Chapter 120: Reaching the Summit

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Reaching the Summit

Lin Qi grit his teeth, enduring the soreness in his arm. His blood pumped faster, and blue veins bulged, coiling around his forearm.

He threw himself wholeheartedly into his Spear Technique training.

Sweat streamed down his cheeks, but the great spear in his hand continued to move.

SWISH! SWISH!

FWOOSH~

An unknown amount of time passed. The only sound in the air was the sharp whistle of the great spear piercing through the air, its sharp tip tearing through the atmosphere.

At the door of the Martial Arts Room, Jiangtao’s ears twitched just as he was about to knock. He heard the commotion inside and froze, his hand hovering in mid-air.

He was amazed. ’Even with time so tight, Brother Qi is still training so hard.’

’He’s already so strong, yet he’s still pushing himself without a break.’

’And here I am, slacking off.’ A wave of shame washed over Jiangtao.

’If this keeps up, how will I ever keep pace with Brother Qi?’

...

12... 13... 14...

15!

FWOOSH~

Lin Qi clenched his jaw and, with the last of his strength, executed a final thrust. The spear shot forward in a straight line, piercing the air and stopping perfectly still in mid-air.

[Under the suppression of gravity, you have achieved a breakthrough in your mastery of Spear Technique. Spear Technique +1%.]

[Spear Technique: Tier Two 24% → 25%]

[You have completed one training session. Template Fusion Degree +0.1%.]

[Template: True Monarch Erlang Yang Jian]

[Fusion Degree: 11.1% → 11.2%]

...

"Haaaah~"

THUD!

The Black Great Spear slipped from Lin Qi’s grasp and crashed heavily onto the floor. His entire arm was so sore it felt numb, almost impossible to lift, and he stood there gasping for breath.

After recovering a little, he picked up a sports drink and chugged it down.

"Finally back to fifteen thrusts per second!"

"My Spear Technique Realm has leveled up too!"

Lin Qi put down the drink. The effects of training with the Gravity Ring were obvious, but it was truly exhausting.

His normal training was tiring enough. Adding the Gravity Ring on top of that constantly pushed the limits of his body and will.

He sat on the floor and looked at his status panel.

[Name: Lin Qi (17)]

[Class: Martial Artist]

[Template: True Monarch Erlang Yang Jian]

[Fusion Degree: 11.2%]

[Talent: Stomach Enhancement, Dragon Energy and Tiger Fierceness, Steel Bones and Iron Flesh]

[Cultivation Technique: Hunyuan Posture, Five Elements Fist (Five Elements Training), Vajra Tiger Evolution Technique, Basic Spear Skill, Mountain Shattering Spear Technique, Drip Water Spear Skill, Rock Gun Skill]

[Qi and Blood Value: 17.8]

[Fist Technique: Tier Two 39%]

[Spear Technique: Tier Two 25%]

[Body Technique: Tier Two 7%]

...

A Qi and Blood Value of 17.8, and his Spear Technique at Tier Two 25%.

In the month since the Spring Festival, his progress had been enormous.

’My ranking is sure to improve in this month’s exam. There are very few people in all of Celestial Sea City who are stronger than me now.’

He looked at the Black Great Spear before him.

’Now that I’ve completely mastered the essence of the three spear techniques—Mountain Collapse, Drip Water, and Pan Stone—it’s time to learn a new one.’

’The day after tomorrow!’

DING-DONG!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

He opened the door to find Jiangtao standing outside.

"Brother Qi, it’s almost time!"

"We should head back to the classroom!"

Jiangtao looked at Lin Qi, who had just finished training. He was drenched in sweat, his body perfectly proportioned with sculpted muscles. His gaze was firm and profound, and he radiated a powerful aura.

’This is the presence of a true expert!’

’He’s completely different from before.’

"Alright, I’ll just go wash up!"

With that, Lin Qi turned, grabbed his clothes, and headed for the bathroom.

...

「Meanwhile, the exam results for every school in Cang Province had been released.」

Bailu City No. 1 Middle School, Shuangshi Middle School.

The powerfully built Chen Li saw his ranking and smirked. ’First place again. How boring.’

’Too bad I already got a perfect score on the Martial Arts assessment. Otherwise, I could have pushed my national ranking even higher.’

Tianhai No. 1 Middle School.

Amidst the restless crowd, the handsome Wang Qiufeng frowned upon seeing his rank.

’It’s a shame the Martial Arts assessment is already maxed out. If there was just one more section, I could have scored more points.’

’Then first place in Cang Province would have been mine.’

Not far away, Guo Heng also shook his head. "My city-wide ranking only went up by one place. I’m still not working hard enough!"

Tianhai No. 3 Middle School, Class Zero.

"Li Ke, fourth place in the city!"

"Whoa, wasn’t he second in the city last time? How did two people pass him?" a classmate asked in confusion.

Nearby, a tall, handsome, mixed-race young man with golden hair scowled upon hearing this.

’I actually dropped two places?!’

’Who passed me?’

...

「In the Elite Class classroom at Tianhai No. 2 Middle School.」

Most of the students in the classroom were restless, anxiously awaiting their results.

Yan Hong stood at the podium. Beside her was the burly Zhang City, who stood with his arms crossed, surveying the entire class.

At this point, most of the students were too agitated and anxious about the results to listen to what Yan Hong was saying.

"The results of this month’s exam are out!"

"Everyone has made good progress!"

"..."

Yu Jing, in particular, wanted to interrupt, but after seeing Zhang City beside her, he couldn’t get the words out.

"It’s all that guy Lin Qi’s fault. Why isn’t he here yet? Everyone’s waiting for him!" he grumbled under his breath.

"Sorry, I’m late." Just then, Lin Qi and Jiangtao appeared at the door.

The class instantly fell silent, and Yu Jing lowered his head, saying nothing more.

The homeroom teacher, Yan Hong, smiled and said, "No, you’re right on time."

"Come on in!"

"I’ll project the results now!"

With that, she got to it, and a large projection appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The atmosphere in the classroom froze as everyone eagerly scanned for their own ranks and scores.

"Perfect timing!"

Lin Qi and Jiangtao had just sat down when they saw the projected results.

The moment Lin Qi saw the list, his eyes landed on his own name in the number one spot, and a smile spread across his face.

[Academics: 920 (1)]

[Qi and Blood Value: 1780 (1)]

[Martial Arts: 1000 (1)]

[Total Score: 1374]

[Grade Ranking: 2 → 1]

[Celestial Sea City Ranking: 9 → 3]

[Cang Province Ranking: 20 → 5]

[National Ranking: 503 → 108]

...

Lin Qi scanned all his scores and rankings, taking it all in.

It was just as he’d expected; there were no surprises.

Within Tianhai No. 2 Middle School, he was now number one in all three subjects: Academics, Qi and Blood Value, and Martial Arts.

He had become the true strongest in Tianhai No. 2 Middle School.

The Qi and Blood Value was calculated the same way as always. The only shame was that the Martial Arts assessment had already reached its maximum of 100 points.

This put him at a significant disadvantage; otherwise, he could have earned an even higher score.

His city-wide ranking had shot up to third place. Only two people were ahead of him now.

His progress in Cang Province was even greater, jumping from 20th to 5th place.

His national ranking saw the biggest leap, vaulting from 503rd to nearly cracking the top one hundred.

He leaned back in his chair and exhaled a long breath.

His strength now placed him among the 108 strongest students of his grade in the entire Xia Country.

Last September, he never would have imagined he would possess such strength.

And this was by no means his limit.

There were still 107 people stronger than him.

With two months left until the college entrance exams, his ranking could still climb higher.

As for his final rank... who could say?

Beside him, Jiangtao sighed as he looked at his own ranking.

Still third in the grade, failing to surpass Li Zhou. However, he took a look at his individual scores.

He thought to himself, ’I’m just a bit lacking in my Qi and Blood Value.’

’If I keep working hard for the next month, I definitely have a chance to surpass him and take second place in the grade.’

He clenched his fists, making a silent resolve.

Then he saw his city-wide ranking and noticed he had finally broken into ninth place.

But when he saw Lin Qi’s ranking, his spirits soared.

"Third in the city, fifth in the province!"

HISS~

Jiangtao sucked in a sharp breath. The results were so good they were almost unbelievable.

It made him feel a mountain of pressure.

He had to work even harder. Otherwise, he would never be able to keep up with Brother Qi in the future.

...