High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices-Chapter 45: Rating Battle

After this brief interlude, the examination committee announced the procedure for the Martial Arts exam.

The first phase was the "guidance battles." Two instructors from each of the three schools would cross-evaluate every student in practical combat. Based on their performance, they would be assigned an initial rating.

The initial ratings were S, A, B, C, and D. Of course, with the college entrance exams still three months away, no one was expected to receive an S-class rating by those standards.

Those who were capable of achieving that were already away at special training in the provincial capital.

Then, based on these initial ratings, the students would be arranged into cross-school matches to determine their final individual scores.

Soon, after brief speeches from the Provincial Martial Arts Association’s observer and the three school principals, the joint exam coordinator announced the first step: Life Energy Level re-verification.

This was a necessary procedure for every exam. The instructors in the guidance battles would adjust their own strength according to the student’s Life Energy Level to ensure the candidates had room to display their skills.

All participating students stepped forward one by one for the final re-verification of their Life Energy Levels. The results were projected onto the central screen in real-time, forming a constantly refreshing leaderboard.

[Silver Port First High School, Li Mo, Life Energy Level: 12.7]

[United Middle School, Zhao Ding, Life Energy Level: 11.8]

[Silver Port First High School, Chen Hao, Life Energy Level: 11.7]

[Honghe First Middle School, Xu Wuyi, Life Energy Level: 11.6]

[United Middle School, Su Yueling, Life Energy Level: 11.5]

[Honghe First Middle School, Zeng Bonan, Life Energy Level: 11.5]

[Silver Port First High School...]

...

Once the rankings appeared, a low buzz of discussion arose from the camps of all three schools.

"Li Mo improved again! A level of 12.7... The gap is huge. He’s in a league of his own at number one!"

"That Xu Wuyi from Honghe... his Life Energy Level is actually fourth? I heard he was below level 9 before the winter break..."

"That rate of progress is terrifying!"

"But he’s still a long way from Li Mo. Looks like there’s no suspense for first place."

Xu Wuyi looked at the data on the screen, his expression unchanged.

A level of 11.6. This was the result of his arduous training over the past half-month.

His speed at absorbing the D-Level Qi Blood Potion was still increasing. Although Li Mo’s current Life Energy Level seemed so high that he was almost impossible to defeat, Xu Wuyi was still confident he could catch up.

After comprehending the True Intention of Martial Arts, his Body Refining Technique had also advanced by leaps and bounds.

He now understood a little why Yu Peiling’s Life Energy Level had been as high as 13 before the winter break.

She must have had her own method for accelerating her Body Refining Technique’s progress, or perhaps she had learned some kind of High Tier Body Refining Technique, allowing her to raise her Qi and Blood faster.

Seeing that he was silent, Zeng Bonan comforted him, "The Energy Level isn’t everything. The rating battles will show what you’re really made of."

Hu Haobo snorted as well. "Exactly! We’ll only know for sure once the fighting starts!"

They knew how strong Xu Wuyi was, and they also knew that his main opponent this time was Li Mo, whose Life Energy Level was exceptionally high.

It might seem like Li Mo had only improved by 0.1, but the higher the Life Energy Level, the greater the gap each point represented.

In response to his friends, Xu Wuyi just shook his head slightly, not taking the others’ discussions to heart.

The lottery results were announced soon after. Xu Wuyi drew a number that was further down the list, so he was scheduled to compete in the afternoon.

...

The rating battles officially began, taking place on three platforms simultaneously.

Students went up in order of their numbers to face the instructors from the various schools.

The rules were simple: last long enough against the instructor and display as much of one’s Martial Arts proficiency as possible.

A supercomputer system in the venue’s ceiling would then comprehensively evaluate factors like the student’s Life Energy Level, Martial Arts Techniques, tactical choices, and Willpower to assign a rating from D-level to S-class.

The pace of the battles was fast.

Most students could only last a minute or two before their weaknesses were exploited and they were defeated. And that was with the instructors holding back, allowing them to showcase their Martial Arts first.

The ratings were mostly concentrated in C-level and D-level. B-level was already quite rare, and not a single A-level had appeared even after two hours.

Not until Li Mo from Silver Port First High School took the stage. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

His massive frame exuded a palpable pressure as he stepped onto the platform.

Faced with the instructor’s swift, probing attacks, he didn’t dodge or evade at all. Without his Ghost Head Saber, he fought with a pair of Iron Fists, using brute force to shatter technique and forcing even the instructor to temporarily retreat from his onslaught.

Just as Xu Wuyi had guessed, Li Mo possessed Innate Divine Power. Even if the opposing instructor matched his Life Energy Level, Li Mo held an absolute advantage in terms of strength.

His offense was savage, and his moves remained direct and straightforward, but he compensated for his lack of technique with sheer power.

However, he was facing a Martial Master Level opponent, after all. His weakness was soon found, and he was ultimately defeated.

The supercomputer’s notification appeared:

[Silver Port First High School, Li Mo, Rating: A]

This was the first A-level rating since the competition began!

However, most people could see that Li Mo’s Martial Arts weren’t particularly refined. His high Life Energy Level was a major factor in his rating.

Next up was Zhao Ding from United Middle School.

He specialized in the defensive Martial Art, the Iron Wall Technique. With a Life Energy Level as high as 11.8, he was as firm as a boulder just by standing there.

Even when the instructor matched his Life Energy Level, their attacks landed on him with no effect, unable to move him in the slightest.

But Zhao Ding didn’t fight defensively. On the contrary, his offense was also exceptionally sharp. Relying on the toughness of his Iron Wall Technique, he chose to meet the opponent’s offense with his own, and in the end, he also secured an A-level rating.

[United Middle School, Zhao Ding, Rating: A]

An entire morning passed, and only two A-level ratings had been awarded.

Zeng Bonan also competed in the morning. Unfortunately, his strength lay in his solid fundamentals, which wasn’t flashy enough to stand out in the rating battles. His Life Energy Level wasn’t high enough either, so he ultimately only received a B-level rating.

In the afternoon, the competition continued.

While Xu Wuyi was still watching, Su Yueling from United Middle School finally took the stage.

Xu Wuyi had long heard of the famous Shadow Sword Technique, but he had never been able to find out anything about its specific origins.

There was nothing from online searches or even rumors. Even the two teachers, Zhou and Wang, only knew that this Swordsmanship had an extraordinary lineage but were unaware of the specific details.

On the platform, Su Yueling had a petite figure, yet her movements were as elusive as a phantom.

The Shadow Sword Technique was incredibly bizarre. Su Yueling used her fists as swords, and as the shadows of her fists flickered, they seemed to split into several beams of sword light, making it difficult to tell which were real and which were illusions. The attacks came from unbelievable angles.

’Judging from the instructor’s movements, it seems like all those beams of sword light are real,’ Xu Wuyi mused.

’How is that possible? A person’s fist can’t possibly be in three places at once. And how can a fist even generate sword light?’

The Shadow Sword Technique seemed to have crossed the line from Martial Arts into metaphysics. Xu Wuyi couldn’t comprehend its principles.

However, he had a faint feeling that if the college entrance exams didn’t restrict them to unarmed combat, forcing them to fight with only their fists and feet, Su Yueling would probably be even more difficult to deal with.

In the end, with a Life Energy Level of 11.5, Su Yueling successfully captured the third A-level rating.

After that, the third-ranked student in Life Energy Level, Chen Hao from Silver Port First High School, took the stage.

His Martial Arts were a bit better than Li Mo’s, but only by a limited margin. He also didn’t have a unique Martial Art like Zhao Ding or Su Yueling. Ultimately, due to his lackluster performance, he only managed a B-level rating.

Another half hour later, Xu Wuyi’s name appeared on the big screen.