Chapter 31: Exam Starts

The examinees in the old lecture buildings waited until noon, yet the exam did not start.

Many believed that the university was doing this on purpose to test their patience and tenacity. It had to be part of the exam.

After all, the follow-up exam was based on examiner scores. The examiners’ marks would decide the results, yet they could give marks based entirely on their subjective views. Perhaps the examinees were also judged based on their reactions during the wait for the exam.

Of course, if any of the examinees could win against the upperclassmen assigned to them, they would pass straight away. The extra marks would mean nothing to them. However, most of the students did not expect to win. All they

could

do was perform to the best of their abilities.

The female lecturer continued standing in the room. Even after a few hours, her stance did not change, so the examinees did not dare to walk around. The only time they moved was when they got some water or went to the washroom. They did it rarely, though. Some even thought about just holding it in.

The female lecturer suddenly turned at someone waving at her from outside. She went over. After a while, she came back and said, “You can rest for half an hour, but don’t go too far from the exam site. We will be locking down the exam site at 12:45 p.m. If you return late, you will be barred from taking the exam.”

The examinees sighed in relief and eagerly got up to move around. Sitting still for so long had been torture.

Just then, a big boy with a sturdy body and a round head got up and took out a huge bag of beef jerky from his backpack. Each stick was packaged individually. He distributed it to the surrounding examinees. “My family made the beef jerky. Have one. They really help hold off hunger.”

Chen Chuan was only a few seats away from him, so he got one as well. He thanked the boy, but did not eat it immediately. Instead, he put it in his pocket. While on the way to the exam, he had eaten three nutritional pastes, and all he did in the morning was sit still, so he did not burn any energy. He did not feel hungry.

Many of the examinees were hungry, so they thanked the boy who gave them the beef jerky.

But some rejected the offer and only ate the stuff they had brought with them. A few also gave him the cold shoulder and told him to scram.

The big boy did not get angry. He just grinned and took out a stack of flyers from his bag to distribute them to the examinees who took the beef jerky, saying that if they liked the stuff, they could go to Han’s Family Restaurant—his family’s restaurant—to eat, and that all Martial Valor University students received a fifty percent discount. Those who passed the follow-up exam would even be given a free meal.

After having some food, the examinees were no longer able to stay silent and started talking to each other. Fang Zhiming turned to Chen Chuan. “How long have you been practicing martial arts?”

“Not long,” Chen Chuan answered.

“Same here. We had an old man teaching martial arts in my town. I was curious and trained with him for a while. The old man said that I had talent, so my parents pawned off their house, got some money, and hired a martial arts teacher for me. I trained day and night for two years...” Fang Zhiming sighed.

He took a bite of the beef jerky and mumbled, “Honestly, I’m not confident. I couldn’t even believe it when they told me that I passed the entrance examination, but the lecturer said that only those who pass the follow-up exam are considered to be real Martial Valor University students. Those who only pass the entrance examination do not count. Since I passed the entrance examination, I decided to try my luck here as well.”

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Perhaps it was to calm himself, but once he started talking, he just continued chattering away. Chen Chuan listened without showing any annoyance.

When Wei Dong heard that they could rest, he jumped up from his seat in Exam Site Three. He did not choose to walk or stand. Instead, he squatted on his seat and kept twisting and turning while looking around.

The examinee beside him was eating and found him frustrating. No longer able to stand it, he snapped, “What are you looking for? Can’t you come down? Aren’t you tired?”

“I have a friend, but I can’t see him. Did he forget about the exam?” Wei Dong replied.

“There’s more than one exam site. Your friend might be on another site,” the examinee shot back in annoyance.

“There’s more than one exam site?” Wei Dong seemed to have a eureka moment.

The examinee seemed like he had a burden removed from his shoulders once Wei Dong understood the problem. But he continued squatting on the bench, so the examinee asked in frustration, “Are you a monkey? Can’t you sit down?”

“Was that an insult? Did you just insult me?” Wei Dong asked.

The examinee was pretty hot-headed himself. He shot to his feet. “Yeah, I insulted you, so? You want to fight? I’m all in!”

“Sure! Now?” Wei Dong jumped to his feet.

When the examinee saw how excited he was, he was stunned and whispered, “Are you crazy? Don’t you want to take the exam? Aren’t you worried about getting barred from taking it?”

Wei Dong stared fixedly at him, as if he did not care about anything else.

The examinee felt his skin crawl when he realized that Wei Dong was serious about fighting. He turned away and sat back down without another word.

Forget it. He’s bad news.

Wei Dong actually felt a little disappointed when the examinee no longer wanted to fight. He scratched his head, left his seat, and walked out.

I hope you can’t find your way back!

the examinee cursed.

Half an hour passed quickly. When it was 12:45 p.m., the four exam sites were locked down again, and the examinees continued waiting in tormenting silence.

At around 1 p.m., Mr. Jiang, Ning Guo, and Yue Hong walked out of a room in the cafeteria and went to the old lecture buildings.

The lecturers in charge of the exam relaxed a little upon seeing the group.

Ning Guo asked tentatively, “Mr. Jiang, can you sign the list now?”

Mr. Jiang hummed.

His assistant immediately handed over the list. After taking a look, he signed it and said, “Let’s start, and be quick about it. The examinees have it rough, and we want to be efficient.”

Ning Guo sighed in relief after he got the list. He went to the side and gave urgent instructions to a few teaching assistants. They left immediately after.

Mr. Jiang’s assistant walked up to Mr. Jiang and asked, “Which site would you like to observe?”

“I’ll check all of them.”

Then, as if he remembered something, he asked, “By the way, is it true that Exam Sites Three and Four are harder?”

“Yes. It’s because the examinees there are better. That’s why the university assigned stronger upperclassmen to fight them.”

“Come. Let’s go to Exam Site One first,” Mr. Jiang said.

The door to Exam Site Four opened. A teaching assistant strode in with a list and handed it to the female lecturer, who took it and said, “I’m going to list your numbers now.”

Soft cheers and sighs of relief immediately echoed through the hall, but when the female lecturer glared at them, the examinees immediately fell silent again. No one wanted to be chased out at this point in time.

“The students I mention are to go to the corresponding exam venues. 115, 218, 93, go to Exam Venue One. 3, 9, 492, go to Exam Venue Two. 207, 100...”

As she listed the numbers, the examinees noticed that the follow-up exam wasn’t going to be conducted in numerical order.

Chen Chuan immediately realized that those with numbers further down could not rest at ease. They had to stay focused and alert at all times. This was probably the university’s plan.

There were five exam venues within Exam Site Four, and they were named Exam Venue One to Five. This corresponded to the information of the five upperclassmen he had received earlier, but he could not tell just who he would be fighting.

Just then, the large door near the back of the building swung open. The first batch of examinees exited through it and followed a wide, square-loop corridor toward their respective exam venues.

Only about eight minutes passed before the next batch of examinees was called. Judging by the speed, progress would not be slow.

However, as the exam went on, injured examinees started appearing. The university did not bother to hide it. Everyone could see the unconscious or those with bone fractures being carried out through the wide open door and windows.

But the examinees had already experienced this during the entrance examination and knew that the follow-up exam was going to be even tougher, so they were mentally prepared for it.

One hour later, the first batch of upperclassmen in charge of the exam was switched out. The examinees were also allowed to rest. The information about the upperclassmen was posted on the bulletin board so that the examinees would know about them, and they started talking among themselves about it.

“It’s not going to be easy passing the follow-up exam. My brother said that Tai Dongwei at Exam Venue Three is really strong and skilled at striking techniques. I don’t want to run into him.”

Many of the other examinees nodded. Even though there was not much information about the upperclassmen posted on the board, Tai Dongwei’s basic information alone made it clear that he was not going to be an easy opponent, since he was 1.95 meters tall and weighed 98 kilograms.

After all, they were all teenagers, and most of them had not fully grown into their bodies yet. Even after training, they were still far from reaching the peak of their strength and physical abilities, let alone experience. If they had to fight against Tai Dongwei, they might not even last a single bout and be unable to showcase their talents. How were they supposed to get any marks, then?

“Exam Venue One has Zhou Xinrou. She’s 1.85 meters tall and weighs 82 kilograms. She’s a senior and an expert grappler. Apparently, the ones with broken bones all fought against her.”

“That Zhong Wu from Exam Venue Five is even crazier. He’s a senior who’s 2.02 meters tall and weighs 221 kilograms! He’s also a skilled grappler. He’s way beyond our abilities!”

The examinees’ faces turned pale, and they started sweating. They hurriedly flipped through the information they obtained in hopes that they could find something useful.

Chen Chuan thought about it. Since the upperclassmen in charge of the follow-up exam took turns resting, only a small number of examinees would run into those people.

But since they were not going to be tested in numerical order, the university might have already arranged just who was going to go up against those upperclassmen ahead of time.

He looked toward Fang Zhiming and found him reading through his information nervously. He asked, “Fang Zhiming, did you receive aid from the Mutual Aid Group?”

Fang Zhiming scratched his head. “Huh? Oh... Um... My dad said not to trust the people who’d lend you money on their own accord, so I didn’t accept it.”

Chen Chuan hummed. If things progressed as he thought, then the ones who were going to face those upperclassmen were highly likely going to be those who rejected the aid from the Mutual Aid Group.

Chen Chuan was going to be one of them.