Assessment One (Seeking Recommendations)

Previously, his Punching Power record had always ranked second.

As for first place—

He had heard it was left behind by the strongest person from one of the previous batches.

That terrifying figure of 412 kg.

It had always been the goal he chased.

"One day, I'll surpass that number."

Sims muttered to himself.

Then, he turned his gaze to the screen.

First place was still 412 kg, unchanged. Just as expected.

Next, he looked at second place, where his own score had once been ranked.

Yet when he saw it clearly, his expression stiffened slightly.

A flash of shock flickered through his pupils!

"This is...!"

Hu Qi knew nothing of what happened afterward.

He took out his phone and searched for Qirong City's news of the day.

After briefly scanning through it, he lowered his gaze.

Four days had passed since Lu Shi and the other man had been killed.

So far, everything had developed according to his expectations.

That Zhao Shi, whose whereabouts were unknown, had taken the blame for him, and the bounty on him had risen once more.

For now, everything was under control.

Hu Qi went outside and entered a training room.

It was lunchtime, and most of the trainees inside had left.

With a sweep of his gaze, Hu Qi locked onto a thin figure resting on the floor, wearing black-framed glasses.

It was Li Yi.

After several days of consideration, he had ultimately chosen to join Red Scale Fighting Club.

Hu Leimei and Li Zhenguo both supported this decision.

After all, Li Yi stayed in the shop all day playing games. He would not even go learn how to drive when told to.

He might as well learn fighting. At least it would help him exercise.

Besides, in their eyes, having Hu Qi at the club meant someone could look after him.

As for Li Yi's tuition, Hu Qi had helped pay it.

Hu Leimei had refused for quite a while over this. Hu Qi pretended to get angry and asked whether she did not see him as family. Only then did she agree.

After that, Li Zhenguo found Hu Qi more pleasing the more he looked at him, warmly insisting that Hu Qi come over for meals whenever he had time.

The other man had treated the original owner well before, but he had never been this enthusiastic.

Such was the way people got along.

Even family was no exception.

Hu Qi took the opportunity to ask him to keep an eye out for traces of Exotic Beasts and notify him if he heard anything.

After all, the man had run his shop for over a decade and knew many of the stall owners at the market. Perhaps one of them might acquire an Exotic Beast.

At that moment, Li Yi spotted Hu Qi as well. He got up and jogged over.

"Brother Qi, you're here!"

"How does it feel?" Hu Qi briefly looked him over and asked with a smile.

"Holy shit, it's awesome! You have no idea—our coach just punched a sandbag and blew it apart!"

As Li Yi spoke, his face flushed red with excitement.

"This stuff is too cool. I've decided to quit gaming.

Why didn't I discover this earlier? If I'd started training as a kid, would I be as strong as you are now, Brother Qi?"

He wore a heartbroken expression, as though he had suffered a tremendous loss.

"Even if you'd known earlier, it would have been useless. You've only just become an adult. Real Combat Technique can only be practiced by adults, otherwise it can cause irreversible harm to your body.

What children practice are just performance routines. They look good.

They have no actual combat ability at all."

Hu Qi shook his head.

"I see. I thought starting young would be better." Li Yi scratched his head.

"You've read too many novels!"

Hu Qi reached out and patted his shoulder.

"Come on, it's getting late. Let's go eat. Your treat!"

"Why me?"

"Because I paid your tuition. Shouldn't you treat me to a meal?"

Several days later, inside Red Scale Fighting Club.

The usual shouts and figures practicing Combat Technique had all vanished.

At this moment, over a hundred trainees from several classes had gathered in one training room.

Everything unnecessary had been cleared out, and the hundred-odd people stood inside in neat rows.

No one said much. All of them stared intently toward the front.

Several figures stood there.

Chen Wu was among them, with several coaches from the other classes beside him.

However, none of those coaches spoke. They simply stood obediently behind him.

Yet they all had one thing in common: whenever their eyes drifted, intentionally or otherwise, toward the figure at the very front, respectful expressions appeared on their faces.

He was a young man wearing a black tank top and black shorts, with a close-cropped haircut.

The young man was not particularly muscular, and his height could only be considered average.

Yet as he stood there, he gave off an indescribable sense of oppression, so much so that people did not even dare meet his eyes.

"I trust your coaches have already given you a brief introduction to the Core Class, so I won't waste time repeating it here.

There are limited spots. If you qualify to join, I will naturally explain the details to you. If you fail to join, knowing more would be useless."

He paused before continuing.

"The assessment is simple. Each class will hold real combat sparring matches. The winners advance, and four people will be selected.

Then the second round will begin, and so on. In the end, the final five remaining will qualify to join the Core Class.

So today, show everything you've learned. Do not try to hide your abilities. That is an extremely foolish thing to do. Believe me, joining the Core Class can change the course of your future!"

The close-cropped young man spoke calmly, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

At his words, a few people showed slightly unnatural expressions, but most wore grave looks.

Five chosen from more than a hundred people—the odds were low.

But in fighting, who knew who was stronger until they truly fought?

Very quickly, with the assistance of several coaches, the hundred people were divided into five teams according to their classes, beginning the process of selecting the strongest four to advance.

The method was simple. Paper balls marked with different numbers were placed in a cardboard box. Those who drew the same number formed a pair and fought.

An even number of participants was preferable. If there was an odd number, whoever drew a blank paper ball would receive a bye and advance directly.

To avoid chance events, such as two people with vastly different levels of strength being matched against each other right from the start, those who lost were given one chance in a revival match.

There were many people, but fighting was something that could take no more than a minute at the slowest, and only a few seconds at the fastest.

What surprised Hu Qi, however, was that perhaps because he had previously beaten Song Jian while holding him down, as well as fought Chen Wu—

Any trainee who encountered Hu Qi basically surrendered on their own initiative, with no desire to fight at all.

Only one person refused to believe it and wanted to fight Hu Qi. Yet before he could even touch him, Hu Qi lightly punched him to the ground, nearly knocking him unconscious.

That was with Hu Qi holding back a great deal of strength.

With his Comprehensive Combat Technique at the perfected level and his terrifying Punching Power of eight hundred jin—

If he truly struck with full force, Hu Qi suspected that a single punch would be enough to kill the other person.