In the next few days, while waiting for the practical test day to arrive, Fang Ping kept up the cultivation of his Vitality and simultaneously immersed himself in general studies materials.
Halfway through, Fang Ping had also made a few phone calls to Old Wang, but none of them reached him.
Considering that Old Wang could have been busy handling some affairs, such as the previous pursuit of Huang Bin, Fang Ping did not call again.
His Vitality was steadily increasing now. It was not at the point where it could not increase, so there was no need to worry for now.
…
In the blink of an eye, while Fang Ping had been cultivating and studying, the 7th of May arrived.
May 7th.
The start of the practical test.
Compared to the physical assessment, much fewer people were at the practical test.
More than ten thousand students from Auspicious Sun had signed up for the martial sciences examinations, but after the political background check and physical assessment stages, only about a thousand people were left to enter the practical test.
At the city gym.
Although Wu Zhihao was not completely relaxed, he was still a lot more at ease than before.
While waiting for the test, Wu Zhihao smiled and said, “Actually, as long as your Vitality isn’t too low and you don’t completely rely on medicine to cultivate it, passing the practical test isn’t difficult with regular and persistent training.”
Yang Jian was also more confident. He had a broad smile on his face. “I should have no trouble passing this stage’s test.
“However, it’s not enough to just pass, I have to get the best results so that there’s a higher possibility of me entering a martial arts university.”
His Vitality was not very high, so he could only count on getting points in other events.
Martial arts universities did not admit students solely based on their Vitalities.
Needless to say, Vitality took up a larger proportion of the admission requirements. According to previous customs, Vitality took up at least 50%, cultural studies took up 25%, general studies took up 15%, and the practical test took up 10%.
Still, there was a minimum qualification requirement. For instance, the students’ Vitalities had to meet the benchmark. The same went for their cultural studies.
Hence, scoring higher in other events gave them a bigger pool of schools to choose from.
They were confident, and Fang Ping was not diffident either.
The practical test was not about combat. Combat was not part of the high school students’ assessment.
The main focus was to assess the students’ physical abilities. With a Vitality of over 150cal and achieving a stable stance, Fang Ping’s physical abilities were not at an ordinary level.
Despite it being the practical test, Fang Ping was not bothered.
Among the students of Year 3 Senior (4), Liu Ruoqi was the only girl. Girls were given special treatment over boys in the practical test, but that special treatment had its limits.
The current Liu Ruoqi was not in the mood to talk. She had the lowest Vitality, even lower than Yang Jian’s by 1cal. She would have to do exceptionally well in order to have hope of entering a martial arts university.
She had always been an enigma though, so nobody noticed whether she spoke or not.
…
Soon, the test officially began.
The first event was a 3000-meter track and field test.
Minimum passing requirements were set. Men had to complete the 3000 meters within 10 minutes. Exceeding 10 minutes would result in an instant elimination.
Women were allowed 12 minutes to complete it.
The less time spent, the better the final results that would be added to the martial sciences examinations’ total score.
This requirement was not too high, yet it was definitely not low either.
It was equivalent to the standard upheld for the nation’s third-class athletes.
Nevertheless, the minimum Vitality required to take the practical test was 112cal, which was much higher than a normal person’s Vitality.
Under these circumstances, with regular training, getting the necessary results were not considered difficult.
Fang Ping and the others were not the first batch to be tested, therefore they could observe a few rounds.
There should not be too many unqualified people who made it to the practical test…
Of course, there still were some.
After a few rounds with over 300 people being vetted, around 20 people were eliminated. Relatively speaking, there were quite a few.
Toward these unqualified people, not many were sympathetic.
To have a Vitality this high and pass the physical assessment meant that there should not be any issues with their bodies.
With a body free from illness, as long as one trained consistently, passing this test was not a hardship.
Failure could only be attributed to either a poor physical condition or a reliance on pills to boost their statistics. Toward these pill-poppers, nobody said anything aloud, but they all felt envious, jealous, and loathful.
Now that they had been eliminated, everybody was pleased by the results.
They were even hoping more of them would be eliminated. This way, students with low Vitalities had a higher chance of getting into a martial arts university.
Soon, it was Fang Ping and the others’ turns.
Yang Jian was the first to be tested. Despite his big head, he was not dead weight.
When the results came out, Yang Jian had a time of 9 minutes and 8 seconds. He had managed to achieve the standard for a second-class athlete.
The second to go was Fang Ping. Fang Ping did not train for long-distance running as much as Yang Jian and the rest; it was clear he was a pill-popper.
However, his Vitality was extremely high, his bones had been honed, and his pole-standing had reached the stable stance.
With this overall level up, it did not matter that his time spent training was lacking in comparison to others, he still managed to get a time of 8 minutes and 25 seconds in the end.
The gazes that Wu Zhihao and the others gave Fang Ping said nothing but envy, jealousy, and loathing!
Fang Ping did not care about such things and was in fact slightly wistful. In this lifetime, the world record in his past life would have been instantly broken by the martial artists here.
Even he himself, had he trained a little longer and made full use of his Vitality while running, could have broken the world record.
Not long after that, it was Wu Zhihao and the others’ turns. They, too, passed easily.
Liu Ruoqi ran like her life was on the line and unexpectedly made it within 10 minutes, although she was a girl.
In fact, all of the girls who had made it to this stage were not to be trifled with. Fang Ping noticed that most of the eliminated were boys and barely a few girls.
…
After the run, Fang Ping participated in the pull-up and sit-up events.
To Fang Ping, these events were very easy.
The same went for most of the others. The atmosphere was much lighter than it had been during the physical assessment.
…
The test that started at 9 a.m. finally ended at 12 p.m.
Once out of the gym.
Wu Zhihao coolly uttered, “What’s left is the written stuff, which completely depends on brains, not Vitalities nor brute strength.
“Those who are all brawn and no brain had the advantage in the earlier two stages, but we’ll have the advantage for the rest…”
Hearing his words, Fang Ping looked at himself, then frowned. “Those who are all brawn and no brain don’t like to use their brains, they like to use their fists. Care to test this?”
Wu Zhihao laughed. “Forget it, I won’t. Cultured people fight with their words, not their fists…”
After the few of them joked around for a while, Wu Zhihao was in a good mood, so he decided to treat them all to a meal. None of them objected.
As they were all students, they did not care what quality of food they ate.
They chose a small restaurant and ordered a few dishes. They chatted as they waited for their food to arrive.
The television hanging on the wall of the restaurant was airing the news.
Fang Ping did not notice it at first, but his attention was quickly captured.
“The ground of the South Sky Province has been tremoring non-stop recently. Grandmaster-level martial artists have gone deep underground to investigate it. They have predicted an earthquake might happen…”
Fang Ping felt a little dazed. Grandmaster-level powerhouses could even tunnel through the ground?
To be able to survey the movements of the earth, they would have to be more a thousand meters underground, right?
Did they use some sort of cave equipment or did they tunnel down purely using human strength?
Fang Ping thought about it deeply. Had he been underestimating Grandmasters?
Fang Ping was stunned, whereas Wu Zhihao and the rest did not bat an eye.
Yang Jian glanced at the television and said casually, “It seems there have been quite a few earthquakes in recent years.
“It’s not just our country, other countries are the same.
“It’s lucky our country’s Grandmasters can forewarn us. The people are unharmed, and the economic losses aren’t too big.”
Wu Zhihao added, “They have helped us a lot, but it’s not always accurate. There have also been times when they’ve had false alarms.
“A few years ago, I heard that a Grandmaster from Magic City predicted there would be an earthquake.
“Apparently, more than twenty Grandmasters responded to it, but the earthquake didn’t happen.
“After that, nobody knows whether or not the Grandmasters on the emergency response team pummeled the one who made the wrong prediction!”
Wu Zhihao lowered his volume during the last sentence, speaking quietly. He did not dare to boldly state it.
Slandering Grandmasters behind their backs was fine as long as nobody else knew about it.
Nevertheless, it was only acceptable among close friends. Among strangers, this topic was best not brought up.
Yang Jian smiled. “Our Sino Nation Grandmasters are quite the responsible type. Once an earthquake or any other disaster happens, they’re the first to the rescue.
“When I think about it, this is probably part of a Grandmaster’s due. Their political consciousness is beyond our level.”
“That’s true, we shouldn’t speculate about the Grandmasters…”
They had been chatting casually, but Fang Ping was taken aback. “Whenever there’s a rescue mission, the Grandmasters personally take part in it?”
“Not every time, but most of the time, when a disaster happens, the Grandmasters who can head over will normally help out.
“Hence, whenever disasters happen, having these big shots around is comforting. Even if they were affected by the disaster, nobody is too worried.”
Wu Zhihao said all this with pride and admiration.
He admired these Grandmasters’ responsibility to society, respected their kindness, and took pride in the fact that they were the Sino Nation’s Grandmasters.
As the conversation moved along, Fang Ping felt something was odd, but he did not read too much into it.
In conclusion, the Grandmasters of this life were indeed extraordinary.
It was clear that to be able to be called ‘Grandmaster’, they could not depend entirely on martial strength.
…
Just as Fang Ping and the others were watching the news.
Auspicious Sun City’s government.
Meeting room.
A few of Auspicious Sun’s high-ranking officials were having a meeting.
In the meeting room, the elder sitting in the middle spoke slowly, “South Sky has publicly disclosed the news, which means that the situation is not good. It may be uncontainable.
“Even if they could suppress it, they would have to call up a number of peak martial artists to assume command.
“Whenever this happens, all sorts of criminals come out to fan the flames and disrupt the social order.
“Furthermore, this time, Governor-General Zhang has personally led a team to South Sky and has taken quite a few elite martial artists with him.
“Although Nanjiang is not the main focus of these criminals’ destruction, we can’t risk going without taking precautionary measures.
“The Department of Investigation and the military department have taken the necessary precautions, so the chances of those hooligans coming to wreck Auspicious Sun aren’t high, but we must still take extra safety measures.
“In these times, traveling officials should carry firearms …
“We must also tell the troops to be constantly vigilant. We cannot allow these people to spread deception and upset the public!”
Everybody else in the meeting room nodded fervently.
The elder spoke again after thinking for a moment, “Moreover, the recent martial sciences examinations have not ended yet. They’ll be carrying out the general studies test on the 10th.
“Right now, Auspicious Sun City has some of this year’s top students gathered together.
“These youngsters are the great martial artists of the future. Should anything happen to them, it would be worse than it happening to us!
“The Department of Investigation has sent a few people undercover to protect the students. They’ll withdraw after the end of the exams.
“As for the military department, I will go meet with them and request their cooperation…”
The elder gave these instructions, then declared that the meeting was over.
After everybody else left, the elder rubbed his temples. Even though he knew he should not be having these thoughts, the elder still hoped that if those hooligans wanted to start a riot, they would not come to Auspicious Sun and would go someplace else instead.
Auspicious Sun’s economy and martial strength were not very advanced. Auspicious Sun sometimes had a hard time containing the messes made within its boundaries.
The more the elder thought about it, resentment started to build up in him. When Governor-General Zhang broke through to Rank-7, he had been anxious to get on his feet.
Had Governor-General Zhang not left this time, Nanjiang would not be as troubled.
However, not only did Governor-General Zhang leave, he brought many of the elites with him. Even in Auspicious Sun, the military department had quite a number of elites taken along.
Now that Nanjiang currently lacked in strength, who knew if those goons would come out of hiding and cause trouble in Nanjiang?