23: Extremely explosive power? Or extremely non-explosive power?

September 16th was the day of the annual Entrance Exam for the Guangling Martial Academy.

On the massive Martial Arts Arena, the Academy Dean, Vice Dean, and many high-ranking officials and teachers sat upright in the central viewing stand, their brocade robes shimmering under the sunlight.

On the three sides of the spectator stands, one side was occupied by the heads of major families and representatives of various powers, all dressed in fine silk and brocade.

On the other two sides sat wealthy merchants from the prefecture city who had purchased tickets, or spectators who had come purely to watch the grand competition.

After all, although the geniuses of Guangling Martial Academy were young and their strength still developing, their talents were extraordinary. Seeing them fight with all their might on the field was a rare visual feast for many commoners and wealthy merchants... "Candidate number thirty-six, defeated the Seventh Grade Initial Stage bronze mechanical man, held out for three hundred and twenty-three moves before being defeated by the Seventh Grade Mid-stage bronze mechanical man."

"Candidate number forty-two, defeated the Seventh Grade Mid-stage bronze mechanical man, held out for six hundred and seventy-two moves before being defeated by the Seventh-Rank Late Stage bronze mechanical man."

"Candidate number fifty-one, defeated..."

...On the field, thirty bronze mechanical men were engaged in a frantic battle with thirty candidates.

Beside each pair of candidate and bronze mechanical man, a teacher from the Academy watched and recorded the scene. Once the battle concluded, these teachers would announce the results of each Disciple in loud, resonant voices.

In all exams at Guangling Martial Academy, the process was generally divided into two rounds.

The first round was the bronze mechanical man Battle; as the name suggested, it allowed the Academy to preliminary judge a candidate's strength through combat with a bronze mechanical man.

If a candidate was strong enough to break into the top twenty during the first round, they would be qualified to participate in the second round—the Arena Battle.

This battle would determine the top ten, top three, and the first and second places of the Academy through an arena challenge format.

Basically, every person who could enter this round was a true chosen one of the entire Guangling Prefecture. Each would receive massive rewards from the Academy and attract recruitment offers from countless major powers. Even top-tier families like the Wang Family would extend an olive branch; it was truly a leap to greatness.

"Alright! The exam for the second batch of candidates, numbered thirty-one to sixty, has concluded."

On the field, as the last candidate of the second batch was defeated, a burly man spoke up immediately, his voice incredibly loud:

"Next is the third batch. Candidates who previously drew numbers sixty-one to ninety, please enter the field for your exam now."

"Lin Yi, it's your turn!"

Hearing the burly man's voice, Wang Kai, who was beside Lin Yi, looked at the large number seventy-four on Lin Yi's back and smiled.

"You better show some real skill in this exam. Don't accidentally fail to even make the top twenty."

"We haven't sparred much in the past half month because you were busy delivering medicine. I'm still waiting to have a good fight with you on the arena later!"

"Don't worry! You won't be disappointed!"

Lin Yi smiled and strode onto the exam grounds, eventually arriving beside a bronze mechanical man and a thin, small martial arts teacher.

"Candidate number seventy-four, please choose the strength level of the bronze mechanical man you will face."

The thin teacher looked at Lin Yi and asked with a calm expression.

"Sixth Grade Initial Stage."

Lin Yi replied.

"Sixth Grade Initial Stage!"

Hearing this, not only was the thin teacher startled, but the surrounding martial arts teachers and Disciples were also shocked.

The Sixth Grade Initial Stage was the level of a Middle Three Grades Martial Artist. Even though bronze mechanical men were limited by their Realm of martial arts techniques and their strength was always at the bottom among Martial Artists of the same rank,

the strength of a Sixth Grade Initial Stage bronze mechanical man was far beyond what a Seventh Grade Peak Stage Martial Artist could compare to.

Among the previous sixty candidates, there were those who could rank in the top five among the three hundred Disciples, or even contend for the top three.

In terms of strength, they were almost not inferior to Wang Kai before he achieved a Breakthrough to the Major Achievement of the Great Mountain Opening Sword Technique.

Yet even such a person had been defeated after holding out for over a hundred moves when challenging a Sixth Grade Initial Stage bronze mechanical man.

Lin Yi, a student who ranked over two hundred in the last exam—how did he have the nerve!

Even if he had reached Perfection in the Bright Moon Saber Technique recently, he shouldn't be this arrogant!

"Candidate number seventy-four, are you sure you want to choose the Sixth Grade Initial Stage bronze mechanical man?"

After the initial shock, the thin teacher's expression became serious.

"You should know that as your teacher, I am only at the Sixth Grade Mid-stage. I am not much stronger than this Sixth Grade Initial Stage bronze mechanical man."

"Furthermore, these bronze mechanical men possess great strength and speed. If the gap between you and it is too large, I might not even be able to rescue you in time if an accident occurs later."

"Don't worry, Teacher."

Lin Yi's face remained calm as he nodded.

"Since I dare to choose it, I naturally have confidence. Please go ahead and activate it, Teacher."

"This... alright then!"

Seeing Lin Yi's persistence, the thin teacher felt helpless.

"Since you insist, I will activate it for you. However, if you find yourself unable to hold on later, remember to say so in advance so I can be ready to rescue you at any time."

"Yes! Thank you, Teacher."

Lin Yi nodded.

He then watched as the thin teacher performed a series of operations on the back of the bronze mechanical man to adjust its strength, while secretly thinking to himself:

"After a day of bitter cultivation yesterday, under the terrifying effect of the Martial Dao Sacred Body, my cultivation has already broken through to the Seventh-Rank Late Stage."

"With my current strength in a normal state, I estimate it would take about a hundred and fifty moves to deal with a Sixth Grade Initial Stage bronze mechanical man."

"If I trigger Extreme Strength, I could one-hundred-percent insta-kill it in a single move."

"So, in this exam, should I trigger it? Or not?"