Test Ends (Happy New Year)

When Lin Zhen awakened his Mental Power, he was at the late Bronze stage.

After taking the Gene Serum, his Mental Power increased, but it had only reached the early Silver stage, close to the early-stage peak.

Later, he trained his Mental Power without interruption every day, bringing it to the early-stage peak. He could also control three Flying Knives.

He had forged five Flying Knives. To control four of them, the early-stage peak was not enough; he needed to enter the mid stage. But Mental Power was not so easy to cultivate. It required steady accumulation over time. If he wanted to improve rapidly, only this kind of genuine life-and-death tempering would do.

This time had been a true life-or-death battle, and Mental Power had decided the outcome. Lin Zhen's Mental Power had finally made a leap forward.

If the Silver-level Transformation of his Mental Power had previously been 33%, it was now 55%.

It had increased by more than 20%!

He had officially entered the mid stage. With a little more training, he would reach the Mid Stage Peak.

After lying there for half an hour, Lin Zhen finally let out a long breath.

Fortunately, the Dark Energy had strengthened Lin Zhen's body somewhat before this. Otherwise, the massive snake would have crushed his bones, and Lin Zhen would not have escaped disaster.

"Great! This was dangerous enough, but it was also a Blessing in Disguise. Not only did my Mental Power advance to the Silver Mid Stage, I also got this."

Lin Zhen sprang up, dragged the snake's corpse out of the deep pit, and felt around inside until he found a Meteorite.

The previous Meteorite had been about the size of a basketball. This one was even larger. Still inside the pit, Lin Zhen took out a chisel and scraper and dissected the Meteorite on the spot.

Ten minutes later, the Meteorite revealed its true form.

A Dark Energy Stone slightly smaller than an egg appeared in Lin Zhen's hand.

"Excellent. This Dark Energy Stone is more than twice the size of the last one. It's just right for another enhancement and will let me take a huge step forward on the path to level eight."

Taking out Fossil Powder and Dissolving Agent, he placed the Meteorite in his palm. With the experience from last time, this absorption went even more smoothly. Another ten minutes later, Lin Zhen had completely absorbed the Dark Energy Stone.

After stretching his limbs, Lin Zhen stood up from the deep pit.

"Although I don't know the exact figure, I can roughly sense the extent of the increase. If the previous stone increased my strength by 20 kilograms, then this one increased it by around 45 to 50 kilograms."

"My current strength should be somewhere between 870 and 880. I can't calculate the exact number, but I'm already at the late level eight stage."

"I went from early level eight to late level eight in just twelve hours. No one on Earth can match this speed."

Lin Zhen loosened up and quickly began dissecting the massive snake.

E-Rank and F-Rank Mutated Beasts had value too, though not much. Besides, Lin Zhen could not carry so many things. He could only dissect this giant snake as quickly as possible and take back what he could sell for a decent price.

Using his Flying Knives, he peeled off the snake skin. It was extremely tough and could be made into bulletproof vests. It should sell for more than a million when he got back.

There were also buyers for the venomous fangs and snake gallbladder, so Lin Zhen removed them as well.

Finally came the most crucial item. All Mutated Beasts above C-Rank had crystals inside their bodies, located in their brains. Lin Zhen had stabbed it so many times with his Flying Knives, yet the crystal had not been damaged.

A pale pink crystal was removed from its brain. It was used to produce Gene Serum and was of little use to Lin Zhen, but he could sell it to the Ministry of Science and Technology or donate it to the Martial Hall to earn Martial Arts Academy Points.

After packing up these things, he checked the time and found that less than twenty minutes remained.

Lin Zhen left the little building. The Town had become much quieter, and even the gunfire that had been constantly audible before had ceased. Most Martial Artists had already left.

Following the route he had taken on the way in, Lin Zhen ran toward the entrance of the Town.

Outside the Town, almost all the Martial Artists had come out.

No one dared wait until the very end. If some troublesome monster blocked their way and they got out a few minutes late, their points would be voided. They would not even have a place to cry about it.

The four members of the Demon Hunter Squad waited anxiously for Lin Zhen. Zhao Liang kept checking the time. "Why hasn't Lin Zhen come out yet? There are less than ten minutes left. With his strength, he shouldn't face any danger in the Warrior Zone."

Shi Lei was also getting anxious. "I'm not even asking for Lin Zhen to bring back much loot anymore. As long as he comes out safely, that's enough."

Ye Tiancheng rubbed his twin swords together. "Captain, if Lin Zhen's haul is also small, we may be in trouble this time. Have you seen the military's rules? If a squad can't earn thirty thousand points, it can't go to Yilan County. I made a rough calculation just now. The four of us together probably earned around twenty-six or twenty-seven thousand. That means Lin Zhen needs at least three to four thousand points for us to have any hope."

Gao Yan slammed the butt of his Sniper Rifle down hard. "It's all because those bastards from Demon God, Knife, Gun, Cannon, kept causing trouble. They stole several C-Rank monsters from us. Otherwise, we would have already collected thirty thousand points. We wouldn't need to be worrying like this."

"The two women from Demon God are out," Zhao Liang said. Li Mengxi and Ruo Ruo emerged from the Warrior Zone.

The two women walked over to Demon God's group, where everyone chatted and laughed happily.

"Should we call Lin Zhen?"

"Better not. If Lin Zhen still hasn't come out at this point, he's probably in a battle. Calling him might distract him. If he still doesn't come out when time is up, we'll apply to go in and look for him."

Ye Tiancheng curled his lip. "I'm not going. If Lin Zhen survives, he's our teammate. If he doesn't come out, I have no obligation to look after children. It only proves he isn't suited to being a Martial Artist."

As they spoke, Demon God's captain, Zhou Tie, walked over. He gave Shi Lei and the others a cold smile. "What? Internal conflict? Where's your team's so-called genius youth, Lin Zhen? Didn't he improve his physique by 99%? Why hasn't he come out yet?"

Hua Xiaofeng, holding a Long Spear, spoke from the side. "Maybe he became monster shit. What a pity. I was planning to teach that kid how to use a spear, but he didn't even give me the chance."

Kong Shan, holding a rocket launcher, burst into laughter. "A team is only as good as its people. You're all such trash, and the Warrior Level member of your team is even more worthless!"

Knife, Gun, Cannon and the others burst out laughing. The four members of the Demon Hunter Squad all looked grim.

Behind Knife, Gun, Cannon, Li Mengxi's expression was not much better either. After all, Lin Zhen had been her childhood companion. The two could be considered childhood sweethearts. Now that Lin Zhen might have met with misfortune, she could not be happy.

Ruo Ruo gently whispered words of comfort beside her with a smile on her face. It was unclear what she said, but Li Mengxi seemed to be somewhat affected, and her expression gradually improved.

At that moment, someone from the military suddenly announced, "Five minutes until the test ends. All teams, line up and bring out your loot. Points will now be calculated. Teams with more than thirty thousand points will be allowed into Yilan County. Teams with fewer than thirty thousand should head home!"

"Did you hear that? They're starting to calculate points. Get ready to go home, Demon Hunter. Bye-bye, hahaha!"