Yan Hengbo started weeping. “We’ve made a mistake. I’ve been a hero my entire life, but at the end, all our success will come crashing down. Why on Earth did I have such a troublesome son like you?! Tell me, why didn’t you tell me about this when something so important happened?!”


  Yan Zhennan had been covered in injuries when he came, and now, his skin broke because of the caning. He was in so much pain that his eyelids twitched, but he did not dare to move.

  “I thought that you were in isolated training……” he whispered.

  “Isolated, my foot! After that Demonically Modified Ripple Force came out, how on Earth would I have the dignity to even publish Ripple Force v2?!”


  Yan Hengbo kicked Yan Zhennan so hard that he fell on the floor. He gritted his teeth and said, “Bastard! The Yan family is going to perish, and it’s going to be destroyed by your hands!”


  Yan Feirou simply could not keep watching. She could only brace herself and go up to protect her father.

  “Grandpa, what happened?” she asked sweetly. “Why are you so angry? Dad has just returned from the fog, and I heard that he was heavily injured. Yet you are……”


  “Hmph!”


  Even his favorite granddaughter could not make Yan Hengbo calm down in the slightest from his rage. He said coldly, “Why don’t you ask your useless father just what he did?!”


  “Dad?”


  Ripple Force Princess was absolutely stunned now. She listened to her father speak in fragments for a long while until she got the gist of it.

  “The Demonically Modified Ripple Force isn’t some carelessly made martial art. It’s the real deal. While Dad was at the verge of death, he used the Demonically Modified Ripple Force to support his entire force execution system.

  “Not only did his fighting strength instantly increase, when he attacked, his moves were also smoother and more discreet. With every move he made, he hit the mutated superbeast’s weakness, and he managed to completely suppress the unidentified mutated beast which had evolved at the end of its life. Is that correct?”


  As Yan Feirou listened to it, she was dumbfounded and even stuttered. “N-No way. Last time, Dad practiced it seriously for three hours. Why didn’t he notice it at that time?”


  “Nonsense. This Demonically Modified Ripple Force is profound and contains a lot of secrets. Even I wasn’t able to completely understand it within a short amount of time. The more I think about it, the more interesting it is. Your father might have grand ambitions, but he’s incompetent. Forget about three hours, even if he practiced it for three days and three nights, he might not understand the matchless profound secrets within it!”


  Yan Hengbo let out a cold huff. “Fortunately, your dad’s foundation is pretty solid. He might not have understood many of the profound secrets, but at least he managed to memorize the technique. When he was near death, those memories exploded forth, and they managed to save his life!”


  Yan Feirou thought about it carefully and shuddered. “If the Demonically Modified Ripple Force is real, just how powerful must the martial artist who created it be? An expert like this was kind enough to provide guidance to me, but not only did I not appreciate his kindness, I even went online to publicly denounce him! That expert must be furious right now!”


  “Feirou, do you understand how grave the situation is right now?” Yan Hengbo asked with a dark face. “Modern martial arts aren’t all the nonsense in Wuxia novels. It’s impossible for experts to be able to come up with great martial arts just by entering isolated training in some mountain cave for a year and a half. Real martial arts require deep knowledge of every aspect such as genomics, cytology, ergonomics, exercise physiology, and even spirit energy physics.

  “You have to build up a large database, and through the fights of countless martial artists gather a huge amount of data. Then, with it, you use the most modern super biochemical-brain to make calculations repeatedly. After that, you use it in real fights to continuously test it. Just how much manpower, resources, money, and wisdom do you think is required for that?

  “I’ve led a research team formed by more than ten experts, and I used many years to finally upgrade Ripple Force to version two. But based on my judgment, this Demonically Modified Ripple Force is at least at version five. Think, just what sort of terrifying force of power the person who created this possesses?”


  Yan Feirou gulped. She did not dare to think about this any further.

  “What is even more terrifying is that this martial art has a vision that surpasses the current era. It’s as if this was designed for new monsters who are continuously getting stronger. This can only mean one thing.”


  Yan Hengbo’s voice fell a few octaves. “It’s creator managed to travel much deeper into the fog than your dad and even me and has fought against countless unparalleled monsters we have never seen before!”


  Yan Feirou cried out in shock. “There are monsters who are even more powerful?”


  “Of course there are. Dragon City tore through the sky and descended in this place. It suppressed Monster Mountain Range and caused a drastic change in the geography of the area, so many of the monster nests hidden deep in the mountain range will slowly appear.

  “In the past, Dragon City hid in a corner and did not come into a lot of contact with the unparalleled monsters. But as Earthlings’ civilization continues to spread outward, sooner or later, we will clash against those creatures.

  “This is something normal citizens and even mid-tier and low-tier superhumans know nothing about. But the higher-ups are actively preparing for war. Even the old monsters who stand at the top of Dragon City have long since entered the depths of the fog and set up sentry stations.

  “They’re gathering more specimens and information to enlarge their monster picture encyclopedia and increase their databank. They are constantly thinking about how to upgrade the current martial arts available to us based on the characteristics of the unidentified monsters.”


  Yan Feirou’s eyes went wide. “Grandpa, are you saying that the Demonically Modified Ripple Force was created by those old monsters?”


  “Who else could do it? Did you think that some random Tom, Dick, or Harry could upgrade our Yan Family Ripple Force to such perfection?” Yan Hengbo asked.

  “Feirou, you should know that the old monsters have been fighting fiercely from the moment Dragon City transmigrated to this place. They’re the first group of peerless fighters who woke up to supernatural powers when they were fortunate enough not to turn into zombies after they were infected with the zombie virus. Instead, the shackles of their genes were removed. They went through all sorts of trials and tribulations, and they are the great pillars which have protected Dragon City for half a century!

  “But when we just transmigrated to this place, our knowledge of genomics, spirit energy, and life science was very crude, and we made a lot of mistakes. The pioneers stumbled about in their paths as superhumans, and they developed paths that no one had ever taken before. Because of it, they also paid devastating prices.

  “Many of the pioneers suffered brain damage. Their minds were corroded by the mysterious power of the Other World, and they have become people who stand on both the side of good and evil. Sometimes, they even descend into madness. They might lose control at any moment.

  “When they’re in a good mood, they can casually give you guidance so that you can improve by leaps and bounds in your path to become a superhuman.

  “But if you offend them and they descend into a rampage, they can destroy the Yan family in a single breath. Why else do you think they’re known as old monsters?”


  “Then, what should we do?” Ripple Force Princess was so anxious that she started pacing. “We’ve definitely offended this old mons—this senior! Will he destroy the Yan family when he flies into a rage?”


  “Don’t worry. If he wanted to destroy us, he would have done so a long time ago. It’s impossible for him to not have taken action even now.”


  Yan Hengbo thought about it. “I can sense the old senior’s love and desire to protect the Yan family through his Demonically Modified Ripple Force. If he didn’t have strong feelings for the Yan Family Ripple Force, it would have been impossible for him to have upgraded it to such perfection.

  “Perhaps this old senior was once connected to the Yan family through fate. Is he a teacher of mine when I was going through my journey to become a superhuman? If that weren’t the case, why would he have taught you?

  “Third, there’s nothing for you to do here. Go and heal your wounds. Once you’re done, you don’t have to bother managing the organization anymore. Just concentrate on becoming a monster hunter.”


  Yan Zhennan was silent. The old man’s words destroyed his future in the Yan family.

  But he had offended an old, mysterious, and unfathomable monster. The punishment he received was already the lightest possible.

  “Understood, Father,” Yan Zhennan said in a dejected manner.

  “Feirou, this matter started with you. I feel like the mysterious senior still likes you quite a lot. Why don’t you take action again and release a public apology? Try to be as sincere as possible and act pitiful. We’ll see if the old senior is willing to forgive the Yan family.”


  Yan Hengbo sighed. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll have no other way out. I will have to cast aside my dignity and beg the senior for forgiveness.”


  That night, when Meng Chao was attending self-study period, a major disturbance rose in the classroom.

  “Look! Ripple Force Princess is currently reading a public apology letter on the broadcasting platform!”


  “My God! The princess looks so delicate and pitiful! She looks like she’s about to start crying!”


  “Is there a mistake? With the Yan family’s strength, who can force Ripple Force Princess to apologize in such a manner? Has the Yan family cast aside their pride?”


  The students were in a ruckus, for all the boys were indignant.

  Meng Chao was stunned. He turned on his phone and saw that what they said was true, the eldest daughter of the Yan family had switched to another image today. It was different compared to her gentle look during the public classes and her unyielding mannerisms when she made the public statement. Today, she looked frail and delicate as well as very timid.

  “A few days ago, due to my ignorance and immaturity, I was rash, and offended an old senior who has a high and noble status in our city. I started incredibly bad rumors online……”


  Yan Feirou might not have thrown herself at Meng Chao’s feet, but he could already smell her tears.

  The boys were burning with rage as they watched.

  Chu Feixiong even started growling beside Meng Chao. “Who is it? Who scared my Goddess to this extent? I’m going to kill that guy!”


  In-video comments and comments were turned off for this video.

  But many netizens stood up together against their common enemy in the gossip forums online.

  Everyone was trying to figure out who the old senior Ripple Force Princess mentioned was. Who could receive such great respect that the Yan family would show such weakness and apologize publicly?

  Meng Chao touched his face.

  He did not think that he deserved so much respect.

  He could not understand it. Why did Yan Feirou switch from arrogance to humility so suddenly? She was like two different people.

  However, he was a kind person.

  After he finished watching the video, Yan Feirou sent him a really long private letter which was full of apology and sincerity. Meng Chao sighed and decided to spare the Yan family.

  [Okay.]

  He sent a one word reply to show that he understood.

  Yan Feirou was beside herself with joy and soon sent another long text to thank him for showing mercy. She also asked whether there was anything he needed.

  [We know that with your abilities, even if we give you money or cultivation resources, it would only be humiliating to you. I wonder if there is anything that you might require that the Yan family could help you with. We will definitely risk our lives for you and will never decline your request!]

  The letter left Meng Chao stunned for a long time.

  He really wanted to reply with [It’s fine. I’m really good at withstanding pressure, and I can withstand all sorts of humiliation. You don’t have to hold back. Just use money and cultivation resources to humiliate me as much as you want!]

  He was frustrated with himself. Why did he have to put on the image of a mysterious and aloof senior? Now, he found it embarrassing to ask for compensation from others.

  He scratched his head for a long time. At some point, he looked up, and he was just in time to see Zuo Haoran staring at him with a gloomy expression.

  Meng Chao thought about it and replied, [In three days, help me check Great Waves Corporation.]

  Great Waves Corporation was Zuo Haoran’s family’s company.

  Meng Chao knew that Zuo Haoran was a sinister person. He did not have to worry about the conflict between him and Zuo Haoran becoming worse while he was in school, but what if Zuo Haoran used his family and did something to his parents?

  His father had just started out with his small company. He only had one small dingey, and it could not withstand any storms. It was only natural then that Meng Chao should investigate all of the uncertain elements before doing anything else.

  Yan Feirou hesitated. [Who is Great Waves Corporation?]

  Meng Chao was a little embarrassed.

  The future Ripple Force was created by Yan Feirou. He was using various tricks to deceive her, and it seemed like he had terrified her quite a lot. Now, he was even asking for her help, which he felt was rather unacceptable. He was, in fact, being rather shameless, wasn’t he?

  [It’s a little troublesome,] Meng Chao replied.

  To retain his image as an aloof senior, he did not go into too much detail.

  What he meant was that it was rather troublesome to search for the details of a company within a short amount of time. If she could not handle it, it was fine. It was nothing major anyway.

  Yan Feirou was silent for a while before she replied. [Trouble? Got it.]

  Chapter 46: First Stage of the National College Examination!

  Meng Chao lived a relaxed life for the next few days and trained as usual.

  His contribution points started shooting up like crazy, just like a man wetting himself.

  Aside from Yan Zhennan, he got another “elite monster”. He was the master of the Yan family, the elite citizen, Yan Hengbo.

  “Elite monsters” were divided into major and minor “elite monsters”. The grandmaster of martial arts had personally created Ripple Force, so every time he gave Meng Chao contribution points, he did so in the three digits!

  There were also plenty of powerful martial artists working in Yan Organization. They brought in close to one thousand contribution points every day, which felt great.

  However, Meng Chao noticed something. His highest amount of contribution points earned every day was renewed daily, but as the Demonically Modified Ripple Force was generalized, he reached the peak of his daily high score for contribution points, and the numbers started falling.

  But that was understandable. The future had been changed, and his contribution in this matter ended. He could not be supplied with an endless amount of contribution points just because of one basic force execution method.

  If he marked the contribution points he gained daily into a graph, based on the declining curve, he would have gotten thousands of contribution points from the Demonically Modified Ripple Force alone. He also managed to form a connection with Yan Organization, so he was very satisfied with this matter.

  Finally, it was the day for the school test—the first stage of the three stages of the national college examination!

  Banners were hung all over the entrance of the school gate.

  Colorful flags flew everywhere in the school.

  There were nearly five hundred people from the eight third year classes, and they would all compete for the one hundred and fifty slots that would send them to the next stage.

  Their youthful passion nearly turned into boiling magma that could overturn all the ceilings in the fifteen levels of the cultivation center.

  In the meeting room at the top floor of the cultivation center were dozens of screens. Each monitored a different examination area.

  One of the screens also showed a continuously changing ranking board, which ranked students based on their results.

  The leaders of the school and the homeroom teachers of the third year classes sat under the monitors. Whenever the ranking changed, their expressions also changed slightly. While they chatted with each other, their words were laced with hostility.

  The resources in Dragon City were limited, and competitions were everywhere. Humans and monsters competed for resources, and humans also competed against each other. The students fussed over everything for the sake of their rankings. The teachers and school leaders, too, competed against other classes or other key high schools, especially the high-and-mighty city-level key high schools.

  The results of the third year students were pretty good. They were almost reaching the lowest possible score of those studying at city-level key high schools.

  Principal Sun was nearly seventy. When he was young, he had fought against zombies and monsters and suffered permanent injuries. Gradually, he became hunchbacked, and he was now a shrivelled up old man who dozed every day. He was prepared to work for another two years before he retired. He did not care much about administrative affairs on usual days either, so he just grinned and remained calm.

  The teaching director Ma Qingyun was still young and full of energy. He managed most of the daily tasks in the school, and he longed to be able to take a step further in his life once Principal Sun retired.

  He was incredibly excited when the students scored well. His horse-like face was red, and he looked like a huge horse monkey jumping around, which, coincidentally, was the nickname his students gave him.

  Demon Yan remained expressionless. He tapped against the table lightly while he continued examining Reckless Bull Technique in his mind.

  The homeroom teachers of the eight graduating classes all acted as humble as ace students.

  “Ah, this is bad. Class 1 this year is really horrible. There are only more than thirty students who are able to outrun Usain Bolt.”


  “Class 2 is even worse. These lazy bums are all so weak. They can’t even win against the Olympic weightlifting champions on Earth. Ah, this is so distressing!”


  “If all of you in the rocket classes say these things, then doesn’t it mean that the strolling classes are done for?”


  “What do you mean by done for? Everyone knows that you’ve all been working hard to compete against the rocket classes. Let’s just talk about Old Wang from Class 6. He might seem harmless, but he has been organizing study groups in secret.

  “No one knows what sort of amazing martial art his students are practicing. Old Wang, don’t even think about hiding. Just tell us, what are you practicing?”


  “No, I’m definitely not teaching them anything.” Wang Longjun shook his head with a serious look. “What do you mean by amazing martial art? I know nothing about it.”


  Before his voice could fade, the ranking of maximum punching strength started changing rapidly on the big monitor screen.

  Someone managed to shoot up the ranks.

  Since every class was marked with a different color, everyone could tell who it was from a single glance.

  “Class 6’s Chu Feixiong. His maximum punching strength is 249.5kg, and he’s ranked 21st for punching strength!”


  “What?!”


  “He’s just a student in a strolling class, and his maximum punching strength is greater than of most people in the rocket classes?”


  “Old Wang, that’s so dishonest of you. You’re still insisting that you don’t have an amazing martial art up your sleeves?”


  The other seven homeroom teachers struck their tables and rebuked him in a semi-serious fashion.

  But before they could recover from the shock brought by Chu Feixing’s punching strength, another student from Class 6 shot up the ranking board.

  “It’s Class 6’s Meng Chao! His maximum punching strength is 240.9kg, and his one hundred meter dash is 9.55 seconds. He’s faster than Usain Bolt by 0.03 seconds, and his overall score is temporarily listed at the nineteenth place in the whole school!”


  “Meng Chao?!”


  “I remember that he was a really talented student during the first year and second year of high school. He was heavily injured later on. So, he has recovered?”


  At that moment, the homeroom teachers from the two rocket classes could no longer hide the envy and jealousy in their eyes.

  They had been paying attention to Meng Chao for a long time. After all, he had great talent. If he weren’t injured, he would have definitely been slotted into a rocket class.

  They did not expect that even though he stayed in Class 6, he would recover fully and even improve. Just how lucky was Wang Longjun?

  Even Demon Yan let out a gasp of astonishment. He deliberately switched to Meng Chao’s testing footage.

  Teaching Director Ma Qingyun let out a soft huff. There was no expression on his face.

  “It’s pretty good.” Principal Sun grinned. He looked like a mascot.

  It was written in destiny’s books that today was the day of harvest for Class 6, because the shock they delivered was not over just yet.

  Soon after Meng Chao obtained the great result of ranking among the top twenty, another shocking news was delivered.

  “One hundred meter dash completed in 9.49 seconds…… He managed to break 9.5-second wall. His maximum punching strength is 250.1kg, and he also broke the 250kg wall, which is known as the legendary high-school iron wall. Zuo Haoran’s total score is temporarily ranked at the ninth place in the entire school!”


  “That’s impossible!”


  “The students in a strolling class have charged into the top ten even though there are nearly one hundred students in the rocket classes blocking their path!

  “Zuo Haoran…… So, it’s hard. Well…… that’s not much of a surprise.”


  Once they read the name of the student who broke the record, the shocked expressions of the other seven homeroom teachers faded away. They put on obsequious expressions for Teaching Director Ma Qingyun as if they were flattering him by using their expressions to say “Teaching Director Ma, you’re amazing! You managed to teach your nephew really well!”


  The students from Class 6 were also shocked as they stood in the testing room underneath.

  They had been immersed in the triumphant feeling of Meng Chao returning with a dominating might and thought that he had a slight chance in winning over the class rep, even if it was in just one single aspect.

  But half a minute later, Zuo Haoran’s domineering scores shattered their hopes.

  Regardless of whether it was his maximum punching strength or one-hundred meter dash, the class rep’s impeccable performance told them what it meant to be so strong that nothing could stand in the way.

  “What should we do? Zuo Haoran is too strong. He’s already above Meng Chao by twenty points after the first two competitions.”


  “I thought that Meng Chao could surpass him a little in the first two parts. Let’s hope that he won’t lose too miserably during the shooting test later.”


  “That guy never put a lot of effort in the past, but over the past week, he went all out. I think he must have taken in some sort of secret medicine and spent a lot of money to use top-grade cultivation machines to stimulate the potential in his cells. Damn it, it’s seriously so good to be rich.”


  The class was so anxious that they ground their teeth.

  Meng Chao exchanged a glance with Zuo Haoran.

  Meng Chao quickly looked away with a calm gaze, while Zuo Haoran quirked his lips. On his face was a domineering look he did not bother to hide.

  “All examinees in Class 6, your test for maximum punching strength and the one-hundred meter dash is over. Now, queue up based on your results and head to the indoor shooting range!”


  The invigilator came from another school, which was a customary rule. All schools would exchange teachers to serve as invigilators so that they could prevent cheating.

  The teacher from the other school was as grave as a judge. He did not care about the strange atmosphere between the students and just waved his hand urging them forward.

  The tenth to the twelfth floor of the cultivation center were indoor shooting ranges. At that moment, the rhythmical sounds of gunfire rang nonstop.

  The rocket classes had long since begun their tests. All sorts of ridiculous marks and the smell of gunpowder stimulated the students’ nerves, and they were instantly in test mode.

  Zuo Haoran took the lead and walked into the sixth shooting range.

  Meng Chao followed closely behind him.

  Unexpectedly, aside from the invigilator, Principal Sun, the teaching director, Demon Yan, and their homeroom teacher were in the shooting range as well.

  “Good morning, Principal Sun, Teaching Director Ma, Mr. Yan, Mr. Wang.”


  The students quickly bowed, and they were especially respectful to the principal.

  Principal Sun might be a small, shriveled-up old man right now, but he was a hero who managed to turn the tides of battles in the past. He was known as Heavy Cannon.

  If Demon Yan killed monsters as if he was just making fillings for dumplings, Principal Sun was a huge meat grinder in food processing factories.

  The students who saw the videos of him training and fighting when he was young were unable to link the shriveled-up old man with the moving human fortress.

  “You’re all pretty good, hmm?”


  Principal Sun shut his eyes. He looked as if he was asleep, but it was not the truth.

  The teaching director stepped forward and explained their purpose for being here. “This year, Class 6’s results are very good. For the time being, you’re taking the lead above the other six strolling classes. Students, continue to do your best!”


  The students were shocked and delighted. They cheered.

  The teaching director slapped Zuo Haoran’s shoulder and said with a smile, “The homeroom teacher definitely has credit in helping Class 6 achieve good results, and you also did well by setting an example for the others, Class Rep. Good luck!”


  “Thank you for your motivating words, Teaching Director Ma. I will.” Zuo Haoran puffed out his chest, and his righteous demeanor returned to him.

  The students rolled their eyes. ‘Everyone here knows you’re uncle and nephew. Why are you putting up an act?’


  “The shooting test is about to start! Compose yourself and focus!” Demon Yan suddenly glared at them. “You only have one chance. It’s the easiest for others to pull ahead of you when it comes to shooting. Forget about the marks you scored just now and focus on the target in front of you! If you’re the slightest bit careless, you’ll end up having no place to even shed your tears!”


  The students were startled. They quickly got rid of all other thoughts and focused on calming down their breathing.

  “First test group. Zuo Haoran, Meng Chao!”


  The invigilator had the top two scorers based on the ranking of the results from the two previous tests come forward.