Onward

In the early hours of August 1, before dawn, Yang Wu hurried eagerly to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

There were only a few scattered students training in the hall. Yang Wu went up to the fourth floor, but there wasn't a soul there.

He entered the weapons room. A vast assortment of weapons had been laid out in the cabinets.

Knives, spears, staves, clubs, axes, halberds, hooks, forks... every kind of weapon imaginable.

"Pojun Spear!"

Yang Wu had always used spears from the Pojun series, so he chose one again.

He opened a cabinet and found quite a few spears of the same type inside.

Whoosh!

Yang Wu took out the spear he had chosen after his last breakthrough and hefted it in his hands. It felt a little too light.

"I'll choose another one!" After trying several, Yang Wu still hadn't found a spear that suited him.

Yang Wu's physical strength had already reached the elementary War General level. In all of Yangzhou City, only three Extreme Martial Arts Hall fighters had reached the War General level, and all of them were at the Limits Pavilion in Mingyue Residential Quarter. This was only a branch in Yi'an District. The strongest person here was Instructor Jiang Nian, an Advanced Warrior Level fighter, so naturally, the hall didn't have training weapons for fighters at the War General level.

With no other choice, Yang Wu picked the heaviest spear in the Pojun series. Its weight, 159 kilograms, was marked on the shaft.

After choosing his weapon, Yang Wu began practicing his spear techniques in the Martial Arts Training Hall.

"Thrust."

Yang Wu loosely held the spear with his left hand and gripped the butt with his right, then suddenly exerted force.

His right wrist twisted!

The spear seemed to come alive, spinning as it suddenly shot forward!

That twist was an extremely subtle technique. It could both confuse an enemy and increase the spear's penetrating power.

Yang Wu had never been able to perform this technique before. If he'd forced himself to try, he might even have injured himself. But now, he executed it with ease.

"Thrust, thrust, thrust..."

"Sweep, sweep, sweep..."

Yang Wu exerted himself again and again, practicing the spear techniques and Movement Techniques he had comprehended in the simulation.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Yang Wu's Communication Watch suddenly rang.

"A-Feng." He stopped moving and answered the call.

"Brother Yang," Luo Feng's voice came through the Communication Watch. "When are you coming? I'm waiting for you in the lobby."

"I'll be right there!" Yang Wu put the Pojun Spear back in its place and replied.

The Martial Artist Combat Assessment would take place outside the Base City, so the Quasi-Martial Artists in Yangzhou City who planned to take it had to gather at the Limits Pavilion beforehand.

After hanging up, Yang Wu hurried to Mingyue Residential Quarter.

Before long, Yang Wu arrived outside the first-floor lobby of the Limits Pavilion. More than twenty Quasi-Martial Artists had already gathered inside.

"Brother Yang, over here!" Luo Feng called out loudly.

The news that the Martial Arts Hall had recruited Luo Feng ahead of time had already spread through the Quasi-Martial Artist community. At his call, everyone in the lobby turned to look at the two of them.

Yang Wu quickly walked over to Luo Feng and smiled. "A-Feng, you're quite the center of attention!"

Luo Feng smiled and teased him. "What, Brother Yang, are you jealous?"

"Jealous of you?" Yang Wu shook his head slightly and laughed. "Just wait for the combat assessment. I'll show you how I tear through the competition!"

Having mastered spear techniques at the proficient level, Yang Wu had already decided to make a name for himself in the combat assessment.

Luo Feng smiled but didn't take his words to heart.

Although his strength had already surpassed Yang Wu's by quite a bit, and he had even awakened Spiritual Force, he would never forget how Yang Wu had helped him back then.

Not long after, all thirty-plus Quasi-Martial Artists taking the combat assessment from Yangzhou City had gathered. They then followed a fighter from the Limits Pavilion to the train station.

"Ka-chunk—ka-chunk—"

The sound of wheels scraping against the tracks grew closer as an extremely long metal train slowly came to a stop.

Yang Wu and the others had been waiting at the station. Led by the official fighter, they all boarded the train.

Many Quasi-Martial Artists were already aboard. They had gathered in groups of two or three, chatting with one another and filling the train with lively conversation.

Yang Wu and Luo Feng found a quiet place to sit, but people kept coming over to talk to Luo Feng.

The two of them were getting rather fed up. Fortunately, after the last group of Quasi-Martial Artists boarded, the large screen in the middle of the carriage suddenly lit up.

Representatives from the various factions took turns giving speeches, trying to recruit the Quasi-Martial Artists who were about to become official fighters.

The regional director of the HR Alliance, the head of the Jiangnan Base City Security Bureau, and the two directors of Thunder Dojo and Extreme Martial Arts Hall—all powerful figures who held sway over their respective domains—appeared on screen.

After the four representatives finished their pitches, the Quasi-Martial Artists in the carriage began discussing them animatedly.

"Hey, which faction are you planning to join after you become a fighter? I think the military is a good choice. Here in China, the military is the strongest!"

"Of course I'm joining the HR Alliance. You can make more money, and it's easy to get by anywhere in the world."

The Quasi-Martial Artists chatted among themselves, all of them excited.

"Brother Yang!" Luo Feng asked him, "Which side are you planning to join? Why not join the Extreme Martial Arts Hall with me?"

Luo Feng had already signed a contract with the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, so naturally he hoped Yang Wu would join it too.

"Me?" Yang Wu smiled. "I'll have to see. Whichever side offers better benefits is the one I'll join."

A moment later.

"All Quasi-Martial Artists, the train is about to arrive. Please take your belongings and prepare to disembark!" The conductor's voice came through the speakers in the carriage. The train gradually slowed, then came to a stop.

Clatter—

All the carriage doors opened. The vast crowd of Quasi-Martial Artists filed out of the train and entered a large military camp.

"Look outside the camp!" a fighter called out excitedly.

Everyone turned to look. Beyond the camp's security perimeter, some monsters roamed about, but they didn't dare cross the line.

There were many dead monsters inside the perimeter.

"Everyone!"

A loud voice rang out over the speakers, reaching every Quasi-Martial Artist. "Welcome to the North Military Region of Jiangnan Base City. The combat assessment for all 1,680 of you will be held here in our North Military Region. I hope most of you pass, and I hope every one of you makes it through this assessment alive!"

As soon as the speech ended, the lively atmosphere among the Quasi-Martial Artists grew tense.

"I've worked hard for so many years, and I'm only one last step away from becoming a fighter. How can I give up now?"

"Brother Liu, this assessment is dangerous. How about we team up?"

The more than one thousand Quasi-Martial Artists who felt they weren't strong enough began looking for partners.