Chapter Three: The Puppet

Everyone gasped at once.

Only Chen Fan frowned slightly and let out a quiet sigh.

His secret art, which could raise his true essence by twenty percent, had advanced him by merely two-tenths.

That also meant the final two-tenths of the gap demanded an enormous amount of strength; in truth, though his power seemed only one step short of the highest rating, the real distance was far greater.

“Well done, junior brother!”

Zhang Fan rushed over and gave Chen Fan a bear hug on the spot, overjoyed.

The gray-robed instructor burst out laughing as well, then turned to the side. “Quickly, send word that someone in our examination hall has achieved the highest rating!”

He, too, was astonished; he had not expected the gap to the top score to be so large.

Throughout the history of Clear Tea Martial Academy, only one person had ever obtained the top mark in the strength test. For a second one to appear now was naturally a major event.

And it had happened in his hall.

Though the strength test was only the first step, it was still highly important.

Chen Fan alone clenched his fist slightly, perhaps unwilling to accept it.

He, too, very much wanted to know just what sort of figure had achieved the same top rating twenty years ago.

“Top rating! In the strength test hall number thirty-four, someone has reached the top score!”

That man sprinted along, shouting all the while, ecstatic.

In the surrounding halls, those waiting for their turn or already finished likewise erupted into discussion upon hearing the news.

After all, many had already taken the first round and knew how difficult it was.

In most halls, not even a lower second-tier rating could be produced; to have the top mark was naturally extraordinary.

In less than half an hour, the entire examination grounds knew that someone had posted a top score in the strength test.

In a small corner of the venue, Zhao Hei heard the surrounding chatter and curled his lip. “Sigh, I barely scraped by with a second-tier grade, yet someone actually got the top mark. The gap between people really is huge.”

Beside him, Chai Yong shook his head and gave a wry smile. “I got the same second-tier grade. Passing is enough, passing is enough!”

The two of them came from a small martial hall; their cultivation and foundations were not strong, so their strength test results were naturally poor.

However, both were skilled in martial techniques, and they had confidence in the next two rounds.

Zhao Hei said, “By the way, didn’t Master say that after Lin Cu arrived in the prefectural capital, his physique was brought out and his strength improved rapidly, and that he would also take part in this examination? Why haven’t I seen him?”

Chai Yong shook his head. “With thousands of people gathered together and dozens of examination halls, do you really think you’ll bump into him that easily? Wait until the second or third round. When there are fewer people, we’ll surely meet him.”

...

At the same time, the nineteenth prince of Great Qian was accompanying the martial academy’s many senior figures as they toured and inspected the various examination halls.

Those great men soon heard the news as well.

Even the nineteenth prince was astonished.

“Clear Tea Martial Academy truly produces talent in abundance to think that one of its geniuses has reached the top rating in the strength test...”

The strength test result could not be equated with true combat strength, but such a formidable foundation of power still showed that this person was gifted beyond measure.

The dean laughed heartily.

“I learned in advance that this year, a disciple with the full-blood physique would be taking part in the examination. He’s not yet seventeen, and the only one who could achieve such a result must be him!”

Upon hearing this, Ye Wouji’s eyes widened. “The full-blood physique?!”

The nineteenth prince narrowed his eyes. “The full-blood physique is not on par with a lawful body, but it is still a constitution with absolute advantages in cultivation. Before the grandmaster realm, there is no bottleneck. However, the full-blood physique does not seem especially suited to strength. Since he could reach the top rating, it seems his cultivation is already very high.”

As Ye Wouji listened to the others chatting confidently, he felt utterly helpless.

So someone had really achieved the top rating in the strength test. My future nephew-in-law may well be no match for him. I only hope that boy with the full-blood physique is not too monstrous, and that his ratings in the last two examinations are a little lower...

He had had expectations for Chen Fan as well, believing that for a fifteen-year-old with fourth-level cultivation, obtaining a lower first-tier rating would not be difficult. Yet he had never imagined Chen Fan could reach the very top.

Because the difference between the lower first-tier and the top first-tier was simply too great. To put it bluntly, that gap was even larger than the difference between the lowest grade and the highest!

...

Yan Lincu held his credential in hand and walked out from one of the examination points.

On the certificate, in the column for the first round result, the words “middle first-tier” were clearly written.

By now, both his brows had turned the color of blood and were tightly knitted together.

“This test really is outrageous. I’ve spent this past year excavating my physique, and my body has surged to its current level. My cultivation in the true method has broken through layer after layer, and I’m already at the strength of the third martial level, yet I only got a middle first-tier result. I’m still very far from the top rating...”

He had naturally also heard that in this round of the strength test, there were examinees who had achieved the top score.

The gap was obvious.

“Maybe it was also a disciple with a special physique, one discovered since childhood, which is why his power is so overwhelming.”

Only this year had Yan Lincu arrived in the prefectural capital and learned the truth about his own physique. It was only recently that he had begun to excavate the power hidden within it.

He encouraged himself:

“My full-blood physique is not remarkable for its body, but for endurance. In actual combat, my physique is far more useful!”

...

After Chen Fan and the others completed the test, they once again took their credentials, each bearing their own information, and temporarily left to await the afternoon’s second round.

Among the ten other disciples from White Cloud Dao Hall, only two failed to pass the first round and sadly departed.

After all, these people had all been carefully selected from among the core disciples, so having this ratio was already quite good.

It was just that breaking through the later rounds would be far more difficult.

On the other hand, Chi Liuguang, whose first-round result was relatively poor, should perform excellently in the next two rounds. Both of those rounds were practical combat tests, where Chi Liuguang’s subtle footwork would finally show its brilliance.

...

At noon, inside the martial academy, in a tall building.

The senior figures gathered together with the nineteenth prince.

At that moment, someone pushed the door open and entered; the first round had ended, and all the records of the examination results had already been compiled.

“The tally is out. In this examination, five people reached the first-tier grade in the first round: one top first-tier, one middle first-tier, and three lower first-tier!”

The strength test was only a preliminary screening. Passing was not especially difficult, but reaching a first-tier grade was not easy at all.

The old dean stroked his beard and laughed heartily, looking toward the nineteenth prince. “Your Highness truly is the blessing of our Clear Tea Martial Academy. In ordinary years, we might not produce even one middle first-tier result in several years, yet this year not only do we have one middle first-tier, but also a top first-tier!”

The nineteenth prince smiled as he took the results and looked at them first. “One top first-tier, fifteen years old, striking a force of three cun and nine fen. Hmm? A resident of Capital Swallow City? Didn’t the dean say that the full-blood physique was from Clear River Prefecture City?”

At those words, the old dean’s smile froze.

He hastily looked over in surprise and took the results sheet, but when he saw Chen Fan’s name, his mouth could not help twitching.

On the other side, Ye Wouji, hearing the words Capital Swallow City, also hurried over.

When he saw Chen Fan’s name, he suddenly burst into laughter.

The crowd looked puzzled. The nineteenth prince smiled despite himself. “Dean Ye Wouji, what makes you so delighted?”

Ye Wouji coughed twice. “I just remembered something pleasing...”

Naturally, he could not directly admit that Chen Fan was his future nephew-in-law.

But his delight was no less real for being unspoken. Chen Fan did not seem to be a special physique, yet his extreme vitality was so astonishing. Had he truly only just broken through to the fourth martial level?

...

In the afternoon, Chen Fan and the other senior brothers and sisters followed the directions to the venue for the second round of testing.

The morning round had eliminated more than half the examinees, but by afternoon the hall was still packed solid.

Before everyone stood a row of doors, each marked with a different number plate from two to six, but none marked one.

The instructor was a young man in his twenties or thirties. He looked at the examinees with a rather listless expression.

“In the second round, the academy will set up puppets whose strength is one level above the examinee’s own cultivation, based on each person’s level, and you will fight them. Defeat the puppet to pass this round. Scores will also be determined according to the time spent and each person’s age, and are likewise divided into first, second, third, and fourth tiers.”

Younger people generally had weaker martial techniques and experience, so defeating an opponent of higher cultivation was harder and naturally carried greater value.

Of course, the academy also set a minimum strength for the puppets: the ordinary first-tier foundation of the martial path, at the second martial level.

No matter how young you were, no matter how low your cultivation, whether you were a practitioner of inner force or had only just begun training in basic strength methods, you at least had to handle an opponent of that caliber!

Chen Fan now understood that the numbered rooms were the places where one would fight the puppets, and that different numbers meant puppets of different levels.

Zhang Fan breathed a sigh of relief. “The second round is against puppets. Looks like we’re lucky.”

Chen Fan found this rather curious and asked, “Could it be that in previous years the second round wasn’t fixed?”

Zhang Fan nodded. “In past examinations, you might even have had to spar with disciples who were already enrolled in the academy. Their strength was limited, of course, but they were still much harder to deal with than puppets.”