Chapter 8: Neural Reflexes
Yang Tong took a bow stance and launched ten punches with both fists within five seconds.
"Average punch force 310 kg, explosive power excellent. Very good, truly impressive," praised the teacher recording the results. "Next."
He then went to the line at the speed test station.
A while later, Feng Xiaobo finished his strength test and lined up behind him, saying enviously, "You really are amazing; your strength has increased even more."
"How much did you get?" Yang Tong asked, though he hadn't revealed his full strength.
"My average punch force was only 240 kg, with medium explosive power," Feng Xiaobo sighed.
"That's not bad either; at least you'll be able to graduate," he remarked. The requirements for graduation from the elementary academy were an average punch force of 200 kg (maximum 300 kg), medium explosive power (highest being excellent), a speed of 70 (maximum 100), endurance of 70 (maximum 100), and a neural reflex score of 70 (maximum 100). Aside from endurance, which was tested every grade level, the other items were all tested today. Naturally, the requirements for graduating from the intermediate academy were much higher.
"That goes without saying. If I couldn't even manage to graduate, wouldn't I have wasted these past few years?" Feng Xiaobo said proudly. Although he couldn't compare to Yang Tong, Di Xuanluo, and the others, he wasn't doing too badly among this batch of students.
He smiled and didn't say anything more.
A while later, it was his turn to test his speed. The speed tester was essentially a treadmill that provided accurate data based on a person's running speed.
He scored a high of 90 on this item, which again was not his full strength.
Finally, it was time for the neural reflex test. Neural reflexes were actually a highly abstract data point. He hadn't expected this world to be able to test it so accurately, which showed just how advanced the unique technology of this world was.
"Put on this helmet." The teacher conducting the neural reflex test handed over a helmet. It looked a bit like a motorcycle helmet from his past life, but it had an antenna-like object on it. In front of him was a strange machine that resembled an arcade game from his previous life, with a clear screen flickering with a faint light.
He put on the helmet and felt his vision go black. Immediately, he felt as if he were standing on a stone bridge only two meters wide, with a straight path ahead of him that seemed to stretch on forever.
"Test subject, shortly, many obstacles like stones will be hurled towards you. Simply dodge them as fast as you can," a mechanical voice rang out.
As soon as the voice finished, countless stones and wooden stakes of varying sizes came hurtling towards him.
His first reaction was to dodge. He immediately realized that his dodging speed was much faster than before. He then understood that this wasn't the real world; it seemed to be a virtual one where one could dodge as quickly as their neural reflexes allowed, unaffected by their physical body.
Dodging obstacles wasn't just about the act of dodging itself; it required thinking about where to dodge to more easily handle the subsequent obstacles. This demanded extremely fast conscious processing speed.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but after he finally reached his limit and was struck, he felt no pain. His normal vision simply returned, and he heard the teacher's voice: "You may take off the helmet."
He removed the helmet and handed it to the teacher.
"Your score is exceptional, reaching 260 more than double the maximum, it's truly astonishing," the teacher said. "I will keep the score sheet. You can leave now; find your head teacher to collect your practical assessment number." The teacher's attitude had become noticeably more polite.
He left with his results. He didn't think anything was wrong, just a bit surprised that his score was so high. He didn't know that a value of 260 was truly terrifying. One had to realize that for an Apprentice Level Three Martial Artist, a neural reflex score of 80 was excellent, 90 was a genius, 100 was a genius among geniuses, and anything over 100 was rare in history.
His other data showed that he was only an Apprentice Level Three Martial Artist, yet he possessed a neural reflex value of 260. What did this represent? In other words, those historical figures with rare records were, in eighty percent of cases, Divine Sense Masters after their awakening! Data like his was unprecedented!
"This won't do; I must report this to the school administration," the teacher thought. He simply called another teacher to temporarily take over the testing, while he himself turned and rushed toward the principal's office with Yang Tong's score sheet.
The principal's office to become the principal of the East District Academy, one's strength naturally couldn't be weak. In fact, the East District principal was a long-renowned Earth Rank Martial Master who had been principal for a hundred years.
Oh, right the average natural lifespan of humans on the continent was extremely high. A typical Apprentice Level Nine Martial Artist had a natural lifespan of around 130 years, which fell within the range of normal humans. However, after awakening and becoming an Earth-rank expert, their lifespan would double to around 300 years. At the same time, for every level an Earth-rank expert advanced, not only would their strength increase, but their lifespan would also increase slightly. An Earth Rank Level Nine Martial Master could reach a natural lifespan of 400 years. Therefore, this principal having served for a hundred years wasn't considered long.
"Principal Long, it's me, Tie Bing. May I come in?" The teacher who conducted the neural reflex test arrived at the door of the principal's office, knocked, and called out.
"What is it? Come in," a steady voice came from inside, and the door opened automatically.
"Principal, I found a student whose neural reflex score is 260. He is just a twelve-year-old elementary graduate, only at the level of an Apprentice Level Three Martial Artist," Tie Bing reported excitedly.
"Really?" The usually calm Principal Long couldn't help but be shocked. For an Apprentice Level Three Martial Artist to have a value of 260 was truly astonishing; this had already set a new historical record for the Huangyu Kingdom!
How long was the history of the Huangyu Kingdom? Existing since the time the continent was opened, the kingdom possessed a long history of over 70 million years! This historical depth was enough to make the worldview of Yang Tong's past life collapse directly. The oldest civilizations on Earth only had a history of over 7,000 years, and they had even experienced gaps. The Huangyu Kingdom was ten thousand times longer and had not experienced a single gap.
Yang Tong possessed the consciousness of a modern 21st-century person, but he truly couldn't understand how such a long history had developed. Could it be that there were no class conflicts at all between the upper nobility and the lower masses?
"It is absolutely true! Here is his score sheet." Tie Bing handed Yang Tong's score sheet to Principal Long.
The principal took the score sheet, looked at it, and sighed: "Huh, it really is. However, what a pity, sigh…" With such talent, if he underwent awakening, there was an eighty percent chance he would become a Divine Sense Master. If the East District Academy could produce a Divine Sense Master, it would become famous, and he would also receive rewards from above. Unfortunately, awakening relied on probability; not everyone with talent would necessarily be able to awaken. Although artificial awakening had been achieved, the method was extremely costly and had no possibility of being popularized. The Huangyu Kingdom did not possess such technology, and even if it did, it would be impossible to use it on a youth with no background.