Volume One, Chapter Two: Combat Training
At that moment, a burly man nearly two meters tall, with thick hair, strode into the classroom.
“Isn’t the next class math? Why is Wang the Skinflint here?” The chubby boy looked toward the man at the podium with a hint of complaint, muttering under his breath.
Around the room, some students wore expressions of utter despair.
Jiang Yiyun, the martial arts teacher for Class 34 of senior year three, was also their homeroom teacher, possessing the strength of an eighth-rank warrior.
From quasi-warrior, warrior, martial master, battle general, war king, to war god...
Each tier in martial cultivation was a watershed. A newly promoted warrior could easily take on four or five peak quasi-warriors single-handedly. For students averaging at quasi-warrior ranks five or six, an eighth-rank warrior like Jiang Yiyun was undoubtedly a towering powerhouse.
Jiang Yiyun cleared his throat, his deep, powerful voice echoing through the room: “Class, the math teacher is sick. Today’s lesson will be practical combat in the gymnasium!”
A chorus of groans erupted from below the podium.
“I even saw the math teacher practicing punches on the playground!”
“Math teachers are genuine warriors; there’s no way he’s that easy to get sick!”
“Teacher Jiang, can you come up with a more original excuse? You’ve been using this one for three years!”
...
“I sparred with your math teacher just now. I held back, but he’s now lying in the hospital for at least fifty-four days.”
Watching this unfold, Jiang Buyue felt a strange familiarity but also sensed something was off.
“Brother Yue, these last fifty-four days are going to be rough! If I’d known this would be the last math lesson, I would have cherished it more,” Liu Yu lamented beside him.
...
[Name: Jiang Buyue]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 18]
[Cultivation: Quasi-Warrior Rank 4 (3%)]
[Martial Arts: Gale Slash (Minor Success: 98%), Chaos Devourer Technique (Minor Success: 10%), Shadow Step (10%)]
[Attributes: Strength 30, Constitution 15, Agility 20, Spirit 6]
Jiang Buyue frowned and silently complained, “What kind of lousy network is this system using? Why can’t they get 5G?”
After roughly calculating, with nonstop training for twenty-four hours a day and no external aid, he estimated that in four days he could break through to Quasi-Warrior Rank 5.
At this thought, a look of delight crept across Jiang Buyue’s face.
At this pace, by the time of the college entrance exam, he might have a chance to enter a prestigious university—even the very top ones.
A top university required at least a peak quasi-warrior cultivation level and mastery of at least one martial art.
Martial arts progressed from minor success to entry, then advanced, proficiency, mastery, and finally perfection—each a grueling hurdle. Mastering a martial art to completion demanded tremendous time and effort; many spent their entire lives stuck at the advanced stage.
In the gymnasium—
A scream pierced the air.
---
In the training room, a slender figure was flung backward, crashing heavily against the wall. Despite wearing protective gear and being separated by reinforced glass, the bone-chilling impact echoed throughout.
Simultaneously, on the linked screens inside and outside the training room, information appeared.
[Name: Lian Renjie]
[Class: Senior Year 3, Class 34]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 18]
[Martial Cultivation: Quasi-Warrior Rank 5]
[Combat Duration: 2 minutes 30 seconds]
[Battle Rating: B+]
[Schoolwide Ranking: 812]
“Brother Yue, that looked painful. I’m scared!” The chubby boy behind muttered anxiously.
“What are you mumbling, Liu Yu? You’re next!” Jiang Yiyun said sternly.
The chubby boy’s face instantly turned sour, as if he had just eaten something foul.
“Any progress in cultivation?” Jiang Yiyun asked.
The boy scratched his head awkwardly, “Quasi-Warrior Rank 3.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yiyun said nothing more. After setting the mechanical puppet’s power level to match Rank 3, he signaled the chubby boy to enter the training room.
“Teacher Jiang, maybe I should skip this! I just remembered I had surgery a few days ago and can’t exercise vigorously!”
“Surgery? Show me.”
“Right there.”
Before the boy could react, Jiang Yiyun kicked him into the training room.
“I was right beside you this morning when you peed—I didn’t see any surgery! Don’t lie to me!”
Inside the training room stood a mechanical puppet constructed from countless alloy blocks of various sizes.
These mechanical puppets were custom-designed to help students better prepare for the college entrance exams.
Once the basic cultivation level of the trainee was input, the puppet would fight at the peak power of that level. Its strength and speed were top-tier among warriors of the same rank.
Moreover, when the puppet sensed it was at a disadvantage, it would automatically boost its cultivation level. For students like them, defeating these puppets was a fool’s errand; their highest combat power nearly rivaled that of peak warriors.
Even their teacher, who was only an eighth-rank warrior, would be on the receiving end once inside.
Another scream rang out.
The armored chubby boy crashed hard against the wall, the impact thunderous.
[Name: Liu Yu]
[Class: Senior Year 3, Class 34]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 18]
[Martial Cultivation: Quasi-Warrior Rank 3]
[Combat Duration: 30 seconds]
[Battle Rating: C-]
[Schoolwide Ranking: 2112]
Laughter broke out at the scene.
“Ranked 2112 in the entire school, and there are over 1200 students in senior year alone. Liu Yu can’t even beat the juniors!”
“How can you say that? Liu Yu had surgery, it affected his strength!”
Hearing their mockery, a surge of fury ignited within Jiang Buyue.
Anyone insulting his comrades was slapping him in the face!
Yi Ruiqi and Li Lingfeng, a quasi-warrior rank 6 and 7 respectively, had bullied them mercilessly before, relying on their higher cultivation.
[System Notification: Sensing the host’s anger, Gale Slash empathizes and becomes enraged!]
Jiang Buyue was speechless but secretly amused.
“Yi Ruiqi, Li Lingfeng, drop and give me five hundred push-ups!” Jiang Yiyun’s commanding voice rang out.
The two frowned but obediently complied, for Jiang Yiyun was their homeroom teacher.
“Jiang Buyue, why are you laughing? Are you happy watching them do push-ups? You’re next!”
Jiang Buyue wiped the smile off his face and stepped outside the training room.
“Any recent progress in cultivation?”
“Quasi-Warrior Rank 4!” Jiang Buyue replied.
After setting the mechanical puppet’s power level accordingly, he strode into the training room.
He donned his protective gear and selected a favored weapon.
A mechanical voice sounded.
“Testing begins!”
“Test subject: Senior Year 3, Class 34, Jiang Buyue!”
Jiang Buyue slowly retreated, putting a safe distance between himself and the puppet.
The puppet’s eyes glowed red.