Chapter 29: Practical Exam

Chapter 29: Practical Exam

Inside the vast Training Ground, the students participating in the exam stood in a line, looking up at the invigilator standing at the front.

The middle-aged, muscular man with a scar on his face and an intimidating aura was none other than Zhang Yu’s Martial Arts teacher, Lei Jun.

If the five major subjects in High School Xian Dao—Dao Heart, Spirit Energy, Physical Education—were about laying the foundation, then Martial Arts and Taoist Arts primarily focused on the practical application of Xian Dao techniques.

Opinions on which was stronger or more useful—Martial Arts or Taoist Arts—varied among cultivators.

Zhang Yu still remembered the provocative statement Lei Jun made during the first Martial Arts class.

"Martial Arts have great practical use in this world, while Taoist Arts are useless."

"Practicing Taoist Arts leads to poverty. The more you practice, the poorer you become, and eventually, all your money goes to the companies, leaving you destitute."

"On the other hand, Martial Arts are cheaper to practice and highly effective. So, only by practicing the inexpensive Martial Arts can one become wealthy and prosperous."

This was Lei Jun’s philosophy of Martial Arts.

As today’s invigilator, Lei Jun did not use any Taoist Arts powers.

His usual arrangement for the Monthly Exam was to have students with similar scores from the previous Monthly Exam draw lots and then engage in one-on-one combat.

Each match consisted of three rounds, with each round lasting three minutes. A round ended if someone was knocked down or pushed out of the ring within three minutes.

After all three rounds, the teacher would score the students based on their performance in the matches.

This format was similar to the Imperial Entrance Exam’s practical Martial Arts test, except that in the Imperial Entrance Exam, students fought against Yellow Turban Enforcers, not each other.

However, since this was only a Monthly Exam, it was impossible to use the same standards as the Imperial Entrance Exam, especially since not hiring Yellow Turban Enforcers saved the school a lot of money.

After Lei Jun finished explaining the rules of the practical Martial Arts exam, the large screen above flickered, and names began to appear, signaling the start of the draw.

Once the draw was complete, the results were sent to each student’s phone, instructing them to proceed to their designated areas for the practical exam.

The entire Training Ground was divided into small squares by white lines, each about ten square meters, serving as individual arenas.

Zhang Yu, following the draw results, walked to Square 12 and saw that He Dayou was already waiting there.

He Dayou nodded politely at Zhang Yu with a smile, and Zhang Yu nodded back.

"Finally, you’re here", He Dayou said, suppressing his inner rage as he slowly walked into the square.

To have a legitimate reason to teach Zhang Yu a lesson, He Dayou had used his privilege as the son of a Board Trustee to manipulate the draw, ensuring that Zhang Yu, who ranked 10th in the previous Monthly Exam, would face him, who ranked 3rd.

According to the draw rules, their scores were close enough to make it plausible, and no one would raise any suspicions.

"However, over the past month, he hasn’t made much progress in any subject except Spirit Energy. His real ranking should be around 20th to 30th."

He Dayou believed he maintained a top-three overall score, and his Freehand Combat had advanced to Level 2 half a month ago. Recently, he had also learned a new Martial Art.

"However, I don’t need to use the new Martial Art. Level 2 Freehand Combat is enough to deal with this poor guy."

"The question is… should I injure his hand or his leg?"

While contemplating, He Dayou and Zhang Yu stood about a meter apart in the center of the square.

He Dayou’s eyes roamed over Zhang Yu, considering how to strike him effectively.

Outside the square, an assistant teacher took out a phone and began recording the match.

After the exam, Lei Jun and the other Martial Arts teachers from First-Year High would watch all the practical combat videos and score them.

"Are you both ready?"

Hearing the assistant teacher’s question, Zhang Yu and He Dayou both nodded.

"First match between Zhang Yu and He Dayou…"

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

At the assistant teacher’s command, He Dayou struck swiftly, his right arm becoming a blur as he aimed a palm strike at Zhang Yu’s neck.

He had already anticipated Zhang Yu’s possible counterattacks, having spent ample time and money hiring people for daily practical training.

He had experienced and trained for every possible reaction to his palm strike and had developed countermeasures.

This was the effect of practical experience.

Level 2 Freehand Combat, combined with extensive practical experience, gave He Dayou absolute confidence in his ability to defeat his opponent.

"So… let’s break his hand."

He Dayou’s Spirit Energy surged into his palm…

Bang!

A loud noise came from He Dayou’s abdomen, followed by a violent spinning of his vision and the hard, cold ground beneath him.

It took several seconds for He Dayou to realize what had happened.

He had been knocked out in one move and lay on the ground.

"I was one-shot?"

He Dayou’s face turned red with shock. "How is this possible?"

Seeing He Dayou’s agitated state, the assistant teacher, to avoid any trouble, played back the recorded battle footage for him and Zhang Yu.

In the video, as He Dayou struck with his palm, Zhang Yu dodged by crouching and then rammed into He Dayou, throwing him out of the ring.

The entire process took less than a second, making it look as if He Dayou had deliberately cooperated with Zhang Yu to be thrown out.

He Dayou felt increasingly resentful as he watched this. He hadn’t used his full strength, and he hadn’t even used his new Martial Art. A single mistake had cost him…

"I underestimated this Zhang Yu. I even allowed my mind to wander during the fight…"

He felt even more frustrated at this realization.

But he knew that, whether it was due to carelessness or a mistake, any further excuses would only make him look worse.

So, he took a deep breath and nodded at Zhang Yu. "You did well. Let’s continue."

The assistant teacher checked if He Dayou was okay and, confirming that he was, asked them to return to the square.

They stood about a meter apart, facing each other again.

Zhang Yu smiled at He Dayou, thinking to himself, "My practical score should be quite high this time."

Level 3 Freehand Combat was even more effective than he had expected.

Although Zhang Yu believed his practical experience was inferior to He Dayou’s, Level 3 Freehand Combat made him extremely familiar with the 15 techniques.

In the previous match, the moment He Dayou made his move, Zhang Yu knew exactly what he was going to do and where the weakness in his technique would be.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, his body moved on its own, rushing forward with Spirit Energy in his arms and throwing He Dayou out of the ring.

"In a Level 1 Freehand Combat internal match, as long as the opponent’s Freehand Combat level is below Level 3, their reaction time will be slower than mine."

"Combined with my current Physical Strength Level, I’m confident I won’t lose to any other first-year student in a Freehand Combat match."

Meanwhile, He Dayou’s expression was now serious, no longer the carefree demeanor from the first match.

He decided to focus fully and bring out his full strength to decisively defeat Zhang Yu.

This time, he wouldn’t give his opponent the slightest chance.

"Second match between Zhang Yu and He Dayou."

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

As soon as the assistant teacher spoke, He Dayou burst into full strength, his right fist charged with surging Spirit Energy, aiming for Zhang Yu’s face.

Bang!

Another loud noise rang out.

Again, He Dayou’s vision spun, and he felt the hard, cold ground beneath him.

He Dayou struggled to his feet, dazed.

Had he been one-shot again?

He watched the recorded video again.

In the video, as he struck with his fist, Zhang Yu had kicked him in the chest, sending him flying out of the ring.

Because both of their movements were so fast, it looked as if He Dayou had deliberately run into Zhang Yu’s extended foot.

The third match began.

This time, He Dayou didn’t strike first with full strength but adopted a defensive stance, cautiously observing Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "After being one-shot twice in a row, he’s starting to be more careful?"

He had been able to one-shot He Dayou in the previous matches by predicting his moves and exploiting the weaknesses in his techniques, using the combined speed to catch him off guard.

But now that He Dayou was being cautious and not launching an all-out attack from the start, Zhang Yu couldn’t replicate the same one-shot victories.

However, Zhang Yu had his own strategy for this situation.

With his improved Spirit Energy and Physical Strength Level, he was confident that his strength was on par with He Dayou, the third-ranked student.

Even in terms of physical strength, He Dayou was not a bulky, strength-focused fighter but had developed evenly.

Since He Dayou was not initiating the attack, Zhang Yu decided to take the initiative.

He gathered his Spirit Energy and struck at He Dayou’s chest with a palm.

"Here he comes!" He Dayou’s eyes flashed, and he blocked the attack with a punch.

Then he saw Zhang Yu strike again with the same palm.

"Using the same move? What’s he up to?"

After blocking Zhang Yu’s three consecutive palm strikes, He Dayou felt his arms go numb, and his Spirit Energy churned.

Zhang Yu’s Spirit Energy and physical strength were more powerful than he had anticipated.

Zhang Yu’s strategy was straightforward: to engage in a direct confrontation.

With Level 3 Freehand Combat, Zhang Yu not only knew the techniques better but could also unleash more powerful physical strength and Spirit Energy with each move, giving him a significant advantage in a direct confrontation.

He Dayou quickly realized this and a smile crept onto his face.

"Want to go head-to-head?"

"Let’s see who’s harder."

He Dayou activated his newly learned Martial Art, Heavensfall Palm. The Spirit Energy in his Energy Core transformed into a cold, powerful palm strike, hurtling toward Zhang Yu.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end