Assessment Begins

"Uncle Qing!"

Late at night in Yangzhou City, Qin Mu called Uncle Qing.

Though it was already late, the call was answered quickly.

"Qin Mu? Where are you? You said you were going to train, but then you completely disappeared. You didn't even answer your phone! If you hadn't said you were undergoing closed-door training, I would've called the police."

Uncle Qing sounded somewhat anxious.

"I'm home. I was training earlier, so I had all my communications turned off."

Qin Mu hurriedly explained. Of course, he would not tell Uncle Qing that he had gone into the Wilderness Zone. If he did, Uncle Qing definitely would not let him go. As a former soldier, how could Uncle Qing not know how dangerous the Wilderness Zone was?

"Alright, it's good that you're back. Hurry up and get some rest. The practical combat assessment starts tomorrow."

"Alright, you should get some rest early too."

After ending the call with Uncle Qing, Qin Mu flopped onto the sofa, his entire body going limp.

His mind had been stretched taut these past few days. Only now did he truly relax.

After washing up, Qin Mu did not hurry to sleep. Instead, he returned to his parents' room and carefully searched through the books that filled it.

In the end, on a bookshelf marked Basic Knowledge, Qin Mu saw books thicker than bricks, with titles such as "Cell Engineering," "Gene Engineering," "Bioinformatics," and "Biotechnological Pharmaceuticals."

Qin Mu pulled out a copy of "Gene Engineering" and returned to the sofa.

Starting from the first page, Qin Mu read it carefully.

This book, "Gene Engineering," was not particularly advanced. It was merely a first-year university course for Gene Engineering majors and covered only the basics, so Qin Mu was not completely unable to understand it.

Especially after awakening Mental Power, Qin Mu's comprehension in every aspect had improved greatly.

After skimming through it, he roughly looked over several of the other books as well.

With just a quick flip through them, Qin Mu knew that this was exactly what he needed!

For example, Gene Engineering, also known as Gene Splicing Technology and DNA Recombination Technology, mainly used technical means to construct hybrid DNA molecules from genes of different origins according to a pre-designed blueprint outside the body, then introduce them into living cells to alter an organism's original hereditary traits and obtain new varieties.

Wasn't this exactly what he and the Swarm needed?

This technology had actually appeared before the Great Nirvana Period, and after the Great Nirvana Period, it had flourished even further.

If he could systematically learn these technologies, then use his talents as the Swarm Overlord and the Mother Nest's powerful computational ability, he could soon attempt to cultivate true Swarm creatures.

He would no longer be like he was now, unable to fully understand even the Life Structure Diagrams the Mother Nest had already analyzed!

He could even try using the abilities of the Swarm Overlord to adjust the genes of his human body and increase his Gene Multiplier.

In the universe, Earth humans actually possessed rather poor genetic bloodlines. Take the Manka Star people, one of the top ten human bloodlines in the universe. Their infants were Planetary level, their children Stellar level, their youths Cosmic level, and their adults Domain Lord level. They were simply worlds apart from Earth humans.

Of course, Earth humans had their own advantages as well, just not in physical aptitude.

"After I pass the Warrior Practical Combat Assessment, whichever faction I join must place genetic knowledge as an important consideration."

Qin Mu closed the book and did not continue reading.

Qin Mu knew very clearly that his foundation was the Swarm! Knowledge of genetic research was extremely important and crucial to a Swarm that had lost its inheritance.

"Time to sleep!"

Qin Mu stretched. He had not slept well for a single day during his time in the wilderness, so now he naturally had to rest properly and prepare for tomorrow's Warrior Practical Combat Assessment.

On the morning of August 1st, led by a warrior from the Limitless Arena, more than thirty pre-warriors, including Qin Mu, Luo Feng, and Yang Wu, headed to the train station.

Inside the train carriage, numerous pre-warriors sat listening to the carriage screen's introductions from the HR Alliance, the military, the Thunderbolt Martial Arts School, and the Limit Martial Arts School, all trying to entice them into joining.

Yet Qin Mu felt no ripples in his heart. He had not decided which side to join. It would depend on their offers after the assessment.

These major factions each had their own advantages. The HR Alliance had money, the government and military were the strongest within the country and offered excellent benefits in every respect, while the Thunderbolt Martial Arts School and Limit Martial Arts School offered more freedom.

Glancing at Luo Feng, Qin Mu knew that Luo Feng had also gone through a lot during this period. He had long since awakened Mental Power, his strength had soared, and he had reached the Intermediate Warrior level.

He had even joined the Limit Martial Arts School in advance and signed a contract.

However, Luo Feng at this point did not have much ambition. He wanted to keep a low profile, spend more time with his family, and did not want to reveal his identity as a Mental Master. Otherwise, his benefits could have been far greater.

But Qin Mu had no such thoughts! Why hide his strength when he had it?

Only by displaying sufficient talent could he gain more support and grow faster!

Therefore, this Warrior Practical Combat Assessment would be Qin Mu's best stage for his debut.

Beside him, Luo Feng and Yang Wu were discussing matters. They both planned to join, or had already joined, the Limit Martial Arts School.

"Qin Mu, which faction do you plan to join?"

Luo Feng looked at Qin Mu beside him and took the initiative to ask.

"I haven't decided yet. I'll see how things go when the time comes."

Qin Mu spoke frankly and shook his head.

As they chatted, the train soon pulled into the station.

The pre-warriors got off one after another. Quite a few people were participating in this practical combat assessment, more than a thousand in total. The massive crowd of pre-warriors entered a large military camp.

This military camp covered an extremely vast area. Numerous soldiers held finely crafted weapons, and all kinds of heavy weaponry could be seen everywhere.

Unfortunately, this was the age of warriors. When facing monsters, this seemingly sophisticated equipment was less useful than warriors themselves.

Afternoon arrived.

More than a thousand pre-warriors stood in an open square, receiving equipment and preparing to enter Monster Town to hunt monsters.

At the front platform of the square stood the high-ranking officials of the Northern Military Region of Jiangnan City, along with some high-ranking officials from the Thunderbolt Martial Arts School and the Limit Martial Arts School.

Qin Mu also received his equipment. Besides a full set of Combat Suit, he still chose a long spear as his weapon, though he additionally selected twelve Flying daggers!

While selecting weapons and equipment, Qin Mu's powerful Mental Power allowed him to sense that quite a few people in the stands were observing him.

Clearly, some people had already learned that he had entered the Wilderness Zone, especially the news that he had hunted Beast General level monsters.

This had originally been some groundwork Qin Mu had laid in advance for this debut.

It was just that he had returned too recently. Before anyone could approach him, the practical combat assessment had already begun.

Otherwise, someone would definitely have come to verify his strength and sign him in advance, just as they had done with Luo Feng!

After receiving their weapons, everyone chatted happily. Even Luo Feng, who was entering the wilderness for the first time, was very excited.

Especially after everyone learned that Luo Feng had been recruited in advance by the Limit Martial Arts School, it caused quite a stir.

After all, among the more than one thousand pre-warriors participating this time, only three had been specially recruited in advance!

Just as everyone was chatting, more than a dozen people from the four top factions, including the Limit Martial Arts School, strode down from the stands toward Qin Mu. Among them was Wu Tong, the chief instructor of Mingyue Residential Area, whom Qin Mu knew.

"Qin Mu? Did you enter the Wilderness Zone alone to hunt monsters some time ago?"

When the group arrived before Qin Mu, they stopped. Wu Tong asked a question that left the surrounding pre-warriors shocked and confused.

"Yes."

Qin Mu smiled faintly and confirmed it.

"What? He entered the Wilderness Zone?"

Luo Feng and the others beside him were stunned. Still a pre-warrior, yet he had gone alone into the Wilderness Zone to hunt monsters?

What kind of godlike move was that?

"And is it true that you hunted dozens of High-level Beast Soldiers and two Primary Beast General monsters by yourself?"

A warrior who had come with them, dressed in a black metallic Combat Suit bearing the Thunderbolt Martial Arts School emblem, stared intently into Qin Mu's eyes as he asked.

Before Qin Mu could answer, the many pre-warriors who had already gathered around erupted into an uproar!

Even Luo Feng's eyes were filled with disbelief.

What kind of joke was this? Everyone was a pre-warrior. Sneaking into the Wilderness Zone alone to hunt monsters was one thing, but he had actually killed two Beast General level monsters?

Under everyone's gaze, Qin Mu grinned.

"Yes!"

In an instant, the entire crowd was in an uproar.