But he immediately dismissed the thought.
The awakening of a Martial Arts Spirituality was intrinsically linked to one's life index—only Martial Artists with a sufficiently high life index had a chance to awaken one.
But he had never heard of a Martial Arts Spirituality whose effect was to directly boost a fundamental attribute like the life index!
Not far away, Zhang Yuqing saw Lin Ye's final test results from amidst the crowd.
A wave of relief washed over her.
'Good...'
Her punching force was greater than Lin Ye's.
Her Qi and Blood index was also higher than Lin Ye's.
This mock exam didn't have a practical combat section.
And if there had been, Zhang Yuqing was confident she could have secured a decisive victory over Lin Ye.
'But where is this inexplicable, overwhelming sense of crisis coming from?'
Soon, Zhang Yuqing overheard something that didn't sound right.
Amidst the excited chatter of the other students from Class Seven,
she was shocked to discover that just two weeks ago,
this guy named Lin Ye had a Qi and Blood index of only 10.8, and his life index hadn't even reached 10!
'This...'
'How is that possible!?'
Lin Ye slowly stepped out of the induction pod, met by a hundred gazes mixed with shock and envy.
He glanced back at his test results.
Lin Ye knew his crazy training over the past two weeks had not been for nothing!
...
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the gymnasium, inside the main control room with the best view,
the principals of the Five Schools of the East District were gathered around a massive circular conference table. They leisurely sipped fragrant tea as they watched a stream of real-time data flow onto a giant composite screen made of dozens of smaller displays.
While the atmosphere on the exam floor was tense, it was far more relaxed here. The principals were even in the mood for some lighthearted banter.
The joint mock exam was nearing its end, and the overall results were more or less set in stone.
At this point, the final qualification rates for each school's martial arts program were unlikely to see any major fluctuations.
Wang Zhengguo, the principal of Dongjiang First Middle School, let out a quiet sigh of relief as he looked at the latest statistics on the screen.
According to the current data, among all the Five Schools of the East District, Dongjiang First Middle School's martial arts qualification rate had settled at 21.23%.
This result was a steady improvement over last year, higher by exactly three-tenths of a percentage point.
It looked like Dongjiang First Middle School had secured second place among the Five Schools of the East District this year.
As for the number one school, Dongjiang Experimental High School, they were in a league of their own.
The experimental high school was one of the top private institutions in all of Dongjiang Province. In terms of student quality, faculty strength, and the sheer abundance of cultivation resources, it was far beyond what public schools like theirs, which relied on government funding, could ever hope to match.
Their martial arts qualification rate consistently stayed above 32%, and this year it had reached a staggering 35.7%. Their elite students were too numerous to count, creating an insurmountable lead on every leaderboard.
Just then, the principal of Dongjiang Third Middle School, seated next to Wang Zhengguo, picked up his teacup.
He chuckled and said to Wang Zhengguo, "Wang, my apologies, but it seems that while your school's qualification rate is higher than ours this year,"
"it looks like you're still just a tiny bit behind us in the average life index category. Haha."
Wang Zhengguo looked up at the leaderboard for average life index.
The screen clearly displayed that the average life index for all of Dongjiang Third Middle School's qualifying students was 11.556.
Dongjiang First Middle School, on the other hand, was at 11.555.
The difference was truly minuscule, almost negligible, but on the rankings, it was the fundamental difference between second and third place.
On the surface, Wang Zhengguo maintained his gentle, scholarly smile, but inwardly, he couldn't help but scoff.
'Old fool. What's he so smug about!'
'How can that statistic even compare to the qualification rate in terms of significance?'
Just as he was preparing a sharp retort, the rankings on the screen suddenly changed in a way no one expected.
Dongjiang First Middle School, originally in third, shot up a spot, instantly overtaking Dongjiang Third Middle School to claim second place!
The number representing their average jumped from 11.555 to 11.557!
Keep in mind, this was an average calculated from over a hundred qualifying students.
For the third decimal place to jump by two points was an incredible shift.
This could only mean one thing.
A high score, with a life index far exceeding the average, had just been entered into the system.
A single person had single-handedly dragged up the entire average!
'Was it... Zhang Yuqing?'
'Liao Donglai, then?'
'Or Sun Bo?'
The names of several top students from Grade 12 Class One—all prospects for the province's most prestigious universities—flashed through Wang Zhengguo's mind.
The relaxed chatter around the conference table ceased.
The principals' gazes simultaneously shifted from the macro-level statistics to the individual high-score leaderboards.
Their eyes quickly scanned past the punching force and Qi and Blood index rankings, finally settling on the list that best reflected talent and held the most weight: the life index leaderboard.
At the top of the list was a boy named Yan Hui, his life index a staggering 26.33.
He was, of course, from Dongjiang Experimental High School.
Notably, his Qi and Blood index and punching force also placed him at the undisputed top of the exam hall—a true hexagonal Warrior.
Scrolling down from his name, the top twenty spots were completely dominated by students from the experimental high school, a truly demoralizing sight for the competition.
Beyond the top twenty, the crests of other schools finally began to appear.
For instance, Wang Zhengguo saw Zhang Yuqing's name at rank 21.
Looking further down, he finally saw an unfamiliar name that had abruptly appeared at rank 48.
[NO. 48, Lin Ye, Dongjiang First Middle School, Grade 12 Class Seven, Life Index: 14.67]
Wang Zhengguo froze.
'Lin Ye?'
'Who's that?'
Wang Zhengguo wracked his brain, combing through his memory of every outstanding student, but he couldn't recall anyone by that name at his school.
'Wait a second... Class Seven?'
'How could Class Seven, one of the *regular* martial arts classes, possibly produce a student with such an absurdly high life index?'
Soon, two words finally surfaced in Wang Zhengguo's mind.
Dark horse!
Wang Zhengguo's mood suddenly brightened.
Even if Lin Ye's performance was, in his eyes, still only 'a little impressive, but not overly so,' it was this student who had helped him claw back the ranking.
That changed everything.
Rankings directly determined the resource allocation their school would receive from the City Education Bureau.
And the gap between third and second was substantial.
'Hmm, I'll make an exception and give this boy, Lin Ye, some extra resources and special treatment,' Wang Zhengguo decided privately.