6: Chapter 6 Test Stuns Everyone

"Ma Dachun!"

The moment his name was called, the surroundings fell silent for a beat, followed immediately by a burst of suppressed laughter.

Ma Dachun's face darkened. As he stood up, he gritted his teeth and whispered, "Sooner or later, I'm going to change my name."

Lu Cheng added leisurely from behind, "Good luck, Charles Ma."

"Shut up!"

Ma Dachun stomped onto the awakening platform and placed his hand on the instrument.

Hum~

A pale blue light rapidly lit up along the metal patterns. The next second, a line of data popped up above the instrument.

[F-grade Talent: Swift Shadow Body]

This type of talent had appeared in records before; it could enhance dynamic reaction, short-distance explosive speed, and neural coordination.

The entire venue was instantly in an uproar.

"B-grade!"

"Holy crap, Class 7 actually produced a B-grade?"

"This talent is really strong, perfect for an agility-based attack style!"

"It's one thing to be handsome, but to have such high talent too?"

The teachers on the high platform also revealed smiles.

B-grade was already quite good, and in a regular class, it was even more eye-catching.

Ma Dachun himself was stunned for two seconds, then he straightened his posture, and his hair seemed to brighten a little.

He turned his head and flashed an incredibly cocky grin at Lu Cheng.

"See that? That's what you call strength."

Lu Cheng clapped, "Alright, Brother Dachun."

Ma Dachun's smile stiffened.

Next, a few more were tested, with grades mostly between D and C.

Until the host teacher called out another name, and the atmosphere in the venue suddenly fell into a subtle silence.

"Su Wan!"

A slender, tall figure stood up from the Class 1 area.

The young girl wore a neat school uniform, her long hair draped over her shoulders. Her skin was as white as snow, her brows and eyes cold and clear, and she carried a quiet sense of aloofness.

When she walked onto the platform, she wasn't nervous in the slightest; there was even a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her lips.

On the platform, Su Wan placed her hand on the awakening instrument.

The next moment, the entire instrument suddenly lit up with a blinding ice-blue light!

The temperature seemed to drop in that instant, and a fine layer of white frost even condensed on the edge of the metal platform.

Everyone was stunned.

Immediately after, a dazzling line of text popped up above the instrument.

[S-Rank Talent: Extreme Cold Ice Soul]

The entire venue was deathly silent.

The next second, the entire training hall erupted!

"S-Rank?!"

"Am I seeing things? Is it really an S-Rank?!"

"You might not even find one in a hundred thousand!"

"Ice attribute... Heavens!"

The teachers on the high platform stood up almost simultaneously, and several martial arts instructors were so excited their faces turned red.

The principal even took two steps forward, staring intently at the instrument screen as if afraid he had misread it.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"Our No. 3 High School actually produced an S-Rank this year!"

The young girl on the platform just smiled slightly, her expression calm to the point of indifference.

Only she knew that this wasn't the end. Extreme Cold Ice Soul could still evolve; in the future, it would become an even more terrifying SSS-Rank Talent!

Su Wan slowly walked off the platform. As she passed the crowd, countless gazes focused on her, but she acted as if she didn't see them, her gaze only sweeping lightly over a certain direction.

Finally, it landed on Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng was stunned.

Before he could think much about it, the host teacher had already called the next name.

"Zhou Lize!"

A boy wearing a designer martial arts uniform stood up, his demeanor arrogant, with an inherent sense of superiority between his brows.

As soon as he got on the platform, people around him began to whisper.

"The one from the Zhou Family?"

"That's him. His family is very wealthy; I heard they're in the pharmaceutical business."

"Pharmaceutical business? How come I heard their methods aren't exactly clean..."

"Shh, keep your voice down."

This guy's reputation at school wasn't great either; backed by the Zhou Family, he had done his fair share of bullying.

Zhou Lize placed his hand on the instrument, and after a moment, the light condensed.

[A-grade Talent: Poison Erosion]

Effect: Source Power carries an erosive property, causing continuous weakening to the target.

"A-grade!"

"As expected!"

"Zhou Lize is just too strong!"

Zhou Lize curled his lips, clearly very satisfied with this result. Not everyone could be as monstrous as Su Wan; A-grade was enough to give him a certain advantage among his peers, and with the support of his family behind him...

This so-called Su Wan... shouldn't be a match for him.

However, I will give her another chance... If she accepts my pursuit, I'll pretend the past never happened.

As he stepped down, his gaze swept over Lu Cheng intentionally or unintentionally, with unconcealed contempt in his eyes.

Soon, it was finally Lu Cheng's turn.

"Lu Cheng!"

Many people in the venue looked over. The incident of Lu Cheng saving the damsel in distress last night was known by quite a few people, and the one he saved was none other than Su Wan, who had just awakened an S-Rank Talent.

Lu Cheng was quite calm. He stood up, walked onto the platform, and placed his hand on the instrument.

Hum.

The light was very weak.

Compared to Su Wan's ice-blue brilliance soaring to the sky and Zhou Lize's purple light flowing, the activity on his side was so small it was almost pathetic.

A few seconds later, a line of text slowly appeared on the screen.

[F-grade Talent: Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck]

After a brief silence, a burst of suppressed snickering rang out through the venue.

Zhou Lize even laughed out loud, not very loudly, but enough for those nearby to hear.

"I thought he was some big shot; turns out he's just an F-grade trash talent."

He walked over slowly with his hands in his pockets, his eyes full of mockery.

"Lu Cheng, with your kind of talent, you'd better stop daydreaming. The path of martial arts isn't for people like you."

This guy actually dared to ruin his plans... If he only had an F-grade Talent, he should naturally go up and stomp on him!

Many people around quieted down, waiting to see the joke.

Lu Cheng glanced at him, his expression surprisingly calm... If a dog bites you, and you bite back... then what's the difference between you and that dog?

As for the ability Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck, Lu Cheng felt it wasn't as simple as he had imagined... it was even a bit overpowered.

As for this Young Master Zhou, why he was mocking him remained to be investigated... After all, besides what had happened in the past two days, he had offended quite a few people.

However, just at this moment, a cold and clear voice suddenly rang out.

"You're only A-grade yourself; do you get a sense of achievement from mocking others?"

Everyone was stunned and turned their heads in unison.

The person speaking was none other than Su Wan.

She stood at the edge of the crowd, her expression indifferent, but her tone was not light.

"If being A-grade gives you the qualification to look down on others, then in front of my S-Rank, what kind of trash are you?"

One sentence directly choked Zhou Lize until his face turned green.

The surroundings fell silent instantly.

No one expected that the proud daughter of heaven, who had just awakened an S-Rank Talent, would actually speak up for Lu Cheng.

It seems the hero saving the beauty last night was true; today, it turned into the beauty saving the beast!

Zhou Lize's eyes sank as he stared at Su Wan, barely managing a smile:

"Student Su, I'm just telling the truth."

"The truth?" Su Wan's eyes were slightly cold, "Or are you just used to stepping on others to find a sense of superiority?"

She looked at Zhou Lize, a trace of extremely faint chill flitting through the depths of her eyes.

Others didn't know, but she knew that yesterday's incident was orchestrated by Zhou Lize, with the purpose of taking away the necklace her mother gave her...

Lu Cheng helped her last night, so he was probably held in resentment as well.

She, Su Wan, was definitely not the type to be ungrateful!

Standing out in front of all the teachers and students now also meant she would receive protection from the school's higher-ups. The old men at No. 3 High School were not something the Zhou Family could easily shake.

The Zhou Family secretly sold prohibited drugs, harming who knew how many people.

And Zhou Lize was one of the masterminds behind many dirty deeds in the future.

He was the real menace.

Zhou Lize felt an inexplicable chill in his heart from her gaze, and his face became increasingly ugly.

Lu Cheng stood on the platform, feeling a bit surprised.

He glanced at Su Wan, then smiled and walked off the platform.

"It's fine," he said casually, "My talent is just a bit worse, it's not like the sky is falling. I don't rely on talent to eat anyway."

As soon as these words were spoken, many people around were stunned. Everyone felt that he was just saying this to comfort himself.

Su Wan glanced at him and said nothing more, her eyes softening for a fleeting moment.

Zhou Lize stared fixedly at Lu Cheng, his eyes as gloomy as a viper.

This guy...

He would remember him.

...

After the awakening ended, the school quickly divided the students into different areas according to their talent grades and classes to conduct the first basic test.

In the strength testing area, punch force meters were neatly arranged.

The teacher stood to the side and said loudly:

"Everyone test in order. You are not allowed to use external objects; you are only permitted to use your own strength and basic force-generating techniques!"

This test was mainly to see the first round of physical feedback after the awakening.

Many people, even if their talent was good, might not have the physical fitness to keep up.

And those who could truly fight often weren't just those with high talent.

Soon, it was Zhou Lize's turn.

He walked to the punch force meter, loosened his wrists, and wore a look of deliberate arrogance on his face.

The next second, he threw a punch!

Bang!

The numbers on the instrument jumped rapidly and finally settled.

[305kg]

A gasp went through the crowd.

"Three hundred kilograms!"

"That's already quite strong, right?"

"For an average high school student, hitting over two hundred is not bad; he's almost touching the threshold of the Body Refining Realm!"

Zhou Lize was clearly very satisfied. After retracting his fist, he deliberately glanced at Lu Cheng and sneered.

"Some people, it's one thing to have poor talent, but if your body is also trash, then you're truly hopeless."

After saying this, he actually walked straight toward Lu Cheng.

"Are you done?" Lu Cheng asked.

Zhou Lize sneered: "What, you unconvinced?"

"No," Lu Cheng loosened his shoulders and walked leisurely to the punch force meter, "I just think you talk a bit too much."

He stood still, his breathing settling slightly.

Many people around looked over.

Everyone in the school knew that Zhou Lize was interested in Su Wan...

Zhou Lize's targeting of Lu Cheng today was probably because of the rumors of him saving the beauty and Su Wan's attitude towards Lu Cheng.

They were also very curious: how much could Lu Cheng, with his F-grade Talent, punch?

Eighty? One hundred?

This guy fought every day; logically, his basic physical fitness should be decent.

The next second, Lu Cheng's eyes suddenly narrowed.

He exerted force from his feet, twisted his waist and hips, and dropped his shoulders and back.

Crushing Fist!

Bang!!

The moment this punch was thrown, a short, sharp explosive sound even rang out in the air.

The punch force meter shook violently, and the numbers jumped wildly!

[463kg]

The entire venue fell silent instantly.

One second.

Two seconds.

The next moment, the entire testing area exploded!

"Four hundred and sixty kilograms?!"

"Holy crap! Am I seeing things?"

"This has already reached the strength standard for the first level of the Body Refining Realm!"

"Isn't he an F-grade Talent?!"

Even the teacher in charge of recording looked up abruptly, his face full of astonishment.

Ma Dachun's mouth was open wide enough to fit an egg.

"Damn... Lu Cheng, did you secretly evolve behind my back?!"

The sneer on Zhou Lize's face froze completely, as if he had been slapped hard in public.

Three hundred and five kilograms.

Versus four hundred and sixty-three kilograms.

A difference of more than one hundred and sixty kilograms!

Lu Cheng retracted his fist and shook his wrist, his expression as calm as if he had just done something trivial.

He turned his head to look at Zhou Lize and grinned.

"Now, who is more embarrassed?"

The people around looked at him, and their eyes had changed.

So what if he had an F-grade Talent?

This one punch was enough to make everyone who looked down on him shut up.

Outside the crowd, Su Wan watched this scene quietly, a slight ripple appearing in the depths of her eyes. Most things were running along their previous tracks, but this Lu Cheng was a variable.

Over four hundred kilograms, his physical fitness was indeed very strong...

But there was absolutely no comparison to her. After awakening her talent today, her cultivation speed and the speed at which her martial arts would improve were absolutely incomparable to Lu Cheng.

The competition a week later looked like it was just here to hand over the rewards.