

“That high!”

“College Entrance Exam Standard, over 370 points?”

“I remember Lin Lanyue scored only 361 points, right?”

“Last year, the top scorer in the Martial Arts Skills section for Jiang City’s college entrance exam scored just over 380 points,” a few vice-principals were thoroughly shocked.

Lin Lanyue scored 361 points.

Li Yuan scored 374 points.

The difference seemed to be just over ten points, but unlike academic subjects, martial arts scores are more definitive; strong is strong, weak is weak, rarely influenced by fluctuations in performance.

Once over 360 points,

Nevermind 10 points, even a 5-point gap represented a clear distinction in Martial Arts Skills.

A 10-point difference meant that if the two were to engage in virtual combat, the outcome would nearly be a given.

“Our school, could it produce a city’s top scorer in a single subject? There’s still so much time until the college entrance exam.”

“Our district’s educational quality has always been mediocre at best within the city,” the vice-principals exchanged glances, all harboring the same thought.

Especially the vice-principal in charge of ‘teaching,’ who had the brightest smile on his face.

“Alright, Li Yuan, put the weapon back,” Xu Bo said.

Li Yuan obediently returned the long spear to its place.

“Lord Wan, what do you think?” Xu Bo placed the long stick aside and walked over.

“Instructor Xing? What do you all think?” Lord Wan smiled, still not giving a direct answer.

The martial artists from the Martial Hall looked at one another.

“If he can awaken his Martial Spirit, he’ll qualify for a Grade C contract; but without awakening the Martial Spirit, it falls short, though still enough for a Grade D contract,” Instructor Xing hesitated before saying.

In reality, in Instructor Xing’s opinion, Li Yuan was slightly lacking even for a Grade D contract.

High in Martial Arts Skills?

Without the awakened Martial Spirit, that’s a significant flaw.

“A Grade D contract?”

Lord Wan nodded slightly and turned to say, “Tie Ta, Principal Tan, could I have a word alone with Li Yuan, if you don’t mind?”

A private talk?

Principal Tan and Xu Bo exchanged a glance, both seemingly contemplative.

“Sure,” Principal Tan didn’t refuse, smiling, “If Lord Wan wishes to speak with Li Yuan alone, that’s his good fortune.”

“We’ll head out first,” Principal Tan beckoned the other school leaders to leave the classroom.

“A private talk?” Only Li Yuan, who had just walked over, was still confused.

What’s going on?

“Li Yuan, this is Lord Wan from the Starfire Martial Hall’s Guanshan branch. Have a good talk,” Xu Bo whispered to him.

Starfire Martial Hall Guanshan branch’s Hall Master? Li Yuan was inwardly startled but remained composed on the outside.

In his view, this was an important figure.

Soon,

The school leaders, martial artists from the Martial Hall, and the three students all left the classroom, leaving only Li Yuan and Lord Wan.

The classroom door closed.

“Li Yuan, my name is Wan Qinghe,” Lord Wan said with a smile.

“Lord Wan,” Li Yuan was inwardly nervous, unsure of the other party’s intentions.

“I would like to invite you to join the Starfire Martial Hall and sign a contract in advance,” Lord Wan said with a smile as he looked at Li Yuan, “A Grade B contract, an upgraded passive model.”

“The moment you awaken your Martial Spirit, it will immediately upgrade to a Grade A contract.”

“What do you think?”