Li Qingshan took a deep breath, stepped out of the line, and stood before the light wall.
After thinking for a long time, he felt strangely calm when it came down to it.
Whether "Refinement Body — Level Eleven" existed or not would be known after the test.
With that thought, he stomped his right foot hard.
Boom!
A muffled sound, and his figure shot forward like thunder.
Power poured out from his legs, wind roaring past his ears.
But this was not the time for wild sprinting.
In a few strides the opposite light wall was already within sight.
He planted his foot, bringing his forward momentum to a halt, and twisted his sole.
Force rose from the ground through his legs, across his hips and waist, turned into a great coil!
In an instant his body reversed and blasted off again.
He had no experience with this sort of shuttle-run test,
but whether it was Yu Lei's perfect demonstration or the many students' wrong demonstrations, they were enough for Li Qingshan to understand, learn, and master the technique.
He darted between the light walls, and each turn became more precise.
Before long, ten shuttle runs were completed.
All the classmates craned their necks, staring at the left panel.
They couldn't guess Li Qingshan's exact score, but from what they could see with the naked eye—
fast! very fast! incredibly fast!
Then—
Bang bang bang!
A series of loud bangs erupted one after another.
Everyone looked in surprise; it turned out Li Qingshan, having finished the speed test, didn't pause at all—he ran straight to the punch-force tester.
In the blink of an eye, ten punches were thrown.
Whew!
Li Qingshan exhaled heavily; his pores opened, white breath steaming, sweat pouring from his forehead.
He wiped his right hand and shook the sweat off.
He looked up at the overhead screen.
Punch force: 260 kg.
He hadn't yet seen the speed test result come through, but he didn't need to—there was no question.
"Shan-ge, you're insane! I knew you'd be the strongest!" Zhao Hongzhou shouted excitedly; his voice echoed through the arena.
The surrounding classmates couldn't help getting excited too.
"Speed: 11.3 m/s, punch force: 260 kg, another Refinement Body Level One."
"Not just Level One—Li Qingshan is the class first!"
"Three Level Ones now; by both speed and strength Li Qingshan even edges out Liang Mingyu and Hong Qian—absolute class first!"
The noisy chatter filtered into Li Qingshan's ears but he automatically tuned it out.
He didn't care about being ahead of Liang Mingyu or Hong Qian, or being class first.
What mattered to him was only one thing—
his speed and strength had indeed passed the thresholds; he was truly a Refinement Body Level One!
Which meant...
Li Qingshan glanced at the panel, expression brightening.
The progress bar on the panel couldn't be wrong.
Since 9/100 was Refinement Body Level One, Level Ten would be 90/100, leaving a ten percent gap.
Refinement Body Level Eleven—so it really existed!
He took a few deep breaths and walked back.
By the time he reached the line, his excitement had calmed and his face returned to normal.
Now that it was certain, there was nothing more to ponder.
That remaining ten percent could be considered only after Refinement Body Level Ten.
The surrounding buzz increased; everyone was talking about his "class first," and many people greeted him eagerly.
Wan Keshan stood at the front of the line, his eyes on him as well.
But Li Qingshan knew Wan Keshan's cruel sense of humor and, remembering what happened with Liang Mingyu, didn't stop; he brushed past without hesitation.
"Not bad!" Wan Keshan's voice suddenly cut through the clamor, silencing everyone; all eyes turned toward him in surprise.
From the first student, Yu Lei, up through Liang Mingyu and Hong Qian—the two Level Ones earlier—Wan Keshan had said nothing, not a single comment.
Why speak up now?
Could it be because Li Qingshan was class first?
Li Qingshan looked toward Wan Keshan, puzzled.
He did see a hint of approval on Wan Keshan's face, which made him more confused.
Knowing Wan Keshan as he did, he shouldn't praise someone just for a little better score.
In the crowd, Liang Mingyu's brow tightened, his expression turning dark.
This was exactly what he'd feared—
he had been the first Level One, and Li Qingshan's score was only slightly higher than his; why should Wan Keshan look upon him with special favor?
"Clearly favoritism!" Liu Jingya murmured into Liang Mingyu's arm.
Suddenly a cold, cutting gaze swept over them like a tangible thing.
Liang Mingyu and Liu Jingya's breaths caught and their faces went pale.
"Heh heh!" Wan Keshan's mouth twitched as he looked around; his loud voice filled the gymnasium.
"In this baseline test, I only saw in Li Qingshan a sliver of possibility of going to New Continent."
The words dropped and a murmur swept the place.
The Martial Dao class was the last ticket to go to the New Continent's Martial University.
Although everyone knew it was hard, no one expected things to be this extreme.
Even class first Li Qingshan only had a sliver of possibility?
For a moment everyone found it hard to believe.
Liang Mingyu and Hong Qian clenched their fists, unable to accept it.
Yu Lei fixed her gaze on Li Qingshan with a strange expression.
"Does she know why?" Li Qingshan felt looked at and was puzzled; he didn't know how Wan Keshan came to that conclusion.
But that didn't matter.
A 'sliver of possibility'?
He had the panel; his aims had never been limited to the New Continent.
He sought the starry seas!
"I know it's hard to believe. After my first class, I'll naturally tell you why," Wan Keshan said meaningfully, fingers tapping his communicator twice as he folded his arms.
"Of course, that's on the premise you can seize the opportunity!"
Opportunity?
Everyone blinked.
But soon someone remembered Wan Keshan's introduction—his first sentence after introducing himself.
"If there is a chance, for the next year I will be your Martial Dao teacher."
Li Qingshan thought it through and understood.
This "opportunity" wasn't about Wan Keshan himself but targeted at them, the students.
So Wan Keshan was really going to drop people?
Gurgle—gurgle—gurgle—
Under everyone's curious gazes, a square box was pushed into the arena.
The box was large—two meters on a side—and completely covered by a black cloth.
A tall youth pushed it; obviously a senior from the Martial Dao class.
Wan Keshan walked to the center and shut off the light walls.
When the youth pushed the box beside him, Wan Keshan waved him away.
"Entering the Martial Dao class, passing into New Continent Martial University—to the New Continent to see the true age of interstellar civilizations," Wan Keshan paced slowly, voice low with emotion.
"What a beautiful vision!"
"But..." Wan Keshan's tone shifted; his eyes burned.
"The starry sky is never a synonym for beauty!"
"The universe is vast; besides humans there are countless alien races, ferocious beasts, and bizarre, unfathomable, terrifying evil gods."
"Of course, you've read about them in textbooks."
"However, let me ask you—" Wan Keshan stopped and faced the students, voice grave, "do you really dare to swing your blade at them?"
All the students fell silent, eyes fixed on the black-covered box.
They had a vague guess what lay beneath.
With a swift motion, the black cloth was torn off, revealing not a box but a metal alloy cage.
A cleaver lay across the top of the cage; its spine was thick and its edge bitterly sharp.
Inside the cage lay a wolf-shaped ferocious beast, its huge body nearly filling the cage.
The beast had no fur; its dark red skin showed coils of veins.
Four sharp canine teeth, staggered top and bottom, glittered coldly.
Its limbs were fastened to the steel floor of the cage, its neck shackled with a steel collar, an iron chain tethering the collar to the top bars.
The beast's eyes were closed and it lay motionless like a sculpture.
Even so, facing such a beast for the first time made many students involuntarily step back.
Amid the crowd's retreat, one figure stepped forward decisively, standing out clearly.
Hmm?
Wan Keshan looked, surprised.
Li Qingshan drew his foot back and kept a blank expression.
He felt as if many eyes were piercing his back, but he didn't care; his gaze stayed locked on the last line of the panel.
[Function: Martial Dao Space] (locked).
At the very moment the black cloth was removed, that line of text flickered.