Chapter 53: 53, Losing in written exams and wilderness survival doesn’t equal losing in actual combat.
Lunch break elapsed in the blink of an eye.
Class 1 of Grade 10 at Shanhai High School soon faced their afternoon survival class.
During the class, the wilderness survival teacher, Cheng Bei, like the teachers from the two morning theory classes, conducted an exam for the students.
The rewards for the exam were the same amount as before.
The content of the exam mainly included three parts: climbing, swimming, and fire-making by friction.
Within climbing, there were two sections: tree climbing and rock climbing.
“Lu Gang, we didn’t manage to beat him during the two theoretical exams this morning, but in the afternoon wilderness survival and martial arts training, we must reclaim our ground.”
Wang Shujie said to Lu Gang, his face filled with a competitive spirit.
Lu Gang clenched his fists with a fighting spirit, saying, “You don’t need to tell me twice, I will definitely give it my all later and blow him away, wiping away the previous shame!”
Both had their sights set on Lin Zichen, viewing him as their biggest rival.
After all, they arrived at Shanhai High School with pride and a sense of superiority and could not tolerate anyone in the class being stronger than them.
The exam began shortly.
The first part of the exam was tree climbing and rock climbing, with results determined by the speed of ascent.
Lin Zichen was still first.
Wang Shujie reluctantly came in second.
He Yu finally broke through his own limitations, no longer the perpetual fourth-place holder, but now ranked third behind the two.
As for Lu Gang, due to his overly bulky build, he could hardly climb, placing him far down in the rankings.
Shen Qinghan, who got into the school through connections, had physical abilities that were at the bottom of the class, earning her the last place in climbing proficiency.
With this result, her face felt burning with pain; her heart was full of defeat.
The confidence and pride obtained from the morning’s Genetic Fusion exam had vanished completely at this moment.
Slowly returning to her senses, she realized she was just someone who got in through backdoor connections.
Her true level didn’t belong in this class of top students.
Lin Zichen noticed Shen Qinghan’s mood seemed off but didn’t go forward to comfort her.
It was just being last in climbing; it wasn’t a big deal.
When they got to the swimming segment later, Shen Qinghan would regain her confidence.
After the climbing exam finished.
The next part was fire-making by friction.
Shen Qinghan had been taught the techniques of fire-making by Lin Zichen, performing well in this portion of the exam.
Although limited by her weaker physical condition, making her not as fast as the others, she compensated with superior technique and scraped by with a mid-level ranking in the class.
Lin Zichen, on the other hand, continued his dominant performance of crushing the entire class in this stage of hand speed and technique.
In less than a minute, he created sparks from the wood, successfully starting a fire.
The rest of the class was overwhelmingly shocked by his performance.
He Yu exclaimed, “Zi Chen, your hand speed is too awesome, almost igniting the stick itself; you look like you have the prowess of being single for five hundred years!”
Hearing this, many of the boys around had strange expressions on their faces.
Wang Shujie and Lu Gang, however, furrowed their brows, feeling somewhat powerless against the strength that Lin Zichen had suddenly displayed today.
Lin Zichen’s abilities suggested that he should be the city’s top scholar, not just the district’s top scholar.
Was he sick during the middle school exam?
They couldn’t comprehend this at all.
On the other side, Cheng Bei, the wilderness survival teacher, was rather puzzled and said:
“Zi Chen, you’re so quick at making fire by friction; why have you been hiding your skills and not showing off before?”
“Teacher, he hasn’t been hiding his skills; it’s just that during class, he’s always been teaching the three of us how to make fire and didn’t have time to show his own abilities…”
Before Lin Zichen could reply, Shen Qinghan courageously interjected an explanation for him.
After hearing this, Cheng Bei smiled and said, “I see, understanding how to lead classmates to progress together is very commendable.”
After completing the fire-making exam, only the last part, swimming, remained to be tested.
Cheng Bei led the students to the swimming pool in the sports hall to conduct the assessment there.
Lin Zichen looked around and noticed the pool was particularly large.
It appeared to be 200 meters long and 100 meters wide.
There was a sign next to it, stating the depths of the pool.
The shallowest part was 1 meter, and the deepest was 3 meters.
Lin Zichen felt that this pool was very suitable for practicing his and Shen Qinghan’s swimming.
So, he turned to Cheng Bei in front and asked, “Teacher Cheng, is this swimming pool open normally?”
He had not been to this place before; when they previously had swimming classes and practice, it was in a much smaller pool.
Cheng Bei replied, “This pool is usually vacant and is only used during competitions or assessments.”
Hearing this, Lin Zichen thought it was a pity.
But upon second thought, he felt that he still had chances of making use of the pool.
As long as he displayed his powerful strength from the first year just like in junior high, crushingly overpowering all other students and catching the attention of the school leaders, earning privileges would be within reach.
By then, he guessed he could persuade the school leaders to open the pool.
And not just for anyone, but only for him and Shen Qinghan.
Even going as far as to request the surveillance be blocked off when he was using the pool.
With this in mind, Lin Zichen decided that he would be more proactive in the upcoming school life.
Soon.
The swimming assessment began.
Lin Zichen, as always, secured the first place with a speed so fast that it left Lu Gang and Wang Shujie gasping for breath, casting a shade of life’s doubts upon their faces.
On the other side.
Shen Qinghan, turning her previous decline in climbing skills around, was as nimble as a fish in the water, seizing an impressive second place in the whole class.
“Wow, Han Han, how are you so amazing at swimming? You glide like a fish, and your movements are so beautiful!”
Li Chuxin expressed her surprise.
Previously during pool training sessions, Shen Qinghan hadn’t really shown off her skills, usually just practicing some strange underwater techniques with Lin Zichen.
As a result, nobody in the class knew she could swim so fast, fast enough to outpace even Lu Gang and Wang Shujie.
Faced with Li Chuxin’s surprise, Shen Qinghan simply explained with a smile,
“Xiao Chen taught me everything.”
She was naturally talented in water, a secret that only she and Lin Zichen shared, unknown to a third person.
Li Chuxin held her hand and said affectionately,
“Han Han, can you teach me how to swim faster during our next training session?”
“Sure, I’ll teach you.”
Shen Qinghan agreed with a smile.
Not far away, Cheng Bei watched Shen Qinghan chatting with Li Chuxin and couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
Shen Qinghan, who had performed poorly in climbing before and was almost at the bottom of the class in physical fitness, how could she swim so fiercely in the water?
Logically, even if the skills were good, without sufficient physical fitness, one wouldn’t be able to swim quickly.
It was truly bizarre…
Wang Shujie and Lu Gang, too, were baffled.
It was one thing to lose to Lin Zichen, but to not even be able to beat his childhood friend?!
That was a girl, after all!
Two grown boys, unable to defeat a girl, was simply a humiliation beyond belief, unbearable for any man!
Wang Shujie and Lu Gang grew more and more despondent the more they thought about it.
In the blink of an eye.
The wilderness survival class concluded.
Class 1 of first-year high school welcomed their last martial arts training session of the afternoon.
The homeroom teacher, Han Yuanfeng, just like the previous three teachers, also decided to test all the students that day.
“Unnoticed by us, you have all been practicing martial arts for over a month now. Today, it’s time to check the outcomes of your training.”
“The way we’ll assess this is by having everyone come up to the Martial Stage to spar.”
“There are rewards for the top three, so everyone should put their all into it, understand?”
Han Yuanfeng looked at everyone in the class and said.
Upon hearing him, everyone immediately responded in unison, saying they understood.
Among the crowd, Lin Zichen’s eyes lit up.
Sparing was the most primitive way of competition, and with rewards set up, winning the spar would mean progressing in the completion of the ‘Survival of the Fittest’ achievement.
Elsewhere.
Wang Shujie and Lu Gang’s eyes shone as well.
What’s the use of doing well on a written test?
What does it matter if you’re proficient in wilderness survival skills?
In the Martial Arts Class, the most valued aspect was the “martial” part, the comparison of physical fitness and martial arts skills.
If your martial arts strength doesn’t cut it, other good grades are as good as nonexistent!
They’re as meaningless as a castle in the air!
Just because they lost the written test and the wilderness survival doesn’t mean they’ll lose in real combat!
Next, the two top students from Nanguan City were determined to redeem themselves on the Martial Stage by fiercely putting Lin Zichen to ground, reclaiming their pride and sense of superiority!
PS: Holding out my bowl, asking for monthly and recommendation tickets!