45: Chapter 45 This thing is a money pit!

And the most ridiculous part is, after using Limit Burst in the simulation, almost 50% of the experience points are returned after exiting the simulation.

This is... quite something to look forward to.

"Director Zhou, if I said I wanted to use the simulation pod for training, is there a channel for that?" Chen Mo leaned over to Zhou Sanlang and asked in a low voice.

"Not bad, kid." Zhou Sanlang was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected Chen Mo to realize right away that this simulation pod could be used to train martial arts.

"Unfortunately, you can't use it during the Simulated Defense Battle."

"Because every time the simulation pod starts, it burns at least one million, and every minute it runs, it burns another four hundred thousand."

"The finances of our Henan Province aren't enough to support you all using the simulation pods for training."

"Sigh..." Chen Mo sighed, feeling a bit disappointed. He had even started considering contacting that Garrison Commander to see if he could use his influence to get access.

"However, you don't need to be too disappointed."

"Do you know why everyone wants to get into the National Martial Arts University?" Zhou Sanlang smiled slightly and asked, putting an arm around Chen Mo's shoulder.

"Why? Isn't it because the National Martial Arts University is the most badass martial arts university in our Great Xia?" Chen Mo didn't know why Zhou Sanlang would ask such a stupid question.

It was like how everyone in his past life wanted to get into Tsinghua, Peking University, or the National University of Defense Technology; was it that they didn't want to go? It was because they couldn't get in, alright?

"No, no, no, it's more than that." Zhou Sanlang shook his head and pointed to the physical examination center behind them.

"The National Martial Arts University has the most advanced technological support in all of Great Xia, and all newly researched training methods are provided to the National Martial Arts University first."

"Take this simulation pod training, for example. I've heard that as long as you enroll in the National Martial Arts University, everyone gets one hour of usage time every month."

"That one hour burns through nearly twenty-five million. Now do you know why everyone is risking their lives trying to enroll in the National Martial Arts University?"

Hearing this, Chen Mo gasped. Was the National Martial Arts University really this insanely wealthy?

"Work hard, young man. Only by breaking into the National Joint Examination and securing a top-100 spot will you be qualified for direct admission to the National Martial Arts University." As he spoke, Zhou Sanlang patted Chen Mo on the shoulder and walked quickly to the front of the line.

It must be said that Guancheng lives up to its reputation as a provincial capital; in terms of accommodation alone, it completely crushes Luo City.

Unlike the small dormitory building from before, the students who came to participate in the Provincial Joint Examination this time were all staying at the simulation center's own hotel.

The management wasn't as strict as the previous City-level Joint Exam. Everyone could freely enter and leave the hotel, and those who wanted to wander around could take the simulation center's own shuttle bus to go play in the city.

After all, this Joint Exam was a Simulated Defense Battle, so the possibility of cheating simply didn't exist.

Unless you were badass enough to find a top-tier hacker who was capable and willing to hack the supercomputing center for you, but even if you found one, it would be absolutely impossible for a single super hacker to accomplish such a thing.

Furthermore, the simulation center had prepared special training rooms for the candidates participating in the Joint Exam; whether it was martial arts training or strength training, everything was available.

After dinner, Chen Mo didn't just sit around; he strolled alone into the strength training center.

His daily task today was to complete five sets of twenty-ton bench presses, with six reps per set.

Compared to a regular gym, the strength training center at the simulation center was quite luxurious; there was a huge pile of heavy alloy barbell plates alone.

"Buddy, are you still using these plates?" After scouring the entire training center, Chen Mo found that he was still exactly one ton short of twenty tons.

Since there wasn't much space left on the barbell, Chen Mo set his sights on a youth nearby who was doing squats.

The youth was carrying exactly two 500kg barbell plates on his shoulders; with those two, he would have just enough.

"If you need to use them, go ahead." The youth put the barbell back in place, picked up a towel, wiped his sweat, and said.

"Thanks." Chen Mo reached out, grabbed one of the barbell plates, and removed it effortlessly.

Just like that, Chen Mo grabbed a 500kg barbell plate in each hand and trotted back to his bench press.

The youth looked at Chen Mo's ridiculously exaggerated barbell, his head feeling a bit dazed.

"One, two, three... eight, nine, ten!?" The youth was stunned. Even without counting the weight of the barbell bar itself, the weight of the plates alone was twenty tons! What was this guy trying to do?

"Hoo..." Chen Mo let out a long breath, his muscles compressing slightly, raising his strength to a level sufficient to handle twenty tons.

Hum! The sound of air being torn by metal rang out, and the youth watched with his own eyes as Chen Mo completed a set of six bench presses with a barbell weighing over twenty tons.

"Holy crap!" "Brother!" The youth slid onto his knees and appeared beside Chen Mo, unable to resist reaching out to squeeze the muscles in Chen Mo's forearm.

"Just how strong are you?" "This is over twenty tons, and you... are using this weight for sets?"

Chen Mo didn't find the youth annoying; after all, martial artists willing to invest a lot of energy into strength training were already rare.

"Yeah, this weight is just right for me." Chen Mo moved his shoulders around; during that bench press, he seemed to have some shoulder impingement. Was this a lingering effect from throwing full-power punches earlier?

"..." The youth fell silent. What did he mean by saying over twenty tons was "just right"?

"Brother, my name is Lin Ye, I'm here from Longdu to participate in the Joint Exam." "Looking at you, you must be here for the Joint Exam too, right?" Lin Ye reached out his hand toward Chen Mo, seemingly wanting to get to know him.

"Hello, my name is Chen Mo, from Luo City." Since the other party was showing goodwill, there was no need for him to be cold. Besides, he wasn't the type to be aloof anyway.

"Chen Mo... Chen Mo!?" "Are you that monster who used brute force to crush Cheng Men?" Lin Ye seemed to remember something, and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Mo became strange.

"That makes sense, then. Twenty tons probably isn't your full strength, is it?" "I remember your talent is called Great Strength; it really lives up to its name!" Lin Ye was somewhat excited; the person who was only talked about on forums had actually appeared right in front of him.

"What about you?" "What is your talent?" Chen Mo laid back down, gripping the barbell tightly with both hands.

"Me? I have a Spatial talent!" Lin Ye didn't have the slightest guard up against Chen Mo and blurted out his talent directly.

"Don't look at Spatial talents as sounding high-end; in reality, they don't have much effect in the lower three grades."

"To be precise, my talent is called Spatial Anchoring, specifically used to deal with those who are particularly agile or fellow Spatial-type martial artists."

"I can create an area within a certain range where fast movement, dashing, and blinking are impossible. Within this area, the maximum speed cannot exceed one meter per second."

"It's just a pity that my talent has no lethality; to kill enemies, one still has to rely on martial arts and martial dao realm." Lin Ye spread his hands, his face full of regret.

Chen Mo's face darkened. He kept feeling like this guy was humblebragging to him. If he had a trick like that, he wouldn't have had to struggle so hard when fighting Zhao Zihao back then.