Chapter 63: Midterm Assessment (Please Follow)

Zhang Cheng pressed the red switch on the machine.

“Ding.”

The entire blood energy detector instantly lit up and activated; the electronic screen flashed on, and the cylinder automatically opened, revealing its interior.

Zhang Cheng motioned Xu Chenhui inside.

“Everyone, after entering the detector, grip the metal arms tightly, tense your muscles, and unleash your full blood energy.”

“Each of you has only one chance.”

“Begin!” Zhang Cheng announced, holding up his tablet.

Under the gaze of everyone, Xu Chenhui nervously gripped the metal arms, clenched his teeth, and suddenly exerted force—his blood surged faster, his blood energy roaring.

“Boom!”

The machine emitted a sound as streaks of red light shot out, scanning Xu Chenhui’s body.

A string of data instantly appeared on the electronic screen.

[Candidate Xu Chenhui, Blood Energy: 7.15]

A crisp female voice sounded from the machine.

“So convenient—just a few seconds to know your exact blood energy value,” the others marveled.

While the others were still marveling at the blood energy detector, Xu Chenhui felt miserable—7.1 was far too low; he feared being kicked out of the elite class.

“Next, Yang Lei!” Zhang Cheng made no comment, simply motioning for the next person to step forward.

Yang Lei stepped up with a frown, no longer the confident boy he had been in Class 3.

[Candidate Yang Lei, Blood Energy: 7.14]

“Yang Lei, go back wherever you came from,” Zhang Cheng shook his head.

Yang Lei’s face turned instantly pale.

“Next!”

Others entered the device one after another to test their blood energy.

[Candidate Chen Zichuan, Blood Energy: 8.18]

Zhang Cheng nodded upon seeing it.

“Chen Zichuan is improving fast—his blood energy has already surpassed mine.”

“He’s not aiming for the top 30, is he?” someone exclaimed.

Lin Qi nodded at Chen Zichuan; he’d heard the boy had only signed a D-class contract with Chiqiong Martial Arts Gym.

But now he wasn’t short on funds—now that he had resources, his talent was slowly emerging.

“Next, Lin Qi!”

As soon as Zhang Cheng spoke, the class fell silent—all eyes turned to Lin Qi.

Including Li Zhou, Qi Yuelin, Zhu Yuqi—all top ten in the grade.

“Lin Qi’s combat power is already top-ten level—what’s his blood energy?” someone wondered.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Lin Qi walked forward slowly; his frame had grown taller, and his classmates felt an invisible aura—awe-inspiring, intimidating.

Qiu Jie stared at Lin Qi, sensing the terrifying aura radiating from him.

Once, in his eyes, Lin Qi had been an invisible nobody, utterly ordinary.

But now, he carried the bearing of a true expert, standing out like a crane among chickens.

Inside the blood energy detector, Lin Qi gripped the metal arms.

“Huuu~”

He took a deep breath, relaxed his body, then exploded with force—muscles detonated, blood energy surged violently.

Veins bulged; a ferocious aura erupted from him, like the King of Beasts—the tiger—opening its eyes to hunt.

The overwhelming aura forced the front-row students to instinctively step back.

Zhang Cheng was secretly startled—such a powerful aura.

Red light swept from head to toe; the electronic screen instantly displayed a string of data.

[Candidate Lin Qi, Blood Energy: 9.21]

“Blood energy 9.21—he broke 9.0!!”

“Excellent!” Zhang Cheng spoke up in praise.

“If I remember right, Lin Qi’s blood energy during the monthly exam was only 8.2—did he improve 1.0 in a month?”

“No wonder he signed a B-class contract—he’s incredible!” someone gasped.

The class erupted in shock at Lin Qi’s blood energy reading.

Li Zhou grinned: “Of course it’s Lin Qi—his blood energy is rising fast.”

“I’m starting to feel pressure—he might catch up to me by the final exam.”

Qi Yuelin nodded, her beautiful eyes gleaming as she watched Lin Qi.

Yu Jing sneered: “9.2 blood energy? By the final exam, I might already have broken through a realm.”

“That’s a different realm—he can’t catch up.”

Li Zhou shook his head and laughed to the others:

“Yu Jing’s jealous!”

The others nodded.

Yu Jing’s secret thought exposed, he flushed with anger: “Jealous of him? Ridiculous!”

Li Zhou laughed again: “You’re flustered!”

Yu Jing turned red-faced and looked away, silent.

…

As Lin Qi stepped down, Jiang Tao gave him a thumbs-up and shook his head: “Bro, you’re almost catching up to me.”

“Then you better work harder—let me catch you a little later,” Lin Qi joked. Soon after,

[Candidate Jiang Tao, Blood Energy: 9.64]

“No surprise—it’s Jiang Tao—he’s aiming for the top five in the grade.”

Jiang Tao smirked, swaying as he returned:

“Once blood energy breaks 9.0, it gets harder to improve—I’m only at 9.6 now.”

Lin Qi said nothing, listening to Jiang Tao’s humblebrag—Jiang Tao’s talent had fully ignited; 9.6 blood energy placed him among the absolute top in the entire second high school.

Testing continued; as Qi Yuelin stepped forward, the astonishment never ceased.

[Candidate Qi Yuelin, Blood Energy: 9.78]

…

[Candidate Yu Jing, Blood Energy: 9.81]

…

!

[Candidate Li Zhou, Blood Energy: 9.99]

Li Zhou looked at his reading and shook his head: “Pity—just a hair short.”

But as soon as his blood energy appeared, the class erupted again.

“Whoa~”

“Dang, Li Zhou almost broke into the first realm!”

“So he’ll be a second-realm Muscle Strengthening cultivator in a few days?”

“We’re in the same class—I’m at 7.4 blood energy, while he’s about to break into the first realm—the gap is too huge,” someone sighed in awe.

Lin Qi was secretly startled—among elite class students, some wouldn’t even break 10 blood energy by the college entrance exam.

Yet Li Zhou, a genius, was already on the verge of breaking into the second realm in his first semester of senior year.

Lin Qi knew clearly: if he wanted to become the top student in the entire school, Li Zhou was his rival.

Though Li Zhou was formidable, their gap was narrowing steadily.

Zhang Cheng, overseeing the test, was secretly astonished—Li Zhou was too strong to be a student from Second High.

He was about to break into the second realm so fast.

He quickly composed himself and spoke again:

“The first round of blood energy testing is complete. Everyone, follow me to the virtual chamber for the second round—martial arts assessment.”

No sooner had he spoken than the class followed him in a throng toward the virtual chamber.

The blood energy detector was moved to other classes to continue testing.

Inside the virtual chamber,

“Those ranked lowest, enter the virtual pods in order to begin the martial arts assessment.”

“This time, you won’t start from the first opponent—you’ll revive instantly on the spot to face the one who killed you, saving massive time.”

“I now declare the martial arts assessment officially begun,” Zhang Cheng announced.

Eleven students entered the virtual pods to begin their assessments; the rest waited and chatted.

“Bro, I heard someone in the grade say your technique is stronger than mine.”

“Let’s have a match,” Jiang Tao suddenly said, his expression serious.

Lin Qi paused for a second—a match?

As his lifelong best friend, the two had always competed in everything since childhood.

Lin Qi usually won, but by high school, the gap in their natural talent caused their physical strength and skills to diverge further, and from then on, Jiang Tao never mentioned it again.

Now bringing it up again means they’ve returned to the same level.

Or perhaps Jiang Tao has finally felt the pressure.

Lin Qi looked at Jiang Tao and smiled slightly.

“Fine!”

“Come on, Qi-ge, you’re still no match for me now.”

“This time, I’m definitely winning!”

“The loser buys KFC!” Jiang Tao chuckled.

“Next group: Lin Qi, Li Bowen, … Jiang Tao!”

“Eleven of you, enter the virtual pods,” Zhang Cheng called out loudly.

“Let’s go!”

Lin Qi and Jiang Tao exchanged glances, then entered separate virtual pods and logged into Chi Realm.

After a tingling sensation, Lin Qi opened his eyes to find himself in his personal space.

He moved with practiced ease to the official website, found the link for the Cang Province midterm exam, and entered it.

【Candidate: Lin Qi】

【Exam ID: …】

【Scripture: Collapse Mountain Spear Technique】

【Start Exam? Yes/No】

Lin Qi clicked “Yes.” The next second, the space shifted, and he reappeared in an empty room.

A few seconds later, a black long spear appeared in his hand.

Opposite him, an examiner clad in white combat gear, muscular and wielding a long white spear, materialized—the number “8” on his chest glaringly prominent.

【Exam Task: Defeat Examiner #8】

Lin Qi glanced at Examiner #8 and smirked; last time he faced him, even using his killing technique, he was still instantly slain.

But this time, everything was completely different.

【3, 2, 1…】

【Exam Officially Begins!】

…

(End of Chapter)