BXBX NOVEL Chapter 54: 54. The Lost Shen Qinghan
Before the sparring began, Han Yuanfeng arranged a physical test for everyone in the class, as a warm-up exercise prior to the sparring session.
Just three metrics would be tested.
Specifically, they were: the speed of a 100-meter sprint, the weight of the barbell one could lift with one hand, and the height of a vertical jump from a standstill.
The girls were tested first.
After all the tests, Shen Qinghan’s results ended up at the bottom of the scoreboard.
Her 100-meter sprint took 12.88 seconds, which wouldn’t even qualify her as a first-level athlete in her former life.
She could lift a 38kg barbell with one hand, which was very average.
The height of her vertical jump from the spot was 0.98 meters, relatively speaking the best of her three scores, but it was hardly worth noticing in a class of martial arts prodigies.
The class was extremely surprised by Shen Qinghan’s data.
This was a class of martial arts stars, how could there be such poor results?
This wasn’t supposed to happen!
It was no wonder that the class was taken aback.
Because during regular training, Shen Qinghan always deliberately concealed her true level, leading everyone to conclude that her physical fitness was not very strong, but they never expected it to be this outrageously bad.
“Han Han, are you not feeling well?”
Li Chuxin, seeing Shen Qinghan perform so poorly, thought she might be on her period and immediately stepped forward to show her concern.
Shen Qinghan, afraid that others would find out she was admitted to the school through backdoor connections, could only go along with Li Chuxin’s words and replied, “It’s nothing, maybe it’s because I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m not in a good state today.”
On the other side, the boys’ physical tests began.
Lin Zichen made only a slight effort and easily grabbed first place in all three metrics.
The 100-meter sprint was completed in 7.78 seconds.
He could lift a 330kg barbell with one hand.
His vertical jump from a standstill reached 2.18 meters.
All three figures were just good enough to secure first place, only slightly better than the scores obtained by Wang Shujie and Lu Gang.
Even so, the class was still greatly shocked.
No one had expected Lin Zichen’s physical fitness to be so monstrous!
This performance, if placed in last year’s Shanhai City middle school exams, would have unquestionably crushed the competition to claim the championship!
“What’s going on? How is Lin Zichen so strong?”
“Yeah, faster than Wang Shujie and stronger than Lu Gang, yet his middle school results were only district champion?”
“Could it be that he was in bad shape during the middle school exams?”
“Or maybe he developed during the summer vacation. Some people mature late and experience a growth spurt right after the middle school exams, allowing them to catch up in a short period.”
For a time, everyone in the class discussed Lin Zichen’s physical test data.
Almost every person was thinking of various reasons to rationalize his incredible performance to make it seem reasonable.
In a corner, Wang Shujie and Lu Gang stood together, their faces filled with doubt about life itself.
Both men still couldn’t believe they had actually lost in the physical tests!
Especially Lu Gang, with his natural strength, couldn’t understand why Lin Zichen was stronger than him.
Lin Zichen didn’t even look that muscular!
This was totally unscientific!
“Lu Gang, don’t panic, losing the physical test doesn’t mean losing the sparring. Combat isn’t just about physical fitness; it’s also about martial arts skills. We still have a chance!”
Shujie quickly recovered from his discouragement and, in self-delusion, turned to Lu Gang and said.
After hearing this, Lu Gang stabilized his mood and indulged in self-deception as well:
“You’re right, losing the physical test doesn’t mean losing the sparring. Our martial arts skills are far superior to our peers; we still have a chance!”
In the gymnasium, the Martial Stage.
Right after the physical test ended, Han Yuanfeng immediately led the students to this place, eager for them to spar to ensure there was enough time later on.
In the martial arts training area at that time, a class of sophomores was practicing, occupying several Martial Stages, leaving only three vacant.
To encourage the students to spar with each other more, Han Yuanfeng utilized all three remaining Martial Stages for simultaneous sparring matches.
Because there were more males than females in the class, he allocated two Martial Stages for the boys to spar and left one for the girls.
Lin Zichen needed to complete the “Survival of the Fittest” achievement.
He had to defeat as many opponents as possible.
Therefore, he was the first to jump onto one of the Martial Stages, challenging everyone in the class.
Almost at the same time, He Yu leaped onto the neighboring Martial Stage, becoming another defender.
On the girls’ side, a female student with a more robust frame also quickly jumped onto the third Martial Stage to take the role of the defender.
However, it didn’t take long.
Both He Yu’s and the girl’s Martial Stages had challengers step up.
Only Lin Zichen’s Martial Stage remained unapproached.
Lin Zichen had shown himself to be too powerful during the recent physical test, and everyone had a sense of where they stood—they knew they couldn’t beat him, so they didn’t come up to challenge him.
After all, with such a vast difference in strength, sparring was meaningless; they couldn’t learn anything from it.
As for Wang Shujie and Lu Gang, they were thinking of observing the combat between Lin Zichen and others from the sidelines first, aiming for a “know your enemy and know yourself, for a hundred battles will lead to a hundred victories” strategy, before challenging Lin Zichen.
The two had lost too many times and were psychologically shadowed; they didn’t want to lose again.
This time, therefore, they were determined to maximize their chances of winning before making their move!
“Lu Wei, go and have a sparring match with Zi Chen,” Han Yuanfeng said.
Seeing that no one was challenging Lin Zichen, Han Yuanfeng had no choice but to assign someone to step up.
Lu Wei, although somewhat reluctant to be thoroughly defeated, still went up to the stage.
The result was a swift defeat within less than ten seconds, a lonely spar.
In the time that followed,
Sparring matches continued without interruption on all three Martial Stages.
To finish sparring with everyone in the class before the end of class, Lin Zichen swiftly dispatched each challenger that came up to him.
This exaggerated performance shocked Wang Shujie and Lu Gang, who had been secretly observing from below the stage.
How is he so strong?!
How is Lin Zichen this powerful?!
How can I possibly win?!
Again, they doubted their own lives, feeling utterly powerless.
Elsewhere,
Shen Qinghan also took the stage to spar.
Opposite to Lin Zichen, who kept defeating his opponents instantly, she was defeated as soon as she stepped up.
She was kicked off the Martial Stage by a girl with a bun haircut, falling hard and wincing in pain.
The girl with the bun haircut hurried down from the stage to help her up, full of apologies, “Qinghan, are you okay? I didn’t mean to do that, I didn’t expect you wouldn’t be able to block that kick…”
“Ah, no, I’m fine, it’s not a big deal. It was my fault just now; you go back to the Martial Stage and continue defending. Don’t worry about me,” Shen Qinghan said with an awkward smile.
After speaking, she walked to the side and found an empty spot to sit down and rest.
Taking advantage of the lack of attention on her, she quickly lifted her clothes to check on her abdomen, which was sending sharp stings of pain and had turned into a bruise.
At that moment, her mood plummeted into deep disappointment.
I’m too weak.
So weak that I can’t even handle a kick from a classmate.
I simply don’t belong in this elite class…
PS: Bowing for support, asking for monthly and recommendation tickets!