After finishing the first day of exams, Zhou Leng returned home early and once again went with Huang to cultivate under the Frost Giant Tree.
Early the next morning, Zhou Leng returned to Xiaoru Village, and his phone popped up some information.
Several missed calls, he opened them to see the note, "Jiang Yan, Deputy Leader."
Jiang Yan was Zhou Leng's direct superior at the Pioneer Company, overseeing dozens of employees cutting Magical Beasts.
Zhou Leng opened the Martial Faith chat app and saw the text from Jiang Yan.
"Zhou Leng, a large shipment is coming tonight, you must come!"
"Why didn't you answer the phone?"
Zhou Leng replied, "I was cultivating yesterday, phone was off."
Then, Zhou Leng opened the message from his friend Hu Yi, Hu Yi sent a voice message.
"Haha, this is hilarious. That fool Jiang Yan asked me to come to work tonight, is his brain kicked by a donkey? I told him it's the college entrance exam, he said even if the sky falls, I must go. I cursed him and hung up, probably going to give me a hard time again."
Zhou Leng replied with a voice message: "Don't mind him, the martial exam is important. After the martial exam, we'll go to the company together."
Just after speaking, Jiang Yan sent a text.
"Zhou Leng, when the company needs you, you guys don't come. How can the company cultivate you?"
Zhou Leng replied: "Group Leader Jiang, I've requested leave in advance for the college entrance exam these days."
"I know, I can understand. But yesterday I really needed manpower, can't you think of the company?"
"I'm taking the exam." Zhou Leng said.
"You and Hu Yi coming to the company to cut Magical Beasts wouldn't affect you much, maybe even training might improve your scores. There are some things I won't say much, if you still want to work well in the company, you need to follow company rules."
"Oh." Zhou Leng replied with a single word.
Ran back home.
Today is Saturday, Li Linhan is resting.
When heading to the test site, Li Linhan also got in the car, Zhou Leng sat between Li Linhan and Zhang Meiqin in the back seat.
Zhou Leng exchanged a glance with Zhang Xinglie and started chatting together.
After getting out of the car, Zhang Xinglie whispered, "After the exam today, let's meet outside the fourth passage, we'll go to the Martial Arts Mall, then get back on the car."
Zhou Leng nodded.
Entering the fourth test hall again, everything was completely different from yesterday.
Inside the fourth test hall, a curtain cut across the venue.
The curtain occasionally lifted, revealing rows of "Demonized Marbles Tables." At the end of the Demonized Marbles Tables, there was another curtain.
Zhou Leng used the Demonized Marbles Table at school, students in the advanced class could practice daily, some classmates had them at home too.
Over fifty thousand each.
The first call, Zhou Leng was among those called, entering with twenty fellow students.
Zhou Leng sat down.
The marbles table was shielded on three sides, facing a white display screen, which was also a force area.
On the display screen, black, red, and blue squares gradually emerged and then dissipated, then slowly emerged again.
Each square was the size of a thumbnail.
In front of Zhou Leng was a large basket of frosted black, red, and blue marbles, about the size of soybeans.
"Everyone has ten minutes to get familiar, please cherish this time."
Zhou Leng reached out to touch the marbles, far easier to grasp than smooth beans.
Zhou Leng selected a red and black marble with his hands and threw them at the display screen two meters ahead.
Pop…
The two marbles hit the display screen simultaneously, seeming to make only one sound.
The red marble accurately hit the red square, the black marble fell on the edge of the black square.
No score appeared on the screen.
The force wasn't enough, and the Demonization Power didn't detect any traces of True Qi.
Yet Zhou Leng still didn't use True Qi, he casually shot various marbles, accuracy getting higher.
Three minutes later, True Qi reached Zhou Leng's ten fingers, both hands picking up two marbles and flicked them lightly, both marbles flew simultaneously.
Pop!
The marbles hit the correspondingly colored squares directly, dropped onto the table, and slid back into the basket.
+1, +1…
At this time, other marbles tables emitted a dense popping sound.
Zhou Leng still casually, slowly sensing or observing True Qi, marbles, the display screen, his own force, and various details, slowly memorizing.
At this time, the screen often had dozens of squares emerging simultaneously, disappearing, then emerging again.
Seven minutes later, Zhou Leng suddenly focused, his hands transforming into afterimages, continuously taking marbles out and shooting them at the display screen.
Zhou Leng no longer lowered his head to look at the basket, his eyes only fixed on the display screen ahead.
When his hand raised, he glanced at the marble's color and shot it at the corresponding colored square.
Doing this not only saved time lowering his head but also saved initial judgment time of picking the color of the marble.
This method had extremely high demands on reaction and True Qi.
At first, Zhou Leng occasionally made mistakes, but from the ninth minute onwards, he hit every corresponding color.
In front of the monitoring screen, Wang Boxiong and Vice Director Lu and others closely watched the various angles of Zhou Leng's scene.
"This kid has some skills, eh?"
"His Inner Power Teacher probably told the truth, enduring hardships, refining will, stepping further. Such things are very common."
A little while later, the marbles test officially began for 5 minutes.
At the instant the countdown "1" disappeared on the screen, Zhou Leng's hands swiftly lowered, shooting two small balls rapidly, and then the screen ahead sounded like a drizzle hitting windows.
Papapapapa…
On the upper left corner of the screen, "+1" kept appearing in succession, even because it's too fast, dozens of "+1" appeared simultaneously.
Zhou Leng's eyes fixed on the screen, his peripheral vision observing the marbles in his hands, both hands forming afterimages, continuously shooting.
A minute later, Zhou Leng's speed accelerated once again.
Picking up marbles was like picking flowers, and the marbles seemed to fly like thunder on his fingertips.
When the 5 minutes were up, everyone in the surveillance room breathed a sigh of relief.
"Converted to a percentage scale, the score this time should be a perfect 100."
"Let's watch the second test of True Qi Manipulation."
The crowd waited silently.
After a long while, the second test of True Qi Manipulation began.
The examiner said, "In this round, the 'Bubble Shooting' test mainly examines the skill, lightness, and accuracy of True Qi. Everyone has ten large bubble practice attempts, please enter according to your test number."
The second curtain was unveiled, revealing a row of ten standard basketball hoops.
Soon it was Zhou Leng's turn.
Zhou Leng and nine others stepped forward, standing in front of the free-throw line of the basketball hoops.
In front of the free-throw line, there was a demonized bubble machine, like a small plastic turret, more than half a person tall.
At the examiner's command, a large bubble the size of a basketball was sprayed out of the bubble machine, floating lightly toward each person.
"Pop..."
"Ah..."
A candidate reached out to touch the large bubble, and at the moment of contact, it burst.
The candidates behind him felt a chill run through their hearts, as the bubble shooting was one of the most difficult tests in the martial exam.
Zhou Leng watched the large bubble float over, channeling True Qi to his palm.
He reached his palm under the large bubble, using techniques like force diffusion, gently touching the bubble, then lifting it upwards, causing the bubble to float steadily upward.
It was like holding a fog.
As it floated over his head, Zhou Leng extended his hand, like hitting a volleyball, but at an extremely slow speed, letting his right hand filled with True Qi lightly pat it.
His hand was like cotton, and the Qi like a breeze.
The intact large bubble slowly flew towards the hoop.
The top of the bubble brushed past the bottom of the hoop, not making it inside.
Despite this, the candidates behind all looked at Zhou Leng's back in unison.
Because of the other nine bubbles, the best one also burst a meter away from the hoop.
Zhou Leng continued to attempt, beginning with the fifth bubble, he succeeded in scoring, although it burst after touching the hoop.
With the tenth bubble, it astonishingly and precisely fell through the hoop completely intact.
Like a full moon sinking into a well.
In the surveillance room, many high-tier martial artists nodded in approval.
"This kid..."
The formal exam began.
Zhou Leng precisely and completely shot one large bubble after another into the hoop, letting them fall through the hoop without damage.
Only on the eighth shot did it slightly deviate during the descent, breaking as it passed through the hoop.
The ninth and tenth bubbles both went perfectly through the hoop and descended completely.
In the surveillance room, the examiners nodded in approval.
"His overall score for True Qi control should be 99 points. No one in Rucheng's history has ever scored a perfect 100, but only less than twenty scored 99."
"After failing the eighth, he managed to perfectly make the next two. This willpower and mentality deserve commendation."
"To be safe, a secondary inspection will still be done, as it's already reported and approved from above. What do you think, Captain Wang?" Vice Director Lu looked at Wang Boxiong.
Wang Boxiong also looked at Vice Director Lu, not speaking for a long time.
Vice Director Lu maintained a gentle smile.
Wang Boxiong slowly said, "Vice Director Lu, you are the chief examiner. I'm only responsible for the safety of the exam venue. Personally, I don't think a retest is necessary, but if the chief examiner insists, I will follow protocol and not oppose."
"Alright, then let's proceed with the retest." Vice Director Lu said with a cheerful smile.
Zhou Leng let out a long sigh of relief, shouldered his backpack, and exited the back door of exam hall number four.
The college entrance examination thoroughly concluded...
A dozen or so examiners stood ahead, resembling a high wall.
Vice Director Lu displayed a kind smile, presenting his credentials before Zhou Leng.
"Hello, Zhou Leng. I am Lu Qiming, Vice Director of Rucheng's Education Bureau, also the chief examiner of Rucheng University's exam hall. We noticed an unusual rise in your ranking. With higher authority's approval, we will conduct a secondary verification on you. We hope for your cooperation."
Zhou Leng struggled to calm his suddenly accelerated heartbeat, quietly staring at Lu Qiming.
Lu Qiming put away his credentials, still smiling.
"Zhou Leng, don't worry, relax. We also don't think there's any issue, but your score improved too much, so we're doing a routine check. Rest assured, we won't wrong you. Personally, I think your score is well-deserved, but we can't violate national law, right?"
Lu Qiming's voice was gentle, his tone soft.
The other examiners remained silent.
Zhou Leng nodded, saying, "Doesn't this require the assurance of the highest officer at the Martial Guard Department here to ensure legality?"
Lu Qiming smiled and said, "Alright, I will contact them right away."
Lu Qiming took out his phone and contacted Wang Boxiong in front of everyone.
"Captain Wang Boxiong said he can participate in the monitoring process."
"Thank you." Zhou Leng said.
Soon, Wang Boxiong walked over, looking closely at Zhou Leng, and slowly said, "I am the highest-ranking Martial Guard officer at this exam hall, willing to assist in ensuring that the inspection process is legal, compliant, and reasonable."
"Thank you, senior." Zhou Leng bowed slightly in respect.
Wang Boxiong nodded.
Zhou Leng followed the examiners into the backup exam room, and under more camera surveillance, started a complete re-assessment of the martial exam from measuring the total amount of True Qi...
Outside channel four.
Zhang Xinglie looked puzzled at channel four, turning to the security guard at the entrance.