After listening to the specifications of the scoring round for a while, Zhang Yu roughly got the picture.
"So they stick sensing patches on various parts of my body, stick them on the Yellow-Turban Strongman too, and then every time a sensing patch gets hit, it gets recorded."
"For example, a hit on the sensing patch on the Yellow-Turban Strongman's back is worth 5 points, a hit on the chest is 3 points, and a hit on the arm is 1 point."
"Conversely, for the patches on my own body — if my back gets hit, that's minus 5 points..."
"In the end they total up the score from the one-minute fight."
"Of course, there's another method: knock the Yellow-Turban Strongman straight out of the ring, and that instantly adds 300 points."
Zhang Yu understood that the purpose of this scoring round was so that, when the group stage came around afterwards, the highest scorers wouldn't end up in the same group and get eliminated too early.
"This way, no strong contestant should dare hold back too much of their strength, because that might put them in the same group as another strong contestant."
Thinking it over, Zhang Yu nodded slightly and his gaze fell upon the Yellow-Turban Strongman.
It was a humanoid figure over two meters tall, wearing golden armor and a golden mask, with swathes of exposed muscle that looked like marble, densely inscribed with talismanic runes.
"Mm... somehow it feels like it's missing a bit of flavor..."
Right as Zhang Yu was thinking this, a staff member sprayed advertisements onto the Yellow-Turban Strongman. On its chest was printed "Oasis Food — Healthy Eating for Every Resident of Kunxu," and on its back "Weilan Pharmaceuticals — Super-Explosive, Super-Fierce, Unequalled and Tyrannical."
Seeing this, Zhang Yu finally nodded, thinking to himself: "I knew something was missing. This is exactly the right flavor."
He recalled that the Oasis Food company was the one that promoted synthetic food, and that behind it stood the Netherworld Palace, one of the Ten Great Sects.
As for Weilan Pharmaceuticals, unlike Ziyun Pharmaceuticals, it was a company more focused on combat-use medicine, and it was also a sponsor of this martial-arts competition.
Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen beside him sized up the Yellow-Turban Strongman and remarked: "Songyang High really is worse than White Dragon High. Look, here they can use a Yellow-Turban Strongman for both exams and competitions, while back at our school they still make students beat each other up."
Zhang Yu nodded and said: "This model of Yellow-Turban Strongman has such high realism — at a glance it looks like a real person."
Bai Zhenzhen too was seeing a Yellow-Turban Strongman in reality for the first time, and agreed: "That's just how rich people's hobbies are. They love turning expensive things into things that look cheap."
"Like making a designer outfit into a garbage bag, or, like this, making a Yellow-Turban Strongman into a person."
Zhang Yu suddenly had a thought: "How about suggesting that our school hire someone to play the Yellow-Turban Strongman?"
Just then, Lei Jun, who stood behind the two of them as the martial-arts combat teacher and also the organizer of Songyang High's combat exams, said with a dark face: "Someone who could play the Yellow-Turban Strongman... do you think the labor costs would be cheap?"
"And who do you think is going to foot the bill for hiring them? Trying to pay for a monthly exam every month, are we?"
With that, Lei Jun let out a cold snort and jerked his chin toward the ring: "The first round of the scoring event is about to start. Watch closely and learn well. When you go up there, don't embarrass me."
When the contestants had gathered earlier, White Dragon High School, as the host, had already handed each contestant a contestant number and a nameplate. In a moment, they would go up in number order to fight the Yellow-Turban Strongman.
Under everyone's gaze, the host walked up onto the ring and over to the Yellow-Turban Strongman's side.
"Welcome, everyone, to this edition of the Songyang City Freshman Martial-Arts Championship, co-sponsored by Oasis Food and Weilan Pharmaceuticals."
"Taste the pure and natural, cultivate the natural way — all dining at this venue is supplied by the Oasis Group."
At this, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen in the crowd both spat in unison.
Synthetic food? Even a dog wouldn't eat that.
The host went on: "A thousand-year heritage, essential for going out. Whether it's a duel on the ring or a brawl in the streets, Weilan Pharmaceuticals is your thoughtful companion... Any contestant in need of medicine may make your purchases at the pop-up pharmacy beside the venue."
Finally, after the host had run through all the sponsor ad-lines, the first round of the scoring event was finally about to begin.
"Now, let's invite the first contestant up!"
Everyone saw a contestant wearing the White Dragon High uniform walk up onto the ring. Along with the countdown of 3, 2, 1, he became locked in a fight with the Yellow-Turban Strongman.
Zhang Yu could tell that this White Dragon student's strength and speed matched the Yellow-Turban Strongman's grade-1.98 physical strength.
Every punch and kick followed a path of fierce, unyielding power, as he used hard, solid maneuvers to block the Strongman's blows while striking the sensing patches on its body to rack up points.
From a distance it looked like two giant bears tearing at and slaughtering each other on the ring, every impact sounding like the clang of metal, shaking the heart.
When the minute was up, this White Dragon student had earned a total of 128 points.
The several contestants who went up after him in succession were either from White Dragon High, Purple Cloud High, or Red Tower High.
The more Qian Shen watched, the more alarmed he grew: "These top gunner students from the three great elite schools — every single one of them, with their physical strength placed in Songyang's freshman grade, would be an absolute first place. Is the gap really this big? Are Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen really going to have to fight people at this level today?"
He Dayou, however, was not in the least surprised: "Unless you can get onto our school's sports competition team and receive the special training program, there's no way to beat the strongest batch of freaks from the three great elite schools in physical strength."
"Let alone the gaps in mana, martial arts, spiritual roots, and so on. Once you add all that into actual combat... that's when it becomes truly hopeless."
As the son of a school board member, He Dayou knew all too well the gap between Songyang High and the three great elite schools.
Take, for instance, the quota for the Top Ten Elite Universities each year: for Songyang High's top gunners, they could usually only fight over the leftovers with White Dragon High's second-tier strongmen after White Dragon's very best had eaten their fill.
Just then, a White Dragon student who stood over two and a half meters tall, like a Titan giant, walked slowly onto the ring.
Standing before this student, even the Yellow-Turban Strongman seemed to look more delicate.
And the moment this student took the stage, the White Dragon students who had been sitting upright in the stands suddenly all rose, clapping and cheering.
Zhang Yu, however, was more focused on the other's current hairstyle: "Isn't that Song Hailong? Why has his hairstyle changed?"
Song Hailong was White Dragon High's top scorer of the grade, the contestant whose uniform displayed a large '1' both on the chest and on the back.
Zhang Yu recalled that the last time he'd seen the other at the Mana Competition, he'd had a wild mane of hair that shot straight up.
Today, though, it had become a short, spiky crew cut.
Song Hailong gave a slight smile and raised a hand, pressing it toward the stands. The next moment, the White Dragon students who had just been cheering and clapping immediately sat back down, silent and not uttering a word.
Watching this scene, Zhang Yu suddenly remembered a legendary "low-score slavery system" at White Dragon High. Those White Dragon students in the stands truly did follow Song Hailong's every order.
Bai Zhenzhen, staring at Song Hailong's new hairstyle from the side, said: "He must have switched to some external spiritual root again!"
"That last external spiritual root clearly interfered with the spiritual machine, the kind meant for mana cultivation."
"Since this one is a martial-arts combat competition, that Song Hailong must have switched to a combat spiritual root."
With that, Bai Zhenzhen turned her head toward Zhang Yu beside her and urged: "Yuzi, Yuzi, hurry up and pull out your 100,000-yuan registry book and use the Heaven Eye Talisman to see Song Hailong's true details."
Over the past two weeks, besides focusing on martial arts, Zhang Yu had been getting familiar with the registry book from time to time.
But he didn't dare touch a single item in it, only daring to use the free daily quota to practice his talismans.
Among the talismans he practiced most were the binding charm and the Heaven Eye Talisman that the school had taught.
At this moment, Zhang Yu carefully took out his registry book, his fingertip sweeping rapidly across the screen. As the Heaven Eye Talisman activated, he immediately felt the whole world become different.
For anyone who wasn't a divine-affairs professional, this was the vision you got after topping up your account.
Above everyone's head floated strings of evaluation tags. Zhang Yu, who had practiced this several times, was already used to this kind of vision, and focused his gaze on Song Hailong on the ring.
Elephant-Sinew Body (expand details) Elephant-Sinew Body | Demon-Slayer | Heaven-Spirit Body Nurture | Unyielding Fighting Spirit | White Dragon Slave-Master | Family Ace Son
Meanwhile, on the ring, Song Hailong had already let out a wild laugh, grabbed the Yellow-Turban Strongman's huge hand with one of his own, and then, under the shocked gazes of everyone present, hurled the Strongman away with a bang.
In less than a single second, the battle was already over.
Song Hailong: 300 points.
The White Dragon students in the stands immediately erupted into fierce applause and cheers.
And as they watched Song Hailong walk slowly down from the ring, the many contestants felt as though they weren't looking at a person, but at a ferocious, savage beast.
Watching this scene, Qian Shen drew in a cold breath: "Song Hailong, 683 points in last month's exam... seeing his moves live, it's every bit as shocking as that score."
Meanwhile, Zhao Tianxing on the other side had just stepped into the arena and was still scanning the stands for Qian Shen when, turning around, he saw this scene on the ring: "So brutal. Are Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen really going to fight a monster like this?"
He couldn't help but feel a touch of worry well up: "Is it really going to be okay? They won't get seriously hurt, will they?"
On the opposite side, Zhang Yu stared at that long string of evaluation tags above Song Hailong's head: "Just what the hell is all this?"
When Bai Zhenzhen heard him read it out, she explained: "Heaven-Spirit Body Nurture I know — it should refer to a body-nurturing spiritual root, which is a combat-use spiritual root among the Heaven Spiritual Roots. The spiritual-machine meridians it forms wrap all over the body, comprehensively increasing the user's strength, speed, stamina, and resistance to blows."
Zhang Yu couldn't help shooting Bai Zhenzhen another look: "This A-Zhen, last time she spotted the external spiritual root in a single glance too."
"She can't afford a spiritual root, so how come she recognizes so many of them?"
Just as Bai Zhenzhen wasn't too sure about the other evaluations, Lei Jun behind the two suddenly spoke up: "Implanted elephant-yao sinews, has fought demonic beasts for a long time, extremely few negative emotions, a White Dragon high-flyer, the ace son of the Song family this generation."
Zhang Yu was startled: Old Lei, you understand the Heaven Eye Talisman too?
Seeing the two's surprised expressions, Lei Jun said flatly: "If Dao arts could be used for free like yours, they'd be pretty useful too."
Old Lei! You've betrayed the path of martial arts!
With Lei Jun's explanation, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen gained more information from this round of evaluations as well.
And on the following ring, more strongmen began to reveal their strength.
First came Lian Tianji of Purple Cloud High, his fists and feet like a violent storm, thoroughly suppressing the Yellow-Turban Strongman, whose physical strength was held at grade 1.98, to claim an arrogant 261 points.
Then came a student from Red Tower High who looked like a brown bear, instantly pouncing the Yellow-Turban Strongman to the ground before flinging it away, taking 300 points.
Not long after, Yue Mulan of Purple Cloud High took the stage. With a single hand she pressed the Yellow-Turban Strongman to the ground and thoroughly subdued it.
Then the woman kicked the sensing patch on the Strongman's back, again and again, all the way up to 305 points — just barely exceeding Song Hailong's 300 — before stopping. Then she glanced at Song Hailong and stepped down from the ring.
And from the moment Yue Mulan took the stage, the Purple Cloud students in the stands had remained utterly silent, a sea of quiet.
Zhao Tianxing found this strange.
When Qian Shen heard it, however, he explained as if reciting from memory: "Purple Cloud High's scores are updated each day based on the students' classroom performance, and the grade ranking refreshes every day too. And each day, the top scorer of the grade is allowed to set down one rule for the entire grade, lasting one day, provided it doesn't disrupt teaching order."
"As far as I know, from the very first day of the freshman term, Yue Mulan has always been the top scorer of the grade."
"The daily rule she sets has never changed either."
"And that is that all freshman students must remain quiet in her presence, and that plebeian students scoring below 650 are not allowed to speak to her without her permission."
Plebeian students below 650? Hearing this, Zhao Tianxing felt that even he himself had just been insulted.
But then he thought about how even the Qian Shen speaking to him hadn't reached 650 points either, and immediately settled his own mind again.
Zhao Tianxing asked: "How do you know so much?"
Qian Shen gave a faint smile: "When it comes to matters of the three great elite schools, you could say I've done a bit of research."
Meanwhile, in the contestant area, the provoked Song Hailong burst into loud laughter: "Yue Mulan, I'll be waiting for you in the finals!"