"Xiangdong…" Li Zhi was just about to say something when Tian Xiangdong waved his hand to cut him off.
The benefits were obvious if a person with Strength 10 could join their team. Li Zhi believed that since Zhou Wen had shown enough of his prowess, there was no need to continue. Making things ugly was not beneficial to any party.
If Tian Xiangdong were to use Lightning Fist to defeat Zhou Wen; thus, causing him to leave. It would be a loss for them.
Upon seeing Tian Xiangdong walk to the pressure board, Li Zhi had wanted to say this but was stopped by Fang Ruoxi.
"Is this really fine?" Li Zhi looked at Fang Ruoxi and said.
"It's fine. That fellow has already accepted Zhou Wen. He just doesn't want to lose," Fang Ruoxi said softly.
Li Zhi was slightly taken aback before he was enlightened. He cursed in amusement before falling silent, "That fellow just can't bear to play second fiddle."
Tian Xiangdong began the second round of Strength tests.
Tian Xiangdong's expression was heavy as he stood in front of the pressure board. He slowly lifted his fist as veins protruded from it. Lightning bolts seemed to mesh together, making it look ferocious and terrifying.
Bang!
The fist slammed heavily into the pressure board. The special metal alloy pressure board jerked back obviously as the numbers on the screen rapidly lit up, eventually stopping at 11.
"How's that?" As he reeled from expending all his Essence Energy, Tian Xiangdong secretly wiped sweat from his brow.
His Strength was only a 7. And with a Rank 1 Lightning Fist, it could raise his Strength by about half. It wasn't extremely stable, allowing him to dish out 10 or 11 randomly. He had done pretty well today, allowing him to defeat Zhou Wen.
"That's impressive." Zhou Wen was indeed a genius when it came to cultivation. However, he wasn't a sensitive person. He didn't notice Tian Xiangdong's emotional changes and was caught up with the notion that he couldn't join the team unless he defeated Tian Xiangdong. Therefore, he walked towards the Strength-measuring device again.
However, Zhou Wen didn't immediately throw out his punch. Instead, he began studying the Strength-measuring device.
"What are you looking at? Just tell us if you can't do it. It's not embarrassing losing to me." Realizing that Zhou Wen wasn't delivering the punch, Tian Xiangdong was imagining that Zhou Wen lacked the confidence and was hesitant about delivering the punch.
Zhou Wen looked at the Strength-measuring device and asked worriedly, "The school won't ask me to pay for it if I break it, right?"
The moment Tian Xiangdong heard Zhou Wen, he burst out in exasperated laughter. "Bro, nice bragging. This is a Strength-measuring device. It's specially made for Strength-measuring. Although it's only a low-end model meant for high schoolers with an upper limit of 20, few high schoolers can hit the limit, much less destroy it. Let's do this. If you really destroy it, I'll pay for the damages."
"Makes sense." Zhou Wen nodded. The device did seem rather solid, so it was unlikely it be damaged.
Zhou Wen didn't hesitate further as he raised his fist. The skin on his fist gradually turned red with a metallic sheen. It looked like it was wrapped in a red metallic membrane.
"Essence Energy Skill… So Zhou Wen has already learned an Essence Energy Skill…" Tian Xiangdong was instantly somewhat disappointed.
Without a doubt, with Zhou Wen's Strength, the knowledge of an Essence Energy Skill—no matter how weak it was—could dish out Strength that was far greater than Tian Xiangdong's. Therefore, the latter knew that his loss was a certainty.
Fang Ruoxi and Li Zhi were somewhat surprised that Zhou Wen knew an Essence Energy Skill. It enabled them to earn higher points at the combat test.
Bang!
Zhou Wen slammed his fist heavily into the pressure board and as though it was hit by a sledgehammer, it jerked back. The numbers on the screen kept lighting up, instantly surpassing 11.
I wonder what his final score will be through the use of an Essence Energy Skill, Fang Ruoxi thought, but she saw the numbers lighting up at a blisteringly fast rate. In a blink of an eye, all of the numbers were lit up as her expression changed.
Boom!
Before the spectators could have any thoughts, the Strength-measuring device produced a strange sound. At some spot, the back of the device cracked as pale yellow liquid spewed out like a fountain.
Tian Xiangdong and company widened their mouths into an O shape as they stared blankly at Zhou Wen and the liquid-spewing Strength-measuring device. There was silence.
Yu Qiubai's eyes widened as well, eager to rush forward to personally determine if the Strength-measuring device was really broken.
He naturally wasn't wanting payment from Zhou Wen, but that he was filled with disbelief that a high schooler's Essence Energy Skill could be this strong.
Tian Xiangdong trembled. At the thought of the punch's might, he couldn't bring himself to imagine what would have happened if he had battled Zhou Wen in a Strength test.
The upper limit of the Strength-measuring device was 20, but it didn't mean that it could only withstand Strength 20. In fact, to burst the hydraulic mechanism needed Strength that far exceeded 20.
Even with Strength 10, Zhou Wen probably needed an Essence Energy Skill at Rank 8 or 9 to deliver such damage.
If he hadn't learned of Zhou Wen's background from the former principal, he would even have suspected that Zhou Wen had used high-level Essence Energy Skill Crystals; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to possess such Strength.
However, with Zhou Wen's background, it seemed impossible for him to possess such high-level Essence Energy Skill Crystals.
If he had truly mastered an Essence Energy Skill to such a level by himself, that's way too terrifying! Yu Qiubai couldn't help but recall the former principal's evaluation of Zhou Wen: "There are two geniuses in the world. One type of genius is called Zhou Wen, the other type are the other geniuses."
"You said that you'd be paying if it's damaged. You're a man of his word, right?" Zhou Wen was taken aback as he looked at Tian Xiangdong.
He hadn't expected Vigor Divine Fist to really be vigorous enough to destroy the Strength-measuring device.
He was poor and really didn't have the money to compensate the school if it really pressed him for damages.
"Yes, I'll pay for it. Bro, any problem that can be solved with money isn't a problem. We are old classmates and a team. Leave this to me," Tian Xiangdong said with a beaming smile as he came round.
Tian Xiangdong came from a rich family and could easily afford it. However, a second teammate like Zhou Wen was probably impossible to find in a small city like Guide City.
With Zhou Wen joining the team, Tian Xiangdong believed that perhaps they weren't only able to obtain first at the combat test in Guide City, but that they could even raise their targets.
Li Zhi and Fang Ruoxi were in a good mood as well. Having a powerful teammate like Zhou Wen join the team brought them one step closer to their goals.
This fellow is more interesting than I imagined. Fang Ruoxi narrowed her eyes as she looked at Zhou Wen.
With Zhou Wen officially joining the team, the four submitted an application form for the combat test. Many of the teachers and heads in the school were rather surprised to see Zhou Wen's name on the list.
The teachers of Fang Ruoxi, Li Zhi, and Tian Xiangdong had even spoken to them privately, openly and covertly trying to get them to select another teammate. They didn't want Zhou Wen to be a burden on them. However, the trio refused, adamant about having Zhou Wen in their team. It left their teachers vexed.
Only Yu Qiubai drank his tea calmly. He knew very well that Zhou Wen was the strongest among the four.
Just wait and see. After the test, we will know who's the burden. Yu Qiubai drank his tea as he thought.
Zhou Wen was his student, so he was naturally displeased that the other teachers spoke ill of him behind Zhou Wen's back.