121: Chapter 121 Li Wen, Not Bad

Compared to this terrifying figure of one hundred and eighty-eight layers, the previous testers' highest scores of only eighty or ninety seemed pale and weak.

This was no longer just a lead, but a display of near-crushing dominance.

"His Physical Body Rank is likely infinitely close to the threshold of a Super Martial Artist, and his Momentum Realm has already reached its Peak."

Li Wen instantly judged Ron Zaka's specific strength.

The level of power contained in this spear strike far exceeded the limits of an ordinary Advanced Martial Artist.

Ron Zaka seemed completely deaf to the waves of exclamation behind him as he simply stood there.

Looking at the path that had pierced through one hundred and eighty-eight layers of golden walls, his face showed no surprise, only a natural calmness and a hint of satisfaction deep in his eyes.

He casually propped the black spear on the ground, as if he had just effortlessly completed a trivial task.

The testing continued.

The remaining nine people of the tenth batch also completed their tests in turn, but with the radiance of Ron Zaka's earth-shattering spear strike before them, although the geniuses in the subsequent batches were quite capable...

...their scores were mostly concentrated in the dozens of layers, with the highest being no more than a hundred and forty-odd. Under the brilliance of those one hundred and eighty-eight layers, they seemed somewhat mediocre and failed to stir up another massive wave like before.

This brief silence was not broken until the thirty-first batch of geniuses stepped into the testing area.

Among the ten, one person was particularly eye-catching.

He was dressed in simple black martial arts attire, and while his build was not particularly tall, every step he took carried a presence as steady as a mountain...

...and as restrained as fire.

Most importantly, his face was extremely unfamiliar to the local geniuses of the Blue Star.

"Fang Chenghong? Which one is Fang Chenghong?" someone whispered in the crowd.

"The one in black."

"I heard he's a Genius from the Crimson Flame Star? Is he very strong?"

Amidst the curious and scrutinizing gazes of many Blue Star geniuses, this visitor from beyond the stars named Fang Chenghong walked calmly to the weapon rack.

Without any hesitation, he raised his hand and gripped a standard long spear.

The moment he gripped the spear, his entire temperament seemed to solidify, shifting from stillness to motion in an instant.

There were no fancy preparatory movements, nor was there a charging momentum like Ron Zaka's to build power.

Fang Chenghong simply stood in place, aligning his waist and legs. His right arm pulled back slightly like drawing a bow, and then, his arm suddenly thrust forward, his wrist snapping violently!

"Vroom—!"

A low, powerful hum of the spear rang out.

The spear shot out, straight as a line!

A highly condensed deep-red spear glow, tipped with a sharp, dark cold star, easily pierced through layers of golden Qi and blood walls like tearing through cloth.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood!

Wherever the spear glow passed, the incredibly solid Qi and blood walls were like fragile pieces of paper, breaking one after another.

The speed was so fast and the momentum so fierce that the hearts of all the spectators below instantly leaped into their throats.

The numbers on the light screen soared rapidly:

Fifty layers—one hundred layers—one hundred and twenty layers—one hundred and fifty layers—one hundred and seventy layers—

Finally, the spear glow pierced through the one hundred and eighty-sixth layer. Upon touching the one hundred and eighty-seventh layer's barrier, it dimmed slightly, exhausted all its momentum, and slowly dissipated.

"Fang Chenghong, one hundred and eighty-six layers!" the recording attendant announced the number in the same high-pitched tone.

Boom!

The entire Jian Xin Hall erupted with a vibration even more intense than when Ron Zaka had appeared.

"My god! One hundred and eighty-six layers?!"

"Only two layers less than Ron Zaka?!"

"Someone from the Crimson Flame Star is also this powerful?"

"Who on earth is this Fang Chenghong? I've never heard of him before."

Exclamations and discussions rose one after another. The shock on the faces of many Blue Star geniuses even surpassed their admiration for Ron Zaka.

Because this completely exceeded their understanding—a name that had never appeared on the blue star youth platinum ranking actually possessed such terrifying strength.

On the main stage, the indifference on the faces of the dozens of Marquis-level Divine Demons was now replaced by surprise.

One of them, a middle-aged Marquis-level Expert with an elegant bearing and a face like polished jade, looked down at the figure standing tall with his spear in the testing area, his eyes filled with complexity.

"Brother Fang," a Marquis-level Expert in green Daoist robes beside him spoke with a smile and a hint of inquiry, "it seems your Fang Family is indeed full of talent; such hereditary talent is truly enviable. However—for such a Prodigy, your Family is actually willing to send him to our Kindling Hall?"

The Marquis-level Divine Demon addressed as "Brother Fang" gave a helpless, bitter smile upon hearing this and sighed softly, "Brother Qingsong, you overpraise him. How could the Family not want to keep him for core cultivation? Unfortunately, this little fellow is stubborn; once he sets his mind on something, nine oxen couldn't pull him back.

He is determined to follow the path of the Nine Heavens Divine Body and took a fancy to Kindling Hall's Foundation and guidance capabilities in this area, insisting on coming here—"

"Nine Heavens Divine Body?" another silver-haired Marquis-level Divine Demon raised an eyebrow, his tone understanding. "So that's it. It seems your Fang Family's fate with this Nine Heavens Divine Body is truly a life-and-death struggle? First, that person who is still stuck at the Super Martial Artist level and unable to Breakthrough for a long time—and now this junior is coming to try?"

"Sigh—" The Marquis surnamed Fang shook his head helplessly, but deep in his eyes was a hidden, hard-to-detect trace of hope and determination. "The predecessors plant the trees, and the descendants—must always try. Even if it doesn't work out, Kindling Hall's cultivation system will still be of great benefit to his future."

Several Marquis-level Divine Demons nodded slightly upon hearing this and stopped speaking, but their gaze toward Fang Chenghong clearly became more solemn.

The Nine Heavens Divine Body was known as a peerless foundational method leading to the Peak of Divine Demons. They all knew very well how harsh its cultivation was and the risks of falling.

Once successful, becoming a Marquis was just the start, and even becoming a King would not be difficult.

The strength testing segment continued, and the rounds moved forward.

After Fang Chenghong, several more top-tier geniuses displayed impressive strength.

Hunter from Ancient Europe broke through one hundred and fifty-five layers with a heavy, powerful punch; Elena from the Nordic Ice Field pierced through one hundred and sixty layers with a condensed icy glow—gradually, the number of geniuses who reached over a hundred layers increased.

However, no one else appeared who could reach the heights of over one hundred and eighty layers like the brief glimpses of Ron Zaka and Fang Chenghong.

The strongest one stopped at one hundred and seventy-two layers.

When the fifty-second batch of geniuses walked toward the testing area at the staff's signal, a tall and slightly thin figure stepped out from the crowd—Li Wen.

His appearance also drew some attention.

As a dark horse rising to fame in Jiangnan Province and winning as a Technique Awakened, even though his Physical Body Rank was currently the lowest among them, it was enough to make him a person of interest for a small group.

—

Especially his companions from Jiangnan Province, such as Chu Feng and Nangong Xue, who all cast their gazes over.

Li Wen's expression was calm, ignoring the scrutiny and evaluation in those gazes.

He didn't look at the heavy weapons or long weapons nearby but walked straight to the weapon rack holding sabers and took down a standard fast saber similar to the style he was used to.

It felt slightly heavy in his hand, but it was manageable.

Power had never been his strongest suit.

As he knew himself, among the thousands of geniuses present, he was probably the only Elementary Martial Artist whose Physical Body Rank had just broken through to Level 10.

He didn't harbor high expectations for his score in this segment.

His reliance lay further ahead.

But even so, he would never just go through the motions.

He took a deep breath, his concentration highly focused, without directly using his Primordial Spirit Power.

Instead, through the terrifyingly precise internal inspection ability of the Primordial Spirit, he instantly and perfectly coordinated the Level 10 Martial Artist Qi and blood surging through his body like a small stream.

At this moment, he didn't choose the Lueying Style he was most skilled in or fastest with, but instead chose the Overlapping Waves Style from the Flowing Rainbow Startling Magpie Chapter, which had the most ferocious explosive power and the most aggressive, overbearing power stacking.

His feet took root, his waist and torso twisted tight, and the muscles in his arms instantly tensed into fine lines.

Guided by the Overlapping Waves Style, the Qi and blood in his body were like a hundred rivers converging, crazily pouring into the saber's blade along the most perfect and efficient path.

"Ha!"

A short, powerful shout rang out. It wasn't deafening, but the power it contained made the hearts of those nearby tremble.

There was no brilliant light or dazzling momentum, only a two-to-three-zhang-long, nearly completely restrained yet incredibly condensed gray-white saber glow that faintly whistled through the air.

It suddenly slashed out, fast as lightning and heavy as a mountain.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The saber glow was unstoppable.

Layer after layer of indestructible Qi and blood walls were sliced open like thin paper before that extremely condensed sharpness and powerful explosive force.

Fifty layers—seventy layers—ninety layers—one hundred layers.

Only after slashing through the hundredth layer did the saber glow's momentum visibly and rapidly decline.

It stubbornly sliced through five more barriers before being completely worn away by the thick and tough Qi and blood energy in front of the one hundred and fifth layer.

"Li Wen, one hundred and five layers." The recording attendant glanced at the light screen and announced the score in a steady voice, showing neither the excitement he had for Fang Chenghong nor any surprise.

The people below had varied reactions as they looked at the number frozen on the light screen.

Most geniuses who didn't know Li Wen or had only heard of the title "Jiangnan's Number One" nodded slightly: "Not bad, he broke a hundred."

39

For an Elementary Martial Artist, this score was definitely excellent.

His companions from Jiangnan Province, such as Chu Feng and Nangong Xue, were not surprised at all by this result; they knew very well where Li Wen's strengths lay.

A few who had followed information about Li Wen had a realization: "As expected, his strong technique compensates for his lack of power. This explosive force has already far exceeded that of a typical Technique Awakened; he truly deserves to be the Provincial Top Scholar. However, in this assessment, Physical Body Rank is ultimately a weakness."

In short, the score of one hundred and five layers didn't cause much of a stir under the brilliance of top-tier power-type geniuses like Ron Zaka and Fang Chenghong.

It seemed neither good nor bad, merely serving as one of the proofs of decent strength among the army of geniuses.

It only confirmed Li Wen's status as a Genius without triggering much shock.

However, the dozens of Marquis-level Divine Demons on the main stage, who looked down upon all living beings, possessed insight far beyond that of the geniuses below.

When Li Wen's name was called, their gazes focused on him almost instantly.

In front of each Divine Demon was a summary of top-secret information about the top students from each province.

One Marquis-level Expert with a cold, chiseled face looked at the Physical Body Rank column in Li Wen's data on the light screen. A trace of hard-to-detect surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he laughed in spite of himself, joking, "Ho, this little fellow's Physical Body Rank—is probably the lowest among the three thousand people here, right?"

Beside him, a Marquis-level Divine Demon with an elegant temperament and a starry robe had a sharp gaze: "Yes, he just broke through not long ago, his Qi is not yet perfected, though his Foundation is quite solidly polished. His Awakening time—probably wasn't long ago." He turned his gaze toward Marquis Lu Feng, the Marquis of Jiangling, in the seating area.

Marquis Lu Feng, the Marquis of Jiangling, who was responsible for Jiangnan Province, nodded slightly and took the initiative to explain, "Brother Hunyuan is correct. Exact information shows that his Awakening occurred between late December last year and early January this year."

.

His tone was flat, but he pointed out the key information: from Li Wen's Awakening until now, it had only been a little over five months.

"Oh?" Another Marquis-level Expert wearing magnificent ancient armor, with an aura as deep as the abyss and sea, raised an eyebrow, seemingly gaining some interest. "Five months? From Awakening to becoming a Martial Artist, and reaching such a level in technique and explosive power—"

"It must be a combination of a talent explosion period and extremely focused, diligent training."

The cold Marquis nodded in agreement with the previous judgment. "Plus the bonus from being a Technique Awakened—he is indeed a rare good seedling. Although his Physical Body is a weakness, the skill, force application, and precise control of the sudden explosion in that slash far exceed those of an ordinary Technique Awakened. This little fellow has put in a lot of hard work on his Blade Technique; his basic skills are incredibly solid."

He used words like "good seedling" and "incredibly solid." His tone sounded casual, but the evaluation was already quite high.

"Well, he can barely be considered a decent seedling."

The elegant Marquis-level Divine Demon nodded slightly, and his appreciation for Li Wen grew a bit more as he looked down at him again.

To go from zero Foundation to becoming a Martial Artist within five months, pushing his Blade Technique Momentum Realm to the Peak, and even starting to try to condense Saber Intent, while also winning as the Provincial Top Scholar—this accumulation and growth speed were definitely not something an ordinary Genius could compare to.

Even beings of their level could see Li Wen's potential and his extraordinary willpower.

However, they only had a slight appreciation for Li Wen, which was far from being considered important.

To these Marquis-level Divine Demons who stood high enough and were used to the changing world, ordinary geniuses were like stars in the night sky—numerous but difficult to light up their path.

Only those "peerless geniuses" who shone brilliantly, had a great possibility of reaching the Marquis level, or even hoped to fight alongside them on the battlefield could truly enter their core vision and receive their genuine attention and resources.

And at this moment, although Li Wen had potential, in their eyes, he was still some distance from that threshold.

Whether he could truly leap over the dragon gate would depend on his performance in the subsequent, more critical core assessment segments, especially the combat and Comprehension Ability assessments.

In their view, a Physical Body weakness was not a weakness at all; future potential was the key.

The testing rounds moved forward like flowing water.

Batches of geniuses stepped forward, doing their best to display their power.