The next day, early morning.
First High School. The Martial Dao Gym.
"Whoa, this Martial Dao hall is way too big!"
Inside the cavernous gymnasium, a throng of students in white training uniforms bustled about, gazing around in curiosity.
"Bro Shan, check out that equipment — way better than the gym we used to work at."
Zhao Hongzhou tugged at Li Qingshan, pointing at the rows of training apparatus not far off, his eyes shining.
"Of course. If the Martial Dao Class couldn't even beat a gym, we'd have come for nothing, wouldn't we?"
Li Qingshan replied, his own gaze sweeping the room.
There were plenty of familiar faces, students from First High like them. But the unfamiliar ones, from other schools, were more numerous still.
Luoying City had five high schools in all, but each year there was only one senior-year Martial Dao Class, and only First High had a Martial Dao Gym.
Figures scattered everywhere; at a rough sweep, there had to be over a hundred.
"Lively bunch, you students!"
A rough laugh rang out as a burly middle-aged man in a black Martial Dao uniform came striding slowly over.
Nearly two meters tall, muscle bulging all over, he bore down on them like some primordial behemoth.
The gym, raucous a moment ago, fell silent in an instant.
"Good!"
The burly man's mouth hooked up in a satisfied smile.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Wan Keshan."
"If the opportunity arises, I'll be your Martial Dao teacher for the coming year."
Opportunity?
Li Qingshan was taken aback.
Was there some other Martial Dao teacher, then?
He glanced around, but found no one else.
Li Qingshan wasn't the only one;
the students around him did the same, thick with confusion.
Wan Keshan showed no intention of explaining. He raised his left hand, a phantom light-screen projecting from his comm-band onto his palm, and swiped with his right index finger.
"Now then, let's first see where you all stand."
As the words fell,
two walls of light suddenly appeared in the center of the gym, twenty meters apart, facing each other.
At once every student's eyes were drawn to them, some in understanding, some in confusion.
"In the Body Forging realm, qi and blood don't yet show; the only measure of division is speed and punch force!"
"Body Forging Layer 1: speed 11 meters per second, punch force 250 kilograms."
"Layer 2: 13 meters per second, 350 kilograms."
"Layer 3: 15 meters per second, 500 kilograms."
"Every year senior students sign up for the Martial Dao Class, but a single intake runs not one year, but three."
"Not everyone, however, makes it smoothly into the second year. Body Forging Layer 3 is the threshold for that."
"Of course, all of that is still a long way off for you."
Wan Keshan gave a small laugh and raised a hand toward the light-walls.
"The light-walls are for testing speed."
"They stand twenty meters apart. You run ten round trips between them, touching each wall every time, and the system gives you an average speed at the end."
"As for punch force..."
Wan Keshan moved his arm, pointing to the far side of the gym.
There stood another wall, this one solid.
Three meters square, the whole face wrapped in thick leather, a display screen at its top.
"The punch-force tester. The moment you finish the speed test, you go straight into the punch test — no winding up — and throw ten quick punches."
"It gives the average force of the ten punches at the end."
Once Wan Keshan finished explaining,
the students who'd been puzzled now understood, while Li Qingshan silently clicked his tongue.
Average speed! Average punch force!
This testing method was one he'd never come across before; even the gym where he'd once worked had only an ordinary punch tester, used to measure maximum force.
"What's more, this method measures far more than just speed and strength!"
Though the results showed only two figures, speed and punch force,
to burst out your fastest speed in a shuttle run, agility and reflexes were just as indispensable.
And after the speed test came the punch test.
Under all-out exertion, the drain on one's stamina was ferocious.
"This is what the Martial Dao is. Even just Body Forging Layer 1's 11 meters per second and 250 kilograms of punch force far surpass the human limits of Blue Star in his last life."
Li Qingshan sighed in admiration and glanced at the Panel.
[Realm: Body Forging 9/100]
"Wait — I don't even need Layer 1; I think I've already passed that as I am."
Being a security guard wasn't such an easy job.
With the body of the ordinary high schooler he'd been when he first transmigrated, he definitely couldn't have managed it.
But now, whether subduing a rowdy customer or dealing with small-time punks like yesterday's two yellow-hairs, it was effortless.
"All right, I've said what needs saying. Now we begin the placement test."
Wan Keshan swiped at the light-screen above his palm, where he seemed to have a roster arranged by student number.
"First up, Yu Lei."
A lean girl stepped forward, her expression confident.
She walked briskly to one of the light-walls, planted herself, and drew a deep breath.
Her right foot kicked off hard, her figure shooting out like a hunting leopard.
In a few strides she was at the opposite wall.
One foot had barely landed, just grazing the light-wall, when she wrenched herself around with force.
Power rose from her feet, her body whipping about, and she sprinted out again.
Her nimble form shuttled back and forth between the walls, leaving the watching students slack-jawed.
Zhao Hongzhou swallowed and murmured:
"Bro Shan, this Yu Lei's a monster! She's that fast?"
"It's not just speed."
Li Qingshan shook his head, eyes fixed on the figure between the walls.
"Her agility and reflexes are the real point."
On burst speed off the start alone, Li Qingshan was sure he could keep pace with her.
But in how she handled her body on the turns, he was no match.
Besides, Yu Lei's movements were too practiced — as if this weren't her first time being tested.
Li Qingshan glanced at Wan Keshan, thoughtful.
The teacher surely had complete files on every student; sending Yu Lei up first was probably meant to set an example for everyone.
Soon,
Yu Lei had finished all ten round trips. She stopped, braced her hands on her knees, and gasped for breath.
At the top of the left light-wall, a set of numbers surfaced.
Speed: 11.8 m/s
"Eleven point eight! She's already Body Forging Layer 1?"
Gasps went up, and many students couldn't help muttering among themselves.
Wan Keshan ignored the noise behind him, looked at Yu Lei, and said in a low voice:
"No time to rest. Go test your punch force, now!"
"Remember — no winding up, throw fast."
Yu Lei drew a deep breath, immediately straightened, and dashed to the far side of the gym.
At the punch-force tester,
she set her stance, steadied herself for a few seconds, then snapped both hands up and fired off rapid straight punches.
Bang, bang, bang...
In the blink of an eye, ten punches were done.
Yu Lei drew her fists back and looked up at the display, sweat running down her brow.
Punch force: 243 kg
Yu Lei frowned and turned back toward the line.
"Her speed's so far past the Layer 1 standard, but her punch force is only 243 kilos?"
Zhao Hongzhou watched her come back, astonished.
Li Qingshan shot a glance over, then quickly withdrew it, unruffled.
"Skinny as she is, it's normal for her strength to be on the weaker side."
Zhao Hongzhou wasn't the only one surprised; the chatter in the line had grown a good deal louder too.
Wan Keshan waved Yu Lei back into line and said offhandedly:
"Everyone's constitution is different, so naturally everyone's strengths lie elsewhere."
"Remember, the division standards of the Body Forging realm are only the floor."
Yu Lei's punch force fell short, so she still didn't count as Body Forging Layer 1.