bookpub Chapter 10 The Debate on Pets Entering the College Entrance Examination, and the Perverted Little Pu
Chapter 10 The Debate on Pets Entering the College Entrance Examination, and the Perverted Little Pu
As the two were talking, the notification sound rang in Su Chen's mind again...
[Shadowless Step Experience Points +1]
Cool!
It really is like cultivating while lying down!
"I just activated a new acupoint, and my legs are itchy right now." Su Chen stretched his ankles and said in a light tone, "When we get to the training ground, let's do a three-kilometer run to warm up."
"No problem!" Wang Yichuan readily agreed.
At this moment, Liu Xiangdong, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.
He glanced at Xiao Zi, who was always following Su Chen's feet, adjusted his glasses, and asked with a hint of doubt, "Why is this Wind and Thunder Hound following us? Wind and Thunder Hounds are the city guards' war beasts, with an extremely keen sense of smell. Could it be... that there's something wrong with us?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Yan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Liu Xiangdong frowned and looked at her: "What do you mean?"
Su Chen smiled and patted Xiao Zi's head: "This is my pet, Xiao Zi."
Liu Xiangdong paused, his eyes behind his glasses widening slightly: "Your pet?"
"Yes. I just got it yesterday, so it's normal that you didn't know."
Liu Xiangdong did not respond immediately, but instead re-examined Xiao Zi.
His gaze swept from the long, silvery-white fur to the thick purple mane around the neck, then to the four sharp claws encased in hard black armor, and finally back to those light golden eyes.
After a few seconds, he said, "Judging from its fur and physique alone, this Wind and Thunder Hound is indeed of exceptional quality."
"The purple mane around its neck is very thick, indicating a high affinity for the Thunder element. The proportions of its limbs are also different from those of the common Thunder Hounds on the market, being more slender."
He paused, then looked directly at Su Chen: "Which lightning-type skills does it possess?"
Su Chen didn't want to say much, but since the other party had asked, he casually answered: "Thunder Fang, Thunder Roar, Heavenly Thunder Protection, Wind and Thunder Claw, and... Thunder Release."
"Seven!? And Lightning Release?" Liu Xiangdong's voice rose slightly. "It... isn't even at the elite level yet, is it?"
"Hmm, high-ranking soldier."
"A high-ranking soldier can master lightning magic?" Liu Xiangdong's brows furrowed even more, his tone clearly disbelieving. "This is a skill that even a warrior-level lightning-specialized beast might not be able to comprehend. With such talent, how could he be eliminated by the city guards?"
That's a really impolite way to say it.
Su Chen didn't intend to hold back.
"Who said it was eliminated?" Zhang Yan spoke first, hands on her hips, glaring at Liu Xiangdong.
Liu Xiangdong paused for a moment, then gave a slightly awkward wry smile, pushing up his glasses: "No, that's not what I meant. I just feel... it doesn't make logical sense."
"I am very clear about the selection criteria for the city guard's war beasts. Individuals with such talent are usually kept as breeding beasts or assigned to elite squads, and it is impossible for them to be sold on the market."
Zhang Yan snorted and ignored him, turning to look at Su Chen curiously: "Why do you suddenly want to raise a pet? I've never heard you mention it before."
"My birthday is coming up soon, and this is a surprise my parents prepared," Su Chen said, bending down to pat Xiao Zi's head, her tone softening. "I really like it, I really like it, I love it so much!"
Little Purple was clearly pleased; its ears stood straight up and its tail wagged even more enthusiastically.
Zhang Yan's eyes darted around, then she suddenly lowered her voice: "Could it be that you got advance notice that pets would be allowed in this year's college entrance exam?"
"How could that be!" Su Chen shook his head and chuckled. "Is my ability that great? That's practically stealing the college entrance exam questions in advance, isn't it?"
Zhang Yan thought for a moment and nodded, "That's true!"
Liu Xiangdong then spoke up, his tone much calmer than before, but the meaning remained the same: "Seven years ago, the college entrance exam allowed pets, didn't it? And what happened? Chaos ensued!"
"A group of wealthy young men, accompanied by powerful beasts possessing royal blood, swept through the examination hall. The practical assessment, already the most difficult part and the key to differentiating scores, turned into a contest of who had the most money!"
He adjusted his glasses: "The college entrance examination is for selecting talent, not for selecting those with privileged backgrounds. How can we allow such an unfair phenomenon to reappear?"
Seven years ago, when this system was first introduced, the restrictions on pets were very high.
Furthermore, the rating standards for those who bring pets are very high; his statement is a complete exaggeration.
However, the fact that it was canceled the following year must have caused a great deal of public controversy and had a negative impact.
Zhang Yan retorted, "But the World University Tournament has allowed each team to bring one tamed beast for ten years now. Two years ago, didn't the British team win first place precisely because they had an extremely powerful dragon-type tamed beast?"
"What does the World University Competition have to do with us?" Liu Xiangdong shrugged. "Those who can represent the Federation are all top geniuses from major base cities. They have plenty of money to train beast tamers and can control powerful alien beasts. But we're different..."
"While raising pet animals is a growing trend in universities, it hasn't become widespread yet."
"How could this possibly be added to the college entrance examination at this point in time?"
"We'll have to wait at least another three to five years."
Zhang Yan thought that made sense.
But she is a woman, and an unreasonable one at that, only interested in winning and losing.
But then, Lin Xiyue spoke up.
Her voice was gentle: "There's no need for everyone to argue about this right now."
"If there are any major changes to the college entrance examination, they will usually be announced this month. There's no point in arguing about things that haven't been decided yet."
Zhang Yan pouted and didn't say anything more.
Liu Xiangdong also fell silent, only giving a soft "hmm".
Su Chen glanced at Lin Xiyue.
She noticed Su Chen's gaze, turned her head, and smiled with a somewhat helpless expression.
That expression, how should I put it...
Kind of cute.
Su Chen smiled, looked away, and pointed to the gray-white building a hundred meters away: "We're almost there!"
.......
Donglin Martial Arts Training Ground.
The building is seven stories high, with light gray stone cladding on the exterior walls. Above the main entrance hangs an electronic screen that scrolls through the day's reservation information and the availability of various venues.
Two security guards in uniform stood at the entrance, with detectors clipped to their waists.
Su Chen led everyone to scan the QR code to enter.
The training ground has a large interior space.
The first floor is a comprehensive training area, divided into a strength training area, a speed training area, a combat training area, and a rest area.
The speed zone is located on the easternmost side and is a standard circular track, with one lap being 500 meters.
The track surface is covered with a special elastic material that can absorb impact and reduce joint damage.
Meanwhile, the venue's sophisticated instruments can record various data of runners: cadence, stride length, energy expenditure, and speed curve.
All of this will be displayed in real time on the large screen next to it! It's quite high-tech.
There is a row of smart timing posts on the inside of the track. They do not require manual operation. They are automatically sensed at the start and automatically timed when crossing the finish line, with an error of less than one-thousandth of a second.
Su Chen put his things down in the rest area, then patted Xiao Zi's head: "When we get to the track, run as fast as you want and see how you do."
"Awoo~ Awoo~" Little Purple looked up and howled twice, full of fighting spirit, its tail wagging like a propeller.
...
Beside the runway.
Liu Xiangdong was stretching his ankles when he looked at Wang Yichuan, then at Su Chen who was walking over, and said, "Count me in."
"Um."
Su Chen nodded and then looked at the two girls.
Lin Xiyue hesitated for a moment, looked at the track, and said softly, "I'll come too."
Zhang Yan decisively waved her hand: "All three of them? Forget it, they'll die a horrible death. I'd better go practice my boxing!"
A few people did some simple stretching at the starting line.
Taking advantage of this moment, Su Chen sank his consciousness into the pet space and glanced at his energy point balance: 22.
Now that we've signed a contract with Wang Yichuan, we'll have a lot more money to spare.
He can train for a full 20 hours a day by relying solely on natural recovery!
Without wasting any words, Su Chen spent another point to extend his trial card for another ten minutes.
I'm also curious: what kind of results will I achieve this time? I'm quite looking forward to it!
"Ready!" Wang Yichuan shouted from behind the starting line, half-squatting down.
"Three, two, one..."
Without a starting pistol, the intelligent system on the track automatically sensed that everyone was in the correct starting position and emitted a short electronic sound.
"Beep!"
Five figures were launched out simultaneously.
Su Chen did not rush to the front.
He deliberately slowed down and focused his attention on his legs.
The projection of Wang Yichuan inside the learning machine was running at high speed, and the spiritual energy trajectory of the Shadowless Step was being replayed again and again within his body.
The warm air current rises from the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of the foot, passes through Taixi, Zhaohai, and Yinlingquan, goes all the way up, then to Xuehai and Jimen, and finally merges into the Dai Mai meridian.
His own body, drawn by this energy, unconsciously began to imitate it.
Gradually, Su Chen felt his steps become lighter and his landing more stable.
With each push-off, the power becomes more concentrated and decisive!
Rush!
...
On the track, Xiao Zi took the lead.
The silver-white figure drew a smooth arc on the track, its four paws stomping the ground with a slight whistling sound as it fully activated its Swift Step technique.
Its speed was significantly faster than Wang Yichuan and his group.
The first lap ended quickly.
As Xiao Zi crossed the 500-meter line, the large screen inside the track immediately updated the data:
Contestant No. 1
500m
Time: 32.57 seconds
Zhang Yan's eyes widened.
This is just too outrageous!
"The Wind and Thunder Hound isn't a speed-type beast, is it...?"
"Even with a size advantage, he probably couldn't run that fast, right?"
It's important to understand that speed is a very difficult metric to improve.
Without using any special spiritual arts or magical artifacts.
If relying solely on physical strength to run, even someone at the Heavenly Martial Realm level would find it difficult to cover 3,000 meters in under three minutes.
After all, three kilometers in three minutes means 16.6 meters per second.
Human legs are only so long, and strides are only so big. Even if you could run and leave afterimages, you wouldn't have that kind of ability!
Of course, experts at the Heavenly Martial Realm can actually fly through the air, and their actual speed is quite exaggerated.
Su Chen and the others used martial arts techniques such as the Shadowless Step, which did not involve running with their bare hands.
Xiao Zi also used the Swift Step, so it wasn't purely physical running.
Zhang Yan took out her phone and quickly searched for "Standard data for the peak 3,000-meter level of the Wind and Thunder Fierce Dog Soldier".
The search results popped up: "A normal, peak-level Wind and Thunder Fierce Hound's standard time for a 3000-meter run is around four minutes and twenty seconds."
"Oh my god..." Zhang Yan muttered under her breath.
She glanced at the screen again to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
Then she rested her chin on her hand, shifted her gaze from Xiao Zi, and slowly, thoughtfully turned to another person on the track.
Su Chen!
Zhang Yan narrowed her eyes.
"snort!"
She bit her lip and muttered softly, "Those despicable capitalists! Does money mean they can do whatever they want?"
Then she threw a punch at the empty space of the runway: "I'll kill you!"