16 Chapter 16: A New Species is Born

Before arriving at the Star Martial Hall, Wang Lan thought the outfit he was wearing would make him the coolest kid there, but after he arrived, the prouder he had felt before, the more stupid he felt now.

Who were the people getting their Star Martial Badges? Ninety percent were junior high school graduates. And Wang Lan, standing at 1.76 meters, truly stood out. Especially with that Fiery Cloud Cloak—every wannabe teenager was staring.

Don't think Wang Lan was only two years older than those eighth graders; during puberty, two years could make a huge difference. Wang Lan was just 1.6 meters tall when he graduated from ninth grade, and now he's 1.76 meters.

And with the average height of the middle school students there being around 1.5 to 1.6 meters, Wang Lan felt completely out of place in that crowd.

He had forgotten that the first few days of the summer vacation were the peak time for junior high graduates to get their Star Martial Badges.

"Scholar God?" A chubby kid suddenly smacked Wang Lan's shoulder excitedly and called out.

"No, you've got the wrong person."

"No way, I worship your portrait every day; there's no chance I'm mistaken."

"Portrait?"

"No, I mean, there's a poster of you at the supermarket opposite our school. My room's walls are covered with them. I haven't flunked a single subject in ninth grade, all thanks to my devout faith. You are indeed his Eminence, the Scholar God."

"Actually... I am his younger brother. His name is Wang Lan, and my name is Wang Feng. As you know, he's already in eleventh grade this year, and he's just an ordinary person. I'm in the same year as you, just had the luck to awaken," Wang Lan replied in a low voice.

"Really? What is Scholar God like at home? Does he get up before dawn every day and study for twenty hours?"

"How could that be possible? You'd drop dead from working that hard."

"Right, if hard work alone could turn you into the Scholar God, then many would have claimed that title by now. The Scholar God must be someone who doesn't need to study anything to know it, who can play games and sleep in yet still come first in the exams."

"It's not like that either. Talent is certainly key, but hard work is indispensable. A perfect score is 100 points on a test; hard work can earn you 95, and talent is that last five points."

"Is that so? That makes sense, from a rational perspective, exam results are pretty mystical. Like me, last year, whenever I felt like I did well, I'd end up unsatisfied with my grades.

In my final year, I just gave up. For exams, I'd rely on guessing, and on copying for what couldn't be guessed, and yet I still managed to score above 60."

Rational my foot, you use rational analysis to explain mysticism?

"Next!" While speaking in hushed tones to the chubby kid, it was Wang Lan's turn to reach the registration desk.

Wang Lan respectfully took out his ID card, "Wang Lan? Sixteen years old, you'll be a senior next semester, right?"

After confirming Wang Lan's identification, the staff member asked with surprise, "Weren't you a failure in soul stimulation? This is the registration desk for Star Martial Warriors."

"I know, I've just awakened."

"Awakened? How is that possible? Come on, Open your Star Palace and let me see."

Wang Lan had previously opened his Star Palace in front of Huang Feilong, but that was in private. Doing it in front of so many people felt a bit embarrassing, especially since the chubby kid he'd conned in the queue was giving him mournful looks like a widow cursed with the bad luck of seven lifetimes.

Wang Lan couldn't help it; if he admitted it then, the middle school students behind him would probably start exclaiming. To date, the Scholar God forum was still among the top five busiest sections on Suzhou City's bulletin board service.

Wang Lan took a deep breath and put forth an effort as the Star Palace above his head opened, with a Starlight shining within.

"Huh, you really awakened? Weird, Soul Resonance didn't trigger your star martial warrior talent, how did you awaken?"

"Maybe... good mood, I guess."

The lady at the registration clicked away on her keyboard, and soon, a printed form was handed to Wang Lan.

"Follow the procedure on the form and take the tests one by one. After completion, go to the badge distribution area to receive your Star Martial Badge. The Star Martial Badge is integrated with a bank card, the staff who provides you with the badge will explain it to you clearly."

After thanking her, Wang Lan turned to leave, and just as he took a step, he felt someone blocking his path. Wang Lan was still looking at the procedure on the form and slightly sidestepped.

But the person seemed to do it on purpose and once again moved to block Wang Lan's way. Only then did Wang Lan look up and find Jiang Xinyu scrutinizing him.

The situation was somewhat awkward.

"Jiang Xinyu, what a coincidence..."

"I'm accompanying my sister to get her Star Martial Badge. What are you doing here? Wait, is that a Star Martial registration form you're holding? You've awakened a Star Martial talent? You..."

"You seem more excited than I am," Wang Lan said with a wry smile, then turned towards Jiang Xinchen beside her. "Yo, Chenchen, long time no see. You've grown so much, almost catching up to your sister now."

"Nice to see you, Brother Lan!" Jiang Xinchen and Jiang Xinyu, though sisters, had completely different personalities. Jiang Xinyu was the classic Ice-Snow Queen, strong, domineering, with a ferocious temperament, a veritable guardian deity.

But Jiang Xinchen was quite introverted, like a young lady of a respectable family, well-mannered. The only downside was that she didn't talk much, and trying to have a conversation with her could be quite awkward.

Jiang Xinchen was two years younger than Jiang Xinyu and had not awakened any Star Martial Warrior talents. When her sister automatically awakened at the age of nine, Xinchen only did so after this Soul Resonance.

"Xinchen has already finished the test, you haven't yet, have you? I'll take you!"

With someone guiding him, Wang Lan naturally wouldn't refuse, "Actually, all that health check data is useless, no need to test it. What really needs to be tested is strength, speed, reaction ability, and combat ability."

Jiang Xinyu, familiar with the process, led Wang Lan to the testing area. Since the Star Martial Hall had opened less than half an hour ago, and the main group was still queuing for the basic items tests, there were very few people in the comprehensive testing area, almost no queue at all.

The rules of the test were simple. There would be a circle with a diameter of one and a half meters on the testing ground, and Wang Lan needed to stand inside the circle. Surrounding him, thirty-six tennis ball launchers were set up.

Of course, the number, speed, and even the angles of the launchers would be adjusted according to the difficulty level. The levels ranged from one to nine, with freshly awakened Star Martial Warriors naturally starting at level one.

The first level difficulty involved launching tennis balls directly at the participant. The balls were coated with white powder, and Wang Lan had to block with his arms or evade, ensuring no balls hit his body. This level of test posed no difficulty for Wang Lan.

Wang Lan didn't even need to move his feet, casually blocking all the tennis balls with ease.

"Switch to level two difficulty," Jiang Xinyu whispered to the operator.

At level two difficulty, another tennis ball launcher was added, crossing fire with the first. Not only did the number of balls double, but the speed also increased significantly.

Still, this level was no issue for Wang Lan. The tennis balls were launched roughly every three seconds; this speed was several magnitudes slower than Huang Feilong's full-speed punches and kicks.

"Increase it to level five difficulty," Jiang Xinyu instructed indifferently.

"Miss, level five is the difficulty for professional Star Martial Warriors, and he has just awakened as a Star Martial Warrior..." The staff member asked, somewhat surprised.

"From what I know of him, his strength has definitely reached the professional level. I want to know where his limit lies now. I've always thought that he's been training so hard because he couldn't accept his fate, but I never imagined he would miraculously awaken as a Star Martial Warrior. Just set it to level five."

Jiang Xinchen looked at her sister in surprise, then at Wang Lan who was effortlessly handling the test. Level five was a height she looked up to. After being forced by her sister to train every day for years, she had barely reached level three. Was Lan that strong?

Level five added eight more launchers, firing from all directions at increased speeds of one ball per second. With eight launchers, this was essentially the same as launching eight balls every second.

If translated to an opponent's punch speed, it was like facing eight punches per second. Even worse, the launchers were not static, meaning the balls could come from any direction or angle at any time.

Even among Star Shine Stage Star Martial Warriors, those who could last five minutes under level five difficulty were rare.

The sudden spike in difficulty startled Wang Lan. He had assumed this was a routine test for Star Martial Warriors. He had done his homework; failing the Star Martial Warrior test would mean no Star Martial Badge.

But... was the Star Martial Warrior test really this hard? Wasn't it a 99% pass rate? Am I just that bad? Are other freshly awakened Star Martial Warrior kids this strong?

Wang Lan didn't realize that this comprehensive testing platform was managed by the Xinyu family; normally, passing level one difficulty would suffice. Level five was professional level, meaning that passing it would qualify someone as a professional warrior.

What's professional, you might ask? Singers who can participate in 'I Am a Singer' are professionals, athletes who can compete in the Olympics are professionals, and those who can play in the World Cup are... well, let's just leave it at that.

The sudden increase in difficulty caught Wang Lan off guard. In that moment, he felt as though he was facing a group attack by five Huang Feilongs with equal strength.

Blocking, dodging, rolling, leaping, blocking while dodging, and rolling while blocking, the tennis balls showered down like a storm, Wang Lan's agile body moving through the maelstrom like a phantom.

The newly arrived Star Martial Warriors suddenly stopped in their tracks, staring dumbfounded at the scene unfolding before them.

"Holy shit—"

"Did we come to the wrong place? Is this the professional level evaluation area? No, it's for newly awakened Star Martial Warriors, right? Wasn't it supposed to be easy, just dodging twenty thrown balls counted as passing?"

"Maybe... we were misinformed, it's not a total of twenty balls but twenty per second?"

"At this difficulty, I can confidently say that I can last easily for half a second."

"Who on earth designed such an inhuman test? I'm not taking it."

"I heard if you don't pass the comprehensive assessment, they won't issue a Star Martial Badge..."

"What kind of joke is this, are these difficulties humanly possible? Is that even human over there?"

"If it's not something a human can pass, then what the hell is that thing inside?"

"That person is certainly not human. I strongly suggest that once he's done, we capture him and send him to the zoo as a top-priority protected species for research—a new species has been born."

Most of those gathered were middle school graduates, each more capable of running their mouth than the last. Inside, however, Wang Lan was a bundle of nerves, his brain highly tense. This level of test difficulty was obviously not intended for newly awakened Star Martial Warriors. Even Huang Feilong would struggle to pass it.

Could it be... Huang Feilong had been misleading me all these years? What about your claims that my fighting ability is no less than that of an early stage Star Shine Warrior, and that if Star Martial Warriors aren't allowed to use Star Martial Skills or amplify their physical qualities with Star Power, there are few below the Star Shine Stage who could match me?

I don't believe you, you mischievous old man!