Chapter Sixteen: An Appointment for Tomorrow

"You!" Liu Wen's face flushed with anger at those words. If Shangguan Luohua weren't present, he would have beaten the boy before him into a cripple without hesitation. Unfortunately, things were not so convenient; he could only grit his teeth and roar, "Angel, turn on the machine. I want to see just how fast he really is!"

With a crisp snap, Angel walked over to the speed-testing apparatus and switched it on for Nangong Yuchen.

Seeing this, Nangong Yuchen stepped confidently onto the machine. "Let's begin!"

He wasn't entirely sure what his own speed was, but he was confident he would pass. After all, last night's nutrient serum would not have been for nothing.

His voice, brimming with confidence, left the entire class surprised. "Could it be that his speed has skyrocketed as well?"

Meanwhile, Liu Wen had already flipped the switch, looking at Nangong Yuchen with disdain. He was already planning how to punish him afterward, using whatever excuse the results would provide.

On the speed-testing machine—

Thud, thud, thud!

Nangong Yuchen went all out, his speed climbing past ten meters per second and still rising.

"Eleven, twelve... fourteen..."

"It's really over fourteen meters—and it hasn't stopped yet! Could he actually pass?"

Even before the words finished, the numbers on the display surged past sixteen meters, still climbing without any sign of slowing.

"Sixteen point five... seventeen..."

"He's passed already? How is this possible?" Some students shouted in shock.

"Look, he's about to break twenty meters! Could he be catching up to the class leader?"

Now, everyone in the hall was utterly stunned, especially Liu Wen, whose sneer had frozen into a livid mask.

"Twenty-one..." The numbers continued to rise, Nangong Yuchen growing faster and faster, and the hall growing ever quieter.

"Twenty-three point six meters!"

"Mr. Liu, is that enough?" Nangong Yuchen looked at the dumbstruck Liu Wen and spoke up to remind him.

In truth, this wasn't even his true limit. He could feel that the nutrient serum from the previous night had doubled his strength, speed, and neural reflexes. Not wanting to cause too much of a stir, he stopped as soon as his speed exceeded Angel's by one meter.

With a snap, the speed-testing machine halted. Nangong Yuchen hopped off, glanced around at the stunned students and teachers, and let a faint smile curve his lips. "Mr. Liu, I hope I haven't wasted your time?"

His mocking words shattered the silence in the hall like a silent slap across Liu Wen's face.

Liu Wen's expression shifted through several shades before he finally spoke, trembling all over, "Nangong Yuchen, speed: twenty-three point six meters per second—excellent!" The punishment he'd prepared was now a joke. With a result like 23.6, he had no grounds for rebuttal.

The shocked stares of those around made him want to crawl into a hole—or throttle Nangong Yuchen on the spot.

Just then, someone called out, "What if his neural reflexes are just as freakish?"

A collective gasp swept through the hall as everyone remembered Nangong Yuchen's performance in the other three physical tests.

Balanced development!

That phrase appeared in their minds. Yes, he'd always improved evenly across all three metrics, which was why none of them had advanced particularly quickly, landing him at the bottom of the class. But now, with both his speed and strength at this level, could his neural reflexes be any less? Wouldn't that make him even more extraordinary than Angel's dual development?

"He must have been hiding his true strength these last three months—definitely!" That was the thought shared by every student, and even by Shangguan Luohua and Liu Wen. Otherwise, how could a human improve so much in a single month?

"We'll proceed with the neural reflex test. Once that's complete, those who pass may go straight home!" As the homeroom teacher, Shangguan Luohua knew she couldn't let the tension drag on. Reacting swiftly, she made the announcement.

"Everyone, follow me. We'll go in order according to the list for the neural reflex test!" Liu Wen, his expression somewhat improved, led the students to a small room at the back.

The neural reflex test differed from the strength and speed tests. It required entering an enclosed space, using lasers to measure the participant's neurological response—that is, their ability to sense and react.

Of course, real lasers weren't used here, or the students would have been dead long ago. These lasers matched the speed of the real thing, but their destructive power had been weakened thousands of times.

Soon, Liu Wen finished calibrating the equipment and announced, "First up: Li Jian!"

The boy named Li Jian approached nervously, clearly reluctant to enter. Neural reflexes were his weakness, and this test was always a beating for him. The monthly ordeal left him feeling exhausted.

But under Shangguan Luohua's threatening gaze, he had no choice but to step inside.

Thud!

The door closed automatically. Through the reinforced glass, teachers and students outside could watch what happened within.

A buzzing alarm sounded, indicating that the laser would fire in three seconds.

Three, two, one, begin!

Inside the sealed room, a red laser beam, thumb-thick, flashed out from the front, aiming for Li Jian's chest. It was so quick that the eye could barely register it, piercing right through where he had just stood before vanishing.

He dodged the first shot.

Two more beams followed, and he barely managed to evade them as well.

Next, three lasers fired in succession. The first appeared above his head; as he ducked, the second, shooting up from the floor, struck him on the backside, launching him forward. The third beam fired just as he was hit, striking his chest and hurling him against the wall.

With a thud, the door opened. Two students went in and dragged out the dazed and battered Li Jian.

Liu Wen shook his head and declared, "Li Jian, neural reflex: two. Fail! Next, Xiao Yingying!"

...

Over half an hour passed without anyone noticing. After Angel emerged from the room, looking a little disheveled, Liu Wen announced, "Angel, neural reflex: twelve. Excellent!"

A neural reflex score of twenty was the standard for a first-tier physical cultivator. Her score was twelve—just eight short of qualifying as a mecha warrior, and her speed had reached 22.3 meters per second! If Nangong Yuchen hadn't suddenly emerged today, she would have remained the top student for the third month in a row.

"Last one: Nangong Yuchen!"

At the call, Nangong Yuchen stepped into the room. As the door closed and the alarm sounded, he counted down silently: three, two, one.

He closed his eyes. Neural reflexes depended on brain response and perception, not on eyesight or physical speed. After all, with the speed of lasers, even if you saw them, you couldn't dodge. This had nothing to do with one's eyes or even raw speed.

Hiss, hiss!

"Forty-five degrees above and behind!"

At the instant the sound reached him, Nangong Yuchen sensed the incoming laser from behind and above. Calmly, he stepped forward. The laser shot through where he'd just stood and vanished.

Two seconds later, a new round began.

"One hundred fifteen degrees at your feet!" Nangong Yuchen turned and spread his legs, letting the beam flash between them. Immediately, a second laser appeared. "One eighty degrees to the side, about fifty centimeters high!"

He leapt, letting the red beam pass beneath him.

With the second wave complete, his neural reflex score reached two. After another two-second pause, the third round began.

...

A few minutes later, sweat beaded on Nangong Yuchen's forehead. He felt dizzy from maintaining such intense concentration. Now in the twelfth wave, just two more lasers to dodge and he would finish. He decided this would be his last round. He was already well past passing. As for the seventeenth wave, he felt it might be a stretch, so he opted not to try.

"Eighty-five degrees behind at shoulder level!"

"Straight ahead, at head height!"

Nangong Yuchen twisted his body and dropped back, moving quickly and precisely. In the next instant, two lasers shot through where his shoulder and head had just been.

(After every ten waves, the number of simultaneous lasers increases by one. After twenty, they all come at once, and so on.)

Exhaling, Nangong Yuchen seized the two-second interval to signal for a stop.

With a thud, the door opened. Liu Wen's voice, sounding numb, rang out: "Nangong Yuchen, neural reflex: twelve. Excellent!"

He'd wanted to punish the boy during the test, but, unfortunately, Shangguan Luoxuan had monitored the whole process. Otherwise, when Nangong Yuchen signaled to stop, Liu Wen would have pretended not to see.

With the neural reflex test concluded, every student looked at Nangong Yuchen differently.

Was this really the same waste who'd failed three months in a row, always at the bottom of the class?

All three scores—excellent. Not even the academy's elite students were this remarkable. If he ever broke through to first-tier, what kind of terror would he become?

Their shock had left them numb. For the first time, they felt a pang in their hearts.

It turned out, the "waste" they had mocked for three months was, in fact, themselves.

After finishing the tests, Nangong Yuchen slipped away early and headed for the infirmary.

He pushed open the door. Seeing the chubby boy lying in bed, his heart warmed and he murmured, "Le Han, I did it. No one in class will ever bully us again!"

Hearing the door, Le Han looked up. The moment he saw Nangong Yuchen, he forgot all about his pain and exclaimed excitedly, "Nangong, I heard from Tan Jian and the others that your strength hit 280 kilograms, and you knocked that bastard Lu Ling unconscious. Is it true?"

"Uh..." Seeing Le Han's excitement, Nangong Yuchen nodded emphatically.

"Hmph! You brat, hiding it from me and making me worry like that!" At this moment, Le Han's expression was just like that of a pouting girl.

"Uh..." Nangong Yuchen didn't know what to say. The matter involved two mecha warriors, and Cheng Tianyou's close ties with the Lu family made things complicated and serious. He could only remain silent.

"So, tell me—how did you do in the speed and neural reflex tests? I remember your body requires all three metrics to improve at once, right?"

...

Half an hour slipped by in a flash. As Nangong Yuchen and Le Han chatted happily, a gentle figure appeared at the doorway.

She glanced at Nangong Yuchen, then walked in and softly asked, "Nangong, do you have time tomorrow?"

---

PS: Last week, the company was moving and things were hectic, so I could only manage one chapter a day. Sorry about that! Now that everything’s settled, I’ll be back to two chapters daily. Please recommend and bookmark—thank you!