"No way, they're really going to compete?"
"Wang Cheng and Wu Chuan are the most outstanding students in this batch. Being this young and already posting those numbers, they'd be called geniuses any day. That Shi Feng guy is just asking to humiliate himself."
"That's where you're wrong. It wasn't Shi Feng who asked for the contest — it was that beautiful woman. She said Shi Feng could beat Wang Cheng and Wu Chuan easily, and she only suggested comparing stats so she wouldn't bully the other two."
"That woman is way too gullible. She actually believed whatever Shi Feng told her?"
"What do you know? That takes skill. But this time, that Shi Feng guy has blown his own cover. Once the truth comes out, it's going to be hilarious."
The testing hall was already buzzing, and with Shi Feng's challenge against the two of them, a crowd quickly gathered. Everyone had witnessed Wang Cheng and Wu Chuan's abilities, but they had never seen Shi Feng in action — and nobody was optimistic about him. Shi Feng was neither a hulking brute nor a musclebound giant; he looked completely ordinary. Challenging the other two in strength and reflexes was nothing short of suicidal.
"First up is the punch force test. Each person gets three attempts. Wu Chuan, you go first." Xiao Yan stood beside the punch force testing machine and announced.
Wu Chuan hadn't put up the most eye-catching numbers during the last punch test, but his force had still been over 320 kg — well within professional standards and enough to make any ordinary person look up in awe.
Wu Chuan nodded, walked up to the machine, clenched both fists, and threw three punches at the leather target pad with explosive force.
Thud, thud, thud — three muffled impacts rang out in quick succession.
Wu Chuan was quite satisfied with the power behind his punches. He turned away from the machine and cast a smug glance toward Shi Feng.
The data on the display flickered, and three numbers finally appeared.
341 kg, 346 kg, 342 kg.
The crowd erupted into an uproar at the sight of those figures.
Wu Chuan's numbers were already closing in on Wang Cheng's. In terms of raw strength alone, he was undoubtedly the second-best among all the elite candidates in this batch.
Xiao Yan was delighted by the results. In his mind, Wu Chuan had already been earmarked for focused training. After all, Wu Chuan had a clear edge over Wang Cheng in reflexes and speed — factoring everything together, Wu Chuan was the more capable of the two.
"Next — Wang Cheng!" Xiao Yan called out.
Wang Cheng strode up to the punch force machine and settled into his stance. Every muscle in his body swelled slightly, and veins bulged along his forearms, giving him a fearsome appearance. He then unleashed three consecutive punches at the leather pad.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The machine let out three sharp cracks, and its entire frame shuddered. The readout immediately blew past 300 kg and kept climbing. In moments it surged past 360 kg, surpassing Wang Cheng's previous record.
At last the machine displayed its final figures.
385 kg, 391 kg, 388 kg — three numbers, each one dwarfing Wang Cheng's earlier marks.
"Good! I didn't expect you to still have that much in reserve." Xiao Yan burst into hearty laughter when he saw the data. The more he looked at Wang Cheng, the fonder he grew of the young man. Four hundred kilograms was the benchmark for top-tier fighters in the city, and Wang Cheng was only a hair's breadth away. With his potential and Beidou's training, landing a top-ten finish at the provincial youth martial arts tournament would be practically a sure thing.
Zhao Ruoxi felt her confidence waver when the numbers appeared. This level of force already exceeded Zhang Luowei's.
The difference might only be a little over 30 kg on paper, but once punch force crossed the 350 kg mark, gaining even a single additional kilogram was incredibly difficult — let alone thirty. That kind of improvement could take years of effort and was not something that could be achieved in a short time.