Tianhai No. 2 Middle School, Virtual Room

"Lin Qi is the only one left, right? He’s been in there for a really long time."

"Which Assessor is he on now? Number 5? Or Number 6?"

A group of people had gathered around a Virtual Cabin, discussing this curiously.

"WHIRR~"

"It’s opening! Lin Qi is out."

The Virtual Cabin door opened. When Lin Qi opened his eyes, he was met with several pairs of astonished eyes staring at him.

He calmly stood up and looked around. Chen Zichuan, Yang Lei, and the others were already out.

"Brother Qi, you were in the first round for a long time. Which Assessor did you get to?"

Jiangtao asked impatiently.

"You’ll know when the results are out."

Lin Qi refused with a smile.

"Brother Qi, you’ve picked up some bad habits. You’re actually trying to keep me in suspense now," Jiangtao said, shaking his head.

’After defeating Assessor No. 7 with the Mountain Shattering Spear Technique, I faced Assessor No. 8.’ Lin Qi’s mind was still replaying the previous battle.

’But the fight lasted less than thirty seconds before I was killed. Even using a Killing Technique, I was still no match for him.’

’The gap was too wide. His Spear Technique had already broken through to Tier Two, and he could use a Killing Technique as well.’

Although he lost, the gains were substantial. He had witnessed a more powerful version of the Mountain Shattering Spear Technique and saw that he still had room to improve.

As he was thinking, Chen Zichuan walked over and handed him a drink.

"Thanks for before. That was my first time using a Virtual Cabin!" Chen Zichuan said gratefully.

"Don’t mention it. We all come from ordinary families, and we’re classmates. It’s only right to help each other out when needed," Lin Qi said, taking the drink and shaking his head.

"That’s right, Chen Zichuan. We’re supposed to help each other," Jiangtao chimed in, patting Chen Zichuan on the shoulder.

Chen Zichuan nodded silently, a smile appearing on his face.

The bond between the three of them had invisibly grown a step closer.

...

Not far away, Zhang Cheng looked at Lin Qi, then his gaze returned to his tablet.

’Lin Qi’s assessment is over. Let me see how many Assessors he defeated.’

Zhang Cheng operated the tablet, logging into the administrative backend of the Celestial Sea Education Bureau’s official website. As an examiner, he had the authority to view the assessment results in advance.

’Assessor No. 6 should have been no problem. Assessor No. 7 is a bit difficult. Getting around 700 points would be pretty good too.’

As Zhang Cheng thought this, the page on his tablet quickly refreshed, and strings of data appeared before his eyes.

The next second, his pupils contracted.

"Assessor No. 8?"

Zhang Cheng was truly astonished. He knew very well that Assessor No. 8 was already at the Tier Two level.

When Lin Qi first joined the Elite class, he was only ranked 45th in the grade. He had even come to him to learn the Mountain Shattering Spear Technique.

He couldn’t be more clear about what Lin Qi’s level was back then.

"Good kid. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you."

After the surprise came a deep sense of gratification. As a Martial Arts Instructor, he was the one who best understood Lin Qi’s progress.

"I’m starting to look forward to his ranking this time," Zhang Cheng said with a smile.

...

Yu Jing exited his Virtual Room and quickly glanced at the Virtual Cabin next to him.

When he saw that Li Zhou hadn’t come out yet, his expression turned grim. They had entered their Virtual Cabins at the same time. The fact that Li Zhou was still in there meant he was still undergoing the Martial Arts assessment.

In comparison, coming out earlier clearly meant he was weaker.

A short while later, Li Zhou also exited the assessment, shaking his head in dissatisfaction.

"Li Zhou, did you defeat Assessor No. 8?" Yu Jing asked.

"Guess!" Li Zhou grinned.

"I’m not a child. What is there to guess?" Yu Jing’s face darkened.

Li Zhou just grinned and turned to leave.

"Quiet!"

Zhang Cheng stood up. He glanced at the time, looked around at everyone, and slowly began to speak.

"After a full day of assessments, all the test results are in."

"Everyone, return to your classroom now. Wait for your homeroom teacher to announce the scores and rankings."

Silence!

After hearing this, everyone went quiet for a moment. Many of them began to look nervous, their hearts pounding.

For everyone, the score rankings were always a huge ordeal, and the mental pressure was immense.

...

It was past nine at night. The lights were on in every major middle school across Celestial Sea City, and countless geniuses were steeped in an atmosphere of tension.

At the same time, the Martial Arts Education Bureau’s backend system was frantically compiling scores from all the schools to generate the comprehensive rankings.

Elite Class Classroom

Everyone sat in their seats, making small talk to mask their nervousness.

"I’m so screwed. I’m probably going to be kicked out of the Elite class."

"I worked hard for a month. My ranking is definitely going up this time."

"I’m 11th in No. 2 Middle School. I should at least be able to make the top thirty in Celestial Sea City, right?"

"Top thirty? You’re dreaming. You’d be lucky to even make the top fifty."

Amidst the buzz of discussion, the homeroom teacher, Yan Hong, arrived a little late. Her expression was calm, betraying no emotion.

She organized her thoughts before speaking.

"Alright everyone, the Celestial Sea Monthly Exam took all day, and now all the results are in."

"Each year, the Celestial Sea Monthly Exam is crucial. It helps you determine where you stand and see the goals you need to strive for in the future."

"Ms. Yan, can we just see the results already?"

Just then, Yu Jing suddenly interrupted Yan Hong.

’That Yu Jing...’ Jiangtao thought, looking displeased.

Lin Qi frowned. Yu Jing’s behavior was out of line.

Yan Hong’s expression changed slightly, and a wave of annoyance rose within her. But facing Yu Jing, she suppressed her displeasure.

"In that case, I’ll cut to the chase. Let’s look at the results directly."

With that, she turned on the projector, and a huge screen was quickly displayed in front of everyone.

It was an enormous spreadsheet filled with vast amounts of data. Behind 50 profile pictures were columns for individual subject scores, rankings... and more.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the results sheet, desperately searching for their own names.

Lin Qi was no different. With his incredible eyesight, he locked onto his profile picture in a second and saw his scores for this monthly exam.

[Name: Lin Qi]

[Academics: 922 (1st)]

[Qi and Blood Value: 820 (23rd)]

[Martial Arts: 800 (16th)]

[Total Score: 804.4]

[Grade Ranking: 18]

[City Ranking: 288]

...

After seeing his results, the corners of Lin Qi’s mouth turned up slightly.

His academics score was first in the grade, his Qi and Blood Value ranked 23rd, and his Martial Arts ranked 16th.

In just one month, he had raised his Qi and Blood Value from 6.2 at the time of the quiz all the way to 8.2—a full 2.0 increase. It was huge progress.

Then there was his Spear Technique. He had defeated Assessor No. 7 but was instantly killed by Assessor No. 8.

In the end, the intelligent AI judged his Spear Technique Realm to be worth only 800 points, which was a level approaching Tier Two.

The only reason he managed to get 800 points was purely because his practical combat ability surpassed his Spear Technique Realm.

His grade ranking, as expected, had improved dramatically, soaring from the bottom of the Elite class at 45th place straight into the top 20 of the grade.

Beside him, Jiangtao burst out laughing, looking smug.

"Haha, I knew it!"

"7th in the grade! I made it into the top ten! I can get my own cool nickname now!"

Jiangtao was so excited he couldn’t contain himself, throwing his arms around Lin Qi in a tight hug.

"Congratulations, Taozi!"

Lin Qi said with a congratulatory smile.

"By the way, Brother Qi, how’d you do?"

After coming down from his high, Jiangtao turned his attention to Lin Qi’s results.

With that, he looked up at the results sheet. Scanning down from his own rank, he immediately saw Lin Qi’s name and had a premonition.

When he saw the ranking, his pupils contracted, and he let out a strange cry.

"18th in the grade?!"

"Brother Qi, are you trying to defy the heavens?!"

His words were like a lit fuse. Many others in the class had seen it too.

"Am I seeing things? I was actually surpassed by Lin Qi? I’m 19th!" someone said in disbelief.

"For real? Lin Qi is that amazing? He shot up from 45th to 18th just like that?" someone exclaimed.

More and more people in the class began to notice.

"How did this Lin Qi get so strong?"

Not far away, Zhu Yuqi was also exceptionally surprised. She looked at Lin Qi, her eyes filled with curiosity.

In the corner, Yang Lei’s face was pale. His results placed him at 48th, nearly getting him eliminated.

Meanwhile, Lin Qi had soared into the sky, breaking into the class’s top 20.

The two of them were a world apart.

’To think I actually mocked him... I’m such an idiot. I really am!’

...