Joining the Training Camp

In midair above Hongning Base City, Liu He directly flew with Shen Mu toward the Elite Training Camp.

"The Elite Training Camp is up ahead." Liu He pointed at the sprawling cluster of buildings in the distance.

As he spoke, the two of them slowly descended before the gates of the Elite Training Camp.

Beyond the gates stood a colossal black dragon statue roughly fifty meters tall. The entire sculpture was lifelike, as though a real black dragon lay coiled there.

"Look at those dragon eyes. They came from a genuine King-Level Black Dragon. If an ordinary person met their gaze, they would inevitably be cowed by its aura."

Noticing Shen Mu studying the black dragon statue, Liu He deliberately revealed its secret, wanting to see Shen Mu's reaction.

At those words, Shen Mu's gaze fell upon the dragon eyes of the statue.

At once, Shen Mu seemed to see a King-Level Black Dragon staring at him, as if boundless darkness were pressing down upon him.

In an instant, an equally inexplicable aura rose from Shen Mu—vast and savage, as though two Dragon Beasts stood locked in confrontation.

At that instant, Liu He beside Shen Mu went rigid. Instinctively, he shifted into a guarded stance, feeling as though what stood beside him was a humanoid beast that had just awakened!

"Impressive. As expected of the Director. This black dragon probably wasn't an ordinary King-Level Monster either, was it?" Shen Mu's fierce aura vanished in a flash as he turned to Liu He, the Inspector, at his side.

Looking at the harmless-looking Shen Mu, Liu He even had the illusion that the person before him was a terrifying monster lying hidden beneath the surface.

"Indeed. An ordinary monster wouldn't require the Director to act personally." Liu He nodded slightly, inwardly unable to hide his shock.

No wonder Shen Mu possessed such extraordinary Mentalist talent. That terrifying aura just now was not something an ordinary person could possess.

Shen Mu pointed at the display screen above the black dragon statue, where rows of names and serial numbers were listed. "This ranking should be the ranking of the training camp students, right?"

"That's right. Every resource in the training camp must be fought for by yourself. The higher your rank, the more resources you naturally get to enjoy. Even if you were personally invited into the camp by the Director, you are no exception."

After explaining, Liu He continued, "Come on. I'll take you to handle your enrollment procedures first."

The buildings within the training camp were all traditional Huaxia architecture as well. Blue bricks and dark tiles were everywhere, along with pavilions and towers, giving one the illusion of truly having traveled back to ancient times.

Liu He pointed to the enormous tower building at the very center of the camp. "That is the Ninefold Tower. It's where all students study and train, and it also contains training chambers from ancient civilization ruins."

"Normally, new students joining the camp must go to the Ninefold Tower and challenge the Trial Tower for assessment. If they fail, they can only go to the basic training camp. Of course, you don't need to be assessed. Want to go have some fun?"

Having earned Hong's attention, Shen Mu naturally had no need to hide anything. "Sure. Then I'll have to trouble Inspector Liu."

From the outside, the Ninefold Tower looked like an ancient Huaxia tower, but its interior was brimming with technological flair, entirely forged from some special alloy.

The trial room was located on the ninth floor of the Ninefold Tower. It was an immensely spacious hall, with mats laid across the floor. Quite a few men and women sat on them, chatting among themselves as they waited to enter the gravity chambers for training.

When Shen Mu entered the ninth-floor hall, everyone casually turned their gazes toward him. Then they saw Liu He beside Shen Mu, and everyone immediately rose respectfully to greet him.

"Greetings, Inspector Liu."

Liu He nodded slightly and asked, "Are there still spots in the trial rooms?"

Unlike the Ancient Civilization Gravity Chamber, the so-called trial room was merely a place to link one's consciousness to a virtual space. All one needed was a sensor, so there was rarely any need to queue and wait.

As soon as he spoke, a tall Huaxia youth with a face that looked as if it had been carved by axe and blade glanced at Shen Mu from within the crowd. "There are still spots. Inspector Liu, this is...?"

Liu He smiled and patted Shen Mu on the shoulder. Facing Chu Qiang, he said with a smile, "His name is Shen Mu. He's from your Kyoto Base City too. You brat should have already received the news, right?"

The youth's eyes lit up slightly. Just as expected. "Hello, Junior Brother Shen Mu. My name is Chu Qiang, and I'm from the main urban district of Kyoto Base City. I heard your great name last night. So, are you interested in working for the military?"

Although Shen Mu had only revealed his Mentalist talent yesterday morning, intelligence on him had likely spread throughout all the major factions by today. The military, in particular, knew everything clearly.

After all, his father was a soldier and had long since reported the relevant intelligence.

According to the Elite Training Camp's rules, once any student joined the camp, all previous agreements signed with other factions automatically became void, and anyone could attempt to recruit them.

Liu He immediately laughed and scolded, "You brat, poaching someone right in front of me? Discuss it yourselves after you go back. I'll take Little Shen to the trial room first."

Chu Qiang smiled sheepishly and said no more. As a member of the military, he had long received orders to recruit Shen Mu at any cost.

So long as Shen Mu showed any willingness to join the military, even Jia Yi, the foremost figure in the Huaxia military, could personally come to the training camp to discuss terms with this monstrous Mentalist.

Soon after, Shen Mu followed behind Liu He to the innermost part of the ninth-floor hall. There was a passageway there, with large rooms lining both sides.

The room at the very end of the passage was somewhat dimly lit. Two sofas stood inside, and on them rested two technologically styled consciousness-sensing helmets, dark blue all over.

Liu He picked up one of the helmets and gestured for Shen Mu to put it on. "The trial room is a virtual space with 100% simulation accuracy. Put on the helmet and you can enter the Trial Tower space directly."

Shen Mu nodded slightly. Just as he was about to put on the helmet, Liu He stopped him.

"This helmet is for martial artists taking the trial. In the camp's history, including you, we've only recruited four Mentalists, so the Mentalist helmets are usually kept stored away."

Liu He then explained the differences between the helmets to Shen Mu.

After entering the trial space wearing a martial artist's helmet, everyone would possess a body with the same physical attributes: normal punching strength of 10,000 kilograms, a speed of 150 meters per second, and superior Elementary General-Level neural reaction speed.

Those who entered wearing a Mentalist helmet, meanwhile, would possess the body of an Elementary General-Level Mentalist: normal telekinetic force of 8,000 kilograms, while their physical attributes would meet the standard of a mid-level warrior.

Shen Mu truly had not known about this. Though he was a transmigrator, there had been no scene in the original work where a Mentalist challenged the Trial Tower. He had not expected it to have such a function.

In truth, anyone with even a slight understanding of virtual world technology knew that the hardest part of this technology was constructing the physical laws of the virtual world and achieving sufficiently high simulation accuracy.

Once that key hurdle was overcome, flying through the heavens and burrowing into the earth, splitting mountains and overturning seas—all of it was merely virtual data. If the degree of freedom was high enough, even an ordinary person could possess the power to destroy heaven and earth.

As they spoke, Liu He brought over a brand-new helmet, dark red in color.

After taking the consciousness-sensing helmet, Shen Mu lay down on the sofa and put it on. At once, a hum rang in his ears, and then an endless expanse of silver ground appeared before his eyes.

Several hundred meters directly ahead of Shen Mu stood a colossal tower soaring into the clouds, its entire surface carved with images of all kinds of monsters. It had seven floors in total.

The next instant, Liu He appeared beside Shen Mu as well.

"That's the Trial Tower."

Liu He pointed at the Trial Tower ahead, then looked at Shen Mu. "Can you feel the changes in yourself?"

Shen Mu nodded slightly. The changes to his physical condition were not very obvious—his strength had risen a little, while his Mental Power had increased greatly.

"My Mental Power has grown much stronger."

Truth be told, Shen Mu's physical condition was actually rather average.

Under normal circumstances, once a warrior awakened Mental Power, it would inevitably nourish the body in return, increasing their strength by at least several hundred kilograms, or even over a thousand.

But Shen Mu had possessed no talent for Mental Power in this life. The only reason he had it at all was because he shared a soul with the Azure Dragon Avatar, forcibly awakening it through the avatar's feedback.

At present, only Shen Mu's strength and neural reaction speed had reached the standard of an intermediate warrior. His speed still fell short.

"You can take a moment to get used to it. Once the trial begins, you won't have time," Liu He said with a smile.

As they spoke, Shen Mu and Liu He had already reached the entrance to the Trial Tower.

There was a stone pillar on either side of the entrance, with raised words appearing upon them.

Name: Shen Mu

Gender: Male

Status: Elite Training Camp Student

Trial Tower Level: 1

"My Trial Tower level is 4.8. Most councilors are at this level, corresponding to Stage C of the fourth floor of the Trial Tower."

Shen Mu asked curiously, "Who has cleared the highest level of the Trial Tower?"

Liu He did not hide it from him. "There are three: Headmaster Hong, Second Councilor Thunder God, and Fourth Councilor Ister. All three reached Stage C of the sixth floor, but failed to pass it."

"The Third Councilor didn't even clear Stage B?" Shen Mu was somewhat surprised.

Liu He shook his head slightly. "No. According to the Headmaster, to clear Stage B of the sixth floor, a warrior's Combat Technique and movement technique must both reach the Artistic Conception Level, and their force amplitude must reach eight times.

"As for a Mentalist, they need to control at least twelve Mental Power Weapons at full power. After all, there is no such thing as the Artistic Conception Level when controlling Mental Power Weapons.

"The reason the Headmaster and Councilor Thunder God were able to clear Stage B was that their martial attainments had already reached the realm of Harmony of Man and Nature. They were not merely at the ordinary Artistic Conception Level—they used skill to make up for Brute Force."

As Liu He finished speaking, an electronic voice rang out within the Trial Tower.

"Shen Mu, please select your combat uniform and weapons. After making your selection, enter the Trial Tower and accept the test within one minute!"

Combat uniforms and weapons appeared before him one after another, each in a different style. Shen Mu casually chose a set of equipment. His clothes immediately transformed into the chosen combat uniform, while throwing knives, weapons, and a shield materialized before him.

Shen Mu held a long spear, with throwing knives and a shield floating behind him. "Inspector Liu, I'm going in."

Liu He nodded slightly, watching Shen Mu's figure vanish into the pitch-black entrance of the Trial Tower.

The Trial Tower having bodies for Mentalists was a secondary setting. After all, the Mentalists recruited by the Elite Training Camp could not possibly all be like Luo Feng, concealing their identities as Mentalists and using warrior methods to challenge the tower.