Increase in Combat Strength

The combat strength dojo was located at the south-side of the academy. It was roughly the size of a soccer field and mainly constructed from bricks. The roof was curled up beautifully, completing the dojo's visually stirring appearance of the eight trigrams and five elements. 

One had to climb up a flight of 36 steps to enter the combat strength dojo. After that, they would find 12 sites with a combat-strength bronze man in each of them.

The combat-strength bronze men were 3 meters tall, and their entire bodies were forged with bronze. As they had been enduring the attacks of students all year round, wear and tear could be seen on certain parts of their bodies.

These bronze men were forged from uncommon metal ingredients from the Darkness Continent, and their ability to endure damage was extremely strong. Also, after being attacked, there was a type of mysterious golden sand that would emit dazzling light in their stomach. The motes of light would then form into certain shapes.

If the degree of damage caused to the bronze man was the same every time you hit it, the shape emitted from these grains of golden sand would also be the same.

Using this characteristic, the Saint Gate collected a large amount of data, and each of the light forms was recorded down and corresponded to a certain value. Hence, the combat-strength bronze man could test the attack power of each cultivator.

Although there was a difference, the margin of error was very small.

"Is this the black-technology of Middle Earth?"

As he thought back to the information of the combat-strength bronze man, Sun Mo felt excited. In the nine continents, those who could create such items were known as mechanists. It was also a job that required quite a high IQ.

"Teacher, over here!"

Because there weren't so many people, Qi Shengjia chose the first site on the left. After the people before him finished, he immediately displayed his Skywolf Fist, slamming his punches into the bronze man's head. He wanted to see just how much his combat strength had surged after his breakthrough!

Bang!

The bronze men didn't have legs. They were attached to a large metal plate and were buried ten meters below the earth. Hence, they were extremely stable.

"The creator of these bronze men is definitely a pervert!"

Sun Mo walked over as he mumbled. His gaze landed on the abdomen of one of the bronze men. The area was glowing and he could clearly see golden light flowing. A few seconds later, a special shape was formed, and it glowed before gradually dimming. And after about ten seconds, it reverted to its original shape.

"Combat strength of only 39? I didn't improve at all!"

Qi Shengjia had a look of disappointment on his face. In the past, his score was 37, and that was when he was at the 3rd-level of the body refinement realm.

The cultivation system had been developed since long ago and had experienced many modifications. Thus, the system could be considered very perfect now. Combat strength also had a publicly acknowledged standard.

The combat strength of ordinary people was 5.

The body refinement realm was split into nine levels. The lowest combat strength of someone at the 4th-level was 40, and the lowest combat strength of someone at the 5th-level was 50. So, in a similar fashion, the lowest combat strength of someone at the 9th-level was 90. If one's combat strength could break the 100 point, that would mean a pretty excellent result. It represented that the person's aptitude wasn't bad and that he was ready to try and break through to the spirit refinement realm.

Naturally, these values weren't absolute and were for reference only. After all, geniuses were something that couldn't be evaluated normally. The numbers they hit would usually cause the eyeballs of people to explode in shock.

Staring at the number Qi Shengjia achieved, Sun Mo's lips twitched a little. Forget it, this was the hole he dug himself. He could only stop his tears and jump down it.

"You just broke through to the 4th-level and haven't stabilized your realm. It's normal for you to get this value!"

Sun Mo consoled him.

"Is that so?"

Qi Shengjia's expression became much more relaxed after hearing that.

"Yes!"

Sun Mo knew that some children who felt self-inferior needed to be praised. If not, their mental-states would worsen as they grew up. Actually, when one just broke through to the 4th-level, they should be able to achieve the lowest standard score of 40.

"I'll try punching again!"

Qi Shengjia's expression was heavy. He breathed deeply for over a minute and when he felt that his state was at his best, he ferociously punched out.

Bang!

The combat-strength bronze man's lower abdomen shone. Golden sand flowed, weaving into a certain shape.

"40! I did it this time!"

Qi Shengjia happily called out.

HAHAHA!

The few students at the side couldn't help but cover their mouths as their laughter rang out. The shape formed from the golden sand corresponded to a certain value. Everyone had long since memorized the corresponding values to the shapes. When they saw the shape that corresponded to the 40 point, a sense of superiority rose in their hearts.

"Preparing for a minute only to achieve the lowest value. How stupid!"

Some of the students were mumbling. They already heard Sun Mo's words. This lean-looking student just broke through to the 4th-level of the body refinement realm. When they were at the same level, their lowest result was 42, 43.

"Test out your combo!"

Sun Mo merged with his original body's memories. When he thought back, he remembered the information of the combat bronze men. The bronze men could test the peak attack power of a cultivator, including the average attack value of a combo within one minute.

For ordinary evenly-matched combat, it was impossible for one to defeat their enemies in a single blow. Hence, the average value of a continuous combo was then the true power of a cultivator.

Qi Shengjia slowly exhaled. He used his full strength and unleashed the Skywolf Fist, blasting it into the body of the combat-strength bronze man.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bronze man didn't even sway slightly. On the contrary, when Qi Shengjia's cloth shoes stepped onto the surface, a cloud of dust and soil flew up from the impact.

After Qi Shengjia finished, the abdomen area of the bronze man emitted golden light, and the motes of light gradually re-arranged themselves into a certain shape.

"39!"

Qi Shengjia wanted to cry. He no longer dared to even look at Sun Mo.

At this time, the few students in the surroundings did nothing to mask their laughter. Truly, his movements looked as fierce as a tiger, but he turned out to be trash!

"How did I teach you earlier? Have you forgotten it so quickly?"

Sun Mo's expression turned heavy as he berated. He didn't feel surprised by this result. The attack power of a combo would definitely be lesser than a single full-force punch.

"Oh! Oh!"

Qi Shengjia clapped his forehead. He hurriedly recalled Sun Mo's teaching.

"Channel your strength into your fingertips, gather your full power in your fist, but you must withhold a hint of power."

Qi Shengjia muttered as he punched out again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bronze man let out a buzzing sound from the impact.

"Isn't it the same as before?"

The few students at the side who were waiting to use the bronze man all felt that Qi Shengjia was wasting time when they saw his performance.

"41?"

Qi Shengjia saw the shape of the light and involuntarily cried out in surprise. This number was much higher than he expected.

Ding!

Favorable impression points from Qi Shengjia +20.

Prestige connection with Qi Shengjia: Neutral (76/100)!

"Eh?"

The students there were also stunned.

"What did he do? I feel that his punching form didn't change. Why is the result so much higher?"

In the officially published standard, every increase of 1 in the attack value represented that one's attacking power had improved by quite a bit. It was very normal for someone to be stuck on the same attack value even after training for a few months.

Hence, this wasn't as simple as an increase of 2 points. When converted into destructive might, it represented quite a large amount of increase. However, the key point was that this dumbo didn't seem to have done anything special.

Sun Mo shook his head and urged, "Again!"

"Oh!"

Qi Shengjia might be dumb, but he had a good point and that was that he was very obedient. He concentrated his attention completely and launched his strikes. In the end, the value was 41.

"Continue!"

Sun Mo didn't call for him to stop. Qi Shengjia simply continued attacking.

There were a total of 12 combat-strength bronze men in the combat strength dojo. There were empty slots, but the students who were waiting here didn't leave. All of them stood at their original location and waited because none of them understood the reason for the increase in Qi Shengjia's combat strength.

Although the value fluctuated, the overall trend was increasing. The last attack value he got was fixed at 44.

"Is this a joke?"

There was a student who subconsciously called out in disbelief. One could tell that this docile-looking student, Qi Shengjia, was someone ranked at the bottom of his class with just a look. How did he manage to do that?

Other people didn't say anything. They stared at the abdomen of the combat-strength bronze man and thought that their vision might be blurry.

"Teacher, your guidance is really correct!"

Qi Shengjia had a look of worship on his face as he looked at Sun Mo. Tears flashed in his eyes. A combat strength of 44 wasn't bad. For the entrance test of the battle hall this time around, he would at least have a 50% chance of passing.

Ding!

Favorable impression points from Qi Shengjia +32.

Prestige connection with Qi Shengjia: Friendly (108/1000)

"Teacher?"

Upon hearing this title, the students around immediately turned to look at Sun Mo.

"So young, I've never seen him before. He should be an intern teacher, right?"

"He seemed to be quite capable?"

"Should we seek his guidance?"

The few students mumbled. All of a sudden, they heard a clamor that grew increasingly louder. Turning their heads, they saw many students rushing toward the entrance.

"Which great teacher is here?"

The loud-mouthed student's spirit stirred. He immediately rushed over, and his other comrades weren't willing to lag behind. In this situation, even if they couldn't receive any guidance from that great teacher, it would still be of help if they could listen to the advice the great teacher was giving others.

Qi Shengjia stood on tiptoe and was looking over as well. However, he was embarrassed to leave just like that since Sun Mo was beside him.

Sun Mo didn't notice this because the system's notifications were still not over.

Congratulations. Prestige connection with Qi Shengjia reached 'friendly'. Reward: 1 lucky treasure chest. Please continue to work hard.

Congratulations. On the journey to become a great teacher, this is the first 'friendly' student you gained. Reward: 1 lucky treasure chest.

Note: You are advancing through the path of Great Teachers. Continue your great work!

"Hey, what's above 'friendly'?"

Sun Mo asked.

"Prestige connection can be divided into six levels. They are cold, neutral, friendly, respect, reverence, and worship respectively. As long as the prestige connection of a target isn't unlocked, the state would always be 'cold'."

The system's explanation was simple to understand.

"Is 'worship' the highest level? What benefits would I get if I maxed it out?"

Sun Mo was very curious.

"Why don't you take a guess?" the system counter-asked.

"Come on out, I promise not to beat you to death!"

Sun Mo cracked his fingers.

"For every increase in prestige level, the favorable impression points needed would be 10 times the previous one."

The system's voice was like a bucket of cold water. It wasn't that easy to gather so many points.

"Teacher, It's Teacher Gu!"

Qi Shengjia tugged Sun Mo's sleeves, feeling a little agitated.

"Who?"

Sun Mo frowned. He originally planned to open his lucky treasure chests after some prayers. But now that he was distracted by Qi Shengjia, he felt that his luck had been 'broken'.

Lottery draws were a metaphysical thing. There was no need to care if it was effective or not, Sun Mo would just pray first and hope for the best.

"Gu Xiuxun! A top graduate of the Myriad Daos Academy. It's said that she is still the campus queen from her batch," Qi Shengjia replied.

Sun Mo inclined his head and saw Gu Xiuxun directly walking over. Beside her, Zhang Sheng was smiling. It was unknown what he was saying, but Zhang Sheng was pointing toward him.