No matter how deep his resentment was, life went on. Fang Ping could only bitterly accept this reality.

　　After a brief chit-chatting session between Fang Ping, Chen Fan, and Yang Jian, their class teacher with graying hair shuffled into the classroom.

　　Once all the students settled down in their seats, Old Teach went straight to the point. “Students who are signing up for the martial sciences exam, please see me in the office to register and pay the exam fees. You’ll be filling in a registration form. Then, the Office of Academic Affairs will be signing you lot up.”

　　When he was speaking, the class teacher was mainly scanning the class for students who were planning to sign up.

　　In truth, it was not hard to tell who would be signing up for the martial sciences exam.

　　As the class teacher, Old Teach could kind of guess which of his students would sign up.

　　After filtering their classmates based on good academic achievement, a strong body, and a good financial background, it was not hard for the students to guess who among them would sign up in their Year 3 Senior (4) class too.

　　Sun City was located on the mainland. Despite having the official name of Sun Prefectural City, it was actually a County-level City ¹ .

　　Compared to other county-level cities, Sun City had a better economy although just slightly. This was due to the fact that Sun City was not a county-level city located near the coasts. Some coastal county-level cities were more developed than the prefectural-level cities in the mainland.

　　In Sun City, not many people could afford to chuck aside ten thousand bucks.

　　Therefore, a simple exam registration fee would have obstructed many people.

　　After saying all that, the class teacher left the classroom.

　　Meanwhile, the students who were planning to sign up for the exam got up from their seats and started heading to the office.

　　Yang Jian — who sat in front of Fang Ping in class — stood up too.

　　The student sitting at the desk beside Fang Ping — the one named Zhang Hao; also the one who announced that Brother Ma leveled up to Rank-8 — stood up too.

　　As both of them started to move toward the door, Fang Ping shuffled out from his seat.

　　His deskmate, Chen Fan, appeared somewhat dazed. He cocked his head questioningly and asked, “Toilet break?”

　　“I’m signing up.”

　　“…”

　　Chen Fan gave him a perplexed look. Fang Ping? Signing up?

　　It was not just Chen Fan. Even Yang Jian could not help but turn around to look at Fang Ping. He asked incredulously, “Fang Ping, you’re signing up too?”

　　It did not sound like the fellow intended to be mean. However, his surprise at hearing what Fang Ping said was unmistakable. His voice was not exactly soft either.

　　Once he said it, more students turned around.

　　Everyone has studied in the same class for several years now. Everyone would have some ideas about everyone’s background by now.

　　For example, no one mentioned that Fang Ping could not sign up for the martial science exam, but Fang Ping’s small body constitution…

　　Fang Ping was actually slightly stronger than Chen Fan. However, when compared to his front-row mate, Yang Jian, there was no competition.

　　It seemed doable for him to pass cultural studies and general studies, but could Fang Ping pass the physical assessment and practical test?

　　Before Yang Jian could compose himself from the shock, Zhang Hao also said disapprovingly, “Fang Ping, not bad eh! Damn treacherous, that’s what you are!

　　“You’ve never joined us for physical training after school. You must’ve trained really hard at home, you treacherous brat!”

　　Despite exaggerating on his statement, Zhang Hao’s voice did not imply any form of ridicule. He just thought that this Fang Ping kept to himself too much. Could he not be more confident? Coming from his family, could they afford wasting ten thousand bucks in registration fees?

　　Fang Ping did not mind either. Smiling, he said, “You think too much. Who needs training when you’re endowed with extraordinary talent like me?

　　“I’ve made my decision. It’s just ten thousand bucks, right?

　　“If I don’t try, I’ll never know if I can pass. Maybe they’ll increase the number of intakes this year. If that happens, I’ll be making big bucks, won’t I?”

　　“Hahaha, in your dreams!” Zhang Hao guffawed.

　　However, the moment Fang Ping’s words spilled out from his mouth, the hearts of the students who were not signing up started to waver.

　　What Fang Ping said… It kind of made sense, right?

　　Who knew if the number of intakes would increase this year?

　　A few years back, only two or three students from the First High School made it into the martial sciences. Last year, however, there were five.

　　Maybe there would be more this year?

　　Eventually, those were just thoughts without actions. After all, everyone had their own reasons for not signing up. Fang Ping’s words could only tug at their heartstrings — they were not enough to make them change their decisions.

　　His deskmate, Chen Fan’s expression was unreadable. Signing up did not necessarily mean enrollment.

　　However, Fang Ping came from a family whose financial state was worse than his but Fang Ping was courageous enough to try. He did not. Chen Fan’s lack of courage stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison.

　　The grip on Chen Fan’s pen tightened.

　　Eventually, Chen Fan stood by his decision. Even if he signed up, his chances of passing the exam were more far-fetched than Fang Ping.

　　Instead of wasting time on this, he would rather spend more time studying for his social sciences exam.

　　…

　　Fang Ping was not in the mood to mull over everyone else’s opinion on him.

　　Along with those who were signing up for the martial sciences exam, he left his classroom and headed upstairs toward the class teacher’s office.

　　Not a lot of students in Year 3 Senior (4) were signing up.

　　After all, the probability of passing was so low that students who could not meet the strict requirements at a glance would never consider signing up.

　　Eventually, the students who walked out of the classroom totaled up to eight.

　　In spite of that, the number of registration from the average classes reached an all-time high for the past few years, all thanks to the two students from the average classes who managed to enroll in martial sciences. Without those two as exemplars, they could consider themselves lucky if there were even four to five candidates.

　　In other ordinary high schools, the number of candidates would be dismally small throughout the entire school.

　　Fang Ping gave the line of students a quick scan. Indeed, these were the top students in the class.

　　Other than topping their academics, the main factor was that everyone had strong, suitable bodies.

　　Even Yang Jian the future bearded dude. He might not be outstanding in his academics, but he was still not too bad. He would not have signed up otherwise.

　　Among them, there were two girls. Although they were not exactly eye-catching, they had good figures.

　　Compared to those half-grown bean sprouts ¹ in class, these two ladies ate and trained well in preparation for the martial sciences exam. With their toned bodies both protruding in the right places, Yang Jian and Zhang Hao — who were both standing beside Fang Ping — stared hard at the two ladies.

　　Everyone knew each other rather well in that crowd. All except Fang Ping.

　　The decision to sign up for the martial sciences exam did not happen overnight. During their free time at night, everyone would meet up and train together. Some of them even signed up for extracurricular tutorial classes for martial sciences.

　　Fang Ping was just an oddball that had suddenly popped up.

　　Everyone was more interested in Fang Ping currently.

　　Among the two girls whom Yang Jian and Zhang Hao had been staring at, one of them kept scanning Fang Ping up and down. After a short while, she finally asked, “Fang Ping, what is your Vitality value right now?”

　　“Huh?”

　　Fang Ping did not know what to say. Could he answer that his Vitality was currently 1.1?

　　Most importantly, he did not know how Vitality was calculated nor what unit of measurement was utilized for it in real life.

　　Thankfully, Fang Ping did not need to answer that question. Yang Jian interrupted with a laugh, “Zhang Nan, I don’t think Fang Ping has checked at all.

　　“If he did, he would have told us a long time ago.”

　　Zhang Hao interrupted and said, “He probably hasn’t checked. But looking at his small figure, I’m sure it’s lower than mine.”

　　“Hmph, stop bluffing, alright?”

　　Zhang Nan was only asking out of curiosity. Since Fang Ping did not answer her —whether he did not check or did not feel like telling — she did not persist.

　　After giving Zhang Hao a despising glare, Zhang Nan started to walk away, shaking her head in disapproval. “Looks like our class is most probably getting sidelined again this time.

　　“I checked again yesterday. The fluctuation in my Vitality peaked at a mere 108cal.

　　“Oh well, guess I’ll have to figure out a way to eat more supplements before the physical assessment and hope that my Vitality points increases.”

　　After hearing Zhang Nan’s statement, Yang Jian grinned and said, “I’m slightly better than you. My last test showed that mine peaks at 112cal.”

　　“Cal” was obviously the unit of measurement for Vitality. Fang Ping deduced that the higher the value was, the better.

　　Fang Ping had never gone for a test. At this point, he no longer feared embarrassing himself for asking the obvious. Therefore, he asked, “Who has the highest level of Vitality in our class?”

　　Leading the far front was a bright-eyed boy. He overheard the question and turned around, smiling. “According to my last result, that should be me — My Vitality points peaks at 115cal.”

　　Fang Ping knew this person. Although the world had changed, he was still the same person.

　　The person who spoke was the student with the best result in their cultural studies class. Of course, Fang Ping was uncertain if he still was.

　　However, the boy was not the class representative. Frankly speaking, none of the students here were elected to the student council or anything. These people had no time to spare and no energy to serve others.

　　‘What was he called?’ Fang Ping thought for a while and recalled that his name should be Wu Zhihao.

　　Wu Zhihao shook his head and said, “Although my Vitality points are considered quite alright, those from the elite classes are the ones with the highest Vitality points. Last I heard from their class, Zhou Bin’s Vitality is the highest, peaking above 120cal.

　　“It’s hard to tell when it comes to everyone else from our school, but the probability of Zhou Bin passing the exam is ninety percent if no accidents occur.”

　　“Haha! Zhihao, why don’t you hire someone to break his legs? We’d have one less competitor too,” joked Zhang Hao.

　　Wu Zhihao rolled his eyes and answered bleakly, “It’s not like there’s a selection round going on in the school. Even if Zhou Bin fails the exams, it doesn’t have much of an effect on us. Otherwise, I would’ve considered it.”

　　Zhang Hao gave a small laugh. In a casual tone, he said, “Let’s try it anyway. Who knows? Maybe that’s all it takes to pass the exam.

　　“Last year, the prerequisite for admission into Nanjiang Martial Arts University was a Vitality of 112cal.

　　“Even if they increase the requirement this year, the increment will still be limited. I think you won’t have too much of a problem anyway…”

　　Wu Zhihao shook his head again and replied, “Not possible. The standards just keep on increasing every year. I think it’ll be at least 115cal and above this year.

　　“Also, it’s pointless if one’s Vitality points are the only aspect that is up to par. What about the rest?

　　“That’s not the only thing. It depends on others too. If everyone else has a lower value while ours are high. Then, there’s hope for us.

　　“However, if everyone possesses high Vitality points, we won’t get in no matter how good our results are.”

　　Similar to the social sciences exam, each university’s entry requirements were not set in stone. The quota for how many students they could admit was still there.

　　One’s results might fulfill the entry requirements based on the previous year’s standard. Yet, in the case where the average was higher for that particular year, one would still be screwed.

　　On the other hand, perhaps one did not do very well for the exam this year but everyone’s average was low for the year. One might not be stronger than said crowd but one might just make it in.

　　Even so, the quality of life has improved significantly in recent years. The standards had only been increasing and a decrease was rarely observed.

　　According to Wu Zhihao’s analysis, there were only three among the eight exam candidates (including Fang Ping) from Year 3 Senior (4) who possessed Vitality points greater than 110cal.

　　They were Wu Zhihao, Yang Jian, and Liu Ruoqi, the other girl who had not spoken much.

　　No one else’s Vitality points exceeded 110cal, not even Zhang Hao.

　　However, Zhang Hao was close to 110cal. There would still be hope for him if he ate more supplements that could improve his Vitality points before the exam.

　　This was not considered cheating. In this era, the prices of supplements that could help to improve Vitality were exorbitant.

　　It could be assumed that everyone who could afford supplements came from a well-off family.

　　Martial artists… Definitely needed financial support.

　　Whether one is rich or poor, different financial status would bring about different levels of support for a martial artist. Their wealth would determine their future. Although it was not a hard-and-fast rule, it was definitely a common rule.

　　Therefore, despite not exceeding 110cal in his Vitality points, Zhang Hao signed up anyway because he knew his family had already prepared the necessary supplements.

　　The main reason why he had not consumed the supplements yet was due to the fear that the supplements might lose half of their effects after digestion, rendering him unable to meet the required standards.

　　Meanwhile, if he ate the supplements right before the physical assessment, the supplements might not get digested completely. However, it would still benefit those who were attempting to reach a threshold as more effects could be activated this way.

　　Zhang Hao had conveniently kept this fact to himself. However, even if he did not mention this, everyone else would have prepared something similar.

　　Of course, there would also be an exception like Fang Ping.

　　His decision to sign up for the martial sciences exam came too abruptly as his parents never expected him to choose this path.

　　In actuality, unbeknownst to Fang Ping, Fang Mingrong was already considering buying Vitality supplements for his son.

　　It was unfortunate that those medicinal supplements were all too expensive. Their cost could easily begin from the tens of thousands. Hence, Old Fang had yet to make up his mind.

　　After listening to everyone’s conversation, Fang Ping contemplated on his own. Does my current Vitality of 1.1 convert to 110cal?

　　That could be possible.

　　However, even if it could be converted into 110cal, it did not seem to be giving Fang Ping any advantage. After all, even Wu Zhihao from an ordinary class could possess 115cal. There must be a lot more of them from the elite classes whose Vitality exceeded 110cal.

　　There was no mistake that 112cal was Nanjing Martial Arts University’s intake prerequisite last year, but there was no way to find out this year.

　　‘Seems like I have my work cut out for me. I should at least pass the first three stages before I can spend time thinking about the rest.’

　　As Fang Ping immersed himself in his train of thought, everyone arrived at the entrance of the school office.