Thousand Jin Strength

"The first test is strength! Please choose the Strength Bronze Pillar you wish to lift. You have three chances, and your highest score will be recorded!" He Yanjun instructed.

"Yes!" The man with sinister eyes and thin lips stepped forward immediately. He then chose the lightest bronze pillar and lifted it with both hands, straining.

"First attempt, 600 jin!" He Yanjun announced calmly.

Duan Xiang put the stone pillar down and then walked to a slightly heavier one, lifting it again.

After three attempts, He Yanjun stated plainly, "Examinee Duan Xiang, final strength test result is 700 jin. Next is Chen Lin!"

He Yanjun then announced the name of the next person to be tested.

From afar, Head Instructor Lu Cheng, who was also holding a list, showed a flicker of surprise when he saw Chen Lin's detailed information.

He said to his friend who had just arrived, "Old Shen, this young fellow of eighteen is a student at Lieyang Martial Arts School? He's participating in the War God Temple's entrance test at such a young age? How's his talent? Why didn't he join a Martial Academy to train?"

"His talent is indeed very high. As for why he didn't go to a Martial Academy to train, it's complicated to explain. Part of it is also due to my poor judgment and oversight in administrative matters," Shen Honglang explained with a wry smile.

"Heh! Complicated to explain, meaning this kid offended someone, got tripped up behind his back! At a time like this, these people still haven't changed! Damn it!" Lu Cheng complained, his face looking displeased.

Shen Honglang could only shake his head and smile wryly, not saying much more.

"Perhaps this kid is just here to see the world and doesn't actually have the strength to pass the test!" a martial artist with a round face, resembling a wealthy merchant, said as he entered, joining the conversation.

"City Lord Li, do you know something about this young man?" Shen Honglang retorted with a hint of displeasure.

"Hahaha! I don't know him at all! I'm just speaking my mind, City Lord Shen, please don't take it seriously!" City Lord Li's eyes flickered, and he laughed it off.

"If you don't know him, yet you make such a baseless judgment, City Lord Li, it seems the previous demonic beast raids on the outer city were not entirely accidental!" Lu Cheng, who clearly didn't think highly of the City Lord of Nanqing City, retorted sarcastically.

Upon hearing this, City Lord Li's face turned extremely ugly. Suppressing his anger, he cupped his fists with a smile towards the two and turned to leave, his figure quickly disappearing from the second floor of the main hall, leaving in a hurry.

"Brother Lu, isn't it a bit much to treat City Lord Li like that? After all, he's a fourth-rank official of Yan State." Shen Honglang said with concern.

"What's too much about it? He's made so many mistakes governing Nanqing City, so many people have died, and I'm not even allowed to say a few words to him? This kind of incompetent who got in through the back door should be thrown outside the city to feed the demonic beasts!" Lu Cheng said hatefully through gritted teeth.

"I wonder what the Hall Master is thinking. With the strength of our War God Temple, taking over ten or twenty cities is not difficult at all. Why do we keep letting these useless individuals occupy positions of power over the people's livelihoods?" Shen Honglang, who had long been fed up with the behavior of some of the powerful figures in Nanqing City, couldn't help but ask.

"The Hall Master must have his reasons. We are not at a high enough level to consider things as comprehensively as the Hall Master, so we can only complain and cannot take action," Lu Cheng replied, shaking his head with a look of incomprehension after hearing Shen Honglang's complaint.

"Enough about that, let's watch our martial artist Chen Lin, his results are out!" Shen Honglang said, having lost interest in continuing the topic and quickly changing the subject.

When Chen Lin walked onto the stage to choose a bronze pillar, he didn't hesitate much. He directly chose the 1000 jin bronze pillar, preparing to see if he could lift it.

Everyone was watching this young man, Chen Lin, curious about his final result.

Chen Lin stood before the bronze pillar, crossed his arms, and exerted force with his feet.

The 1000 jin bronze pillar was instantly lifted slowly under Chen Lin's immense strength.

Ten centimeters, twenty centimeters, thirty centimeters...

Chen Lin's face turned red, veins bulged on his arms, and he continuously adjusted the points of contact for his legs, trying to draw upon all the strength in his body and apply it to the bronze pillar.

As the bronze pillar was slowly lifted, everyone's eyes widened uncontrollably.

If 700 jin of strength was the minimum for the early stage of Martial Master, then 1000 jin of strength was the maximum for the early stage of Martial Master.

Most early-stage Martial Masters had strength fluctuating between 700-800 jin, with very few exceeding 800 jin.

Generally, early-stage Martial Masters whose strength exceeded 800 jin were considered to be born with divine strength.

Now, before their eyes, they were witnessing a living early-stage Martial Master with 1000 jin of strength, which left them stunned and unsure of how to express their current emotions.

As Chen Lin forcefully pushed the bronze pillar, which represented 1000 jin, into the ceiling above his head, the scene fell into an eerie silence.

Finally, He Yanjun, the monitor, was the first to react. Suppressing the astonishment deep within him, he announced with a slightly excited tone, "Examinee Chen Lin, first test, weight 1000 jin!"

Many of the participating martial artists' faces changed drastically upon seeing this, their eyes filled with undisguised shock.

Duan Xiang's eyes widened, showing not only shock but also a hint of jealousy and malice.

Chen Lin's cousin, seeing Chen Lin's result, felt a faint sense of melancholy mixed with envy.

Upon hearing this, Chen Lin smiled, stretched his slightly sore and numb muscles, and then directly chose to end the test, giving up his remaining two chances.

He Yanjun was not very surprised by Chen Lin's decision. Having already demonstrated 1000 jin of strength, the next two strength tests were unnecessary. He once again announced loudly, "Examinee Chen Lin, final strength test result is 1000 jin. Next is Pan Ran!"

Head Instructor Lu Cheng, seeing Chen Lin's performance, smiled with satisfaction, stroking his beard. "This kid is good. To have refined his physical body so perfectly at such a young age, excellent, very excellent! I just wonder about his combat ability!"

"Chen Lin's combat ability is also not bad. Among the martial students of the same cohort at Lieyang Martial Arts School, basically none are his opponents. If he hadn't been secretly harmed, he would have definitely secured a spot in the upper academy this year," Shen Honglang explained with a sigh.

"With such strength, why waste time in a Martial Academy! The Hundred Thousand Mountains are where he truly belongs!" Lu Cheng said dismissively.

Chen Lin was unaware of the conversation between Lu Cheng and Shen Honglang. After his test, under the complex gazes of the participating martial artists, he returned to the waiting area.

At this moment, he had a more precise guess about the data from the Jade Book in his mind.

A physical body strength of 100 corresponded exactly to 1000 jin of power.

Therefore, with this conversion, 1 point of data corresponded to 10 jin of his own strength.

This way, he wouldn't need to do any more strength tests in the future to know how much strength he possessed.

"Not bad, Chen Lin, when did you break through to Martial Master without anyone knowing? Do the people in the family know about this?"

"I don't know!" Chen Lin grinned.

"?" Chen Yu was first bewildered, then shook his head, "You sure know how to keep a secret."

Chen Lin just shook his head upon hearing this, but said nothing more.

The strength test for over a dozen people ended quickly.

Among these people, many barely reached 700 jin. Facing a testing tool completely different from the stone lock, many martial artists who had held onto a sliver of hope were eliminated.

After this round of selection, more than half of the martial artists who were just a hair's breadth away from the passing line were filtered out. Only nine people remained for the next test.

"You few, follow me!" He Yanjun instructed them.