Book 3, Chapter 89: Exam

After a brief pause, Hongfu said, “Your application has been approved. Your exam is set at 3 p.m., on the fifth of June. It will be held at the examination hall on the sixtieth floor. Jiang Tian will be your examiner. Please arrive at the examination hall on time. If you’re late, you will be barred from taking the exam, so please take this seriously.”

Since Chen Chuan had to take his exam the next day and he wanted to get more assessment points, he didn’t do any strenuous training. He just went through some Sanshou moves after taking some medicine and practiced his breathing technique in order to have enough strength for tomorrow.

At 2:50 p.m. on the fifth of June, Chen Chuan changed into his uniform, gathered all that he needed, and grabbed the Frost King Saber. Then, he took the elevator to the sixtieth floor.

Once the elevator doors opened, he walked down a relatively short corridor before arriving at the examination hall. The entire floor was actually a training hall. When he looked over, he could not see its end.

At that moment, the lecturers and student in charge of Chen Chuan’s exam had already arrived and were standing beside the door.

One of them was a long-haired man in his thirties. He was very obviously the chief examiner, Jiang Tian. He had a messy moustache and hadn’t bothered buttoning his collar. With his hands in his pocket, he looked so rebellious and free-spirited that he felt like an artist more than a martial artist.

Standing not too far from him was the teaching assistant in charge of recording the exam. The last was a student of around twenty years old. He seemed like the upperclassman meant to spar with Chen Chuan.

After all, the difference in level between lecturers and students who had only just joined the university was too great. While lecturers could get a better gauge of students’ strength if they fought themselves, a match where the victor was already decided would affect the student’s performance to a certain degree.

“You’re here, eh?” When Jiang Tian turned to him and asked the question as if he was asking Chen Chuan whether he had his lunch yet.

“Hello, Mr. Jiang,” Chen Chuan greeted him.

The upperclassman sized Chen Chuan up and gave him a friendly nod as a hello.

Chen Chuan returned the nod politely.

The teaching assistant just raised his head for a bit to give them both a look before ducking his head down again. His subconscious fidgeting with the pen made it clear that he wanted the exam to end quickly.

After all, students who had to take mandatory technique exams had very limited knowledge about techniques, so there was nothing worth watching in their exams.

Jiang Tian flipped through Chen Chuan’s record. “Oh? You’ve managed to up your score to slightly above average in just a short few months? And that’s not a recent record either. You didn’t take your exam immediately after your second assessment because you believed that you still had room to grow, did you? Alright. Let me see your skills later. Guo Xingzhi here will fight you.”

“I’m ready, Mr. Jiang,” Chen Chuan said.

“One moment, Chen Chuan. You’re not the only one who applied for the exam today. There’s another student ahead of you,” the teaching assistant pointed out.

Just then, they heard the elevator door open, and a male student half a head shorter than Chen Chuan walked over.

With stiff movements from nervousness, he came over to them and said, “Good afternoon, Sirs, Senior Guo. I’m Liang Xin.”

“It’s not time for your exam yet, but since you’re already here, let’s start. The sooner we get the exam done, the sooner we can go back to rest,” Jiang Tian said.

“You can use your own weapons or the weapons on the weapons rack here. You should have read the rules of the exam beforehand, so I won’t go through them,” the teaching assistant said.

Liang Xin hadn’t brought any weapons with him, so he went to the side, picked up a three-meter long spear, and went to stand in the middle of the examination hall.

The teaching assistant took a look. It was quite rare for students to use such a long spear. After all, it wasn’t easy bringing weapons like this around.

Even if it had an extendable and detachable pole, the user would need to pull it out and assemble it while fighting. No opponent would give them the chance to do that, unless the user had people protecting them. It would be better to use two batons or a short spear. Even nunchucks or a three-section staff was more convenient than a long spear.

Jiang Tian turned to Guo Xingzhi. “Think you can handle that?”

“Sure can,” he said and went to the weapons rack to pick up a long spear as well, though his was a little shorter than Liang Xin’s. His was only a little over two meters long.

The teaching assistant started taking notes. Even though Hongfu could record the fight, a hard copy was required for such an exam in order to make a comparison.

The student was entirely the one deciding how well they performed and how much of their real strength they would bring out during the exam, but the examiner was the one giving the marks. Examiners who were stricter or more lenient would give entirely different marks.

The two examinees were lucky, because Jiang Tian was easy-going. As long as the examinee didn’t perform too badly, he would pass them.

Once Liang Xin grabbed the long spear, his nervousness faded away, and he became much more confident. After Jiang Tian declared the start of the exam, he positioned the long spear horizontally, with the tip pointed at Guo Xingzhi.

Their gazes met, and Liang Xin launched the first attack by thrusting the long spear forward. Guo Xingzhi ducked down, then made use of the power generated when he straightened his back to graze against the pole.

In an instant, a rolling wave of refined force charged up the long spear, and Liang Xin felt his hands going numb. His grip immediately went lax, and the long spear fell out of his hands. Noticing that things were going badly for him, he tried to grab the long spear, but Guo Xingzhi had already touched his chest with his long spear, which forced him to retreat.

Guo Xingzhi hooked the fallen long spear and tossed it up into the air so that he could grab it. Then, he took a step back, straightened Liang Xin’s spear, and tapped the end of it on the floor. “That’s the end of our fight, Liang Xin.”

Since the point of the exam was testing weapon techniques, there was no need to continue the exam once the weapon was knocked off.

Liang Xin hadn’t expected the exam to end right after it started, and his face turned pale.

Chen Chuan had watched the entire fight. On the surface, it seemed like Guo Xingzhi had a great sense of timing and seized the perfect opportunity to attack, but in truth, he had actually predicted where Liang Xin would deliver his first attack, and it wasn’t due to a great sense of judgment. Instead, his stance and the way he positioned his own spear had subtly influenced Liang Xin to attack a certain area.

This was the difference between their fighting experience and battle intellect. Liang Xin’s defeat was a bit unfair for him. If they had fought by using techniques alone, their difference in strength wouldn’t be this great.

Liang Xin seemed to have figured out why he lost, and he looked really indignant. He didn’t want to admit defeat. After all, he had just been careless. If they fought again, he wouldn’t be led by the nose, and he would definitely be able to showcase his technique.

“Alright, Liang Xin. If you don’t like how your exam went, you’ll have a chance to redo it, but that will come after Chen Chuan finishes his exam,” Jiang Tian declared.

Liang Xin obediently moved to the side. Even though he would get a second chance, his marks would definitely not be as high as he would have gotten on his first try. Still, it was better than nothing.

The teaching assistant then turned to Chen Chuan. “It’s your turn, Chen Chuan.”

“Why don’t you take a break, Senior Guo?” Chen Chuan offered to Guo Xingzhi, who took the offer with a nod.

He went to the side to adjust his breathing. Even though he had only executed one move just now, he had made use of his entire body’s strength to generate that wave of refined force. Also, if he could defeat an examinee within a short period of time, his own assessment points would increase. That was why he wanted to face Chen Chuan in a better state.

Two minutes later, he recovered and went to the center of the examination hall again with his long spear. He then gave Chen Chuan a nod. “I’m ready, Chen Chuan.”

Chen Chuan drew his saber across from Guo Xingzhi. With both hands on the hilt, he positioned the saber in front of him, its tip directed at the center of Guo Xingzhi’s body.

Guo Xingzhi separated his legs and sank his waist while shifting one hand to the end of the spear, with only a section of the butt not within his grasp. Meanwhile, he grabbed the back half of the middle section and directed the tip at Chen Chuan in a diagonal angle.

After a brief stalemate, Guo Xingzhi decided to test the waters by launching the first attack. He twisted his waist and thrust the long spear forward.

But Chen Chuan didn’t move. Even when the long spear was about to touch him, he remained still. Guo Xingzhi frowned, but he wasn’t about to cower because of his opponent’s lack of movement. Long spears were weapons that allowed the users to switch between feints and real attacks at a moment’s notice, so when he noticed that Chen Chuan couldn’t dodge his attack, he switched his attack to a real one.

At that moment, Chen Chuan turned his body to the side at a rapid speed. Not only did he manage to avoid the tip, even though it should have been impossible, but he also moved forward along the long spear with his saber pressed against the pole. Then, he swung his saber against Guo Xingzhi’s hand.

If Guo Xingzhi tensed his core and pushed his spear outward, he could block the saber. If he generated enough power on top of that, he could also sweep Chen Chuan away.

But he soon noticed a heavy and tenacious refined force clinging to his long spear, which made him unable to swing it outward. It was a clear sign that his strength couldn’t compare to that of Chen Chuan. In the end, he could only give up on his long spear and let go of it.

Still, he didn’t panic because of it. He wasn’t going to let himself be taken down after letting go of his spear, like Liang Xin did just now. One of the moves he had learned was known as the Throw-And-Seize. It allowed him to grab the spear again after giving up on it to counterattack his opponent.

Usually, as long as his fingers managed to grab even a section of the end of a spear, he could use his refined force to secure it and swing it up. But Chen Chuan’s saber moved with a stable and fast momentum. It didn’t give him the chance to grab his spear again by forcing him to avoid the blade coming at him.

Then, with a spin and a kick from his back foot, Guo Xingzhi brought the long spear that had fallen behind him in front again. At this moment, all he needed was a twist of his body, and he could grab the spear with both hands again. When he twisted around, he could use the tip of the butt to stab Chen Chuan.

When the teaching assistant saw this, he praised Guo Xingzhi in his heart. He had perfectly executed the Dragon Tail’s Swing. Not only had Guo Xingzhi managed to avoid Chen Chuan’s attack but was also able to counterattack.

There was a reason why Guo Xingzhi had dared to twist his body around to avoid the attack. Chen Chuan’s momentum would fade away once he avoided the attack, so he would need to chain his movements again before he could generate more power.

But at that moment, Chen Chuan’s mutated tissue dragged his body forward without the slightest pause, making him move like flowing water.

He took a lunge forward with his left leg, put his left hand on the back of the saber, and pushed down. The next moment, a chilling light flickered, and the saber was positioned next to Guo Xingzhi’s neck before he could even complete his turn. At that moment, Guo Xingzhi’s long spear was in mid-twirl. When Guo Xingzhi felt the chill on his neck, he froze.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep