17: Chapter 17 Special Selection Student? The Enhancement Brought by the Heaven-Burning Body Refining Technique

"Look quickly! Why is he here?"

The bus hadn't stopped yet when a voice rang out. Everyone looked out the window toward Lin Yuan on the training ground.

Everyone showed expressions of confusion, only Wang Qing's eyes narrowed. Could it be?

After getting off the bus, everyone quickly lined up. Du Feng walked to the front of the crowd, scanned the group, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good! You all performed excellently! Among the candidates from the last three sessions, you are the strongest group. Not a single student was eliminated, and furthermore, some of you have shocked us all."

Du Feng did not hold back his praise, encouraging everyone.

Upon hearing this, Hao Qiang held his head even higher, as if Du Feng was talking about him.

Wang Qing, seeing this, shook his head. He turned to look at Lin Yuan, who still maintained an unperturbed, calm demeanor.

"Now I will announce the rankings, starting from last place,"

Du Feng continued. Everyone quieted down, listening intently to the rankings.

"Thirtieth place, Hu Dayong, time taken: five hours and thirteen minutes.

Twenty-ninth place---

Fifth place, Wang Qing, time taken: four hours and forty-five minutes.

Fourth place, Li Hai, time taken: four hours and thirty-nine minutes.

Third place, Jiang Sheng, time taken: four hours and eleven minutes."

"What?"

Jiang Sheng was stunned. This was impossible. He clearly followed Hao Qiang closely; how could he only be third place?

Hao Qiang was also stunned. "What's going on? Jiang Sheng was right behind me; I didn't see anyone else."

Everyone involuntarily looked toward Lin Yuan. There were only two people whose names hadn't been called: Hao Qiang and Lin Yuan. Could it be?

"Second place, Hao Qiang, time taken: four hours and five minutes."

As Du Feng's voice fell, the crowd immediately became noisy, various discussions mixing together.

Hao Qiang stared wide-eyed at Du Feng, but Du Feng did not change the result. Instead, he shouted loudly:

"Quiet! What's all the noise about?"

The crowd immediately fell silent, and he continued reading.

"First place, Lin Yuan, time taken: one hour and fifty-seven minutes."

"This is impossible!!!"

As soon as Du Feng's voice dropped, Hao Qiang's shocked shout came out. He could not believe that someone was stronger than him, and had finished in less than half his time.

What kind of joke was this? Was he not even in the Martial Artist Realm?

"Do you have an objection?"

Du Feng looked grimly at Hao Qiang. He was extremely displeased that someone dared to loudly interrupt and question him. He truly did not seem to hold the Chief Instructor in high regard.

"Chief Instructor, I'm not convinced. It's impossible for him to be that fast. When I reached the summit, there was no one there; I was the first to arrive,"

Hao Qiang said unconvinced.

"Yes, Chief Instructor, we are not convinced either. Hao Qiang should be first. How could Lin Yuan...? He must have cheated. We never saw him on the road, and he didn't return with us either."

"Right, I know this Lin Yuan. He's from Class Three, an F-rank Ability. How could he enter the training camp?"

"Didn't they say there were three Special Selection Students? He must be one of them!"

"Could he be the child of some leader? Intentionally cheating just to compete with us for rewards?"

Hearing Hao Qiang openly object, some students who were on good terms with him immediately spoke up. In their minds, Hao Qiang was the true king of No. 6 High School.

"Silence!!!"

Du Feng was truly furious. These students were behaving too outrageously.

The crowd immediately quieted down, but everyone still wore expressions of dissatisfaction.

In contrast, Lin Yuan showed no change in expression, as if everything being said had nothing to do with him.

In his eyes, these boring arguments were merely the display of incapable children.

"Disorganized and undisciplined! What do you think you are doing? Trying to rebel? Anyone who dares to shout without permission again will get out! The training camp does not need undisciplined students!"

Du Feng continued, "Some of you are unconvinced? Very good! It shows you have fighting spirit, but if you are unconvinced, prove it with strength. Is shouting with your mouths what a Martial Artist should do?

Our instructors are absolutely fair and just. If you don't believe us, you can show us your strength in tomorrow morning's training session!

Now, everyone, according to your rankings, proceed to your assigned rooms. Fierce beast essence blood has already been prepared in your rooms. Absorb it quickly!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded loudly. Hao Qiang shouted through gritted teeth; he was determined to prove himself tomorrow; he was the strongest.

Jiang Sheng glanced at Lin Yuan, then at Hao Qiang, and turned toward his own room.

Wang Qing glanced at Lin Yuan as he entered his room, his mouth twitching.

"That monster. With him around, Hao Qiang is just a joke---"

"Ding! System task complete. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the S-rank Body Tempering Art [Heaven Burning Body Refining Art] (Upgradable)!"

Entering the room, Lin Yuan suddenly felt a cultivation technique appear in his mind. The [Heaven Burning Body Refining Art] was divided into six realms: Burning Skin, Burning Blood, Burning Bone, Burning Marrow, Burning Essence, and Burning Heaven.

Each realm would bring a huge increase in physical strength, and the later the stages, the harder they were to cultivate.

The word "Burning" implied that this Body Tempering Art was related to flames; it was a Body Tempering Art that used flames to temper the physical body.

Of course, the essence blood of fierce beasts was also helpful for cultivating the [Heaven Burning Body Refining Art].

Even without a Body Tempering Art, absorbing fierce beast essence blood would cause some degree of strengthening to the physical body. With a Body Tempering Art, the strengthening effect would increase exponentially.

"Not bad. It seems my strength can increase a bit more,"

Lin Yuan nodded in satisfaction and looked at the bucket of fierce beast essence blood placed in the room.

He poured the essence blood into the bathtub, took off his school uniform, lay down in it, and then circulated the [Heaven Burning Body Refining Art].

Half an hour later, Lin Yuan opened his eyes. The bathtub was already empty; the fierce beast essence blood had been completely absorbed by him.

He felt his own strength and a look of excitement appeared in his eyes. He immediately summoned the system panel.

"Opening System Panel---"

[host]: Lin Yuan

[Ability]: S-rank Spatial Ability

[Martial Arts]: Body Tempering Realm Peak

[Combat Power]: 12,000

[Martial Skill]: Space Dimensional Slash (Advanced)

[Body Tempering]: Heaven Burning Body Refining Art (Burning Skin Realm 20%)

[Skill]: Spirit Devouring

[ability points]: 0 points

"I didn't expect the [Heaven Burning Body Refining Art] to be this formidable. Just reaching 20% into the Burning Skin Realm increased my combat power by 5,000, directly surpassing the standard for the middle stage of the first tier of the Martial Artist Realm by 2,000 points."

Lin Yuan nodded with satisfaction, ran the bathwater, enjoyed a comfortable hot shower, and then went to rest.

The next morning, all the students gathered on the training ground.

Hao Qiang looked at Lin Yuan with extremely complex eyes, containing jealousy, unwillingness, and disdain...

Lin Yuan couldn't be bothered with him at all. In Lin Yuan's eyes, a casual punch could kill him...

Once everyone was assembled, Du Feng walked out and announced loudly:

"Today, we will conduct the second training project, which is fighting against real fierce beasts!"

As Du Feng finished speaking, some students showed worry, but many more showed excitement. After all, the Martial Arts Examination wasn't judged by how much combat power you had; the Martial Arts Examination required facing fierce beasts for real, judged by the number of fierce beasts killed.

Therefore, it was very necessary to let the candidates face fierce beasts in advance before the Martial Arts Examination.

"We have arranged 150 fierce beasts at the training camp, 5 per person. Your scores will be judged by the number and speed of your kills. Today's rankings will be rewarded with recovery-type alchemy potions."

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow. Alchemy potions were good stuff, very valuable. Recovery potions could be used during the Martial Arts Examination to ensure candidates could exert their strength.

Lin Yuan was already quite excited when he heard there would be fierce beasts. Upon hearing there were recovery potions too, the corner of his mouth immediately curved upward. He started to get interested...