Chương 15: War God — Chapter 15 - Wang Xian, Full Marks!

Three minutes later. Head teacher Cui Sanyan checked the time.

"I won't go over the rules. Primordial Unity Stance, begin."

"Old standard: 20 minutes to pass, 30 minutes for excellent, 40 minutes maximum." Faces changed across the room. Some happy. Some not.

"Teacher, wasn't the old standard 20 minutes for full marks?" Li Zihang raised his hand.

"That was before." Cui Sanyan frowned.

"In just over a month you'll be taking the martial class assessment. This is the standard. Anyone who wants to join the martial class, this is mandatory." Martial class. Also called the martial accelerated class. A special class established by martial high schools, reserved for top students. After joining, you could skip most academic courses and focus exclusively on the martial path.

The school would allocate extra resources, providing additional subsidies to help martial students rapidly boost their life force and martial skills. Every major martial high school in Rong City had one. Generally speaking, joining the martial class meant guaranteed admission to a top-tier martial university. Even direct recommendations. The slots were limited. Martial High No. 7 had nearly 20 senior-year classes. Only 50 students would be selected. Each class had roughly two slots.

In all of Rong City's martial high schools, there wasn't a single student who didn't want in.

"Enough talk. Take the stance!" Everyone looked at each other. They moved to their positions.

"Remember: stand properly, stand steady, stand correctly." Cui Sanyan's face was expressionless.

"Shoulders sunk, elbows dropped. Crown lifted as if suspended. Body like boulder, immovable as mountain. Every single minute, your posture cannot waver. The moment it does, your balance breaks, force fails to reach the ground, and any further standing is wasted effort. None of it counts as valid time." He scanned them one by one. In just 2 or 3 minutes, someone's legs were already trembling. CLATTER! The weights on her head, shoulders, and thighs hit the ground.

"3 minutes 52 seconds..." Cui Sanyan frowned at the female student.

"Yuan Xin, your teacher knows you're going the academic route, not martial. But the academic exam still requires 0. 5 life force for basic physical fitness. Your innate life force is 0. 2. These two years you've barely raised it to 0. 38. If you want to take the academic exam, you need more stance training to improve your foundation."

"Teacher, I'll work harder..." The girl walked to the side, drenched in sweat and pale. She suddenly glanced toward someone in the crowd and muttered, "Strange. Before, the one who always gave out first was Wang Xian..." As if hearing her voice, Cui Sanyan paused. His gaze landed on Wang Xian.

"Eh!" He let out a surprised sound inwardly. This kid... Wang Xian stood calmly, his entire body like a statue. Not moving a fraction. His joints positioned as if measured with a ruler. Even his gaze seemed frozen. As though he'd merged with the entire world. Unshakable.

"Such perfect Primordial Unity Stance technique..." Cui Sanyan was greatly astonished. Textbook standard. Just... How long could he hold it? Time passed bit by bit. Students gradually collapsed. The 10-minute mark was a hurdle. Half fell. In the crowd, Chen Yuting couldn't help but glance at Wang Xian out of the corner of her eye. Impossible. He still hasn't fallen?

"Chen Yuting! Don't lose focus!" After just one second, Cui Sanyan reprimanded her. Extreme focus and concentration meant you couldn't lose attention for even a second during stance training. Only the students who'd already collapsed could rest while watching the remaining classmates with envy. But with the teacher present, they didn't dare discuss it. 20 minutes later. Half of those remaining collapsed. Only about a dozen were still standing. After 30 minutes, every single minute was a test of will.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Head, shoulders, arms, legs. The weights, adding up to over a hundred jin, felt like a mountain. By 35 minutes, only five were still standing. Chen Yuting, Zhou Xukun, Li Zihang, martial committee member Long Biao, and the last one: Wang Xian. 36 minutes. Zhou Xukun collapsed. 37 minutes. Long Biao collapsed. 38 minutes. Li Zihang collapsed. Now, only two remained. Almost every gaze in the class was on these two.

To be precise, on Wang Xian. Zhou Xukun, lying on the ground, was so exhausted he barely had the strength to think:"No way, bro. When the hell did your stance training get this strong?" You're making me feel like I don't even know you! Li Zihang's expression was even worse. Fortunately, he was already pale from exhaustion, so it was impossible to tell. He stared fixedly at Wang Xian. Feeling like he was dreaming. Even with Cui Sanyan present, the students had already begun whispering among themselves.

"When did Wang Xian get this good?"

"His innate life force is 0. 1. I heard in two years he hasn't even raised it to 0. 2. He slacked off every day... before, he could barely last 2 or 3 minutes..."

"It's almost 40 minutes now, right?"

"He can get full marks on stance training?"

"Could this guy be possessed or something?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Chen Yuting said his family runs a martial hall... maybe he got guidance from a professional martial artist..."... Cui Sanyan no longer had time to care about the whispers. His gaze was locked onto Wang Xian. Two people remained on the field. They appeared evenly matched. But those students couldn't tell the difference. He could see it clearly. Chen Yuting was at the end of her strength. As for Wang Xian... even now, he was still completely at ease.

"40 minutes. Time!" Cui Sanyan pressed the timer. The next second, Chen Yuting collapsed onto the ground. The weights on her body hit the floor with a series of clinks and clatters. Without much strength left, she simply turned over and stared at Wang Xian. Her eyes full of shock. Wang Xian casually withdrew from the stance, lightly flicking the weights off his body. He reached out both hands and caught them with ease. Set them aside in a slow, unhurried manner.

"Chen Yuting, full marks."

"Wang Xian..." Cui Sanyan paused.

"Full marks." The students erupted. Now they could see the difference. This guy looked like he could keep going? Wang Xian merely glanced at Chen Yuting and said nothing. Chen Yuting could stand for 40 minutes because 40 minutes was her limit. He could stand for 40 minutes only because... the maximum score was 40 minutes.

"Everyone, rest for 10 minutes. Rehydrate."

"Next is the technique assessment!" Cui Sanyan's voice boomed like thunder. After speaking, he swept a glance over everyone and temporarily left the martial arts field. As if waking from a dream, everyone began discussing animatedly. At that moment, Chen Yuting stood up and looked at Wang Xian. The shock in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by disappointment:"Wang Xian, do you think this is funny?"

"?" Wang Xian picked up a towel. What's she going on about now?

"You barely even broke a sweat." Chen Yuting said coldly.

"It couldn't be more obvious it's fake!"

"Did you take some kind of pill beforehand?" As soon as she said this, the students erupted. Li Zihang froze for a long moment, then burst out laughing:"So you took a pill. With 0. 1 life force, you can hold out this long? You definitely took a temporary life-force boosting drug! Otherwise, your physical fitness couldn't possibly support standing in Primordial Unity Stance for so long!" The others suddenly understood.

"I knew something was off. A month ago, his stance results were worse than Yuan Xin's. How could he improve this much in a month..."

"That's going too far..."

"Aren't those drugs expensive?" In the crowd, Zhou Xukun frowned slightly.

"Don't talk nonsense. It's just a test. Who would take that kind of drug?"

"Nonsense? You don't even believe that yourself, do you?" Li Zihang sneered.

"Spending big just to show off, who says no one would? Too bad, though. What's the point? In an official exam, who's going to let you take that kind of drug?"

"The side effects afterward..."

"Shut up!" Chen Yuting glared at Li Zihang. Li Zihang stopped abruptly.

"..." Wang Xian.

"I think..." Wang Xian smiled.

"You'd be better off presenting some evidence. That would be more convincing." Having said that, he couldn't be bothered with these people. The assessment, or whatever. He hadn't even wanted to participate in the first place. The reason he came to school at all was basically just to check on Ye Miyue's situation. As for studying? Forget high school. Even in university, no one could teach him anything. He still had to take the university entrance exam, of course.

Because there was a certain top-tier martial academy that had some materials and treasures he needed. In his previous life, he missed them. In this life, he wouldn't.

"I don't need any evidence!" Unexpectedly, Chen Yuting sighed.

"Wang Xian, next is the technique assessment. Even if you take drugs, that won't help you there. The moment the teacher tests your skills, you'll be exposed instantly."

"You should come with me now and explain the situation to Teacher Cui. He might still forgive you."

"Didn't you see him leave?"

"He's giving you a chance! Otherwise, if you're exposed in front of the whole class later, you might even get a disciplinary mark!"

"By then, there'll be no room to back out." Temporary life-force boosting drugs were typically banned by schools. Because these drugs caused irreversible side effects to students' bodies.

"Little... Classmate Chen, why are you trying to persuade him?" Seeing Chen Yuting still siding with Wang Xian, Li Zihang's expression turned ugly.

"Shut up. We're all classmates!" Chen Yuting snapped.

"As class president, shouldn't you be concerned about your classmates?"

"..." Li Zihang. Chen Yuting's force of personality was too strong. Li Zihang, caught between liking her and struggling against it, could only say:"Classmate Chen is right..."

"Stop!" Wang Xian waved a hand.

"I need to rest. Think whatever you want." With that, he went to get water.

"See? Totally useless." Li Zihang shrugged. But Chen Yuting ignored him and followed behind Wang Xian.

"..." On the other side, Class Nine.

"For a small quiz, is there any need to take drugs?"

"I know about life-force boosting drugs, but to boost it this much... that would have to be some heavy stuff, right?"

"That guy called Wang Xian is actually pretty handsome. How come I never noticed before..."

"Pfft, you lovestruck fool... that guy is the famously poor student from Class Four."

"What a pity..." Ye Miyue sat off to the side. She'd been quietly watching Wang Xian do his stance training when she suddenly heard the discussions in her class. She immediately stood up and looked at the few gossiping girls. Her face expressionless:"Could you please not spread baseless rumors?" The few girls from her class froze. The temperature around them seemed to drop rapidly. They all smiled awkwardly and fell silent. The discussion gradually died away. Only then did Ye Miyue leave alone.

Her tone wasn't forceful, but it carried an innate coldness. Combined with the many halos around her, almost no one dared confront her directly.

"Wait!" Chen Yuting called out to Wang Xian, who was guzzling water by the dispenser.

"Seriously, what do you want?"

"If you really can't bring yourself to do it..." Chen Yuting said flatly.

"I'll help you ask the teacher for leave later. Don't participate in the technique assessment."

"..."

"Ha, thanks, but not necessary for now." Wang Xian checked the time.

"Time's almost up. Classmate Chen, you should go wipe off your sweat. Or change your clothes." Wang Xian pointed at Chen Yuting's training uniform. Chen Yuting paused, then looked down. Because she'd sweated so much, the training uniform was clinging tightly to her body, outlining the contours of her underwear. Especially the strap on her back. Her cheeks flushed slightly. She raised her head again, but Wang Xian was already gone.

"You... honestly!"

"You've disappointed me so much!" 10 minutes passed in a flash. Before long, Cui Sanyan, holding a long staff, re-entered the martial arts field. Looking at the students who'd already straightened up, Cui Sanyan nodded slightly. As if he had no intention of saying much more.

"Martial techniques are different from stance training. This is one of the cores of the martial exam." Cui Sanyan spoke slowly.

"After selecting your weapons, get on the platform in the order you collapsed earlier." At this, he paused. As if hinting at something, his gaze sweeping over everyone:"The technique assessment is a key subject that tests your comprehensive martial quality."

"Don't harbor any wishful thinking!"

"Especially certain people!" ➤ Next: A Fierce Tiger in the Heart, Raising the Saber Forward