High Martial Arts: Gains one point of health per second, sweeping across the heavens.

The numbers jumped wildly, so fast it was dizzying, before finally freezing abruptly.

【690】!

The entire martial arts hall fell into a deathly silence in an instant.

You could hear a pin drop.

Everyone seemed to have their souls ripped out in an instant, their mouths agape, their eyes wide open, as if they had witnessed the most unbelievable sight in the world, collectively frozen in place.

"6...690?" a boy murmured in a dreamlike voice, his voice trembling.

"The instrument... Yes! The instrument must be broken!" someone cried out as if grasping at a straw.

Lin Xueer's mocking smile froze completely on her face, and the color drained away at a visible speed, turning her ashen white.

She staggered back a step, nearly collapsing to the ground if she hadn't been supported by her classmate, her eyes filled with incomprehensible horror and fear. "No...it can't be...he clearly..."

The head teacher, Li Heng, dropped his record board to the ground with a "thud," but he didn't even notice.

He rubbed his eyes hard, then leaned forward nearly half a meter, almost pressing his face against the testing device's screen, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "Su...Su Jie? You...you test again? Yes, test again! It might be a temporary malfunction!"

Seeing the various expressions on everyone's faces, Su Jie was overjoyed. 690 was just the combat strength he showed to the outside world; his true combat strength was already over a thousand!

However, he maintained a nonchalant demeanor on the surface. He shrugged indifferently: "Sure."

He stepped onto the testing device again. This time, he released his qi and blood at the same level he had demonstrated before.

Om-!

The testing instrument emitted its familiar buzzing sound once again, and the numbers soared like a runaway horse, finally settling steadily at—[690]!

This time, no one doubted it anymore.

After a brief silence, the entire martial arts hall erupted in chaos!

"Holy crap! It really is! It really is 690!"

"My God! A monster has appeared in our No. 7 Middle School!"

"Is this guy even human? Wasn't he only rated 5 points of combat power in the previous test?"

"A hidden master! He's definitely a hidden master! We used to laugh at him..."

"Lin Xue'er is even draining his life force? This is fucking offending a monster of a powerful caliber!"

Exclamations, whispers, and gasps mingled together, nearly lifting the roof off.

All the gazes directed at Su Jie were filled with disbelief, awe, and a hint of lingering fear.

Those who had once mocked Su Jie now wished they could bury their heads in their pants.

Li Heng, his face flushed with excitement, rushed forward and grabbed Su Jie's shoulder, babbling incoherently, "Good! Good lad! Su Jie! You've given your teacher a huge surprise! No! A shock! Hahaha! Our No. 7 Middle School is about to rise!"

He was grinning from ear to ear, clearly proud of himself.

Su Jie calmly patted Li Heng's hand: "Teacher Li, calm down, this is just basic operation."

His gaze shifted to Lin Xue'er, whose face was deathly pale, and a smirk appeared on his lips: "Lin Xue'er, 200 Qi and Blood Coins, before school ends, is that alright?"

Lin Xue'er trembled. When she met Su Jie's seemingly calm but sharp gaze, she felt a chill run from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

Unable to contain her fear and regret any longer, she burst into tears, covered her face, and stumbled out of the martial arts gym, her back view showing utter disarray.

Su Jie chuckled and ignored him. He enjoyed the awe-inspiring gazes of the entire audience for a while before slowly stepping off the testing device.

Wherever he went, the students spontaneously made way for him, their eyes filled with complex emotions.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire No. 7 Middle School at an astonishing speed.

"Have you heard? That Su Jie from the senior year of high school has a combat power of 690!"

"Which Su Jie? The one who used to be all over Lin Xue'er, that weakling?"

"That's him! My God, he's been hiding it so well!"

"Lin Xue'er is going to regret this so much she'll be going to her grandma's house!"

For a time, Su Jie became the absolute focus of No. 7 Middle School. Wherever he went, he attracted countless stares and whispers.

School leaders who used to ignore him now greet him with a nod and a smile. Classmates who used to mock him now treat him like a mouse before a cat.

The school bell rang.

Just as Su Jie finished packing his things, Lin Xue'er appeared at the classroom door, her eyes swollen like walnuts.

She lowered her head, not daring to look at Su Jie, and tremblingly stretched out her hand, in which was a Qi and Blood Coin marked with a value of 200.

"Su...Su Jie...This is 200 Qi and Blood Coins..." Her voice was choked with sobs, filled with humiliation.

Su Jie accepted the 200 Qi and Blood Coins without hesitation, thinking that he could finally sell Qi and Blood to support himself again, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Why didn't you just give up so easily earlier?" Su Jie glanced at her. "I'll just consider those cultivation resources as dog food! From now on, stay away from me."

Lin Xue'er bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes again, but she didn't dare to say a word in rebuttal and ran away dejectedly.

The students who hadn't left yet felt incredibly relieved when they saw this.

"Serves you right!"

"Let her be so arrogant before!"

"Su Jie is awesome!"

At 8 PM, the Linjiang Municipal Education Bureau and the Martial Arts Association jointly released the latest "Linjiang Rising Stars List" on their official websites!

Countless people waited in front of the screen to refresh the results. The moment the list appeared, the entire martial arts-focused high school student community in Linjiang City was once again hit by a bombshell!

The top spot on the list clearly shows:

First place: Su Jie, school: No. 7 Middle School, final measured combat power: 690 points!

"Su Jie? Who's that? Seventh Middle School? Isn't that just an ordinary middle school?"

"690 points?! Are you kidding me! Even the genius from No. 1 High School who came in second only had 396 points!"

"This difference... his combat power is almost 700 points? He's unmatched!"

"Cheated? No way!"

"Official rankings? You're telling me this is cheating? The testing equipment was all procured by the provincial education department!"

"Seventh Middle School and Su Jie are about to become famous!"

Shock, doubt, disbelief... a range of emotions spread throughout Linjiang City. The name Su Jie, overnight, resounded throughout the entire city.

Su Jie, who had just redeemed 20 Star Coins at the community's "Qi and Blood Self-Service Trading Terminal," was quite calm; he was more concerned about the reward.

Soon, the school notified him to go to the Municipal Education Bureau the next day to collect the special reward for being the top-ranked student on the Rising Star List and to prepare for entering the "Star Source Secret Realm".

"A special reward..." Su Jie rubbed his chin, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "What could it be? A cultivation technique? A martial arts skill? Or some rare and precious treasure?"

He glanced at the combat power value in the system, which had reached 1050 points, and the still massive amount of health and mana reserves, and grinned.

"Whatever it is, it's all free, awesome!"

"Star Origin Secret Realm, five times the concentration of Qi and Blood... Hehe, doesn't that mean my Qi and Blood reserves have reached several million?"