Gasping in Shock

March 24, morning. A training hall on the second floor of the Nine-Story Tower.

Su You glanced at the instructor before him and the several senior fellow students beside him, and couldn't help sighing inwardly. Why hadn't I practiced saber techniques back then?

Yesterday, the Training Camp had assigned him an instructor who also practiced the Dripping Water Sword. His name was Zhai Mo, a High-level War God with swordsmanship at the Artistic Conception Level.

At first, Su You had been quite happy. But when he saw Instructor Jiang Fang from the Training Camp that morning, his mood immediately soured.

Tall and shapely, with a full bust and slender waist, ...and shoulders wider than his... Su You had instantly considered switching instructors. Unfortunately, he practiced swordsmanship, so changing instructors didn't seem like it would help. In the end, he had to give up the idea.

Over the next few days, since he wouldn't officially start competing for rankings until April, Su You continued practicing swordsmanship under Instructor Zhai Mo.

On March 29, Zhang Yue passed the Grade A Trial and entered the Elite Training Camp. She moved into the last building in Kyoto Pavilion. That evening, the Huaxia Country students held another welcoming banquet to celebrate Zhang Yue's arrival.

In the blink of an eye, it was April 1. Since his ranking of 181 last month was an odd number, this month he would be sent to City 1001 to hunt monsters on the odd-numbered days.

City 1001 was clearly more dangerous than City 1002. But as long as Su You didn't run into a Lord-level Monster, he had nothing to worry about.

During the tests at the end of March, his strength had already reached around kilograms, bringing him close to the threshold for an Intermediate Beast General. His speed had reached Intermediate Beast General standards earlier in the month. With his force amplification, swordsmanship, and footwork, he could even kill High-level Beast General monsters.

A little after nine that evening, a vehicle reserved for the Training Camp pulled up at the entrance. The students who had hunted monsters in the Wilderness Zone that day got out one by one and walked into the Training Camp.

The first thing every student did upon entering the Training Camp was look up at the rankings on the Black Dragon Sculpture. Su You was no exception.

"NO. 55 Su You ()"

"He made it to 55 on his first day. This Su You is really strong!"

"Of course. He was specially recruited by the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. Making it to 55 on his first day is only natural."

"I wonder if he'll have a chance of making the top hundred by the end of the month?"

Listening to the students discussing things beneath the Black Dragon Sculpture, Su You frowned. He wasn't very satisfied with the result.

After all, this was his first day out hunting monsters. That meant the even-numbered students still had zero points. Once they returned tomorrow, his ranking would probably fall out of the top hundred.

I was specially recruited, at least. It'd be embarrassing to drop out of the top hundred. Su You thought to himself. Well, I'm a new student, so I can take the Trial Tower level assessment once this month. I'll go tomorrow at noon.

Every new student had the privilege of taking the Trial Tower level assessment during their first month. There was no time limit, either. As long as they didn't die, they could keep climbing.

The time allowance for the Trial Tower was different. For example, in April Su You could only use the Trial Room for one hour. He could retry as many times as he wanted during that time, but once the hour was up, he would be kicked out of the virtual space.

At eleven fifty the next day, Su You left Kyoto Pavilion and headed to the hall on the ninth floor of the Nine-Story Tower. Five Huaxia Country students had just finished using the Trial Room and Gravity Chamber and were preparing to leave when they ran into Su You, who was about to go in.

"Su You, what brings you here at noon?" asked a lean, sharp-eyed young man. It was Li Zhong, who lived with Su You and the others in Kyoto Pavilion.

"I'm going to take the Trial Tower assessment."

Su You smiled and greeted them, then headed toward the Trial Room. A red light scanned him at the entrance, and the door unlocked automatically. Su You walked straight in.

"The new student's Trial Tower assessment privilege?"

"He made it to 55 on his first day without even taking the Trial Tower level assessment. Looks like he'll definitely make the top hundred in his first month."

"Only five people in the Training Camp's history have made the top hundred in their first month. The most recent one was five years ago. Four of those five became High-level War Gods, and the last one has already surpassed the War God level."

"Haha, this is great news! Su You is one of us Huaxia people. Come on, let's hurry over to the Black Dragon Sculpture and see!"

The five Huaxia Country students were both shocked and excited. They hurried toward the Black Dragon Sculpture by the Training Camp's main entrance, calling their friends along the way. Before long, a large crowd had gathered beneath it.

Inside the Trial Room, Su You lay on the sofa and put on a helmet. In an instant, he appeared on an endless silver plain.

"I want to take the punch force amplification level test!" Su You called out. A Punch Strength Tester appeared beside him out of nowhere.

An electronic voice echoed through the virtual space. "Student Su You, please begin the punch force amplification level test."

Su You stood in front of the Punch Strength Tester and took a deep breath. His right fist shot out, and four waves of hidden force surged into his arm in succession, boosting its speed even further. With a terrifying whoosh, his fist slammed into the target.

"Bang!" The target shuddered, and a line of data appeared on the display: "kg".

The electronic voice sounded again. "Punch force amplification: 2.4. Congratulations, Student Su You. Your Combat Power Amplitude is now 3.12."

Su You walked toward the Trial Tower in the distance as the Punch Strength Tester vanished into thin air.

By the Black Dragon Sculpture in the Training Camp, most of the students hadn't arrived yet. Only a few who happened to be nearby had rushed over after hearing the news.

"His ranking changed! Su You's ranking changed!" a Black student exclaimed.

The few people beneath the Black Dragon Sculpture immediately looked over. Su You's ranking had jumped straight from 55th to 39th.

"Fuck, how did it change by so much?"

"That's insane!"

The students beneath the Black Dragon Sculpture quickly spread the news. The others who heard about it hurried toward the Training Camp's main entrance. Quite a few War God instructors were also drawn over.

At the entrance of the Trial Tower, Su You's information appeared on the stone pillar to the left.

"Name: Su You

Gender: Male

Status: Official member of the Elite Training Camp

Trial Tower Level: 1.3"

After reading it, Su You quickly changed into the training uniform and weapons he had selected, then stepped into the Trial Tower.

The first floor's Stage B required him to kill 100 Elementary Beast General-level Mangniu within thirty minutes. Su You completed it easily in less than four minutes, and his Black Dragon Ranking rose to 35th place.

More and more students were gathering beneath the Black Dragon Sculpture. Around ten War God instructors had shown up as well. Seeing the change in Su You's ranking, they couldn't help being surprised once again.

Soon, Stage C of the first floor began. The test required him to kill 190 Elementary Beast General-level Mangniu and 10 Intermediate Beast General-level Mangniu within fifty minutes.

With Intermediate Beast General Mangniu leading the pack, the difficulty of this stage rose sharply. Even so, it only made Su You spend a little more time on it: eleven minutes and twenty-five seconds.

Beneath the Black Dragon Sculpture, students and instructors watched Su You jump straight to 31st place, and one after another, they couldn't help sucking in a breath.