Full-Time Martial Saint

The first to appear was Liu Bingran, the director of the Academic Affairs Office of the Martial Arts Academy of Xiangcheng No.1 Middle School.

Today, Liu Bingran was still wearing that black martial arts uniform, with her short, dashing hair and a cold, unsmiling face.

After Liu Bingran appeared, she walked straight to the front of the stage and stood there, looking down at the two hundred martial arts students from the ten classes below.

"Quiet."

"Let me introduce the guests and judges for this martial arts skills assessment test."

……

In his previous life, Chen Cong disliked the formalism before major conferences, and he still does now.

Although Liu Bingran's introduction and explanation were very simple, he didn't remember much of the specific content. He only vaguely heard that among the guests invited to observe this time were stewards from the Xiangcheng branch of Qingshan Martial Academy and Wuji Hall, as well as leaders from the Municipal Education Bureau and representatives of some influential families in Xiangcheng City, such as the Xu family.

At first, Chen Cong didn't quite understand why the school had gone to such lengths to invite guests for such a small diagnostic test. But then he thought about it again and suddenly understood.

Xiangcheng No.1 Middle School Martial Arts Academy is the best martial arts academy in the entire Xiangcheng City.

Over the next five years, most of the two hundred senior martial arts students present will likely become respected true martial artists, and some exceptional individuals may even go further in the martial arts world.

For these young geniuses with limitless potential, paying attention in advance and getting to know them early on might come in handy in the future.

More importantly, as two martial arts organizations spanning the entire Blue Star, Green Mountain Martial Academy and Martial Extreme Hall each possess a complete process for discovering, absorbing, and cultivating talented martial arts students.

Even if Xiangcheng No. 1 Middle School doesn't extend an invitation, the branches of both sides in Xiangcheng will probably try to obtain preliminary data on every martial arts student.

Fortunately, Xiangcheng No. 1 Middle School invited all the representatives of special forces in the city to the scene, with the Education Bureau and city leaders witnessing the event, thus avoiding any unnecessary trouble later.

After a brief opening ceremony, Liu Bingran first bowed slightly to the guests and leaders on the stage, then turned to look at everyone below and spoke in a deep voice:

"In the past, the preliminary tests took too long. In order to save time, the Academic Affairs Office and the school have decided to make the following adjustments to the preliminary test rules."

"After the opponents are determined by drawing lots, the twenty students in each class are divided into two groups, A and B, with ten students in each group. The challenge format will still be used, but members of the same group cannot challenge each other."

Therefore, teachers, please carefully group students according to their abilities. The final score will be determined based on the number of students remaining in each group.

"Other rules will remain unchanged for now. We will now begin the lottery."

As soon as Liu Bingran finished speaking, a staff member came to each class with a box and asked the class representatives to draw lots in turn.

"Young Master Ning, what are you smoking?"

The top classes don't need to draw lots, so Class 2 of Senior Three was the first to draw lots. As soon as Ning Yuhang took the slip of paper out of the box, Hou Long behind him couldn't wait to ask in a low voice.

Although the others didn't say anything, they were all staring at him expectantly.

Ning Yuhang glanced at the note in his hand, paused for a moment, then held it in his palm with a strange expression, smiling without saying a word.

"Hey! This animal's playing coy!"

"Could it be that we drew a bye?"

"Forget it, Young Master Ning doesn't have that kind of luck..."

……

The students in Class 2 whispered among themselves, not daring to be too outrageous.

After the other classes had drawn their lots, they were also whispering and looking around.

The drawing of lots for the nine classes was completed quickly. Liu Bingran, standing on the platform, spoke again: "Silence. Now, please have the representatives of the two classes that drew the character 'A' step forward."

As soon as she finished speaking, representatives from Class 3 and Class 7 of Senior Three stepped forward from the crowd almost simultaneously.

After seeing their respective opponents, the martial arts students from both classes were all eager to get started.

"The two class representatives who drew the character 'B', please step forward," Liu Bingran said again.

This time, two students from Class 5 and Class 9 of Senior Three stepped forward, followed by Class 6 and Class 10 of Senior Three in the "C" group.

Currently, only three classes remain: Class 2, Class 4, and Class 8 of the third year of high school. Of these three classes, one will inevitably receive a bye and wait to compete against the strongest class determined by the losers' bracket. The other two classes will be assigned to the T-group.

At this moment, everyone in Class 2 of Senior Three was looking at Class 4 and Class 8 with mixed feelings, calculating in their hearts which one they would have a better chance of winning against.

"The last group, the two class representatives who drew the letter 'D', please step forward." Liu Bingran's voice rang out from the podium.

When all eyes of the students in Class 2 of Senior Three turned to Ning Yuhang, who was standing at the front, the representatives from Class 4 and Class 8 had already walked out slowly!

Only then did Ning Yuhang slowly turn around and raise the blank sheet of paper in his hand to the crowd.

When everyone saw the blank paper indicating a bye, they were first stunned, then their faces lit up with excitement, and they began to discuss it excitedly.

They were so happy not only because the bye meant that Class 2 could watch the other eight classes compete as spectators and get a feel for each class's strength in advance, but also because they could rest and wait for the losers to exhaust themselves in the battles before entering the arena.

During this period, although the rules will allow the strongest class in the loser's bracket some rest time, it is ultimately difficult to recover to the best condition in a short time due to the high intensity of the battles.

Not far away, Zhang Kui looked at the Class 2 students with a smile on his face and muttered to himself, "A bunch of brats, they've got pretty good luck."

"Martial arts instructors, you have five minutes to divide the students into groups. Please divide them into two groups as quickly as possible and confirm the spots." After the draw was completed, Liu Bingran spoke again.

Upon receiving instructions, the martial arts instructors in each class hurriedly grouped their students into groups based on their skill levels.

Zhang Kui also came to Class 2 of Senior Three and slowly raised his hand to quell the crowd's discussion: "Alright, everyone come over here."

The twenty students from Class 2 quickly surrounded him and watched him quietly.

Zhang Kui first looked at Chen Cong and Ning Yuhang, then glanced at the others and whispered, "Among you, Chen Cong has the strongest martial arts skills, but his overall physical fitness is a weakness, making him unsuitable for ring battles."

"Therefore, my plan is as follows: Ning Yuhang and Lin Xiao will jointly lead Group A, Chen Cong and Huang Changhu will lead Group B, and the remaining personnel will be assigned as follows..."

Zhang Kui quickly divided the remaining sixteen people into groups A and B, then looked at Chen Congdao and said, "For the group B match, you should judge when to go out based on the actual situation and your own condition to maximize your points. I believe in you."

Meeting his gaze, Chen Cong nodded slightly.

Liu Bingran has already explained the rules: the total score for the class is determined by the number of people remaining in each of the two groups. This means that if you are capable of winning ten games in a row, then Group B will get ten points for the class.

But he also knew that this idea was somewhat unrealistic.

With an overall physical fitness level of only 3.0, his endurance and resilience make him unsuitable for prolonged battles.

Reality is not the virtual world after all. Poor overall physical fitness, physical body that cannot keep up with the speed of conscious reaction, coupled with 100% real fatigue and pain perception, will all affect his performance.

He already had a preliminary plan in mind regarding the specific situation.

When to make a move in Group B depends on the specific circumstances.

Ideally, he would defeat the strongest players in Group B, and then Huang Changhu would be in charge of cleaning up the mess, trying to prevent the rest of Group B from playing, or at most one or two of them, to at least secure more than seven points for the class.

Five minutes passed quickly. On the platform, Liu Bingran glanced at her bracelet and spoke in a deep voice:

"Time's up."

"Groups A, B, C, and D are to be separated into designated areas. All members of Class 2, move to the yellow line outside the arena and wait. All staff, turn on the holographic recording system in the arena."

"The duel begins!"

At her command, the atmosphere in the four areas of the giant arena instantly became tense.

Outside the yellow line, Ning Yuhang narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and quietly approached Chen Cong, whispering, "Chen Cong, I have an idea."

Chen Cong glanced sideways, waiting for him to continue.

Ning Yuhang lowered his voice and continued, "The current situation makes it uncertain which class we will face."

"It's a bit difficult for just the two of us to clearly see and remember who in each of the eight classes is worth paying attention to, so..."

Chen Cong picked up the conversation, saying, "You mean to observe them separately?"

Ning Yuhang nodded, then took out paper and pen from his martial arts uniform pocket.

"I'll observe the two classes in area A. Lin Xiao will go to area B, you go to area C, and Lao Huang will go to area D. Make a note of the people we need to pay attention to. Once we've determined which class we'll be facing, we'll put all this information together and we'll have a better understanding of who we're facing."

After hearing this, Chen Cong couldn't help but smile and nod, secretly admiring the guy's "third-generation official" qualities. He was meticulous, quick-witted, and could quickly come up with the best solutions when faced with problems.

"Okay, we'll do it your way." Chen Cong took two pens and two sheets of paper, turned around and went to Huang Changhu's side. He gave Huang Changhu a brief instruction according to Ning Yuhang's instructions, and the two of them hurriedly went around to the other side of the arena to watch the fights in Zones C and D from the best observation position.