Devouring the Starry Sky: Cultivation Makes Me Stronger — Chapter 2

The assessment was scheduled to begin at ten in the morning.

Although Luo Shen had arrived fairly early, quite a few people were already waiting in the bar on the first-floor lobby.

He was the fourth to arrive.

Among the other three was also a senior student from the Yian District Limit Martial Arts Academy.

However, Luo Shen had only recently become a senior student and had not interacted much with the other person. They merely exchanged brief greetings before he took a glass of orange juice and sat on a nearby sofa to wait patiently.

By 9:45, nearly all the students participating in the assessment had arrived.

A middle-aged man in a white training uniform came over and led them into the elevator in the hall, taking them straight up to the martial arts hall on the sixth floor.

Whoosh!

The elevator doors opened.

More than a dozen people had already gathered in the enormous martial arts hall. Luo Shen's gaze immediately landed on a crew-cut young man in training clothes, with faint sweat stains at his temples, standing among the crowd.

His heart stirred slightly.

So this was Luo Feng, the future Galactic Lord?

The young man seemed to sense something.

He turned to look over. His bright eyes shone like stars, and his gaze was sharp as lightning. Even that simple exchange of glances made Luo Shen distinctly feel a heavy, oppressive pressure.

Is this the mental pressure of a Mind Controller? Luo Shen thought.

"Luo Shen, come over and meet your senior brother Luo Feng." Fortunately, Instructor Jiang Nian's voice rang out in time. Only after Luo Feng looked away did Luo Shen finally relax his tensed nose and mouth and take a deep breath.

Luo Shen walked over to the two of them.

Jiang Nian warmly draped an arm around his shoulders and enthusiastically introduced him to the crew-cut youth. "Luo Feng, this is your junior brother from the same clan, Luo Shen. Let me tell you, this kid's talent is even stronger than yours was back then..."

The crew-cut youth listened patiently with a smile, his gaze examining Luo Shen.

Luo Shen was likewise sizing up this protagonist favored by fate.

Although Luo Feng had only been a martial artist for a few short months, he had already become a well-known figure in martial artist circles, nicknamed "Madman." In just one month, he had killed more than ten thousand Beast Soldier level monsters—at least high-level Beast Soldiers.

"Luo Shen, why aren't you saying anything?"

Jiang Nian finally stopped talking.

Looking at the two of them staring wide-eyed at each other, he could not help but laugh. "Back at the academy, didn't you always pester me to tell you about your senior brother Luo Feng's exploits? Now that the real person is standing right in front of you, you're getting shy?"

"Oh?" Luo Feng looked at Luo Shen with interest.

He had quite a favorable impression of this junior brother from the same academy.

"Huh?" Luo Shen was full of question marks.

He had pestered Jiang Nian to ask?

Why did he remember Jiang Nian insisting on telling the same stories over and over until everyone's ears had grown calluses, tirelessly recounting how impressive Luo Feng had been back then and telling them to use Luo Feng as their example?

Only when Luo Shen noticed Jiang Nian repeatedly winking at him did he finally understand.

Jiang Nian really has gone to great lengths.

Both of them had been taught by Jiang Nian.

And now that Luo Feng had already made something of a name for himself in Jiangnan's martial artist circles, Jiang Nian, as their teacher, naturally hoped that his two disciples could support each other. More importantly, he hoped Luo Feng would look after Luo Shen.

But since they were neither relatives nor close acquaintances, how could he simply impose on Luo Feng?

So Jiang Nian had thought of giving Luo Shen the image of a devoted fan, building a bridge of communication between them.

That way, when the two interacted, at least they would not be left with nothing to say.

"Hello, Senior Brother Luo Feng. I'm Luo Shen." Since Jiang Nian had already gone this far, Luo Shen naturally would not foolishly expose the truth. Besides, he also wanted to get acquainted with Luo Feng.

"Hello."

Luo Feng smiled and reached out to pat Luo Shen on the shoulder. "Do your best in the assessment later. Once you become a martial artist, if there's an opportunity, we fellow disciples can fight side by side."

"Mm." Luo Shen nodded.

The two fell silent again, staring wide-eyed at each other.

Fortunately, Wu Tong, his long hair hanging loose, called out at that moment, "Everyone, come over and get ready for testing!"

The awkwardness between them was resolved.

"Senior Brother Luo Feng, Instructor Jiang Nian, I'll head over first." Luo Shen pointed toward the students who were gathering.

Jiang Nian smiled. "Go on. Keep a calm mind and perform as you normally do."

Luo Feng also raised a fist at him in encouragement.

Luo Shen gave him a thumbs-up in return.

After returning to the group of students waiting for the assessment, the middle-aged man who had led them upstairs came over, collected all their ID cards, and handed them to Wu Tong.

Wu Tong casually picked out an ID card and swiped it across the device beside him.

Beep!

A crystalline, almost transparent screen popped up on the instrument, displaying a large amount of personal information.

"First, Luo Shen."

After glancing at the information on the screen, a faint smile appeared on Wu Tong's usually indifferent face. He praised Jiang Nian beside him, "Another eighteen-year-old martial artist prospect. Old Jiang, you've been doing pretty well lately. Did you secretly learn some teaching trick?"

Over the past two years, no particularly promising talent had emerged from Yi'an District.

He had thought Jiang Nian, as an instructor, had been slacking off.

After all, being an instructor was only a job. Some instructors did not take their teaching seriously, so naturally their teaching quality suffered. It was only inevitable that no outstanding students would appear.

But first there had been Luo Feng, who had already made a name for himself, and now there was Luo Shen, also eighteen years old.

It seemed he had misunderstood before.

Seeing the looks directed at him from all around, Jiang Nian could not help straightening his back. He waved a hand and laughed. "I'm just a rough old man. What teaching secrets could I possibly have? This is all the result of the students' own hard work in training."

Wu Tong merely smiled and said nothing.

No matter how talented or hardworking a student was, they still needed a good instructor to guide them.

Jiang Nian had finally matured.

Luo Shen walked up to the Punch Power Testing Machine.

Looking at the punching target before him, he adjusted his breathing slightly.

His original plan had been simply to pass this Prospective Martial Artist Assessment, but Luo Feng's appearance suddenly stirred up a powerful urge to show off.

After all, this was his first meeting with Luo Feng. He had to put on a good performance in front of the protagonist.

He needed to leave a deep impression.

Everyone present fixed their gazes on Luo Shen. He had been standing before the punching target for quite some time now, yet there had been no movement.

"Could he be nervous?"

A voice suddenly sounded from among the watching martial artists.

At that, Jiang Nian turned and shot the speaker a vicious glare. When he looked back at Luo Shen, a hint of nervousness showed in his eyes as well.

Luo Feng beside him was watching seriously too.

No matter how well someone trained normally, if they dropped the ball at a critical moment and performed poorly, then even if they became martial artists, they would not amount to much. When facing vicious monsters, even the slightest mistake could be fatal!

Hopefully, this junior brother of his was not that kind of person.

And right then—

Luo Shen moved!

His feet shifted lightly, and his body turned slightly. A powerful force instantly erupted from his waist and hips, traveling segment by segment into his arm. Then, another fierce inner force seemed to burst forth from nowhere. Luo Shen's fist shot out like a cannonball leaving its barrel, accompanied by the sharp howl of a gale.

Bang! His fist smashed viciously into the punching target.

"Good!" Jiang Nian blurted out in praise at the sight!

Luo Feng's eyes lit up as well!

The martial artists watching were all veterans tempered by monsters in the Wilderness Area. Their strength might not have been much, but every one of them possessed keen eyesight. At a glance, they could see just how impressive Luo Shen's punch was.

Only someone who had trained the dojo's Basic Fist Technique to the perfected realm could throw such a beautiful punch!

In truth, if they were merely pursuing maximum power—

Quite a few among them could unleash 150% of their own strength, or even more! But in the Wilderness Area, in a life-or-death battle against monsters, such a move would undoubtedly be courting death!

Yet Luo Shen's punch was different.

Even while unleashing such tremendous power, Luo Shen had maintained a stable center of gravity. Clearly, the burst of force was completely under his control—in other words, he could easily command that power.

That was far more impressive than many of the martial artists present!

Even Luo Feng, who had achieved some success in cultivating the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade, was only roughly on par with Luo Shen when it came to exerting force.