Qingli High School, the martial arts training ground.
Li Qing organized the students to begin testing one by one, a test designed to measure their strength and thus their cultivation realm.
This realm was divided as follows: Forging Body First Layer required five hundred jin of strength, with each subsequent layer increasing by five hundred jin. Upon reaching the perfect completion of Forging Body Ninth Layer, one would possess a formidable strength of five thousand jin.
Li Qing stood beside the strength testing instrument, a notebook in hand for recording.
“I will call out names for testing.”
“Xu Yinghao!”
A fair-skinned young man stepped out from the ranks. He gathered his strength and delivered a punch.
The digital display on the strength testing instrument began to climb, finally stopping at 2541.
Li Qing nodded, “Xu Yinghao, strength 2541 jin, realm Forging Body Fifth Layer.”
“Next: Xu Wen.”
“Cai Jie.”
“Li Jing.”
…
Names were called out one after another, bringing joy to some and sorrow to others.
“Next: Zhang Fan.”
Zhang Fan, from within the crowd, slowly walked forward. He approached the strength testing instrument and delivered a punch. The numbers began to change, finally settling at 4083.
Seeing this, Zhang Fan couldn't help but exhale in relief.
Li Qing began to record in his notebook: Zhang Fan: Strength 4083 jin, Realm: Forging Body Eighth Layer.
Gu Yuan saw Zhang Fan's strength value and thought to himself that Zhang Fan must have put in a lot of effort behind the scenes. A week ago, he was still at Forging Body Seventh Layer.
“Next: Li Tianzhi.”
Li Tianzhi, surrounded by his followers, glanced back at Gu Yuan before striding through the crowd to the strength testing instrument. He took a deep breath, exerted all his strength, and unleashed a punch.
The numbers on the instrument climbed rapidly, and everyone watched with anticipation. After all, Li Tianzhi was already the strongest student in Class Five of the third year, and could even rank among the top in Qingli High School.
Even Li Qing looked forward to Li Tianzhi's score, as he had always been the pride of Class Five of the third year.
The numbers continued to flicker before finally becoming 5639.
Wow!
A wave of gasps erupted. Forging Body Ninth Layer perfection was 5000 jin, and Li Tianzhi had surpassed this value, proving that his strength had already exceeded the Forging Body realm and was beginning to advance towards the Meridian Opening realm.
Li Qing’s face also broke into a smile.
“You can go down now.”
Li Tianzhi nodded and returned to his spot, looking at Gu Yuan with a smug smile, his gaze seemingly saying, "Look how strong I am."
Gu Yuan rolled his eyes, speechless at Li Tianzhi's behavior.
After Li Qing called out a few more names, it was Gu Yuan’s turn.
“Next: Gu Yuan.”
Gu Yuan calmly walked to the strength testing instrument. The crowd behind him showed great interest.
The last time Gu Yuan had kicked Zhang Fan flying, everyone had paid him great attention. The sudden surge in power from someone who was previously at the bottom rung made many eager to know how Gu Yuan's strength had increased so rapidly.
At that time, his strength was at least Forging Body Seventh Layer, and no one knew what realm he was at now.
Gu Yuan took a deep breath, and the blood in his body began to boil. The muscles in his rib cage and limbs erupted with power, and the muscles under his clothes bulged, with veins turning dark green appearing.
He threw a punch!
Bang!
The sound was far louder than Li Tianzhi’s, like a thunderclap on a clear day, making everyone present flinch subconsciously.
The numbers on the display screen changed at an astonishing speed, finally stopping at 12756.
Holy crap!
The crowd cried out in disbelief. The strongest student in the Forging Body realm at Qingli High School had only managed a score of just over nine thousand.
Li Qing, trembling with excitement, grabbed Gu Yuan’s hand, wanting to say something but unable to articulate it.
Gu Yuan said helplessly, “Teacher, please calm down first.”
“Alright, alright. Li Qing nodded, took a deep breath.
While Li Qing was regaining his composure, Gu Yuan turned to look at Li Tianzhi. Seeing Li Tianzhi’s stunned expression, Gu Yuan smiled, a brilliant, open smile.
Chu Ling, standing nearby, saw Gu Yuan’s score, her small mouth agape in surprise. She knew Gu Yuan had become stronger, but she never expected him to become this strong. It seemed she too would have to work hard, or she might not be able to catch up to Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan turned back, and Li Qing had also calmed down. He took Gu Yuan’s hand and walked out directly.
As they walked, Li Qing said, “Come with me to see the principal. The rest of you, return to class for self-study.”
This left the crowd to begin their discussions, and the news, as if it had grown wings, rapidly reached many ears.
“Over ten thousand jin, what the hell is this? Damn it.” A very burly man looked at his phone in disbelief and exclaimed.
In the most central villa in the Tianqing Villa Area.
A beautiful and tall woman looked at the information in her hand and murmured, “Gu Yuan…”
Many companies and teams received news of a genius appearing at Qingli High School who could exert over ten thousand jin of strength. They immediately began collecting Gu Yuan’s information, even sending people to find him directly.
At this moment, Gu Yuan was unaware that he was being targeted by so many factions. He was currently feeling a little constrained in front of the strong middle-aged man before him.
It wasn’t his fault; the man was Wang Qifeng, the principal of Qingli High School, and also publicly acknowledged as one of the top ten strongest martial artists in Tianyuan City, a powerhouse above the Qi Sea realm.
Gu Yuan couldn’t suppress his curiosity and activated his Dao Fortune Celestial Map. Wang Qifeng’s fate began to slowly appear before Gu Yuan’s eyes.
[Name]: [Wang Qifeng]
[Destiny]: [None yet]
[Fates]: [Blood Qi Like a Dragon (Purple)], [Qi Swallowing Stars (Azure)], [Seasoned Warrior (Azure)], [Killing Aura (White)], [Archery Skill (White)]
As expected of a top ten expert, these fates were already very impressive.
Looking at so many fates, all of which were useful to him, Gu Yuan couldn't help but want to imprint one.
A thought arose.
[White Qi Essence remaining: three hundred and fifty.]
[Gray Qi Essence remaining: six hundred and thirty.]
His Qi Essence was sufficient, and he wondered which of these fates would suit him.
His gaze lingered on the fates, and their meanings began to surface.
[Blood Qi Like a Dragon (Purple)]: [Deep cultivation in body tempering, blood qi is like a dragon.]
[Qi Swallowing Stars (Azure)]: [Immense aura, capable of swallowing stars, empowering oneself. Through respiration and circulation, a day of cultivation is equivalent to dozens of days for an ordinary person.]
[Seasoned Warrior (Azure)]: [Experienced countless battles, combat awareness reaching its peak.]
[Killing Aura (White)]: [Has killed many enemies, a lingering killing aura surrounds him, capable of deterring people's hearts.]
[Archery Skill (White)]: [Proficient in archery.]
Gu Yuan fell into deliberation. His current Qi Essence was only enough for him to imprint a white fate.
As for the other azure fates, according to the Dao Fortune Celestial Map, they were all top-tier azure fates, unlike Li Tianzhi’s [Spiritual Qi Affinity (Azure)], which was the lowest grade of azure fate.
Purple fates were not something he could access at his current stage.
He had heard that when the extraterrestrial demons from the void rifts arrived, much of modern human technology would be useless, requiring martial arts experts to use cold weapons like bows and arrows for ranged attrition.
Thinking of this, Gu Yuan made up his mind and decided to imprint the white fate [Archery Skill].
After leaving, he would buy a large bow and shoot down ferocious beasts from a distance. The danger would be greatly reduced.
[Gray Qi Essence reduced by five hundred.]
Gu Yuan did not merge it for the time being. He would do so after returning.
At this point, Li Qing had already informed Wang Qifeng about what had happened to Gu Yuan.
After understanding Gu Yuan’s situation, Wang Qifeng’s gaze towards Gu Yuan softened considerably.
He stood up directly, approached Gu Yuan, took him by the hand, and led him to sit on the sofa. He said earnestly, “Gu Yuan, on behalf of Qingli High School, we are prepared to provide you with additional resource cultivation. I hope you will not forget the school’s kindness towards you.”
Gu Yuan blinked, and after pondering the principal’s words in his mind, he understood his meaning.
His current Forging Body Ninth Layer could unleash over ten thousand jin of immense strength. Once other schools learned of this, they would definitely offer generous terms to entice him to transfer.
Therefore, Wang Qifeng was increasing the school’s resource cultivation for Gu Yuan, hoping to prevent him from going to other schools. After all, cultivating outstanding students was the ultimate goal of every school. If Gu Yuan achieved excellent results in the martial arts examination, both Wang Qifeng and Qingli High School would receive considerable rewards.
Gu Yuan had no intention of transferring to another school. Besides, Li Qing had helped his predecessor a lot, and changing schools would be troublesome. Gu Yuan disliked trouble.
Thinking this, Gu Yuan said resolutely, “Principal, please rest assured. I will definitely achieve good results to repay the school!”
These words brought Wang Qifeng’s restless heart to ease. He then pulled Gu Yuan over and asked him about many things, chatting for quite a while.
In the end, they decided to provide Gu Yuan with ten Blood Qi Pills, a Yellow-grade high-tier martial skill, and additional potion supplies.
Blood Qi Pills were a more effective cultivation resource than potions, with each Blood Qi Pill costing twenty to thirty thousand yuan.
A Yellow-grade high-tier martial skill was valued at five hundred thousand, and such items were often available only in name rather than in practice, as most martial skills and cultivation methods were held by the government.
Finally, Wang Qifeng produced a jade slip and asked Gu Yuan to examine it.
Gu Yuan took it, and saw three large characters carved on the jade slip.
“Flame Sun Fist”!