God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 6: Combat Skills

After Professor Liang finished explaining the rules, the class immediately fell into quiet whispers while confusion spread across many faces.

"Why the hell is he suppressing our levels? Is combat not all about levels, stats, suppression, and talent? What is basic combat skill even useful for?"

Seeing the questions and discussions spreading through the class, Professor Liang smiled faintly at first, but the next moment his expression changed completely.

A massive killing intent erupted from his body without warning, crushing the entire area into silence as every student froze in place.

Even Shen Wuxia was shocked by the pressure because this kind of killing intent was not something he had seen even among the teachers of Tianchen University.

It was not something that could be learned through training alone, but something cultivated after fighting beasts on the front lines for decades.

Professor Liang’s value immediately rose by a notch in Shen Wuxia’s mind as he looked at him more seriously.

This man was definitely not some ordinary university combat instructor hiding behind a classroom position.

Once the class assembled properly, Professor Liang called out the names of three students and handed each of them a basic blunt weapon.

The three students climbed onto separate arenas afterward, and the moment they stood in position, training puppets emerged from the platform before their levels were suppressed to zero.

All their stats, mana, and talent effects were sealed at the same time, causing the sudden change to throw all three students slightly off balance.

But before they could properly adjust, the puppets opened their eyes, picked up the same weapons as their respective opponents, and attacked without hesitation.

At first, many students still believed the test would not be very difficult because the puppets were also using basic weapons.

Yet the moment the fights began, their expressions changed because the students, after losing all support from stats and levels, could not even pass ten moves.

Seeing the first three students being knocked down one after another, Professor Liang calmly spoke from the side. "Now listen properly, the baseline satisfactory result is one hundred moves."

The moment those words fell, everyone’s faces were covered in despair because even the first batch had failed before reaching ten.

After that, students continued going up one by one, yet even the best among them could barely last fifty moves against the puppets.

Yun Xia also went up afterward and barely lasted thirty moves before being knocked off the arena.

Su Lan followed after her, but she fell even faster and only managed to survive around twenty moves before her weapon was sent flying from her hand.

At last, it was Xingluo’s turn. She walked onto the arena with a practice sword in her hand, her grip slightly stiff from nervousness as the entire class watched without much hope remaining.

After seeing so many failures before her, even she could barely keep her breathing steady.

Shen Wuxia, who had been silently observing from the side until now, suddenly floated closer and spoke in a low voice. "Why do you not listen to me a little?"

Hearing this, Xingluo’s expression tightened as she muttered under her breath, "Shut up and let me focus."

But Shen Wuxia did not stop there as his gaze remained fixed on the puppet standing before her.

"You are already going to lose if you keep fighting with this nervousness, and even if you lose while following my command, you will still have someone else to blame afterward."

Xingluo’s mouth twitched slightly after hearing that, but before she could scold him, Shen Wuxia continued speaking.

"Besides, I have a better third-person view of the situation from here, so just listen once and decide later whether I am useless or not."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Xingluo finally gritted her teeth and gave a barely visible nod.

The next instant, the puppet raised its sword, and as the match began, both sides rushed toward each other at the same time.

The puppet reached Xingluo first, its wooden sword cutting down with a speed that made her shoulders stiffen instantly.

Shen Wuxia’s voice rang beside her ear almost at the same moment. "Do not block directly, step half a foot left and let the blade slide past your shoulder."

Xingluo moved too late, and the sword still struck her arm heavily enough to make her stumble back with a painful hiss.

A few students nearby shook their heads immediately, but Shen Wuxia did not pause. "Again, do not watch the weapon only, watch its shoulder before it swings."

The puppet stepped forward again, its sword thrusting straight toward her chest this time.

Xingluo clenched her teeth and followed his words, shifting aside just as the puppet’s shoulder moved, and the wooden blade passed close enough to brush against her uniform.

"Now strike the wrist."

Hearing this, Xingluo swung instinctively, and although her sword only grazed the puppet’s hand, it still disrupted the next movement.

Shen Wuxia’s eyes sharpened slightly as he continued, "Good, but do not admire it, retreat two steps."

The puppet’s leg swept across the arena a breath later, missing her ankles by a narrow distance.

Xingluo’s breathing became rough, yet her eyes gradually steadied as she realized Shen Wuxia was seeing things before they happened.

Around the arena, the classmates who had already lost hope slowly quieted down.

Professor Liang, who had been watching casually from the side, also narrowed his eyes slightly as Xingluo passed thirty moves without falling.

"Lower your stance, its next strike will come from above."

Xingluo bent her knees immediately, and the puppet’s sword whistled over her head before smashing into empty air.

She followed with a quick slash toward its ribs, forcing the puppet back for the first time since the match began.

Move after move continued passing as Shen Wuxia’s commands became shorter and Xingluo’s reactions became cleaner.

At first, she needed every instruction, but gradually her body started catching the rhythm between his words and the puppet’s movements.

"Left shoulder."

Xingluo dodged before the sword fully moved.

"Wrist."

Her blade struck first this time.

"Back."

She retreated exactly before the puppet’s knee drove upward.

The counter beside the arena continued rising under everyone’s stunned gazes.

[Moves Survived: 76]

[Moves Survived: 84]

[Moves Survived: 93]

By now, Xingluo’s forehead was covered in sweat, and her arms trembled from the repeated impacts, yet her eyes no longer carried the panic from before.

Shen Wuxia floated beside her silently for a moment before saying in a lower voice, "Do not think about winning, just breathe and follow the rhythm."

The puppet suddenly changed its pattern and rushed forward with three consecutive strikes aimed at her neck, waist, and leg.

Xingluo barely avoided the first, blocked the second with shaking hands, and twisted past the third before her sword tapped the puppet’s shoulder.

[Moves Survived: 100]

The entire class froze but Xingluo did not stop.

Under Shen Wuxia’s final command, she stepped forward instead of retreating and slashed across the puppet’s weapon arm.

The wooden sword flew from its grip and struck the arena floor as the counter rose once more.

[Moves Survived: 101]

For a brief moment, the training ground fell completely silent.

Xingluo stood there breathing heavily, her sword still raised in trembling hands, while Shen Wuxia floated beside her with a faint smile.

Professor Liang’s gentle expression slowly disappeared as he looked at her with eyes far sharper than before.

At last, after reaching one hundred and thirty-eight moves, Xingluo’s exhausted arms finally dropped, and she chose to surrender before stepping down from the arena.

The moment her feet touched the ground, the entire class erupted into cheers because they had finally escaped Professor Liang’s demonic five-in-the-morning regime.

A few students still looked at her with envy and jealousy hidden in their eyes, but most of them were genuinely relieved.

Yun Xia and the others quickly surrounded her afterward, congratulating her with bright expressions while Xingluo herself still looked half-dead from exhaustion.

Soon afterward, the final name was called out, and it was finally the turn of Xingluo’s other coffee-drinking friend, Ruan Mei.

To Shen Wuxia’s surprise, the moment she walked toward the platform, the surrounding students gradually quieted down by themselves.

He looked around in confusion, but his confusion was cleared in the next moment as Ruan Mei stepped onto the arena without taking any weapon.

She stood there lazily with both hands tucked inside her pockets, a lollipop held between her lips, and her eyes half-open as if she had not fully woken up yet.

The puppet emerged from the arena and immediately rushed toward her with its weapon raised.

Yet the moment it attacked, Ruan Mei simply shifted half a step aside before lifting one leg and kicking it casually in the chest.

The next instant, the puppet’s entire chest shattered apart.

Its broken body flew backward and crashed heavily onto the arena floor before falling completely motionless. But before anyone could react properly, the counter above the arena slowly displayed the result.

[Moves Survived: 1]

Professor Liang’s smile widened visibly afterward as he looked toward Ruan Mei with clear satisfaction. "Fail."

The entire class became silent for a moment before shock and relief appeared across their faces at the same time.

Only now did they truly understand that if Xingluo had not persisted earlier, all of them would have been thrown into real hell for the entire next semester.

Even Ruan Mei seemed stunned by the result as she looked at the broken puppet, then at the counter above her head with visible embarrassment.

Yun Xia sighed helplessly from below before muttering, "Who else but our Ruan Mei? Even as one of the strongest students in our academy, she still hears and processes only half of what people say."

Ruan Mei stepped down from the arena afterward with a confused and slightly goofy smile, still holding the lollipop in her mouth.

Professor Liang watched her for a moment before turning his gaze back toward Ruan Mei and slowly walking in her direction.

"Well, well, Student Ruan Mei," he said with a faint smile, "I have another important thing to talk with you about."