The Examination Ends

Under the night sky, Sett kept killing monsters in Monster Town.

With Pummel boosting him, Sett didn't feel tired at all. Instead, he grew more and more excited. Just then, he spotted five Tiger Mastiffs at the corner of the street ahead.

"Just what I wanted!" Sett roared, charging into the pack of five Tiger Mastiffs like a battering ram.

Pummel! Sett punched one Tiger Mastiff with his left hand, sending it flying several meters. He had no idea whether it was still alive. The other four lunged at him, and he knocked one away with a punch from his right hand.

He followed up with a sweeping kick that sent another flying, but the last two were already right on top of him. Sett barely dodged the bite of one Tiger Mastiff.

The final Tiger Mastiff sank its teeth into Sett's back.

A sharp pain shot through Sett's back. He let out a yell, grabbed the Tiger Mastiff with one big hand, and flung it to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

Pummel! Sett punched one Tiger Mastiff after another, smashing their heads to pieces.

All five Tiger Mastiffs were dead in just two minutes, though Sett had taken bites from them as well.

After cutting off the five Tiger Mastiffs' ears, Sett ducked into a nearby room and used a bandage to staunch the bleeding.

For a Martial Artist, an injury like this would heal quickly. As long as he didn't lose too much blood, it wouldn't be a problem.

After a quick bandage job, Sett rested for an hour to regain his strength.

"Whew, there's nothing like landing a punch and feeling it connect. I think I'm getting a little bloodthirsty." Sett thought about how most Quasi-Martial Artists used blades, while a smaller number used blunt weapons like clubs. Sett was the only one using boxing gloves.

He had originally planned to use brass knuckles, but there weren't any available for the practical examination, so he had to make do with boxing gloves.

After several hours of fighting, Sett was more and more convinced that Pummel was made for him. He'd also discovered that his strength had increased quite a bit. Apparently, all he had to do to get stronger was keep fighting. It felt incredible.

Thirty already, and it was only noon. Six hours left. Keep it up. After resting, Sett stood and stretched. He found he was fine and decided to head out and keep killing monsters.

After all, he had a bet with Wan Dong of the Thunder Dojo. He couldn't hold Luo Feng back.

Meanwhile, Luo Feng was locked in a desperate fight against eight monsters, War Blade in hand.

Surrounded by eight monsters, Luo Feng didn't panic. Instead, he became even calmer. Each time, he dodged their attacks with only a short sidestep. Despite being up against all eight, none of them could touch him.

Clearly, Luo Feng had decided to fight so many monsters to hone his footwork, though he also had his Spirit Reader abilities as a trump card.

At this rate, Luo Feng's footwork was close to reaching the Micro-level.

"That makes four. He's definitely going to become a Martial Artist." Not far away, Yang Wu thought this as he cut off the left ear of a Shadow Cat. "I'll rest a bit, then get back to fighting." Yang Wu found a room to rest in briefly, then headed out to hunt more monsters.

The monsters in Monster Town were the weakest of their kind, making them perfect for Quasi-Martial Artists to practice against. They'd never get another chance this good; the Wilderness Zone would be far more dangerous.

In the blink of an eye, the sky began to grow hazy, and the end of the practical examination drew closer.

Monster Town had grown much quieter. After a night of slaughter, there were far fewer monsters. Many Quasi-Martial Artists had killed what they considered enough and were hiding until the examination ended.

Only those who still needed more monster ears were searching for opportunities.

Of course, Luo Feng, that Madman, was still training hard to improve his footwork.

"Finally!" Luo Feng said with a smile after killing four monsters. He had finally mastered Micro-level footwork. His efforts that night hadn't been in vain.

"Seventy-eight. I'll kill two more and call it a night. I remember Wan Dong had forty or fifty in the original story." Sett thought. It had been so long that he couldn't remember much of the original story, especially with it being such a long novel.

Sett had made obvious progress over the course of the night. His Force Application Technique felt different, and with the same physical strength, he could now generate much more force than before. Even without Pummel, he could kill a Shadow Cat or Tiger Mastiff with a single punch.

"I killed ten monsters over the night, too. I bet the gap between me and Luo Feng and Sett isn't that big." After cutting off a Shadow Cat's ear, the tall, scar-faced man thought this. It was Yang Wu.

Yang Wu glanced at the sky and saw that dawn was near. He decided to call it a day. His strength had improved quite a bit over the course of the night.

Before long, a shrill alarm rang throughout Monster Town, followed by a booming announcement: "The examination is over. All Quasi-Martial Artists, gather at the town entrance immediately."

"It's over. My first one went pretty well." Sett smiled when he heard the announcement. After being tense all night, he finally relaxed.

One by one, the Quasi-Martial Artists emerged from Monster Town. Each was stained with blood, either from monsters or from their own wounds. Some had suffered serious injuries and were helped out by their friends.

The monsters killed by the Quasi-Martial Artists were loaded onto trucks and hauled away.

In a spacious area nearby, numerous bodies had been laid out. Some had been half eaten by monsters. Even the Quasi-Martial Artists found it hard to look at them.

"Anyone who recognizes a body, come forward and claim it," an officer said beside the pile of corpses.

A somber mood settled over the town.

"Fighting monsters! People are bound to die. If you've chosen the path of a Martial Artist, you have to be prepared to die! Human society grants Martial Artists such privileges not so you can enjoy yourselves, but so you can kill monsters.

"The safety of all humanity rests in your hands. Only through your dedication and sacrifice can human society remain safe.

"Even for the sake of your families and friends, I hope you'll stand up for humanity and fight the monsters!

"These practical examinations only involve the weakest monsters. If you can't even get through this, how will you fight monsters in the Wilderness Zone? How will you survive?"

After finishing his speech, the instructor paused, then continued, "All right, I won't say much more. Take your spoils to the front to be counted."

"Sett, are you all right?" Luo Feng saw Sett come out and noticed a bite-shaped hole in the back of his combat suit. He hurriedly asked.

"I'm fine. I got carried away fighting the monsters and took a few flesh wounds," Sett replied, putting Luo Feng at ease.

"Brother Yang, how did you do? How many monsters did you kill?" Sett hurriedly asked Yang Wu, who was standing nearby.

"Heh, I killed ten monsters. Your Brother Yang's pretty good, right?" Yang Wu said with a raised eyebrow.

Soon it was the three of them's turn. Yang Wu took ten ears out of his backpack, making the Quasi-Martial Artists nearby gasp. Killing ten monsters was impressive.

"Yang Wu, ten monsters. Not bad. Next," the examination official said with a smile at Yang Wu's results.

Next up was Sett. He took off the backpack from his back and opened it. A huge number of monster ears spilled out, filling the container to the brim.

"Wait, there's one more in here." Sett grinned as he pulled an ear caught in his backpack free.

"Who's that? How'd he kill so many monsters?"

"That's Sett. See the guy next to him? That's Luo Feng. They were both recruited early by the Extreme Martial Arts Hall."

"So that's what early recruitment gets you. We risked our lives to kill two or three, and he went and killed dozens."

After counting for a long while, the examination official sighed. "Eighty-two. You're something else, Sett. You got hurt, but that's still an incredible result." The instructor was a Martial Artist himself. During his own practical examination, he had only killed a few monsters. He could hardly believe that this Quasi-Martial Artist had killed so many.

"Damn, Sett, I had no idea you were this strong. I thought killing ten meant I wasn't far behind you guys, but reality just punched me in the face." Yang Wu punched Sett and exclaimed in surprise.

Then Luo Feng dumped a pile of monster ears from his backpack. They counted sixty-eight. It was a little less than Sett's, but still impressive. "Wan Dong, sixty-six. Not bad."

Sett and Luo Feng saw that Wan Dong had killed only sixty-eight monsters. They exchanged a glance and smiled.

Looks like that money's as good as ours.

The contract's been sent in. Welcome to invest.