Trigger Happy

The sealed passage beside the turnstile slid open.

A group of medical personnel pushed stretchers and quickly entered the area, efficiently beginning to attend to the Tengxiang students scattered across the ground.

Groans, the cracking sound of bones being reset, and the rolling of stretcher wheels mingled together.

The three Tengxiang "survivors" who had shrunk back and hadn't dared to act exchanged glances. They immediately crowded over, clumsily pretending to help carry people, and slipped away with the stretchers amidst the chaos.

They wanted to pass the assessment, but they genuinely lacked the courage to face Li Wei again.

As for Li Wei...

She stood alone in the center of the field, surrounded by the mess left from the recent fight.

She raised her eyes and scanned the area. The crowd surrounding her from a distance was a dense, dark mass.

A rough count showed at least two hundred people.

There were men and women, old and young. Judging by their attire and demeanor, the vast majority were social martial artists, but there were also individuals who looked like students from a martial arts university.

And she didn't believe there weren't any Third-Order cultivators among them...

After all, this was the waiting area for the assessment of lower-tier martial artists.

An invisible pressure squeezed in from all directions, and the air seemed to thicken.

As for retreating?

She never considered it. The atmosphere had built up to this point. If she didn't have a good fight, would she even be a transmigrator?

Regarding her chances...

Li Wei glanced at her status panel, quickly assessing her condition.

[Vitality (Special Effect: Purify): 291/500.3]

She had just fought the Tengxiang group. While the victory was easy, using Finger Sword against opponents and channeling Vitality into pressure points consumed much more energy than using a proper sword.

In just this short while, her Vitality had dropped by nearly half.

Looking at her reserves...

[Abyss Essence: 211]

One point of Essence replenished 100 Vitality. Theoretically, she had over twenty thousand Vitality reserves, enough to last a long time.

But Li Wei felt that using Essence as a Mana Potion was a complete waste, like burning hundred-dollar bills to cook.

This stuff was a treasure for allocating stat points!

Thinking of this, she looked up at Huang Lei.

"Commander Huang," her voice instantly carried across the entire venue, "if they beat me, they pass the assessment. So what if I beat them?"

Her words immediately caused a stir in the crowd.

Yes, she had been fierce fighting those Tengxiang students earlier, and her movement techniques and attacks were quite bizarre.

But what was the current situation?

Over two hundred martial artists! And among them were several genuine Third-Order cultivators!

Let alone a young girl like her who was at most Second-Order, even a Fourth-Order Essence Refining Realm expert would lose a significant amount of health, if not be stripped bare, when caught in such a siege.

And she was still thinking of fighting back?

A few impatient individuals' lips moved, wanting to mock her, but upon glancing at the influential figure by the entrance, they forcefully held back their words.

Huang Lei's smile widened upon hearing Li Wei's words.

His voice remained loud, ensuring everyone could hear:

"If you win, passing the assessment is a given, and the penalty for private fighting can also be waived."

"Within my authority, the highest-tier genius treatment the Imperial Capital Branch can offer, with priority resource allocation, will all be arranged for you."

He paused, then emphasized his words.

"Furthermore! I will personally write a report and submit it to the Alliance headquarters, recommending you for entry into this year's Genius Training Camp!"

Boom—!

His words were like pouring cold water onto boiling oil; the crowd erupted completely!

"What the heck? Genius Training Camp?!"

"Did I hear that right? Commander Huang is talking about that Genius Training Camp?"

"Priority resource allocation! And cutting in line for the training camp? Weren't the spots decided at the beginning of the year? I heard it already started!"

"Why should she get this treatment?" someone asked indignantly.

Someone next to him immediately retorted, "Because she's capable, what, you're not convinced?"

"Tch, that's only if she actually wins!"

"Right! We can't let her step on us to get ahead! Brothers, let's go all out!"

The social martial artists reacted this way, and the few martial arts university students in the crowd had their eyes practically red.

The Genius Training Camp!

The Martial Arts Alliance selects one hundred top students from across the country each year. Masters personally guide them, and all sorts of resources are provided in abundance!

You have to understand, there are over two hundred martial arts universities nationwide. That means each school gets less than one spot on average, and that's before you even account for the big three that get multiple spots per school...

Not to mention, Shen Yaochi is one of the instructors for this year's training camp!

The students instantly felt united by a common enemy, their minds made up. They were determined to take down Li Wei, even if it meant risking everything! They absolutely couldn't let her use them as a stepping stone!

Li Wei's face darkened as she looked at the agitated crowd and then glanced at Huang Lei, who was smiling by the entrance.

That old fox! Playing dirty, huh? The way he's stirring up trouble...

Resources? Genius Training Camp? You might as well tie a bunch of Sixth-Tier Abyssal Monsters to me and tell me to kill them; that would be more practical.

However, hmm... speaking of resources, they'd be good for that kid Li Cheng.

Wait, if I do that... will that Gu Jinzhi guy misunderstand and think I'm a "sister who spoils her brother"?

The thought of Gu Jinzhi sent a shiver down her spine. Damn it, why am I thinking about him? We're not actually related! Ugh, what bad luck!

As if to vent her frustration, Li Wei huffed, "Fine, I accept. Bring it on!"

At the same time, she secretly decided to use no more than 11 points of Abyss Essence, which would restore 1100 Vitality.

If she really couldn't handle it, she'd just admit defeat. She wasn't particularly attached to any resources or training camps anyway.

As soon as she spoke, the surrounding crowd became restless.

Several experienced, street-smart Martial Artists began to apply psychological pressure.

"Little girl, you were quite impressive just now, but you must have used up a lot of Vitality, right? How much longer can you last?"

"Heh, we're not like those students. We don't hold back. What if we accidentally hurt that pretty little face of yours? That would be a shame, wouldn't it?"

"Listen to me, kid. Just surrender yourself to avoid suffering."

Mixed within these taunts was a steady male voice, quietly issuing commands:

"Third-Order fighters, step forward and hold the line! Everyone else, stay on the periphery! Don't clash with her head-on; just wear down her Vitality first!"

Li Wei ignored them all.

Fighting those people who were messing with Tengxiang had been somewhat playful.

Now, facing these two hundred-plus individuals, the fighting spirit within her was fully ignited.

She casually tossed the small stiletto heel she was holding in her left hand towards Huang Lei.

"Commander Huang, do me a favor, thanks!"

Whoosh—!

The delicate white shoe traced a parabolic arc through the air.

Huang Lei stood still and caught it with a simple flick of his hand, catching it steadily.

Behind him, a subordinate in a suit quickly stepped forward, wanting to take it.

But Huang Lei waved him off. "No need."

And so, this Commander of the Imperial Capital Branch, an official of the Alliance, and a genuine Master, stood there with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a pair of women's pointed-toe, square-buckle stiletto heels, looking completely at ease.

It was as if he wasn't holding anything strange, but rather a divine weapon.

His subordinates behind him could only watch, their eyelids twitching.

The Commander... and the young lady inside...

One dared to give, and the other dared to receive.

Their thought processes seemed a bit unusual.

In the center of the field, as Li Wei threw her shoe, four people emerged from the crowd one after another.

The first person to step forward was the short, stout middle-aged man who had been issuing commands earlier.

His aura was steady and profound, and his footsteps landed silently.

From other directions, more people gradually came forward.

An elder with white hair but bulging muscles, standing nearly 1.9 meters tall.

A middle-aged woman who looked extremely ordinary, with a flat nose, small eyes, and a height of less than 1.6 meters.

The last was a young man, dressed in casual sportswear, but with an exceptionally sharp demeanor, like a towering spear.

Four Third-Order Viscera Realm Martial Artists subtly surrounded Li Wei.

On the periphery, over two hundred First and Second-Order Martial Artists watched with eager eyes, ready to move.

The air seemed to freeze; a great battle was about to erupt!