"Breeze Beneath the Trees" is the only defensive form in the Flowing Light Sword Technique. It cleverly uses the rotation of the sword tip and blade to deflect enemy attacks, thereby achieving a force-dispelling effect.
Outside the small Martial Arts Room, the watching students fell silent as if silenced by a magic spell.
"Ethan Chen actually withstood the Complete Circle Staff Technique, Third Form: Unerring Strike!""Doesn't this mean his Martial Skill has reached Advanced Level in the first rank?"
William Shouren, the class monitor of Class 3, exclaimed in surprise. As monitor, he thought he knew every student well, but Ethan's performance stunned him. "Is Vitality Milk really that effective? Advanced Level already! Even in the Hongzhi Class, that level is among the very best! A dark horse! Absolutely a dark horse!"
Ethan fights daily for the protection of the Crystal Space, battling monsters life and death. His Martial Skill's rapid progress naturally surpasses ordinary students. Even with average talent, quantity changes into quality. After last semester's final exams, within days Ethan's Martial Skill broke through to Advanced Level.
With "Breeze Beneath the Trees," he managed to hold off the fourth wave of monsters, which raised his Spiritual Power by one level to Level 5. The increase in Spiritual Power not only improved his memory but enhanced his body control, accelerating his Martial Skill advancement.
Progressing about 1% daily, he quickly reached 89% but then hit a wall. Mastery level was notoriously difficult to surpass, and the fifth wave of monsters was extremely fierce. Ethan had failed continuously for a month.
Meanwhile, the Educational Training Robot's Martial Skill also rose swiftly, soon reaching a terrifying 70%! The staff it wielded moved so fast it left multiple afterimages, and the whistling wind it cut through became sharper.
Yet Ethan still employed "Breeze Beneath the Trees" to redirect the staff's force, seemingly with strength to spare. At 75%, Ethan showed no sign of defeat. Even Ryan Ling, watching with disbelief, was stunned. By his estimate, Ethan's limit was about 70%, but now under 75% pressure from the robot, Ethan was still handling it with ease.
At 80%, Ethan remained undefeated, even holding a slight advantage. A genius from an ordinary class! Ryan Ling's gaze darkened. Ethan's performance far exceeded expectations. Would he surprise him further and reach Mastery Level in the first rank? Ryan's heart raced with anticipation.
At 89%, Ethan's face grew serious. The opponent's strength and speed now matched his own. He decided to fully unleash the Flowing Light Sword Technique from start to finish, hoping to push through to the fourth form — Azure Dragon's Sting!
Ethan's eyes shifted. He suddenly stepped back and slashed his sword out.First Form: Drawing the Prison!Followed by a continuous upward strike, it knocked back the robot's heavy blow.Second Form: Thunderous Drums!He skillfully guided the blade to deflect the robot's strongest continuous staff attacks.Third Form: Breeze Beneath the Trees!
Now he understood! Ethan's spirit surged; under the robot's staff, he seemed to have comprehended something. Weapons! It was about weapons! The monsters in Crystal Space didn't wield weapons, so his fighting style was incomplete. He always felt something was missing before.
Now, the metallic clashing "clang! clang!" and the vibrations in his palm suddenly made it clear. That 89% Martial Skill now loosened slightly — the feeling of breakthrough!
The fourth form, Azure Dragon's Sting, differs from normal swordplay; it isn't a slash but a thrust, like a spear—sudden and unexpected, like a dagger.
"I feel it! If I perform the Flowing Light Sword Technique again from the start, I can..."
Suddenly, the sound of wind surged sharply in Ethan's ears. A storm of staff shadows appeared from thin air, instantly cutting off all his retreat routes.
"Damn! It's Complete Circle Staff Technique, Fourth Form: Sweeping Army!"
Ethan desperately swung his sword, trying to carve a path, but his strength was insufficient. He was swept off the field.
The robot's display hit 90%, marking Ethan's defeat and final score.
89%! The Advanced Level limit for first rank.
A brief silence fell outside the arena, then erupted into cheers.
"Oh my god, 89%! How did he do it? That score might get him onto the Blue Star Youth Ranking!""Aroused from a dream of illness, the dark horse is my brother!" Toby Ray rhymed.
"218.05!" Han Yiming calculated quickly—the highest Martial Skill score today! Not even the two strongest from Hongzhi Class could beat it!
Han Yiming, who trains daily with Martial Artists, deeply understood what Ethan's skill represented: a genius! An absolute genius!
Now he could only pray his total score would surpass Ethan's.
Soon, all classes completed testing and scores were announced.
Just as everyone thought Ethan would break into Hongzhi Class as the dark horse, a twist came.
1st: Han Yiming — Culture: 186, Martial Method: 370.25, Total: 556.252nd: Ethan Chen — Culture: 144, Martial Method: 410.95, Total: 554.953rd: ...
"Ethan failed his comeback! He lost by 1.3 points!"
No one expected this, not even Han Yiming himself.
Ethan's Martial Skill score was far ahead, making up for weaknesses in strength and speed tests.
Han Yiming also scored 59% Martial Skill, but it wasn't enough.
Yet, against all odds, Han Yiming was an academic ace! His culture score before conversion was a whopping 620 points! That's top-tier even in liberal arts classes—and he's in the martial arts class! A true dimensionality reduction strike!
If Han had stayed in liberal arts, he might have hit 700 points.
Seeing his second-place finish and the regretful looks around, Ethan felt little.
Perhaps because life had been difficult for him since childhood, failure was a familiar word.
But overall, the outcome was good. Though not wealthy, his family was respectable: one brother went to a key middle school, the other to a key high school.
Though they still pay mortgages and buy Vitality Milk monthly, the family never complained.
Though he didn't enter Hongzhi Class this time, with his current scores and time left, he still had chances at the top eight universities.
After the crowd dispersed, Ryan Ling went to his private office.
"Prosper, connect me to Luke.""Yes, Master!"
The communication was quickly connected. A middle-aged man appeared in 3D above Ryan's smart bracelet.
"Principal, the tests are over."
Luke was reviewing files on his computer but glanced at the 3D figure of Ryan.
"Just send me the summary report when done. I'll sign it later. No need to report specially."
Then he turned back to his files.
Ryan smirked and didn't reply, instead sending a file with a "ding" notification.
Luke glanced at it habitually and prepared to add it to his to-do list.
He then realized it wasn't the Hongzhi Class summary report, but an individual student's transcript.
"Class 3, senior year, Ethan Chen?""The top scorer of this test?""Life Strength 5.1 level???"
Frowning, he looked at the 3D figure again.
"Ryan, you sent the wrong file!"