Age of Evolution

After the dull morning cultural classes ended, what followed was the highlight that everyone was paying attention to, the three physical strength tests.

Number Six High School wasn’t considered one of the top high schools in Base City, but many martial arts schools had still sent representatives, after all, geniuses did emerge occasionally from ordinary high schools.

This time there were a total of twelve graduating classes, with nearly seven hundred students taking the graduation exam. As soon as the results of the cultural classes were released, the physical strength testing immediately began.

The physical strength tests were held in the school’s activity room, where there was a punch testing machine that could test both punching strength and speed.

There was also a nerve reaction testing machine. Students were required to stand inside it while being attacked by three-dimensional infrared images for one minute, during which the nerve reaction scores were measured.

The students were lined up at the entrance of the hall, and the judging seats inside the hall were already filled.

In addition to the proctors, many martial arts schools had seats as well. There were nameplates on the tables, with the names of various major martial arts schools neatly written, such as “Gale Martial Arts Hall, Long Wind Martial Arts Academy, Dragon-slaying Academy,” and so on.

Of course, there were also military representatives, and many students wanted to join the military.

Apart from the martial arts schools and the military, the only other option for the students was to go to government departments, but they had to achieve a certain level on the exams. Students who scored below the passing line had no choice but to continue studying at university, and those who graduated from university basically had no chance of becoming a martial artist, only ordinary people.

Attending university in this era was seen as the worst choice, and high school graduation was seen as a major turning point in one’s life.

“Number one, Class 3-9, Sun Wei, please enter.”

Hearing his name called from far away, Lin Zhen, who was at the very end of the line, was annoyed. The ranking was done from back to front, so he was the first to hand in his exam and yet the last one in line. How long did he have to wait?

Sun Wei, the first student, entered with apprehension. He was a slightly shy young man.

“Let the testing begin. First up, punch strength test.”

Sun Wei stood in front of the punch testing machine, which was a huge rubber pad. Students were required to hit it with their full force in just one punch.

“Start, use your maximum strength, left hand first!”

“Hah!”

Sun Wei let out a roar and threw a punch.

The Mercury Pillar beside him shot up, and the electronic screen immediately displayed the number.

“103kg!”

The representatives of the martial arts schools who were watching him shook their heads slightly. This result was too poor, not much better than an ordinary person, and not good enough.

The minimum requirement for a martial arts school to enroll students was a punch strength of 200 kg, which Sun Wei was far from reaching.

His right hand punch scored 112kg, which was also unqualified.

“Next is the punch speed test. Start, hit the target continuously at your fastest speed for one second.”

“Bang, bang, bang, bang!”

“71kg, 68kg, 66kg, 62kg!”

“Four punches per second, testing complete. Now let’s test the nerve reaction.”

Sun Wei walked over to the nerve reaction test area, looking ashen. He was surrounded by countless infrared attacks which completely enclosed him.

The attacking speed simulated that of an automatic rifle firing from a hundred meters away, and the students were required to dodge the attacks.

As the testing began, countless “bullets” flew at Sun Wei from all directions. He couldn’t make any effective dodging reactions and could only roll and crawl without any strategy, hoping to be able to dodge just a few more of the attacks.

However, the bullets seemed to be guided and launched towards his movements, making it almost impossible to dodge them. At the end of the minute, the test results came out.

“One minute, sixty bullets fired, fifty-nine successfully hit, one dodged, made three effective dodging movements, overall result: nerve reaction 0.43/s.”

Sun Wei stepped out of the testing machine knowing he didn’t need to hear more: the door to the university was wide open for him.

Following this, a series of tests conducted had disappointing results.

Out of three hundred students tested, only three qualified. The best among them was from Class 2, with a maximum punch strength of 221kg, a punch speed of 5.7/s, and a nerve reaction of 0.097/s. Although this student still had some distance from the level expected by the top three martial arts schools, he was eventually accepted into a small martial arts school.

With an admission rate of just one percent, the representatives of the martial arts schools present were a little sleepy, and fewer than ten people were accepted by the military representatives.

“It seems that Number Six High School is just that, it’s very difficult for any talents to appear,” the representative from Long Wind Martial Arts Academy said, shaking his pen in his hand, having made no records on the paper in front of him.

The representative of Dragon-slaying Academy laughed and said, “I was prepared when I came here. Today, all the colleges are having their graduation exams, but the martial arts school’s focus is on 123 High School. Those schools are said to be filled with geniuses. If it weren’t for our low positions within the martial arts school, we would have gone there long ago.”

“Isn’t that right? Whoever discovers a talent to join the martial arts school gets a bonus. It seems like I have no hope of getting a bonus today.” The representative from Long Wind Martial Arts Academy was quite upset.

“Don’t worry; half of the students haven’t taken the test yet. Maybe a genius will be born.” The representative of Gale Martial Arts Hall remained calm because he had a target in mind.

As they were discussing, Ouyang Yu walked in.

“Testing begins, punch strength test, left hand.”

Ouyang Yu expressionlessly stood in front of the testing machine and suddenly unleashed a powerful left punch.

“Boom!”

The Mercury Pillar shot up in a straight line, and the electronic screen immediately displayed the result.

“266kg!”

“Wow! This one’s not bad! Could he be left-handed? If that’s his non-dominant hand, this guy has great potential,” the representative of Dragon-slaying Academy said, his eyes lighting up as he finally saw a promising candidate.

“Right hand test, begin.”

“291kg!”

After Ouyang Yu completed his right hand punch, the representative from Long Wind Martial Arts Academy’s eyes also lit up. With a little more training, this kid’s punch strength could exceed 300kg, which indicated significant potential.

“Punch speed test, begin.”

Ouyang Yu took a deep breath and unleashed a flurry of punches with both hands, causing a series of numbers to flash on the screen.

“216kg, 225kg, 222kg, 228kg, 217kg, 229kg!”

“Test finished. Punching 6.2 times per second, all results valid.”

The representatives of Long Wind Martial Arts Academy and Dragon-slaying Academy exchanged glances and sensed an air of competition. Ouyang Yu was not bad; while he wasn’t considered an extraordinary genius, he stood out in Number Six High School, making him worth fighting for.

Only the representative of Gale Martial Arts Hall remained unmoved. As the number one martial arts school in Hua Xia, Gale had higher standards for enrolling students. Ouyang Yu’s performance was not yet enough to impress him – following their principle of “better to miss than to make mistakes.”

Unless Ouyang Yu’s nerve reaction was particularly outstanding, his performance would not be enough.

During the nerve reaction test, Ouyang Yu performed quite well, facing the barrage of gunfire without panic and making calm dodging actions. Although his movements were not fast, he managed to react in time to most of the attacks and even had some success.

After a minute, the result came out.

“Ouyang Yu, one minute, sixty bullets fired, fifty-one successfully hit, nine dodged, twenty-one effective dodging movements. Comprehensive result: nerve reaction 0.082/s.”

“We, Long Wind Martial Arts Academy, want this person!” The representative from Long Wind Martial Arts Academy announced immediately.

As soon as his words fell, the representative of Dragon-slaying Academy laughed, “You’re too late! Ouyang Yu, before I came here, your Uncle Zhang said he had reserved a place for you at Dragon-slaying Academy and had prepared a generous contract for you. You can sign it right now.”

Ouyang Yu also smiled, “I’ll follow Uncle Zhang’s advice and join Dragon-slaying Academy.”

The representative of Long Wind Martial Arts Academy was disappointed as he put down his pen. He finally found someone he liked, but the spot was already reserved.

Ouyang Yu’s signing caused quite a stir, as the first student from Number Six High School to sign with one of the top three martial arts schools emerged.

After signing the contract, Ouyang Yu changed into the Dragon-slaying Academy uniform, officially becoming a martial arts student of Dragon-slaying Academy.

Glancing at the end of the line, Ouyang Yu sneered in his heart, “Lin Zhen, oh Lin Zhen, I am now a martial arts school student; I’ll make sure to trample you down for the rest of your life.”