21: Chapter 21 Joint Examination! Begin!

After completing two sets of bench presses, Chen Mo thanked them and left.

He still had some residual medicinal power from the 1st-rank blood qi pill left in his body; this had been bought with hard-earned money, so it absolutely could not be wasted.

After Chen Mo left, the few 4th-rank and 5th-rank Martial Artists stared at each other for a while.

Finally, Zhou Sanlang walked over to the bent and deformed barbell and lay down.

"Everyone come over, spot me!"

Seeing how easily Chen Mo had pushed it, Zhou Sanlang felt like he might be able to do it too... right?

The few of them exchanged glances and gathered around.

Zhou Sanlang's forehead and neck veins bulged, his entire face flushed red, and only then did he barely manage to lift the barbell off the rack.

Refusing to believe it, Zhou Sanlang gritted his teeth and tried to bring the barbell down toward his chest muscles.

It went down, alright, but he could not push it back up!

"..."

Zhou Sanlang exerted force with his entire body, even tearing the mat under his feet, but the barbell remained completely unmoved.

It wasn't until the blood qi in his body began to surge that Zhou Sanlang finally pushed the barbell up.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

Zhou Sanlang lay on the bench press, his eyes full of disbelief.

The weight he needed to use blood qi to lift, that teenager who was not even eighteen yet had just lifted it with his raw physical strength alone?

And he even did several consecutive bench presses; no wonder his Talent was called Great Strength.

"Director Zhou, are you alright?"

The bald man from earlier leaned in and asked, looking at Zhou Sanlang's flushed old face.

"A monster. I must personally serve as the referee tomorrow."

Zhou Sanlang ignored the bald man; he took a moment to recover before sitting back up.

"When I erupt with all my blood qi, my strength limit is around twenty-five tons."

"But that kid can easily lift fifteen tons without using a shred of blood qi."

"Have you considered where his limit might be?"

Zhou Sanlang's words instantly jolted the people around him, and the sound of gasps filled the air.

"Combined with martial arts and blood qi, that kid could kill a 3rd-rank Abyss Beast with a single punch!"

"Do you think any of these eighteen-year-olds could withstand a full-power punch from him?"

"And you've all been that age before; seventeen or eighteen is the age when people are most prone to hot-headedness. If I don't referee personally, do you expect me to watch him beat his classmates to death?"

Zhou Sanlang stood up, put his jacket back on, and his subordinates from the Martial Education Bureau followed him as they left.

Outside the Luocheng Sports Center, Zhou Sanlang lit a cigarette and looked up at the vast, brilliant galaxy.

"Truly, the waves of the Yangtze River drive those before them..."

The night passed quickly, and by eight in the morning, the candidates participating in this Joint Exam were already prepared in the backstage lounge.

At this moment, the Luocheng Sports Center was packed, with at least ten thousand people sitting in the audience.

There were also reporters from official media outlets like the Luo City TV Station and the Luo City Morning Post, and everyone was quite excited.

As a world that prizes martial arts, the battles between young geniuses are always something to look forward to.

This makes the annual Joint Exam the liveliest major event outside of the Spring Festival, and one that is broadcast live in its entirety.

Unfortunately, the City-level Joint Exam is only broadcast on the city-level TV station and the official Luo City live stream channel; only by reaching a bigger stage can one let more people see them.

"Chen Mo, are you nervous?"

Wang Jun kept taking deep breaths, his hand gripping his sword trembling slightly.

"Nervous?"

"Saying I'm not would be lying; after all, there are too many people here to watch the spectacle."

Chen Mo also took a deep breath and replied, looking at the other nervous boys and girls around him.

"Candidates, get ready; the entrance ceremony is beginning!"

The staff member in charge of the entrance ran over hurriedly, and at the same time, the voice of the official commentator rang out outside.

"Dear audience members!"

"Good morning, everyone!"

The passionate commentary, combined with the already excited mood of the audience, instantly brought the atmosphere of the entire Luocheng Sports Center to its peak.

"I know why you have all come!"

"Naturally, it is to witness the battles between the geniuses of our great Luo City!"

"This year's City-level Joint Exam can truly be called a battle of dragons and tigers!"

"There are seven Talent-based Martial Artists alone, and even one super Talent-based Martial Artist of the rule-type!"

"The Ascetic Martial Artists are not weak either; one Ascetic Martial Artist from Third High School is about to step into the 2nd-rank and has mastered an A-grade martial art!"

"Now, let us welcome our Luo City geniuses with the most enthusiastic cheers and applause!"

As the voice fell, thunderous applause and cheers instantly resounded throughout the entire Luocheng Sports Center.

The entrance gates opened, and thirty-two of Luo City's top geniuses walked into the exam arena amidst the cheers.

Each person's specific information appeared on the large screen above, but the most eye-catching were always the strange and peculiar Talents of the Talent-based Martial Artists.

The first Talent-based Martial Artist on Blue Star once said something.

"There are no useless Talents, only martial artists who don't know how to utilize their own Talent!"

The first few Talents were fine; similar Talents could currently be found on the market.

Su Qingyue's True Sight Eye left quite a few people in shock, but the vast majority of people's gazes were drawn to the person listed last.

That's right, that person was Chen Mo!

"What does it mean that the Talent is Great Strength?"

An old man adjusted his glasses, wondering if his presbyopia had gotten worse.

"I don't know. Is this Talent a bit too straightforward?"

"But if it counts as a Talent, 'Great Strength'... then it must be really strong, right?"

The crowd discussed it amongst themselves, all very curious about this Talent where the riddle was the answer itself.

They were mainly curious about one thing: just how strong does a person's strength have to be to count as a Talent?

Thirty-two candidates sat down simultaneously, each followed by their corresponding school's logistics team.

"Chen Mo!"

"Brother Mo!"

The figures of Principal Liu Zhifeng and Xueni appeared behind Chen Mo at the same time; he turned to look and discovered that his logistics team seemed to be just these two people.

"Wait, why is it you two?"

Chen Mo was bewildered; shouldn't the logistics team be the teachers from Third High School?

Why is a principal like you personally stepping up to the plate??

"And Xueni, shouldn't you be at the Orphanage taking care of the younger siblings? Why did you run over here?"

"Hehe, Grandpa Liu brought all of us to watch Brother Mo's Joint Exam~"

Xueni chuckled, and Principal Liu Zhifeng pointed to the audience seats across from Chen Mo.

Chen Mo squinted his eyes and discovered that Director Gu Sanding, who had just finished bypass surgery, and a dozen children from the Orphanage were all in the audience seats.

"You bastard!"

"Do you have any idea that Old Gu just finished heart bypass surgery?!"

"He can't get too excited!"

Principal Liu Zhifeng quickly stepped back, just barely avoiding being grabbed by the collar by Chen Mo.

"You really can't blame me for this; Old Master Gu insisted on coming himself."

"He even declared that if I dared to stop him, he would climb the wall himself to watch your Joint Exam."

"You know how old the old man is; climbing walls is dangerous. It's better to just buy him a ticket and let him in."

Chen Mo's expression froze instantly upon hearing this; this really seemed like something Director Gu Sanding would do.

Director Gu Sanding appeared gentle and refined on the surface, but in his bones, he had quite a bit of rogue in him.

"Fine..."

Chen Mo sighed; Principal Liu Zhifeng really didn't have any other good options.

"By the way, who is fighting whom in the first match?"