Chapter 63: Jiangbei Martial Arts University
The atmosphere inside the aircraft gradually calmed down as the flight continued. Each student quietly sat in their assigned seat, some with their eyes closed, while others glanced around curiously.
The aircraft made several stops along the way. After picking up students from over ten schools, there were now more than fifty students onboard. The aircraft finally accelerated, soaring into the sky.
From the city center to Jiangbei Martial Arts University campus, it was only a little over a hundred kilometers. The level-two aircraft, traveling at full speed, reached its destination in just a few minutes.
Slowly descending, the aircraft landed. At four in the afternoon, the cabin door opened, and over fifty students followed Senior Ming and other teachers, disembarking one by one.
They arrived at a large airport. There were over a hundred aircraft parked on the surrounding runways, most of them looking similar to the one they had taken. Besides the terminal building, there was a distinctive metal tower nearby, with hundreds of students standing densely under it.
In the distance, at the horizon, stood a massive war fortress, several hundred meters tall.
"A war fortress?" Many students couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
Li Yuan also couldn't help but stare.
In the city, apart from a few special buildings, most were not taller than twelve floors. But the massive war fortress in the distance had smooth, geometrically beautiful lines and a cold technological feel. The fortress's surface seemed to use reflective materials, constantly flickering with changing light and shadow. Faintly visible were dense laser turrets, electromagnetic turrets, and numerous drone launch platforms.
With just one glance, Li Yuan was reminded of the thousand-meter-tall 'Base No. 3' in the Astral Realm of the Luo Bu Sea he had seen in the video; they were very similar. However, watching a video and seeing it in person brought completely different impacts.
"I've heard about the war fortress at Jiangbei Martial Arts University, but there are very few photos online," Li Yuan thought. "Why does the university have a war fortress?"
"Everyone, look over here," the man in the suit leading the group called out. "Let me introduce it to you. The war fortress you see in the distance is classified as a level-two war fortress within the Seven Star Alliance. It serves as the main teaching building of Jiangbei Martial Arts University."
"At the same time, it is also a military base. Therefore, during the entire event, photography is strictly prohibited in the campus. Everyone should understand this."
Main teaching building? Military base? Both in one place? Many students were puzzled.
"You are all about to become students of a martial arts university and need to start changing your mindset," the young man in the suit smiled. "Ordinary university students are still ordinary people, just like countless civilians, and are protected."
"But martial arts university students are not ordinary people. Each martial arts university is a place where many top martial artists gather for teaching, and vast resources are invested."
"Every martial arts university student is a reserve soldier. The country invests a lot of resources into martial arts universities for what reason?" the young man in the suit smiled.
"To kill the enemy and protect the nation!" some students instinctively replied. This was something ingrained in their education from a young age.
"Exactly. When the time comes," the man in the suit said solemnly, "any martial arts university student must unconditionally comply with military conscription."
Li Yuan, Lin Lanyue, and the others all became serious, listening attentively. Every student aspiring to become a martial artist knew that when entering a martial arts university, they had to sign a 'conscription contract,' meaning they were becoming reserve soldiers.
A martial artist not only signifies strong power and high social status but also the responsibility of protecting human civilization. Martial artists have the duty to kill enemies and protect the nation. If someone is not prepared for this mindset, they should not apply to martial arts universities and instead live as an ordinary person.
"Similarly, whether it is one of the top five universities or a provincial martial arts university, the location is chosen with purpose," the young man in the suit continued. "You will understand in the future."
"Now, look here. The nearby metal tower is an electromagnetic tower, considered a high-end land-based arsenal core, part of the outer defenses of the war fortress," the young man in the suit explained. "With many martial artists and military presence in the city, it is very safe."
"But here, with vast open spaces and frequent aircraft stops, it is easy for flying Astral Realm creatures to attack. So, we have specially built an electromagnetic weapon tower next to the terminal."
"Within a radius of dozens of kilometers, any flying Astral Realm creatures that dare to appear or approach will be directly killed by the electromagnetic cannons in the tower," the young man in the suit explained. "To save energy, it is currently in a hidden state."
"If fully deployed, there would be over a hundred electromagnetic cannons," he smiled.
Many students were amazed. They rarely saw such war weapons while staying in the city.
"Let's go."
"Gather over here. Most of the people have arrived." The young man in the suit led the group toward the base of the electromagnetic tower.
In fact, the hundreds of students already waiting under the tower couldn't help but look over.
"It looks like more students from Jiang City."
"There are so many of them. This is the third group."
"Jiang City gets so many spots."
"It's not that Jiang City gets more spots; it's that their scores are high. University admissions are based on scores, and over a third of the students admitted to Jiangbei Martial Arts University are from Jiang City."
"Haha, I'm going to compete this time. What's so great about Jiang City?"
"None of them are handsome." Students from various parts of Jiangbei Province murmured among themselves.
The students invited to this event were all elite students from across the province. Most of them were prominent figures in their own schools, often ranking first in their grades, naturally carrying some pride.
The dozens of students from Guanshan District, with Lin Lanyue and Li Yuan at the core, walked over.
It couldn't be helped; First High School in Guanshan District had the most students, and Lin Lanyue and Li Yuan had the highest reputations.
As Lin Lanyue walked next to Li Yuan, she suddenly said softly, "Li Yuan, see that boy over there playing with his smart wristband? His name is Tian Dazhuang. Remember him."
"Tian Dazhuang?" Li Yuan was taken aback. The name was quite unusual. He looked over and saw an unremarkable boy with short, stout limbs who would be hard to spot in a crowd.
"What about him?" Li Yuan asked.
"He's from the mountainous area of Shizhou," Lin Lanyue whispered. "His family is very poor, but he scored full marks in martial arts skills in the mock exam."
"Full marks?" Li Yuan was surprised and couldn't help but take another look at the boy named Tian Dazhuang.
"Also, the girl in the white clothes from Xiangzhou," Lin Lanyue continued. "Her name is Wang Yu, and she also scored full marks in martial arts skills in the mock exam."
"Wang Yu?" Li Yuan noted. The girl named Wang Yu wore a tight martial arts uniform, had an excellent figure but an ordinary appearance, far less striking than Lin Lanyue.
"Anyone else?" Li Yuan couldn't help but ask.
"Do you think full marks in martial arts skills are like cabbages? The last one is Wu Dongdong from the city, but she hasn't arrived yet," Lin Lanyue shook her head and smiled. "However, a few months have passed since the mock exam. It's possible others have also made breakthroughs."
Li Yuan mused to himself. Could there be breakthroughs? If so, that would be him.
"Remembering them, are we going to fight?" Li Yuan asked.
"Didn't you read the schedule?" Lin Lanyue glanced at him. "There's a martial arts skills assessment tonight. Did you think it would be like the college entrance exam with individual tests?"
"Isn't it?" Li Yuan was puzzled. He had read the schedule but it didn't have detailed explanations for each item.
"A cage battle. The last one standing wins," Lin Lanyue explained briefly.
Li Yuan's pupils contracted. This was a combat mode from the Starry Combat Network. It was brutal.
"Avoid these top experts as much as possible. If you can survive to the end in any match, your evaluation will be higher in the eyes of the observers from the top five universities," Lin Lanyue whispered. "For universities, they don't just look at scores but value real combat ability more."
Li Yuan nodded slightly. If someone without absolute strength advantage wins in a chaotic battle, it proves their combat capability.
After all, real combat isn't about scores. The stronger one can still lose to the weaker.
Knowing others' strength in advance becomes crucial.
"There are about ten others with martial arts scores over 380. They might have also broken through. I'll point them out to you, and you remember them," Lin Lanyue said, pointing them out one by one and mentioning their names and scores.
With his strong mental strength, it wasn't difficult for Li Yuan to remember a dozen people in a short time.
After memorizing them all, Li Yuan asked softly, "Why are you helping me?"
The mock exam scores of various cities weren't publicly disclosed, and looking up each city's results wasn't easy. The key was getting these people's appearances and remembering them, which was very challenging.
Normally, who would pay attention to other city's scores and remember people's faces? Even in their own city, remembering the top student was impressive enough.
"Friends help each other," Lin Lanyue smiled. "I'm hoping you can help me during the combat assessment."
Li Yuan also smiled. Helping Lin Lanyue?
When he saw Senior Ming's special treatment in the school playground, Li Yuan used 'detection' on Lin Lanyue and confirmed her physical fitness had reached an impressive 10.1.
This exceeded the full score standard in the college entrance exam physical fitness test.
But Li Yuan didn't mention it.
"Alright, mutual help," Li Yuan agreed.
He felt that from yesterday to today, his relationship with Lin Lanyue had indeed become more like that of normal friends.
Moreover, he genuinely appreciated her help. The information was timely.
With his spear skills just breaking through to the fourth level, he might not win against Tian Dazhuang or Wang Yu.
As Li Yuan and Lin Lanyue chatted, other students watched from a distance.
Suddenly, another aircraft arrived, bringing down another group of students.
"Looks like they're from Jiang City," Lin Lanyue remarked.
Li Yuan was surprised; he couldn't tell at all.
Leading the group was a ponytailed girl, bouncing and looking around curiously.
"Gu Qiang, your good friend is here," Lin Lanyue turned to Gu Qianghan, who was boasting to a girl.
"Good friend? Who?" Gu Qianghan turned his head, his eyes widening. "Damn, that little lunatic."
He tried to run, but it was too late.
Whoosh! The ponytailed girl instantly appeared before him, smiling, "Little Qiang, long time no see."
"Dongdong, it has been a while. You look even prettier," Gu Qianghan forced a smile.