Martial God Plaza

The roads in the New City District were far better than those in the Slum District. Towering buildings lined the route, with landscaped trees along both sides of the road, adding far more color than the slums had.

"Coach Yang, will we be able to buy homes in the New City District someday?" asked He Shuo, one of the First Assessment trainees.

Yang Huai'an said, "If you become a Quasi-Martial Warrior and do not spend money like water, you can save enough in three to five years."

"Three to five years?"

He Shuo immediately started doing the math. "The average salary for Quasi-Martial Warriors at the Four Great Martial Halls is around 4,500. We could save at least 3,000 every month. That's 3,000 a month, 36,000 a year, and 180,000 in five years. 180,000... and that can only buy one home?"

Chen Yuan said, "What did you expect? Housing in the New City District starts at 100,000, and that is for the worst possible kind. If you do not become a Quasi-Martial Warrior, people from the Slum District have no hope of moving in."

"Then how did all the people in the New City District get to live there?" He Shuo did not understand.

Nansha Base City had a total population of 140 million.

The twenty-eight Slum Districts varied in size. District 7 Slums was the smallest, with a population of around 900,000, while the largest, District 16 Slums, was said to have more than five million people.

Together, those twenty-eight districts had a population of roughly sixty million.

In other words, the New City District and the Rich Area combined had around eighty million people.

So many people clearly could not all be Quasi-Martial Warriors and relatives of Martial Warriors.

Qin Heng said, "I know a little about that. Our cultural studies teacher mentioned it before. Although many people in the New City District have homes, they do not own the property rights. Their homes were allocated when the New City District was first established thirty years ago. At the time, more than twelve million workers helped out for no pay and even brought their own meals. In three years, they built a city covering 38,000 square kilometers. It was nothing short of a miracle."

Yang Huai'an nodded. "That is right. They earned their good homes through a great deal of hard work. Then there are the city defense soldiers and employees of major factories. They contribute to the Base City on the front lines, so the government provides them with housing for free."

The young people felt somewhat resentful.

"I can understand the Border Soldiers, but regular laborers... those homes cost over a hundred thousand. They could get one after working three years? That is way too good a deal!"

"Sigh, it is a pity my parents were too young back then. They missed the opportunity."

"We were not born into good families."

"Hey, you cannot put it that way. Every generation has its own hardships. We should be grateful that our parents managed to raise us."

"Exactly. You all still have parents. I was raised by my eldest sister."

"..."

As they chatted idly, their topics kept shifting with the sights along the way.

The tension of the assessment seemed to fade considerably.

Qin Heng looked out the window at the hundred-meter-high buildings. They stood packed close together, and the buildings crammed into the inner rings did not seem to get much better light than those in the Slum District. A thought gradually surfaced in his mind.

Living in the New City District does not seem much better than living in the Slum District. If I get the chance, I want to become a top-tier Martial Warrior, earn millions or tens of millions, and buy a mansion in the Rich Area!

But as the vehicle continued onward, he gradually realized that some of the homes in the New City District were still quite good.

Besides the clustered resettlement towers, there were much roomier residential complexes, with greater distances between buildings, landscaped gardens within the compounds, and floor heights reaching three meters.

There were also even more upscale low-rise districts. Each building had only five or six stories, with parks, rivers, lakes, and all kinds of facilities nearby. They were far more pleasant than those dozens-of-stories-high towers.

Half an hour later, the vehicle arrived at a vast plaza.

"We are here. Get off," Yang Huai'an said as he rose to his feet.

"So this is Martial God Plaza." Qin Heng looked out.

Every Base City had a "Martial God Plaza."

It had been built to commemorate the first Martial God, Jie. The entire plaza was square, with sides 1,800 meters long. A statue of the Goddess of War stood in the center, surrounded by eight smaller Martial God statues that represented the nine strongest Martial Gods in the world.

"It is huge! This place is absolutely incredible!"

The nine trainees visiting Martial God Plaza for the first time all found it fresh and exciting.

At that moment, countless vehicles were parked around the outer perimeter of Martial God Plaza, both military and civilian.

Rows upon rows of armed police officers and soldiers stood guard around the outside with loaded weapons.

Near the Martial God statues, countless trainees preparing to take the assessment had gathered. At a glance, they formed a dense sea of people, like ants.

"Coach, are all the trainees taking the assessment across the entire Base City here?" Chen Yuan asked.

Yang Huai'an said, "Mm. My teacher gave me the numbers last night. This year, 57,000 people registered. It is the largest class in Nansha Base City's history."

"Wow, that many?" Qin Heng and the others were all stunned.

Su Kuang said, "There are only twenty-six of us from District 7 Slums, yet there are 57,000 in total. Where did everyone else come from?"

Zhou Yan, who was taking the assessment again, explained, "You do not know this, then. Children in the New City District have better living conditions and more time to train. Their meals are better too, with sufficient nutrition and stronger physical development. Naturally, the proportion of people who meet or nearly meet the standards is much higher than in our Slum Districts."

Everyone fell silent.

Qin Heng could not help feeling fortunate.

If Fang Lingxue had not helped support his family, he would probably have been like the other children from the Slum District, busy making money with little time left for training.

At that moment, Zhou Yan added, "But Quasi-Martial Warriors like us, who train by stealing moments from our busy lives, generally have greater potential. The Four Great Martial Halls are more than happy to take us in. Last year, there was someone named Han Liang from District 1 Slums. In his First Assessment, he punched out a score of 800 kilograms. Every person in charge at the Four Great Martial Halls was alerted, and they nearly came to blows trying to recruit him. In the end, Heavenly Dao Martial Hall had deeper pockets and took him away with the sky-high offer of a monthly salary of 20,000."

The others were utterly shaken by this.

"20,000 a month!"

"My god, would that not be enough to buy a home in the New City District in a single year?"

"One kilogram of brown rice costs one yuan. His monthly salary could buy twenty tons of rice?"

Such a high salary was enough to move anyone.

Then everyone thought of Qin Heng!

Chen Yuan looked at Qin Heng. "Qin Heng, you are taking the First Assessment too, and your punching strength is close to 800 kilograms... Do you think you might get 20,000 a month too?"

Qin Heng blinked. "I do not know."

The assessment had not even begun yet, so he had no idea what kind of treatment he would receive.

Besides, after training all night, he felt certain he was stronger than yesterday. Exceeding 800 kilograms was already as sure as a nail driven into a board!

"All right, all right, quiet down. Follow me over there and gather up." Coach Yang clapped his hands, signaling for everyone to stop discussing it.

The assessment would begin in half an hour, and they needed to enter first.

There were relatively few trainees from the Slum Districts. People from all twenty-eight districts stood in the area east of the Martial God statues, and even combined, they numbered less than a tenth of those from the New City District.

Qin Heng and the others followed Yang Huai'an to secure their spot and waited for the examiners to arrive.

With nothing else to do, he studied the statues not far away.

The Martial God statues were extremely tall. The eight Martial Gods were each around forty-five meters high.

The statue of the Goddess of War, however, stood a full 120 meters tall. One glance was enough to make people feel immense pressure.

From the side, Qin Heng saw that the Goddess of War was tall and slender. She wore a lightweight Combat Suit and held a cold-weapon spear, its tip angled upward as she stared into the distant sky. Her high ponytail flew behind her, as though she were battling some powerful enemy.

The stone statue had no color, making it impossible to tell the color of her clothing or skin.

Qin Heng had seen photographs of the Goddess of War in his textbooks. She had been posed the same way in those photos, dressed all in black, her gaze sharp and murderous, cool and valiant. For a time, she had become every student's idol.

After a while, a commotion rose in the distance.

"Look, the people in charge from the Four Great Martial Halls are here!" someone beside them said.

Qin Heng looked in that direction.

Four Dragonfly Helicopters flew in side by side from the sky, each painted a different color to represent one of the Four Great Martial Halls.

The helicopters slowly descended.

Two figures emerged from each helicopter.

From Heavenly Dao Martial Hall came a Bearded Middle-Aged Man and a young man.

From Dragon God Martial Hall came a Middle-Aged Woman and an old man.

From Hero Martial Hall came two robust middle-aged men with remarkably similar appearances and attire.

From War God Martial Hall came a White-Haired Old Man and a boy.

That boy... was Wang Peng.