Chapter 21: Temporary Competition
However, his hard work in training was not without its benefits. After undergoing 4 hours of high-intensity exhaustion in the afternoon, his body would always transmit a feeling of "hunger and thirst" whenever he cultivated again.
In this state, his speed of absorbing Spiritual Qi was twice as fast as usual, and he could digest it quickly as well. Even though he had not taken any potions this week, his Realm had already reached the peak of Rank One, sixth stage.
According to Zhao Gang, his massive amount of exercise caused the Spiritual Qi remaining in his body from natural absorption to be consumed rapidly, leaving his body in a state of Spiritual Qi deficit. Absorbing it at this time was like a person who had not drunk water for 3 days encountering water and gulping it down; the speed was incredibly fast, and so was the digestion.
Cultivating in this state was much faster than simply sitting at home and meditating. Therefore, training and cultivating were inseparable, and combining the two could produce even greater results.
On this day, Zhao Gang gathered everyone together.
"Students, after a week of training, I'm sure all of you have made some progress to varying degrees. As your teacher, I have seen all of this, so I have decided to hold a temporary test today. Everyone will fight in pairs to examine your learning outcomes."
One student raised their hand.
"Teacher, is there a reward for first place?"
Zhao Gang said, "Of course there is. For the final training assessment I've designed, the matches are decided by drawing lots. The person who takes first place today won't have to participate in the drawing of lots or the preliminary matches of the final assessment and will go straight to the final round."
"No need to participate in the drawing of lots!"
"That's a great opportunity to conserve energy!"
"By the time others have finished several matches and are exhausted, I won't have fought a single one. Being full of energy would be a huge advantage!"
"Looks like I have to give it my all!"
At this moment, another student raised their hand to ask a question.
"Teacher, since we all have different Supernatural Abilities and Ranks, the improvement in our physical fitness is also different. Isn't this a bit unfair?"
The physical fitness gained with each stage varied depending on the Supernatural Ability. Physical types, such as strength-based and Beast Transformation types, gained the most, while elemental types like fire and water gained more in Mental Energy.
Zhao Gang said, "At Rank One, the physical fitness improvement without using Supernatural Abilities is quite limited, so the difference isn't that large. Besides, this world is inherently unfair; you must get used to it as soon as possible. Alright, let's start drawing lots."
Everyone lined up and drew their lots from the box one by one.
Su Ke looked at his own. It was number 9.
There were 36 people in their class in total, which meant the highest number on the lots was 18.
Zhao Gang said, "Let's get this straight: during the matches, no one is allowed to use their Supernatural Ability, otherwise you'll be disqualified immediately. Alright, whoever drew lot number 1, come up and compete."
Two students walked to the center of the field and stood facing each other.
Su Ke knew them. Feng Wei and Ma Ran.
Both were physical-type Supernatural Ability users who had awakened excellent-grade talents; one was Strength Reinforcement, and the other was Speed Reinforcement.
Unlike Wang Zhong's Muscle Reinforcement, which was an all-around boost, these two mainly improved a single attribute. For the one who improved strength, speed and defense did not increase much, and for the one who improved speed, strength and defense did not increase much.
However, the physical fitness gained with each stage breakthrough was similar. Since their talent levels were also the same, the gap in their physical fitness without using Supernatural Abilities was not large, making it a good opening match.
Zhao Gang said, "Both contestants in position, start!"
The two of them rushed toward each other simultaneously.
As they closed in, Feng Wei threw a kick, but Ma Ran raised his arm to block it. Then Ma Ran used his other arm to punch toward Feng Wei's face.
However, it was caught by the opponent's hand. They then began to test each other out.
It was clear that these two had been training very hard. In just 1 week, they were already fighting quite decently.
In the end, Feng Wei used a groin kick as a feint, and while the opponent used both hands to protect his vitals, he landed a punch on his face, ending the battle.
Ma Ran said indignantly, "Teacher, he cheated! That move isn't in the combat techniques!"
Zhao Gang said in a serious tone, "First of all, that move actually is in the combat techniques; I just haven't taught it to you yet. Secondly, just because I haven't taught it, does that mean you can't use it?"
"Remember, combat techniques are static, but people are living beings. During a battle, you must flexibly use your attack methods according to the current situation. You can't rigidly rely only on the combat techniques I taught you; that makes it easy for enemies to find your patterns and discover your weaknesses."
"Feng Wei did very well just now. Alright, you two can step down."
After those two left the field, the other students finished their matches one after another.
Finally, it was Su Ke's turn to take the field.
His opponent was named Chen Feng, who had a zhuo-grade talent and was a Beast Transformation–type Spirit Energy user. Moreover, he was an extremely rare flying type among Beast Transformations, and he seemed to be at the fourth stage of Rank One.
Excluding Su Ke's trio, he was already at the highest Realm among the rest.
As soon as Chen Feng stepped up and saw his opponent was Su Ke, he looked very excited.
After all, when Su Ke first awakened, it was clearly a Gradeless talent, a total waste. Some people had asked about his Realm during this time, but Su Ke had always brushed them off by saying it was "alright."
In everyone's eyes, he was just too embarrassed to say it because his Realm was too low.
So Chen Feng naturally assumed his opponent's Realm was very low and his physical fitness far inferior. Although everyone had seen Su Ke's hard work in combat techniques, the gap in physical fitness was still huge.
"Victory is mine!"
Chen Feng excitedly swung a punch at Su Ke, thinking he could end the battle with this one blow.
The reality was just as he expected: the match ended in one blow, but it was him being kicked out of the ring by Su Ke.
Su Ke: 'Did this guy waste his training this whole week? This attack is full of openings!'
Clearly, Chen Feng had been so arrogant that he did not take Su Ke seriously at all, leading to Su Ke immediately seizing an opening and kicking him away.
Chen Feng had a look of utter disbelief.
"How is this possible? I was actually… by this waste…"
Even if he was indignant, he could only leave the field dejectedly.
Next was Lin Ning.
Her opponent was a combat-class boy, but he was of the elemental type. Although he had muscles, they were nowhere near as exaggerated as Wang Zhong's.
Even though Lin Ning's physical fitness improvement as a Support Class was not as good as a combat class, she was still at the sixth stage, while her opponent was only at the third stage. She was therefore still stronger than him.
Coupled with her higher proficiency in combat techniques, victory was naturally effortless.
After 2 more rounds, it was Wang Zhong's turn. His opponent was a girl from the Support Class with healing abilities.
Her Supernatural Ability could directly heal injuries, which was a very precious strategic resource. Although her talent was only Good grade, she would definitely be specially recruited by the military or hospitals after graduation.
She looked at Wang Zhong's tower-like physique, her legs trembling with nervousness and her body going weak.
"I… I forfeit!"
There was nothing she could do. After all, she was from the Support Class, and with the opponent's size, just standing there was a form of intimidation.
Zhao Gang did not make things difficult for her and accepted her request to forfeit.
Not long after, the first round of competition was completed.
In the second round, Su Ke drew lot number 3.
His opponent turned out to be Lin Ning.
Su Ke said, "This…"
Lin Ning said, "It's fine. Don't hold back, bring it on."
Su Ke nodded, giving his agreement.
From the moment she had taken the initiative to suggest going on an adventure in the wilderness, Su Ke realized that he had not truly known her during all their years together.
Even though she was in the Support Class, she had the heart of a combat class. She liked excitement and craved adventure.
Su Ke said, "Then let's do this!"
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