Chapter 29: Practical Exam

Within the immense training grounds, students participating in the examination stood in neat rows, looking up at the proctor before them.

This middle-aged, burly man with a scar across his face and an aura of battle was none other than Lei Jun, their martial arts instructor.

If the five major subjects of high school immortal cultivation—Inner Will, Mana, and Physical Education—laid the foundation, then Martial Arts and Dao Techniques primarily focused on the specific application of immortal techniques.

Regarding which was stronger or more useful—martial arts or Dao techniques—immortal cultivators held differing opinions.

Zhang Yu recalled the outrageous statement their martial arts teacher, Lei Jun, had made during their first class.

"Martial arts are extremely useful in this world; Dao techniques are useless!"

"Practicing Dao techniques impoverishes you; the more you practice, the poorer you become. In the end, all your money goes to those corporations, turning you into paupers."

"Martial arts are cheaper and more effective, so only by practicing affordable martial arts can you become wealthy and prosperous."

This was Lei Jun's martial arts philosophy.

As today's proctor, Lei Jun similarly did not rely on any Dao techniques.

His arrangement for the monthly exam had always been to have students with similar scores from the previous month draw lots for one-on-one combat.

The two sides would engage in three consecutive bouts, each lasting three minutes. If someone was knocked down or went out of bounds within those three minutes, the round would end.

After all three rounds, the teacher would score them based on their performance.

This closely resembled the martial arts combat portion of the college entrance examination, except that during the college entrance exam, students fought Yellow Turban Warriors, not each other.

But this was merely a monthly exam. They couldn't realistically adopt the college entrance exam standards, especially since not hiring Yellow Turban Warriors saved the school money.

After Lei Jun finished explaining the rules of the martial arts combat exam, the large screen above flickered, and names began to appear as the lottery began.

Once the lottery ended, the results were sent to each student's phone, instructing them to proceed to their assigned locations to begin the combat exam.

The entire training ground was now divided by white lines into small squares, each about a dozen square meters in size, serving as a makeshift arena.

Zhang Yu, following the lottery results, walked into square number 12, where he found He Dayou already waiting.

Seeing He Dayou politely nod and smile at him, Zhang Yu nodded back.

"Finally here," He Dayou suppressed the violent emotions in his heart and slowly walked into the square.

To rightfully teach Zhang Yu a lesson, He Dayou had slightly abused his privilege as the son of a school board member, drawing Zhang Yu, who ranked 10th in the previous monthly exam, as his opponent—He Dayou himself being ranked 3rd.

Of course, according to the lottery rules, their total scores from the previous exam were considered close enough, so no one would question it.

"But in the past month, he's fallen behind in every subject except Mana. His real ranking should be around 20th or 30th."

He Dayou believed he had maintained his top-three ranking while also improving his Freehand Fighting to Level 2 half a month ago and learning a new martial arts technique at a training center recently.

"But I won't need the new technique. Dealing with this pauper only requires Level 2 Freehand Fighting."

"The question now is... injure his hand? Or his leg?"

While pondering, He Dayou had already walked to the center of the square with Zhang Yu, standing a little over a meter apart.

He Dayou's gaze began to roam over Zhang Yu's body, considering how to strike a painful blow.

Outside the square, an assistant teacher took out his phone to start recording.

After the exam, Lei Jun and the other martial arts teachers would watch all the combat videos and grade them.

"Are you two ready?"

Hearing the assistant teacher's question, Zhang Yu and He Dayou nodded in unison.

"Then, Zhang Yu from the Demonstration Class and He Dayou, the first round of combat..."

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

As soon as the assistant teacher gave the command, He Dayou suddenly attacked, his right arm transforming into a blur that was difficult to discern with the naked eye, chopping towards Zhang Yu's neck.

At the same time, he had already anticipated Zhang Yu's possible counterattacks.

As a rich second-generation, he had enough time and money to hire people for daily combat training.

He had experienced, trained for, and learned to counter all possible reactions his opponent might make after this chop.

This was the effect of combat experience.

Level 2 Freehand Fighting, coupled with richer combat experience, gave He Dayou absolute confidence in defeating his opponent.

"Then... I'll strike his hands."

He Dayou's mana surged wildly towards his palm...

Bang!

A loud crash echoed from He Dayou's abdomen.

Then, he felt his vision spinning wildly, the hard ground, and pain all over his body.

It took He Dayou several seconds to gradually come to his senses.

He had been blown away by Zhang Yu in one move and was now lying on the ground.

"I was one-shotted?"

He Dayou's face suddenly turned crimson: "How is that possible?"

Seeing He Dayou's agitated state, the assistant teacher, to avoid trouble, directly played the recorded footage of the fight in front of him and Zhang Yu.

The video showed He Dayou launching a chop, but Zhang Yu reacted first, dodging the chop and then slamming into He Dayou, throwing him out of the square.

The entire process took less than a second, looking as if He Dayou had deliberately cooperated with Zhang Yu to be thrown out.

He Dayou became even more indignant. He hadn't even used his full strength, hadn't used the new martial art he had learned. Just a moment of carelessness...

"I underestimated Zhang Yu. I was thinking about other things while fighting him..."

The more he thought about it, the more unwilling He Dayou felt.

But he knew that whether he was careless or negligent, any further explanation would only make him look more foolish.

So he took a deep breath and nodded at Zhang Yu: "Well done. Let's continue."

The assistant teacher asked if He Dayou had any physical problems. After confirming that he was fine, he had the two of them re-enter the square.

The two stood a meter apart once more, facing each other.

Zhang Yu looked at He Dayou with a smile, thinking to himself: "My combat score should be very high this time."

The effect of Level 3 Freehand Fighting was better than he had expected.

Although Zhang Yu estimated that his combat experience was probably less than He Dayou's, the rich second-generation, Level 3 Freehand Fighting had made him intimately familiar with all 15 moves.

In the previous battle, almost as soon as He Dayou attacked, Zhang Yu already knew what the other was going to do and where the opening would appear.

As soon as the thought occurred to him, his body moved, rushing forward, channeling mana into his arms, and throwing the opponent out.

"In the case of Freehand Fighting among high schoolers, as long as the opponent's level is below 3, their reaction time will probably be slower than mine."

"Plus, my physical strength isn't low either. I estimate I won't lose in any Freehand Fighting match among high schoolers in the entire school."

At the same time, He Dayou on the other side looked grave, with none of the ease he had shown in the previous round.

He decided to concentrate fully in this second round and defeat Zhang Yu thoroughly.

This time, he would not give the opponent the slightest opportunity.

"Zhang Yu and He Dayou, Round Two."

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

As soon as the assistant teacher finished speaking, He Dayou instantly exploded with full power, his right fist infused with surging mana, smashing fiercely towards Zhang Yu's face.

Bang!

Another loud crash echoed.

Another familiar shift in perspective, the hard, cold ground, and pain all over his body.

He Dayou dazedly got up.

He was one-shotted again?

He watched the video recorded by the assistant teacher again.

It showed him throwing a punch, but Zhang Yu had already kicked him in the chest, sending him flying out.

Because the movements of both parties were too fast, it looked as if He Dayou had deliberately rammed his chest into Zhang Yu's outstretched foot.

Round Three began.

This time, He Dayou didn't rush in with full force. Instead, he adopted a defensive posture, cautiously observing Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "After being one-shotted twice in a row, he's starting to be careful?"

The reason he had been able to instantly defeat the other party was that, at the moment the other party attacked, he had predicted their movements and trajectory based on his familiarity with Freehand Fighting and then proactively met the opponent's openings on the path of their full-force attack.

It could be said that he had used the superposition of both sides' speeds to make He Dayou lose before he could even react.

But once He Dayou became cautious and didn't attack with full force right away, Zhang Yu couldn't replicate the previous two one-shots.

But facing this situation, Zhang Yu also had his own tactical preparations.

Whether it was mana or physical strength, Zhang Yu, whose strength had soared recently, was confident that he wasn't far behind He Dayou, who was ranked third in the grade.

Even from the perspective of physical strength, the opponent was as equally balanced as him, not a large, brute-force type.

Since the opponent was unwilling to attack proactively, Zhang Yu would take the initiative.

He channeled his mana and struck He Dayou's chest with a palm.

"Here it comes!" A gleam flashed in He Dayou's eyes, and he also threw a punch to block the other's move.

Then he saw Zhang Yu strike again with the same palm.

"The same move? What's he doing?"

After receiving three palms from Zhang Yu in a row, He Dayou felt his arms go numb and his mana surge within his body.

Zhang Yu's mana was so abundant and his physical strength so great that it exceeded his expectations.

The other party's tactic was also very simple: to clash head-on with him.

Zhang Yu's Level 3 Freehand Fighting not only made him more familiar with the moves, but the same move in his hands could unleash greater physical strength and more abundant mana.

This gave him a great advantage in head-on clashes.

He Dayou quickly realized this, but a smile couldn't help but creep onto his face.

"You want to clash head-on with me?"

"Then let's clash and see who's tougher."

He channeled the newly learned martial art, Little Heavenly Star Palm, and the mana in his dantian instantly transformed into a yin and cold palm force, striking fiercely towards Zhang Yu from his palm.