He was the only student in the class, aside from Li Yuan, whose martial arts scores were in the top hundred of the grade—Wan Xiao.
"Li Yuan," called out an excited Wan Xiao, seemingly catching Li Yuan's gaze, he looked over at Li Yuan and smiled.
Li Yuan smiled back.
In terms of martial arts scores, Li Yuan was better than Wan Xiao.
In terms of family background, Wan Xiao was much better off.
As the top two performing students in class, Li Yuan and Wan Xiao seemed to often compete for scholarships, but their relationship was actually quite good.
The friendship between classmates is often very pure.
"Damn! Brother Yuan, you didn't awaken, but that Wan Dumb Bear did—it's just dumb luck," muttered the mature-looking boy standing next to Li Yuan, "With that, his martial arts scores, with the spiritual nature bonus, are almost catching up to yours, Brother Yuan."
Wan Xiao's nickname was Dumb Bear.
Li Yuan whispered with a laugh, "Old Zhou, are you jealous?"
The boy speaking was named Zhou Qi, nicknamed 'Old Zhou' because of his abundant body hair and mature appearance.
He had been Li Yuan's classmate since junior high, and they had both tested into Guan Mountain First High School, ending up in the same class.
After five or six years, they were akin to good brothers.
"Jealous my ass," Zhou Qi muttered, "My cultural course grades are good enough for a key university. As for martial arts classes, they're mainly for building physical strength, can't be a wimp forever, can't fall behind even Lingling... I'm speaking out for you, that's all."
Li Yuan just smiled.
Zhou Qi's physical quality was average, still falling short of level 4, but his academic scores were pretty good, ranking within the top fifty of the grade.
National resources are limited, and Martial Arts Universities only recruit a minority of students.
Ultimately, the majority of students still get into different universities based on their academic scores.
"Wan Xiao has good physical quality; it's very normal for him to awaken his Martial Spirit," Li Yuan said with a smile. "Besides, college entrance exams are a competition among all senior high school students in the province, or even the nation, not just against Wan Xiao."
Li Yuan was happy for Wan Xiao's awakening of the Martial Spirit.
Already over sixty seniors in their school had awakened their Martial Spirit. Looking at the whole province, the whole country... there were too many.
Rather than worrying about others, it's better to improve oneself. This was something Li Yuan had understood from a young age.
...
Wan Xiao's successful awakening provided a great stimulus to the other students, and those who hadn't been tested yet began to feel a slight sense of expectation.
The fourth group, the fifth group... failed, failed.
In the end, after all the students in Class 3-2 had been tested, only Wan Xiao had awakened his Martial Spirit.
Once all the students returned to the classroom.
Teacher Xu, a burly figure, swept his gaze across the room and spoke in a deep voice, "Good, that's enough basic training for today, stop there."
Rustle~
Rustle~ Immediately, all the students stopped, many with their legs aching and weakening.
But out of respect for Teacher Xu's strictness, no one dared to lie down on the floor.
The Basic Cultivation Method was very draining on one's physical strength.
Even though the seniors' physical quality generally reached level 4, after two hours of practice, most were still finding it challenging.
"Having students awaken their Martial Spirit is a good thing, but don't be disappointed if you didn't succeed," said Teacher Xu.
"There will be another Spiritual Aptitude Test organized by the school during the mid-term exams in January, and the standard exams in April."
"Before the college entrance exams, there will also be a national Spiritual Aptitude Test."
"As long as you're awakened before the entrance exam, you'll get bonus points on your martial arts scores," Teacher Xu said in a deep voice. "But remember, your exam scores are the foundation. Only with a high base score do bonus points matter."
"Even in the Elite Class, not everyone will get into a Martial Arts University."
"How do you get good scores? Hard work!"
"Take Li Yuan for example, without the spiritual nature bonus, his martial arts scores still surpass 800, beating the majority of the Elite Class students," Teacher Xu declared. "And his diligence, well, that goes without saying."
Many students couldn't help but look towards Li Yuan, most of them showing admiration in their eyes.
Li Yuan's dedication to training was somewhat renowned throughout the senior year.
"Brother Yuan, Teacher Xu is drawing hatred for you again," whispered Zhou Qi from the side.
Li Yuan could only offer a wry smile.
Ever since his martial arts scores entered the top hundred of the grade, he had become accustomed to being 'that kid from someone else's family.'
Teacher Xu's full name was Xu Bo. He was the homeroom teacher for their martial arts class at Guan Mountain High School and was one of only two top-tier Martial Arts Teachers at the school.
As Li Yuan knew, Teacher Xu's physical quality had surpassed level 15, which was quite a respectable existence even among entry-rank martial artists; he had been a military martial artist before retiring due to injuries to teach at Guan Mountain High School.
It is worth noting that surpassing level 9 in physical quality brings one into the category of entry-rank martial artists, whose status in society is extremely high.
The average adult's physical quality generally hovers around levels 5-6.
"You are currently in a critical phase where your physical quality is rapidly improving. Senior year is also the year that will decide your destiny," Teacher Xu continued to speak. "You must not slack off."
"Now, rest for half an hour, and then I will conduct the skills assessment in turn," Teacher Xu finished speaking and turned to leave.
"Ah?"
"Skills assessment?"
"About to be utterly defeated by Teacher Xu's class again, I bet you won't last three moves."
"Do you think you can last more than three moves?" Many students whispered amongst themselves, all quite excited.
In Li Yuan's eyes, a trace of inexplicable light also flashed.
Blue Star, and even the Seven Great Planets, have always faced the threat of war, where powerful martial artists play an important role.
Therefore, it's a general consensus for everyone to train in the Martial Path.
In human society, the status of top martial arts masters is extremely high.
For students like Li Yuan, there is immense admiration for martial arts masters.
Xu Bo is one of the top martial arts masters these students can come into contact with in reality.
"Brother Yuan, skills assessment is your forte," Zhou Qi said excitedly.
"Worry about yourself first. I watched you doing standing stakes just now, and you haven't progressed since last semester," Li Yuan said with a smile. "Don't get knocked down by Teacher Xu with a single stick later; that would be embarrassing in front of Peng Lingling."
Peng Lingling is the object of Zhou Qi's unrequited love.
Zhou Qi's face stiffened, and he said sheepishly, "I'm not planning on applying to Martial Arts University, Lingling won't care."
...
In the classroom, every student took out their own weapon from the weapons cabinet behind the classroom's weapons rack.
After that, they all put on their protective gear.
In this era, each high school student is provided by the nation with one or two unsharpened cold weapons for training purposes, mainly swords, spears, and shields, with a few opting for axes, halberds, and swords.
As for weapons such as hammers, battle-axes, hooks, forks, whips, and maces? Almost no students would choose them.
In the practice of cold weapons, sword and spear are mainstream.
The martial arts exam consists of a basic score of one thousand points, which comes from physical quality, martial arts skills, and academic performance, accounting for 50%, 40%, and 10% respectively.
If one awakens their Spiritual Nature, there will be additional bonuses.
Therefore, skills assessment is incredibly important and is the focus of the students' daily training.
If one only has good physical quality but lacks skills, they won't be able to get into Martial Arts University.
Whoosh!
Li Yuan also took out his weapon from his personal weapon cabinet, a black spear nearly three meters long, weighing about five kilograms.
Though called a spear, the tip was just for decoration, closer to a long stick, as they were issued by the state for practice, not for actual combat.
Whoosh!
Li Yuan held the spear shaft and made what seemed to be a casual thrust.
Swoosh! The spearhead punctured the air, creating a sensation of tearing through the void, causing the expressions of his classmates nearby to change slightly.
With Li Yuan's strength, even a casual thrust, though not sharpened, was quite powerful.
"No one else in our class can handle such a large spear like Li Yuan can."
"Li Yuan wielding a spear gives me the feeling he's going to face Teacher Xu," many classmates whispered among themselves, showing eyes full of envy and admiration.
There were many in the class who practiced spear technique, but most were reluctant to train with such a long spear.
"A longer reach means greater strength."
But the longer the shaft, the harder it is to control.
A weapon is something to train and nurture for a lifetime; what suits one best is the best.
"Number one in skills! Brother Yuan's martial arts skills assessment score at the end of his sophomore year was 356 points, the only one in the grade to exceed 350 points," Zhou Qi said with a grin. "Even Teacher Xu said Brother Yuan's spearmanship is very solid."
Many classmates couldn't help nodding their heads.
Without the bonus points from Spiritual Nature and with physical quality that isn't the best of the best, how could Li Yuan's martial arts scores break into the top thirty of his grade?
It was because his spear technique was far superior to his peers.
On the single subject of martial arts skills, Li Yuan was widely acknowledged as first in his grade.
Shortly after.
Teacher Xu, broad-shouldered and stout, casually carrying a long stick, re-entered the classroom.
His gaze lingered a bit longer on Li Yuan.
"For the test, I will adhere to the standards of the college entrance exam," Xu Bo said in a deep voice, holding the long stick and speaking very seriously.
"Take each test seriously, treat every test as if it's the college entrance exam, and when the real exam comes, it will just be another test," he instructed.
"Based on student numbers, go in reverse order. One at a time."
"Number 112, Zhou Qi."