The martial arts training room was off-limits to students on weekends. But today, due to a special martial arts assessment, Ethan Chen successfully unlocked the mechanically heavy door using his smart wristband.
The room covered about a thousand square meters and was equipped with various testing instruments that could quantify your strength, speed, explosive power, and other metrics.
At that moment, five people were already inside, seemingly having just arrived. Two of them had put on protective gear preparing for combat, while the other three were testing their data on different machines.
This was a high martial arts world where technology and physical bodies continuously evolved. It was difficult to survive solely on physical strength in this era — technology was indispensable.
The martial arts assessment would start at 1 PM. As one of the top students in his class, Ethan wouldn't waste a single minute. He walked quietly to the side and began basic training.
Two hours passed unknowingly, and the time reached noon.
At Xiao Xiong's reminder, Ethan ended his training and squeezed a pack of energy milk into his mouth. The energy milk contained a small amount of Qi and blood; besides filling the stomach, it provided rich nutrition.
Two packs of energy milk a day was Ethan's standard. Although each pack was small, it wasn't cheap — 100 yuan per pack, costing him 6,000 yuan per month.
Ethan's parents earned a combined monthly income of 13,000 yuan. After deducting 6,000 yuan for the energy milk, they had 7,000 left.
The family also had a younger brother in ninth grade and a monthly mortgage of 3,000 yuan, leaving almost no savings.
Fortunately, both brothers were doing well — Ethan had been admitted to a key high school, and his brother to a key junior high.
Suddenly, a somewhat dramatic laugh echoed overhead.
A nearly two-meter tall man stood before Ethan. His two striking blue eyes stood out on his face, and his developed chest muscles stretched the vest he wore. A full beard covered his sturdy face.
Ethan, sitting on the ground resting, didn't even look up.
"How was the cultural exam, Toby?" Ethan asked.
Toby Ray was Ethan's classmate, and his signature laugh, "hehehe," was the trademark of the strongest.
Due to his ancestors being from a distant "Ugly Country," Toby had blue eyes — though those were just Old Era national divisions; now everyone was simply a Blue Star citizen.
Toby scratched the back of his head and sighed, "Don't mention it. Just thinking about it is unlucky."
"This mock exam followed the college entrance test rules. I got 380 in cultural scores, which converts to 114."
High schools divided classes in the second semester of sophomore year into martial arts classes and cultural classes.
Martial arts classes could apply to any university, while cultural classes could only apply to cultural universities.
Both required cultural exams and martial arts assessments, each worth 750 points, but the weight distribution differed.
Martial arts students had 70% of their score from martial arts and 30% from cultural exams; for cultural students, the opposite was true.
Ethan nodded. "I didn't do well either, just 30 points more than you."
"410? That's pretty good — almost top ten in our class," Toby said casually, then smiled as if recalling something.
"Ethan, you've slipped!""I remember you scored 430 in the last final exam, ranking tenth exactly."
Ethan looked at Toby quietly and smiled slightly, exuding a subtle pressure.
Toby quickly realized something and exclaimed, "Wait... you didn't score 30 points more than me after conversion, did you? 144?"
"Correct," Ethan raised an eyebrow, giving Toby a hopeless look.
"Damn, man! That means you scored 480 raw, 100 points higher than me!"
Toby showed disbelief.
"You've been climbing since sophomore year, but this jump is huge."
"You're not just doing endless drills at home, right? Remember the score weights!"
Martial arts students mostly had fixed cultural scores by senior year.
Increasing 50 points was an exaggeration.
Most of their time was spent training, with much less time reading.
That was why Toby suspected Ethan was drilling non-stop at home.
A 480 was indeed a high score for a martial arts class student, but would be bottom-tier in cultural classes, so Ethan didn't think much of it.
Especially in advanced math and spatial physics — many problems he couldn't understand even with solutions, losing many points and relying solely on rote memorization for the 480 score.
Afterward, the two chatted casually while recovering.
At 12:40, they headed to another martial arts room.
Liang City No.1 High School had two martial arts rooms.
The one Ethan just trained in was the large martial arts room, about twice the size of the other.
The smaller room was reserved exclusively for martial arts assessments, equipped with more precise and advanced instruments.
Except for assessments, only teachers were allowed inside — it was called the small martial arts room.
Students only trained in the large room, so they often omitted the prefix when talking about either.
Hundreds of students gathered orderly in front of the small martial arts room, standing by class number.
At exactly 1 PM, the doors of the small martial arts room parted left and right.
A bald man wearing loose black martial arts clothes stepped out.
His sharp eagle-like eyes swept across the students, making many hairs stand on end.
Ryan Ling.
Most students recognized him — Ethan included.
He was the head teacher of Senior 3 Class 1 and the chief examiner of today's martial arts assessment.
As the martial arts teacher of the elite Hongzhi Class at a key high school, Ryan Ling's teaching skills and personal strength were impressive.
Besides being a teacher, Ryan was a member of the "Martial Artists' Alliance — City Defense Corps."
To join the City Defense Corps, one needed a minimum Life Intensity level of 15.
"Do you know why the Hongzhi Class is admitting one more student this time?" Ryan Ling's no-nonsense opening made many students tense.
Everyone was surprised.
The Hongzhi Class usually admitted only 30 students — why expand suddenly?
They didn't know the reason.
The school had only announced a week ago that the Hongzhi Class would accept one more student, which led to today's exam.
"Sean Xia of the Hongzhi Class died, killed by the Hunter Civilization," Ryan said solemnly, seeing no one responded.
Sean Xia! Not everyone had met him, but his name always ranked in the top ten.
He was a blond-haired handsome young man expected to enter one of the top eight universities.
And such an elite student had quietly died? Killed by the Hunter Civilization!
Modern society no longer had Old Era national borders but was divided by civilizations.
The Hunter Civilization came from Venus. Unlike humans with flesh and blood, they were rock-based lifeforms.
Their pain sensitivity was only one-tenth of humans', skilled in stealth and ambush.
The Gao Wu Civilization was the name humans and other alien civilizations used to refer to humans.
"Although I haven't taught you, I want to speak as someone experienced."
Ryan Ling suddenly raised his voice.
"A martial artist is a high-risk, high-reward profession!"
"The average death rate among martial artists is about 30%, the highest among all professions!"
"This is also why martial arts students can apply to any university."
"You have until the last month to fill in your intended schools — you can still give up then!"
"But at the same time, our Gao Wu Civilization needs martial artists!"
Pausing, he continued:
"I'm a rational person — I won't discourage you or flatter you."
"If you're not cut out for this, I suggest you choose cultural universities when filling in your choices in the last month!"
"Don't throw away your life trying to prove yourself. Staying alive and reproducing is also a contribution!"
Ethan agreed with most of Ryan's words.
But he didn't believe that not becoming a martial artist meant safety.
They said martial artists had a high death rate, but were non-martial artists truly safe?
Sean Xia was a warning.
The war between civilizations had lasted hundreds of years — there was no absolute safety.
Over a hundred cities in the Seventh Ecological Sphere had fallen, with casualties over a hundred million.
Ethan was relatively pessimistic and often thought ahead.
If disasters struck Liang City, who could protect himself and his family?
His younger brother would enter senior high next year, and necessary expenses were unavoidable.
Ethan wouldn't become a martial artist immediately after college; expenses were inevitable.
His parents couldn't afford to raise two children simultaneously.
Therefore, he had to become a martial artist — only martial artists could both earn money and protect family.
This was his core motivation for pushing himself so hard.
"Alright, I won't say more. I trust you'll make the right choice."
"Now, the martial arts assessment begins!"
"Starting from Class 2, ten people per group, first strength test. When your name is called, enter."
"Chen Bo, Zhao Xie, Yang Wei..."