High Martial Arts 2077: I Rely on Beast Taming to Cultivate While Lying Down

Chapter 96 Reverse PUA! Su Chen, why can't you be number one?

Su Chen was leaning back in his chair drinking water when he noticed Jiang Yunxin's gaze. He screwed the water bottle back on and put it back in his backpack's side pocket, saying casually, "Because of two events, my pull-ups were a bit average, so my ranking in the grade was only eighth. In the end, I got 1800 points and 500 Beast Taming points."

"Hiss~"

The people inside the car gasped simultaneously.

Jiang Yunxin's mouth opened slightly, she blinked, and then slowly exhaled: "I even suspect you're helping people get extra points on exams!"

Zhang Yan started counting on her fingers: "You got 700 Beast Taming Points in the weekly test, plus the various quizzes from Monday to Wednesday, and this 500... you should be close to 1400 points now, right?"

Su Chen thought for a moment and nodded: "It's alright, more or less!"

From Monday to Wednesday, his speed and endurance in the 10km race didn't improve much, and he only got 510 points in all the exams combined. His beast-taming points were even less, not even worth a single hair this time.

Jiang Yunxin leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, her tone tinged with emotion: "If there were no exchange conditions for King-level Beast Taming, just based on points alone, I feel like your total Beast Taming points will surpass Jiang Wei and the others in a while! This... is truly outrageous."

"After all, you improve so much every time, you set new records in every exam, and you always get the highest level of progress rewards and beast-taming point bonuses! This snowballing speed is no joke."

It should be noted that everyone present only earns less than two hundred Beast Taming Points per weekly test.

Su Chen actually scored 500 points in a single quiz! The difference is truly significant.

Su Chen smiled and was about to say something.

Footsteps sounded again at the car door.

Another group of people boarded the bus.

The three teams together only had fifteen people, while the school bus could seat about forty, so it wasn't surprising that other teams came in.

Moreover, training missions are not closed-off; it is common for multiple teams to use the same vehicle and the same starting point, but they may not necessarily have the same destination.

Su Chen turned his head and glanced towards the car door.

Then his gaze froze.

Leading the way is Jiang Wei!

Today she was wearing a dark blue quick-drying T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up slightly, revealing half of her shapely arms.

Her black hair was still casually tied into a low ponytail and draped over her shoulder. Her expression was as gentle as ever, with a faint smile on her face.

The group following behind her consisted of both men and women, making a total of eight people including her. Each person carried a rather large equipment bag, and they all looked very formal.

Chen Xue, the class monitor of Class 6, was among them. When she walked to Jiang Wei's side, she whispered something, and Jiang Wei nodded slightly.

Su Chen's gaze swept over Jiang Wei's group and quickly discovered that they all shared a common trait: they were all from the same community.

The phenomenon of forming teams within the same community is very common in Gangneung City.

First of all, these people had known each other for more than ten years before high school and had a deep friendship.

Secondly, those living in the same community are often from the grandparents' and parents' generations who shared life-or-death experiences during the apocalypse. This bond continues into the next generation, creating a natural teammate relationship.

Even after the apocalypse, the sense of honor of a region or city is ingrained in its very being.

When we first arrived at the high school in the city, everyone would introduce themselves as coming from which community; and when we went to other universities in the future, we would also first introduce ourselves as coming from which base city.

This layered sense of identity, from the community to the base city, and from the base city to the Huaxia Federation, constitutes the most fundamental network of human relationships in the entire federation and the entire world.

Jiang Wei took a few steps inside, her gaze sweeping across the carriage. When she saw Su Chen, she paused, then raised her hand and politely waved, "Good morning!"

Her voice was soft, but it was clearly audible in the quiet carriage.

Su Chen smiled and nodded, "Good morning!"

Jiang Wei smiled at Su Chen, then didn't say anything more, leading the group to the back of the carriage.

Her teammates chatted in hushed tones, sitting scattered in the middle and back of the carriage.

Zhang Yan's gaze followed Jiang Wei's back until she sat down.

Then Zhang Yan's eyes darted around...

Su Chen and Jiang Wei were both called in by their homeroom teacher last night, there must be something going on! Otherwise, why would they suddenly greet each other now?

A mischievous smile slowly crept onto the corners of her mouth.

Then she cleared her throat and, in an extremely deliberate and affected tone, continued the previous topic: "Um..."

"Your Beast Taming points are so high now, 1400, far exceeding everyone else in our team!"

Su Chen knew something bad was about to happen from her tone.

You can tell what she's up to just by her fart!

Su Chen turned his head, about to interrupt, but Zhang Yan didn't give him a chance to speak.

"I think..." she drawled, "why don't you try to get a Lord-level bloodline beast tamer for Sister Xiyue?"

Su Chen rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, Zhang Yan bombarded him with questions like a machine gun.

"Let me explain! Don't rush to refute me, let me finish."

She extended her first finger.

"First of all, even for a beast taming with a king-level bloodline, it's not necessarily only possible to compete for the top spot in the grade. Think about it carefully, there are a total of 36 middle schools in Jiangling City. If being the top student in the grade is enough to compete, then the top students in the other middle schools are not as strong as the top 20 in our grade."

"Some high schools don't even have a single student who has fused with a Spirit Pearl! So what makes them think they can compete?"

She extended her second finger.

"And beasts with royal bloodlines are extremely rare; there will definitely be many people vying for each one!"

"The official statement also said that there will be a competitive assessment when people compete for the same beast. Whether three people compete or ten people compete, it's still the same; in the end, only one person can get it."

17

She held up her third finger.

"So, I think the purchase restrictions might not be strict. But the competition will definitely be brutal! If you can win the competition, even if you're not the top student in your grade, they can't possibly refuse to give you the Beast Taming skill, right?"

She got more and more excited as she spoke, her fingers dancing wildly in the air.

"So, even if you don't meet the requirements to purchase a King-level bloodline beast, you could definitely meet the requirements for a Lord-level bloodline beast, right?"

"And think about it carefully... Your improvement has been so rapid, speed goes without saying, right? You even dared to challenge Guo Hao, who was about to fuse with the spirit pearl, so reaching near-perfect speed shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Not to mention his strength! Over 700 kilograms, there are only five in the whole grade right now—oh, I mean six! And that scoundrel Liu Xiangdong is one of them."

"Anyway, you're in the top six. To accommodate lower-ranked schools, the standard for a perfect score in the joint entrance exam won't be too outrageous, so you'll still get a perfect score."

She started counting on her fingers, one item at a time.

"Let me break it down for you. Ten points will be deducted from academic subjects, ten points from Spirit Pearl theory, and twenty points from Spiritual Affinity and Firearms Proficiency combined. And let's say speed, strength, and stamina are all added together, another ten points will be deducted!"

"Look, all of that added up only amounts to fifty points!"

"If you get 180 points in the practical assessment, your total score will be 680! If you get 170 points, your total score will still be 670!"

Her voice rose higher and higher, and she forcefully flicked her finger in the air, delivering her concluding statement: "Just tell me if you can meet the purchase criteria! Besides, with your insane improvement, you don't need to worry about points at all. You're breaking records every exam, always getting the highest-tier rewards. It takes others a month to accumulate a thousand Beast Taming Points, but you can do it in a week!"

Su Chen took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and finally found an opening to interject.

However, Zhang Yan was faster than him; she directly reached out and covered Su Chen's mouth.

That demeanor was exactly like the decisiveness Su Chen displayed yesterday when he took her phone and sent provocative messages in the grade group chat.

An eye for an eye!!!

Su Chen's mouth was completely covered by Zhang Yan's hand, and he could only make a few muffled "mmm" sounds.

Zhang Yan pressed Su Chen's face, leaning slightly forward, and said in an extremely serious and solemn tone, "Su Chen! Just like you told me, why can't you be number one in the grade? Why can't you be number one in the grade? Right!?"

She paused, took a deep breath, and said in a firm, resonant voice, "Applause if you understand!"

The carriage was silent for about a second.

Then, Wang Yichuan put down the book in his hand, raised his hands to his chest, and clapped earnestly and vigorously.

"Clap clap clap~"

His expression was so sincere that it didn't seem like he was joking.

This honest man listened attentively to Zhang Yan's analysis from beginning to end. The more he listened, the more reasonable it seemed, and the more he felt that the logic was rigorous, the arguments were sufficient, and the conclusions were compelling.

He felt that applause at this moment was the most basic respect for this brilliant argument!

Jiang Yunxin, Yang Xin, and the others were initially watching in a daze, but seeing Wang Yichuan's serious expression, they exchanged glances and couldn't help but applaud as well.

Jiang Yunxin clapped and laughed, her shoulders shaking slightly.

Several students in Jiang Wei's group in the back row also turned to look, their faces full of curiosity.

Seeing so many people applauding, Zhang Yan became even more enthusiastic. Just as she was about to continue speaking, suddenly...

"Snapped!"

A large punch landed precisely on Zhang Yan's head.

The blow wasn't strong, but it produced a dull thud, knocking half of her carefully tied ponytail askew.

Su Chen pulled her hand away from his mouth, cursing, "You're stupid!"

"In the joint exam three weeks from now, our No. 1 High School will have at least twenty or thirty students who have fused with Mythical Spirit Orbs, and there will definitely be even more from the Qingshan Base City! They are old rivals who are even stronger than our Jiangling City!"

He pointed a finger and poked Zhang Yan's forehead twice: "Do you think the joint entrance exam is some kind of child's play, where you're graded according to the school's standards and to protect your self-esteem?"

"The joint entrance exam will definitely be conducted as closely as possible to the national college entrance examination standards! The standard for a perfect score will be extremely high, and the speed requirement will certainly not be so sloppy as to deduct one point for every ten seconds or five seconds."

"There will likely be very strict score ranges. For example, a perfect score is given within six minutes, and 49 points is given for 6 minutes to 6 minutes and 20 seconds. The score will be limited to these ranges one by one. Do you think you can easily get a perfect score like in a school weekly test?"

"What about full marks in strength? In the ten-school joint exam, our school had fifty or sixty students scoring above the full mark. This is because we had to accommodate the other nine schools!"

"But what about the joint entrance exam? There are 44 schools in Qingshan City, and their strength is no weaker than ours. Why should they give us preferential treatment?"

The perfect score will most likely be set at 700 kilograms or even higher!

"Are you really that stupid?! It's not even certain if you can score 630. Can you maintain your academic performance? Will your Spirit Pearl theory fail you? And in the practical assessment, if you encounter a top student with high-bloodline beast taming skills, the scoring standards will be stricter, and your points won't be as easy to get as before."

"You expect me to fight this with my head?!"

Zhang Yan was stunned.

She remained in the position of covering her head after being photographed, her mouth slightly open, her eyes blinking repeatedly.

It took her a while to come to her senses. She scratched her head, which had just been slapped, looking somewhat bewildered, and her voice dropped eight octaves in an instant: "I...I forgot about fusing with the spirit orbs..."

That long, impassioned speech I just gave was entirely based on the current academic performance within the school.

But at this stage, the difference in strength between top students who have fused with spirit pearls and ordinary students who have not is simply not on the same level.

The number of people who have fused with spirit pearls will definitely increase significantly in the joint exam three weeks from now, and the competition among everyone will only become more intense.

And Su Chen is going to try and fuse with the spirit pearl?

Whether he can activate all thirty-six acupoints and enter the realm of acupoint opening is another matter entirely!

Seeing Zhang Yan's embarrassed expression, the people around her finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Jiang Yunxin covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling, unusually losing her composure.

Wang Yichuan was still clapping his hands in a simple and honest manner when he realized what was happening and started laughing too.

Squad leader Chen Xue, sitting in the front row, turned around and glanced back, her eyes filled with a deep smile.

She turned her head and said in a low voice, "Your team is so interesting~"

These words were heard even by Jiang Wei, who was sitting in the front row.

She turned her head and glanced in the direction of Su Chen and Zhang Yan, and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

The morning light streamed into the carriage through the windows, falling on everyone's faces.

Before the school bus even started moving, the carriage was already filled with laughter.

Zhang Yan covered her head and huddled in her seat, her face flushed red, muttering under her breath, "That wretched Su Chen."

"Bullying the weak"

"When I become number one in the grade, I'll be the first to kill you!"

"I'll let you be arrogant for a while! Just you wait!"

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never underestimate a young girl's potential!"

Su Chen leaned back in his chair, looking at her like this, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

His gaze passed over Zhang Yan's head and landed on the distant school road outside the car window, but his mind had already turned to the upcoming training.

He looked away, bent down, and pulled a long, black gun case from the equipment bag under his seat.

The matte coating on the gun case gleamed with a cold luster in the morning light, with thickened alloy edging at the four corners and a line of silver Jiangling Arsenal emblem embossed in the center.

With a click, the latch popped open.

Inside the gun case lay a submachine gun, entirely matte black, slightly longer than the Hunter-1 model used in last week's combat assessment, with more rugged lines.

A square muzzle stabilizer is installed at the front of the barrel, and there are three vents on the side to counteract recoil. Above the grip is a small LCD screen that displays the barrel temperature, remaining ammunition, and rate of fire mode in real time.

Beast Hunter Type III Kinetic Submachine Gun!

The Hunter-type Beast Weapon used in last week's practical assessment was a standard-issue weapon issued by the school. During the assessment, we could only choose from the weapon list provided by the school; there was no other option.

But this time is different!

There are no equipment restrictions for training missions; you can bring whatever you want, depending on your resources.

Su Chen took the gun out of the box. It felt much heavier than the Type 1, but the center of gravity of the gun was more evenly distributed, and it was not difficult to hold with one hand.

He gripped the handle with his right hand, supported the handguard with his left, the muzzle was angled downwards, and his fingers lightly traced the heat dissipation grooves on the side of the barrel.

The most significant difference between the Beast Hunter III and the Beast Hunter I is not the rate of fire, but the barrel's durability and accessory interfaces!

Although the theoretical rate of fire of the Type 1 can reach 1,200 rounds per minute, the barrel is made of ordinary alloy steel. After firing three to five hundred rounds of secondary kinetic energy bullets continuously, the rifling will begin to wear, the ballistic dispersion will become larger and larger, and in severe cases, it may even explode.

However, the barrel of the Type 3 gun is made of high-temperature resistant fire steel alloy, and the inner wall is coated with a layer of psionic buffer coating, which can withstand thousands of rounds of continuous firing of level 3 kinetic energy bullets without any damage!

Of course, the real essence of this gun lies in its accessories.

The square stabilizer at the muzzle is called a "psychic recoil compensator," and it has seven tiny talismans engraved inside.

The moment a bullet leaves the barrel, the talisman automatically triggers, releasing a weak reverse spiritual energy shock that forcefully reduces the muzzle rise by more than half.

The downside is that this thing consumes a lot of psionic crystals; one standard crystal can only sustain continuous firing for thirty minutes!

On the small screen above the grip, a line of parameters is currently flashing: barrel temperature 27°C, remaining ammunition 0, muzzle brake energy 100%.

Su Chen reached into his equipment bag and pulled out a palm-sized, curved magazine.

The magazine casing is made of translucent reinforced resin, through which you can see the densely packed bullets inside: the bullets are dark red with a very fine silver ring around the tip.

Three-stage kinetic energy projectile!

Level 1 kinetic energy projectiles cost 8 to 10 Federal Credits per shot. They're okay against low-level monsters, but against elite monsters, most of the energy is absorbed by the psionic armor, leaving the projectile stuck in the leather and muscle layers, making it difficult to damage internal organs.

Level 2 kinetic energy projectile, 30 to 40 Federal Credits per shot. The projectile is made of high-density alloy, with a muzzle velocity of 1,600 meters per second. It can penetrate the psionic defenses of most elite-level creatures and cause effective damage when it hits a vital area.

Level 3 kinetic energy projectile, each shot costs 150 to 200 Federal Credits.

The warhead core is embedded with a fragment of psionic crystal the size of a grain of rice. Upon hitting a target, it will release a miniature psionic blast, which can tear a temporary gap in the psionic armor of a warrior-level creature!

The prices are outrageous!

The theoretical rate of fire for the Beast Hunter III is 1,200 rounds per minute. If it fires at full speed for one minute, the cost of bullets alone would be close to 200,000.

Su Chen slammed the magazine into the chamber and then checked the bolt's reset.

He placed the submachine gun on his lap and continued reaching into his equipment bag.

What I pulled out this time were two palm-sized metal boxes. When I opened the lids, there were twenty neatly stacked silver-white cylindrical hand grenades inside.

Unlike the Super Explosive Type 1 used in actual combat assessments, these are Super Explosive Type 2. They have more fine spiritual rune patterns on their outer shell, a larger explosion range, and a stronger shockwave. They are specifically designed to clear out dense groups of small monsters!

In addition, there are three Hellfire Type 1 super bombs, the same kind Guo Hao used in the lair last time.

This is a real gem, costing 150,000 to 200,000 yuan per piece—it's incredibly expensive! It's very difficult to buy on the market, and you usually have to pay a premium, around 300,000 yuan.

Essential for gaining experience!

He laid out the equipment piece by piece on his lap and checked it one last time.

Just then, a soft snoring sound came from above.

Su Chen raised her head.

On the luggage rack, Little Purple curled up into a perfect silver-white ball of fur, its head buried between its two front legs, its tail hanging down from the edge of the rack, the tip swaying gently with the rhythm of its breathing.

These past few days, Zhang Yan and the others have been training it in shifts, and it has gone from being unfamiliar with the Thunder Body Collision to being proficient, keeping it up until midnight every day.

When Su Chen dragged me out of my room this morning, my eyes were squinting, and I even bumped into the door frame while walking.

Thinking of this, Su Chen chuckled to himself.

"My Lightning Release experience is still maxed out at Iv1 level; I'll have to put in a lot more effort this time!"

"Look at me, breakthroughs are as easy as drinking water and eating!"

"However, this time, I will also strive to break through the Ming Jin Technique and the Shadowless Step!"

Ming Jin Jue is a very special martial art; the first level does not require acupoints.

The second and third levels do not require deliberate practice.

Because the acupoints required for the second and third levels are acupoints that are relatively easy to activate in the human body, and they overlap with the acupoints in many power-based exercises.

The second level of the Ming Jin Technique and the second level of the Ba Ti Technique share a common acupoint—the central point. Su Chen is currently working on conquering this acupoint.