Subject Two, Passed!

Subject Two, Passed!

Han Yuri was dazed from the fall.

He could not understand how he, the victim, had somehow become the one being blamed.

"Hmph..." Senior Sister Miao crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at Han Yuri. "Feel wronged? Why don't you think about what you came here for? Those who pass this exam may become Otherworld Explorers in the future. They are warriors who will have to fight experts and monsters from other worlds. This is not work for a pampered young master like you!"

"If you get beaten, beat them back! You're a grown man, yet you hid behind a little girl like me. What kind of man are you?"

First, he had Korean cold noodles splashed all over his face, then he was berated from head to toe. What was this supposed to be?

If you get beaten, beat them back?

Han Yuri turned to look at Luo Jun, a vicious glint appearing in his eyes.

Luo Jun glared back without backing down and waved his fist. Young Master Han reflexively shrank back.

"Hmph, I won't lower myself to your level!" Han Yuri gritted his teeth, climbed to his feet, and turned to leave the venue.

Senior Sister Miao frowned. "Did he forfeit?"

A staff member beside her said, "He just passed the second round..."

"Tch, someone like him passed too?" Senior Sister Miao pursed her lips disdainfully. "I told you the entrance exam was too easy!"

"Exactly!" Luo Jun chimed in from the side. "I say they should raise the difficulty in the future. Otherwise, any stray cat or dog can become Senior Sister's schoolmate. Wouldn't that tarnish Senior Sister's reputation?"

Luo Jun had expected this outcome. From the forums he had browsed these two days and his previous conversations with Old Yuan, he had gained a general understanding: in the world of cultivators, as long as principles were not involved, strength was generally revered, and the strong were respected.

A Green Wristband had been beaten by a White Wristband. Regardless of who was right or wrong, he was bound to be looked down upon.

Senior Sister Miao turned to look at Luo Jun and glared at him coquettishly. "Did I say I wasn't talking about you? Think you're such a great fighter?"

As she spoke, she pointed toward the Advanced Mechanical Puppet in the center of the field. "That thing just happens to be idle. Why don't you go try it? If you pass, fine! If you don't, I'll mark you down for disrupting exam order today. Even after you enroll, there'll be a disciplinary record in your file!"

The surrounding staff members were all startled by this.

"Senior Sister Miao, that's an Advanced Puppet. Its first setting should correspond to a Blue Wristband. There's no way a White Wristband like him can pass!"

"I think this kid's pretty decent. I happened to overhear what happened just now. The one who got beaten provoked him first, and nobody was seriously hurt. How about we just let it go..."

"Yeah, yeah. Even as a second-year student, I find that Advanced Mechanical Puppet a little difficult to handle."

Senior Sister Miao let out a cold snort. "Don't worry, I won't make things hard for him. He doesn't need to last five minutes. As long as he holds out for one minute, that's enough!"

Then she looked at Luo Jun, a smile appearing on her cute round face. "Well? Dare to go?"

Luo Jun chuckled. "Why wouldn't I? Thanks, Senior Sister, for giving me the chance!"

With that, Luo Jun strode toward the center of the field.

Senior Sister's words were quite telling. Even if he failed, there would still be a disciplinary mark after he enrolled... In other words, she did not intend to revoke his qualifications even if he failed; he would still have a chance to enroll. She was only saying it to blunt his edge a little, or perhaps test his courage.

Senior Sister Miao apparently had not expected Luo Jun to agree so readily. A glimmer flickered in her almond-shaped eyes as she quietly instructed the staff member beside her, "Go check the equipment. First setting, training mode. Don't let anything happen."

Luo Jun stood in the arena, watching the staff carefully adjust the equipment.

An Advanced Mechanical Puppet. He was all too familiar with this thing. First setting... one kick would end the fight.

But that definitely would not do. Master had told him not to stand out too much... He had to display strength that matched his realm. Lasting one minute... that was somewhat difficult too...

As he pondered a strategy, Luo Jun took off the top of his school uniform and tied it around his waist by the sleeves.

Once the adjustments were complete, light lit up in the Mechanical Puppet's eyes. Waving its six arms, it charged at Luo Jun.

Luo Jun did not meet its attack at all. He turned and ran, leading the massive Mechanical Puppet around the arena.

"Damn, that works too?" The challenge of a White Wristband against an Advanced Mechanical Puppet had attracted many examinees to watch. They had expected this kid to have some clever way of dealing with it, but he was actually this cowardly? He ran without hesitation?

Only Senior Sister Miao showed a faint smile.

"The correct response!"

When explorers carried out missions in other worlds, they often encountered enemies far stronger than themselves. At such times, running away was the most appropriate response.

However, even on its first setting, an Advanced Mechanical Puppet was far faster than a White Wristband. The arena was only a dozen meters across and not particularly spacious. Could he really keep running for a full minute?

As the seconds ticked by, Luo Jun nearly got caught by the Mechanical Puppet several times, barely evading each attack through nimble footwork. But with its height, reach, and speed advantage, the Mechanical Puppet drew closer and closer to Luo Jun, making each evasion increasingly difficult.

Finally, with ten seconds left on the timer, Luo Jun was forced into a corner with nowhere to dodge.

If he retreated out of bounds, he would fail. But if he advanced, the Mechanical Puppet's six outstretched arms hung before him like a giant net, leaving no chance to break through!

This was the end.

Senior Sister Miao shook her head. Lasting this long was already outstanding enough. She would report the matter to the teachers afterward. She did not have the authority as a student to give him a disciplinary mark anyway; she had merely been trying to scare him. But a freshman with courage, agile skills, and a quick mind like his had limitless potential. The teachers would not make things too difficult for him, would they?

Senior Sister Miao was mulling it over as she watched the Mechanical Puppet charge at Luo Jun.

As for Luo Jun, his eyes suddenly widened, his pupils trembling slightly as he took every limb of the Mechanical Puppet into his field of vision.

Its first left arm was smashing down from above at an angle; its third right arm attacked from the lower right; its first and second left arms and second and third right arms were all blocking both sides... As for its legs, their placement was perfect, leaving no chance to slip through beneath them...

A dead end!

A monster with six arms could completely seal off a human's attacks. Unless Luo Jun faced it head-on, he had no chance of winning.

But a direct clash would inevitably expose what made him special!

Light flashed in Luo Jun's eyes, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

Senior Sister Miao furrowed her brow. He could still smile at a time like this?

Just as she was wondering, Luo Jun moved both hands, yanked the school uniform from his waist, and threw it at the Mechanical Puppet's face!

What was he doing? The watching examinees looked confused. What use was a limp school uniform besides blocking its vision? He had already been driven into a blind spot. Even if the Mechanical Puppet could not see for an instant, its attack would still inevitably hit him as long as it came down!

Yet an astonishing scene unfolded next!

The Mechanical Puppet actually withdrew two of its arms and caught the school uniform...

No, judging by its posture, it was blocking!

The Mechanical Puppet was blocking? Blocking a school uniform?

And because it changed its move to block, a gap appeared in the Mechanical Puppet's lockdown. Luo Jun seized the opportunity. While the Mechanical Puppet's vision was obstructed and it lacked the ability to react, he leaped into the air, his entire body parallel to the ground like a great fish swimming through the sky, and slipped through the gap in the Mechanical Puppet's blockade!

At the Same Time, the Mechanical Puppet "blocked" the school uniform and tossed it onto the ground. But Luo Jun had already landed behind it. Before the Mechanical Puppet had time to turn around, he lunged forward and slammed into its hard back.

The Advanced Mechanical Puppet was far taller and heavier than an Ordinary Person, its metal body immensely weighty. But it was already at the edge of the ring, and its forward momentum had not yet stopped. Luo Jun's collision threw its mechanical body off balance. It pitched forward and crashed out of the arena with a thud.

There were still five seconds remaining in the one-minute limit!

This examinee had actually knocked an Advanced Mechanical Puppet out of the arena!

Most of the examinees watching did not quite understand what had happened. To them, the kid had spent the full course running away, then caught a flaw in the Mechanical Puppet at the last moment and luckily pulled off a counter-kill. A few sharp-eyed examinees saw that the Mechanical Puppet's attacks had been fierce and that the final opening had been created by Luo Jun using the school uniform, but they did not understand how that school uniform had disrupted the Mechanical Puppet's rhythm.

Only the senior students who had been dragged in as staff understood the trick behind it!

Though Mechanical Puppets were powerful, they were ultimately training machines with limited intelligence. They could not determine exactly how damaging an incoming object was, so treating a light school uniform as an attack and blocking it was a normal reaction.

But the question was, only those who frequently sparred with Mechanical Puppets knew this. How had this examinee discovered that weakness?

Luo Jun picked up the school uniform from the ground, draped it over his shoulder, and walked down from the ring. Senior Sister Miao came up to meet him.

"Not bad." Senior Sister Miao nodded approvingly. "You took off your school uniform as soon as you entered the arena. Did you plan this tactic from the beginning?"

Luo Jun nodded. "I noticed that when these Mechanical Puppets fought examinees with loose sleeves, their timing was sometimes off. So I guessed they could not distinguish feints from real attacks, and I wanted to try this method. I didn't expect it to work!"

Naturally, Luo Jun could not say that he had sparred with the machines day and night for more than half a month and knew even the number of screws on them by heart, so he had prepared an excuse in advance.

To be honest, he had been a little panicked when Senior Sister Miao called him out. Defeating a Mechanical Puppet was not difficult; the key was how to win using the level of strength a White Wristband should possess.

"You actually figured it out just by observing?" Senior Sister Miao looked surprised. "You're quite interesting, kid! Fine, you pass this subject!"

Luo Jun grinned. "Thank you, Senior Sister."

After saying that, he rubbed his stomach. "To be honest, I'm still not full. Can I finish eating before I leave?"

Senior Sister Miao's cheek twitched. She sighed and waved him off impatiently. "Go on, go on!"

Seeing Luo Jun happily dash toward the snack stalls, the senior student in charge of the central ring walked over. "Miao Miao, this isn't in accordance with the rules. He should have challenged one of the surrounding rings. My system can't record his result..."

"Then give him special approval!" Senior Sister Miao said. "Didn't that little girl from the Ling Family skip the second subject and receive special approval to pass?"

The senior student looked troubled. "Ling Xin is a Heart Refining Realm expert with exceptional spiritual aptitude. Even an Advanced Puppet would be no match for her, so she could only be specially approved... But what does this kid have going for him?"

"Because he, a White Wristband, defeated an Advanced Puppet!" Senior Sister Miao glanced at the senior student. "Do you think he won just by being clever enough to throw his clothes? Although his raw strength is only at the second level of the Body Refinement Realm, his mindset when facing a strong enemy, his timing, and his on-the-spot tactical choices were all exceptional. You could say he achieved the absolute limit of what someone at his level can do!"

"Unlike those freaks whose innate physique and spiritual aptitude surpass ordinary people, he is a genius in another sense!"

"But Teacher Xu..."

"I'll talk to Teacher Xu." Senior Sister Miao looked at Luo Jun, who was gnawing on a giant grilled squid, and revealed a slight smile.

End of Chapter