《Entire Class Transmigrated: My Talent Is Summation》 Chapter 1 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C On Earth, in the bright blue sky above the endless sea. A Boeing commercial plane was flying through the clouds. Nobody noticed that a faintly glowing ball of light darted through the clouds toward the plane. Inside the plane. A dozen or so youths were startled awake. None of them sensed anything amiss, and all of them were joyfully conversing with those sitting beside them. ¡°It¡¯s so comfortable to sleep in the first-class cabin of an international airline.¡± ¡°This is all thanks to our very own class president. Thanks to his generosity and willingness to sponsor our trip, we could choose South Koandria as the destination for our graduation trip!¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr. Class President!¡± ¡°Mr. Class President, you¡¯re awesome!¡± ¨C Over at the VIP seat at the next window, Su Hei turned his face out the window and stared into the blue sky. He only snapped back to reality when the chubby male beside him tapped him. Seeing that his classmates were extending their warm and sincere appreciation toward him, Su Hei waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and then motioned for everyone to lower their voices. ¡°For these three years, you all have cooperated fully with me with regard to my tasks as the class president. When we¡¯ve arrived in South Koandria, go ahead and have fun. Don¡¯t hold back. Don¡¯t worry that I won¡¯t be able to afford the expense. I only worry that you guys don¡¯t dare to have your fill of fun.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Class President.¡± ¨C These youths were all classmates. They had just ended their high school life which had been full of exams, and they decided to go on a trip together to celebrate their graduation from school. As the class president, Su Hei felt that for the past three years, everyone respected him and got along well with one another. Hence, he willingly used his daily allowance to sponsor the entire class for their overseas trip. ¡°Hey, Su, can we really do anything we want?¡± The chubby man sitting beside Su Hei tilted his head and asked. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ve already told my dad¡¯s secretary to make all the arrangements. Once we alight the plane, there¡¯ll be someone fetching us. You guys can just instruct him to make the arrangements for you about where you want to go,¡± replied Su Hei. ¡°Are you serious!¡± The chubby man pushed up his glasses and narrowed his eyes into a thin line. Suddenly, he chuckled lewdly. ¡°I saw online that those girls from South Koandria are incredibly gorgeous. I¡¯ve been lusting after them for so long.¡± ¡°We should ask someone to arrange for a few dozen of them to come and have an erotic party with the boys in class.¡± Upon hearing that, Su Hei could not help but roll his eyes at the chubby fellow. The perverted chubby man was called Wang Dong. He was the bottom-feeder in class and the only one with bad grades. His height was only 1.75 meters, but he weighed over 300 pounds. He was so obese that if he stood by himself, everyone would mistake him to be a round ball of meat. The worst thing was that Wang Dong¡¯s face was so chubby that his features were difficult to ascertain through all the folds of skin and fat. Even if he tried his best to open his eyes wide, all that flesh on his face pushed his eyes shut, reducing his vision to a slit of skin. When he smiled, it made him seem even more perverted. Despite this, Wang Dong did have his strengths. At the very least, he had a powerful imagination. When their classmates were stressing over how to score well on their essays, Wang Dong was already publishing novels online. Even though he often received threatening letters from his readers, who mailed tiny knives to him, he could be considered a popular author. Despite Wang Dong¡¯s perverted and indecent behavior, he had a kind-hearted nature. Hence, Su Hei was willing to be friends with him. ¡°We¡¯re going on a trip to a foreign country. Everything that you do will be a reflection of Corleon to the people around us. Can you not behave in such a salacious manner?¡± asked Su Hei. Just as Su Hei finished his sentence, Wang Dong let out a piercing scream. The obese man who was over 300 pounds almost flew out of his seat. ¡°Damn it! Who kicked me?¡± Wang Dong cursed. He yelled and tried his best to turn around, only to see Li Hua, who was as sturdy as an iron tower, standing behind him. Instantly, he became frightened and cowered a little. ¡°L-li Hua. You¡¯re insane¡­¡± His voice trailed off with one look from Li Hua. Wang Dong was so terrified that he dared not speak anymore. ¡°You¡¯re such a disgusting and embarrassing man!¡± berated Li Hua. Li Hua stared coldly at Wang Dong. Seeing the two of them like that, Su Hei could not help but chuckle. Li Hua and Wang Dong often quarreled, so it was nothing to worry about. Li Hua was 1.89 meters tall. She was all muscles and brawn, and she had the build of a bodybuilder. From the description alone, one would think of her as a bulky man but she was indeed a young maiden. Li Hua¡¯s father was the only Corleon basketball player who had entered the WBA World Professional Basketball League. As for Li Hua¡¯s mother, she was an athlete who was the world champion in weightlifting. Under the influence of her parents¡¯ superb DNA, Li Hua would inevitably become a girl whose build could provide a sense of security to others. Su Hei and Li Hua were neighbors. Once they started going to school, coincidentally, they were put in the same class every year. Both of them were playmates since they were young, so they could be considered each other¡¯s childhood sweethearts. ¡°Huahua, do you have any place you want to go?¡± asked Su Hei. Only Su Hei could call Li Hua such an endearing term. No other men dared address Li Hua as that, not unless they had a death wish. Without any hesitation, Li Hua immediately answered, ¡°Jinyu wants to visit the Go1gym, and I intend to accompany her.¡± Upon hearing that, Su Hei looked toward the girl who was sitting on Li Hua¡¯s right. Jiang Jinyu was famous for being an aloof beauty in school. She had good grades, but a cold personality. No matter their gender, she refused to allow anyone to get close to her. Li Hua was the only one who she was on good terms with, and both of them consider each other as their best friend. Su Hei was aware that Jiang Jinyu¡¯s hobby was playing Go, so he was not surprised to hear that she had such a plan in mind. ¡°Recently, South Koandria¡¯s Go players have started to surpass Corleon¡¯s players. It¡¯s not a bad idea to pay a visit to them. Once we get off the plane, I¡¯ll get someone to make the arrangements for you,¡± said Su Hei. Since Li Hua wanted to go, naturally, Su Hei would make all the arrangements for her. When Su Hei finished his sentence, a male classmate in front of them snorted in disdain. ¡°Recently, indeed, South Koandria has come up with talented Go players, but it¡¯s impossible that those people can surpass our local players.¡± ¡°Jinyu, my chess skills have improved quite a bit. If you don¡¯t want to go out with the others, we can stay in the room and play Go. It¡¯ll just be us two. What do you think?¡± the man said. The male classmate who spoke was called Chu Chen. Not only was he handsome, but he also had good grades. Hence, he had many fangirls in school. Chu Chen was the person who Su Hei was most unwilling to bring along on that trip. It was no secret that Chu Chen was interested in Jiang Jinyu. He had confessed to Jiang Jinyu countless times, but every attempt was rejected by her. Su Hei and Li Hua were good friends, so probably because of that, Jiang Jinyu was friendly toward Su Hei and treated him differently from others. That caused Chu Chen to be green with envy. He was jealous of Su Hei and tried to go against Su Hei any chance he got. Seeing that Su Hei was giving a good account of himself in front of Jiang Jinyu again, Chu Chen immediately spoke too, trying to show off. ¡°What do you think, Jinyu?¡± Seeing that Jiang Jinyu was silent, Chu Chen urged her for an answer. ¡°I refuse.¡± Jiang Jinyu¡¯s reply, as usual, was to reject Chu Chen. Chu Chen was unwilling to accept her rejection. He finally had a good reason and a chance to spend the night outside with Jiang Jinyu. They were on a trip and would soon enjoy the wonderful views of the city landscape. If something were to happen between them¡­ Chu Chen felt an impulse to put into action the ever-present thought. He wanted to undo his seat belt and stand up to look for Jiang Jinyu. Suddenly, a voice filled the cabin through the intercom with an announcement for everyone. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we have an emergency.¡± ¡°An hour ago, South Koandria and North Koandria had a military conflict. Just earlier, North Koandria has already seized the capital of South Koandria. To ensure our safety, the plane will make an emergency landing at the nearest airport instead of our original destination at South Koandria¡¯s capital airport.¡± ¡°In addition, passengers from Corleon, we urge you not to panic. Our country has already started its evacuation operation. Once the plane lands, our foreign embassy team will be there to send us back home.¡± ¡°North Koandria has invaded South Koandria, and they are at war?¡± thought Su Hei. He furrowed his brows, finding it hard to believe. He looked out of the window and could vaguely see the mushroom-shaped clouds of smoke caused by explosions. ¡°This is bad, this is really bad!¡± he thought. Chapter 2 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Inside the aircraft cabin, everyone turned pale with fright. Beside Su Hei, Wang Dong was startled. ¡°North and South Koandria have gone to war?¡± he said. ¡°But South Koandria has Anglandur¡¯s troops stationed there. How is it possible that North Koandria has managed to invade South Koandria and even seize its capital? This shows that they¡¯re really powerful!¡± Su Hei was also stunned. After all, the disparity between North and South Koandria¡¯s military capabilities was evident to all. Although South Koandria¡¯s military power was merely average, it had the world hegemon, Anglandur, backing them. If North Koandria did not use its missiles, it had no chance of defeating South Koandria at all. But North Koandria had defeated South Koandria. That much was obvious and indisputable, so Su Hei had to believe it. Moreover, it was not important whether they believed in the news or not. The most important thing was for them to remain alive. The aircraft had already started its descent, lowering its altitude by several thousand meters. At that height, everyone could see the military troops of both countries engaged in battle with each other. Third-generation fighter jets soared through the skies at high speed while antique tanks buzzed loudly. It was chaos below. Bullets were flying through the air, explosions, cannons firing. It was an astonishing sight to see. Boom! Suddenly, there was an ear-deafening explosion. ¨C Following that, the plane started to shake violently. Very soon, a voice rang out once more from the intercom. ¡°Passengers¡­ Our plane¡­. Has been attacked¡­ Please¡­ According to the cabin crews¡¯ instructions¡­ Grab a parachute and jump!¡± The message could not be heard clearly because of the static. Following that, the message ended in a burst of static. Everyone was in a state of shock. When the message ended, Su Hei was startled. They were under attack! They had to jump from the plane with parachutes on! He wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. Just as Su Hei was feeling puzzled, he saw a flight stewardess who was striving to maintain her composure. She approached him, bent down, and took out a black parachute pack from below his seat. ¡°Sir, please put your parachute pack on and assemble at the cabin door with the other passengers!¡± she instructed. ¡°This is bad. We¡¯re really going to jump from the plane,¡± thought Su Hei. At the same time, almost everyone had gotten their parachute pack. All of them started to speak. ¡°I¡¯m a goner!¡± ¡°I have a fear of heights! I don¡¯t want to jump out of the plane!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even dare to bungee jump from a height of 50 meters, yet now I¡¯ve to jump an altitude of several thousands of meters?¡± ¡°I¡¯m still young! I don¡¯t want to die yet! I¡¯m still a virgin!¡± ¡°Jinyu, although I¡¯m not romantically interested in you, can you let me have a look at your bosom before I die?¡± ¡°Fatso! Don¡¯t make me go there and kick you to death!¡± There was the sound of sobbing. ¡°I¡¯m about to die, yet you won¡¯t allow me to enjoy myself one last time!¡± ¨C There was chaos in the cabin. In the face of danger, even Li Hua had a terrified look on her face. She was scared, like how a teenage girl would be. ¡°S-Su Hei, what should we do?¡± Li Hua stammered. Jiang Jinyu was beside Li Hua. Jiang Jinyu¡¯s usual aloof expression was now one of fear. She was also staring at Su Hei with fear written all over her face. Su Hei lightly furrowed his brows. If only he knew what to do. He would be lying if he said that he was not afraid. After all, he was made of flesh and blood. In such a situation, it was difficult for one to escape with their life intact. However, seeing that Li Hua and Jiang Jinyu were both looking at him, Su Hei took a deep breath and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay. Close your eyes. I¡¯ll hold onto both of you. Just treat this as doing bungee jumping at the amusement park,¡± he soothed. Just as he finished his sentence, Li Hua and Jiang Jinyu were already holding onto him on his left and right side respectively. Su Hei was the only one who was capable of setting their minds at ease. They followed him and stood near the cabin door. This was an emergency. Using all their combined strength, the cabin crew managed to force the door open. Whoosh! A gust of strong wind entered the cabin. It was so strong that everyone could scarcely stand. ¡°There¡¯s no more time! Jump now!¡± Amidst the strong wind, the cabin crew yelled at Su Hei and his companions. ¡°What the heck? Are we really going to jump?¡± ¡°I feel like regardless of whether we jump or not, we are still going to die.¡± Su Hei¡¯s classmates were horrified and panic-stricken. All of them stared at the cabin door, and none of them dared to jump off the plane. Su Hei took a few consecutive breaths. He forcibly suppressed his fear and turned back to look at the classmates standing behind him with a composed look. ¡°Listen to me. I did skydiving before in Hofcaster, so I¡¯ve some experience in this.¡± ¡°The most difficult thing about skydiving is resisting the pressure that pushes back at us as we fall,¡± he said. ¡°I suggest that everyone hold hands and jump. That would greatly increase our chances of survival.¡± A male classmate was still immersed in fear, unable to extricate himself from it. ¡°Is this doable?¡± Wang Dong staggered toward that male classmate and held onto his hand. ¡°Think about it. For the past few years, has the class president ever played tricks on us?¡± Following that, he looked toward the rest of his classmates and yelled, ¡°Those of you who are willing to trust our class president, come over and hold hands.¡± At this moment, Chu Chen took a step forward. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°If you look at it from the aerodynamics perspective, Su Hei¡¯s words do make sense.¡± As he spoke, he grabbed onto Wang Dong¡¯s other hand. Following that, all of the students started to hold hands with one another. In the end, they all joined hands with Su Hei, Li Hua, and Jiang Jinyu. ¡°Take attendance now!¡± Su Hei instructed his classmates. ¡°One!¡± ¡°Two!¡± ¡°Three!¡± -Everyone began to count off. ¡°Eighteen! Mr. Class President, all of the 18 students in Senior Class One are accounted for! We¡¯re ready to make the jump!¡± Su Hei turned back to look one more time at them and offered a faint smile. ¡°All right. Then¡­ Let¡¯s jump!¡± Su Hei let out a loud roar as he took the lead and jumped down. ¡°Ahh!¡± Everyone let out piercing screams in such a nervous yet thrilling circumstance. 18 of them were aligned in a straight line, but gradually, they formed a circle formation. ¡°Open your parachutes!¡± Su Hei ordered. Although it was their first time doing this, everyone had developed an unspoken rapport over the years they had known each other. Whoosh! The parachutes all opened simultaneously. ¡°Woohoo! This feels amazing!¡± Wang Dong yelled excitedly. The fat on his face rolled back because of the powerful air current. Suddenly, Wang Dong let out a silly-sounding chuckle. ¡°Look at that bird! It¡¯s huge!¡± he remarked. ¡°A huge bird?¡± thought Su Hei. He did not know why, but his heart shuddered within him. Su Hei looked down and instantly, his face went white as a sheet. ¡°Damn it! This is a missile!¡± he cursed. ¡°All of you let go of one another and spread out!¡± Su Hei ordered. He shouted at the top of his lungs. However, it was all too late. The moment the flaming missile whizzed past Su Hei, brilliant sparks started to emerge from it. ¡°We¡¯re goners,¡± thought Su Hei. He smiled bitterly. The next instant, the missile exploded. An astoundingly large mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke and flames rose into the sky. Thousands of meters up in the air, there was nothing left except for those 18 parachutes, which were on fire and fluttering in the wind. Nobody noticed that a ray of light had penetrated the sky and disappeared. ¨C ¡°Spread out! Quick, we have to spread out!¡± Su Hei woke with a shout of terror and quickly sprang up from bed. He immediately sensed that something was amiss. He should still be holding hands with his classmates as they parachuted from the plane. Su Hei wondered why he was in this place. Su Hei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and studied his surroundings. There was a bed on both sides of him. Wang Dong and Chu Chen were still unconscious. The room was furnished in a contemporary style. ¡°Looks like this isn¡¯t hell, and we aren¡¯t dead!¡± he thought. ¡°Could it be that I¡¯m still alive?¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°But where exactly are we?¡± Just as Su Hei was feeling puzzled, his mind was suddenly overwhelmed by a torrent of memories. He was astounded. ¡°We have trans¡­ transmigrated?¡± he thought. From the new memories that he had received, Su Hei learned that they were still on Earth. However, there was a huge difference between this world and the world they had come from concerning the quality, biodiversity, culture, etc. Martial arts were prevalent in this world. The stronger fighters had supremacy and the power to do anything they wanted. If that were only the case, Su Hei was fine with transmigrating here. After all, he could learn martial arts and become a person with extraordinary strength and power. On top of that, he could be a normal civilian and live out the rest of his life peacefully. However, in this world, humans were not the main species in charge anymore! There were dire beasts, demon beasts, and celestial behemoths. These beasts could swallow nuclear bombs whole and shake mountains. That was especially so for celestial behemoths. The smallest of them was large enough to cover the entire sky. With one roar from it, it could cause the deaths of civilians in millions of cities. Even if humans had different types of talents in martial arts, they were still no match for these beasts. In order to become more powerful so that they could effectively fight back against those beasts, the humans narrowed their scope of activities to a very small radius. In addition, they had built up survival bases all on each continent. Despite that, there were still cases of survival bases being infiltrated which resulted in countless casualties. ¡°How terrifying!¡± Su Hei¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed nervously. He was beyond stunned by this information. He felt annoyed when he saw Wang Dong and Chu Chen sleeping soundly. They were already in such a situation, yet both of them could still sleep so soundly! Su Hei stood up and gave a good hard kick to both of them. Chapter 3 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°Darn it! Quick, Su, run!¡± On the bed next to Su Hei¡¯s, Wang Dong woke up screaming and then propped himself up on his elbows. Registering that he was in an unfamiliar environment, he noticed Su Hei beside him and rushed toward him excitedly. ¡°Su! We¡¯re still alive!¡± Su Hei easily avoided him, allowing Wang Dong¡¯s momentum to propel him through the air and onto Chu Chen¡¯s body. ¡°Ugh!¡± Chu Chen was jolted awake and spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes were wide open, and his eyeballs were almost popping out of their sockets. ¡°Wang Dong, are you trying to kill me?¡± Wang Dong struggled to get up from Chu Chen¡¯s body and smiled fatuously. ¡°My bad, my bad. I was too agitated,¡± he apologized. ¡°Chu Chen, we¡¯re still alive!¡± Wang Dong said. Only after hearing that did Chu Chen realize that they had escaped death. He looked at his surroundings in amazement, and there was an elated look on his face. Su Hei¡¯s next words dampened their enthusiasm. ¡°Don¡¯t get too happy yet, sift through your memories for information on this place.¡± Wang Dong and Chu Chen froze. Following that, they seemed to have gotten a shock, sitting back on their beds in a daze. Needless to say, both of them were still digesting the memories relating to this world. After some time, Chu Chen was the first to snap back to reality. ¡°We have¡­ transmigrated?¡± he asked. He found it incredulous. Something that only occurred in novels had happened to him now. ¡°In this world, there are martial artists who have talents and celestial behemoths too. This sounds crazy.¡± Wang Dong had a dubious look on his face. ¡°It¡¯s evident that this is our reality now,¡± said Su Hei. He sighed. ¡°The place we¡¯re at now is the Zosteylor¡¯s survival base that¡¯s situated in Quilton,¡± Su Hei continued. ¡°We¡¯re in Quilton¡¯s martial arts academy. Very soon, we¡¯d have to awaken our talents.¡± ¡°The worst thing is that once we have awakened our talent, we will have to join the City Defense Team as martial artists.¡± That meant that very soon, they would have to battle those terrifying beasts, which included dire beasts, demon beasts, and celestial behemoths! Plop! Wang Dong lay back in bed. His face was totally devoid of color. ¡°Ultraman should be the one to fight monsters, not us! What has this got to do with us?¡± he complained. ¡°Oh, heavens! I¡¯d rather you allow me to get killed in that missile attack. At the very least, I wouldn¡¯t have to watch myself being torn apart by beasts!¡± Chu Chen remained silent. However, from the panic that flared across his face, his thinking was not too different from Wang Dong¡¯s. Normally, at this point in time, Su Hei would step out and encourage the rest. However, even Su Hei himself had mixed feelings. Having lived in a peaceful world for more than a decade, he was now forced to combat horrifying beasts. No matter who it was, they would find it hard to accept the sudden change in their lives. At this moment, someone knocked on their door. ¡°Su Hei, Wang Dong, Chu Chen, are you three inside?¡± A voice rang out. The trio exchanged confused glances with one another. Su Hei got up and walked over to the door to open it. A girl wearing a black work suit was standing in front of their door. She gave off the aura of a mature and sophisticated adult. From her appearance, it seemed that she was about the same age as Su Hei. She had a fair complexion, bright eyes, and long fluttering hair. She was not a glamorous beauty, but she was still a stunner. This girl was called Lin Nianlei, and she was the teacher for Class D. Su Hei immediately sifted through his memories, looking for anything related to her. ¡°Ms. Lin, is something the matter?¡± he politely asked. Su Hei had a pleasant expression. Having been the class president for three years, Su Hei was composed when he had to interact with teachers. He was unlike his classmates, who felt nervous and uneasy if they had to face teachers. Lin Nianlei poked her head into the room and surveyed the space. Seeing that Wang Dong and Chu Chen were also there, her anxious expression vanished. Very soon, her face darkened once more. ¡°The Talent Awakening Ceremony is about to begin. All of your other classmates are already there. What¡¯s going on with the three of you?¡± she fumed. Su Hei froze before he quickly came up with a reply. He had a smile on his face as he explained, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ms. Lin. The three of us are a little nervous, so we didn¡¯t sleep well last night. That¡¯s why we¡¯re late for the ceremony.¡± Upon hearing his explanation, Lin Nianlei looked less angry than before. She did not blame them anymore. She even consoled them, saying, ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re nervous. That means that you guys attach great importance to the Talent Awakening Ceremony. However, there¡¯s no need to be overly nervous about it. Relax. The teachers have all seen how you normally perform in class. You¡¯ll definitely be able to awaken a pretty good talent.¡± ¡°Thank you, Ms. Lin!¡± Su Hei grinned at Lin Nianlei. ¡°All right then, quickly get yourselves prepared. The ceremony is about to begin,¡± urged Lin Nianlei. ¨C Su Hei and the other two boys freshened themselves up before following Lin Nianlei out of the dormitory. Along the way, Wang Dong chuckled lewdly and whispered into Su Hei¡¯s ear. ¡°Su, I¡¯ll be honest with you. Our teacher is really gorgeous. If we¡¯re back in our original world, she¡¯d be a popular social media influencer who has tens of millions of followers.¡± Su Hei raised his hand and gave Wang Dong a hard slap on the head. Wang Dong covered his head with his hands and hissed in pain. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the place we¡¯re in now. Since she¡¯s a teacher at the martial arts academy, she should be quite capable herself. If you mess with her and get her enraged, she will probably kill you with one smack.¡± Upon hearing that, Wang Dong was so terrified that he immediately covered his mouth with his hands. ¨C The assembly hall was filled with people. ¡°Su Hei!¡± When Su Hei and the boys entered the hall, Su Hei heard someone calling out to him. ¡°Huahua?¡± Su Hei was overjoyed. He had been worried about the rest of them. He feared that Huahua did not survive the missile attack and did not transmigrate here. He took a look and realized that not only Huahua was there, but Jiang Jinyu and the other classmates were there too. All of them were sitting on the seats reserved for Class D. Su Hei, Wang Dong, and Chu Chen quickly walked over and gathered with their other classmates. ¡°Class President!¡± ¡°Wang Dong!¡± ¡°Chu Chen!¡± ¡°Now all of us from Senior Class 1 are finally here!¡± Everyone was overjoyed. They still had that rapport with one another, so none of them brought up the matter of transmigration. Nothing mattered as long as they were all still alive. ¨C In the assembly hall, all of the teachers crowded around the dean of the academy, Ji Donglin. Apart from them, there was still a section leader from the City Defense Team who had come to oversee the ceremony. After all, the Talent Awakening Ceremony concerned the combat power of Quilton¡¯s survival base. At this moment, the 30-year-old section leader¡ªQin Feng¡ªwas smiling as he conversed with Ji Donglin. ¡°Mr. Ji, you haven¡¯t introduced to me this batch of students who are participating in the Talent Awakening Ceremony.¡± Qin Feng smiled. Ji Donglin chuckled. He had a gleeful look on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Qin. The four classes of students who will be taking part in this ceremony are of high caliber. Even Class D, who is the worst performing of them, has a few outstanding students.¡± Upon hearing that, Qin Feng¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°If you¡¯re not lying, that means our survival base¡¯s combat strength will greatly increase!¡± ¡°That¡¯s for sure!¡± Ji Donglin smilingly said. Following that, he stepped onto the stage. ¡°Silence!¡± Ji Donglin yelled. ¡°The Talent Awakening Ceremony will commence now!¡± At his order, the ceremony officially began! There were four altars placed in the assembly hall. Every student merely needed to walk to the altar and place their hand on it to complete the talent awakening ritual. ¨C ¡°Class President, what should we do?¡± ¡°If we awaken our talents, we will need to join the City Defense Team and fight with beasts.¡± ¡°I miss my mother, I want to go home¡­¡± ¡°Can we¡­ Can we still go back?¡± All the students in Senior Class One surrounded Su Hei. All of them were in low spirits. Seeing that, Su Hei had no choice but to pull himself together. Trying to act in a composed manner, he smiled. ¡°Of course, we can. Don¡¯t forget that we¡¯re in a world that has martial arts now.¡± ¡°As long as we become martial artists and focus on cultivating, who knows? We might be able to tear the void apart and cross the universe to return to our original home!¡± ¡°The class president is right!¡± ¡°The earlier we become martial artists, the earlier we can return home!¡± ¨C With a few words from Su Hei, he managed to cheer up and motivate his classmates. Chapter 4 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C The students of Class D stood in front of the altar. ¡°Next, Wu Dahai,¡± Lin Nianlei said loudly. She had a disappointed look in her eyes. In a few minutes, already five students had completed their talent awakening ritual. However, all of them were unsuccessful. Despite knowing that the students of Class D were the worst among all the other students, Lin Nianlei could not help but feel a sense of sorrow for those children. They would only have one chance to partake in the Talent Awakening Ceremony. Hence, if they failed, they could only be a normal person. In a world like this, where strength and capability were highly valued, being a normal person meant that they would become slaves forever. ¡°Class President, it¡¯s my turn,¡± a man said nervously. He was a tall and sturdy man and was standing beside Su Hei. Su Hei patted Wu Dahai¡¯s shoulders and gave the latter a warm smile. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. No matter whether you¡¯ll successfully awaken your talent, the 18 of us from Senior Class One will forever be together.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± After Su Hei comforted him, Wu Dahai felt a lot more at ease. He turned around and stepped determinedly onto the altar. With Lin Nianlei¡¯s guidance, Wu Dahai placed his hand on top of the altar. Immediately, there was a glow of light. ¡°Wu Dahai, Vitality 15, awakened the Blacksmith Talent. Fire Elemental power!¡± Lin Nianlei excitedly shouted in the direction of Class D¡¯s waiting area. Having a Vitality of 15 meant that even among beginner-level martial artists, he was considered one of the best. If one¡¯s Vitality reached 10, that meant that they could successfully awaken their talent and become a beginner-level martial artist. And Wu Dahai¡¯s talent was Blacksmith, which required high Vitality, so it was only natural that he would have a higher Vitality. ¡°Vitality of 15!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know if I can successfully awaken my talent, yet there is someone whose Vitality is 15!¡± The students in Class D felt a plethora of emotions. There was joy, envy, and jealousy. It was a complicated mix of emotions. As for Su Hei and his classmates, they all cheered. Having transmigrated to this foreign world, the 18 of them could be considered each other¡¯s kin. It was only natural that they would feel happy for each other. ¡°Wu Dahai, you¡¯re amazing!¡± ¡°Dahai, we will all rely on you to protect us in the future!¡± When Wu Dahai returned to the line, everyone immediately surrounded him. Wu Dai scratched his head awkwardly, feeling a little bashful. ¡°If I can successfully awaken my talent, you guys can do it too!¡± Lin Nianlei was originally excited too. The fact that Wu Dahai could awaken his talent made hope spring up within her for the rest of Class D. However, following that, the results of the other students in Class D made her crestfallen. ¡°Li Muxin, failure to awaken her talent.¡± ¡°Zhou Wenchang, failure to awaken his talent.¡± ¡°Zhao Junkai, failure to awaken his talent.¡± ¨C ¡°Lin Ye, Vitality 11, awakened Swordsman talent. Water Elemental power.¡± The eight students who went to the altar next all failed to awaken their talent. If it were not for Lin Ye, who was ninth and managed to awaken his talent, Lin Nianlei would probably be so upset that she fainted. Lin Ye was also a member of Su Hei¡¯s crew who had transmigrated from the original world. The Talent Awakening Ceremony continued. Apart from Su Hei and the 17 members of his crew, the success rate of Class D¡¯s awakening their talent was so low that Su Hei felt it was outrageous. ¡°Out of ten people, only one succeeded in awakening their talent? Class D¡¯s success rate is so low!¡± Su Hei was bewildered. If it were not for the fact that all 18 members of Senior Class One successfully completed the ceremony and awakened their professional talents, he would even doubt the academic standard of the martial arts academy. ¡°Next, Wang Dong!¡± ¡°It¡¯s my turn!¡± said Wang Dong. When he heard his name being called, Wang Dong walked up to the altar. He stared at Lin Nianlei lustily, but when he thought of what Su Hei had told him earlier, he immediately looked away. ¡°Ms. Lin, I¡¯ll place my hand here, right?¡± Wang Dong asked. Seeing Lin Nianlei nod, Wang Dong placed his plump hand on the altar. He felt a surge of warm current enter his palm and enter his body through his elbow. After a short moment, the ball of light on the altar revealed a number. ¡°Wang Dong, Vitality 16, awakened Priest talent. Water Elemental power!¡± Lin Nianlei was thrilled. Priest was an incredibly rare career talent. Priests were not only good in combat, but they also had the ability to heal people too. A powerful Priest could even heal hundreds or thousands of injured men at the same time. On the battlefield, Priests could be considered a great weapon. Hence, they became very desirable all over the different survival bases. Upon hearing the result, Wang Dong¡¯s body swayed from side to side in irrepressible excitement. He had no idea if a Priest was powerful or not. He only knew that among his classmates from Senior Class One, his Vitality was the highest. Wang Dong quickly approached Su Hei and then looked at Li Hua. ¡°Huahua, as long as you acknowledge me as your leader, in the future, I¡¯ll definitely look after and protect you,¡± he remarked. ¡°This guy has gotten carried away,¡± everyone thought. At the side, Su Hei saw Li Hua¡¯s death stare. He could not help but feel awkward for Wang Dong. ¡°Did you forget that Li Hua hasn¡¯t undergone the talent awakening ritual yet?¡± reminded Su Hei. Wang Dong ignored Li Hua¡¯s death stare and shook his hands in a dismissive gesture. ¡°Su, my Vitality is 16! I¡¯m currently ranked first in Class D!¡± Having been oppressed by Li Hua for all these years, Wang Dong could finally hold his head high. The tide seemed to have turned in his favor, so it was impossible for him not to be arrogant. At this moment, Lin Nianlei¡¯s voice rang out once more. ¡°Next, Li Hua!¡± Hearing her name being called, Li Hua got up. As she walked past Wang Dong, she said, ¡°For your sake, I hope that the heavens hear your prayers for me to fail the talent awakening ritual.¡± Her voice was ice-cold. Gulp! Wang Dong¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple in his throat bobbed with unease. Even if Li Hua had not awakened her talent, her cold voice was enough to terrify him, despite his already having awakened his talent. This was the psychological trauma she had given him after having oppressed him for so long. Soon, Lin Nianlei announced the results. ¡°Li Hua, Vitality 21, awakened Warrior talent. Fire Elemental power.¡± At that instant, startled cries were rising from the waiting area for Class D. ¡°Vitality 21?¡± ¡°That means she¡¯s already halfway to becoming an intermediate-level martial artist!¡± ¡°How incredible! I wonder what that person who tried to intimidate Li Hua earlier is feeling now.¡± Many people¡¯s gazes fell on Wang Dong. At this moment, cold sweat beaded Wang Dong¡¯s forehead, and he was trembling with fear. He looked at Su Hei. ¡°Su¡­ Su, you have to save me!¡± Su Hei sighed and then patted Wang Dong¡¯s shoulder. ¡°All I can say is that you have it coming to you.¡± There was a ¡°plop¡± sound as Wang Dong fell to the ground, crushed and defeated. Looking at Li Hua, who was approaching him, Wang Dong closed his eyes resignedly. After awakening one¡¯s talent, that person was no longer an ordinary person. They were martial artists. To prevent Wang Dong from being beaten to death, Su Hei said promptly, ¡°For my sake, go easy on him.¡± Li Hua lightly nodded, then lifted Wang Dong and headed outside the assembly hall. Li Hua could lift a man who weighed over 300 pounds effortlessly. It was as if she were holding onto a rabbit, not Wang Dong. ¡°This is the power of a martial artist, huh?¡± thought Shu Hei. He sighed. At the same time, he felt his anticipation grow. He could not wait for his turn. ¡°Next, Su Hei!¡± Chapter 5 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°Next, Su Hei!¡± When they heard Lin Nianlei¡¯s words, 17 people turned their gazes to Su Hei. They were all students from Senior Class One. As the class president, Su Hei had excellent grades, was good at socializing, and was very capable of performing his tasks. Hence, he was the pillar in Senior Class One. Even after they had all transmigrated, which was absurd, everyone subconsciously still thought of him as their leader. Now that it was time for Su Hei to undergo the ritual, everyone¡¯s hearts were in their mouths. They were even more nervous than when they were participating in the ritual themselves. ¡°Class President, you can do it!¡± ¡°Regardless of whether you succeed or not, you¡¯ll forever be the class president of Senior Class One.¡± All of his classmates started to cheer Su Hei on. Jiang Jinyu did not speak, but she stared at him with a firm gaze, silently encouraging him. Su Hei merely smiled and then stepped out of the waiting area. At this moment, an emotionless, robotic voice sounded in his ears. System: ¡°Ding! Congratulations to the host on successfully binding to the summation system!¡± ¡°This is a system?¡± thought Su Hei. ¡°Usually, after transmigrating to a new place, the transmigrators will be bound to a system! It¡¯s finally here!¡± At this moment, he was over the moon. He glanced at the system interface and realized that only when he became the leader of the organization he was in could he extract the data of the talents, abilities, stats, and strengths of everyone in the organization and absorb them for himself. ¡°This is amazing!¡± His comment revealed his true thoughts on it. System: ¡°Does the host want to withdraw the talent, abilities, stats, and strengths of all 18 students in Senior Class One and put them into yourself?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Without any hesitation, Su Hei chose to do so. The next second, a ball of light emerged from the bodies of Wang Dong, Li Hua, and all the other students of Senior Class One who had successfully awakened their talents and entered Su Hei¡¯s body. Su Hei¡¯s Qi and blood were surging inside his body, and his talents were increasing rapidly. Su Hei could clearly feel that his body was undergoing a tremendous change. Water Elemental, Wind Elemental, Earth Elemental, Fire Elemental¡­ Warrior, Priest, Blacksmith, Swordsman, and so forth. He was in full control of all four elements. However, there were too many talents for him to see clearly. His strength was also undergoing changes. When he clenched his fists, he could feel a strong burst of energy coursing through his arms. That was raw power, also called combat prowess, which differentiated the weak martial artists from the strong ones. The system interface showed the changes in Su Hei¡¯s power. One hundred¡­ Five hundred¡­ One thousand¡­ Su Hei¡¯s body started making cracking and popping sounds. His bones and muscles were all undergoing changes because of the changes in his strength. Two thousand¡­ Three thousand¡­ Five thousand¡­ In mere minutes, Su Hei¡¯s strength had gone from that of a beginner-level martial artist to that of an advanced-level martial artist. In mere minutes, Su Hei¡¯s strength had gone from that of a beginner-level martial artist to that of an advanced-level martial artist. And his strength was still increasing nonstop. The number shown on the system interface continued to shoot up rapidly. In the end, it stopped at 10,086 pounds without making any other changes. Looking at this number, Su Hei¡¯s eyes widened in astonishment, and his chest heaved up and down. He could not get himself to calm down for a long time. Ten thousand pounds! Five thousand kilograms! That was five whole tons! ¡°The world record for the greatest weight ever raised by a human being was 477 kilograms, but I now have the strength to carry 5,000 kilograms of power! That¡¯s pure power!¡± thought Su Hei. With one punch, he could even smash trucks that weighed around five tons. ¡°This is the power of a martial artist, huh?¡± thought Shu Hei. Su Hei slightly moved his feet. The smooth marble of the floor beneath his feet cracked like a spider¡¯s web. ¡°Awesome!¡± he exclaimed. Su Hei was delighted, and his face flushed with excitement. He had not even awakened his talent, but he had already obtained pure power that was equivalent to that of a martial artist in the Perfected Realm1 He had already started to anticipate the power and realms that he would attain after awakening his talent. Under normal circumstances, once one had successfully awakened his or her talent, that person¡¯s power would be increased by thousands of pounds. That was the range for beginner-level martial artists. Becoming a beginner-level martial artist was just the beginning. Their strength would change accordingly as their levels increased. There were still intermediate-level martial artists, advanced-level martial artists, and martial artists in the Perfected Realm, as well as Grandmasters, Senior Grandmasters, etc. Senior Grandmasters had a strength of nearly one million pounds. One of their punches could topple a 100-meter building, and they could destroy a 10,000-ton ship with a kick. The cultivator levels following Senior Grandmasters possessed unfathomable strength. The strongest martial artist in Quilton¡¯s survival base was only at the Senior Grandmaster level. Hence, Su Hei sifted through his memories, but he was not able to find out about the strength of martial artists who were higher in level than the Senior Grandmaster. However, he knew that it must be horrifying! ¡°This summation system is amazing!¡± he thought inwardly. Su Hei¡¯s heart was overflowing with joy. Currently, he had only absorbed the power of a dozen or more people. In the days after the ceremony, he would join the City Defense Team. Once he became the class president, section leader, team leader, or captain of the team, he would be leading hundreds and thousands of martial artists and have them at his command. With the help of the summation system, he could absorb all of their talents and become terrifyingly strong. Su Hei became excited at that mere thought. ¡°Su?¡± Suddenly, a sound brought Su Hei back to his senses. It was Wang Dong. He saw Su Hei standing there in a daze. He mistakenly thought that Su Hei was overly nervous. With ugly bruises covering his face, Wang Dong approached Su Hei. ¡°Su, don¡¯t be nervous. If a person with lousy grades like me can awaken my talent, you¡¯ll definitely be able to do it too!¡± he reassured. Looking at how Wang Dong grimaced as he tried to endure the pain, Su Hei smiled. He was not nervous but merely felt a little helpless. The Talent Awakening Ceremony would reveal his talent and elemental power. He had control over all four elemental powers and close to 10 types of talents. If this was revealed to everyone, it would definitely cause a stir. However, that could not be helped. He could not help that the summation system was so sick. Su Hei smiled and shook his head. He suppressed his power and stepped onto the altar. Deep in the assembly hall, Qin Feng¡ªwho was observing the Talent Awakening Ceremony¡ªwas surprised. He looked at Su Hei at the exact moment when Su Hei was suppressing his power. Although it was only a brief moment, Qin Feng still sensed the power within Su Hei. When Qin Feng met Su Hei¡¯s gaze, he involuntarily shuddered. That was his body reacting in fear in the presence of absolute power. Qin Feng mused, ¡°That¡¯s strange¡­ He hasn¡¯t awakened his talent yet, so why can I sense the power of a martial artist who has already attained Perfected Realm?¡± As the section leader of the survival base in Quilton, Qin Feng was already an advanced-level martial artist. There was no reason for him to fear a young fellow who had not even awakened his talent. Having his curiosity piqued, Qin Feng stared intently at Su Hei, who was already on the altar. ¨C The Talent Awakening Ceremony was already halfway through. Apart from Classes C and D, all the other students had already completed the ritual. Students who had successfully awakened their talents were seen as martial artists. What came next was not relaxation or rewards. These students would have to follow the soldiers to the barracks and start their training. These beginner-level martial artists were merely rookies. If they did not undergo harsh training, they would not be able to face the beasts or even fight those beasts by themselves. Chapter 6 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C The martial arts academy split its students according to how outstanding they were. There were Elite Class A, Elite Class B, Normal Class C, and Normal Class D. The difference between the normal classes was that the students in Class C were relatively more talented than those in Class D. Hence, the students in Class C were offended and embarrassed that others thought of them to be on par with the students in Class D. In everyone¡¯s eyes, the students in Normal Class D were the lousiest of them all. At this moment, in the waiting area for Class C. The students in Class C were staring fixedly at the person who was currently undergoing the awakening ritual. Cao Guangning, the class president of Class C, was the most talented person in his class. Everyone was waiting to see what kind of talent and element he would be able to awaken. On the altar, a light gleamed. Very soon, the results were out. ¡°Cao Guangning, Vitality 30, awakened Warrior talent. Special Lightning Elemental power!¡± After that announcement, there were shocked cries from the audience below the altar. ¡°Our class president is so impressive!¡± ¡°Warrior talent and special Lightning Elemental power!¡± ¡°His Vitality has reached 30. That means he¡¯s akin to an intermediate-level martial artist. He¡¯s awesome!¡± ¡°Now that we have President Cao, Class D won¡¯t have the audacity to think of us as their equals anymore!¡± ¡°You should broaden your horizons! With how powerful President Cao is now, Class D is nothing to him!¡± ¡°My sentiments exactly! The class presidents from the elite classes will be humbled in front of President Cao now. After all, he is so powerful.¡± ¨C ¡°I can¡¯t believe that I¡¯m so powerful!¡± Cao Guangning gradually lost himself amidst all this flattery and obsequious attention. There was a gleeful look in his eyes. The probability for someone to awaken a special elemental power was one in ten thousand. And the elemental power that he had awakened was the Lightning Elemental power, which was a dominant and aggressive element. When paired with Warrior talent, he would be invincible! ¡°In the whole of the martial arts academy, who will dare compete with me?¡± he thought. ¡°My name will definitely resound throughout Quilton!¡± Arcs of blue lightning were crackling from his fists. His classmates were awestruck by the sight of that. ¡°Our class president is so impressive!¡± ¡°Even after we join the City Defense Team, we should still stick close to our class president!¡± ¨C In the altar. Ji Donglin gradually appeared behind Class C¡¯s teacher, Xu Weicheng. Ji Donglin had a disbelieving look in his eyes as he stared at Cao Guangning. Hearing the students¡¯ cheers, Xu Weicheng offered a perfunctory excuse and said, ¡°Children will be children. They not only form cliques among themselves but also show their dislike for other cliques without any reservation. They can¡¯t keep anything to themselves.¡± Ji Donglin had a composed look. He did not have much to say about that. He commented, ¡°I never expected that a genius-level martial artist will emerge from Class C.¡± ¡°After Cao Guangning had awakened his talent, his Vitality immediately reached 30. In addition, his talent is Warrior, which is the talent that¡¯s in trend now. On top of all these, he has the special Lightning Elemental power.¡± ¡°This fellow¡¯s talent is about the same as those two from the elite class. It¡¯s beyond my expectations that there are three genius-level martial artists arising from the ceremony. I believe that the chief minister will be glad to hear of it.¡± There was a total of 136 human survival bases in Zosteylor. More than one million people took part in the Talent Awakening Ceremony every year. However, the chance of those people successfully awakening their talent and becoming martial artists was less than 50 percent. That meant that only 50,000 students out of 1,000,000 students could become martial artists. And among these, there were less than 100 people who were genius martial artists. There was not even one genius-level martial artist out of 10,000 people. From that, one could really understand how rare such genius-level martial artists were. Xu Weicheng was beside himself with happiness to hear Ji Donglin¡¯s comment. He could not hold himself back from revealing his thoughts anymore. ¡°Mr. Ji, since Cao Guangning is from Class C, is it possible for you to elevate our class to become an elite class?¡± he asked. ¡°Otherwise, everyone else is always comparing Class C with Class D. I don¡¯t have an opinion on it, but the students are displeased with it.¡± The difference between an elite class and a normal class was not only their reputation. Every year, the elite classes had 10 times more funds and resources allocated to them than the normal classes. If he was the teacher of an elite class, Xu Weicheng could also reap quite a lot of benefits from his position. However, Ji Donglin merely clasped his hands behind his back. He said softly, ¡°No matter whether it¡¯s an elite class or normal class, in the school¡¯s eyes, they¡¯re all the same.¡± He added, ¡°Focus on your normal class. You¡¯ll get the resources you deserve.¡± Upon hearing that, the light in Xu Weicheng¡¯s eyes dimmed. A vicious look flashed across his eyes. ¨C Over at Class D. Su Hei walked to the altar. He looked at Lin Nianlei and smiled politely at her. ¡°Thank you for your help, Ms. Lin.¡± Following that, he extended his right hand and placed it on the altar. Whoosh! The blindingly bright lights hurt Lin Nianlei¡¯s eyes. Even after she turned around, her eyes still could not adjust to the brightness. ¡°This is¡­¡± At that moment, Lin Nianlei sensed that something was amiss. This ray of light was different from the other students when they were awakening their talents. It was much more brilliant and dazzling, so much so that it hurt their eyes. ¡°How could this be? Is there something wrong with the altar?¡± asked Lin Nianlei. The blindingly bright lights hurt Lin Nianlei¡¯s eyes. Even after she turned around, her eyes still could not adjust to the brightness. ¡°Everyone, close your eyes!¡± Ji Donglin roared. He quickly arrived at the altar and a burst of vitality burst out from his body, creating a shield of light that allowed himself and Lin Nianlei to hide behind. The students below the altar started to panic. ¡°Darn it, will Su be okay?¡± The bright light stabbed pain through Wang Dong¡¯s eyes, but he ignored it. He got up and immediately wanted to dash up to the altar. Li Hua reacted quickly and pressed Wang Dong¡¯s head onto the ground. ¡°Are you a fool? The dean and teachers are all there. What could possibly happen to Su Hei? Close your eyes and protect yourself!¡± A rumbling sound was heard. Suddenly, the altar started to shake and vibrate violently. It felt like an earthquake. Very soon, the entire assembly hall started to shake. ¡°Someone has triggered an abnormal phenomenon!¡± A cold perspiration broke out on Ji Donglin¡¯s forehead, and there was a mixture of fear and excitement in his eyes. ¡°Abnormal phenomenon?¡± Lin Nianlei, who was hiding behind the dean, said in a puzzled tone of voice. At this moment, Qin Feng arrived beside them. He gathered his internal energy into his hands and assisted Ji Donglin in ensuring that the light shield would hold. However, he stared intently at Su Hei, who was standing in front of the altar. There was excitement in Qin Feng¡¯s eyes. ¡°Legend has it that only one who has a strong talent and elemental power can bring about an abnormal phenomenon. In the thousands of years since humankind came to know of martial arts, there were only a few who could do this,¡± remarked Qin Feng. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that I am seeing this with my own eyes! Mr. Ji, this time, your martial arts academy will be sensational!¡± On the other side of the assembly hall. The sudden turn of events left the students in Class C and Xu Weicheng dumbfounded. Luckily, the teachers of the academy all went to provide support. They created a light veil to prevent anyone from getting hurt. ¡°How talented must one be, to be able to create such powerful motions!¡± ¡°Anyways, our class president¡¯s special Lightning Elemental power is not able to do something like this. Class D is really impressive.¡± Xu Weicheng, who had finally snapped out of his daze, was astonished. ¡°It¡¯s an abnormal phenomenon?¡± he thought. Never in his dreams did he expect that those losers from Class D would be able to trigger an abnormal phenomenon. As he listened to everyone¡¯s chatter, Cao Guangning was not as smug as he was earlier anymore. The fact that this person could trigger an abnormal phenomenon meant that there was a terrifying disparity in power between both them. ¡°It¡¯s impossible!¡± he said. ¡°This is absolutely impossible!¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible for me, Cao Guangning, to be beaten by the losers in Class D!¡± ¡°This must be fake! There¡¯s something wrong with the altar!¡± Cao Guangning stared in wide-eyed astonishment. Chapter 7 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Amidst all the chaos and noise, Su Hei was undergoing the awakening ritual. ¡°I¡¯ve become terrifyingly strong!¡± he thought. The system interface appeared in his mind. On it, his strength values were rapidly increasing. Eleven thousand¡­ Thirteen thousand¡­ Fifteen thousand¡­ As he awakened his talent, four different types of light merged, and the numbers changed at an even faster speed than before. Twenty thousand¡­ Twenty-five thousand¡­ Thirty thousand¡­ Thirty-five thousand¡­ Forty-thousand¡­ When the number hit 40,000, Su Hei clenched his fists tightly, and his body started to make cracking and popping sounds. Immense internal energy flowed through him. Boom! He heard a loud explosion next to his ear. The number displayed on the system interface became 50,000! Having a strength of 50,000 pounds would make him one of the best martial artists among those who were in the Perfected Realm. ¨C ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± In the assembly hall, someone suddenly shouted. Everyone turned their eyes to Class D¡¯s altar. The abnormal phenomenon gradually vanished. Su Hei¡¯s figure came into view once more. He was bathed in a soft golden shimmer. He had extraordinary bearing, his eyes were unfathomable and exuded a domineering aura. Su Hei swept a glance around his surroundings. As his gaze swept past them, everyone¡¯s body was stiff as a puppet¡¯s. It was as if they had been electrified. There was a brief silence. A dull thud sounded. A student had kneeled on the ground. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m willing to become your follower!¡± he said. After that, more and more students felt their legs go weak and fell to the ground. Among those were martial artists who had awakened their talent earlier. The martial arts academy¡¯s teachers were all dumbstruck and just stood there as they took in the strange sight. ¡°This is¡­ the power of a talent!¡± Ji Donglin¡¯s voice trembled as he spoke. The astonishment in his eyes became more evident as he spoke. ¡°To be honest with you, I have the urge to bow down to him just by looking at his back view.¡± Qin Feng said, tremblingly, ¡°If this is the power of a talent, then this fellow¡¯s talent is too domineering!¡± Following this, Lin Nianlei looked at the changes on the altar and subconsciously announced Su Hei¡¯s awakening result. ¡°Su Hei, Vitality¡­ 101, awakened a rare talent¡ªthe Leader talent¡ªand he has Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth Elemental powers!¡± There was silence in the assembly hall after she made the announcement. It was so silent that one could hear a pin drop! The students, teachers, and even Ji Donglin were staring google-eyed at Su Hei. Their faces turned ashen white as if they had just seen a ghost. They were aghast with terror. Su Hei had a Vitality of 101! His talent was Leader, which was an incredibly rare one. He could control all four elements: fire, wind, water, and wood! Every word sounded like thunder in the ears of the crowd. Their minds went blank and they found it difficult to breathe. ¡°This can¡¯t be real!¡± they thought. After a short pause, a person snapped back to his senses. He tugged on the arm of the person beside them. ¡°Slap me.¡± ¡°What?¡± his neighbor asked in confusion. ¡°Slap me! That way, I¡¯ll be able to wake up from this dream!¡± Slap! A crisp sound of a slap rang out, startling everyone near them. It was real! Everything was real! ¡°Impressive! This guy is awesome!¡± ¡°Initially, I thought that President Cao was invincible. I can¡¯t believe that there¡¯ll be a person more powerful than him. Who is he?¡± ¡°Su Hei!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not Su Hei! That¡¯s my father1! ¡°Father, I¡¯m your son! I will be filial to you and listen to your every word!¡± Several students from Class C dashed toward Su Hei. In the waiting area for Class D. Chu Chen had a sullen expression as he looked at Su Hei, who had become the center of attention. Even though he refused to believe it, it was a fact that he could never surpass Su Hei anymore. ¡°Su Hei¡­ As usual, he¡¯s still as exceptional as before,¡± he murmured to himself. Li Hua, Jiang Jinyu, and the other classmates from Senior Class One were silent, but they stared at Su Hei with admiration in their eyes. Only Wang Dong had an enraged look on his face when he saw Class C¡¯s students dashing in their direction. ¡°What? Father? You guys don¡¯t have the right to call him that!¡± ¡°Let me see who dares snatch my father from me!¡± he yelled. Wang Dong stood in front of Class D, using his stout body to block those from Class C who wanted to become Su Hei¡¯s followers. ¡°You pig! Get lost! Su Hei is my father!¡± ¡°That¡¯s my father!¡± ¨C The situation got out of hand. At Class C¡¯s waiting area. All of the people who were flattering Cao Guangning earlier were now in Class D¡¯s waiting area. Cao Guangning had a gloomy expression. He had a malicious look in his eyes. ¡°Class D¡¯s students are useless! They¡¯re merely losers! Even if this person obtained good results from the ritual, he¡¯s still a loser from Class D!¡± ¡°Sooner or later, you¡¯ll become my slave!¡± Cao Guangning snarled. Xu Weicheng walked over to Cao Guangning and patted the latter¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get rid of him?¡± Xu Weicheng suggested. Upon hearing that, Cao Guangning turned to look at him in astonishment. The human race had a law in place. Should martial artists kill one of their own, they would be skinned alive, and their bodies would be hung on the city wall. Never did he expect that Xu Weicheng would say something like this. A vicious glint flashed in Xu Weicheng¡¯s eyes, and he chuckled coldly. ¡°I can tell that you¡¯re not someone who¡¯s willing to be inferior to others.¡± ¡°But having someone like that around means that there¡¯s no way that you can become the most powerful martial artist and have dominion over everyone in Quilton¡¯s survival base. How about we collaborate?¡± he proposed. Unknowingly, Cao Guangning nodded at Xu Weicheng in agreement. Xu Weicheng smirked and then led Cao Guangning out of the assembly hall. Su Hei¡¯s awakening had nothing to do with them, nor would it have any conflict with their future achievements. However, they were overcome with jealousy over Su Hei¡¯s ability, being so consumed by it that they could not even think straight. ¨C At the altar for Class D. Qin Feng¡¯s shock was written all over his face. He could not believe that Su Hei had control over the four main elements. ¡°Is this for real?¡± he thought. Ever since humans started to practice martial arts, occasionally, some people had two elemental powers. Having three elemental powers was seen as something that was heaven-defying. The number of people who were able to manipulate the four elements could be counted on one hand. They had nature at their becking and could hold their own against 10,000 people or even against hundreds of millions of dire beasts and demon beasts. They were known as Human Sovereigns. To date, in Zosteylor, there was only one Human Sovereign. He was called Sikong Jianyun, and he was a martial artist who had control over the four main elements. ¡°Could it be that Zosteylor has produced another Human Sovereign?¡± Qin Feng wondered. He was stunned speechless! Qin Feng exchanged a glance with Ji Donglin. Both saw stupefaction and wonder in each other¡¯s eyes! If Su Hei was Human Sovereign, the human race would not have to worry about their prosperity anymore! Qin Feng tried his best to suppress how flustered he felt. He remarked, ¡°We have to report this to the higher-ups as soon as possible.¡± Ji Donglin understood the implications of this matter and nodded. ¡°Go ahead and report this to the City Defense Team in the survival base. I¡¯ll make a call to the councilman, Mr. Li. No¡­ I¡¯ll go and meet him now. That way, I can report this to him in person!¡± It was an urgent matter that needed to be dealt with quickly, so Ji Donglin did not dare to be careless or sloppy. After saying this to Qin Feng, he hurriedly left the assembly hall. Qin Feng went to a corner and took out his phone to make a call. After a while, the call was connected. A voice drawled out lazily, ¡°What¡¯s up? Is the Talent Awakening Ceremony over already?¡± Qin Feng took a deep breath before he said slowly, ¡°Captain, a student from the martial arts academy has awakened the Leader talent!¡± On the other end of the call, the other party was still speaking in a leisurely manner. ¡°Leader? I¡¯ve never heard of that before. It¡¯s a special talent, but it¡¯s not worth making a fuss over. This doesn¡¯t seem like your style.¡± Qin Feng hurriedly added, ¡°But there¡¯s something else. He has control over the four main elements!¡± ¡°Four elemental powers?¡± After that, there was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Chapter 8 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C The Talent Awakening Ceremony was still ongoing. Many students felt encouraged and a great boost in morale after witnessing Su Hei¡¯s awakening results. All of them approached the altar with great confidence, but their results were less than satisfactory. There were close to a hundred people left, but only two successfully managed to awaken their talent. Those two were Chu Chen and Jiang Jinyu. Chu Chen awakened his Warrior talent and Earth Elemental power. As for his Vitality, it had hit 20. When compared to the average population, that result was considered to be really outstanding. However, when Chu Chen saw everyone gathered around Su Hei, he felt a huge wave of disappointment flood over him. As for Jiang Jinyu, she had awakened a surprising talent¡ªAssassin talent. Compared to the other talents that were combative in nature, assassins had overwhelming attack power. If they paired it with martial arts secret manuals, they could cause explosive physical damage. The school belle, who was loved by all, had awakened such a chilling talent. Even Su Hei was taken aback by the results. However, recalling how Jiang Jinyu had a cold personality, Su Hei felt that her talent was a perfect match for her. After the Talent Awakening Ceremony ended. There were close to 200 students in Class D, but among them, only slightly over 30 people successfully awakened their talents. The success rate was less than 20 percent. It was obvious that Class D¡¯s students were not talented at all. After that, including Su Hei, all of the students assembled outside the assembly hall. Students from the elite classes had ended their ceremony early and left the hall. The students who had gathered outside were from Class C and Class D. After a short pause, everyone got up to the armored personnel carriers, which then drove out of the martial arts academy. They were being taken to participate in the recruitment examination. Only martial artists who had passed the examination could become official members of the City Defense Team. Qin Feng told Su Hei to stay back. He wanted to bring the latter directly back to the barracks to meet with the captain. As the two of them were about to drive off, Qin Feng¡¯s phone rang. He answered the call and said, ¡°I understand,¡± before ending the call. Following that, he looked at Su Hei. ¡°Looks like you won¡¯t be exempted from the recruitment examination, after all.¡± Seeing that Su Hei had a puzzled look, Qin Feng started up the vehicle and explained to him the reason behind that. ¡°The higher-ups want to see your performance in actual combat. I¡¯ll let you in on a secret. You¡¯ve already caught the attention of the captain of the City Defense Team.¡± Captain. The captain was the strongest person in Quilton¡¯s survival base. He was a luminary in everyone else¡¯s eyes. The fact that Su Hei could catch that person¡¯s eye meant that he could make his way in the world and become successful. Qin Feng sighed before driving behind the line of military vehicles. ¨C To maximize their power, humans narrowed their scope of activity. Cities were built in the middle of the survival base, with a 100-meter steel wall around their perimeters to defend humans against the outside world. Initially, Su Hei assumed that the recruitment examination would be held where the City Defense Team was located, but he knew that he was wrong when the vehicles drove past the city walls. ¡°The examination is set outside the survival base?¡± he asked. To humans, the world outside the base was vastly different from that within. Inside the base was safe, whereas outside was akin to the very depths of hell. After they left the protection of the 100-meter steel wall, dire beasts roamed about everywhere, and there were endless demon beasts. For a martial artist who was already a Grandmaster, if he went out of the city, no matter how careful he was, there was still a chance of him being besieged by beasts and then getting ripped apart by them. Not to mention them, who had just awakened their talents and were new to martial arts. In response, Qin Feng nodded his head. Su Hei was surprised and teased, ¡°People from the City Defense Team are not only powerful but brave too.¡± After hearing Su Hei¡¯s words, Qin Feng gave his take on it. ¡°Only those who have experienced bloodshed can become qualified fighters.¡± Su Hei felt that Qin Feng¡¯s words made sense. After driving past the massive city walls, the vehicles all slowed down. They wanted to reduce the noise made to avoid unnecessary trouble. ¨C Fast forward to some time later. All of the vehicles had arrived at their destination and stopped. There was already a group of people waiting there for the new arrivals. Martial artists who were from the martial arts academy all wore white standardized combat uniforms, so Su Hei could recognize them at a glance. Among those people who were waiting for them, the majority of them dressed casually and seemed to have a wide age gap from Su Hei and the rest. ¡°Those people are martial artists from various regions of Quilton who aren¡¯t under any organizations,¡± explained Qin Feng. He could tell that Su Hei was perplexed. What Qin Feng said next allowed Su Hei to understand more about this world. Martial arts academies were similar to military schools in their past lives. Only those who met the age requirement and whose talents were up to their standards could enter the martial arts academy. In this world, nobody was willing to be mediocre. Everyone wanted to become legendary-level martial artists who could kill thousands of beasts with a wave of their hand. Thus, many people established martial arts dojos. Martial arts dojos were a common sight here, and they were of different sizes. The founders of the dojos did not care about the students¡¯ ages or their talents. So long as they could afford to pay for it, anyone could learn to cultivate and learn martial arts. The arrival of the vehicles aroused the attention of the group of people. Seeing Su Hei, Qin Feng, and the rest of the people getting out of the vehicles, that group of people looked in their direction. ¡°It¡¯s the normal classes¡¯ students from the martial arts academy.¡± ¡°Normal class? I thought they don¡¯t have much talent?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe that we waited for people like these. Empty vessels indeed make the most noise,¡± someone said, scorn dripping from his words. The person who spoke was a youth with permed hair. He was an independent martial artist who was unaffiliated with any martial organization. When he finished speaking, the youth with permed hair looked toward an older male beside him. ¡°Loong, I have a relative working at the martial arts academy as a toilet cleaner. I heard him mention that students from normal classes have a pathetically low chance of awakening their talent. Only one in a hundred people can awaken their talent,¡± he reported. ¡°For our martial arts dojo, the success rate of the students awakening their talents has reached 70 percent.¡± ¡°Usually, these students from the martial arts academies look down on us. Should we take them down a notch?¡± the youth with the permed hair asked. Most of the independent martial artists detested students from the martial arts academy. The reason was that if one were to compare them, those from the martial arts academy would be seen as hailing from rich families while they were seen as peasants. The students in the academy easily had access to resources, while they had to work hard to get those resources. At least, that was how things were like from their perspective. They were now in the same group, had the same status, and were competitors. Naturally, conflicts were bound to happen between them. That middle-aged man was called Li Daloong, and he was the most powerful martial artist among the dozen or so martial artists in the Flaming War Dojo. His talent was Drummer. For some time, the Human Alliance had thought of it to be an entertainment type of talent. They felt that it was only suitable for leisure and recreation, but not for combat. However, Li Daloong was unconvinced by that. After joining the Flaming War Dojo and having cultivated for many years, he had finally gained enough power to join the recruitment examination for the City Defense Team. He did not care whether it was the elite class or the normal class. So long as they were his competitors, they were his enemies. ¡°If the people from the City Defense Team don¡¯t stop you, then beat the hell out of them. Show them no mercy,¡± Li Daloong said casually. The better their performance, the higher chance they had of passing the examination. ¡°Rest assured, Loong!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure that these sissies, who live in their ivory tower, know that they¡¯re not in the same league as us. After all, we¡¯re martial artists who do combat training every day.¡± The combat training he was referring to was the street fights that they got into after getting drunk. Su Hei walked toward Wang Dong, Li Hua, and the rest. He was about to speak, but he was interrupted by the youth with the permed hair, who was walking toward them menacingly. The youth said, ¡°Hey, losers! What right do you have to keep us waiting for so long? Don¡¯t you know that time is money?¡± ¡°Give us 100,00 dollars for us to buy alcoholic drinks, and we won¡¯t be mad anymore.¡± When they heard that, the martial artists from Class C¡ªincluding Cao Guangning¡ªgloated as they watched Li Daloong and his men making trouble for Su Hei. ¡°You should leave now, while you still can,¡± said Su Hei. He could not be bothered to waste his time on such gangsters. The permed-hair youth was seething with anger. ¡°How dare you speak to us like that?¡± With that, he clenched his fists and swung them at Su Hei. However, very soon, the youth saw a fist that was as big as a sandbag swinging toward him. The next instant, there was a loud sound. Boom! Su Hei¡¯s punch sent the permed-hair youth flying more than ten meters away, and he passed out. Chapter 9 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C The sudden change left everyone dumbstruck. Nobody expected that Su Hei would make such a quick and decisive attack. His speed was so fast that out of the thousands of martial artists present, none of them could react in time to it. He was too fast! Li Daloong only came back to his senses when he saw that Su Hei had beaten the permed-hair youth¡¯s face beyond recognition. ¡°How dare you hit him!¡± Li Daloong roared. If he did not retaliate, no one would respect him as their leader anymore. His figure flashed. The next instant, he was suspended in mid-air above him. ¡°Ha!¡± Li Daloong yelled. His giant fist was about to land on Su Hei. However, Su Hei¡¯s fist was larger and tougher than his. Boom! There was another loud boom. Su Hei¡¯s punch sent Li Daloong so high up in the air that he only landed on the ground after more than 10 seconds. But at least, he was still conscious. Li Daloong¡¯s eyes were wide open, and he seemed to be in a daze. It was not that he was strong, but before Su Hei had punched him, Qin Feng had used his fingers to poke Su Hei. Su Hei understood what Qin Feng was trying to tell him, so he held back a little. ¡°Y-you!¡± Li Daloong struggled to get up. Blood trickled from his mouth. He stared at Su Hei with panic and fear in his eyes. Before he arrived here, he had already used the dynamometer at the martial arts dojo to measure his strength. His fist strength was 2800, and that was enough for him to stand out among beginner-level martial artists. In addition, he was only one step away from becoming an intermediate-level martial artist. Originally, he thought that he would be able to crush all of his opponents easily in this recruitment examination. However, he never imagined that he would be beaten even before the recruitment examination had started. ¡°Y-you are an intermediate-level martial artist!¡± yelled Li Daloong. His voice cracked as he said that. The thousands of martial artists seemed to be mute, and none of them spoke. There was absolute silence. After hearing the words ¡°intermediate-level martial artist¡±, more than half of the martial artists present had shock registered on their faces. Su Hei had just awakened his talent, but he was already an intermediate-level martial artist. He was a one-in-ten-million talent. Even gifted students from the elite classes could not achieve this feat. However, this martial artist who was from a normal class managed to do it. The hundred or so martial artists from the elite classes were surprised too. Only the two class presidents seemed unbothered by it. They had composed expressions. If Su Hei was merely an intermediate-level martial artist, it was not enough to incite any change in expression from them. ¨C Very quickly, staff from City Defense Team stepped out to maintain order. They did not condemn either party, and they merely carried away the permed-hair youth who had fainted. After a while, a man in his 30s who had a majestic aura faced everyone. ¡°I am the captain of Team One of the City Defense Team. My name is Xun Chengwu!¡± Although he merely introduced himself, his voice was thunderous. His voice even traveled to the 10 li1 outside the boundless forest. ¡°The captain is really out of the ordinary.¡± Su Hei was startled to see that Qin Feng had suddenly appeared beside Sun Chengwu and was smiling at him from across the land. He awkwardly gave a response to him and heard Sun Chengwu suddenly speak. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see the number of people who have turned up and will be participating in the recruitment examination.¡± ¡°With the addition of you guys, it will greatly increase City Defense Team¡¯s ability to protect the humans and Quilton¡¯s survival base.¡± Sun Chengwu swept his gaze across everyone, then pointed to the lush forest at the side. ¡°This is the biggest forest in Quilton¡¯s survival base. It is also home to dire beasts. People call it the ¡®Forest of Death¡¯. Once you enter it, you¡¯ll face dire beasts and demon beasts everywhere. Deaths will be aplenty,¡± he said. ¡°All of you must enter the Forest of Death and kill beasts with all your might. You¡¯ll be deemed to have passed the examination after killing five beasts, and you may return here.¡± ¡°One last thing. We have surveillance systems in place, but Forest of Death is so wide that it is connected to Xyperia. Therefore, even if you want to give up, we won¡¯t be able to provide any support.¡± ¡°Once the examination begins, there will only be two outcomes.¡± ¡°You either pass or die,¡± he concluded. ¡°Those who want to give up, it¡¯s best if you do it now,¡± advised Xun Chengwu. Some people were timid and afraid of dying, so once they heard his words, they backed out immediately. However, most of them stayed. Upon seeing that, Xun Chengwu nodded in satisfaction. Suddenly, a thought came to him and he said, ¡°I forgot to mention that we have placed some special tokens in the forests. If anyone finds them and brings them back here, you will be deemed as having passed the examination. You don¡¯t need to kill beasts anymore. On top of that, we will disregard the level of martial artist you are and immediately promote you to become section leader of the City Defense Team.¡± After he said that, a commotion broke out in the crowd. ¡°Section leader of the City Defense Team?¡± ¡°To become a section leader, the person needs to be at least an advanced-level martial artist. But now, we merely need to find the special tokens and we¡¯ll become the section leader?¡± ¡°If I become the section leader, my family¡¯s allowance will double, and I can still enjoy the cultivation resources that are provided to the section leader.¡± ¡°There must be a lot of powerful beasts at the place where the token is at. Otherwise, how can something good like this happen?¡± ¡°Even if the emperor of heavens is there, I¡¯ll still give it a try, much less dire beasts!¡± No matter the level of martial artist they were, anyone who heard this news was eager to look for the tokens. Becoming the section leader of the City Defense Team was something that would bring glory to their ancestors. A person said, ¡°Everyone, listen to me. Why don¡¯t we form alliances with one another? That way, we can join forces to get those tokens.¡± The candidates started to discuss among themselves. ¡°You have a point. Even if it is a powerful beast, it can¡¯t fight so many of us at a go.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t this be considered cheating? Will members of the City Defense Team consent to it?¡± Someone ran over to ask Xun Chengwu for his opinion on it. Everyone could hear Xun Chengwu¡¯s voice from far away. ¡°The recruitment examination only cares about the result, not the process,¡± remarked Xun Chengwu. Upon hearing that, everyone¡¯s hearts were leaping with joy. There was strength in numbers, so if they teamed up, their lives and safety would be assured. Everyone started to form teams at the assembly point. Wang Dong tilted his head, feeling a little baffled. He said, ¡°There won¡¯t be many tokens, for sure. However, everyone wants to become a section leader. After they get the token, how will they decide who should be the one to be the section leader?¡± Li Hua and Chu Chen shook their heads. They did not think that forming alliances was a good idea. Jiang Jinyu had an apathetic look when she said, ¡°Kill everyone. The one who lives will be the owner of the token.¡± Wang Dong, Li Hua, and even Su Hei shuddered to hear her words. After awakening her Assassin talent, Jiang Jinyu¡¯s personality became even colder than before. It was like she had become an emotionless assassin. Su Hei smiled and stood up. ¡°We should leave too. The earlier we begin, the earlier this will end.¡± Wang Dong, Li Hua, Jiang Jinyu, and Chu Chen nodded. The 18 people from Senior Class One had just started to move when they were blocked by a dozen or so people. When he saw their leader, Li Daloong, Su Hei furrowed his brows. ¡°If you try to attack me again, I¡¯ll immediately eliminate you from this examination.¡± Before Su Hei could finish his sentence, Li Daloong approached him. Li Daloong was all smiles as he said, ¡°S-sir, why don¡¯t we ally? If we manage to get the token, we won¡¯t fight with you for it.¡± Su Hei stared at Li Daloong with a strange look in his eyes. ¡°What is he trying to do?¡± thought Su Hei. Chapter 10 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°I refuse.¡± Su Hei immediately rejected Li Daloong¡¯s suggestion and led the students of Senior Class One into the Forest of Death. ¡°Damn it!¡± a man cursed. A man with red spiky hair was standing beside Li Daloong. He was Li Daloong¡¯s follower, and he was displeased with Su Hei¡¯s attitude toward them. ¡°Loong, this fellow is merely an intermediate-level martial artist, how dare he treat us like this?¡± he said. ¡°Exactly! He¡¯s not the only intermediate-level martial artist out there, but he is so arrogant about it,¡± added someone from the group. Li Daloong knitted his brows. He turned and scowled at the spiky-haired man before slapping him. Slap! ¡°You guys don¡¯t know anything!¡± he berated. Hearing his furious roar, all of his followers were so terrified that they did not dare utter a word. Li Daloong swept a gaze across everyone before he lowered his voice. ¡°I¡¯ve already asked around. For the martial arts academy¡¯s awakening ceremony, a powerful person has emerged from it. He has a special career talent, and he can control the four main elements.¡± ¡°Wow! Someone so powerful has emerged from the elite classes?¡± The spiky-haired man had his eyes wide open in shock. Li Daloong chided, ¡°Elite class? As if! That powerful person is from the normal class, and it¡¯s their class!¡± Everyone looked in the direction Li Daloong was pointing at. Li Daloong was pointing at Su Hei¡¯s back. It was him! Everyone was dumbfounded. That was especially so for the spiky-haired man. His hair stood on end at the thought of what he had said earlier. He looked at Li Daloong nervously and tears spilled out of his eyes. ¡°Loong, I wasn¡¯t too loud earlier when I spoke, right?¡± In response, Li Daloong merely chuckled coldly. ¡°Yes, you weren¡¯t loud at all. You were only slightly louder than the music played in discos.¡± A dull thud sounded. When he heard Li Daloong¡¯s words, the spiky-haired man had already fallen to the ground. He was so terrified that he fainted. ¨C On the other side. Cao Guangning was also secretly paying attention to Su Hei¡¯s movements. Earlier, Cao Guangning was stunned when he saw Su Hei punching Li Daloong earlier. Su Hei was so fast that even Cao Guangning could not see his movements clearly. However, when Li Daloong said that Su Hei was an intermediate-level martial artist, Cao Guangning heaved a sigh of relief. Under Xu Weicheng¡¯s lead, Cao Guangning had secretly measured his strength. He knew that he had a combat strength of 3,500. Hence, he was akin to an intermediate-level martial artist. There was no significant difference between him and the worst class. Cao Guangning chuckled inwardly, and there was a vicious glint in his eyes. ¡°The four elemental powers? Ha! The Forest of Death will be your burial place!¡± ¨C At the assembly point in front of the Forest of Death. The City Defense Team had set up a 100-meter-wide tent, and there was various military equipment placed inside. One of the soldiers was busy checking the equipment. ¡°Do a thorough check. The backup equipment team, follow them! This concerns the candidates¡¯ lives. We can¡¯t afford to be careless.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± After a while. Qin Feng pointed at the huge monitor that had been set up. ¡°Captain, everyone has entered the Forest of Death,¡± he reported. Xun Chengwu nodded and stared intently at the surveillance monitor. He would not allow any martial artist to lose their life if he could help it. But the candidates had only just entered the forest, and they were still at the perimeters of the forest. Typically, few beasts would be seen there. ¡°Show me the images of those talented martial artists that you told me previously,¡± Xu Chengwu instructed. Xun Chengwu finally relaxed when he saw that no incidents had happened yet. Very soon, Qin Feng pulled up the surveillance footage. ¡°This is Li Burou. She was the class president of Class A before she came here.¡± Her information was listed clearly beside her image. Name: Li Burou Age: 19 Class talent: Mentalist Elemental ability: Wind Vitality: 99 Combat power: Unknown She had not been tested for her strength yet, so they did not know her exact combat power. However, Xun Chengwu sucked in a sharp breath just seeing her vitality score alone. ¡°She has a Vitality of 99! That¡¯s an even higher score than me!¡± He was a martial artist who had attained Perfected Realm. Despite her being a martial artist who had newly awakened her talents, Xun Chengwu felt astounded. ¡°Great!¡± Words could not begin to describe the shock he felt. Xun Chengwu motioned for Qin Feng to switch to the next image. At the same time, the monitor also showed all the information relating to this particular martial artist. Name: Cao Guangning Age: 19 Class talent: Warrior Elemental ability: Lightning Vitality: 30 Combat Power: 3,500 (intermediate-level martial artist) ¡°Warrior talent with special Lightning Elemental, huh? This kid actually tested his combat strength! He¡¯s an intermediate-level martial artist¡­ Not bad,¡± commented Xu Chengwu. The special Lightning Elemental power that had caused a commotion among the students only received a ¡°not bad¡± evaluation from Xun Chengwu. ¡°Next.¡± The image changed once more. This time, a girl appeared on the screen. The girl was petite and cute. She had a snow-white puppy in her arms. She was humming a song while walking with a spring in her step. It was as if she was walking on a country road that had captivating scenery instead of the gloomy and scary Forest of Death. Xun Chengwu frowned and looked at the girl¡¯s information. Name: Bai Tiantian Age: 18 Class talent: Beast Tamer Elemental ability: Water Elemental Vitality: 99 Combat power: Unknown ¡°She¡¯s actually a Beast Tamer?¡± Xun Chengwu was very surprised. This was the first time he had seen a Beast Tamer. From this fact alone, one could tell how rare this talent was. It was rumored that Beast Tamers could tame dire beasts and demon beasts. The stronger they were, the higher their success rate. The strongest Beast Tamers could even raise an army of beasts, which could influence the outcome in small and medium-sized battlefields! Xun Chengwu mused for a bit. There were at most nine Beast Tamers recorded to date. The number of Beast Tamers could be counted with one hand. Bai Tiantian was the 10th Beast Tamer. Moreover, she was a beast tamer from the Quilton survival base. This was definitely a joyous occasion. ¡°All right! This is good!¡± complimented Xun Chengwu. Xun Chengwu pointed at the screen and was so happy that he smiled from ear to ear. ¡°It¡¯s really as you said, Feng. The martial artists who have awakened this time are really geniuses. Quick, let me see the genius who has control over the four basic Elemental abilities. I simply cannot wait anymore!¡± Xu Chengwu urged. ¡°Hang on. Let me find¡­ There you go!¡± said Qin Feng.¡± Qin Feng quickly pulled up the image of Su Hei. The next second, Qin Feng and Xun Chengwu were stunned. ¡°He is merely watching others fight. This is the top-notch genius that you mentioned?¡± ¨C Su Hei and the others were the earliest to enter the Forest of Death. They were also the first team to enter the central area of the Forest of Death. Similarly, they were also the first team to encounter dire beasts. ¡°How unlucky!¡± In front of Su Hei was a black python that was five meters tall and wide. Its length was immeasurable. Under its body, cracks appeared on the ground. With a swing of its tail, a towering tree collapsed. It seemed like its tail could sweep across the wilderness. In a breath¡¯s time, the dense forest within a radius of more than ten meters had already become bare. Su Hei tsked. ¡°This is a dire beast? It¡¯s indeed impressive.¡± This was the first time Su Hei had seen a dire beast with his own eyes. He could not help but be amazed by this creature. A mid-level beast that was only equivalent to an intermediate-level martial artist already had such destructive power. After a few rounds, Wang Dong, Li Hua, and the others suffered a crushing defeat. From the look of it, Senior Class One was about to be wiped out. Chapter 11 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°Su, if you continue to just stand there and stare, we¡¯re all going to be squashed to death by this snake! Help us!¡± Wang Dong was trapped under the python¡¯s body and could not breathe. It was all thanks to his plumpness and skin elasticity. If it were anyone else, they would have long been flattened like a pancake. ¡°What¡¯s the hurry? You¡¯re not dead yet. Endure it for a while longer,¡± replied Su Hei. As he spoke, Su Hei leaned against a broken tree root and sat down. He kept an eye on Wang Dong, Li Hua, Chu Chen, and the others who fought back aggressively while looking at the system screen. In the data given by the system, his strength was slowly changing. Fifty thousand one hundred¡­ Fifty thousand two hundred¡­ Fifty thousand three hundred¡­ Su Hei was very pleased. However, it was not because of his increasing strength, which increased at a snail¡¯s pace, but because of the others. He did not join the fight against the snake, yet there were changes in his strength. That could only mean that his classmates had not reached their limits and were also getting stronger while in combat. Chu Chen used himself as bait to attract the python¡¯s attention. As for Li Hua, she led her classmates and attacked the python¡¯s body barehanded. However, their attacks did not cause any serious damage to the snake. Although everyone had already awakened their talent and become martial artists, they had not undergone proper training. Hence, they did not have the knowledge of cultivation techniques and secret manuals which could greatly boost their combat power. It was very difficult for them to inflict fatal damage on the snake. ¡°Oh my goodness, Su, if you don¡¯t make a move soon, I¡¯m really going to die!¡± yelled Wang Dong. Having been trapped under the snake¡¯s massive body for some time, Wang Dong¡¯s face had already turned purple, but Su Hei still did not make any move. The speed at which his strength changed had decreased drastically. Despite that, his strength was still increasing. Thus, he was not able to move yet. In the distance, Jiang Jinyu did not make a move either, but her gaze was fixed on the enormous python¡¯s body. There was a red glow in her eyes that was scanning the snake continuously. That was the core talent of the Assassin talent, which was to lock onto the subject¡¯s weakness. The next second, Jiang Jinyu made her move. Swoosh! She ran toward her friends with astonishing speed, like an arrow released from its bow. She was so fast that only her shadow could be seen. The python hissed loudly. It continued to chase Chu Chen with its head held high. It did not notice that a black shadow had appeared below its head. Jiang Jinyu stood still and raised her head to stare at a spot on the snake¡¯s body. That was where its heart was, which was the python¡¯s Achilles heel. She leaped three meters up into the air. Following that, Jiang Jinyu placed her left hand on top of her right hand, which was holding onto a dagger tightly. A cold glint flashed across her eyes as she ruthlessly stabbed the snake. Hiss! An ear-splitting hiss filled the air. The enormous black python shook its head furiously, sending Jiang Jinyu flying like a cannonball. If one hit the ground at such speed, even if that martial artist survived the fall, he would definitely suffer severe injuries. Jiang Jinyu was aware of that. She closed her eyes in resignation, giving up on trying to save herself. At this moment, a figure flashed by quickly. This person was so fast that he could brush past the leaves without leaving a mark. Jiang Jinyu felt that she had fallen into a warm embrace. When she opened her eyes, she realized that it was Su Hei. ¡°All of you have reached your limits. Let me handle the rest,¡± said Su Hei. After placing Jiang Jinyu on the ground, Su Hei charged toward the giant black python. Without any cultivation techniques or secret manuals, Su Hei could only fight with his bare hands. Fortunately, he was very powerful. He was so powerful that he could kill this hideous beast instantly. ¡°All of you, back off!¡± Su Hei yelled. With that, he leaped into the air. He clenched his fists so hard that they made cracking sounds. The power in his waist gathered in his fists through every nerve in his body. Everyone retreated. Only Wang Dong was left under the python¡¯s stomach, trapped and unable to move. Su Hei aimed at the black python¡¯s head and unleashed a move called ¡°Rising Dragon Tyrant¡±. ¡°Die!¡± he bellowed. This was Su Hei¡¯s first time fighting a beast, so he did not know how much damage his move could cause. Having put all of his power into that punch, the massive snake that was dozens of meters tall was sent flying up into the sky! It exploded in midair, turning into a bloody mist. Fifty-two thousand one hundred¡­ Su Hei, who had landed on the ground, realized that his strength had changed because of the punch just now. ¡°My strength changes after I exert my full strength. Is this considered a stimulating breakthrough?¡± he thought. Su Hei smiled and looked up. Only now did he realize that everyone, including Wang Dong, Chu Chen, and Li Hua was staring at him in shock. Even Jiang Jinyu, who was always composed, had a stupefied expression now. ¡°Su, more than ten of us attacked the beast at the same time, but we were defeated by it. You actually managed to kill it with one move?¡± Wang Dong said. Wang Dong could not believe the disparity in combat power between them and Su Hei. Jiang Jinyu, who had snapped back to her senses, had an indifferent look again. ¡°What¡¯s there to doubt? Don¡¯t forget that President Su has awakened four elemental powers,¡± she remarked. With Jiang Jinyu¡¯s reminder, everyone¡¯s shock disappeared. ¡°I haven¡¯t witnessed Su Hei¡¯s prowess enough yet. I guess we¡¯ll get used to it after witnessing his prowess a few more times.¡± Wang Dong shook his head helplessly. ¨C In the army tent. In front of the huge screen. 10 to 20 warriors from the City Defense Team, including Xun Chengwu and Qin Feng, all looked at the screen in shock. What they had seen stirred up waves in their hearts. ¡°That is a mid-grade Savage black python, but he managed to kill it with one punch. This doesn¡¯t seem like something a human can do.¡± Qin Feng smiled bitterly. ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell just now, but I now know that this kid isn¡¯t trying to give up. A man of true talent never shows off!¡± Xun Chengwu¡¯s mouth fell open in surprise. Xun Chengwu could also instantly kill a mid-grade Savage beast, but Su Hei was merely a martial artist with newly awakened talents. Furthermore, he was unarmed and did not learn any cultivation techniques yet. Xun Chengwu felt that if he was in Su Hei¡¯s place, he would not be able to do it. ¡°Call the commander. I want to tell him that such a talented person has appeared in the Quilton base!¡± he ordered. ¨C At the edge of the Forest of Death. Cao Guangning was in the forest by himself, and he was looking about everywhere. He was delighted when he saw an incomparably large twisted tree. He quickly walked over and lowered his voice. ¡°Mr. Xu! Mr. Xu?¡± he whispered. After a while, there was a rustling in the forest. A voice rang out. ¡°Nobody knows you¡¯re here, right?¡± Cao Guangning said casually, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Xu. I told the rest that I have to attend to a call of nature before leaving the team. No one followed me. You can come out now!¡± Only after hearing that did Xu Weicheng peek out. He looked around his surroundings vigilantly. After confirming that it was safe, he stepped out. ¡°It¡¯s never wrong to be more vigilant,¡± he explained. There was a casual tone to his voice. Cao Guangning nodded and then asked, ¡°There¡¯s something that I¡¯m curious about.¡± ¡°I want to kill Su Hei so that I can further my position in the City Defense Team. Why are you helping me, Mr. Xu? Su Hei has already left the martial arts academy, so there¡¯s no point in you doing this.¡± At the mention of this, Xu Weicheng¡¯s face suddenly turned ferocious. ¡°Because of that kid, Class D has now become an elite class. In the martial arts academy, there are only a few elderly losers and I left who are the teachers of normal classes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible for the academy to remove the normal classes. In other words, as long as I don¡¯t successfully nurture a martial artist who¡¯s even more talented than that fellow, I will forever only be a teacher of a normal class.¡± ¡°As long as I don¡¯t get rid of that kid, I will never be able to have my day!¡± Only then did Cao Guangning realize that because of Su Hei, Class D had become an elite class. The lousiest class was now lording it over them! He could not tolerate this! A similar ferocious expression appeared on his face, but it was even worse than Xu Weicheng¡¯s. ¡°He¡¯s just an intermediate-level martial artist. I¡¯m also an intermediate-level martial artist! Coupled with the things you gave me, I¡¯ll be able to kill him one on one!¡± ¡°But he has many people with him. I¡¯m afraid that if I make a move, I¡¯ll be discovered by the others,¡± said Cao Guangning. Xu Weicheng frowned when he heard that. But soon, he said with a vicious expression, ¡°Then, kill them all!¡± Cao Guangning was stunned. Xu Weicheng smiled coldly. ¡°Just do it like this¡­¡± Chapter 12 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C After a while. Cao Guangning returned to his team. One of his lackeys approached him. That lackey had buck teeth and his mouth stuck out. He said smilingly, ¡°Cao, you went so far just to answer nature¡¯s call. Those teams who set off later than us have already entered the forest.¡± Cao Guangning was in a good mood, and he smiled back. ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting,¡± he replied. He chuckled heartily at the thought that Su Hei had already gotten into a pickle. ¡°The obstacles ahead of us have been removed. It¡¯s our time to shine! Let¡¯s go, guys! Kill the beasts and get the token!¡± Cao Guangning yelled. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± ¨C In the army tent. Qin Feng kept switching between the different images and deeply frowned. ¡°Captain, there seems to be a situation.¡± As Qin Feng spoke, he switched the image that he saw over to the big monitor. Soon, everyone turned their gazes to the monitor. The large monitor displayed a scene from the depths of the Forest of Death. Dust flew everywhere and the roars of beasts filled the sky. A towering tree had been destroyed, and it split in two. ¡°Put the detector closer.¡± Xun Chengwu also knitted his brows. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Qin Feng nodded and quickly zoomed in on the image. Only then could everyone clearly see what was happening. There were dozens of dire beasts! Xun Chengwu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°Black-ringed leopards? They usually don¡¯t perform their activities in the center of the forest, so why are they all moving toward the center?¡± he wondered. The Forest of Death was extremely vast. The closer they were to the center, the stronger the dire beasts and demon beasts living there were. There were even spirit-level beasts whose power was equivalent to a martial artist who was a Grandmaster. Although the black-ringed leopard was the weakest ferocious beast in the central area, it was a dire beast that lived in groups. Therefore, once they arrived at the center of the forest, they would be a crushing existence to all other beings! If the students encountered those leopards, they would be dealt devastating blows. ¡°There are a total of 53 black-ringed leopards. Among them, 46 are mid-grade Savage, 6 are high-grade Savage, and the Leopard King is a superior-grade Savage beast.¡± Dire beasts were different from humans. They could not control their strength. Qin Feng took advantage of that fact to control 10 detectors at the same time. Very soon, he managed to find out the strength of these black-ringed leopards. Everybody who was in the tent looked at the screen. Information regarding the black-ringed leopards was listed there. All of them gasped, and they felt chills running down their spines. It was as if they had heard the sound of nails scratching on a chalkboard. They would have a slim chance of survival if they encountered such a powerful beast pack, let alone those recruits! ¡°Qin Feng, keep an eye on the detector and keep me posted.¡± With that, Xun Chengwu grabbed the saber on the table and quickly walked out of the camp. Before Qin Feng could reply, Xun Chengwu started to shout. ¡°Team 3 will stay behind and guard the area. The rest of you, follow me!¡± he ordered. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± ¨C Su Hei and the others had already ended the battle sometime back. Many of them had gotten injured while battling the black python. Chu Chen and Wang Dong had the most severe injuries. After all, Chu Chen had to make sure that the python¡¯s attention was on him and withstand its direct attack, while Wang Dong was stuck under the python. Originally, Su Hei intended to send them back to the assembly point for them to recuperate. After which, he would make new plans. Suddenly, Wang Dong placed his palms over the bruises on his body. A faint blue light emitted from his hands, and his injuries started to heal in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. After witnessing that, Su Hei changed his mind about sending them back to the assembly point. Su Hei could not help but feel startled by what he had seen. ¡°So this is the restoration ability that a Priest has! How incredible!¡± After dealing with Chu Chen¡¯s wounds, Wang Dong felt lightheaded and fell to the ground. ¡°After healing myself and Chu Chen, I¡¯m feeling a little weak. My body can¡¯t take it anymore,¡± Wang Dong said. He was panting heavily and wearily wiping away the sweat from his forehead. Chu Chen felt guilty when he noticed that Wang Dong seemed even more exhausted than he was when he was wounded. ¡°Thank you, Wang Dong!¡± he said gratefully. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so polite. After all, we¡¯re a team! Your role is to prevent us from getting hurt by the beast, while my role is to provide support to you guys. This is what I ought to do,¡± replied Wang Dong. He smiled widely, letting all his front teeth show. Chu Chen could not help but smile back at him. Su Hei laughed along with them. From this moment onward, they were no longer just classmates, but close comrades who had fought together and survived a near-death experience. On the other side. After having rested for several hours, Wang Dong was able to recover enough strength to heal everyone. Everyone on the team had recovered their combat strength, and they headed deep into the Forest of Death. They encountered dire beasts on their way in, but those dire beasts were traveling solo. In addition, they were not powerful, so Su Hei did not bother to fight them. As long as there were changes in his team members¡¯ combat strengths, Su Hei would be able to integrate all of that into himself. He was delighted to have such an effortless way of becoming stronger. Everyone cheered when they saw a midnight wolf fall to the ground dead. That wolf had a height of six meters and a body length of eight meters. ¡°Su, this is the 40th dire beast that we¡¯ve killed. Currently, we already have eight qualifying spots on our team,¡± reported Wang Dong while flailing his arms excitedly. Su Hei nodded slightly. At this rate, they would be able to return to the assembly area before noon the next day. ¡°Be sure to collect all of the animal skin, animal bones, and all other materials. After a short break, we¡¯ll continue heading inward,¡± remarked Su Hei. ¡°All right, Su!¡± At this moment, Su Hei looked toward the depths of the forest. He had vaguely heard some commotion going on, and it was heading in their direction. As the sound drew closer, it became clearer. A thundering sound came from nowhere. As the sound got closer to them, the trees started to sway noticeably. Fallen leaves rustled and flew away. The ground had begun to shake, and its intensity was increasing by the second. Even Su Hei¡¯s team, who were busy cleaning up the remains of the dire beasts, noticed that something was off. ¡°It¡¯s an earthquake?¡± ¡°No, this can¡¯t be an earthquake. This sounds as though there is a horde of animals running wildly.¡± There was fear in everyone¡¯s eyes. Everyone knew that something that could cause such a huge commotion was definitely not an ordinary beast. ¡°Dire beasts! There are so many dire beasts!¡± someone cried out. Everyone saw that under the dust storm that was dozens of meters high, dense black figures were rushing toward them like bolts of lightning. Those dire beasts were so fast. In the blink of an eye, there were only a hundred meters between them and the dire beasts. ¡°Run!¡± Seeing that there was such an alarming number of dire beasts, Su Hei did not hesitate to flee. Although he could fight those beasts head-on, Wang Dong, Li Hua, and the rest could not. Hearing his command, everyone dashed in the opposite direction of the horde. One thing was certain. If they hesitated, they would die. The black-ringed leopard was famous for its speed. The stronger it was, the faster its speed was. The Leopard King, a superior-grade Savage beast, was so fast that he outran his shadow. Instantly, it caught up to someone. ¡°Su, the dire beast has caught up to Wu Dahai. You lead our friends to safety. I¡¯ll head back and save Wu Dahai. We will bring up the rear!¡± said Wang Dong. He noticed Wu Dahai¡¯s predicament, so after saying those words to Su Hei, Wang Dong turned around and stopped running. He shouted, ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°You b*stard! Do you have the guts to come and get me?¡± he taunted. Dire beasts that were at the Savage level had low intelligence. However, the Leopard King was about to get a breakthrough to the Spirit level, so it was equivalent to being a 10-year-old kid. It could tell that Wang Dong was jeering at it, and it raised its head to the sky and roared angrily. Roar! The thunderous roar echoed around them loudly, smashing the fallen leaves. The forest was filled with sounds, and Wang Dong¡¯s ears were ringing. Seeing that Wang Dong was in pain, the Leopard King grabbed hold of that opportunity to bend his body, gathering strength. Suddenly, like a bullet, he shot out toward Wang Dong. In the blink of an eye, he had crossed a distance of more than 10 meters. His sharp claws flashed, and he swiped at Wang Dong¡¯s head. Under that terrifying power, Wang Dong was so frightened that his legs went limp and he remained motionless. ¡°Scram!¡± At this moment, a deafening voice was heard. Su Hei punched the Leopard King¡¯s head hard. The force of the blow caused him to back up a few steps. Chapter 13 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C The sheer force of Su Hei¡¯s punch knocked the superior-grade Savage black-ringed Leopard King back a little. In the military camp, everyone stared at the screen in stupefaction. ¡°This kid is definitely not just an intermediate-level martial artist.¡± Xun Chengwu¡¯s voice went off in the earpiece Qin Feng was wearing. Even through the earpiece, Qin Feng could hear Xun Chengwu¡¯s amazement. The feeling of incredulity that Xun Chengwu felt was much more intense than others. Xun Chengwu was a martial artist who was in the Perfected Realm. Thus, he could also defeat the black-ringed Leopard King with a single punch. However, Su Hei had just become a martial artist. It was not even 10 hours since he had awakened his talent, yet he could achieve this. Xun Chengwu thought, ¡°This fellow is definitely more powerful than what we assumed!¡± ¡°The beasts are not going to let the recruits off, and they will keep chasing after the recruits! I want all of you to increase your speed!¡± Xun Chengwu commanded. After giving that order, he increased his speed and dashed off. Everyone else also dashed forward at full speed. In the Forest of Death, hundreds of dark silhouettes charged forward, overtaking one another in the process. ¨C The force of Su Hei¡¯s punch caused the Leopard King to stagger backward. Wang Dong seized that opportunity to run to Wu Dahai. Wu Dahai¡¯s leg was so badly mangled that one could vaguely see his broken blood vessels and bones. Raw anger shot through Wang Dong when he witnessed the horrible sight. ¡°Su, Dahai¡¯s leg is broken because of that beast! Kill it!¡± he yelled. Wu Dahai was sweating profusely from the searing pain that he felt. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to speak. ¡°Class President, leave me behind. This beast is exceptionally powerful. I don¡¯t stand a chance against it. You guys should leave, I¡¯ll hold them back!¡± urged Wu Dahai. Su Hei moved to stand in front of Wang Dong and Wu Dahai. He threw a glance at Wu Dahai¡¯s injured leg. He wanted to avenge Wu Dahai, but he was aware that it would be no easy task. After all, one black-ringed leopard king was already difficult to deal with, much less the 52 black-ringed leopards that were behind it. ¡°Carry Dahai and leave quickly.¡± Su Hei urged Wang Dong. The Black Ring Leopard King flipped back onto its legs and gripped the floor with all four of its claws. Its eyes flickered with a scarlet light as it stared intently at Su Hei. It seemed to have sensed that Su Hei was different and more powerful than others, and it circled Su Hei cautiously. Roar! Many roars sounded. The black-ringed leopards could not hold back their urge of wanting to tear Su Hei apart. But soon, they were silenced by the Leopard King¡¯s fierce roar. It wanted to take down this powerful human on its own. ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting for you up ahead.¡± Wang Dong knew that this was not the time for him to show his brotherly affection for Su Hei. Hence, he quickly piggyback Wu Dahai and left. Su Hei faced the Leopard King and gave it a hard, cold stare. ¡°Ha!¡± He clenched his right fist tightly, let out a roar, and smashed his fist onto the ground with all his might. Boom! Under that huge impact, cracks appeared on the ground and the ground smashed into pieces. Su Hei moved his fingers slightly. A light breeze started up and tossed those lumps of soil toward the black-ringed leopards. Bang! Bang! Bang! The black-ringed leopards scattered immediately after that. Some unlucky ones were struck at their vital spots and perished. The Black Ring Leopard King looked at its injured tribe mercilessly. When it turned around, it realized that the culprit had already run a hundred meters away. ¡°What a despicable human! He flees after attacking us!¡± the Leopard King thought angrily. Roar! Leopard King raised his head and roared angrily. He was transmitting an order to his tribe. The black-ringed leopards were to surround Su Hei and kill him. Disregarding the wounds on their bodies, the pack of black-ringed leopards once again dashed toward Su Hei. They sprinted so fast that their legs were a blur. The scarlet glint in their eyes was flashing with ferocity. ¨C Qin Feng was standing in front of the monitor. He was so shocked that his jaw dropped. Just by relying on the gravitational impact of the gravel, Su Hei could heavily injure the beast pack and even killed a mid-grade Savage black-ringed leopard! He thought, ¡°If we give this guy some time to master his talent and Elemental abilities, and he cultivates a top-notch cultivation technique, that move that he made earlier would be able to wipe out those beasts instantly!¡± Qin Feng tapped on the wireless radio. ¡°The beasts have been thoroughly provoked, and all of them are enraged. According to the current route, the recruits will eventually be obstructed when they reach Occlude Mountain,¡± he informed. On the other end of the earpiece, Xun Chengwu¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°That¡¯s very dangerous, but we¡¯ll arrive within ten minutes, tops!¡± Xun Chengwu said. ¨C With the gravel holding the beasts off, Su Hei instantly put distance between himself and the beasts by half a mile. Soon, he caught up to Wang Dong and Wu Dahai. ¡°Su, did you kill all of them?¡± Wang Dong asked abruptly. ¡°Su? Oh, so you know that I¡¯m a person, not a divine being,¡± remarked Su Hei sarcastically. As Su Hei sped up, he glanced at Wang Dong with contempt. ¡°Can¡¯t you hear the roars behind us? They¡¯re about to catch up. Speed up.¡± The disparity in strength between the beasts and themselves was so significant. Unless he was possessed by a divine being, Su Hei did not dare to fight head-on with those dire beasts. All of the obstacles that would hinder their route had already been cleared out of the way for them. Hence, the route that Su Hei and Wang Dong took was smooth sailing all the way. However, it was evident that the black-ringed leopards had the advantage of speed. The sounds of pursuit were pressing in on them. Danger still followed closely behind them. ¡°Just leave me behind, Wang Dong. I¡¯m slowing you guys down. Put me down,¡± said Wu Dahai. He had anguish on his face, but it was not because of his wound. He was upset that he had implicated his pals. Because of him, Su Hei and Wang Dong were in danger. Wang Dong was still carrying Wu Dahai. He reached back to slap the latter¡¯s butt. ¡°Cut the crap. We won¡¯t give up on any of our companions.¡± Su Hei took a deep breath and tried to calm Wu Dahai down. ¡°If you don¡¯t want us to become food for the black-ringed leopards, stay quiet. Don¡¯t speak. That way, Wang Dong and I can focus our energy on running.¡± Upon hearing that, Wu Dahai sighed helplessly. For the time being, Su Hei could not think of a good way to escape. Therefore, he could only lead Wang Dong and follow in the footsteps of the main group. But soon, the two of them stopped. This was because, in front of them, there was a cliff with no end in sight. The Forest of Death was full of wild, overgrown bushes and undergrowth. The trees were so thick one could not see the sky through their branches. Hence, only when they got to the foot of the mountain did they see the hundred-meter-tall cliff. Meanwhile, Li Hua and the others were waiting anxiously for them at the bottom of the cliff. ¡°Su Hei!¡± Li Hua sized him up nervously. After confirming that Su Hei was not injured, she heaved a sigh of relief. The others also surrounded Wang Dong and helped to carry Wu Dahai off his back. ¡°The herd of beasts is not far behind us. Are both the left and right routes walkable?¡± asked Su Hei. He knitted his brows and spoke in a low voice. ¡°Lin Ye has brought people with her to look at the left route. That route is not feasible.¡± Li Hua shook her head. ¡°Jiang Jinyu went to check the right route, but she hasn¡¯t returned yet.¡± Just as she finished speaking, Jiang Jinyu¡¯s figure appeared in front of her. ¡°There¡¯s no end to the cliff, but there¡¯s a long and narrow valley about three kilometers away. I didn¡¯t have time to go in and investigate,¡± Jiang Jinyu reported. At this moment, the ice maiden was also frowning and panting with fatigue. Just as she finished speaking, the black-ringed leopards¡¯ roars started once again. ¡°There¡¯s no time to think. Lead the way.¡± Su Hei made a decisive decision on the spot. If they continued to wait, they would die. There was still a chance of survival if they went to the valley that Jiang Jinyu mentioned. The group of people hurriedly followed Jiang Jinyu to the route on the right. After a while, they appeared at the entrance of the valley. Similar to the forest, the canopy of trees was so dense that light could barely break through the foliage. A cold wind blew through the narrow passageway. ¡°Su, are we really going in? Why do I feel that this place is even more terrifying than the black-ringed leopard behind us?¡± Wang Dong stood behind Su Hei. He was scared and acting like a frightened child. ¡°Let¡¯s enter!¡± remarked Su Hei. He did not dare to hesitate and took the lead in entering the valley. The others followed closely behind Su Hei. Li Hua, Jiang Jinyu, and Wang Dong brought up the rear. The three of them had just stepped into the valley when the next instant, they heard a sound. Roar! Roar! Roar! The group of black-ringed leopards appeared behind them. Li Hua and Jiang Jinyu watched the herd of beasts vigilantly. Only Wang Dong was shocked, and he started to panic. However, he quickly realized that all the black-ringed leopards, including the Black-Ringed Leopard King, were only standing outside the valley and roaring with all their might. Even if Wang Dong stepped forward and got close to them, those beasts still did not dare to enter the valley. ¡°Hahaha, animals, come in if you have the guts!¡± ¡°Everyone, look. They¡¯re so angry that their eyes have turned green!¡± Wang Dong laughed mockingly. He turned his back and slapped his ass with a resounding smack, taunting the dire beasts. When the others saw that, they also rushed over. Wang Dong wanted to vent his anger at the dire beasts because of the pathetic state he had been in earlier when they were chasing him. Everyone was laughing, but a wave of cold chills went down Su Hei¡¯s back. If he was not mistaken, he detected fear in the eyes of the black-ringed leopards. Su Hei suddenly turned around and stared fixedly at the quiet and peaceful-looking valley. Su Hei wondered, ¡°What is hidden here? It can even terrify superior-grade Savage beasts to the extent that they don¡¯t dare to enter.¡± Chapter 14 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C In the central region of the Forest of Death. Xun Chengwu led his army of men, charging with all they had got. Having pushed his body to the limit, took a toll on his body and Xun Chengwu¡¯s forehead was covered in sweat. There was a sudden burst of static. ¡°Captain!¡± Suddenly, Qin Feng¡¯s voice came from the wireless intercom. ¡°Su Hei and the others suddenly changed their direction. Now, all of them have entered the Occlude Valley.¡± ¡°What!¡± Upon hearing that, Xun Chengwu¡¯s eyes were wide open in astonishment. There was a distance of 300 miles between the west and east of the mountain. Occlude Mountain was located in a straight line in the central region of the Forest of Death, dividing the forest into two sections. The cliff was nearly a thousand meters tall. It was so steep that it was almost vertical. Even agile martial artists could not climb it. That meant that Xun Chengwu and his men had to take a hundred-mile detour to continue with their journey. There was another way, which was for them to travel through the valley that was located in the middle of Occlude Mountain. They only needed to travel several miles, passing through the mountain, to reach the center of the Forest of Death. However, in the Occlude Valley, a dire beast called the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf lived there. It was a beginner-level Spirit dire beast, which was equivalent to a martial artist who was already a Grandmaster! ¡°Damn it! This is pushing us to a corner, leaving us with no way out!¡± Xun Chengwu was silent for a long time before he finally said that. That was a beginner-grade Spirit beast! Even if all the martial artists from Team One¡ªincluding him¡ªattacked it together, they would still die. Grandmasters were incredibly powerful. Everyone who was at a lower level than them was akin to ants in their eyes. As for a beginner-level Spirit beast, it could create hell on earth. The gap between an ordinary martial artist and a Grandmaster was immeasurable. ¡°Actually, there¡¯s still a way.¡± Qin Feng¡¯s voice sounded again from the wireless intercom. ¡°I remember that when the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf was still a Savage, the City Defense Team had placed a scroll inside the valley as a trial for the recruits. At that time, no one managed to obtain the scroll. Thus, Su Hei and the others will be safe so long as they manage to get the scroll.¡± Xun Chengwu listened as Qin Feng gave that suggestion. After that, he quickly asked, ¡°You want those brats who are still participating in the recruit examination to fight Spirit dire beasts?¡± On the other end of the intercom, Qin Feng was silent. He did not know what to say. Everyone knew that this was impossible. But at the same time, Xun Chengwu knew that Qin Feng was right. Obtaining the scroll was the youths¡¯ only hope of survival. ¡°Kids, it¡¯s up to you now,¡± thought Xun Chengwu. He felt helpless about the situation. He moved at full speed, raising lots of dust behind him. ¨C At the entrance to the Occlude Valley. The black-ringed leopards ignored Wang Dong and the others¡¯ provocations, but they did not leave. They retreated to 500 meters away and sat down, staring fixedly at Su Hei and the others. Realizing that he could not incite a response from them, Wang Dong felt bored. ¡°Su, they are guarding the entrance. We won¡¯t be able to leave. In that case, why don¡¯t we go inward?¡± he asked. ¡°No.¡± Su Hei shook his head. ¡°We will stay here,¡± he added. Wang Dong felt confused about Su Hei¡¯s decision. ¡°But we don¡¯t know when these black-ringed leopards will leave. Moreover, they can hunt for food outside. There aren¡¯t any wild fruits to be found here. If this impasse continues, we¡¯ll starve,¡± argued Wang Dong. Li Hua slapped the back of Wang Dong¡¯s head. ¡°Food is the only thing on your mind. Su Hei naturally has his reasons for wanting us to stay here. If you want to leave, you may leave by yourself,¡± chided Li Hua. Wang Dong immediately cowered when he heard Li Hua berating him. Just as his butt touched the ground¡­ A howl sounded. It was an eerie, bone-chilling howl that came from the depths of the valley. At the same time, after hearing that howl, the group of black-ringed leopards that had settled outside the valley was startled. Their fur instantly stood on end. The Black Ring Leopard King roared at Su Hei indignantly and hurriedly fled with its tribe. ¡°Su, those beasts have run off!¡± remarked Wang Dong. He cheered, despite not knowing the reason for that. Su Hei threw a glance outside. He made sure that the black-ringed leopards had run off. After that, he shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s run too! Run in the opposite direction from the black-ringed leopards.¡± However, it was too late. At this moment, blood drained from everyone¡¯s faces and their pupils dilated in fear. All of them were staring into the depths of the valley. Su Hei turned around and his heart skipped a beat. From the depths of the valley, a massive black shadow stepped out. It was a wolf-shaped dire beast. Its boulder-like head was seven to eight meters above the ground, and its body was covered in ebony fur. Every tuft of fur glinted like steel needles. The wolf had a total of eight eyes, and its eyes were arranged into vertical rows on either side of its face. Its eyes were blood-red, and it was staring coldly at Su Hei and his companions. Its gaze was so chilly that many people¡¯s legs gave way under them. They could only stand with the support of the people beside them. ¡°The Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf is different from ordinary wolves. Though it enjoys a solitary life, it¡¯s very powerful. Most of the time, such beasts are superior-grade Savage,¡± informed Jiang Jinyu. She was holding onto a manual. On the cover of the manual was the title ¡°Encyclopedia of Dire Beasts¡±. Hearing her words, many people¡¯s hearts shuddered within them. ¡°This Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf is not that simple,¡± Su Hei thought to himself. The Black Ring Leopard King was also a superior-grade Savage beast. It could not be afraid of dire beasts of the same level. Su Hei looked at the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf warily. Though he was looking at it from afar, Su Hei could still sense a bloodthirsty aura emitting from the eight scarlet eyes. The intensity of its aura alone was enough to render a strong blow to beginner-level martial artists. That was the reason why many people¡¯s legs went weak. ¡°Can you guys run?¡± Su Hei asked loudly. He did not turn around as he was afraid that the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf would seize the chance to pounce on him if he did so. Li Hua quickly shook her head. ¡°Seven of them can¡¯t move at all. Additionally, for four of them, their legs¡¯ have turned gooey beneath them. Their speed will decrease drastically,¡± she whispered. The situation was not optimistic. ¡°We only have two ways out of this,¡± Su Hei said in a low voice. ¡°Preserve your strength first and then flee if you¡¯re able to. Either that or all of us will fight to the death together.¡± After he finished his sentence, Wang Dong, Li Hua, Jiang Jinyu, and Chu Chen immediately responded at the same time. ¡°Fight to the death!¡± ¡°We will not leave behind any of us!¡± ¡°All of us transmigrated to this world together. We won¡¯t do something like leaving our teammates behind just so that we can live!¡± Su Hei gave a pleased smile. This was a different world from their previous world. More than anything, it valued capability and strength. However, from the look of things, his classmates had not changed. ¡°Guys, listen to me!¡± hollered Su Hei. He made a heroic pose. The more everyone panicked, the more he had to show that he was composed. ¡°This Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf is very powerful. It¡¯s even more powerful than the Leopard King. None of us is its match!¡± ¡°However, please remember that all of us transmigrated to this world together! We¡¯re family, and we¡¯re the only ones who have otherworldly blood in us!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be the first to state my stance. I, Su Hei, will never abandon my brothers and sisters and leave you to fend for yourselves while I escape by myself,¡± Su Hei swore. He spoke in a very loud voice. As he made his speech, it was as if a glow had enveloped him. Everyone¡¯s eyes were glued to him. That was the core talent of the Leader talent. It was the ability to stir up everyone¡¯s emotions. ¡°Those who have the same thought as me, follow me and charge! Fight our way out of here!¡± Su Hei added. He stepped out. Su Hei¡¯s body was brimming with power. At that moment, he was like an armored train whose brake failed to work. His body exploded with an appalling and horrifying momentum. Su Hei strode forward. With one step, he moved 10 meters closer to the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf. With 10 steps, he was 100 meters closer to it. In the blink of an eye, he hammered his fist into the beast¡¯s head. The impact of his fist was like a meteorite hitting the ground. ¡°Bloody hell! In terms of fighting, the Senior Class One has never backed down. Kill that damn beast!¡± ¡°Kill it!¡± ¡°Follow the class president and fight our way out!¡± Su Hei boosted the students¡¯ morale and inspired them to fight. They had ferocious looks on their faces and their war cries resounded throughout the valley. Chapter 15 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Roar! In the eyes of the Eight-Eyed black wolf, everyone was akin to ants. Seeing that those ants dared launch an attack at it, the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf opened its blood-filled mouth wide and roared in fury. Instantly, Su Hei¡¯s nostrils were assaulted by a pungent stench. Because of that unbearable odor, his punches got a little slower. ¡°Nasty beast!¡± he cursed. Su Hei¡¯s eyes were ice-cold. A burst of aura suddenly exploded from him. A punch that contained 60,000 pounds of combat strength landed in the space between the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s brows. Boom! His punch was so powerful that the entire forest was shaking from it. Roar! The Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf turned to look at Su Hei, wanting to swallow him whole. Luckily, because of that powerful punch and taking advantage of gravity, Su Hei could quickly land on the ground and avoid its move. ¡°This fellow has a really hard head,¡± commented Su Hei. He quickly avoided the beast¡¯s attacks. Su Hei could feel that after delivering that powerful punch earlier, his fist was a little numb now. He had used all his might in that punch, yet it was not enough to hurt the wolf at all. ¡°Chu Chen!¡± Su Hei yelled. Chu Chen quickly got beside Su Hei, taking over his spot. As a martial artist who had Shield talent, even if he was made of flesh and bones, Chu Chen¡¯s body was still more durable and resilient than that of other martial artists. Hence, Chu Chen was the most suitable person to take the brunt of the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s attack. ¡°Everyone, aim at its body and then hit with all your might!¡± ordered Su Hei. As he gave the command, he quickly rushed toward Jiang Jinyu. ¨C In the military camp. Including Qin Feng, everyone in the City Defense Team was staring intently at the respective detectors that they were in charge of. ¡°Feng, what¡¯s the situation now?¡± Xun Chengwu¡¯s voice came from the wireless intercom. Having traveled at full speed for such a long period, even Xun Chengwu found that this was too much for him to bear. ¡°The black-ringed leopards have left, but the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf saw them. Both sides are locked in a stalemate now,¡± reported Qin Feng. ¡°In Su Hei¡¯s team, there¡¯s quite a lot of people who aren¡¯t able to run.¡± ¡°But it seems like Su Hei doesn¡¯t intend to give up on them.¡± ¡°Su Hei? H-he¡­ I can¡¯t believe he¡­¡± Qin Feng¡¯s words trailed off. As he was reporting to Xun Chengwu on Su Hei¡¯s latest updates, Qin Feng suddenly widened his eyes and stared at the monitor in disbelief. Xun Chengwu¡¯s voice came over the intercom once more. He urged Qin Feng to continue speaking. ¡°What? What has happened to Su Hei?¡± Xun Chengwu asked. Qin Feng inhaled a sharp breath. Only after confirming that his eyes were not playing tricks on him did he give a reply to Xun Chengwu. ¡°Su Hei has led his team in launching an attack on the wolf!¡± he informed. After he finished his sentence, everyone present was startled. Xun Chengwu¡¯s disbelieving voice blared once more over the intercom. ¡°W-what did you say?¡± ¡°Are you sure of it?¡± Everyone was like mere ants in the eyes of a Grandmaster. An army of ants launching an attack on a Grandmaster¡ªThat was equivalent to a suicide mission! ¡°This is a sticky situation!¡± Xun Chengwu had a distressed look on his face. Despite that, he was still traveling at full speed. ¨C In the valley. Everyone fought ferociously. Chu Chen was responsible for leading a team of martial artists who had defensive-type of combat talents. They surrounded the wolf¡¯s head and continued to attack it fearlessly. From time to time, someone would be knocked backward when they got struck by the beast. However, after that person spat out a mouthful of blood, he stood back up and rejoined the fight. As for Li Hua, she led a team of martial artists who had offense-based combat talents and attacked the lower part of the beast¡¯s body. ¡°Its head is as hard as copper, and its bones are like iron. But its waist is as soft as tofu. Li Hua, let¡¯s direct all our attacks at its waist,¡± said Jiang Jinyu. After saying that, Jiang Jinyu quickened her steps and dashed toward the wolf. Li Hua also cooperated with her and got closer to the beast¡¯s waist. Bang! There was a loud collision sound as Jiang Jinyu and Li Hua focused on attacking the beast, landing blow after blow on the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s body. Unfortunately, they underestimated the difference between themselves and a beast that was at the Spirit level. The wolf suddenly flew into a rage! ¡°Retreat!¡± Li Hua yelled. She immediately noticed something was wrong. Unfortunately, Li Hua was not agile enough so she was sent flying out when the beast rammed its massive head into her. Every martial artist who was attacking the wolf felt a powerful force emerge from it, and they were sent flying backward. Jiang Jinyu managed to evade this powerful wave because her Assassin talent gave her an agility advantage. Li Hua suffered the most damage. She flew 20 meters through the air before landing on the ground. Li Hua spat out some blood and tried to stand. ¡°Watch out, Li Hua!¡± Someone shouted to warn her. Only then did everyone see that the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf had dashed in front of Li Hua with lightning speed. A stench of rottenness and decay wafted up into Li Hua¡¯s face. There were specks of dried blood on the beast¡¯s claws. Rip! There was a ripping sound. Drops of blood dripped from its claws. ¡°Huahua!¡± Su Hei had a savage look on his face, and he fixed the beast with a baleful look. Su Hei strode vigorously over to Li Hua. He clenched his fists so hard that his veins were popping out. Small sparks started to emerge from his clenched fist, gradually turning into flames. He delivered a fiery punch onto the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s neck. ¨C In the military camp. Qin Feng stared at the monitor with wide eyes. ¡°Sh*t¡­ Am I seeing things? Su Hei can envelop his body with his elemental power?¡± Everyone was staring at the screen with astonishment. Especially when they saw flames burning on Su Hei¡¯s fist, they were all in an uproar. Xun Chengwu was on the move, and when he heard Qin Feng¡¯s exclamation through the intercom, he could not help but feel puzzled. ¡°That¡¯s a trait of someone who has become a Grandmaster. It¡¯s nothing to make a fuss over,¡± Xun Chengwu said. Qin Feng¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed and waves of excited emotion rolled through him. ¡°Su Hei has very stable fire elemental power appearing on his fists.¡± Xun Chengwu could not believe his ears. ¡°What!¡± he exclaimed. He was rendered speechless. ¡°A-are you sure about that?¡± Xun Chengwu was slightly breathless, and he could not even pronounce his words properly. ¡°To think that a teenager who has just awakened his talent has traits of a Grandmaster on him and can surround his fists with fire. His talent is so terrifying!¡± Qin Feng rubbed his eyes and blinked hard. ¡°This is real! It¡¯s real!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°This fellow is terrifying. Is he really only 18 years old?¡± Everyone was plunged into deep shock. As martial artists, their aptitudes were the most important. Many people tried their entire lives but were unable to become Grandmasters. However, this eighteen-year-old teenager was able to do so. Some people might ask, ¡°What is a genius?¡± This was what a genius was like! ¨C ¡°Ha!¡± Su Hei was not startled to see that flames had appeared around his fists. At that moment, his eyes were bloodthirsty. He let out a shout and plunged his fiery, flaming fist onto the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s head. Boom! Instantly, the ember on his fists erupted into giant flames. The punch that had an impact of tens of thousands of power caused a vast pit that was over two meters deep to appear beneath the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s feet. Every inch of the beast¡¯s body was covered with blazing fire. The Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf let out continuous howls of pain. Very soon, the air smelled of the odor of burnt flesh. ¡°Wolves are most afraid of fire. It¡¯s highly vulnerable now. Wang Dong, heal Li Hua. As for the rest of you, follow me!¡± commanded Su Hei. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Everyone answered him at the same time. Warriors, Assassins, Shields, Blacksmiths, Swordsman¡­ A vortex of anger swirled within them. 10 or so martial artists launched a simultaneous attack on the beast. The Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf let out continuous howls of pain. It was already hurt by Su Hei¡¯s punch, so its defense was at an all-time low. Hence, when it was attacked by everyone at once, it let out a series of miserable howls. Suddenly, it collapsed to the ground and lay unmoving. ¡°It¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°It¡¯s dead!¡± ¡°Our class president is awesome!¡± ¡°Senior Class One is the best!¡± In that instant, the valley resounded with the sound of whoops and cheers. Chapter 16 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C In the deepest part of the Forest of Death. Two figures met furtively, and they both came from different directions. One of them was Cao Guangning. ¡°Mr. Xu, how¡¯s the matter coming along?¡± he asked. Even though they were under the shade of the trees, one could still see the victorious smirk on Xu Weicheng¡¯s face. ¡°Not long from now, there¡¯ll be a pack of black-ringed leopards who will bump into Su Hei and his team. Among the pack, their Leopard King is a superior-grade Savage beast,¡± Xu Weicheng revealed. Cao Guangning was excited to hear that. ¡°Only a martial artist who¡¯s in the Perfected Realm can take on a superior-grade Savage beast. If that¡¯s the case¡­ that fellow¡¯s a dead man?¡± he asked Xu Weicheng for confirmation. Xu Weicheng nodded. Cao Guangning was so excited that he could scarcely speak. ¡°Su Hei is monstrously talented?¡± ¡°I think news of his death will make an even bigger stir!¡± he thought. After a while, Xu Weicheng broke the silence. ¡°Once we get rid of Su Hei, the only gifted martial artists for this batch will be Li Burou and Bai Tiantian, apart from you.¡± ¡°From what I know, Li Burou and Bai Tiantian¡¯s career talents are remarkable. That being said, your Lightning Elemental power is also exceptional. When I aid you in getting the token, and you become a section leader of the City Defense Team, those two won¡¯t be a threat to you at all.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr. Xu. In the future, I¡¯ll pass you half of whatever resources the City Defense Team gives me,¡± promised Cao Guangning. He was no fool. Cao Guangning knew this was the time for him to show his loyalty to his teacher, so he hurriedly assured Xu Weicheng. ¡°Sounds good.¡± Xu Weicheng nodded in satisfaction. ¡°There is a token hidden in the swamp woodland 30 miles from here. A beast is guarding it. It¡¯s an earthworm that has just gotten a breakthrough to become a superior-grade Savage beast. If both of us join hands, we can easily take it down,¡± he added. Cao Guangning did not expect Xu Weicheng could get his hands on such information. He felt a surge of happiness. ¡°So what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go! I don¡¯t want others to get there before us!¡± said Cao Guangning. Xu Weicheng smirked with disdain. ¡°Apart from us, who else dares initiate an attack on a superior-grade Savage beast? Not even Li Burou and Bai Tiantian would dare attempt that,¡± he said. ¡°But you do have a point. We should quickly get the token to prevent any problems from cropping up.¡± Having reached an agreement, their figures disappeared into the shadow of the trees. ¨C ¡°It¡¯s d-dead?¡± Qin Feng stared at the large monitor. His chest was heaving up and down briskly. That was a beginner-grade Spirit beast! It was as powerful as a Grandmaster! Qin Feng could not believe that such a powerful beast could be beaten to death by a group of recruits! He was shocked. He was beyond astonished! Everyone in the military camp was overcome by astonishment and they stared at the monitor with open-mouthed wonder. Following that, everyone cried out in shock. ¡°Most of the martial artists in this group are only at the beginner level, yet they managed to kill a Spirit-level dire beast? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?¡± ¡°This¡­ How is this even possible?¡± ¡°That youth called Su Hei can envelop his body with his elemental power. That is something that only Grandmasters can do!¡± ¡°He is so monstrously talented!¡± No one present could imagine that a bunch of recruits could be so in tune with each other and have such good teamwork no less than that of the veterans in the City Defense Team. It was to the extent that they could kill a Spirit-level dire beast. The most terrifying thing was that Su Hei had landed the fatal blow that rendered the wolf seriously injured. ¡°Captain, did you hear what we said?¡± Qin Feng tapped the wireless intercom and asked. Very soon, Xun Chengwu¡¯s voice came through. However, his voice sounded urgent. ¡°We¡¯ll talk more after I return to the military camp. We bumped into a pack of black-ringed leopards. These should be the ones that were chasing after Su Hei and his team.¡± Shouts and wailing could be heard over the wireless intercom. Qin Feng was not worried about Xun Chengwu. After all, the most powerful of the black-ringed leopards was the Leopard King, and it was merely a superior-grade Savage beast. Xun Chengwu¡¯s team could deal with them easily. Qin Feng cautioned, ¡°Be careful. I will continue to keep an eye on Su Hei¡¯s group¡¯s movements.¡± ¨C In the valley. Chu Chen led his classmates in tearing the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s flesh apart. Humans could obtain many benefits from the bodies of dire beasts. The fur and bones of Savage dire beasts could be used to create weapons that martial artists used. In addition, if a martial artist ate the dire beast¡¯s flesh, they could increase their Qi, blood, and vitality. Dire beasts that were at the Savage level were the most commonly hunted because they were less powerful. Thus, the materials gotten from them were not rare and valuable. Dire beasts in the Spirit level were different as their fur, bones, and flesh was more effective than that of those in the Savage level. Hence, they were widely sought after by martial artists. However, it was much more difficult to hunt Spirit-level beasts as they were so powerful, so their materials were much rarer. The bones of a Spirit beginner-level beast could fetch an exorbitant amount of 1 million dollars. It was obvious how valuable it was. On the other side, under the shade of the tree. Li Hua¡¯s injuries stopped bleeding after the treatment that Wang Dong gave her. With a swipe of its paws, the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf slashed Li Hua¡¯s belly open, leaving her with a huge bleeding gash in her abdomen. Luckily, Li Hua reacted quickly and retreated by more than 10 centimeters. Otherwise, her body would have been split into two, and she would already be dead. ¡°How are you feeling? Can you move?¡± asked Su Hei. He stared at her with concern etched over his features. Su Hei and Wang Dong had not cultivated any cultivation techniques related to healing, so they were not able to completely heal her wound. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll survive,¡± Li Hua said. She sounded nonchalant. Seeing that, Jiang Jinyu quickly looked toward Su Hei. She changed the topic and said, ¡°To be honest, you looked kinda cool earlier when you delivered that fatal punch to the beast.¡± Jiang Jinyu wanted to change everyone¡¯s focus, for fear that Li Hua would feel uncomfortable when she looked at the wound in her abdomen. Su Hei understood what she was trying to do. He smiled and teased, ¡°That¡¯s for sure! No matter what, I¡¯m the most handsome man in school. None of the girls in high school can resist my charms!¡± Su Hei was not tooting his own horn. He had gotten acknowledgment from the entire school for being the most handsome man. When she heard that, Jiang Jinyu gave an involuntary roll of her eyes. ¡°Give you an inch and you¡¯ll take a yard. Li Hua and I are in the same high school as you, but why haven¡¯t we fallen for your charms?¡± asked Jiang Jinyu. ¡°Well, that¡¯s because I showed mercy on you two. If you guys also fall for me, I¡¯ll have two lesser friends,¡± Su Hei casually said. Seeing the skeptical look on Jiang Jinyu¡¯s face, Su Hei wanted to extend his hand and display his charm. Suddenly, someone standing beside the dire beast¡¯s corpse shouted. ¡°Class President, I found a token in the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf¡¯s tummy!¡± Su Hei froze before quickly striding over to the beast¡¯s corpse. ¨C In a dire beast¡¯s lair in the Forest of Death. A youth in white clasped his hands behind his back. He was easily dodging attacks from the dire beast¡¯s many legs. That dire beast was in the shape of a spider. That youth was Li Burou. Back in the martial arts academy, he was in an elite class. Needless to say, he was a talented student too. Li Burou was not merely a student from Elite Class A, he was the class president of Class A. Naturally, he was the most outstanding student in the class. Most importantly, he was a Mentalist! Therefore, everyone paid close attention to Li Burou¡¯s performance in the recruitment examination. ¨C ¡°Li Burou has entered the Moon Spider¡¯s lair!¡± ¡°He is engaged in a battle with the Moon Spider!¡± ¡°They fought for such a long time, but the Moon Spider can¡¯t even land a single scratch on him!¡± ¡°Li Burou can easily handle this superior-grade Savage Moon Spider!¡± ¡°If you compare this fellow and Su Hei, who do you think has more monstrous talent?¡± ¡°Obviously, it¡¯ll be Su Hei. The Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf that he killed was a beginner-grade Spirit dire beast. How can a Moon Spider compare to it?¡± ¡°But Su Hei had his team¡¯s help. Li Burou is fighting alone.¡± In the military camp, everyone started to argue. Nobody noticed that Li Burou narrowed his eyes. A cold glint flashed across his eyes. It was as sharp as knives. The exhausted Moon Spider was unable to block his attack, and it could only helplessly watch as the transparent sword pierced its head. In the end, it perished. Li Burou approached it and took out the assessment token embedded below the Moon Spider. He beamed. ¡°I should be the first to get the token, right?¡± he thought. Chapter 17 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°Bai Tiantian also managed to find a beast lair that has an assessment token placed in it.¡± In the camp, a soldier in charge of tracking Bai Tiantian shouted. Right on the heels of that, the image of Bai Tiantian displayed on the detector screen was transferred to the big monitor. Almost instantly, everyone¡¯s attention was drawn naturally toward the monitor. Bai Tiantian¡¯s cute and charming looks were not the only reason for that. The main reason was because of the environment she was in. Rotting corpses and gleaming white bones littered the ground. One could vaguely hear metallic clicking sounds, almost as if someone was typing on a keyboard. Soon, everyone understood the reason for the sound. A ginormous centipede quickly crawled out from the depths of the cave. Its body was more than 10 meters long. Under that, its densely packed green long legs kept moving. That was the source of the metallic sound that everyone heard. Everyone watching the monitor felt a tingling sensation in their scalps. ¡°What the heck? This is freaking scary!¡± ¡°If this thing appears in front of me, I¡¯ll probably burn down my entire house just to be rid of it.¡± ¡°This is a superior-grade Savage Multi-Armored Centipede. It has a strong defense and high attack power. On top of that, its venom is difficult to avoid. Bai Tiantian is in trouble.¡± But soon, this person changed his mind. On the screen, Bai Tiantian approached the Multi-Armored Centipede and raised her tender hand. Swoosh! A blue light that was visible to the naked eye emitted from the palm of her hand. Following that, the Multi-Armored Centipede did something unbelievable. ¡°Am I seeing things? The Multi-Armored Centipede has bowed its head and is rubbing it against Bai Tiantian¡¯s palm. It¡¯s acting like a puppy would!¡± Everyone froze. Right on the heels of that, there arose a tremendous uproar among the crowd. ¡°F*ck, this doesn¡¯t make sense!¡± ¡°The Multi-Armored Centipede has a fiendish and ferocious disposition. It enjoys feasting upon human flesh. All this information is recorded in the Dire Beast Illustrated Handbook.¡± ¡°Could we have been mistaken about the Multi-Armored Centipede all along?¡± ¡°How is it possible that we¡¯re wrong about it? Have you forgotten that Bai Tiantian¡¯s career talent is a beast tamer?¡± ¡°A newly awakened martial artist can tame a superior-grade Savage beast? She also has monstrous talent!¡± ¡°It¡¯s already something worth celebrating when we have Su Hei, a person who has such monstrous talent, in our base. I didn¡¯t expect that there are another two people like that.¡± ¡°The recruits for this batch are absurd!¡± ¨C At this moment, Su Hei appeared outside the military camp with the assessment token in his hand. Wang Dong, Li Hua, and the others had also been transported back with him. ¡°The assessment token has a transportation function?¡± Su Hei was astonished. It was the first time he had gotten teleported, and the magical experience lingered in his mind. ¡°Su Hei!¡± Qin Feng walked out of the military tent and called out to Su Hei. ¡°You, kid, have wowed everyone with your performance!¡± he gushed. ¡°When you guys were surrounded by the black-ringed leopards, the captain quickly brought his men over to support you. We didn¡¯t expect that you would not only escape from those black-ringed leopards unscathed but also eliminate a Spirit-level Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf.¡± As he spoke, Qin Feng also motioned for his men to carry Li Hua into the medical tent¡ªthat had just been pitched¡ªto give her emergency medical care. ¡°I was merely lucky, and my friends cooperated with me well.¡± Su Hei smiled modestly. Qin Feng did not buy that and quickly interrupted, ¡°Why are you so humble? I¡¯m on your side.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you in on a secret. The captain has already told the higher-ups about your performance. You haven¡¯t even joined the City Defense Team, but your name is already well-known amongst the fighters.¡± Su Hei was unbothered by such stuff, and he gave a half-hearted smile. ¡°Leader Qin, there are still seven or eight of us who haven¡¯t killed enough dire beasts, so they haven¡¯t passed the test yet. I want to bring them back there and hunt dire beasts.¡± Qin Feng quickly held onto Su Hei. ¡°All of you have been deemed to have passed the test!¡± They cooperated and killed an Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf together under Su Hei¡¯s leadership. If they were not qualified, no one would be. Su Hei felt that Qin Feng made a valid point, so under Qin Feng¡¯s instructions, Su Hei told everyone to head toward the pitched tents to rest and wait for everyone else to finish their test. Su Hei entered the tent. Just as he did so, the youth in white, Li Burou appeared in front of the military tents. He was holding a token in his hand. He called out to Qin Feng, who was intending to head back and smiled warmly. ¡°Leader Qin, I¡¯ve gotten the assessment token,¡± he reported. Qin Feng nodded. ¡°Not bad. Congratulations on being the second martial artist who has gotten the assessment token.¡± Li Burou¡¯s smile froze. He asked incredulously, ¡°There¡¯s someone who has gotten the token before me?¡± ¡°Indeed. Like you, he just came back,¡± said Qin Feng as he pointed to the tent that Su Hei and his team were in. Li Burou turned his head. Through the gap in the tent flap, he immediately saw Su Hei among the crowd. Li Burou knew that a powerful figure had arisen from Class D. Originally, he was not bothered by that at all. After all, with Class D¡¯s standard, an intermediate-level martial artist emerging from it was already considered powerful. It seemed like he had underestimated that fellow. ¡°Su Hei, huh? Interesting.¡± A soft smile played on Li Burou¡¯s lips. He wanted to turn and leave. However, in front of the military tent, a figure materialized from nowhere. Woof! The figure had not fully materialized, but the sound of barking was already heard. This person was Bai Tiantian. She exclaimed, ¡°Leader Qin, I got the assessment token! I should be the first to do so, right?¡± Bai Tiantian strode toward Qin Feng and handed him her token. Qin Feng reached out to take it, then shook his head with a smile. ¡°Although you aren¡¯t the first, the fact that you managed to get hold of this token proves your ability.¡± His words sounded pleasant enough, but Bai Tiantian¡¯s focus was on the second half of his sentence. ¡°There¡¯s someone even earlier than me?¡± Bai Tiantian looked around, and her gaze landed on Li Burou. ¡°Damn it. I can¡¯t believe that I¡¯m one step behind you again. Ice Cream, bite him!¡± she ordered. The snow-white puppy that Bai Tiantian was holding onto started to growl and bare its teeth at Li Burou. Li Burou was already used to how Bai Tiantian behaved. He smiled faintly. ¡°Although I¡¯m faster than you, the one who snatched first place from you is someone else. I¡¯m merely second,¡± said Li Burou As he spoke, Li Burou pointed at Su Hei who was in the tent. Upon hearing that, Bai Tiantian was dumbfounded. She did not expect that someone would be even faster than Li Burou. ¡°This man is really something!¡± she thought. Bai Tiantian did not manage to give any response as something suddenly happened. Someone else materialized out of thin air. ¡°Su Hei, I¡¯ve gotten the assessment token. Let¡¯s see how you compete with me!¡± A sinister voice rang out. It was Cao Guangning. His mouth was wounded. The next instant, he sensed that something was amiss. Qin Feng, Li Burou, and Bai Tiantian were staring at him. They thought, ¡°Did this guy just say out his thoughts?¡± Li Burou was a straightforward person. Thus, he asked, ¡°Cao, did you just say out your thoughts?¡± ¡°It¡¯s none of your business,¡± snapped Cao Guangning. He knew that he was in the wrong there, so he quickly changed the topic. ¡°You two are impressive. I thought that I was the first and the only one to have gotten the assessment token,¡± said Cao Guangning. ¡°It¡¯s all in your head, young man,¡± Bai Tiantian said cynically. Li Burou also shook his head. ¡°Nope, you¡¯re not the first. Neither are you the second or third.¡± As he spoke, Li Burou pointed his slender finger at the side. ¡°He is the first to get the token.¡± Cao Guangning followed the direction Li Burou¡¯s finger was pointing in to see Su Hei sitting crossed-legged in the tent. Instantly, his face darkened. ¡°It¡¯s him again! Su Hei!¡± he thought angrily. Chapter 18 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Cao Guangning was lost in his thoughts. ¡°Su Hei didn¡¯t die?¡± he thought. ¡°Even the black-ringed Leopard King can¡¯t do anything about him?¡± ¡°How could this be?¡± Even if Su Hei managed to kill the Leopard King, there were still dozens of black-ringed leopards. It was impossible for him to kill all of them. ¡°Someone must have helped him, just like how Mr. Xu helped me!¡± he thought. No matter what, Cao Guangning refused to acknowledge that Su Hei had gotten first place. He felt disheartened. As the class president of Class C, Cao Guangning had always thought of himself to be as gifted as the students in the elite classes. He felt that he was in a different league from those in Class D and that they should not be compared with him at all. After he awakened his Lightning Elemental power, he was even more certain that he was on par with geniuses like Li Burou and Bai Tiantian. However, Cao Guangning¡¯s thinking changed after Su Hei appeared. He wondered if he was worse than the students in Class D. ¡°No! That¡¯s impossible!¡± he thought. Cao Guangning clenched his fists tightly and stared at Su Hei with hate-filled eyes. ¨C At that moment, Su Hei was staring at the system interface in front of him. While battling with the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf, he unleashed an ability to envelop his body with his Elemental powers. Even his strength had changed. It went from 52,100 to 59,000. His combat power had increased by nearly 7,000! ¡°Everyone¡¯s combat strength has increased, and their strength has also increased by 500 points. Real combat is indeed the fastest way to increase one¡¯s strength,¡± he mused. Su Hei was very satisfied. In his opinion, he was now equivalent to the boss of a company. Wang Dong, Li Hua, Jiang Jinyu, and the others were his employees. Every cent that the employees earned from selling goods would naturally be transferred to Su Hei¡¯s bank account. By relying on the magical summation system, Su Hei could increase his strength even if he did nothing. Genius martial artists and peerless prodigies would never be able to compare to his cultivation speed. No matter how fast one¡¯s cultivation speed was, that person was by himself. Leading 17 outstanding martial artists meant that Su Hei would have 17 extra cultivation paths. Furthermore, in the future, there would only be more and more ¡°employees¡± under him. A single-core processor could not be compared to his unlimited multi-core processor. Su Hei turned off the system interface. He was about to lie down to rest when he suddenly frowned. He could feel someone¡¯s eyes on him, watching him with a cold stare. He turned around and saw a few people outside the tent. It was Qin Feng, Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Cao Guangning. The moment Su Hei¡¯s gaze swept over them, Cao Guangning immediately withdrew his gaze and looked to the side calmly. Su Hei felt that Cao Guangning had given himself away when he avoided his gaze. Su Hei was puzzled. He wondered, ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything to provoke him, so why is he staring at me like that?¡± He sifted through his memories. His predecessor was not associated with Cao Guangning in any way at all. Seeing that Cao Guangning was no longer paying any attention to him, Su Hei dismissed the thought from his mind. ¨C Everyone was resting in the tents that had been pitched at the assembly area. After a while, night fell. Only then did a figure appear. Su Hei glanced out through the flap of his tent and saw an ordinary-looking boy. The boy was thin as a twig, and he was rather ordinary-looking. In addition, that boy had no temperament whatsoever. Initially, Su Hei thought that the boy had passed the test by killing the required number of dire beasts. Unexpectedly, the boy stood in front of Qin Feng¡ªwho had just walked out of the tent¡ªand handed him a token. Following that, he entered an empty tent and got some shuteye. He did not say a word throughout the entire process. This boy was quiet and nonchalant, seemingly indifferent to everything. Qin Feng was also surprised to see the token that the boy handed him. He turned around and went back to the military tent. ¡°Who is in charge of tracking that recruit?¡± he asked. Those who could obtain the assessment token were all outstanding talents. All movements of Su Hei, Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Cao Guangning were closely monitored by the City Defense Team. Only four assessment tokens were placed for the recruitment exam this time around, and it was meant for all four of them to find. However, the assessment token that Su Hei obtained was from the previous recruit examination, so there was one extra token. Nobody expected that it would land in the hands of the plain-looking boy. ¡°Leader Qin, I found it.¡± A soldier quickly displayed that boy¡¯s information on the large monitor. ¨C Name: Zhang Xiaofan Age: 16 Class talent: Swordsman Elemental ability: Wind Vitality: 87 Combat power: Unknown Origin: Clear Skies Dojo ¨C ¡°Clear Skies Dojo? Does Quilton have such a martial arts dojo?¡± Qin Feng felt a little puzzled. In the information they had on him, apart from his Vitality being surprisingly above average, the other aspects of Zhang Xiaofan were considered normal. But no matter what, the fact that he could get an assessment token meant that Zhang Xiaofan was not as ordinary as he seemed. Not long after, another person returned to the gathering place. The four assessment tokens had already been taken, so the people who appeared after that were martial artists who had produced passable results. Stars scattered scarcely throughout the dark sky. The sun and moon exchanged places and it was daytime. At noon, Xun Chengwu called for those martial artists who had returned to gather. At this moment, a group of severely injured and disheveled martial artists staggered into the camp. ¡°We¡¯re back! We¡¯re finally back!¡± A young man who had spiky red hair kneeled on the ground and started sobbing hysterically. A few people also collapsed to the ground, unable to move a muscle. These people were martial artists from the Flaming War Dojo. From the looks of it, they seemed to have gone through an extremely tragic battle. ¡°F*ck! I survived!¡± Li Daloong clutched onto the raw open wound in his chest as tears welled up in his eyes. He almost thought that he was going to die. ¡°It feels good to be able to safely return to the camp!¡± he thought, feeling a little emotional. The medical team was quickly dispatched, and they treated Li Daloong and the others on the spot. ¡°From now on, all those who have yet to arrive will be eliminated!¡± With Xun Chengwu¡¯s announcement, the recruitment examination ended. The martial artists who had successfully passed the test heaved a sigh of relief. Among them, the martial artists from the martial arts academy had the highest passing rate. There were a dozen or so students from the two normal classes who had yet to return, but all students from the elite classes passed the test. From this alone, one could see the difference between the normal classes and the elite classes. The passing rate of the martial artists from the various martial arts dojos was even lower. Of the thousands of martial artists who had participated in the test, less than half had passed. ¡°Everyone, get on the vehicles! We¡¯ll be returning to base camp!¡± Everyone, including Su Hei and his team, got into the armored personnel carrier. Li Hua and those who were seriously wounded had already been sent back to the Quilton base for treatment after receiving emergency medical care. Soon, the convoy of vehicles started to drive toward the Quilton base. Outside the camp, there were still some armored personnel carriers waiting for the remaining martial artists who had yet to return. ¨C Not long after, the convoy of vehicles drove into the City Defense Team camp that was located at the Quilton Base. Quilton was about 50 kilometers long from north to south, and it had a distance of more than 30 kilometers from east to west. A 100-meter steel wall was built at the borders. This was how it became the Quilton Base. City Defense Team¡¯s camps were stationed outside all four directions of the steel wall. The convoy of vehicles entered the City Defense Team¡¯s southern camp. ¡°Everyone out of the car, now!¡± Seeing that all of the vehicles had stopped moving, everyone got out one after another. Previously, they had passed by the city wall twice, but this was the first time they were so near it. The moment they got out of the car, Su Hei and the other transmigrators were astounded by the sight of the towering black city wall. Chapter 19 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°Good lord, if this thing was placed in our world, it would be one of the top 10 wonders in the world!¡± Wang Dong could not help but smack his lips loudly. He had seen many high-rise buildings that had over 30 floors, but this was the first time he had seen a city wall of the same height. It was even more shocking as the entire city was surrounded by the city walls. ¡°Everyone, line up!¡± In front of the convoy, a few City Defense Team soldiers in camouflage combat uniforms were eyeing them like predators eyeing their prey. The murderous aura in their eyes was obvious. With one look, anyone could tell that these men had experienced bloodshed and heavy combat. Everyone quickly quietened down and stood in line. Xun Chengwu and Qin Feng stepped forward. They gave a salute to a man who was in the lead. That man was middle-aged, and he was covered from head to toe in rippling muscle. ¡°Commander, all of the recruits who have passed the test are here. Please advise on our next step!¡± The middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction and swept his sharp gaze over the recruits. When his gaze swept past Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Cao Guangning, and Zhang Xiaofan, he paused momentarily. When it landed on Su Hei, he even sized the latter up. When Su Hei met that middle-aged man¡¯s gaze, he felt the grim aura of death for an instant. It was fortunate that Su Hei was strong. If it were anyone else, they would not be able to withstand that aura and blackout. ¡°What a terrifying gaze. Such dense killing intent!¡± thought Su Hei. Su Hei was shocked. At the same time, he finally understood how powerful martial arts experts were. At this moment, the middle-aged man suddenly spoke. ¡°My name is Sikou Nanbo. In Quilton, I¡¯m the commander of the City Defense Team¡¯s southern camp. In addition, I¡¯m also the chief instructor of the City Defense Team in Quilton¡¯s survival base.¡± ¡°You may address me as ¡®Instructor Sikou¡¯. You guys will be going through boot camp for the upcoming month, and I¡¯ll personally train you all.¡± Many people¡¯s expressions changed when they heard the middle-aged man¡¯s name was Sikou Nanbo. From this, it was evident that he was an extraordinary figure. Su Hei racked his brains but could not find any memories of this Sikou Nanbo. He exchanged looks with Wang Dong, Li Hua, and the others. He saw the confusion in their eyes. At this moment, someone in the crowd spoke. ¡°We¡¯ve already passed the recruitment examination. Why do we still have to go through boot camp?¡± he questioned. Sikou Nanbo¡¯s expression did not change. He did not even look at the martial artist who raised objections. He said coldly, ¡°Disqualify him and throw him out of the camp.¡± Under everyone¡¯s dumbfounded gazes, two soldiers in camouflage combat uniforms approached that martial artist and carried him out. Following that, Sikou Nanbo¡¯s eyes scanned the crowd once more. ¡°Is there anyone else who doesn¡¯t want to go through boot camp training?¡± he asked. This time, no one dared utter a sound. Not wanting to repeat the mistake of their predecessor, the thousand or so recruits fell silent. When he saw that, Sikou Nanbo nodded in satisfaction. ¡°This is the first lesson that I have for you. You are not allowed to question your superiors¡¯ orders.¡± ¡°This is the City Defense Team, and we may be called upon to fight at any time! On the battlefield, we will be engaged in a life-and-death battle. This isn¡¯t an ivory tower where you can assert your individual personality.¡± Sikou Nanbo¡¯s voice was booming. He had a voice full of power and authority. Everybody remained quiet. Nobody dared to say a word. Sikou Nanbo continued to speak. ¡°Some of you performed outstandingly in the recruitment test. You have obtained the assessment token, so you can become a section leader.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s something that I want to say first. Don¡¯t get complacent just because you were promoted to section leader. Don¡¯t go through the boot camp training in a half-hearted manner, thinking that you can get away with it because of your position. After one month, all the recruits will compete with one another. If you don¡¯t meet our standards, your leadership role will be taken from you. Don¡¯t doubt my words as I have the power to do so!¡± ¡°For those who didn¡¯t get the assessment token this time around, don¡¯t feel disheartened. Focus on your training during the boot camp. You¡¯ll have a chance to stand out during the recruitment tournament. At that time, you¡¯ll understand that the so-called geniuses aren¡¯t all that great, actually.¡± After hearing his words, hope stirred within the recruits and their eyes lit up with excitement. Sikou Nanbo was implying that the average person could surpass those geniuses through sheer grit and effort. They might not believe it if these words came out of others¡¯ mouths. However, Sikou Nanbo was the chief instructor of the City Defense Team! Everyone around Su Hei was excited at the prospect of overtaking the gifted martial artists, but Su Hei was indifferent to Sikou Nanbo¡¯s speech. He understood the reason behind Sikou Nanbo¡¯s speech. He knew that Sikou Nanbo was merely saying that to inspire others so that they would be more passionate and enthusiastic toward training, resulting in better performance. Su Hei was unbothered by Sikou Nanbo¡¯s comment regarding geniuses. ¡°So what if they¡¯re unparalleled geniuses?¡± ¡°No matter how gifted they are, they can¡¯t compare to my summation system!¡± he thought. If one were to compare class talents with his summation system, it was a no-brainer that the summation system was a cut above. The system would give him an unfair advantage over others. It was pointless even if a martial artist was gifted or highly skilled. With his summation system, Su Hei would easily surpass everyone. Su Hei used to play video games, and he detested players who used cheats. However, he understood one thing after he transmigrated and got a cheat himself. It felt amazing! After his encouraging speech, Sikou Nanbo vanished from their sight. Xun Chengwu became the one in charge again. ¡°Everyone, we will now test your combat strength according to the sequence you¡¯re in. Once that is done, I¡¯ll split you guys into teams.¡± Following Xun Chengwu¡¯s order, everyone began the combat strength test. A total of 20 testing devices were set up on the training ground. The test was simple. The martial artist simply needed to use his full strength to punch the machine, and the machine would measure his maximum punching power. His strength would be equivalent to his combat power. Soon, more than half of the recruits had completed the test and received badges that had their level displayed on them. Most of the recruits had their strength above 1,000 and below 3,000. This was the strength of a beginner-level martial artist. For those martial artists who were slightly more gifted, their strength exceeded 3,000, and they were awarded the intermediate-level martial artist¡¯s badge. Among them was Chu Chen. Chu Chen and Li Hua contributed the most with regard to the many battles that Su Hei and the others had engaged in in the Forest of Death. They had put themselves in danger time and time again, so their strength had improved the fastest. Chu Chen got a score of 3,860 on his combat strength test. Although Li Hua was unable to participate in the combat strength test because of her injuries, her strength and stats had already been added to the summation system. Hence, Su Hei could see the change in her strength at any time. Li Hua¡¯s combat strength had reached an astonishing value of 4,912! Thus, she could have a breakthrough to become an advanced-level martial artist anytime now. ¡°I wonder how Huahua¡¯s injures are,¡± Su Hei thought. At the thought of Li Hua, Su Hei could not help but sigh. He blamed himself for failing to protect her. Boom! Suddenly, there was an earsplitting crash! It was a tremendously loud sound that drew the attention of everyone in the area. ¡°What! His combat strength is more than 9,000?¡± ¡°Am I seeing things?¡± ¡°He¡¯s about to get a breakthrough to the Perfected Realm. Who is this man? He¡¯s so powerful! I want to give myself to him!¡± An uproar erupted amongst the crowd. ¡°Cao Guangning, combat strength 9,331, advanced-level martial artist!¡± After that announcement, gasps and exclamations of wonder filled the air. ¡°Cao Guangning is from the martial arts academy, and he¡¯s the class president of the normal class¡ªClass C¡ªthere. I can¡¯t believe that he¡¯s an advanced-level martial artist!¡± ¡°When did the students from the normal classes become so powerful?¡± Amidst the commotion, Cao Guangning had his gaze fixed on Su Hei, who was also among the crowd. A glint of contempt flashed across his eyes. ¡°Have a good look at my combat strength. I am the one who is the most powerful, not you!¡± he thought. Chapter 20 - Feeling Baffled by His Hostility Chapter 20 Feeling Baffled by His Hostility Su Hei felt Cao Guangning¡¯s hostile gaze on him, and he frowned. ¡°Who on earth is this man? He keeps staring at me in this persistent and insulting manner!¡± thought Su Hei. ¡°Could it be because I¡¯m more handsome than him?¡± ¡°But he can¡¯t blame me for that! I didn¡¯t ask to be so charming! I inherited my parents¡¯ good looks!¡± Su Hei sighed helplessly as he watched Cao Guangning disappear into the crowd. It was not necessarily a good thing to be too attractive as it might incur the jealousy of others. ¡°Next!¡± The recruit who was next in line stepped forward. He had a cheerful look on his face as he stepped in front of the testing device. He did not bother to gather his strength at all. That man clenched his fist and threw a casual punch toward the machine. Boom! ¡°Li Burou, combat strength 15,680, martial artist in the Perfected Realm!¡± Instantly, everyone looked over at him. Even the veteran fighters in the City Defense Team including Xun Chengwu were staring at Li Burou in astonishment. A martial artist who was at the Perfected Realm could take on the role of captain. However, Li Burou was merely a novice martial artist. Everyone was blown away by him. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m speechless. I have no words to describe how I¡¯m feeling right now,¡± said Xun Chengwu. He shook his head and smiled bitterly. Qin Feng was standing behind him. ¡°Be patient. There is still Bai Tiantian, Zhang Xiaofan, and that guy with the monstrous talent who has yet to attempt the test.¡± Xun Chengwu was stunned to hear that. His gaze involuntarily searched the crowd for Su Hei¡¯s figure, and his heart was filled with anticipation for this martial arts genius who had awakened the four basic Elemental powers. Soon, an adorable-looking girl with a puppy in her arms walked toward a testing device. Almost instantly, thousands of recruits and veterans who were at the training ground looked over at her. The young girl was blessed with incomparable beauty. She was Bai Tiantian. ¡°Ice Cream, will it hurt to punch this machine? I¡¯m afraid of pain.¡± Bai Tiantian stood in front of the testing device and stroked the puppy¡¯s head. The puppy let out a few barks in response to her question. ¡°You even know how to comfort me. Ice Cream, you¡¯re the best!¡± she cooed. After that, Bai Tiantian clenched her fist and threw out a punch. Boom! There was a deafening sound that would make a person¡¯s ears ring. ¡°Bai Tiantian, combat strength 12,580, martial artist at the Perfected Realm!¡± When he heard that announcement, shock registered on Xun Chengwu¡¯s face. Following that, his expression turned bitter. Mixed emotions surged through him. Xun Chengwu had only become a martial artist in the Perfected Realm after a decade or so. Although Li Burou and Bai Tiantian¡¯s combat strengths were worse than his, their journey as martial artists had only just begun. ¡°Commander, in front of geniuses, the words ¡®hard work¡¯ seem ridiculous,¡± murmured Xun Chengwu. He sighed helplessly. Everyone present was flabbergasted by Bai Tiantian¡¯s combat strength. However, when they found out that Bai Tiantian was the class president of the martial arts academy¡¯s elite class, their astonishment vanished. Jealousy and envy were coursing through their veins. Humans were contradictory in nature. They detested geniuses but desired to become one. There was nothing special about the combat strength test for the remaining recruits. Occasionally, some recruits were revealed to be intermediate-level martial artists, but that could no longer cause a commotion. ¡°Wu Dahai, combat strength 1,802, beginner-level martial artist!¡± ¡°Lin Ye, combat strength 2,669, beginner-level martial artist!¡± ¡°Zhang Xiaofan, combat strength 10,086, martial artist in the Perfected Realm!¡± When Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s combat strength was announced, the training ground was once again filled with an uproar of noise. ¡°Another martial artist who is in the Perfected Realm. This is already the third one!¡± ¡°Ordinary people need to work hard for 10 years or even more to get to the Perfected Realm, but geniuses are born with innate abilities that allow them to have greater accomplishments than others. That is the difference between people!¡± ¡°But Zhang Xiaofan is inferior to Li Burou and Bai Tiantian in terms of combat strength. He isn¡¯t as gifted as them. The only reason he can stand out is that his weaker peers serve as a foil to him.¡± Initially, Zhang Xiaofan was a little smug as he listened to the chatter around him. However, when he heard the last bit of it, Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s face darkened. He lowered his head and vanished into the crowd. ¡°Next!¡± The soldier beside the testing device shouted. Su Hei stepped forward. Without any hesitation, he raised his fist and punched at the machine. The sound of his punch against the machine echoed like thunder. Su Hei used all his strength in this punch. He was not someone who would pretend to be weak when he was powerful. Only a fool would do that. Su Hei had the summation system, so there was no need for him to do something like that. The stronger he proved himself to be, the sooner he could get a promotion in ranking and become the leader of a greater number of people. One day, everyone would become his employees, and they would want nothing in return. Boom! A loud noise deafened everyone momentarily. Even the soldier standing beside the testing device was pushed back by more than 10 meters. Everyone was stunned when they saw the number displayed on the machine. ¡°Su Hei, combat strength 59,000, martial artist in the Perfected Realm!¡± 59,000! Everyone¡¯s minds were buzzing when they saw that astonishing number. ¡°Slap me! Come on, slap me!¡± ¡°With such combat strength, even martial artists who are already in the Perfected Realm won¡¯t be his match.¡± ¡°It may not be long before he gets a breakthrough to become a Grandmaster!¡± Grandmaster! The power of this word hit the training ground like a thunderclap. Those who could become Grandmasters were all top combatants in the various survival bases. They were powerful figures who wielded absolute power over a certain region. Every martial artist wanted to become a Grandmaster, but they understood that not everyone could become one. If a beginner-level martial artist wanted to become a Grandmaster, he needed to cross several realms. However, that was a gap that many martial artists could not cross in their entire lives. Su Hei had just started his journey as a martial artist, yet he was only a step away from becoming a Grandmaster. Xun Chengwu and Qin Feng widened their eyes in shock when they saw Su Hei¡¯s combat strength. Both of them were already mentally prepared to see a shocking number of Su Hei¡¯s combat strength. However, they did not expect this result. Su Hei had close to 60,000 combat strength! In addition, he was one of the more powerful martial artists among those who were also in the Perfected Realm. Xun Chengwu, especially, felt flabbergasted. He could convince himself to remain calm when he saw Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s test results. However, he was blown away by Su Hei¡¯s result! ¡°My combat power is only 50,000, but this kid has 9,000 more combat strength than me. He is so powerful that no one can surpass him!¡± thought Xun Chengwu. He was on the brink of tears. This was the first time he understood how maddening it was to compare himself to someone more capable than him. Qin Feng stood behind Xun Chengwu, and he patted the latter¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Captain, accept reality. Everyone is different,¡± Qin Feng consoled. ¡°Some people have difficulty breathing when they¡¯re born, and some people can tackle a tiger and disembowel it immediately after birth. These people are f*cking natural martial artists.¡± Xun Chengwu nodded. ¡°We¡¯re so lucky that geniuses like them appeared in the Quilton base. Once they develop their skills and become mature adults, the Quilton base will be safe for a hundred years,¡± he remarked. ¡°The combat strength test is about to end. to split the recruits.¡± Let¡¯s prepare At this moment, Su Hei was filled with anticipation. Among the 17 students in Senior Class One, only Li Hua and Chu Chen were intermediate-level martial artists. However, after using the summation system, Su Hei reached the Perfected Realm with a combat strength of 59,000. ¡°Since I¡¯ve obtained the assessment token, I¡¯ll become a section leader. After that, I will have a lot more subordinates, and I can use the summation system. I wonder how much my combat strength would become?¡± pondered Su Hei. Su Hei became excited at the mere thought of that. Chapter 21 - The Enraged Cao Guangning Chapter 21 The Enraged Cao Guangning Soon, all the recruits completed the combat strength test and obtained their corresponding badges. Following that, it was time for them to be split into teams. Five people had obtained the assessment tokens. They were Su Hei, Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Cao Guangning, and Zhang Xiaofan respectively. There were slightly less than 1,500 recruits, so the higher-ups split them into 300 people per team. The 300 people who were allocated to Su Hei¡¯s team included 17 people from Senior Class One. At the same time, more than 20 martial artists from Class C were also on his team. The rest were martial artists from the various martial arts dojos. Su Hei was about to lead his 300 team members into the dormitory to settle down. Suddenly, a group of people stopped him. The person standing in front of them was Li Daloong. ¡°Hey, Su Hei. How about you let us join your team?¡± said Li Daloong. ¡°We aren¡¯t very strong, but we¡¯re loyal! As long as you agree to let us join your team, from then onward, we¡¯ll listen to your every word!¡± he assured. Li Daloong and his men were at the City Defense Team¡¯s hospital receiving treatment for their wounds. When they heard that they were not assigned to Su Hei¡¯s team, they disregarded their painful wounds and dashed out. They only had one goal, which was to follow Su Hei. Su Hei was eager for more followers, so naturally, he would not refuse them. ¡°Well, I¡¯m fine with it, but the captain was the one who split the teams. I don¡¯t have the authority to change them at will,¡± explained Su Hei. Upon hearing that, Li Daloong waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. ¡°You only need to give me your consent. Leave the rest to me. I¡¯ll go and speak with the captain,¡± he said. Just as he finished speaking, there was a furious shout. ¡°Li Daloong, what do you mean by this?¡± It was Cao Guangning. He was with his hundreds of subordinates. Li Daloong had been allocated to his team. Although Cao Guangning was fuming with rage, Li Daloong did not show any signs of weakness or fear. ¡°Leader Cao, don¡¯t be angry. Hear me out. I don¡¯t have a problem with you. I simply have a good relationship with Leader Su, so I want to train with him,¡± explained Li Daloong. ¡°What nonsense!¡± Cao Guangning cursed inwardly. During the recruitment examination, when Li Daloong wanted to form an alliance with Su Hei, Cao Guangning saw Su Hei rejecting Li Daloong. ¡°He¡¯s treating me like a fool,¡± he thought. Originally, Cao Guangning did not care that Li Daloong wanted to change teams. After all, Li Daloong was not a highly sought-after recruit, so Cao Guangning did not feel the need to keep him on his team. But Li Daloong wanted to leave his team to join Su Hei¡¯s. In Cao Guangning¡¯s opinion, that was telling everyone that he was inferior to Su Hei! Naturally, the petty Cao Guangning could not take this lying down. However, Li Daloong was unaware of the thoughts that coursed through him. He had a fiery temper and made his position clear on this matter. ¡°Leader Cao, I¡¯m determined to change teams. I will go and speak to the captain now,¡± he declared. Before Li Daloong could turn around, he heard Cao Guangning sneer. ¡°Sure. If you want to be kicked out of the City Defense Team, go ahead!¡± Upon hearing this, Li Daloong turned around to look at Cao Guangning. He felt confused by Cao Guangning¡¯s words. Su Hei frowned. He already knew what Cao Guangning was going to say. ¡°This is the City Defense Team, and we may be called upon to fight at any time! On the battlefield, we will be engaged in a life-and-death battle. This isn¡¯t an ivory tower where you can assert your individual personality,¡± said Cao Guangning. ¡°These are the chief instructor¡¯s exact words. I won¡¯t stop you if you still insist on going to speak with him¡­ Let¡¯s go!¡± Cao Guangning eyed Su Hei with simmering resentment before leaving with his team. Seeing that, Su Hei merely chuckled. ¡°Oh, great. This fellow has got something against me for no reason. Now I¡¯ve given him a reason to resent me even more,¡± thought Su Hei. However, he was unbothered about it. He was not afraid of Cao Guangning. He decided that he would not worry about things and just deal with whatever came his way. Unfortunately, it was impossible for Li Daloong to change teams. Su Hei advised, ¡°Loong, just remain in Cao Guangning¡¯s team. After all, the boot camp will only be for a month. After that, they will split us up once more.¡± Li Daloong nodded. There was nothing he could do apart from accepting reality. Following that, both of them headed in different directions and went back to their respective dormitories. As the team leader, Su Hei was only able to return to his room after he got all of the team members¡ªincluding Wang Dong and Li Hua¡ª settled. As a section leader, Su Hei had a single dorm room to himself. He sat on the bed and quickly opened up his system. ¡°System, hurry up and do the summation!¡± he thought. Su Hei could not wait any longer. System: ¡°Ding! Detected that the host has become a section leader!¡± System: ¡°Does the host want to extract the class talent, elemental power, and combat strength of the 283 recruits and absorb them?¡± ¡°Yes, of course! Yes!¡± Su Hei quickly agreed. There were 300 recruits on his team. Su Hei had already absorbed the stats of the 17 people from Senior Class One. Hence, there were only 283 people left. In the next instant, many balls of light appeared from all directions and entered Su Hei¡¯s body. Nobody could see these balls of light apart from Su Hei. There was an increase in blood flow around his body. All of his muscles and bones were undergoing remarkable changes. Not long after, Su Hei¡¯s body had turned a bright shade of red. On top of that, steam was coming out of his body. On the system interface, the figure of his combat strength was changing drastically. Sixty thousand¡­ Sixty-five thousand¡­ Seventy thousand¡­ He was seized with a trembling all over his body. His Qi, blood, and essence were surging like a tsunami in his body. A terrifying aura suddenly gathered, forming an aura vortex above his head. Everything in the room was torn apart and devoured by a powerful suction force. His Qi, blood, cells, and even the countless bacteria in his body were boiling. It was as if they were cheering. His combat power continued to soar, reaching 80,000. One hundred thousand¡­ One hundred and thirty thousand¡­ One hundred and seventy thousand¡­ Two hundred thousand¡­ It only stopped when it soared to 298,000. ¡°Beginner-level Grandmaster!¡± Having absorbed the stats and powers of all 283 people allowed Su Hei to advance by a realm. His combat strength had increased by 240,000 points! At the same time, his Vitality had increased to 372. Su Hei was now a beginner-level Grandmaster! He was only one step away from becoming an intermediate-level Grandmaster. He had advanced so quickly as a martial artist. Becoming stronger was effortless for him, and Su Hei would never encounter bottlenecks of any sort. From this, one could see how incredible the summation system was! ¡°It¡¯s fantastic!¡± Su Hei could not help but click his tongue. The summation system was too powerful! His team had 300 people, but none of them had any rare class talent or special Elemental power. Su Hei only managed to incorporate talents such as Mages, Boxers, Archers, and Sharpshooters. There were no other changes with regard to other aspects. In spite of that, Su Hei was contented. He did not need to work hard or put in any effort at all, yet he could become such a powerful martial artist. A Grandmaster had already mastered his elemental powers, and he could manipulate them at will. An idea occurred to him, and he opened his right palm. In the center of his palm, a little flame danced. He concentrated and opened his left palm. A stream of water shot out of his palm, gradually becoming a ball of water. ¡°It¡¯s much easier to control my elemental powers now. It¡¯s easier than yesterday when I was dealing with the Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf,¡± thought Su Hei. Su Hei subconsciously made a comparison of the control over his elemental powers between the previous day and then. After fully mastering his elemental powers, he would not be simply relying on his strength when he wanted to launch an attack. He could use his elemental powers, and the damage he dealt would increase exponentially. This was the difference between a Grandmaster and a mere martial artist! Chapter 22 - Intensive Training Chapter 22 Intensive Training Early in the morning on the next day. Everyone in the boot camp gathered at the training ground together with their teams. Each team formed a single line. While they were waiting for the chief instructor to appear, Wang Dong approached Su Hei. ¡°Where did you go yesterday? The restaurant held a welcoming ceremony for recruits at night. There was an unlimited supply of dire beast meat and even meatloaf made from Spirit-level dire beast meat. The food tastes absolutely divine!¡± he said. The flesh of dire beasts contained great power in it, providing martial artists with great nourishment. Su Hei did not feel pity for the fact that he missed that dinner. After eating the dire beasts¡¯ meat, if the combat strength of Wang Dong and the rest increased, his would also increase. He shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t know about it. Once I got to my dormitory, I¡¯ve been cultivating,¡± he said. Wang Dong patted Su Hei¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I understand that with great power comes great responsibility. However, don¡¯t put too much stress on yourself, thinking that everyone depends on you for their safety. We will work hard to improve our strength so that we won¡¯t become your liability,¡± he said. By now, Li Hua had already returned to the team. She fixed Su Hei with a puzzled look. ¡°I went to look for you at your dormitory last night. I knocked for a long time, but no one answered.¡± Su Hei was stunned. He hurriedly smiled. ¡°Perhaps I was too focused on cultivating and didn¡¯t hear it,¡± he said. He was not lying. He had been so focused on mastering Elemental Possession that he blocked out all sounds from the outside world. Su Hei changed the topic. He asked in surprise, ¡°So what brings you here? How is your wound?¡± Li Hua patted her belly. There were no signs of pain in her face. ¡°There are plenty of Priests and Medics in the medical team, so my wound has completely healed after one night.¡± Su Hei was still worried about Li Hua, so he repeatedly rejected her request to participate in the training. However, Li Hua kept insisting on joining them. Ignoring the looks of everyone around them, Su Hei reached out to check on Li Hua¡¯s wound. Her stomach had been ripped open, but there was not even a scar left now. Su Hei heaved a sigh of relief to see that. All of the recruits were still chatting when a few burly figures appeared in front of them. Those muscular men were wearing combat uniforms. Their leader was the chief instructor of the City Defense Team, Sikou Nanbo! There were five other instructors apart from Sikou Nanbo. All of them were in charge of the training for the five teams. The moment the six instructors appeared, a wave of pressure swept through the training ground. The boisterous crowd immediately quieted down to an inaudible hush. Sikou Nanbo swept his sharp gaze across the crowd. He shouted solemnly, ¡°Starting from now, the boot camp¡¯s devil training will begin. This special training will be more intense, rigorous, and demanding than anything you¡¯ve been through. In one month, I will turn you all from losers into qualified soldiers of the City Defense Team.¡± ¡°I want to give you guys a heads-up first. Just like its name, my devil training will be accompanied by pain and misery. Furthermore, the City Defense Team has given me two percent of the death quota.¡± ¡°In other words, I won¡¯t have to bear any responsibility if two out of 100 losers die.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance. If you¡¯re afraid, you can scram!¡± The crowd exchanged glances with one another, but no one stepped out. Martial artists revered becoming stronger after overcoming obstacles and finding a way out of predicaments. If they could be so easily daunted, they would not be able to achieve much in their lives. Moreover, these recruits were elites who had survived the Forest of Death. They would not get cold feet. ¡°Very good! I hope that in the days to come, you¡¯ll enjoy the training process!¡± said Sikou Nanbo. With that, he waved his hand. Right on the heels of that, a team of City Defense Team soldiers appeared. All of them were in their combat uniforms, and they were in groups of five. Each group of soldiers pushed a small cart toward a team respectively. ¡°These are specially-made uniforms that you will wear during training. There are synthetic metal plates inserted in them, and they weigh a total of 1,000 pounds. From today onward, you have to wear this training suit 24 hours a day.¡± ¡°If I discover anyone resorting to petty tricks and removing the metal plates from your training suit, you will be kicked out of the City Defense Team. You will be blacklisted by all of the survival bases around the world! None of them will recruit you!¡± Sikou Nanbo warned. ¡°How ruthless!¡± everyone thought. The blood drained from their skin. If none of the survival bases in Zosteylor would recruit them, it was equivalent to their lives being over. No one dared attempt that after hearing Sikou Nanbo¡¯s threat. Hundreds of small carts were parked among the recruits. When the recruits put on their training suit, they could not help but tremble. The training suit was too heavy! A beginner-level martial artist had at least 1,000 pounds of strength, but that was when they released an instantaneous burst of power. Most of the recruits¡¯ legs were wobbly, and their knees bent under the weight of the thousand-pound training suit. 24 minutes were torturous enough, not to mention having to wear this training suit for 24 hours a day. The recruits whose combat strength had reached the intermediate-level martial artist had it slightly easier, and it was not as unbearable for them. However, their visibly tense expression betrayed the difficulty they were experiencing in wearing that training suit. Out of more than 1,000 recruits that had taken part in the boot camp, only so-called geniuses Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Zhang Xiaofan, and Cao Guangning could wear the training suit effortlessly. All of them had breezy like expressions. Su Hei was about to put on his training suit when he heard Sikou Nanbo speak. ¡°Take out the training suits we prepared for them.¡± Following that, each of the five instructors held onto a special type of suit that looked very thin. They walked toward Su Hei, Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Zhang Xiaofan, and Cao Guangning. Thud! There was a loud thud when they dropped the training suits on the ground. It sounded as if a massive rock had fallen to the ground. All eyes were immediately drawn to them. ¡°F*ck, that is for them to wear?¡± ¡°I was more than 10 meters away, but I felt a slight tremor under my feet.¡± ¡°Those training suits weigh at least 10,000 pounds, right?¡± ¡°Even Su Hei¡ªwho has a combat strength of 59,000-can¡¯t effortlessly wear a 10,000-pound training suit and participate in daily training. This is impossible!¡± All of the recruits stared at Su Hei and the other four geniuses dubiously. They wonder if these geniuses could handle the weight. Sikou Nanbo was expressionless as he stood with his hands behind his back. ¡°The five of you performed outstandingly in the previous recruitment examination, so I promoted you to section leader,¡± he said. ¡°However, I can very frankly say that I don¡¯t have a good impression of geniuses!¡± ¡°Because of how gifted they are, these geniuses are complacent and think that they¡¯re superior to others. In addition, everyone revolves around them and reveres them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what your life was like before you came here. In the boot camp, you¡¯ll be treated the same as everyone else. If you refuse to listen to orders, rest on your laurels, or fail the boot camp, you will be eliminated, regardless of your caliber.¡± Sikou Nanbo bent down and picked up a 10,000-pound training suit. He swept a glance at the five geniuses before walking toward Su Hei. ¡°Put it on,¡± he ordered. Cao Guangning, who was standing at the side, was delighted. He wanted Su Hei to make a fool of himself in front of everyone. ¡°I concur with Instructor Sikou¡¯s thinking!¡± he thought happily. However, when the chief instructor finished speaking, he handed over the training suit to Cao Guangning. ¡°Huh? Me?¡±! Cao Guangning looked stunned, blinking as if in shock. Seeing that Sikou Nanbo had a solemn expression, Cao Guangning could only chuckle awkwardly and reach out for the training suit. ¡°Damn it!¡± cursed Cao Guangning. He had just held onto the training suit when shock crossed his face. His combat strength was only 9,331. It had not even reached 10,000. He could not lift the training suit and put it on. The next instant, there was a loud sound. Thud! The training suit was so heavy that Cao Guangning fell on his face. ¡°Pfft!¡± They could faintly hear the sound of a recruit trying to hold back a laugh. Instantly, everyone burst into laughter. Their mocking laughter resounded around the training ground. Within seconds, the contagious laughter infected Su Hei, and he smiled. ¡°Stop laughing! Damn it! All of you, stop laughing!¡± hollered Cao Guangning. He got up from the ground. A deep flush of humiliation overtook him. Seeing that Su Hei was also laughing at him, raw anger shot through him. ¡°You don¡¯t really think you¡¯re much stronger than me, do you?¡± Cao Guangning asked. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to wear this training suit for daily training unless you¡¯re a Grandmaster!¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible. I¡¯m sure of it!¡± ¡°Oh? Is that so?¡± asked Su Hei. He snorted. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I should really give this a try.¡± Even though he did not understand the reason for Cao Guangning¡¯s behavior, it was true that the latter did hold resentment against him. As martial artists of the Quilton Base, sooner or later, everyone would become his subordinates and work for him. That was Su Hei¡¯s point of view. Hence, he did not harbor a grudge against Cao Guangning. ¡°Now it looks like I don¡¯t have to do that anymore,¡± he thought. Chapter 23 - Are You Worthy? Chapter 23 Are You Worthy? Su Hei stepped forward and prepared to give it a try. However, Li Burou was faster than him. He smirked. ¡°Leader Cao, you¡¯re exaggerating. Let me have a go.¡± As he spoke, Li Burou had already picked up his training suit. The crowd stirred into a wave of murmurs and gasps of surprise when they saw how he lifted up the training suit effortlessly. ¡°What? He picked it up so easily?¡± ¡°As expected of a martial artist from the Elite class of the martial arts academy. Impressive!¡± ¡°Being able to pick it up doesn¡¯t mean anything. After all, you have to wear it for daily training all day long.¡± ¡°Leader Li, why don¡¯t you put it on and let everyone have a look?¡± Everyone stared at Li Burou with skepticism. Su Hei saw that after mere seconds had passed, Li Burou¡¯s legs had started to bend slightly. ¡°He won¡¯t last much longer.¡± Su Hei thought to himself. Almost simultaneously, there was a thud. Li Burou let go of the training suit and it dropped to the ground. ¡°Leader Cao is right. I can only carry this and walk for a distance of five kilometers. It¡¯s really not easy to wear it all day long.¡± He gladly admitted that the training suit was too heavy for him. His honesty left a good impression on Su Hei. Li Burou¡¯s failure instantly sparked Bai Tiantian¡¯s competitive spirit. The girl carried the puppy and walked forward. She shook her head incessantly. ¡°You¡¯re too weak, buddy. You can¡¯t even withstand the weight of a training suit. How are you going to roll in the hay for hours with your girlfriend in the future?¡± ¡°Let me do it. Help me carry Ice Cream.¡± Bai Tiantian shoved the puppy into Su Hei¡¯s hands. Woof! Ice Cream licked Su Hei¡¯s hand and grinned its floppy doggy grin at him. Su Hei could not help but rub its head when he saw how adorable Ice Cream was. ¡°Ha!¡± Bai Tiantian let out a delicate shout and clapped her hands a few times. After that, she bent down and exerted all of her strength. She easily picked up the training suit and was about to put it on. Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up. They thought that Bai Tiantian would succeed, for sure. Suddenly, Bai Tiantian frowned and let go of that training suit. Thud! The training suit landed on the ground again. ¡°It¡¯s too heavy. I¡¯m not doing this anymore!¡± she grumbled. Bai Tiantian turned around and grabbed Ice Cream, disregarding how Su Hei was still engrossed in stroking and fondling the puppy. Right on her heels was Zhang Xiaofan. Li Burou had a carefree personality, Bai Tiantian was a woman, and Cao Guangning was a fool. Out of the four of them, only Su Hei had a mature and composed demeanor. On top of that, he was more powerful than the four of them. Zhang Xiaofan subconsciously looked at Su Hei. ¡°C-can I try?¡± he asked. Su Hei was slightly stunned before he smiled at Zhang Xiaofan. ¡°Leader Zhang, don¡¯t stand on ceremony. Please, go ahead,¡± said Su Hei. In response, Zhang Xiaofan smiled. He felt a lot more relaxed. He stepped forward and exerted strength in his hands. ¡°Wind!¡± The next instant, a light wind started to blow. It gathered around Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s legs. Standing by the side, the other four geniuses¡¯ clothes fluttered in the wind. ¡°This is Elemental Possession! The martial artist can envelope themselves in their elemental power!¡± Someone in the crowd exclaimed. Everyone stood and stared, dumbfounded. ¡°This is something that only a Grandmaster can do¡­ But wait¡­ Leader Zhang¡¯s combat strength was only slightly more than 10,000 yesterday. How can he become a Grandmaster in one day?¡± ¡°Leader Zhang is also a genius who obtained an assessment token in the recruitment examination. We can¡¯t treat him like a normal martial artist.¡± ¡°I originally thought that Su Hei-Leader Su¡ª was the strongest among this batch of recruits. Now it looks like I was blind to the truth, and I have misjudged!¡± ¡°A martial artist in the Perfected Realm is capable of Elemental Possession! I think it won¡¯t be long before Leader Zhang¡¯s ability surpasses Leader Su¡¯s.¡± Everyone was dumbstruck. Su Hei was also stunned. Over the past two days, Zhang Xiaofan had given people the impression that he was a lone wolf, lacked confidence in himself, and was far inferior to Li Burou and Bai Tiantian. Now, it seemed that he had been lying low and concealing his powers. ¡°With the help of the Wind Element, who knows? Maybe he can succeed in wearing that training suit,¡± thought Su Hei. His eyes gleamed in anticipation. Everyone else felt the same way. Soon, the result was out. With the help of the wind, Zhang Xiaofan could easily lift the 10,000-pound training suit and even slipped his hand up into the sleeve. He was about to fully don the training suit when he changed his mind and threw it on the ground. His brows furrowed slightly, and he looked like he was in considerable discomfort. Drops of cold sweat beaded his forehead. ¡°I can¡¯t do this. My bones can¡¯t support this weight. If I force myself to wear it, the most I can do is stand here. I can¡¯t participate in training at all.¡± Zhang Xiaofan shook his head. Of the five captains, only Su Hei had yet to try. A discussion broke out among the crowd again. ¡°Leader Su has a combat strength of 59,000. It should be easy for him to wear this, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. After all, combat power refers to a martial artist¡¯s attack power. The training suit is so heavy, but he has to wear it at all times. He might be able to tolerate the weight for a while, but it¡¯ll be difficult for him to wear it 24 hours a day. On top of that, he has to participate in daily training! It¡¯s tough.¡± They were still in the midst of the discussion. Su Hei did not hesitate at all. His right hand reached for the collar of his training uniform and picked it up. Everything was done smoothly, and there was no pause or hesitation in his movements at all. Under everyone¡¯s dumbfounded gazes, Su Hei put it on. He moved his shoulders to try to adjust the training suit to a better fit. Following that, Su Hei looked at Cao Guangning expressionlessly. ¡°You can¡¯t even do such a simple thing and you want to compete with me? Do you think you¡¯re worthy?¡± he taunted. A simple sentence. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re worthy?¡± That sentence had pierced Cao Guangning¡¯s heart like needles of ice. Cao Guangning¡¯s face was beet red, then it took on a purplish tint. It was as if he had been poisoned. He could not think of a thing to say to rebut Su Hei. After all, Su Hei had managed to do what he could not. Furthermore, he had done it so easily. ¡°Could it be that the gap between our capabilities is really that huge?¡± he wondered. ¡°No, it couldn¡¯t be!¡± There was a dissatisfied look in his eyes. ¡°Your combat strength is five times more than mine. If I have that much combat strength, I can also easily do it,¡± Cao Guangning argued. ¡°But I wonder how long you can last, wearing this training suit. I hope you¡¯re not outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and you end up taking off the training suit after a few minutes.¡± Jealousy could cause someone to lose control over who they were. Cao Guangning was stubborn. He was still trying to argue back. Su Hei shook his head and sighed. ¡°You have great talent, but you¡¯re not a genius. The only thing you have is your pitiful self-esteem,¡± he remarked. Cao Guangning¡¯s face turned crimson with chagrin when he heard that. That was especially so when he saw everyone pointing at him and whispering to one another. The hatred in his eyes intensified. Chapter 24 - Gravity Training Ground Chapter 24 Gravity Training Ground Sikou Nanbo was a little surprised to see how easily Su Hei could withstand the weight of the training suit. ¡°Was his combat strength test result 59,000 yesterday?¡± he asked nonchalantly. Behind him, an instructor quickly nodded in response. ¡°Yes.¡± Sikou Nanbo took a deep breath. There was a meaningful look in his eyes. ¡°Usually, martial artists can only withstand one-tenth of their combat strength for a long time.¡± ¡°This martial artist is wearing a 10,000-pound training suit, but he seems so relaxed. There are only two possibilities for that.¡± ¡°Firstly, he held back during the combat strength test yesterday. He did not reveal his real strength.¡± ¡°Or perhaps, after the test, his strength increased rapidly and he got a breakthrough to become a beginner-level Grandmaster.¡± The other five instructors were frozen in disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. How can his combat strength increase from 59,000 to 100,000 overnight? This is unprecedented!¡± ¡°Exactly. If he managed to do this, the Quilton base¡­ No, the entire human race will welcome the dawn of victory!¡± ¡°But the probability of such a thing happening¡­ is really rare.¡± Sikou Nanbo nodded as he listened to the other instructors¡¯ input. ¡°So I think most probably, Su Hei held back his actual strength on purpose.¡¯ ¡°No matter what, it¡¯s a fact that he¡¯s a Grandmaster. An 18-year-old Grandmaster! There¡¯s hope for the Quilton base!¡± When he said that, Sikou Nanbo¡¯s usual solemn face glowed with some suppressed excitement. When they saw that, the other five instructors exchanged surprised glances with one another. It was rare for the chief instructor to have such an excited look on his face. It seemed like that kid might really be the hope of the Quilton base. ¡°Leader Su can easily do something that even the four leaders can¡¯t.¡± ¡°As expected, Leader Su is the strongest.¡± ¡°That¡¯s for sure. Otherwise, how could he become the leader of the first team?¡± ¡°Indeed. After hearing what you said, I finally understand that leaders are put in charge of teams according to their combat strength. Su Hei is the leader of Team One, Li Burou is the leader of Team 2, Bai Tiantian¡¯s in charge of Team 3, Zhang Xiaofan is in Team 4, and lastly, Cao Guangning is in Team 5.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve only realized that now? You¡¯re so slow-witted!¡± As the recruits were speaking in hushed whispers among themselves, Sikou Nanbo and the other five instructors walked over. Sikou Nanbo¡¯s sharp gaze swept across everyone before landing on the team leaders apart from Su Hei. ¡°From now onward, the four of you will step down from your role as section leader. You will temporarily be the acting leaders of your respective teams.¡± ¡°Within a week, those who can wear a 10,000-pound training suit while participating in daily training will be reinstated as section leaders. Those who can¡¯t do that will be deemed as ineligible to hold a leadership position.¡± Su Hei felt that this decision was a little ruthless. But at the same time, he admired Sikou Nanbo¡¯s swiftness and decisiveness. Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and the other two section leaders were the geniuses of the current of recruits. Naturally, their training had to be even harsher than other recruits. The harsh training would help them increase their strength. Everyone understood the reason behind Sikou Nanbo¡¯s decision. However, there was someone who was empty-headed. Cao Guangning panicked when he heard that his leadership role had been taken from him. Mostly out of reflex, he shouted at Sikou Nanbo. ¡°What right do you have to do that?¡± ¡°During the recruitment examination, the commander had promised us that those who have obtained the assessment token will be immediately promoted to section leader. That was a rule set down by the commander. Why should it be canceled just because you say so? I object!¡± All chatter immediately ceased. Everyone stared at Cao Guangning in horror. Before martial artists became official members of the City Defense Team, they had to undergo the chief instructor¡¯s training. In other words, everyone in the Quilton survival base¡¯s City Defense Team had been Sikou Nanbo¡¯s student. Even the commander, Xun Chengwu, was no exception. Nobody expected Cao Guangning to dare speak to the chief instructor in such a rude and disrespectful manner. All of them thought that he was a fool. The moment the words left his mouth, Cao Guangning knew he was in big trouble. ¡°How can I say such a thing? I¡¯m the world¡¯s biggest fool!¡± he berated himself inwardly. ¡°I am a mature person, and I¡¯m usually able to keep my cool. How did things turn out like this?¡± ¡°This is all Su Hei¡¯s fault!¡± If it was not because of Su Hei, he would not have lost his cool. Moreover, he would not have spoken without thinking. Everything was Su Hei¡¯s fault! Now Cao Guangning¡¯s hatred for Su Hei multiplied by several folds. He slowly looked up at Sikou Nanbo, wanting to see his reaction. However, he realized that the chief instructor was not there any longer. There were only five instructors staring at him intently. Cao Guangning heaved a sigh of relief. He felt a little awkward and smiled apologetically at them. One of the instructors ignored Cao Guangning and started to shout. ¡°We will focus on gravity training today!¡± ¡°Later, I want all of you to split into your teams and follow us to the designated training ground!¡± After saying that, all five instructors walked toward their respective teams. Su Hei returned to the front of the first team and was about to talk to Wang Dong, Li Hua, and the others. A voice suddenly rang out behind him. ¡°Leader Su.¡± Su Hei turned around and saw that it was the instructor who had given them the order earlier. He was 1.8 meters tall and looked exceptionally handsome in his combat uniform. ¡°However, he¡¯s not as handsome as me. Su Hei thought to himself. ¡°Hello, Instructor!¡± he greeted. ¡°I¡¯m Fang Dongjin. You may call me ¡®Instructor Fang¡¯,¡± introduced the instructor. Fang Dongjin smiled with a smile that reached his eyes. He knew that the youth in front of him might be a Grandmaster. He was extremely astonished. ¡°Instructor Fang, where will we be training?¡± asked Su Hei. Su Hei wanted to avoid unnecessary chit-chat. He was only curious as to why they decided not to use this training ground and insisted on the recruits heading to a designated training ground. ¡°Just follow me with your team.¡± Fang Dongjin wanted to do some bonding with him and chat for a bit. However, he sensed that Su Hei was in a hurry to get to the training ground. Hence, he changed the topic and turned to lead the way there. With Su Hei in the lead, everyone walked along the city wall for nearly half an hour before they arrived in front of a square-shaped building that was the size of a workshop factory. ¡°This is our high-tech training ground, the gravity training ground.¡± Fang Dongjin took the lead, Su Hei followed behind, and the others followed closely behind. As soon as they entered the gravity training ground, many people in the team grunted from the powerful pressure wave that had washed over them. Some people even started to tremble, and their legs gave way under them and they fell. ¡°The gravity here is different from the outside world,¡± remarked Su Hei. Su Hei instantly noticed the difference. After they stepped into the training ground, the gravity inside was twice as much as outside! ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Fang Dongjin nodded. ¡°This is the gravity training ground. We have changed the gravitational force field with the purpose of training the recruits. It¡¯s a simple method which will achieve the effect of increasing the martial artists¡¯ strength.¡± ¡°The gravitational force of the area we¡¯re in now is double what you normally experience. That is because we want to ensure that the recruits adapt to such an environment first,¡± he explained. ¡°We have split this training ground into various areas. There are different types of gravitational force here. There are two times the usual gravity, four times, six times, eight times, and even ten times. The strongest gravitational field is a hundred times the usual gravity.¡± ¡°Today¡¯s mission is for you guys to stay here for eight hours. You may select which area you want.¡± Fang Dongjin patiently explained to Su Hei. Su Hei looked into the depths of the training ground. The deeper he went, the faster the gravitational field changed. He suddenly felt a sense of excitement. If they trained here, everyone¡¯s strength would definitely undergo a rapid change! Chapter 25 - Zhang Xiaofans Idol Chapter 25 Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s Idol In the gravity training ground. Everyone in Team One began their first day of training. Each person would choose an area with a different gravitational force field according to their wishes. The low-level martial artists led by Wang Dong and Wu Dahai all chose to stay in the area near the entrance until they adapted to the environment. They would choose again after they had gotten used to it. Chu Chen, Jiang Jinyu, and Lin Ye¡¯s combat strengths had increased, so they were now intermediate-level martial artists. Hence, they decided to train in an area that had two times the usual gravitational force field. Li Hua¡¯s combat strength was 4,912. Although she was also an intermediate-level martial artist, she was only one step away from advancing to become an advanced-level martial artist. To quickly become an advanced-level martial artist, Li Hua chose the area that had four times the usual gravitational force field without any hesitation. The moment she stepped into that area, her body started to emit crackling and popping sounds. Everyone stared at her, speechless with shock. That was the sound of Li Hua¡¯s body becoming a body of steel, and her strength increasing rapidly. Other people could not see that, but Su Hei could see it through his system¡¯s interface. In an instant, Li Hua¡¯s strength increased from 4,912 to 5,312. His strength had increased by 300 pounds! And she had just entered the training ground! The training effect was remarkable! Su Hei was delighted. At the same time, the other three teams also entered the gravity training ground. However, they entered from a different entrance, so they merely looked at Su Hei¡¯s team from afar. Everyone was wearing their heavy training suits. With the gravity there being much different from what they were used to, everything seemed to have become much heavier. The training suit that originally weighed 1,000 pounds had become 2,000 pounds. Within minutes of stepping into the training ground, many recruits started to pant and sweat profusely. ¡°It¡¯s heavy. It¡¯s damned heavy!¡± ¡°We¡¯re only wearing a 1,000-pound training suit. Our leader is wearing a 3,000-pound training suit. This area has two times the gravity, so his training suit is equivalent to 6,000 pounds.¡± Everyone in Team Two looked toward their leader, Li Burou. At this moment, Li Burou was also in the double gravitational field area. His face was flushed, and his legs were wobbly. Compared to the gravity he was enduring, Li Burou felt that the psychological strain was even more unbearable. ¡°Su Hei can effortlessly wear a 10,000-pound training suit, yet I¡¯m struggling with my 6,000-pound suit,¡± he thought grumpily. Although Li Burou was a big-hearted person, he still felt unhappy when he saw how easy it was for Su Hei. However, different from Cao Guangning¡¯s twisted thoughts, Li Burou was simply jealous of Su Hei. Li Burou firmly believed that with how gifted he was, as long as he trained diligently, he would be able to catch up to or even surpass Su Hei. The recruits in Team Two felt inspired when they saw Li Burou¡¯s persistence. The martial artists who were originally pinned to the ground by gravity got up one after another and gritted their teeth. ¡°Damn it, this is torturous!¡± ¡°The weight of our training suits is already so terrifying, but Leader Su is wearing a 10,000-pound training suit. The pressure that he will have to endure is two times the normal gravity. I can¡¯t imagine what that will be like!¡± he ¡°But he hasn¡¯t gone in yet. Once he steps in, will fare worse than our leader!¡± ¡°That might not be the case. I think that Su Hei is not to be underestimated. He is someone who surpassed all the geniuses and astonished everyone. Perhaps he has some kind of system assisting him. Give him some time. When he grows to his full potential, he will be able to kill all the beasts without spilling a single drop of blood. He¡¯ll easily kill celestial behemoths even from a distance. He will then be bestowed the title of Beastmaster. ¡°I told you not to spend so much time reading all those web novels, but you refuse to listen!¡± ¡°Hahaha! You don¡¯t know anything! This is how I find joy amidst suffering. See? After I said all these, you don¡¯t feel that the gravity is that unbearable now, right?¡± ¡°That¡­ That¡¯s true. Buddy, why don¡¯t you continue talking?¡± In other directions, Teams Three, Four, and Five had also entered an area with a suitable gravity field for them. However, even Bai Tiantian, Zhang Xiaofan, and Cao Guangning had expressions of pain and anguish. From time to time, they would look at Su Hei, who had yet to enter the gravitational field. After a while, Su Hei finally moved. He was about to head deeper into the training ground, which had a higher gravitational field. Seeing that, Fang Dongjin quickly stopped him. ¡°Leader Su, why don¡¯t you try entering the two-times gravity field first?¡± he suggested. From Fang Dongjin¡¯s point of view, Su Hei was only 18 years old. He had gotten a breakthrough to become a Grandmaster, but he was still new to it. His combat strength would not exceed 100,000 by much. Su Hei was still wearing his 10,000-kilogram training suit. Entering the two-times gravity field was already putting a strain on his body. He would get injured if he got any deeper. Su Hei could guess what Fang Dongjin was thinking. He merely smiled. ¡°Rest assured. I won¡¯t force myself to do it if I can¡¯t,¡± reassured Su Hei. Since he had already said so, Fang Dongjin would not continue to stop him. He only nodded in response. However, he kept his gaze fixed on Su Hei in case anything happened. Su Hei walked along the safe passage in the middle and felt the gravity field multiplier on both sides. ¡°Three times, four times, five times, six times¡­¡± Su Hei did not think that there was much difference between those gravitational fields, so he did not stop. The other four leaders and Fang Dongjin stared at him in confusion. ¡°What on earth is this fellow doing? Could it be that he is just taking a stroll?¡± they wondered. However, they did not think that was the case. Cao Guangning wanted nothing more than for Su Hei to walk deeper into the training ground. It was even better if Su Hei could walk to an area with a gravitational field that was 100 times more than the usual gravity. Inside that area, Su Hei¡¯s 10,000-pound training suit would be as heavy as one million pounds. ¡°He would be crushed to death with that amount of gravity!¡± thought Cao Guangning maliciously. He gnashed his teeth. At the thought of Su Hei dying, Cao Guangning chuckled to himself. Su Hei continued to walk forward. ¡°Seven times¡­ eight times¡­ nine times¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± ¡°You just need to walk forward like that!¡± thought Cao Guangning. A twinkle of delight flashed across his eyes. Very soon, Su Hei would reach the area that had 100 times of gravitational field! But right on the heels of that, he saw Su Hei turn and enter the tenfold gravity field! Boom! A powerful gravitational field washed over Su Hei¡¯s body, pressing down on his spine and shoulder bones. ¡°100,000 pounds of strength is equivalent to being attacked by a beginner-level Grandmaster continuously,¡± Su Hei murmured to himself. He furrowed his brows. He found this gravitational field tolerable, but it was not a walk in the park for him. The power of this gravity was truly terrifying. If the gravitational field was more than this, he would not be able to last as long as he did now. On the other side. Fang Dongjin and the other four leaders stared in disbelief at what they were seeing. They had expected Su Hei to quickly step out of that area. However, not only did Su Hei not do that, he could even stand stably. It seemed like he had already gotten accustomed to the gravitational field. They were struck dumb with amazement. Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Cao Guangning did not know Su Hei¡¯s exact strength, so they were shocked and rendered speechless. Fang Dongjin widened his eyes, not knowing what to say. ¡°The highest combat power that beginner-level Grandmasters have is 500,000. One-tenth of that would be 50,000.¡¯ ¡°He¡¯s wearing a 10,000-pound training suit in a 10-fold gravity field, so that means that he¡¯s enduring a 100,000-pound training suit. How is this possible?¡± ¡°This guy is stupendous!¡± Zhang Xiaofan had a different response than the rest of them. He stared at Su Hei with admiration. Looking at Su Hei who was standing in the tenfold gravity field, he secretly made up his mind on something. ¡°From now on, I will work toward becoming someone like Leader Su!¡± he thought. ¡°He is my idol!¡± Chapter 26 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C At first, Su Hei also found it strange. His strength had a value of 298,000. Thus, under normal circumstances, if he wanted to withstand the weight for a long time, the most he could endure was 30,000 pounds of gravity. It was a little abnormal for him to withstand 100,000 pounds of continuous gravity. He wondered, ¡°Could it be that I¡¯m also a legendary cultivation genius?¡± However, on second thought, he had as many as 14 Class talents and could manipulate the four basic Elemental powers. It was logical that he could withstand the weight of a value that was half of his combat strength. But the others were still dumbfounded by Su Hei¡¯s endurance. ¨C The first day of gravity training quickly ended. After eight hours of training, everyone was already panting from exhaustion. Many of them even crawled out of the gravity training ground. ¡°We have eight hours of training every day. In the future, we will also have other types of training.¡± ¡°When will this all end?¡± ¡°Even a week feels long to me, not to mention a month!¡± ¡°My legs are crippled. If I do this again tomorrow, I¡¯ll have bowlegs.¡± ¡°But honestly speaking, I feel that my strength has increased.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Me too. I just don¡¯t know how much it¡¯s increased.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we go and test our combat strength together?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± At the thought that their combat strength had increased, many people instantly perked up and rushed to the testing area excitedly. Wang Dong quickly sidled over to Su Hei. ¡°Su, should we go too?¡± he asked. ¡°I feel that I¡¯m several times stronger than I was in the morning. I think that I can even fight Li Hua.¡± Just as he finished speaking, Li Hua held onto Jiang Jinyu and appeared from the side. ¡°Do you want to go over to the combat arena to spar?¡± she asked. Upon hearing that, Wang Dong shuddered. He quickly grinned at her. ¡°No, no. That¡¯s okay. I was merely joking. I will forever be your follower!¡± he promised. Su Hei chuckled. ¡°Your strength should have increased by about 300 pounds,¡± he told Wang Dong. Wang Dong, Li Hua, and Jiang Jinyu were stunned to hear that. ¡°How do you know?¡± they asked. Su Hei froze. He had subconsciously looked at the system screen just now, so he had an answer. However, he could not say this to them. He could only awkwardly chuckle. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been hiding my other identity from you. I¡¯m the successor of the Daoist Sect that¡¯s located in Hydra Mountain, so I can tell the changes in your strength by doing a simple calculation with my fingers.¡± The three of them looked at Su Hei and rolled their eyes. ¡°It¡¯s been a long day. Call the rest of Senior Class One. I¡¯ll treat everyone to dire beast meat, and we¡¯ll eat the meat that is of the highest level!¡± Su Hei smiled awkwardly and quickly changed the topic. Sure enough, Wang Dong became energetic at the mention of food. ¡°You said it!¡± ¡°Hua, Jinyu, I¡¯ll leave the two of you in charge of getting Su to the canteen. I¡¯ll get the other fellows over now.¡± Without waiting for Su Hei to speak, Wang Dong used a speed that they had never witnessed before during his physical education exams and disappeared in a flash. ¡°Looks like this meal will leave a hole in your wallet,¡± Li Hua commented. She smacked her lips and pulled Jiang Jinyu with her, walking toward the canteen. Su Hei smiled and quickly followed them. ¡°Leave a hole in my wallet?¡± thought Su Hei. ¡°That won¡¯t be possible.¡± Normal members of the City Defense Team had a limit of 50 pounds of dire beast meat per day, and the meat was from those low-level Savage dire beasts. If they overeat, they would have to pay for the rest of the expenses themselves. For the people who held leadership positions, from section leader upward, they had an unlimited supply of Savage-level dire beast meat. In addition, they had a limit of 50 pounds of Spirit-level dire beast meat. The price of that meat was the same as the prices on Earth. One pound of low-level Savage beast meat was equivalent to the price of one pound of wagyu beef meat. Moreover, the dire beast meat could convert to energy really quickly. Once a martial artist ate the meat, it would instantly be digested. Therefore, martial artists had no problem eating hundreds of pounds of meat per day. Everyone envied the section leaders for having an unlimited supply of dire beast meat. ¨C After dinner, Su Hei returned to his single dormitory room. As soon as he sat down, he awakened the system. The system interface displayed Su Hei¡¯s combat strength. Once again, the value of his combat strength had changed. ¡°308,000. My basic strength has increased by 20,000,¡± muttered Su Hei. He was over the moon. Su Hei knew that this was the result of having absorbed the stats of over 300 people. If his combat strength increased by 15,000 a day, that meant that after a month of boot camp, his combat strength would become 450,000! It was enough for him to have a breakthrough to become an intermediate-level martial artist. But, of course, Su Hei understood one thing. Today was their first day of gravity training, so everyone¡¯s strength had increased tremendously. As their gravity training sessions increased, the changes would gradually slow down. However, Su Hei still felt contented. Among the recruits, and among the entire City Defense Team, there was no one who could grow at a speed as he did. Not even the commander. ¨C In the following week, all the recruits repeated the gravity training over and over again. Many people chose to enter a higher gravitational field area. Nothing could deter them from becoming stronger. Those who had gotten injured during training gritted their teeth and continued with their training. During this period, Cao Guangning kept contacting Xu Weicheng in private. ¡°I¡¯ve used up all the Spirit dire beast meat so that I can form close relationships with my team. I have only Savage dire beast left today.¡± At the corner of the training ground, Cao Guangning stood beside the wire net fence. He was pushing a flatbed truck that had a small mountain of dire beast meat¡ªweighing about 1,000 pounds¡ªon it. Xu Weicheng was not interested in all this. He impatiently asked, ¡°How are you doing in the City Defense Team? Does Su Hei still have outstanding performance?¡± At the mention of this, Cao Guangning¡¯s expression instantly darkened. ¡°He¡¯s already entered the 15x gravity field area today. As for me, I¡¯ve only just put on a 10,000-pound training suit. Moreover, I¡¯m the last of the five team leaders to do so,¡± he said grouchily. ¡°Right now, all of the recruits are saying that I¡¯m the weakest among the team leaders. After boot camp ends, they will elect a section leader to be captain. I¡¯m the least likely to be elected!¡± Xu Weicheng frowned, and he looked at Cao Guangning with a confused look on his face. For the past week, he had been selling the dire beasts¡¯ meat and using the money earned to buy potions for Cao Guangning. That way, Cao Guangning could increase his strength. But Cao Guangning could not even beat the other three section leaders, not to mention Su Hei. ¡°Could it be that this lad is just a good-for-nothing? He is powerful only in appearance, but in reality, he is inwardly weak,¡± mused Xu Weicheng. ¡°Have I chosen the wrong person?¡± But now that things had come to this, he had no other choice. Due to Su Hei¡¯s outstanding performance in the recruit camp, the martial arts academy made an exception and allowed Class D to be promoted to become an elite class. Moreover, they even had the thought of switching Class D to become Class C. When that happened, he would become a teacher of Class D! At the thought of this, Xu Weicheng was seething with anger. ¡°I¡¯ll think of a way to get you some better potions. Focus on your training.¡± ¡°According to past precedence, the recruits will have a new recruit mission after next week. At that time, I will follow you secretly. I¡¯ll think of a way to dispose of Su Hei and those three annoying section leaders!¡± he informed. A vicious glint flashed in Cao Guangning¡¯s eyes after he heard that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Xu. I won¡¯t let you down,¡± he reassured. ¡°I¡¯ve already broken through to the Perfected Realm today, but no one knows about it. When the time comes, I¡¯ll strike a fatal blow to them! It¡¯ll be a big shock to all of them, for sure!¡± ¡°Good!¡± said Xu Weicheng. He stared at Cao Guangning in satisfaction before reaching out to grab the flatbed truck from the latter. ¡°You should quickly head back before anyone notices you were gone,¡± he advised. Cao Guangning nodded. The two of them turned their backs on each other and quickly disappeared into the night. Chapter 27 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C The next day. Everyone gathered at the training grounds with their respective teams. Wang Dong was standing behind Su Hei. He asked in a low voice, ¡°Su, I¡¯ve heard that they will be introducing a new type of training today. Do you know what it will be?¡± Su Hei shook his head. Li Burou was standing in the lead for Team Two. He heard Wang Dong¡¯s words and slowly walked over to them. ¡°As far as I know, it¡¯s the War Drums Cliff training.¡± Everyone was puzzled to hear those words. All of them were transmigrators, so they still did not understand certain terms. Seeing this, Li Burou was even more shocked. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t know what War Drums Cliff is.¡± All members of Senior Class One shared confused glances with one another and shook their heads. ¡°Indeed. We have never heard of it,¡± Su Hei replied. ¡°You guys are weird.¡± Li Burou shook his head and glanced at Senior Class One. ¡°I can¡¯t help but wonder if you¡¯re from this world. How can you not know what War Drums Cliff is?¡± ¡°Cut the crap. Tell us,¡± urged Su Hei. He felt a little alarmed that Li Burou had unknowingly guessed the truth and quickly smiled at him. ¡°War Drums Cliff is a dangerous place on Yannopolis Mountain, which is located just outside of the Yannopolis survival base.¡± ¡°There are a total of 81 war drums on the bottomless cliff. The rhythmic beat of the war drums can be heard from thousands of miles away. Our combat strength will increase exponentially with every beat of the drum.¡± Li Burou patiently explained to them. ¡°What? Such an amazing place like this exists? So why are we still diligently doing the gravity training?¡± Wang Dong instantly got excited. Li Burou waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and continued to speak. ¡°Rewards are often accompanied by danger. Since the War Drums Cliff brings about so many rewards, naturally, terrifying dangers will accompany it.¡± ¡°The effect of the war drum will backfire on those who aren¡¯t strong enough, and those people would go insane after hearing the beat of the war drum. In the worst-case scenario, they will lose their lives. Therefore, not everyone dares to try. Those who dare to go up are either martial arts fanatics or those supercilious conceited geniuses.¡± Wang Dong widened his eyes in disbelief. ¡°It¡¯s so dangerous, but they still want us to train there?¡± ¡°Has Sikou Nanbo gone crazy? He might as well kill me!¡± Wang Dong groaned. If it was really as Li Burou had said, the City Defense Team had really crossed the line by making them go to the War Drums Cliff. Su Hei thought so too. Li Burou laughed heartily and shook his head. ¡°Wang Dong, you¡¯re overthinking this. We¡¯re not going to the War Drums Cliff in Yannopolis, but the one here.¡± Hearing this, Su Hei and Wang Dong were confused again. ¡°We have imitated the War Drums Cliff and built a training ground that has war drums. Although it works the same way as the War Drums Cliff in Yannopolis, it¡¯s not as effective as that.¡± Bai Tiantian was the one who had said this. Ice Cream was in Bai Tiantian¡¯s arms as usual. Li Hua and Jiang Jinyu had their eyes glued to Ice Cream the moment they saw it. Women found adorable and glowy items absolutely irresistible. ¡°Ah. Is that so? Okay, we get it now.¡± Su Hei nodded. At this moment, Sikou Nanbo and the other four instructors appeared in front of everyone. ¡°Today will be a tough day of training for you all. Apart from having eight hours of gravity training, we are going to add war drum training to it.¡± ¡°Before the boot camp ends, normal fighters will need to break 10 war drums. The section leaders will need to break 30 war drums.¡± Everyone took a deep breath. Following that, the crowd was in an uproar. ¡°Ten war drums? Isn¡¯t that only something achievable by an intermediate-level martial artist?¡± ¡°My combat strength is only a little more than 1,400. In less than a month, you want me to do something that only intermediate-level martial artists can do! You might as well kill me with a single strike.¡± ¡°This¡­ This is impossible!¡± The natives of the Quilton survival base knew how difficult it was to break the war drums. They were dumbfounded after hearing the chief instructor¡¯s order. Sikou Nanbo did not have any intention of explaining to everyone the reason behind his order. He only said, ¡°Those who don¡¯t meet the requirements will be eliminated.¡± With that, he turned around and left. ¡°Heed my order, Team Three! Forward march!¡± ¡°Heed my order, Team Five! Forward march!¡± ¨C Just like yesterday, Su Hei led a team of martial artists and followed Fang Dongjin to their new training ground. ¨C ¡°This is it.¡± Fang Dongjin stopped and turned around to look at Su Hei. ¡°I¡¯m only responsible for showing you the way. You guys can decide if you want to enter now.¡± ¡°The war drums here aren¡¯t like those in Yannopolis where you will suffer backfire if you fail to break the drums. However, it will be challenging. Those who aren¡¯t confident can go for gravity training first before returning here to break the drums.¡± ¡°Thank you, Instructor Fang.¡± Su Hei politely thanked the instructor. Following that, he turned to the other members of Team One. ¡°Everyone is free to make your own arrangements. You¡¯re dismissed!¡± Su Hei bellowed. ¡°Instructor Fang, I¡¯ll head in first.¡± Fang Dongjin nodded. With that, Su Hei entered the war drums training ground without looking back. Just like the training ground for gravity training, the building for this was also square-shaped. The only difference was that the entrance was smaller, and it had a narrow passageway. Thus, it could only accommodate one person at a time. Su Hei had just stepped in when he heard the sound of mechanical gears behind him. Following that, the door behind him slowly closed. In the next second, dim yellow lights lit up on both sides of the passageway. ¡°They really know how to create an ambiance.¡± Su Hei thought to himself. He took a couple of steps forward and saw a huge drum on the wall. It was similar to those red leather drums in his past life. He could see one every ten meters. ¡°Since the drums are made of wood, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to break them,¡± thought Su Hei confidently. He reached out and tapped lightly on the drum. Thud! A dull drumbeat sounded. There was nothing special about it. However, Su Hei noticed that when the drumbeat sounded, there was a wave of energy that was invisible to the naked eye in the surrounding air. ¡°Oh?¡± He raised his eyebrows and put more power into his fist. Boom! He had delivered a punch that had a thousand pounds of power in it. Instantly, the drum burst. ¡°I see. The drum magnified and reflected the power I threw out, causing me to be attacked. It¡¯s similar to being retaliated. Interesting,¡± he thought. From the looks of it, those drums that were placed further and deeper would reflect higher damage to him. Su Hei stepped forward and clenched his fist. He smashed every drum that he passed, leaving numerous drum fragments on the ground. When he reached the 20th war drum, Su Hei used slightly less than 6,000 combat strength and smashed it to pieces. Suddenly, Su Hei shook his head. ¡°If it¡¯s too simple, the rewards are nothing great,¡± he murmured. He had smashed 20 war drums, but his combat strength had increased by no more than 500. Of course, this was mostly because Su Hei¡¯s combat strength was already an astronomical figure. Naturally, he would not benefit much from such a low-level checkpoint. If everyone else could see Su Hei¡¯s reaction to this, he would definitely incur their wrath. Breaking 20 war drums was their target for that month. However, Su Hei could do it in less than 10 minutes. Despite that, he was complaining that it was too easy. He was inhuman! Su Hei was too powerful! Chapter 28 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Su Hei continued walking forward and broke another 10 war drums. Gradually, he lost his patience. He was annoyed at how he had to keep stopping to break the drums. He preferred breaking all the drums at once. A thought suddenly occurred to him. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± he thought. ¡°It¡¯ll be more fun to see how many drums I can break with a single punch.¡± The next second, Su Hei casually threw out a punch. He utilized his Fire Elemental power, and flames enveloped his fist. There was a loud roar of crackling sounds as the fire burned, showing the explosive power of his Fire Elemental power. Boom! The nearest war drum exploded and pieces of it were strewn in all directions. The drum fragments were burned to ashes in midair. Following that, the second, third, and fourth war drums also exploded. A series of explosions sounded rapidly. In a matter of seconds, 30 war drums were reduced to ashes and the ashes vanished. ¨C In the monitoring room. Sikou Nanbo and Fang Dongjin were watching the surveillance footage of the war drums training ground. They got all stirred up inside when they saw Su Hei smashing 30 war drums. ¡°There¡¯s no doubt about it. This guy is definitely a beginner-level Grandmaster.¡± Fang Dongjin felt abashed with shame at the fact that Su Hei was so powerful despite his young age. As for Sikou Nanbo, he was overjoyed and shocked at the same time. ¡°A beginner-level Grandmaster has around 200,000 combat strength. I¡¯ve never heard of everyone who can become so powerful during boot camp!¡± ¡°Then¡­ should we find someone to publicize this to boost everyone¡¯s morale?¡± Fang Dongjin asked tentatively. However, Sikou Nanbo rejected him. ¡°The fact that he chose to hide his actual strength means that he is quite shrewd. It¡¯s not appropriate for us to expose him. We have to let him decide for himself. We cannot tell him what to do.¡± Sikou Nanbo picked up his teacup and took a few sips from it. He looked at Su Hei on the screen with admiration and joy. ¨C At the same time. Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Zhang Xiaofan, and Cao Guangning also entered the war drum training ground. Mighty drumbeats sounded in all five passageways at the same time, including the one that Su Hei was in. At first, Li Burou and the other three team leaders broke the drums at the same speed. Starting from the 21st drum, the distance between them began to widen. Cao Guangning was the first to stop. He was the most competitive yet weakest one out of the five team leaders. Cao Guangning¡¯s fist landed on the 23rd drum. However, the drums reflected the force of his punch with a counterattack that was similar to or even slightly stronger than his. Boom! The force hit Cao Guangning right in the center of his chest and sent him flying backward into the wall. ¡°The drums have around 9,000 pounds of power. I¡¯ve miscalculated,¡± murmured Cao Guangning. Cao Guangning wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his fingers. A look of surprise flashed across his face. He already got a breakthrough to the Perfected Realm, and his combat strength was at 10,000. He could easily break the 23rd drum. However, he had been careless. The rebound of the war drum had already reached an unexpected extent, which was why he would fail miserably at what seemed like an easy task. Fortunately, this was not the War Drums Cliff. He had only suffered minor internal injuries. Cao Guangning stood up again and clenched his fist, gathering all the strength in his body into his fist. With one punch, the war drum shattered. He looked at the next war drum with a hint of hesitation in his eyes. ¡°The further I go, the more effective the rebound from the war drums. It¡¯s already an accomplishment for me to have walked to the 23rd drum,¡± thought Cao Guangning. ¡°If I use my full strength, I can still smash another two or three drums, but there is a certain danger to doing that.¡± ¡°In any case, today¡¯s mission has been completed. Why don¡¯t I retreat first and try again another day?¡± He felt that everyone else also had the same thought as him. Cao Guangning hesitated for a moment before turning around and walking out of the passageway. ¨C In another passageway, Li Burou moved swiftly and decisively. He smashed every war drum he saw. In less than ten minutes, he stood in front of the 31st war drum. ¡°The rebound efficiency of this war drum should be at 30 percent. It needs at least 13,000 pounds of force to break it.¡± Li Burou mused over the probability of successfully breaking the war drum. He had smashed all the drums before this one, but his increase in strength was no more than 400 pounds. He deduced that his current strength should be lesser than 16,000 pounds. ¡°It should be easy for me to break this drum,¡± he thought. With that, he did not hesitate to throw out a punch. His punch was well-aimed and powerfully delivered. ¡°Break!¡± Li Burou let out a loud roar. The next instant, Li Burou sensed that something was amiss. A look of startled dismay crossed his face. Right on the heels of that, a ripple of energy traveled across the surface of the drum and crashed into Li Burou¡¯s body with an unexpected force. A dull thud sounded. The same thing happened to Li Burou as it did to Cao Guangning. Li Burou rammed straight into the wall and dropped to the ground. He cursed, ¡°F*ck, I made a mistake in my calculations. The rebound efficiency is more than 40 percent!¡± ¡°The 31st war drum is considered okay, but the rebound efficiency will increase exponentially if I continue.¡± ¡°Even for Su Hei, the number of war drums that he breaks should not exceed me by much,¡± thought Li Burou. At that thought, he stood up and patted his clothes to take any dust off. With that, he slowly left the passageway. ¨C Over to Bai Tiantian. ¡°Bloodline awakening!¡± A feminine voice bellowed. That was the core ability of the Beast Tamer. After she shouted that, Ice Cream underwent an unbelievable change in appearance. Its body originally occupied a little less than half the length of Bai Tiantian¡¯s arm. However, it was now as tall as Bai Tiantian, and over two meters long. It had blood-red eyes, and its mouth was full of long sharp teeth. At that moment, it was roaring furiously. ¡°Go!¡± At Bai Tiantian¡¯s command, Ice Cream shot out like a missile. Thud! The war drum vibrated, and only half of the drumbeat could be heard. In an instant, the war drum was smashed into pieces by a black shadow that was almost impossible to spot with the naked eye. ¡°What an achievement! We have broken the 29th battle drum! Well done, Ice Cream!¡± praised Bai Tiantian. The gigantic Ice Cream returned to Bai Tiantian¡¯s side, enjoying having its head rubbed by her. ¡°Let¡¯s stop for today. Come on, Mommy will take you to eat delicious dire beast bone,¡± cooed Bai Tiantian. Woof! Ice Cream stared in the direction of the war drums further inward and barked loudly. Bai Tiantian¡¯s eyes twinkled merrily, and she smiled dotingly at Ice Cream. ¡°If we continue, it¡¯ll be even more difficult. Mommy can¡¯t bear the thought of you getting hurt. After some time, when I have increased my combat strength, we will come back again to break the drums,¡± said Bai Tiantian. ¡°It¡¯s already the 29th war drum. No matter how powerful those two guys are, they won¡¯t surpass us by much.¡± ¨C Unlike Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Cao Guangning, Zhang Xiaofan firmly believed that Su He would achieve great results at the war drums training ground. ¡°I¡¯m only at the 28th drum, but I¡¯m already in such a pathetic state. I¡¯m so weak in comparison to Leader Su!¡± thought Zhang Xiaofan. ¡°I wonder where has Leader Su progressed to? Maybe he has already broken the 40th drum!¡± Zhang Xiaofan looked at the war drums in the depths of the training ground in an unresigned manner before turning to leave. ¨C Li Burou had the best results among the other four team leaders, excluding Su Hei. However, he had only broken 30 war drums. This did not mean that the four of them were weak. Ordinary martial artists were required to break 20 war drums before the boot camp ended. But the four of them could do that in a day. That was already something only achievable by geniuses. However, if they were compared to Su Hei, they would be seen as ordinary martial artists. That was how invincible Su Hei¡¯s summation system was. Chapter 29 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C At this moment, Su Hei was facing the 61st battle drum. Unlike the previous drums, the 61st drum was a hundred meters away from the 60th drum. From that alone, one could tell that it would be extremely dangerous trying to break that drum. ¡°According to the previous rebound efficiency, the rebound efficiency of this war drum will be more than 60%,¡± analyzed Su Hei. However, it was still manageable. Su Hei clenched his fists and casually threw out a punch. His power shot forth, tearing through the air, and smashed into the war drum ferociously. In the blink of an eye, the war drum was torn apart and shattered into pieces. His power was so great that it even broke the 62nd, 63rd, and 64th war drums. Su Hei went all out. Using his full strength, he managed to break all of the drums. ¨C Everyone, including Fang Dongjin, was stunned when they saw the screen which showed Su Hei¡¯s image. All of them had gone through the war drums training, but most of them were stuck at the 40th drum. Hence, they all knew that the deeper into the passageway they went, the more explosive power the drums had. Sikou Nanbo understood the power of the war drums as he had fully smashed all of them. However, he was already an intermediate-level Grandmaster when he managed to smash the 61st war drum. Su Hei was only 18 years old, yet he could already do that! His power was terrifying beyond words. In Zosteylor, it was difficult to find another person like Su Hei even after a thousand years had passed. ¡°His combat power should be reaching the intermediate-level Grandmaster level soon.¡± Fang Dongjin smiled bitterly. He felt indescribable emotions wring his heart the more outstanding Su Hei¡¯s performance was. There was jealousy, but not much. It was natural for humans to be jealous of people more outstanding than themselves, but they would not be jealous of someone so exceptional that they would be looked down on by that person. This was called having self-awareness. Cao Guangning was a classic example of someone who did not know his limits. On the other side, Su Hei continued to smash the war drums in the depths of the passageway. However, it was not as effortless as earlier. The deeper into the passageway he walked, Su Hei upped the frequency of his punches. Su Hei finally stood still after trying to smash the drum in front of him using five consecutive punches but failing to. ¡°The rebound power of the 71st drum had reached a horrifying rate of 90 percent!¡± ¡°If I want to break it, I need at least 400,000 pounds of strength,¡± thought Su Hei. Su Hei calmed his breathing and analyzed. After breaking 70 war drums in a row, his strength had increased by 20,000 pounds. This last set of war drums would increase his combat strength even more. It was detrimental to him if he was too eager for quick success. In the end, Su Hei chose to leave the passageway. ¨C Many recruits were waiting outside the war drums training ground for their turn. They had been astonished by Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and the other two team leaders¡¯ results. ¡°Leader Li broke 30 war drums, Leader Bai broke 29 war drums, Leader Zhang broke 28 war drums, and Leader Cao broke 23 war drums.¡± ¡°As expected of our leaders! They can easily achieve something that we don¡¯t even dare imagine!¡± ¡°I heard that Leader Su was the first to enter, but he hasn¡¯t come out yet. How many war drums do you think he can break?¡± ¡°Leader Su is very strong, but I don¡¯t think his result will be too different from the other leaders.¡± ¡°I agree. My guess is 35 drums, tops.¡± As everyone was in the midst of the discussion, Su Hei walked out of the passageway. Everyone made way for him once they caught sight of him. Everyone knew that as the leader of Team One, Su Hei was the strongest martial artist among the recruits. They had to show their respect for him. They waited for Su Hei to walk off. After they could not see his figure, there was a rising tumult of shocked voices. ¡°Look at the passageway that Leader Su just came out of. There¡¯s a number displayed on top.¡± ¡°Seventy?¡± Everyone was dumbfounded. They wondered if the display screen was spoilt. Otherwise, it was impossible for such a ridiculous number to appear. ¡°It¡¯s broken. It¡¯s definitely broken.¡± ¡°I think so too.¡± At this moment, a few senior members passed by the passageway. When they saw the numbers on the screen, they were astonished. ¡°F*ck, 70 war drums?¡± ¡°Which captain was inside earlier?¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be a captain. Only recruits will be using the war drums training ground during this period. Besides, those captains have already undergone the war drums training. It won¡¯t be effective if they do it again.¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that person who was inside earlier was a recruit? This is bullshit. A recruit can smash 70 war drums? The display screen must be defective.¡± ¡°But there are soldiers in charge of monitoring the training ground. It¡¯s impossible for the display screen to be defective.¡± ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is¡­¡± Those senior soldiers who were still questioning Su Hei¡¯s capability earlier seemed to have thought of a terrifying image and were dumbfounded. The display screen could not be defective, so it was true that someone had indeed broken 70 war drums. And the person who could do that was as strong as the captain! They could not believe that a recruit had done that! The recruits heard them talking, and everyone fell silent. They all looked in the direction Su Hei had gone with terrified expressions. Gasps sounded from every corner. Soon, every soldier¡ªnew or old¡ªcame to know of this news. ¨C In Team Two¡¯s dormitory. Li Burou had a bitter look on his face. He shook his head. ¡°Su Hei, you¡¯re so much more powerful than me. It makes me feel ashamed of myself,¡± he murmured. Originally, he thought that Su Hei and he were on par with each other. Seventy war drums. Li Burou snorted. ¡°You¡¯re really something,¡± he thought. ¨C Over to Bai Tiantian. Bai Tiantian had dog food in the palm of her hand as Ice Cream dug in greedily. She could not help but mutter. ¡°Su Hei is so terrifying.¡± ¡°I heard that the stronger a person is, the stranger their temperament is. Stay away from him in the future. Otherwise, even if he kicks you, Mommy won¡¯t be able to avenge you.¡± Upon hearing this, Ice Cream stopped eating and looked up. It was blinking its adorable eyes as it stared at Bai Tiantian with a frightened expression. ¨C The members of Senior Class One were already used to such a situation. Another person who did not seem surprised was Zhang Xiaofan. ¡°Seventy war drums, more than twice as many as mine. As expected of Leader Su!¡± he gushed. Zhang Xiaofan was bursting with fanboy excitement. Not to mention 70, he would not be surprised even if all 81 drums were destroyed. ¨C In Team Five¡¯s dormitory. At Cao Guangning¡¯s place. When the news reached him, his face instantly darkened. Crack! A wave of fury crashed through him. Cao Guangning lost control over his strength, and he crushed the edge of the table into fine powder. When the recruit who had told him the news was still there, Cao Guangning could still act composed and suppress his anger. As soon as that recruit left, he could not hold his temper anymore. ¡°70 war drums! He broke a total of 70 war drums!¡± he yelled. Cao Guangning felt an overwhelming sense of shock. He had only smashed 23 war drums before having suffered a considerable internal injury. ¡°That bastard Su Hei can break 70 war drums?¡± he thought angrily. ¡°Since when did the gap between me and Su Hei become so big?¡± He could hear everyone discussing Su Hei¡¯s shocking achievement everywhere. He could hear them speaking outside the window, outside his door, in the corridor, or even downstairs! All this glory should belong to him! ¡°This is all that bastard¡¯s fault!¡± he cursed mentally. ¡°I swear that if I don¡¯t get rid of Su Hei in this life, I¡ªCao Guangning¡ªam not worthy of being a human!¡± Chapter 30 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Su Hei, who had left the war drums training ground, was about to return to his dormitory. At this moment, Fang Dongjin called out to Su Hei. ¡°Leader Su, please come with me. The chief instructor wants to see you.¡± ¡°My results earlier must have reached the chief instructor,¡± thought Su Hei. Su Hei was not surprised. With his performance just now, it would be strange if the chief instructor did not look for him. Very soon. Su Hei followed Fang Dongjin to an office. He knocked on the door, and Sikou Nanbo¡¯s voice came from inside. ¡°Come in.¡± Su Hei pushed the door open and walked in. He saw Sikou Nanbo sitting behind his desk. He had an expressionless look as usual. ¡°Leader Su, I saw your performance just now.¡± Sikou Nanbo went straight to the point. ¡°To tell you the truth, I¡¯m shocked.¡± ¡°A child your age can already be considered an outstanding talent if you¡¯re able to become an intermediate-level or even advanced-level martial artist.¡± ¡°Those who have reached the Perfected Realm like the other team leaders can be called peerless geniuses.¡± ¡°But I never thought that someone like you, who has such monstrous talent, would appear.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that in the thousand-year history after martial artists emerged, there are only a handful of people who can compare to you.¡± Sikou Nanbo was generous with his praises, making Su Hei feel a little embarrassed. Nevertheless, he did not dodge Sikou Nanbo¡¯s compliments. ¡°You¡¯re too kind, Chief Instructor,¡± Su Hei replied politely. ¡°No. Everything that I¡¯ve said is the truth. It¡¯s not an exaggeration at all.¡± Sikou Nanbo waved his hand dismissively and stood up with his hands clasped behind his back. ¡°Not only are you the hope of the Quilton base, but you might also even be the hope of the entire human race!¡± ¡°I, Sikou Nanbo, have been the chief instructor of the City Defense Team for more than twenty years. I¡¯ve taught tens of thousands of qualified martial artists or even more. I think I¡¯m an outstanding instructor, but regarding you¡­¡± His voice trailed off. At this point, Sikou Nanbo looked at Su Hei meaningfully. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have anything to teach you. In addition, I don¡¯t dare to teach you.¡± ¡°Therefore, from today onward, you don¡¯t have to participate in daily training anymore. Moreover, as long as Quilton base has the resources you need, we will supply you with those resources unconditionally. If Quilton doesn¡¯t have them, I will think of a way to get them for you.¡± As soon as he said that, Fang Dongjin¡ªwho was standing at the door¡ªwas shocked. Since the establishment of the Quilton Base City Defense Team, no one had ever gotten such treatment. It was unprecedented and enviable! ¡°Thank you, Chief Instructor!¡± Su Hei replied politely. He had a calm expression. However, mentally, a surge of unexplainable emotion caught him by surprise. The City Defense Team would provide him with anything he wanted! Su Hei was very satisfied with the preferential treatment he was receiving. When Sikou Nanbo saw how composed Su Hei was, he got a better understanding of the latter¡¯s personality. ¡°This kid is calm and not conceited. He¡¯s won¡¯t be far from achieving greatness!¡± With this thought in mind, Sikou Nanbo spoke once more. ¡°I¡¯ve given you the privilege, but you have to promise me that as long as you still have strength, you won¡¯t give up on the tens of millions of people in the Quilton Base!¡± Quilton was where he was born and raised. Sikou Nanbo had lived here for most of his life. Everything that he did was for the sake of protecting the Quilton base and the people of Quilton. This was his only request for Su Hei. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will.¡± Su Hei nodded. Actually, Su Hei would have done the same even if Sikou Nanbo did not say that. He and Senior Class One had transmigrated here, and they had not been ill-treated by the Quilton base. He already held some feelings for this land. However, since Sikou Nanbo had made such a request, he would go with the flow and do this favor for him. ¡°On behalf of the millions of people of the Quilton Base, I thank you in advance!¡± Sikou Nanbo smiled in relief. It was the first time Su Hei had seen the serious man smile. Following that, Sikou Nanbo waved his hand. Fang Dongjin understood Sikou Nanbo¡¯s order. He walked over to Sikou Nanbo¡¯s bookcase and moved the position of a book. Suddenly, a mechanical sound filled the room. It sounded like gears were turning or grinding. Right on the heels of that, the walls shifted to the sides, revealing a secret chamber. Seeing that Fang Dongjin stood there unmoving, Sikou Nanbo frowned. ¡°What are you waiting for? Take it out.¡± ¡°But¡­ I can¡¯t lift this.¡± Fang Dongjin smiled awkwardly. Of the three people in this room, he was the weakest. Sikou Nanbo was stunned and helplessly walked into the secret chamber. Everyone in the City Defense Team knew that Fang Dongjin was a martial artist in the Perfected Realm. Su Hei was aware of that too. In addition, he knew that in the City Defense Team, there were hundreds if not thousands of martial artists who were also in the Perfected Realm. Someone who could become an instructor was definitely the strongest one among them. Fang Dongjin¡¯s combat power was around 70,000 to 90,000. Something that even he could not lift must be an extraordinary item. Just as he was feeling curious, Sikou Nanbo walked out with a special black box. ¡°This is the most technologically advanced invention in the Zosteylor Base Alliance. You can adjust the gravity force for this training suit. It weighs 100,000 pounds, and it can be adjusted up to 10 times heavier, which is a million pounds.¡± One million pounds! It was a hefty 500 tons! A training suit could actually be that heavy! It was no doubt the most advanced technology. It would even benefit advanced-level Grandmasters. ¡°Thank you, Chief Instructor!¡± Su Hei replied politely. Su Hei smiled. A 10,000-pound training suit was not effective on him anymore. This training suit that weighed a million pounds came at the right time. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so polite.¡± Sikou Nanbo waved his hands. ¡°Take it and leave. Don¡¯t neglect your training. No matter how gifted you are, you still have to rely on daily training to improve. Otherwise, your martial art realm might regress,¡± advised Sikou Nanbo. ¡°I understand!¡± Su Hei nodded. Without another word, he picked up his training suit and left the office. During their entire conversation, no one asked Su Hei which realm he was in currently. The three of them were aware that Su Hei was a Grandmaster. Watching Su Hei leave, Fang Dongjin closed the door. ¡°Chief Instructor, how much gravity weight do you think Su Hei can withstand?¡± he asked. Sikou Nanbo thought for a moment. ¡°In the beginning, it will probably only be 100,000 pounds. In a month, Su Hei will be able to withstand 200,000 pounds of gravity. In three months, that number will increase to 300,000 pounds. After half a year, he¡¯ll be able to withstand 400,000 pounds. I estimate that he should be able to withstand one million pounds of gravity within two years,¡± he replied. ¡°Two years?¡± exclaimed Fang Dongjin. He was dumbfounded. This meant that Su Hei would become an advanced-level Grandmaster within two years. If that was the case, Su Hei could cultivate at an amazingly rapid pace! ¨C After leaving the office, Su Hei rushed back to the dormitory. He slammed the door shut and impatiently changed into his new training suit. When he put on the 100,000-pound gravity training suit, Su Hei felt a strong pressure pressing down on him. It was as if there was a huge mountain pressing down on his body. Su Hei got a little disoriented and almost fell on his butt. ¡°That was close. This training suit is as thick as an autumn outfit, but it is as heavy as 100,000 pounds. How impressive!¡± thought Su Hei. Su Hei could not help but feel amazed. ¡°The chief instructor mentioned that I can adjust this to ten times the force of gravity. I¡¯ll try 200,000 pounds first.¡± Even though Su Hei was mentally prepared, his legs shook from the sudden weight change. ¡°300,000 pounds.¡± His legs continued to shake. He could still bear this weight but could not continue to adjust the weight anymore. ¡°It¡¯ll take me a month at most to be able to handle 300,000 pounds of weight effortlessly. I guess my combat strength will increase significantly too,¡± he thought. Su Hei tried to gauge the time required for him to be able to handle that weight. ¡°In six months, I will adjust this to the maximum weight.¡± The time he had stated was much shorter than what Sikou Nanbo had predicted. If Sikou Nanbo and Fang Dongjin knew what Su Hei was thinking, they would probably go crazy. Su Hei was really ambitious! Chapter 31 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C It had been a week since the recruits started the war drums training. During this period, while everyone was undergoing strict gravity training, they were also frantically smashing the drums, trying to hit the quota they needed to attain. All of the team leaders suffered a huge blow after learning of Su Hei¡¯s war drums result. Hence, they continuously smashed war drums day and night. Li Burou and Bai Tiantian smashed another four war drums at the same time. One had broken thirty-four war drums in total, while the other broke thirty-three. They tested their combat strength and learned that it had increased by 2,000 pounds. Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s result was close behind the two of them. He broke 32 war drums, and his strength increased by 1,500 pounds. The most surprising person was Cao Guangning. He had been so stunned by Su Hei¡¯s result that it spurred him to work even harder. He wanted to perform even better than Su Hei did. Hence, Cao Guangning never stepped out of the gravity training ground at all. He even had his meals there and slept there. When he noticed that there was a slight improvement in his combat strength, he would immediately challenge the war drums training once more. In just a week, he had smashed six drums. Out of the four team leaders, he was the one with the greatest improvement. However, he had only broken 29 war drums in total, which was the least out of the team leaders. The few of them were still far from the 70 war drums record set by Su Hei. Early in the morning. Everyone in the boot camp gathered at the training ground. Their eyes gleamed with excitement. According to the boot camp schedule, today was the day that the recruits would be allowed to pick out their cultivation technique manuals and start learning. Cultivation techniques were cultivation methods that increased a martial artist¡¯s attack power. Martial artists had many different class talents. The cultivation techniques that were suitable for each class talent varied too. The secret manuals were mostly cultivation techniques that cultivated the martial artist¡¯s physique and essence. They were similar to the mental cultivation techniques in martial arts novels. If cultivation techniques were compared to the building exterior, then secret manuals were like the framework of buildings. These were complementary, and one could not exist without the other. ¡°Hello, everyone!¡± Sikou Nanbo appeared at the front of the line with five instructors. ¡°Hello, Instructor!¡± ¡°Instructor, we appreciate everything you have done for us!¡± The recruits spoke in unison, and their voices boomed like a clap of thunder. Their powerful roars filled the air. Sikou Nanbo looked at the recruits in satisfaction. He said, ¡°I know that everyone is very excited. I¡¯m also very excited because today is the day that you guys will begin getting your cultivation technique manuals.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t get too excited just yet. Before we begin, I have a few things to tell you.¡± ¡°Every cultivation technique manual is a priceless treasure, especially for the City Defense Team.¡± ¡°Therefore, in order to prevent the cultivation technique manuals from spreading rampantly, you will all have to undergo a test before we allow you to choose a cultivation technique manual that suits you.¡± The five instructors stepped in front of the teams they were in charge of. Sikou Nanbo continued to speak. ¡°The instructors of each team will teach you a common cultivation technique of the City Defense Team, called the Military Fist.¡± ¡°Only new recruits who have mastered the Military Fist and whose combat strength has increased by 10 percent can choose their cultivation technique manual.¡± It was equivalent to a qualification test. Su Hei had a strange expression on his face. Having 10 percent of combat power might be easy for other recruits to achieve. However, to him, 10 percent of his combat power was equivalent to slightly over 30,000 points of strength. A common cultivation technique was clearly not powerful enough for him to accomplish that. Even the other four team leaders had troubled looks on their faces. ¡°As for the five team leaders, you may choose the cultivation technique manual that you want now. Follow me.¡± Sikou Nanbo¡¯s timely revelation eased the team leaders¡¯ worry. Every recruit stared at them enviously. Su Hei and the other leaders followed closely behind Sikou Nanbo and walked off into the distance. ¨C The group of six stopped in front of a low-rise building. At the entrance, there was a word written in red paint on an inconspicuous sign. Library. The building looked old, but it contained all the cultivation technique manuals of the Quilton base¡¯s City Defense Team. Sikou Nanbo stood in front of the entrance and swept a glance at the team leaders. Following that, he said casually, ¡°There are no good or bad cultivation technique manuals, only suitable ones.¡± ¡°After you enter, only take the cultivation technique manual that suits your class talent the most. Don¡¯t try to take reckless or foolish risks.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Zhang Xiaofan, and Cao Guangning all responded. Only Su Hei fell into deep thought. He had over 10 different types of class talents. If he learned all of the respective cultivation techniques, it would be too complicated. Besides, that was counterproductive to his goal of wanting to increase his combat strength. The best way was for him to choose the cultivation techniques of a few mainstream class talents and learn. Hence, after Su Hei entered the library, he directly headed to the bookshelf that held cultivation manuals for the mainstream class talents. ¡°Seven Injury Fist. With a punch, the martial artist can injure seven people. This is suitable for martial artists who have Warrior and Boxer class talent to cultivate.¡± ¡°Sword Drawing Technique. This is a sword technique that allows the martial artist to kill with a single strike. It¡¯s suitable for martial artists with the Swordsman class talent.¡± ¡°Black Tortoise Art, a body tempering secret technique. It¡¯s suitable for martial artists with the Shield talent to cultivate.¡± Su Hei flipped through the manual in his hand before putting it down. ¡°I can learn all these secret manuals, but the question is, which do I pick?¡± he muttered to himself. It was best if he could find a top-notch powerful cultivation technique manual and cultivate it. Humans wanted nothing but the best for themselves. There were a total of three floors in the library, and there were numerous cultivation technique manuals stored there. Su Hei needed to find all the cultivation techniques that matched the 14 class talents and compare them before making a decision. He was feeling spoilt for choices with all these cultivation technique manuals. Suddenly, a bold thought occurred to him. ¡°There are so many cultivation techniques. If I only choose one technique to cultivate, I will only be able to get 100 percent effect of this cultivation technique,¡± he thought. ¡°Instead of just choosing one technique, if I use the summation system to absorb all of the cultivation techniques¡­ The result would be¡­¡± Although he was unsure if that was feasible, he could not try it out in broad daylight. Despite that, Su Hei still felt a little surprised. ¡°If that really works, I¡¯ll be able to create an exceptional cultivation technique that integrates all of my strengths,¡± he thought excitedly. At that thought, Su Hei ran through the library at a rapid pace. He grabbed dozens of cultivation technique manuals everywhere he passed. At the same time, the other four leaders had already chosen their desired cultivation technique manual. Despite waiting for a long time, Su Hei did not appear at all. ¡°It¡¯s just choosing a cultivation technique manual. There¡¯s no point in dilly-dallying. Don¡¯t tell me he really wants to rely on one cultivation technique to become invincible in the world?¡± complained Cao Guangning. He was extremely impatient. He was even more displeased that he was waiting for Su Hei. ¡°Su is a man of stable character. It¡¯s imperative to choose a suitable cultivation technique as it will determine how powerful you are in the future. It¡¯s understandable that he would want to be more cautious,¡± said Li Burou. He smiled faintly. Bai Tiantian was an absent-minded person and genuinely did not care about most things. Only Zhang Xiaofan kept his eyes glued to the entrance. He wondered what kind of cultivation technique manual Su Hei would choose. ¡°He¡¯s out!¡± Not long after, Zhang Xiaofan suddenly yelled out. Su Hei dragged a flatbed car over slowly. Books were neatly piled up in it. Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Cao Guangning were dumbfounded. Sikou Nanbo looked at Su Hei in confusion. ¡°Is this kid intending to loot my library?¡± he wondered. Chapter 32 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Li Burou leaned forward, staring at the mountain of books in disbelief. ¡°Su, are you really intending to bring all these books back with you?¡± he asked. Bai Tiantian also watched curiously. ¡°Buddy, all these manuals don¡¯t have many pages. You won¡¯t be able to earn much from selling those discarded manuals, and you¡¯ll be at risk of getting killed. It¡¯s not worth it for you to be doing this!¡± Their words made Su Hei shake his head and laugh with exasperation. ¡°These are the cultivation technique manuals I want to cultivate,¡± remarked Su Hei. Everyone was stunned to hear that. Their faces were filled with incomprehension. No matter the type of cultivation techniques manual, what was most important was for the cultivator to fully understand and master it. After spending thousands of years cultivating it, the cultivator would be able to perfect this technique. There was an expression saying, ¡°To bite off more than one could chew¡±. The more cultivation techniques manuals one cultivated in a short period, the more chaotic the energy in one¡¯s body would be. It would be very difficult for that cultivator to control it, and he would be hurt instead. Even ordinary people knew this, not to mention Su Hei. After all, he was a martial artist hailing from the martial arts academy. There was no reason for him not to know. Sikou Nanbo looked at Su Hei in confusion, but he did not say anything. Behind him, Cao Guangning sneered. ¡°Ordinary people usually need a few months or even a year to even begin learning the cultivation technique, and it takes years to master it.¡± ¡°This is your first time cultivating a cultivation technique, but you want to try hundreds of secret manuals. You¡¯re simply courting death,¡± he said. ¡°It was best if he died.¡± Cao Guangning thought to himself gleefully. If Su Hei died because of his arrogance, it would be easier for him to make a comeback and take over Su Hei¡¯s position. Zhang Xiaofan was worried that Su Hei would go astray. He said nervously, ¡°Leader Su, these cultivation technique manuals are rare, but all the different survival bases can use them too. They are not considered top-notch manuals, so you will only waste your energy if you learn all of these.¡± However, Su Hei wanted to persist in his own way. He looked at Sikou Nanbo. ¡°Chief Instructor, can I take these cultivation technique manuals with me?¡± he asked. In the end, the chief instructor was the one who had the final say. Sikou Nanbo thought for a moment. ¡°As the chief instructor, from the perspective of martial arts cultivation, I don¡¯t recommend that you do this.¡± ¡°However, the City Defense Team didn¡¯t stipulate the maximum number of cultivation technique manuals that you can bring out of the library. You can take these away.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s just one thing. The original copies of these cultivation techniques manuals are not allowed to be brought out of the military camp. Otherwise, that person will be punished by military law,¡± he warned. Sikou Nanbo was somewhat displeased. His strength was already infinitely close to a Senior Grandmaster, but he did not dare to cultivate many cultivation techniques at the same time, let alone the hundreds of books that Su Hei brought out. Over the past few days, he had been secretly observing this kid. This kid was calm and composed in every aspect. He did not expect that Su Hei would be like the other so-called geniuses and be so conceited. Su Hei was anxious to verify his thought. Once he got Sikou Nanbo¡¯s permission, Su Hei bid goodbye to them, pushed his flatbed truck, and left. Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Zhang Xiaofan also bowed in respect to Sikou Nanbo and left. Only Cao Guangning looked at Su Hei¡¯s departing figure and narrowed his eyes in thought. From time to time, the corners of his lips curled up. He was secretly delighted at Su Hei¡¯s decision. ¨C Along the way, many martial artists noticed the carriage filled with cultivation techniques manuals that Su Hei was pushing. Many people were involuntarily startled at this sight. They felt that a bandit had ransacked the library. They wondered why nobody stopped this person. ¡°What about the martial artist who is on duty at the library?¡± they thought. ¡°What about the patrol division?¡± They felt that it was even more unbelievable when they recognized Su Hei. ¡°Is this guy intending to cultivate all these cultivation technique manuals?¡± They began to talk among themselves. ¡°Even I know that cultivation technique manuals can¡¯t be cultivated at the same time. How can Leader Su not know?¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be that¡­ he really ransacked the library, right?¡± ¨C Su Hei ignored everyone around him. He quickly returned to his dormitory and locked the door tightly. Hundreds of books lined up in neat rows on his bed. Su Hei sat cross-legged and his consciousness moved slightly. Right on the heels of that. System: ¡°Ding! Detected that the host has obtained Hundred Pulse Beast Refinement Technique, Heaven Expansion Record, 13 Lightning Swords, Vajra Killing Fist¡­ A total of 108 cultivation technique manuals.¡± System: ¡°Does the host want them all summated?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± blurted Su Hei. He was wild with joy. ¡°Hundreds of powerful cultivation techniques manuals have fused together. A new cultivation technique encompassing the strengths of hundreds of cultivation techniques is about to appear!¡± he thought. He was overwhelmed with excitement. System: ¡°Summation in process¡­¡± After saying that, the cultivation techniques manuals that had been placed on the bed started to glow. All of the words floated up from the books and fused together. A few minutes later, the bright glow disappeared. Other than the original 108 cultivation techniques, another secret manual appeared in front of Su Hei. ¡°Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique. This technique allows the cultivator to devour the world and transform everything in the world. It¡¯s suitable for all martial artists to cultivate, regardless of their class talents.¡± Su Hei¡¯s eyes lit up in joy. This was an omnipotent technique! Moreover, this name sounded very mighty and domineering. If this was a technique in a silly web novel, it would definitely be considered a top-notch cultivation method. Su Hei flipped open the manual and looked at the contents in surprise. Su Hei, who was a Grandmaster, could easily master new cultivation techniques. An hour later, he was already halfway through his reading. The first half of the content was completely engraved in his mind, ready for immediate recall whenever he wanted. Two hours later, he finished reading the entire ¡°Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique¡± manual. At the same time, he had completely comprehended the contents. ¡°As expected of a peerless cultivation manual that is created from fusing all 108 cultivation manuals!¡± he thought. Su Hei set down the manual, wishing that he could carry on reading. He could already feel that his strength was changing, despite only having read that manual once. He had a feeling that his strength would increase exponentially after cultivating this cultivation technique. Normal cultivation techniques would increase the cultivation efficiency of martial artists by 10 percent. The Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique could increase his cultivation efficiency by 1,000 percent! That was the difference between his manual and other ordinary manuals! Whatever the summation system created was definitely top-notch! Su Hei closed his eyes and started circulating the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique. An invisible cyclone appeared above his head. All the Spiritual Qi in the room was absorbed by the cyclone. A colorless glow shimmered around Su Hei¡¯s body. His strength was also increasing. A few hours later, night fell. Su Hei ended cultivation. ¡°In just a short period, my strength has increased by more than 9,000 pounds!¡± he thought excitedly. He gasped in shock when he saw the value of his strength displayed on the system interface. 337,650! He was one step closer to becoming an intermediate-level Grandmaster! ¡°This speed is really amazing!¡± he thought. It was no exaggeration to say that even if all the mainstream cultivation techniques manuals on the market combined, they could not hold a candle to the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique at all. However, if this particular cultivation technique was made available to everyone, it would definitely cause an uproar. In fact, it would lead to countless people going bankrupt as they fought to be in possession of it. ¨C Su Hei had already used the summation system to fuse the 108 cultivation techniques, but he was not in a hurry to return these manuals. He held the ¡°Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique¡± to his chest and pushed open the door. After leaving his room, he walked straight to another dormitory room on the same floor as his. Inside room 703, the room that Chu Chen was sharing with Wang Dong. Su Hei pushed open the door. He saw Chu Chen practicing boxing and Wang Dong snoring loudly. Su Hei signaled Chu Chen to keep quiet. He walked over to Wang Dong¡¯s bed and kicked his butt. There was a loud thud. Even the floor shook a little. ¡°F*ck you, Chu Chen! I am going to kill you!¡± cursed Wang Dong. Chapter 33 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Wang Dong was fuming. He got up from the ground. Before he even opened his eyes, he had already charged in the direction of Chu Chen¡¯s bed and started to spew curses at Chu Chen. ¡°Oh? Why don¡¯t we go to the training ground to practice?¡± Su Hei looked at Wang Dong and smirked. ¡°Huh?¡± When he heard that voice, Wang Dong was stunned. He still had his eyes closed. ¡°This voice¡­ sounds a little familiar,¡± he murmured. His meaty hands rubbed away the eye discharge that was stuck to his upper and lower eyelids before he opened his eyes. He was delighted to see Su Hei. ¡°Su, I want a hug!¡± he yelled. As he spoke, he was about to pounce on Su Hei with his stout body. Su Hei suddenly dodged to the side. That fatty could not stop himself in time and charged toward Chu Chen, who was watching both of them. Wang Dong smashed into Chu Chen, and they both ended up falling to the ground. ¡°F*ck! Get lost! You¡¯re so heavy that I¡¯m about to be squashed to death by you!¡± Chu Chen moaned in pain and kicked Wang Dong aside. When Chu Chen finally stood up, he noticed that Su Hei was laughing secretly at the side. He asked angrily, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°To show you guys something good,¡± replied Su Hei. Su Hei held out the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique. ¡°What is this?¡± Chu Chen took it and frowned as soon as he flipped it open. ¡°I know that you are gifted, and you have outstanding performance. That¡¯s why you can choose the cultivation manual you want before us, but there¡¯s no need to flaunt it in our faces, right?¡± Wang Dong got to his feet and laughed, seemingly without a care in the world. ¡°Don¡¯t gauge the heart of a gentleman by your own mean measure. Su secretly went against the rules and brought the book for us to cultivate. This is for our own good, but you don¡¯t appreciate it!¡± said Wang Dong. He grabbed the secret manual and looked through it. Su Hei smiled. ¡°Wang Dong is not entirely right. This secret manual is indeed for you to cultivate, but it isn¡¯t from the library,¡± he said. Chu Chen and Wang Dong were confused. ¡°Then where did it come from?¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be that you bought it yourself, right?¡± ¡°We saw it on the Internet. Although there¡¯s no clear classification of cultivation technique manuals, there¡¯s still a slight difference between the good ones and the lousy ones. The cheapest cultivation technique costs one million Base Coins. I can tell that this isn¡¯t any ordinary manual just by looking at the first page. It must cost an arm and a leg, for sure! Where did you get so much money?¡± The monthly allowance for the normal fighters in the City Defense Team was only 3,000 Base Coins, and the section leaders only had 10,000 Base Coins. Su Hei was a rich second-generation heir in his previous life, but he was just an ordinary person here. It was impossible for him to come up with so much money. ¡°Who told you I bought this?¡± asked Su Hei. He did not hold back the truth from them. ¡°This is a secret manual that I created myself. It¡¯s the only one in the world,¡± Su Hei revealed. Wang Dong and Chu Chen immediately rolled their eyes at him. ¡°Su, you¡¯ve changed. Back in our previous lives, you weren¡¯t someone who behaved so pretentiously,¡± Wang Dong said in disdain. He stuck his finger into his nostril and twisted it back and forth. ¡°How dare you question me like this?¡± berated Su Hei. He slapped Wang Dong. The latter was so afraid that he stopped picking his nose and cried out. ¡°My nose almost bled. Will you be responsible for me if I¡¯m disfigured?¡± ¡°Get lost.¡± Su Hei said angrily. Chu Chen watched their quarrel at the side. He could not help but ask, ¡°Did you really create this manual?¡± Seeing Su Hei nod in response, Chu Chen and Wang Dong realized something was wrong. It had been some time since they had become martial artists, so they had gotten a thorough understanding of martial arts. Currently, the cultivation techniques circulating in the market were either created by mighty figures who could cross the starry skies and pluck the moon and stars or were created by geniuses who had fully comprehended martial arts. Both kinds of people were incredibly rare, and they were seniors who had practiced martial arts for a very long period. Su had unparalleled talent. However, just like them, he had been in the martial arts world for less than a month. He could actually create his own cultivation technique! Moreover, looking at the content of the ¡°Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique¡±, it was definitely a top-notch secret manual. If this manual was released to the public, it would definitely cause a sensation. ¡°Su, you¡¯re so awesome!¡± exclaimed Wang Dong. He had a fanatical expression. Unlike Zhang Xiaofan, Wang Dong was originally Su Hei¡¯s fan. And now, he treated Su Hei like a divine being. Gods were omnipotent! ¡°This is the original copy. You can make a copy and pass it to Li Hua and Jiang Jinyu. Don¡¯t tell the others yet. I¡¯ll teach them personally once they attain the qualifications required to practice this cultivation technique,¡± instructed Su Hei. With that, Su Hei left Dorm 703. He had just cultivated the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique and felt that a lot of power was being suppressed outside his body. He needed to find a place to try it out. He walked straight toward the war drums training ground. ¨C Coincidentally, Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Zhang Xiaofan, and Cao Guangning were also challenging the war drums training. In the library, the four of them took out Heavenly Palace, Ten Thousand Beast Technique, Three Essence Wind Sword, and 13 Lightning Swords respectively. These were all cultivation techniques manuals that matched their respective class talents. After a few hours of initial cultivation, their strength had improved. Without prior discussion, all of them arrived at the war drums training ground to test their new strength. ¡°Spiritual Will Palace!¡± Li Burou formed a seal with both hands. A blue-white light appeared between his brows. If one looked closely, one could tell that it was a palace. It was a mental attack transmogrified by his essence, Qi, and spirit. ¡°Fall!¡± The faintly discernible palace swooshed past him and landed on the 32nd war drum. Thud! The sound of war drums was deafening. At the same time, a huge wave of air surged and traveled down the entire passageway. ¡°Break!¡± he ordered. At this moment, Li Burou¡¯s usual cheerful expression had turned serious. His gaze was resolute and unyielding. ¡°Break!¡± With a furious roar, the war drum shattered into pieces and scattered over the ground. The exquisite little palace that had been congealed from his essence, Qi, and spirit vanished. ¡°After more than two hours of cultivation, I¡¯ve increased my strength by 1,000 pounds and broken a war drum,¡± Li Burou murmured to himself. He smiled in relief that the secret manual he had painstakingly chosen could achieve such an effect. ¨C In another passage, Zhang Xiaofan stood in front of his 30th war drum. He was holding onto a longsword made by the survival base¡¯s arsenal. At that moment, he had his eyes closed as he faced the war drums. He no longer had an inferior and cowardly temperament. At this moment, a sharp sword intent had emitted from his body. ¡°Three Essence Wind Sword¡­ Use the wind as momentum and utilize the profound meaning of the way of the sword,¡± muttered Zhang Xiaofan. He was trying to comprehend the contents of that manual. In the next second, his eyes widened. A sharp sword qi shot out from his eyes. At the same time, the sword flew out of its sheath with a deafening ringing sound. ¡°Slash!¡± With one strike, the 30th war drum was split into two. ¡°It¡¯s so powerful!¡± exclaimed Zhang Xiaofan. Joy bubbled up inside of him and he smiled. ¨C In the passageway where Cao Guangning was. At that moment, lightning flashed in the passageway, and it would occasionally emit crackling sounds. Like Zhang Xiaofan, Cao Guangning was also holding onto a longsword and he slashed out. The 13 Lightning Swords erupted with a violent lightning aura that landed on the 24th war drum. Instantly, it split into two. This was not the end. The sword qi mixed with blue lightning arcs tore through the air and continued to slash forward. After slicing through the 25th drum, the sword qi dissipated. ¡°13 Lightning Swords¡­ It¡¯s a success!¡± exclaimed Cao Guangning. Cao Guangning¡¯s eyes were filled with ecstasy. ¡°Just wait, Su Hei! It won¡¯t be long before I trample you under my feet!¡± he swore. Chapter 34 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s strength had increased, and they broke another war drum. Surprisingly, out of the four of them, Cao Guangning was the one who had the greatest increase in strength. He broke two war drums. However, nobody took notice of that. At this moment, in the monitoring room. Fang Dongjin and the other four instructors were all surprised when they heard Sikou Nanbo recount what Su Hei had done earlier. ¡°Learning hundreds of cultivation techniques at once is unheard of. I can¡¯t believe that you actually agreed to such an absurd request!¡± A look of disbelief flitted across Fang Dongjin¡¯s face. It was basic knowledge that one should cultivate cultivation techniques bit by bit and work steadily at it. He could not believe that a genius like Su Hei would make such a dumb mistake. ¡°Originally, I didn¡¯t want to agree, but his martial arts talent is the most terrifying I¡¯ve ever seen in my life.¡± ¡°He¡¯s an 18-year-old Grandmaster. When I was 18, I was only an advanced-level martial artist.¡± Sikou Nanbo said subconsciously. In other words, he acknowledged the terrifying talent that Su Hei had. Fang Dongjin and the other three instructors stared at Sikou Nanbo in astonishment. Everyone in the City Defense Team knew how strict Sikou Nanbo was. Countless young geniuses had joined the City Defense Team. While training them, Sikou Nanbo always made sure that they would encounter setbacks. However, he had such a high evaluation of Su Hei. On the screen, everyone could see that the four team leaders had improved performance, but that was not shocking for them anymore. Not long after Cao Guangning left the war drums training ground, there was a commotion in the crowd. ¡°Leader Su is here too!¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s in the same situation as the other team leaders. He had an increase in strength after cultivating a cultivation technique.¡± ¡°But just a few hours ago, he has already broken 70 war drums. The deeper into the passageway he goes, the bigger difference in combat strength needed to break the drums.¡± ¡°Well, who knows? Perhaps his combat strength has really increased that quickly.¡± The crowd suddenly fell silent. All of them were astounded. Su Hei¡¯s powerful image had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. They wondered how terrifying he would be after his combat strength increased. Everyone was filled with anticipation. Su Hei ignored everyone¡¯s gazes and walked into an empty passageway. There was a comprehensive detection system in the passageway. Hence, as soon as Su Hei entered the passageway, the 71st war drum appeared in front of him. Su Hei sucked in a breath. His eyes lit up. Su Hei started to circulate the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique in his body. He raised his right fist and clenched it gently. He called upon his fire elemental power and flames enveloped his hand. In a short period, he had completely mastered Elemental Possession. His aura rose rapidly. He was quickly gathering strength. Su Hei¡¯s pupils dilated. He let out a deafening roar as he threw out a punch. ¡°Break!¡± he yelled. The 71st war drum exploded. However, this was not the end. The fire enveloping his hand gradually grew larger after getting a boost from his essence. The flames that were originally the size of a fist instantly became a thick pillar of fire. The flames went through the 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and even the 75th drums, burning them into ashes. ¨C Everyone in the monitoring room, including Sikou Nanbo, widened their eyes. They could not believe their eyes. ¡°H-he¡­¡± ¡°He can break the war drums like this? But¡­ these war drums are all above 70!¡± ¡°Five hours ago, he could only break the 70th drum.¡± ¡°In such a short time, his combat strength has advanced by leaps and bounds. Is he cultivating a cultivation technique or some kind of immortal technique?¡± Fang Dongjin was so shocked that he did not know what to say. ¡°Chief Instructor, the power of his punch is indeed terrifying, but why can¡¯t I tell the type of cultivation method he¡¯s using?¡± At this moment, Sikou Nanbo was replaying the surveillance footage of Su Hei¡¯s throwing out the punch. He knitted his brows deeply. Suddenly, his eyes widened. It was as if he had discovered something extraordinary. ¡°Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!¡± Sikou Nanbo subconsciously shouted. Fang Dongjin realized that something was amiss and looked at the footage. However, no matter how one looked at it, the punch that Su Hei threw out seemed to be ordinary. ¡°Mr. Sikou, what trick did he use? I can¡¯t tell anything at all from that punch earlier,¡± he asked. Sikou Nanbo sighed. He was in no rush to answer Fang Dongjin. Instead, he asked, ¡°Have you ever cultivated secret manuals like ¡®Ascending Flywheel Technique¡¯, ¡®Five Elements Dao Technique¡¯, ¡®Karirum Four Seasons Collection¡¯?¡± Fang Dongjin shook his head. ¡°Although I haven¡¯t cultivated it, I¡¯ve read it before. Most of them are cultivation techniques that cultivate essence and strength by changing their breathing technique,¡± he answered. ¡°But what does this have to do with Su Hei? The punch he threw out earlier is totally different from these cultivation techniques.¡± From his words, it was clear that Fang Dongjin still did not understand Sikou Nanbo¡¯s words. Sikou Nanbo sighed again. ¡°Take a closer look at the footage. Look at what happened before and after Su Hei¡¯s punch landed,¡± he advised. Fang Dongjin was puzzled, but he still did as he was told. His eyes were glued to the screen in front of him, but he still could not pinpoint the difference. Just as Fang Dongjin was about to give up, he suddenly noticed something. His eyes widened in awe. ¡°He¡­ He¡­ The attack he launched just now is¡­¡± His voice trailed off. Fang Dongjin¡¯s eyes widened as he pointed at the screen. He looked at Sikou Nanbo in horror, not being able to construct any complete sentences for a long time. In response, Sikou Nanbo nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Su Hei¡¯s punch just now seems like it encompasses dozens of cultivation techniques in it, including the cultivation techniques I mentioned earlier,¡± he continued. Hearing this, the others in the monitoring room also understood what was going on. They had dramatic and exaggerated facial expressions. ¡°He actually cultivated so many cultivation techniques at once?¡± ¡°How is that possible? It¡¯s only been four hours since Mr. Sikou led them out of the library.¡± ¡°Being able to finish reading a cultivation technique manual in such a short period is already very remarkable. If one is able to comprehend it like Li Burou and the others, he would be considered a genius.¡± ¡°But no matter how heaven-defying Su Hei¡¯s martial arts talent is, it¡¯s impossible for him to comprehend dozens of cultivation techniques manuals in just four hours!¡± After saying that, everyone calmed down. After all, there was no need to be shocked by something that was impossible. ¡°It¡¯s also possible that he merged the advantages of all those cultivation techniques manuals into one and created a brand new cultivation technique manual,¡± said Sikou Nanbo. His words caused everyone to widen their eyes once more. ¡°He created a cultivation technique by himself?¡± they thought in shock. Everyone exchanged looks, their shock reflected in each other¡¯s faces. ¡°It¡¯s impossible!¡± they said. ¡°All the cultivation techniques that are circulating in the world were meticulously created by seniors after decades of effort. They have painstakingly compared the pros and cons of it before finding a perfect balance.¡± ¡°Besides, those who can create their own cultivation techniques are all legendary mighty figures. Su Hei is only 18 years old. Even if his talent is outstanding, he shouldn¡¯t be¡­¡± That person wanted to say that Su Hei should not be able to create his own cultivation technique. However, before he could finish his sentence, he stopped speaking. Everyone was stunned. At this moment, they all thought of a legendary figure. That person created his own cultivation technique when he was 18 years old. Su Hei was very similar to that person, but no one dared voice that out. This was because that person was the most respected existence in the hearts of all the martial artists in this world and Zosteylor¡¯s martial arts alliance. ¡°Qiu Yuan.¡± Sikou Nanbo slowly said this name. Everyone was astonished. Chapter 35 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Everyone¡¯s breathing quickened. This person was someone they had no hope of ever becoming. Qiu Yuan. A legendary figure. A thousand years ago, mutated beasts from the outside world invaded. Dire beasts ran rampant, demon beasts wreaked havoc everywhere, and there were celestial behemoths that had immeasurable power. There was nothing but chaos and destruction in the human world. It was living purgatory on earth. As humans faced the threat of being exterminated, a young man appeared. Bearing only a sword, he used one technique¡ªThree Essence Wind Sword¡ªto kill a celestial behemoth. He did that so easily, even though celestial behemoths were powerful creatures that not even nuclear bombs could kill. He used dozens of sword techniques and cultivation techniques that no one had ever heard of before, and he eradicated tens of millions of dire beasts and demon beasts. What he did grant the human race some respite. Following that, that young man founded the Zosteylor Martial Arts Alliance, earning the respect of all martial artists. Qiu Yuan was extremely generous, teaching every cultivation technique and secret manual that he knew to the human race. Following that, he created thousands of cultivation techniques and secret manuals one after another, publicizing them and making them known to mankind. He originally thought that under his leadership, the human race would kill all the mutated beasts and restore their status as the overlord of Earth. Unfortunately, when he was on the way to Xyperia to prepare for the establishment of the Xyperia Martial Arts Alliance, he got besieged by hundreds of celestial behemoths and thousands of demon beasts and died. He was only 18 years old that year. Fortunately, he had left behind many cultivation techniques, secret manuals, and inheritances related to martial arts cultivation. The Zosteylor Alliance made copies of all of them and gave them to other states and continents, allowing more people to step into the martial arts world and become martial artists. Only then could humans contend with the mutated beasts and avoid the danger of being exterminated. ¡°Comparing him to Lord Qiu Yuan is a bit inappropriate.¡± Someone in the crowd could not help but say that. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Sikou Nanbo had the same thought, but the talent that Su Hei displayed had already greatly exceeded his expectations. Even if Su Hei was not as powerful as Lord Qiu Yuan, he was definitely the most talented martial artist in Zosteylor and the entire human race. Su Hei was able to create his own cultivation technique at the age of 18! Not even rare geniuses could be compared to him! Nobody could begin to imagine the kind of achievements he could accomplish in the future! Even he, Sikou Nanbo, could not do it! Sikou Nanbo had extremely high expectations for Su Hei. ¨C At Mount Sila. It was a thousand miles away from the Quilton base. It was the largest mountain in Zosteylor. At the same time, it had the highest altitude. To sum it up, it was a massive mountain. It covered an area of more than three million square kilometers and divided Zosteylor and Xyperia. At this moment, at the part of Mount Sila that was close to Xyperia. A group of men was tirelessly moving in the direction of Zosteylor. Many of them were severely injured, but they were still moving at an incredible pace. They disregarded their wounds because they wanted to rush back to the Quilton base as soon as possible. They had vital information that needed to be conveyed to the Quilton base. This group of people was from the first brigade of the Quilton City Defense Team. Xun Chengwu and Qin Feng were among them too. There were only 38 people left in the thousand-man brigade, including Captain Xun Chengwu and section leader Qin Feng. All of them were seriously injured. There was even a long and narrow wound on Xun Chengwu¡¯s chest that stretched across his stomach. The bandage that he had just changed earlier was stained with blood again. Blood had started to seep through his bandage and drip steadily onto the ground. If Qin Feng had not held onto him, Xun Chengwu would not have been able to hold on. ¡°Captain, there are still more than a hundred Borneo martial artists behind us. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to lose them,¡± one team member reported to Xun Chengwu. He spoke while agilely dodging between trees. Xun Chengwu forced his eyes to open. He said weakly, ¡°How far are we from home?¡± Qin Feng immediately spoke. ¡°We¡¯ve only entered the forest. We are not even a hundred miles in. Judging from our current speed, we¡¯ll need at least two days to reach the base.¡± Xun Chengwu shook his head. After saying those words, he felt even frailer than before. ¡°We can¡¯t go on like this. It doesn¡¯t matter if we lose our lives. If we can¡¯t send the news back to the base before they arrive, we¡¯ll become sinners of the Quilton base,¡± said Qin Feng. He exerted more strength on his left arm to prevent Xun Chengwu from falling off. Qin Feng frowned and had a dark expression. ¡°According to their plan, they will choose to execute their plan soon. The latest will be tomorrow.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have any vehicles to use, and all of us have sustained varying degrees of injury. We¡¯ll need at least two days to rush back. This news definitely won¡¯t be delivered in time,¡± he analyzed. Suddenly, Xun Chengwu let out a string of hacking coughs. He became very agitated when he heard Qin Feng¡¯s words. ¡°It must be delivered in time!¡± Seeing that Qin Feng did not say anything, Xun Chengwu thought for a moment before pushing Qin Feng away from him. All along, the only reason he could stand up was that he had Qin Feng¡¯s support. Now that he pushed Qin Feng away, without anyone to support him, Xun Chengwu collapsed to the ground. ¡°Captain!¡± Qin Feng shouted anxiously. When everyone heard this, they stopped in their tracks and turned around. ¡°Captain.¡± ¡°Captain!¡± Amidst the cries of concern, Xun Chengwu coughed a few times and tried his best to get up. Qin Feng reacted quickly and helped him up. ¡°My buddies, are you afraid of death?¡± Xun Chengwu asked them. ¡°We¡¯re not afraid!¡± ¡°To be able to die with Captain¡­ I can¡¯t ask for more!¡± Xun Chengwu¡¯s question evoked intense reactions from his teammates. Xun Chengwu cursed feebly at them. ¡°You rascals! What nonsense are you all sprouting? There¡¯s not a single soul who isn¡¯t afraid of death.¡± Seeing that everyone was chuckling foolishly, Xun Chengwu continued to speak. ¡°But today, some of us will be destined to die here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that we can¡¯t run. If we want to live, we simply need to turn around and run. We will definitely be safe if we do that.¡± ¡°But if we do that, the Quilton Base will face a disaster that they are dangerously unprepared for. The tens of millions of people living in Quilton will die or suffer endless pain and misery.¡± Before Xun Chengwu could finish speaking, someone in the crowd shouted. ¡°Captain, there¡¯s no need to say anymore. We understand what you mean!¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been your followers since the very first day we joined the City Defense Team. We will abide by your orders and do whatever you tell us to.¡± ¡°Moreover, the Quilton base is our hometown. All of our parents and friends live there. Since we hold information that concerns their survival, we have to ensure that the information arrives before us, even at the cost of our lives.¡± Xun Chengwu looked at the man who spoke and swept his gaze across the faces of the other teammates. All of them had resolute expressions. They were prepared to face death with equanimity. Xun Chengwu was overcome with emotion and tears welled up in his eyes. Chapter 36 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°Good!¡± said Xun Chengwu. ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t say anything more.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got a long road ahead of us, and there are pursuers behind us. On top of that, all of us are severely injured. If we escape together, it won¡¯t be long before they catch up to us and kill us all.¡± ¡°As the captain, I¡¯ve decided that all the seriously injured men will stay behind and delay the pursuers. The rest of you will return to the base as quickly as you can and bring them the information!¡± ¡°Now, those who are seriously injured, step forward!¡± ordered Xun Chengwu. In the next second, all 37 people, including Qin Feng, took a step forward. Xun Chengwu glared at them. ¡°What the heck?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know the situation we are in now? Why are you all trying to act so selflessly and get me all emotional?¡± Seeing that no one moved, Xun Chengwu shouted out a few names fluently. ¡°Zhang Yuyou, Liu Guohua, Guo Youcheng, Li Ye, and Qin Feng, step forward!¡± Those few people whose names were called stepped forward unwillingly. Xun Chengwu kept a straight face. ¡°If you hesitate now, every minute and second you delay will cost the lives of millions of people,¡± he chastised. Hearing this, Qin Feng and the others looked at Xun Chengwu seriously. ¡°As the captain, I order the five of you to do everything you can to send the information back to the Quilton base as soon as possible.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s any delay or if the Quilton Base suffers a crisis because of the delayed information, we will blame the five of you for every life that is lost.¡± Xun Chengwu said coldly, ¡°Now, the five of you, turn around!¡± ¡°Captain¡­¡± Qin Feng said hurriedly. He did not know what to say. Qin Feng blamed himself for only having minor injuries. Otherwise, he could have stayed behind with the rest of his men and helped to hold off those pursuers. ¡°Shut up. If you delay any longer, you will be punished according to military law!¡± Seeing the menacing and threatening look in Xun Chengwu¡¯s eyes, Qin Feng knew that this was a done deal with no room for discussion. ¡°Captain, my buddies, take care!¡± he said solemnly. He gave a military salute. The other four soldiers followed him and made a military salute too. With that, the five of them turned around and disappeared into the dense forest. Qin Feng was in the lead. His eyes glistened with tears. ¨C At the Quilton Base. In the commander¡¯s office. An elderly man sat there. Although he was an old man, his hair was jet black and he was in high spirits. At this moment, he was listening to his subordinate¡¯s report. ¡°This is the last page. The Borneo base called us. Their envoys have already made all the preparations and will set off anytime. They told us to make preparations on our side too.¡± With that, he closed the folder. ¡°That¡¯s all? There¡¯s nothing else?¡± The old man looked at his subordinate. Seeing the other party shake his head, the old man waved his hand impatiently. ¡°Ha! Borneo is just a small state, yet it thinks that it¡¯s so important. They expect us to make preparations?¡± ¡°It¡¯s already good enough that I forbid you guys from eating your hometown¡¯s specialty cow dung cuisine.¡± He stood up and stretched. At this moment, a playful voice sounded outside the door. ¡°As expected of the chief, Lord Zhan Kong! You have the guts to slight the envoys from another base.¡± Sikou Nanbo pushed open the door and walked in. The old man¡¯s expression froze for a moment before he became delighted. ¡°Mr. Sikou, why are you here? Did Su Hei do something incredible again?¡± The old man was clearly much older than Sikou Nanbo. It was kind of strange that he addressed Sikou Nanbo so respectfully. Sikou Nanbo sat down casually and said, ¡°Lord Zhan Kong, you¡¯re the chief of the Quilton Base. How can you keep calling me ¡®Mr. Sikou¡¯? It¡¯s ridiculous.¡± Zhan Kong smiled and sat opposite Sikou Nanbo. ¡°Well, you¡¯re the chief instructor in the boot camp!¡± Sikou Nanbo responded by casting a disdainful gaze toward Zhan Kong. ¡°Never did I expect that someone would join the City Defense Team at the age of 50. Neither did I expect that this person would become the chief of the City Defense Team in just 10 years,¡± remarked Sikou Nanbo. ¡°Hahaha, everything has its ingenious aspects.¡± Zhan Kong laughed heartily. After a while, seeing that he was still laughing, Sikou Nanbo feared that the elderly man would die laughing. He interrupted, ¡°Stop laughing. I¡¯ve something serious to report to you.¡± ¡°Su Hei might have created his own cultivation technique.¡± As soon as he finished speaking, Zhan Kong¡¯s laughter stopped. The expression on his face changed from shock to doubt and disbelief several times. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Zhan Kong asked. Seeing Sikou Nanbo nod, Zhan Kong immediately jumped up from his chair. However, he did not say a word. After a while, he lowered his voice. ¡°This matter must be kept a secret. Call everyone who knows this matter over. I have to make sure they understand that it has to be kept a secret.¡± Sikou Nanbo shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Not many people know about it. Only the instructors know about it,¡± he replied. ¡°I trust them. Besides, no secret can be kept forever.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how many people will come to the recruit tournament tomorrow. The Borneo base is already all prepared.¡± ¡°Instead of helping Su Hei hide his monstrous martial arts talent, we should think of a way to speed up his growth in martial arts.¡± ¡°Trust me! He just needs to grow and become powerful. As long as he¡¯s strong, when there¡¯s a beast tide in the future, they will go around and avoid Quilton.¡± Zhan Kong¡¯s expression did not change. He did not think that Sikou Nanbo was exaggerating. If Sikou Nanbo was saying the truth, and Su Hei had created a cultivation technique, Quilton would not be affected by the beast tide anymore. On top of that, the mutated beasts would no longer have a foothold in Zosteylor! ¨C Early in the morning on the next day. Today was the day of the boot camp¡¯s recruit tournament. The tournament would commence in the afternoon, so all the recruits were doing their own things. In the City Defense Team¡¯s camp, at the arena. This was the venue where the City Defense Team¡¯s martial artists sparred in their free time. At this moment, Wang Dong, Li Hua, Jiang Jinyu, and Chu Chen were staring at the person opposite them vigilantly. Su Hei was standing opposite them. Wang Dong and Chu Chen copied the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique and gave it to Li Hua and Jiang Jinyu. After a night of cultivation, the four of them had already comprehended some of the power of the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique. Their combat strength had also increased. ¡°Su, are you sure you want us to attack?¡± Wang Dong was a little confused. Su Hei said that he wanted to train them and brought the four of them to the arena. Originally, they thought that they would be fighting one by one. None of them expected that Su Hei would want them all to attack at the same time. It was obvious that Su Hei did not take them seriously. If someone else had requested that of them, Wang Dong would ignore them. However, Su Hei was indeed capable enough. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get you guys to unleash your potential before the tournament starts,¡± said Su Hei. Hearing this, the four of them did not hesitate anymore. Wang Dong smirked. ¡°Su still doesn¡¯t know that our combat strengths have increased. Let¡¯s take advantage of his carelessness and give him a beating!¡± Wang Dong whispered to the others. He turned around and looked at the other three, hoping to get a response from them. However, the trio merely stared at him indifferently. They all knew how powerful Su Hei was. He could easily defeat the four of them with his eyes closed. ¡°Give him a bashing?¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible. We are fools if we attempt that,¡± they thought. Through the system, Su Hei noticed that Wang Dong¡¯s combat strength had become 4,274. Jiang Jinyu¡¯s combat strength was now 4,722, while Chu Chen¡¯s was at 4, 981, and Li Hua¡¯s was at 6,109. The Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique greatly increased their combat strength. Compared to the other new recruit martial artists, they were already extremely outstanding. ¡°But they¡¯re still a little lacking as compared to the other section leaders,¡± thought Su Hei. ¨C If Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, and the other geniuses could become his followers, his strength would definitely increase even more rapidly. Chapter 37 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Seeing that Li Hua and the other two ignored him, Wang Dong decided to attack first. ¡°You guys are such cowards. I¡¯ll be the first to attack Su.¡± The other three were still slightly confused, but Wang Dong had already dashed out. ¡°You idiot! Do you have a death wish? Wait for us!¡± Li Hua quickly followed him. Seeing this, Jiang Jinyu and Chu Chen also followed closely behind. The arena was not big, to begin with. With a martial artist¡¯s speed, they could quickly reach the other side of the arena. Su Hei did not move. In the blink of an eye, he saw Wang Dong¡¯s fist swinging over. ¡°You¡¯re such a boorish person. A martial artist should make the most of everything that comes along their way. Even if a Priest isn¡¯t effective in the arena, Chu Chen should be the one to be in the lead. After all, he has the Shield talent.¡± Su Hei slowly stretched out his palm and grabbed onto Wang Dong¡¯s fist. Su Hei could easily stop Wang Dong¡¯s attack. Following that, he effortlessly threw Wang Dong behind the other three. ¡°Let¡¯s attack together!¡± Li Hua saw an opportunity and threw a punch toward Su Hei¡¯s chest. Chu Chen rushed forward with a shield in his hand, trying to prevent Su Hei from defending himself. As for Jiang Jinyu, she displayed the strength of her Assassin talent and flew into the air at a speed that was hard to see with the naked eye. She narrowed her eyes and activated Weakness Search to spot the opponent¡¯s weakness. ¡°Good teamwork!¡± Su Hei could not help but praise. The three of them worked together and locked onto his position. Any other martial artist in the Perfected Realm would have been severely injured by their joint attack. Li Hua was only an advanced-level martial artist, while Chu Chen and Jiang Jinyu were only intermediate-level martial artists. Challenging someone of a higher level was something only geniuses would attempt. Unfortunately, they were besieging Su Hei. In the next second, Su Hei raised his fist, and a terrifying aura gathered in his hand. Li Hua, Chu Chen, and Jiang Jinyu¡¯s eyes widened. They were aware that they would not be able to withstand this punch. They wanted to stop their attack, but it was too late. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be gentle. It definitely won¡¯t hurt!¡± reassured Su Hei. His mouth curved into a wicked smile. Just when the trio¡¯s attacks were about to land on him¡­ His fist suddenly struck out, and the sound of his fist tearing through the air was like the roar of a tiger in the forest. Boom! The three of them were sent flying and fell to the ground. Immediately after, Wang Dong¡¯s expression changed. He quickly turned around, wanting to flee, but it was too late. Su Hei casually kicked him, sending him over to the other three¡¯s side. ¡°Ouch!¡± Wang Dong rubbed his butt and got up with a bitter expression. ¡°Su, you¡¯re too ruthless. My tender butt is swollen,¡± he complained. ¡°Your butt is swollen, to begin with.¡± Li Hua stood up and looked at Wang Dong indifferently. ¡°We were completely defeated by him. There is such a great difference between us,¡± Chu Chen said helplessly. ¨C Jiang Jinyu did not say anything, but she nodded in agreement. Among the transmigrators of Senior Class One, the four of them had the strongest combat strength. However, Su Hei defeated them with one punch despite their joining forces. Thinking of this, Chu Chen felt a bit bitter. Before he transmigrated, he was proud and arrogant. He felt that Su Hei was so well-liked by everyone and was so outstanding all because he was born into a well-to-do family. All along, he thought that if he was also born into an affluent family, he would do even better than Su Hei. However, after transmigrating to this unfamiliar world, everyone had ordinary family backgrounds, yet the outcome was the same. Su Hei would always be the most outstanding person and be the center of attention. He looked at Jiang Jinyu, whose eyes never left Su Hei, and felt even more sorrowful. Su Hei noticed the change in Chu Chen¡¯s mood. He thought for a bit and said, ¡°All right. My punch earlier contained the essence of the Nine Revolutions Heaven Swallowing Technique. You should grab hold of this opportunity and try to comprehend it.¡± ¡°All of you must try your best in the recruit tournament.¡± ¨C All the survival bases attached great importance to the recruit tournament. In addition to having 100,000 seats prepared for the audience, the tournament would also be broadcast live through the media. The chief instructor, Sikou Nanbo, stood in the lead. Everyone in the boot camp lined up behind him. There would be two segments to the recruit tournament. The first part would be for everyone to test their Vitality and combat strength. The second part would be the actual combat. The actual combat of the recruit tournament would not be a one-on-one battle between martial artists, but a battle with captured dire beasts. This was also the main reason why the recruit tournament was welcomed by the people. After all, dire beasts were the greatest enemy in the eyes of humans. Humans were thrilled to be able to see the dire beasts being killed by humans. ¨C In the center of the spectator stands. There was a VIP seating area. Apart from Quilton¡¯s higher-ups, there were also diplomatic representatives from the other bases sitting there. At this moment, Zhan Kong was having a friendly conversation with a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes and with those diplomatic representatives. The man in the suit was the chief minister in charge of the internal affairs of the Quilton Base, Tang Guosheng. ¡°How are you, Senator Xu?¡± ¡°Senator Zhao, I see that you have gained a lot of weight.¡± ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re the first survival base in Xyperia to send a delegation of envoys. Moreover, your Borneo base has traveled thousands of miles just to watch the recruit tournament of the Zosteylor base. You¡¯re really free¡­ Oh, I mean, you really respect us!¡± Tang Guosheng said to the Borneo diplomats. Borneo¡¯s diplomat group did not understand Zosteylor¡¯s language well. Seeing that Tang Guosheng was always smiling, they thought that he was trying to express his friendliness toward them. Hence, they kept trying to show off their knowledge of the Zosteylor language. ¡°Thank you! You¡¯re welcome! F*ck you! One size fits all!¡± Tang Guosheng and Zhan Kong exchanged confused looks with one another. ¡°Are all the people in Xyperia so stupid?¡± ¡°What on earth are they saying? Whatever they say is rubbish.¡± After finishing their chat with the various diplomats, Tang Guosheng and Zhan Kong returned to the main seat and sat down. Tang Guosheng hid his seriousness behind a smile. ¡°Have you heard from brigade one yet?¡± he asked. Zhan Kong shook his head. He could feel a headache coming on. ¡°The news was cut off for three days. I asked the diplomatic representatives from Borneo Base, but they all said that they don¡¯t know anything about it¡­ I have a feeling that something is fishy about it.¡± ¡°Should we send more people out?¡± Tang Guosheng asked. Zhan Kong shook his head. ¡°The City Defense Team doesn¡¯t have enough manpower, to begin with. We sent brigade one out to carry out a mission, and now that they¡¯re missing, we sent out another two teams to find them. The city walls¡¯ defense is reduced. If a beast tide happens at this time, there will be problems.¡± Hearing that, Tang Guosheng felt even more distressed. He pressed his hand to the bridge of his nose. After a while, he was about to speak. The sound of a loudspeaker rose from below. ¡°The Recruit Tournament will commence now!¡± Chapter 38 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C ¡°Many martial artists from other bases have come today, as well as the diplomatic representatives from the Borneo base. All of you must perform well!¡± instructed Sikou Nanbo. After that, he returned to the audience seats with the other instructors. ¡°First, Vitality and combat strength test!¡± A loud voice spread throughout the gymnasium from all directions. There were machines specialized in testing Vitality and combat strength placed in front of the recruits. ¡°Lin Ye!¡± The first person whose name was called was one of Su Hei¡¯s gang. Martial artists with Swordsman Class talent were quite strong. ¡°Relax.¡± Su Hei comforted. Lin Ye nodded and walked forward confidently, placing his palm on the machine. In the next second, a bright light started to shine. Soon, the result was out. ¡°Vitality 39!¡± The instructor in charge of announcing the results shouted out the data displayed on the machine. Lin Ye¡¯s expression did not change as he turned to the other machine beside him. He raised his hand and threw a punch. Boom! On the machine, the numbers quickly changed and stopped. ¡°Combat strength 3,610, intermediate-level martial artist!¡± Applause sounded from all directions. The purpose of boot camp was to allow martial artists who entered the martial arts world to adapt to the changes in their strength and learn how to cultivate and fight. Those who could reach the intermediate-level martial artist level at the end of the boot camp period were already very outstanding martial artists. Most of them were only beginner-level martial artists. Next, the recruits whose names were called went forward to the testing machines. Compared to a month ago, everyone had made considerable progress. Other than Lin Ye, Wang Dong, Jiang Jinyu, and Chu Chen were all intermediate-level martial artists. Li Hua was only one step away from becoming an advanced-level martial artist! ¨C ¡°Next, Bai Tiantian!¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes were fixed on Team Three. Bai Tiantian was the only girl among the many geniuses in this recruit tournament. Her rare Beast Tamer Class talent, coupled with her adorable looks, naturally attracted a lot of attention. ¡°The only female team leader. I wonder if her strength has become stronger compared to the recruitment examination.¡± ¡°This is Bai Tiantian you¡¯re talking about! She¡¯s known as a genius. How could she not become stronger after so long?¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t know if she can maintain her position as the third team leader.¡± Under the burning gazes of hundreds of thousands of spectators, Bai Tiantian walked to the testing machine. She placed her palm on it, and after a while, the results appeared on the monitor. ¡°Vitality 150!¡± As soon as the results were out, the entire venue was in an uproar. ¡°A Vitality of 150 is already extremely powerful among Perfected martial artists.¡± ¡°Just as expected of a genius teenage girl!¡± ¡°But it¡¯s common for a beast tamer to have high Vitality. The most important thing is her combat strength.¡± Right on the heels of that, Bai Tiantian threw a punch at the combat strength testing machine. ¡°Combat strength 20,480, Perfected martial artist!¡± Looking at the numbers displayed on the machine, Bai Tiantian was very satisfied. Although the increase in her combat strength was slightly lower than what she had expected, as a beast tamer, her Vitality was higher than her combat strength. For an outstanding beast tamer, the combination of the two could produce an effect that was greater than the two alone. The audience was full of praise for Bai Tiantian. Everyone looked at her with a mixture of envy and admiration. ¨C ¡°Next, Zhang Xiaofan!¡± Zhang Xiaofan was the unexpected dark horse in the recruitment examination. Hence, as soon as he appeared, many people cast him curious glances. They all wanted to know if this ordinary-looking youth would give an outstanding performance again. Zhang Xiaofan placed his palm on the Vitality testing machine. ¡°Vitality 145!¡± The result was announced. The audience immediately cried out in surprise. ¡°As usual, he¡¯s the dark horse again!¡± ¡°His class talent is Swordsman. His Vitality doesn¡¯t have an innate advantage, but he can rival Bai Tiantian.¡± ¡°A dark horse, he¡¯s definitely a dark horse!¡± However, that was not all. Zhang Xiaofan turned to the combat strength test machine and waved his palm gently. A powerful wind erupted from his palm, tearing through the air. Swoosh! The machine trembled violently under the force of his attack, and the numbers on it quickly changed. ¡°Combat strength 20,480, Perfected martial artist!¡± The unbelievable result stunned everyone. Following that, their faces were filled with shock. ¡°I thought everyone said that Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s martial arts talent is below Bai Tiantian¡¯s? Why is his score higher than hers?¡± ¡°21,886. It¡¯s more than 12,000 pounds higher than his result in the previous combat strength test!¡± ¡°In just a month, his combat strength has doubled!¡± ¡°From the looks of it, he¡¯s the one who improved the most among the five team leaders!¡± In the audience seats. Zhan Kong and Tang Guosheng were also shocked by Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s test results. ¡°From the information listed about him, Zhang Xiaofan seems to be an ordinary person, yet he can continuously give us surprises. It¡¯s commendable!¡± ¡°Mr. Sikou has managed to bring out this student¡¯s full potential. How incredible!¡± Two people were talking. One of them was an important member of the Quilton Base¡¯s internal affairs, and the other was the person with the highest rank in the City Defense Team. The fact that he could get their approval was enough to show how shocking Zhang Xiaofan¡¯s performance was. ¨C The test continued. After Zhang Xiaofan, Cao Guangning went on stage to accept the test. ¡°The glory of this recruit tournament will definitely belong to me, Cao Guangning!¡± he thought to himself. Cao Guangning glanced at Su Hei and walked straight to the testing machine. There was no doubt that Su Hei was very strong, but he also believed that with his martial arts talent, it would be easy for him to surpass Su Hei. ¡°Vitality 127!¡± The Warrior class talent focused on strength, so it was normal for his Vitality to be slightly lower. Seeing his result, Cao Guangning did not show any dissatisfaction. Right on the heels of that, he turned around to face the combat strength testing machine. His desire to be the most outstanding person overwhelmed him and all the strength in his body gathered in his right fist. His eyes were blazing with determination. Boom! He unleashed all of his power. ¡°Combat strength 20,480, Perfected martial artist!¡± This result got the crowd murmuring amongst themselves. ¡°Not bad. It¡¯s enough to crush other martial artists.¡± ¡°These team leaders are really terrifying. The boot camp has just ended, and each of them already has the strength of a Perfected martial artist.¡± ¡°What an enviable genius!¡± In a month, Cao Guangning¡¯s combat strength had almost doubled. Other than Zhang Xiaofan, he was the fastest to improve. Cao Guangning was secretly delighted. At the same time, he looked at Su Hei¡ªwho was waiting for his turn¡ªwith disdain in his eyes. ¡°So what if your starting point is high? With my cultivation speed, it won¡¯t be long before I defeat you with my own hands!¡± he thought. ¨C ¡°Next, Li Burou!¡± Even under such circumstances, Li Burou still took his time. After a few months, everyone understood his personality and did not find it strange. However, some of the audience who had only heard of Li Burou¡¯s name and did not know of his personality had quite an agitated reaction to his behavior. ¡°Why does this guy look so smug?¡± ¡°Most of the new recruits are more serious than others. He¡¯s the only one who¡¯s still smiling. He deserves a beating.¡± ¡°What do you know? This is the confidence of an expert.¡± ¡°Two of the five team leaders of the boot camp are second only to that genius with the monstrous talent. If it was me, I¡¯d also be that calm.¡± ¡°Hehe, I think he knows that he¡¯s going to lose the title of second team leader, so he¡¯s putting on a show here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The other team leaders who have already appeared did very well. I think Li Burou is just so-so.¡± Just as everyone was discussing, the results of Li Burou¡¯s Vitality test had already been announced. ¡°Vitality 189!¡± Instantly, the audience who were complaining about Li Burou earlier fell silent. Chapter 39 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C Everyone else exclaimed in disbelief. ¡°189. He¡¯s just a few digits away from becoming a Grandmaster!¡± ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense!¡± Grandmasters were big shots in any survival base. They were in the upper echelons of the bases. Li Burou was only 19 years old and had just ended his boot camp, yet he was only one step away from becoming a Grandmaster. People might ask, ¡°What is a genius?¡± This was what a genius was like! Under everyone¡¯s surprised gazes, Li Burou raised his fist again and punched the combat strength test machine. ¡°Combat strength 41,680!¡± The crowd was completely silent. After a while, someone in the audience exclaimed. ¡°This¡­ F*ck, in the end, he¡¯s the one who¡¯s the most powerful!¡± ¡°41,680 combat power. Although it¡¯s not as abnormal as his Vitality, he¡¯s a Mentalist. His combat power will definitely be lower than his Vitality.¡± Among the audience, Tang Guosheng, Zhan Kong, and the higher-ups from the other bases stared at Su Hei in shock. ¡°Senator Tang, Elder Zhan, congratulations to the Quilton Base for obtaining a genius.¡± ¡°With this kid around, the Quilton base will definitely be among the top four human bases in Zosteylor.¡± People from other bases kept congratulating Tang Guosheng and Zhan Kong. The two of them were shocked, but they beamed from ear to ear. In the corner of the VIP seats, the Borneo martial artists looked rather unhappy. ¡°Such an outstanding genius. What a pity.¡± ¡°So what if he¡¯s a genius? The humans of Zosteylor are even lower in status than Dartan.¡± ¡°When are you going to do it? I can¡¯t stand hearing these lowly commoners shouting and yelling anymore.¡± An old man was standing in the lead. A glint flickered in his eyes. ¡°Calm down. It won¡¯t be long before they become lifeless corpses,¡± he said indifferently. ¨C ¡°Next, Su Hei!¡± Upon hearing Su Hei¡¯s name, everyone¡¯s attention was quickly pulled back. There were more than a thousand recruits, and all of them knew of Su Hei. The veterans of the City Defense Team also had some understanding of this new recruit with heaven-defying martial arts talent. The audience who had specially come to watch the competition had also heard of Su Hei. He possessed a rare kind of class talent, and he was a genius who had awakened the four basic Elemental abilities. In the recruitment examination, he led a group of beginner-level martial artists to kill a beginner-grade Spirit Eight-Eyed Blood Wolf. Su Hei¡¯s name had long become famous in the Quilton base. ¡°It¡¯s finally Su Hei¡¯s turn.¡± ¡°But after seeing Li Burou¡¯s performance, I don¡¯t have much hope for Su Hei anymore.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. No one can compare to Li Burou¡¯s improvement in the recruit camp, not even Su Hei.¡± ¡°All I ask is that he retains the title of Team One¡¯s team leader.¡± Under everyone¡¯s gazes, Su Hei began the Vitality test. On the tester, the value began to rapidly soar from 0. Soon, it stopped at 412. ¡°Vitality 412!¡± ¡°What?¡± Hundreds of thousands of eyes were focused on the testing device. ¡°It¡¯s too far for me to see. Can someone tell me how much?¡± ¡°412. He¡¯s only 88 points away from becoming an intermediate Grandmaster.¡± ¡°Although he¡¯s very strong, isn¡¯t this too ridiculous?¡± ¡°Could it be that the class talent he has, the Leader talent, has such a special trait?¡± While everyone was still puzzled, Su Hei¡¯s fist had already landed on the combat strength tester. Boom! With a casual punch, a deafening sound rang out. The first row of spectators was sitting dozens of meters away. Su Hei¡¯s punch was so loud that they could not help but cover their ears. ¡°Combat strength 3¡­ 357,650!¡± The instructor who announced the results almost thought that he had seen the number wrongly. Through the sound system, his voice entered everyone¡¯s ears. Upon hearing his announcement, everyone was dumbfounded. ¡°F*ck! He has more than 300,000 combat power?¡± ¡°Who was the one who said that Li Burou is invincible? Come here! I want to know how you¡¯re feeling now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even mention Li Burou. Even if the other four team leaders combined their combat strengths, that value will still be lower than Su Hei¡¯s combat strength.¡± They could not believe that Su Hei had become a Grandmaster. Moreover, he was a beginner Grandmaster with stable combat strength! Everyone felt that he was a monster. In the VIP seats, Tang Guosheng, Zhan Kong, Sikou Nanbo, and many powerful people in the base were all shocked. They had seen geniuses, but they had never seen such an abnormal genius. Most of them were over 40 years old when they became Grandmasters. But Su Hei was only 18 years old! Li Burou, Bai Tiantian, Cao Guangning, and the other martial arts geniuses felt a huge sense of defeat. They had always treated Su Hei as their opponent, but now they knew that they were like ants to him. 357,650! The combat strength they were so proud of was even less than Su Hei¡¯s. They wondered if he was even human. On the other side. In the VIP seats, the Borneo Base¡¯s martial artists were staring at Su Hei with shock and jealousy. ¡°Kill him! We must kill him!¡± ¡°Once the plan is implemented, I¡¯ll think of a way to kill this kid first!¡± ¡°If he survives, the martial artists of Xyperia will never be able to raise their heads!¡± The old man in the lead had a vicious look in his eyes. At the same time, there was a trace of fear. This was the first time he had seen such a terrifying martial artist in his life. If Su Hei continued to live, he would not be able to sleep or eat in peace. Everyone was staring at Su Hei in shock. Nobody noticed that the martial artists from the Borneo Base scattered and disappeared into the crowd. ¨C As Su Hei¡¯s test ended, the first stage of the recruit tournament also came to an end. Right on the heels of that, the second stage of the competition began. Real combat! Dozens of huge alloy cages appeared in the center of the martial arts dojo. Dire beasts of different shapes were locked up in cages. The strongest dire beast was only at the Spirit level, and the weakest was at the mid-grade Savage level. The rules of the actual combat competition were very simple and crude. When their names were called, the recruits had to enter the cage and fight the dire beasts. Depending on the strength of the dire beast, there were points the recruits would obtain after killing the dire beast. As long as they had enough stamina, the recruits could challenge the dire beasts continuously. There was no limit to the number of attempts allowed. In the end, their rankings would be determined by their total points. Different rankings meant different rewards. Those ranked below 500 would be rewarded with a Body Refinement Potion that would increase their strength by 500 pounds. Those ranked above 500 and below 200 would be rewarded with two Body Refinement Potions and 1,000 pounds of Spirit dire beast meat. Those ranked above 200 and below 100 would be rewarded with three Body Refinement Potions and 3,000 pounds of Spirit dire beast meat. Those who were in the top 100 but below the top 10 could enter the library and pick any secret manual to cultivate. The rewards for the top ten would be distributed in private. Although they did not know the details, everyone knew that the rewards would definitely be extraordinary. Otherwise, they would not have been given out in private. All the recruits were excited and filled with anticipation. Chapter 40 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¨C The actual combat competition was about to begin. The recruits whose names were called all entered the cage one after another and began a life-and-death duel with the dire beasts. Su Hei, Wang Dong, Li Hua, and the other members of Team One stayed where they were as they waited for their turn. Su Hei stared fixedly at one particular cage. That cage was the largest cage in the gymnasium. There was only one dire beast locked up there. It was a beginner-grade Spirit dire beast, and from the look of it, Su Hei deduced that it had around 150,000 combat power. Sikou Nanbo had specially prepared that dire beast for Su Hei. He wanted to make use of that Spirit-level dire beast to increase Su Hei¡¯s actual combat ability. However, Su Hei¡¯s terrifying combat strength had exceeded Sikou Nanbo¡¯s expectations. 350,000 combat power was enough to crush this dire beast. Su Hei walked straight toward the cage. He knew that no one would choose to fight this dire beast. Thus, Su Hei did not bother to wait anymore. Seeing that someone had taken the initiative to enter its territory, the dire beast had its mouth opened with blood dripping from its teeth. Roar! The dire beast¡¯s pungent breath assaulted Su Hei¡¯s nostrils and traveled more than 10 meters away. Su Hei frowned and covered his nose. The dire beast seemed to have noticed that Su Hei was no ordinary martial artist. After letting out a roar, it did not make any further move. It only stared warily at Su Hei, having no intention of launching an attack itself. However, Su Hei was not interested in confronting it in such a smelly environment. Swoosh! He utilized his wind elemental ability and his figure flashed. In the blink of an eye, Su Hei appeared above the dire beast. Orange-yellow flames ignited out of thin air and enveloped his fists. Su Hei¡¯s punch was like a cannonball, and it accurately smashed into the dire beast¡¯s head. The terrifying impact caused the dire beast¡¯s limbs to tremble, and it fell to the ground. A beginner-grade Spirit beast¡¯s strength was equivalent to a martial artist who was a beginner-level Grandmaster. Su Hei killed the dire beast with a single punch! ¡°100 points to Su Hei!¡± There were four large screens placed above the center of the gymnasium. At that moment, it was showing Su Hei¡¯s new record. ¡°F*ck. He used less than three seconds to kill that beast. His speed is incredibly fast!¡± Everyone was shocked. Su Hei¡¯s performance had once again exceeded their expectations. To them, Spirit-level dire beasts were extremely terrifying existences in this world. However, it was no match for Su Hei. Everyone wondered, ¡°We are all humans, but why is there such a huge difference between Su Hei and us?¡± After killing a Spirit-level dire beast, Su Hei did not stop there. After leaving the cage, he turned around and entered another cage at the side. None of the recruits had picked that cage. Coincidentally, the dire beast in this cage was the black-ringed leopard that had chased Su Hei and the others helter skelter through the Forest of Death. Moreover, it was a superior-grade Savage black-ringed leopard. Su Hei did not have a good impression of such dire beasts. He decided to use his water elemental power to attack the dire beast as water was infinitely flexible. With a thought, he manipulated his water elemental powers and countless water droplets shot toward the black-ringed leopard like bullets. However, they were much more powerful than bullets. Every droplet carried an impact of more than 10,000 pounds and easily pierced through the black-ringed leopard¡¯s body. The superior-grade Savage beast did not even have the chance to resist before it was killed by Su Hei¡¯s Water Elemental ability. The body of the Black Ringed Leopard that fell to the ground was covered in densely packed bloody holes, looking very much like sieves. ¡°150 points to Su Hei!¡± The screen was refreshed to show the updated points. Although Su Hei had undergone two battles, for each battle, he managed to achieve victory in a single blow. Therefore, the other martial artists¡ªincluding the other team leaders¡ªwere still engaged in battle with their respective dire beasts. Their points were all zero. ¡°I will continue battling,¡± said Su Hei. Su Hei continued to move toward his next target. In just a few minutes, he killed more than 10 superior-grade Savage beasts. Tang Guosheng, Zhan Kong, and Sikou Nanbo could not stand to watch anymore. ¡°Hurry up and make this kid stop. He¡¯s acting like some savage killer.¡± Tang Guosheng had a disdainful expression. ¡°Call him over. The outcome of the Recruit Tournament has been decided.¡± Zhan Kong turned to look at Sikou Nanbo and nodded at him. Behind Sikou Nanbo, Fang Dongjin reacted quickly and walked down from the audience seats. ¨C Another superior-grade Savage beast died tragically under Su Hei¡¯s hands. This was already the 23rd dire beast. Su Hei¡¯s points had also increased to 1,200. But he did not care about that. The reason for him choosing to continue killing the beasts was simple. His strength would increase a little during the process of killing dire beasts. Although it was only a small change, it was better than nothing. Just as Su Hei was about to set off for the next cage, Fang Dongjin appeared in front of him. ¡°Leader Su, give the others a way out. Follow me. The chief of the City Defense Team wants to see you.¡± Fang Dongjin smiled bitterly. This was the first time he had seen someone kill dire beasts so effortlessly during the combat segment of the recruit tournament. ¡°He wants to see me?¡± Su Hei asked. He was puzzled. Su Hei did not know much about the other bases. However, from the memories that he had, he knew that the chief was the strongest martial artist in the Quilton base. It was rumored that he was a Senior Grandmaster! Su Hei knew very well that he was as insignificant as an ant in front of a Senior Grandmaster. ¨C On the stage. Tang Guosheng, Zhan Kong, and Sikou Nanbo were waiting for Su Hei. At this moment, a City Defense Team martial artist frantically ran toward Zhan Kong and whispered a few words to him. ¡°Say it again!¡± Zhan Kong, who was beaming with joy earlier, had a drastic change in his expression. ¡°Zhan Kong, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Guosheng questioned. ¡°There¡¯s no time to explain. Both of you, come with me!¡± Zhan Kong stood up and quickly walked toward the exit. Hearing that, Tang Guosheng and Sikou Nanbo instantly realized that something was wrong. Zhan Kong had always been someone who maintained a cool and calm composure no matter what happened. He had never shown such urgency before. Tang Guosheng and Sikou Nanbo did not hesitate at all. After Tang Guosheng said a few words to another representative of the Quilton Base, he and Sikou Nanbo hurriedly followed Zhan Kong. Soon, the three of them got into an armored SUV. ¡°What has happened?¡± Only then did Sikou Nanbo ask. ¡°A small beast tide has appeared outside the southern city wall.¡± Zhan Kong replied. However, Tang Guosheng and Sikou Nanbo found it strange. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple, is it?¡± The defense of the Quilton base was perfect. A small beast tide would not pose any problems to the security of the base at all. There was no need for Zhan Kong to be so nervous. However, after hearing what Zhan Kong said next, the two of them understood how serious the situation was. ¡°There¡¯s another disaster-level beast tide rushing over. It¡¯s less than a hundred miles away from us.¡± A disaster-level beast tide could easily destroy a survival base with a population of a million people. Even the Quilton base would suffer severe damage if they did not make timely preparations to deal with such a beast tide. A palpable silence infiltrated the speeding car.