The sealed passage beside the turnstiles slid open.
A group of medical workers hurried in with stretchers, deftly beginning to gather the Tengxiang students scattered all over the ground.
Groans, the crisp sounds of bones being reset, and the rumble of stretcher wheels mingled together.
The three Tengxiang "survivors" who had cowered in the back and dared not fight exchanged glances. They immediately crowded over, pretending to help carry people, and slipped away with the stretchers amid the chaos.
They had wanted to pass the assessment, but they truly lacked the courage to face Li Wei again.
As for Li Wei...
She stood alone in the center of the arena, surrounded by the wreckage left behind by the earlier fight.
She raised her eyes and swept her gaze around. A dense mass of people encircled her in the distance.
A rough count put their numbers at no fewer than two hundred.
There were men and women among them, old and young. Judging from their dress and bearing, the overwhelming majority were martial artists from society, though there were also people who looked like students from martial universities.
And she refused to believe there weren't any Third Order fighters among them...
After all, this was the assessment waiting area for Lower Third Order martial artists.
An invisible pressure squeezed in from all directions, and the air seemed to grow viscous.
As for retreating?
She had never considered it. With the atmosphere already stoked to this point, if she didn't have a proper, glorious brawl, could she still call herself a transmigrator?
As for her odds...
Li Wei glanced at the panel and quickly took stock of her condition.
Qi-blood (special effect: Purification): 291/500.3
She had won easily enough when fighting the Tengxiang crowd just now, but fighting with Finger Sword and striking their acupoints with qi-blood consumed far more than using a proper sword.
In just this short while, her qi-blood had already dropped by almost half.
Then there was her stockpile... Abyss Essence: 211
One point of essence replenished one hundred qi-blood. In theory, she had more than twenty thousand qi-blood in reserve, enough to keep her going for a long time.
But Li Wei always felt that using essence as Mana Potions was a terrible waste, no different from burning hundred-yuan bills to cook a meal.
This stuff was a treasure meant for Stat Points!
At that thought, she raised her head and looked toward Huang Lei.
"Commander Huang," her voice instantly carried across the entire arena. "If they defeat me, that counts as passing the assessment. But what if I defeat them?"
The moment she said this, the crowd stirred.
Yes, she had been fierce when she knocked down those Tengxiang students just now, and her movement technique and attacks had been rather strange.
But what was the situation now?
More than two hundred martial artists! And several of them were genuine Third Order fighters!
Forget a young girl like her who was at most Second Order—even a Fourth Order Essence Refining Realm expert would have to shed a layer of skin if caught in such an encirclement without running.
She actually wanted to counterkill them?
Several hot-tempered people moved their lips, wanting to mock her, but when they caught sight of the big shot at the entrance, they forcibly swallowed their words.
After hearing Li Wei's words, the smile on Huang Lei's face grew even broader.
His voice remained booming, ensuring everyone could hear him.
"If you win, passing the assessment goes without saying, and the punishment for private fighting can be waived as well."
"Within the scope of my authority, the highest-grade genius treatment the Imperial Capital Branch can provide, priority allocation of resources—I'll arrange all of it for you."
After a pause, he emphasized his next words.
"Furthermore! I'll personally write a report to the Alliance headquarters and recommend you for this year's Genius Training Camp!"
Boom—!
Those words were like a ladle of cold water splashed onto boiling oil. The crowd exploded!
"What? The Genius Training Camp?!"
"I didn't hear wrong, did I? Commander Huang said the Genius Training Camp?"
"Priority resources! And she can cut in line to enter the Training Camp? Weren't the spots decided at the beginning of the year? I heard the camp had already started!"
"Why does she get this treatment?" someone demanded indignantly.
Someone beside him immediately shot back, "Because she's capable. What, are you unhappy?"
"Humph, she'll have to actually win before we talk!"
"Right! We can't let her step on us to rise! Brothers, let's go all out!"
The social martial artists reacted like this, but the few martial university students in the crowd had eyes that were practically red.
The Genius Training Camp!
Every year, the Martial Arts Alliance selected one hundred outstanding students from across the country. Grandmasters personally instructed them, and they had all the resources they could possibly need!
There were more than two hundred martial universities nationwide. On average, each school had fewer than one spot—and that was before excluding the top three universities, which had multiple spots each...
Not to mention, Shen Yaochi was among this year's camp instructors!
The students instantly united against a common enemy. They made up their minds that, even if they had to stake everything, they would crush Li Wei right here! They absolutely couldn't let her use them as stepping stones!
Watching the crowd whip itself into a frenzy, Li Wei glanced at the smiling Huang Lei by the entrance, and her face darkened slightly.
You old fox! So you're playing dirty? Look at how you've piled on the hate...
Priority resources? The Genius Training Camp? You might as well tie up a string of Sixth-Tier Abyssal Monsters and kill them for me. That would be more practical.
Still, hmm... As for the resources, they would be pretty good for that kid Li Cheng.
Wait, if she really did that... would that Gu kid misunderstand and think she was a "bro-con"?
At the thought of Gu Jinzhi, she shuddered violently. Damn it, why was I thinking about him? I'm not actually involved with him! Fuck, what rotten luck!
As if venting her anger, Li Wei said indignantly, "Fine, I accept. Come at me!"
At the same time, she secretly made up her mind: she would use at most eleven points of Abyss Essence to replenish 1,100 qi-blood.
If she truly couldn't hold out, she would admit defeat. In any case, she wasn't all that desperate for resources or the Training Camp.
The instant she finished speaking, the encircling crowd began to stir.
Several seasoned social martial artists began applying pressure with their words.
"Little girl, you were quite impressive just now, but you must've burned through a lot of qi-blood, right? How much longer can you last?"
"Heh, we're not those student brats. We don't know how to hold back. Wouldn't it be a shame if we damaged that pretty little face of yours?"
"Take your big brother's advice and admit defeat yourself. Save yourself the suffering."
Mixed in with these voices was a steady male voice quietly issuing commands.
"Third Order fighters, move up and hold the line! Everyone else, circle around the outside! Don't clash with her head-on. Wear down her qi-blood first!"
Li Wei turned a deaf ear to them.
Her fight with the Tengxiang crowd had been partly for fun.
Now, facing more than two hundred people, the battle intent in her chest had been completely ignited.
She casually tossed the small stiletto she was holding in her left hand toward Huang Lei.
"Commander Huang, do me a favor. Thanks!"
Whoosh—!
The delicate white stiletto traced an arc through the air.
Huang Lei didn't move from his spot. He simply reached out and caught it securely.
A subordinate in a suit behind him hurried forward, wanting to take over.
Huang Lei waved him off. "No need."
And so, this Imperial Capital garrison commander, Alliance councilor, and genuine Grandmaster-level big shot stood there utterly composed, one hand in his pocket and the other carrying a woman's pointed square-buckle stiletto.
It was as though he were holding not some bizarre object, but a divine weapon.
The subordinates behind him watched, the corners of their eyes twitching.
The garrison commander... and that girl inside...
One of them was bold enough to give it, and the other bold enough to accept it.
Their thought processes seemed a little different from ordinary people's.
In the arena.
At the same time Li Wei threw away her shoe, four people stepped out from the crowd one after another.
The first was none other than the short, burly middle-aged man who had issued the commands earlier.
His aura was steady and weighty, and his feet landed without a sound.
People also advanced from the other directions.
One was an old man with grizzled hair, knotted muscles, and a height approaching one meter ninety.
One was a middle-aged woman with an exceedingly ordinary appearance, a flat nose, small eyes, and a height of less than one meter sixty.
The last was a young man dressed in a casual athletic outfit. His bearing, however, was exceptionally fierce, like a towering spear.
Four Viscera Realm Third Order martial artists vaguely surrounded Li Wei at the center.
On the outside, more than two hundred First and Second Order martial artists stared with burning eyes, itching to act.
The air seemed to solidify. A great battle was about to erupt!
Before you continue