104: Chapter 104 A Show of Force!

The next day, Lu Cheng did not leave his room all day.

The door to the villa's training room was closed from morning until night, with muffled explosions echoing from within one after another, and the air was filled with a scorching aura.

Sweat dripped down Lu Cheng's chin, hitting the floor with a soft patter, only to be quickly scattered by the gusts of wind exploding beneath his feet.

"Come again!"

Lu Cheng let out a low shout, his legs suddenly exerting force as his entire body shot forward instantly.

Swish!

Three afterimages suddenly appeared in the training room.

Those afterimages did not dissipate immediately; instead, they followed his movements and lunged toward the alloy target dummy ahead. The next second, bang, bang, bang, bang!

A series of heavy strikes erupted almost simultaneously!

The surface of the central target dummy dented directly inward, cracks spreading with a clicking sound from the point of impact, sparks flying everywhere. The entire dummy was knocked sliding half a meter backward, its base screeching harshly against the floor.

After standing still, Lu Cheng raised his hand to wipe away his sweat, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

[Drifting Dragon Rending Shadow (A-Grade · Mastery)]: Transform into a drifting dragon; the afterimages possess tangible damage capabilities. While moving at high speeds, you can stack the momentum of the Rending Shadow, converting speed into lethality, and unleash multiple heavy strikes in the instant of close combat. It possesses extremely strong shield-breaking, pursuit, and combo-strike capabilities.

The text on the panel floated quietly before his eyes.

Lu Cheng stared at that line of notification, his mood quite good.

He hadn't actually touched this martial skill much before.

In the past, his blood energy reserves simply couldn't support such a high-burst, high-mobility A-Grade martial skill. Forcing himself to practice it would drain him dry after only a few attempts; it was purely asking for trouble.

At the same time, his Gale Step had also reached the Origin realm.

[Gale Step · Origin: Significantly increases movement speed, moving as fast as the wind. Movement is silent, without wind pressure or afterimages, and cannot be locked onto by airflow perception; can use the air to continuously accelerate, with no consumption and no cooldown, allowing for long-distance running without fatigue.]

...

On the other side.

Inside Su Wan's apartment, the temperature was shockingly low.

The window sills, table corners, doorknobs, and the edges of the floor were all covered in a layer of white frost. Even the air was filled with fine, cold mist, and as the light shone down, the entire room glimmered with a cold, white glow.

She sat cross-legged in the center of her training mat, her long hair draped down, and tiny, fragmented ice crystals clung to her eyelashes.

Every time she exhaled, a wisp of white mist emerged.

The blood energy around her body was constantly being compressed and refined in an extremely meticulous manner. The originally surging blood energy was forcibly constrained within her body, pressed extremely tight and heavy, to the point where a faint cold light even shimmered on the surface of her skin.

A moment later, Su Wan slowly opened her eyes.

In those cold, clear eyes, the chill had deepened by several degrees.

"130%..."

She spoke in a low voice, her tone very soft.

After entering the Extreme Realm of body refining, her blood energy compression had already reached 130%.

At this rate, in four more days, she would be able to compress her blood energy to 200%.

To enter the Source Gathering Realm in a state of double compression.

This step was crucial.

Once successful, her foundation in the Source Gathering Realm would far exceed those at the same level, and there would be a significant gap in her subsequent cultivation speed, Source Power quality, and martial skill burst.

But there wasn't much relief on Su Wan's face.

She raised her hand to press her brow, her gaze slightly darkening.

In one week, she would have another simulated battle with Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng's combat power had already exceeded her original estimation.

Honestly, she wasn't confident right now.

If she could break through to the Source Gathering Realm before next week, there might still be a chance...

But if she were too slow... who knows what kind of mission the system would assign next??

"This guy..."

Su Wan gently exhaled a breath of cold air, her gaze turning cold once again.

The next second, she closed her eyes, and the surrounding chill surged violently once more.

Crack, crack, crack.

The layer of frost on the floor thickened by another notch.

The temperature of the entire apartment continued to drop.

She had to be faster.

...

Early on the third day, before dawn, the sky was still gray, and the entire C-block dormitory building was quiet.

Suddenly...

A piercing alarm bell suddenly rang out across the entire campus!

"Notice: All candidates are to assemble at the academy's main playground in fifteen minutes."

"Notice: All candidates are to assemble at the academy's main playground in fifteen minutes."

Lu Cheng opened his eyes abruptly and sprang up from the bed.

"What the hell?!"

His hair was still messy, and his eyes weren't fully awake, but his body had already moved a step ahead.

The door next to his opened at almost the same time.

Xia Xi rushed out wearing her training uniform, her hair tied up a bit messily, her face still wearing the dazed look of having just woken up, but her tone was extremely urgent.

"Lu Cheng! It's time to assemble!"

On the other side, Qian Shuying also stepped out quickly, her expression clearly tense.

"We only have fifteen minutes!"

"I know!"

Lu Cheng grabbed his jacket while rushing out, too lazy to even wash his face. "Quick, quick, quick! Stop dawdling!"

The three of them had their shoes slapping loudly against the floor as they rushed out the door and sprinted down the stairs.

Block C was the dormitory area furthest from the main playground; they had complained back then that the academy's location planning was insane, but it turned out they were actually using it today.

Lu Cheng rushed out of the villa, and as the cold wind hit his face, he instantly became mostly awake.

"Follow me closely!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he stomped his foot, and his speed was instantly maxed out.

Gale Step activated!

His whole body shot forward instantly.

Xia Xi and Qian Shuying's expressions changed, and they hurriedly followed with all their might.

The three of them sprinted along the academy's main road. The streetlights were still on, and the distant building complexes were only blurry outlines in the morning mist. Everywhere on the road were figures rushing in the same direction. Footsteps, gasps, and low curses mixed together, and the atmosphere instantly tightened.

A few minutes later, the main playground finally appeared ahead.

The huge playground spread out in the morning light, with cold white lights shining on all the surrounding platforms and stands. A large number of freshmen had already rushed in, and the scene was chaotic.

Lu Cheng and the others rushed into the playground just as the last bit of time was running out.

Only a few seconds after they entered.

On the podium, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face suddenly stepped forward, his voice crashing down like a thunderclap.

"Form up!"

Boom!

A powerful wave of Source Power instantly swept across the entire field from the podium!

The expressions of the surrounding freshmen who were still running around, standing randomly, or panting all changed in unison; some felt their legs go weak and almost knelt on the spot.

"Quick! Stand in line!"

"Align front and back!"

"Don't push me!"

The entire playground was instantly in chaos, but under that terrifying pressure, it was forcibly pressed back into order.

Everyone hurriedly lined up behind the person in front of them; no one dared to dawdle.

Lu Cheng looked up at the podium.

The scarred man stood at the very front. He was tall, with extremely broad shoulders, and his short hair was as stiff as steel needles. The scar on his face stretched from the corner of his eye to his jaw. Standing there, his aura was shockingly fierce.

Beside him stood a woman and an old man.

The woman was wearing a black combat uniform, her arms crossed over her chest, her expression indifferent. When her gaze swept across the crowd below, many students subconsciously avoided her eyes.

The old man was wearing a loose gray robe, slightly hunched, carrying a thermos in his hand. His hair was messy, his eyelids drooped, and his standing posture looked lazy and scattered, but the more this was the case, the more people dared not underestimate him.

The next second, the scarred man spoke coldly.

"The assembly time has passed. Students who have not entered will be deducted 5 points and 10 credits!"

As his voice fell, two figures suddenly appeared at the playground entrance.

Those were two "instructors."

They stood on the left and right of the entrance, expressionless, their auras terrifyingly heavy, sealing off the entrance like two walls.

A few freshmen who were clearly late had just rushed to the entrance, but their footsteps stopped abruptly.

Some were covered in sweat, their faces pale, mouths opening, but they didn't dare to step inside.

The two instructors didn't say anything; just by standing there, their deterrent power was already enough.

Many people in the playground saw this scene and subconsciously swallowed hard.

Five points.

Ten credits.

This punishment was painful enough.

On the podium, the scarred man's gaze swept across the audience.

His gaze was heavy, like a knife, scraping from the front row all the way to the back. Many people felt their scalps tingle under his stare, and even their breathing became shallow.

He spoke slowly, his voice low and carrying a clear sense of oppression.

"Hello, students. Let me introduce myself first."

"My name is Principal Xue Zhenting!"

"I am the dean of the Martial Dao Institute! And among the deans of the three institutes, I am the one you will have the most contact with in the future."

Speaking of this, the blood energy around him was still slowly radiating outward, making the air feel heavy.

Principal Xue Zhenting stared at the crowd, the scar on his face appearing even more ferocious under the lights, and his voice suddenly rose.

"Every year... Navigator Academy selects one thousand students from all over the country to come to Navigator for the selection process..."

"But!"

When his "but" crashed down, many people's hearts skipped a beat.

Principal Xue Zhenting's eyes suddenly turned cold, his tone full of undisguised disdain and oppression.

"I have discovered a problem!"

"You so-called one-in-a-million geniuses are just a bunch of trash!"

As the sentence fell, the atmosphere of the entire venue instantly tightened.

Some students in the front row flushed red, their fists clenched tight.

Others lowered their heads, their jaws clenched tight.

Principal Xue Zhenting didn't care about any of this and continued to press down.

"You can't even accomplish the most basic discipline. As a martial artist, you were given fifteen minutes, yet there are still people who are late!"

"What kind of place do you think this is?"

"A tourist camp? A resort for young masters and misses?"

"Or that bed at home where you sleep until you wake up naturally?!"

The playground was terrifyingly quiet.

Many people still had sweat on their foreheads, standing straight, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Principal Xue Zhenting's gaze swept toward the few late freshmen outside the playground entrance, and he said coldly:

"For those students who were late... we will give you one chance."

"If there is a next time, you will be directly withdrawn from the selection!"

As soon as this sentence fell, the faces of those few students outside turned even paler, and their lips trembled.