Quasi-Warrior Assessment

On the morning of February 1, a little after six, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

A thin mist hung over the low-rent housing district in Yangzhou City. A few dogs barked in the distance. Now and then, someone out early rode a bicycle past the mouth of an alley, the bell jingling.

Lin Yun sat up in bed, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out.

Today was a big day.

He put on his faded Limit Dojo training uniform and straightened it a little. His grandfather, Lin Guodong, stood in the doorway, watching him in the mirror. His cloudy old eyes held a jumble of emotions—pride, worry, and a trace of sadness he couldn't quite put into words.

"Yun'er, how about... I go with you?" Lin Guodong's voice trembled slightly.

Lin Yun smiled, walked over, and gave his grandfather a gentle hug. "Grandpa, just wait for me at home. I'll come back after the assessment, and we'll have a good meal tonight."

Lin Guodong opened his mouth, but in the end, he only patted his grandson's back and let out a heavy sigh.

Luo Feng came running over from next door, carrying a plastic bag with several steaming buns and a cup of soy milk. He shoved them into Lin Yun's hands and grinned. "Eat on the way. Don't be nervous. You'll definitely pass."

Lin Yun took the breakfast, glanced at Luo Feng, and nodded.

They had grown up together. Some things didn't need to be said.

As he left the alley, Lin Yun looked back at the dilapidated low-rent apartment building. His grandfather stood in the doorway, his stooped figure looking especially frail in the morning light. Lin Yun waved to him, then turned and strode forward.

He wouldn't let his grandfather down.

The Limit Dojo's main base in Yangzhou City was in Bright Moon Residential District, in the east of the city.

Lin Yun stood at the entrance, gazing at the quiet, elegant residential area before him, and marveled inwardly. The high walls, soldiers on guard with live ammunition, neat rows of detached villas, and meticulously trimmed lawns made this place seem like another world compared to the rundown low-rent housing district.

"So this is the legendary Bright Moon Residential District?" Lin Yun murmured.

"Sir, this is Bright Moon Residential District. Do not approach."

A line of six soldiers in uniform stood at the entrance. One of them shouted at Lin Yun, "Sir, please step back. If you enter the yellow line area, we're authorized to shoot you on the spot!"

Lin Yun didn't panic. He stood beyond the yellow line and calmly said, "I'm an Advanced Trainee of the Limit Dojo. I'm here to take the Quasi-Warrior Assessment."

He knew the rules. Bright Moon Residential District was the Limit Dojo's main base in Yangzhou City. It was not only home to the Limit Hall but also where the families of the dojo's Warriors lived. Security here was extremely tight. Even the police had no right to enter without permission.

"Oh?"

An elderly man with graying hair came out of the guard room beside the entrance, holding a handheld computer. He looked Lin Yun up and down, a flash of surprise in his eyes. "Young man, you say you're here to take the Warrior assessment? You look only fifteen or sixteen."

Lin Yun handed over the ID card and Advanced Trainee certificate he had prepared.

The old man took the documents and swiped them across the handheld computer one by one. Lin Yun's detailed information quickly appeared on the screen.

"Fifteen years old?" The old man's eyes widened as he looked at Lin Yun in surprise. "Impressive. In all my years, I've never seen anyone come for the Quasi-Warrior Assessment at fifteen. I hope you pass."

It wasn't unusual for someone to reach Advanced Trainee level at fifteen. Some Warrior families trained their children from a young age, pouring all kinds of rare medicinal herbs into them. Reaching Advanced Trainee level in their teens wasn't surprising. But those who dared to take the Quasi-Warrior Assessment at fifteen and were confident they could pass were exceedingly rare.

"Thank you, sir." Lin Yun bowed respectfully.

"Let him in," the gray-haired old man said, waving a hand.

The electric gate slid open automatically. One of the soldiers, carrying an assault rifle, stepped forward and fell in beside Lin Yun. "Sir, I'll take you to the Limit Hall. Once inside, don't wander around. You're only authorized to enter the Limit Hall, not the residential area for Warriors' families. If you break the rules, even if I don't deal with you, the brothers patrolling the district will."

As he spoke, the soldier grinned at Lin Yun, showing a row of white teeth.

"Understood." Lin Yun smiled and nodded, but stayed alert inwardly. The cooperation between the government and the Limit Dojo was even closer than rumors suggested. Security in the Warriors' inner quarters was no less stringent than in a military restricted zone.

As Lin Yun walked into the residential district, his eyes were drawn to the scenery around him.

Detached villas were scattered throughout the district, interspersed with artificial hills, ponds, and lawns. The surroundings were quiet and elegant. At the center of the district stood a towering, magnificent building—the Limit Hall, the sanctuary of every Warrior in Yangzhou City.

Living here must be wonderful, Lin Yun thought.

But he knew everything came at a price. Everyone who lived here was a Warrior who had fought for their place with their life. Every time they entered the Wilderness Area, they might never return.

At the center of Bright Moon Residential District, inside the Limit Hall.

When Lin Yun stepped into the hall, the soldier who had escorted him turned back.

"Sir, are you here to take the Quasi-Warrior Assessment?" A sweet-looking young woman at the front desk asked with some surprise. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Lin Yun's youthful face. "Please have a seat over there. The assessment will begin at ten this morning, along with the others."

Lin Yun nodded and walked to the side of the lobby.

There was a small bar there, with a server and a bartender. Lin Yun glanced around. Three people were already seated: two were talking quietly, while the third sat alone on a sofa in the corner, silent.

"Look, those villas over there are one of the benefits of joining the Limit Dojo as a Warrior," said a young man dressed in white, his eyes full of longing. "Once you become a Warrior and join the Limit Dojo, they'll assign you a villa for free, and you can live here from then on... Tsk, just look at the place. It's so comfortable."

"Of course a Warrior residential area is different from an ordinary neighborhood," the person beside him chimed in.

The two noticed Lin Yun and paused, evidently not expecting such a young candidate. Lin Yun nodded to them and sat on a sofa across from them.

They didn't know one another, so no one struck up a conversation.

As time passed, three more people arrived. Lin Yun didn't know them either, but they all looked older. The youngest was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, and one was even over forty.

There were seven people in all. Apart from Lin Yun, the youngest of the other six was more than ten years older than him. At fifteen, Lin Yun stood out from the crowd. Almost everyone who walked in gave him a second look.

"Young man, you look like you're only in your teens. You're taking the Warrior assessment at such a young age? You've got a bright future ahead of you."

The only female trainee looked to be around thirty. She seemed especially interested in Lin Yun and teased him with a smile. She wore a red training uniform, and her tall figure and sharp features gave her a spirited air.

"Heh, I bet he's just here to broaden his horizons. He's so young; reaching Advanced Trainee level would already be pretty impressive." The man over forty cut in, his tone tinged with envy.

"Liu, even if he is just here to get a look, he's still better than you. When you were in your teens, you probably hadn't even reached Beginner Trainee level, had you?" the woman retorted. Clearly, the two knew each other.

"Young man, don't mind this guy. He's over forty and has taken the Quasi-Warrior Assessment more than ten times without passing. If I were him, I'd have been too embarrassed to come back."

"Hmph, I'll pass today for sure." After saying that, Liu fell silent and went to sit on a sofa nearby, his face dark.

Lin Yun couldn't help admiring him inwardly. Taking the assessment more than ten times without passing and still persisting—that was worth learning from.

A middle-aged man walked in a while later and looked over the seven of them. "Is everyone here? Follow me. We're going to the assessment area on the sixth floor."

They followed him into the elevator.

"Ding—"

The elevator reached the sixth floor. As the doors opened, a massive training hall came into view. More than a dozen people were gathered inside, some chatting and others adjusting their equipment. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual.

Lin Yun spotted Instructor Jiang Nian in the crowd at once. Jiang Nian saw him too and nodded, his eyes full of encouragement.

"They're here. Enough chatting."

A middle-aged man with long, loose hair spoke. The dozen or so people in the training hall all turned to look at Lin Yun and the others, their gazes sharp and oppressive. Lin Yun tensed. He knew that apart from the staff, only Warriors could be inside the Limit Hall.

In other words, all dozen of them were Warriors.

This was the Limit Dojo's main base in all of Yangzhou City. Any Warrior who could be here was a veteran with plenty of combat experience.

"Prepare for the tests," the long-haired middle-aged man instructed.

Lin Yun had seen this man online before: Wu Tong, head of the Limit Hall and chief instructor of Yangzhou City. It was said that he himself was an Advanced General Level Warrior, only one step away from becoming a War God.

"Come forward one by one and give me your ID cards first."

The Warrior who had brought the seven candidates upstairs took their ID cards and handed them to Chief Instructor Wu Tong, smiling. "Chief, quite a few people today. We've got seven!"

"Mm." Wu Tong casually took an ID card and swiped it across the machine beside him.

"Beep—"

A translucent screen popped up from the machine, displaying personal information.

"First, Liu Tong," the chief instructor said coolly. "Punch strength test. Liu Tong, you should be quite familiar with this by now, so I won't explain. Go ahead."

Lin Yun couldn't help smiling when he heard that. This was the middle-aged man who had taken the assessment more than ten times. Chief Instructor Wu Tong knew him so well that he'd even skipped the opening instructions.

"Yes, sir!"

Liu Tong stepped forward, took a deep breath, and assumed a stance. He held his left hand in front of his face, then swung his right fist in an arc and slammed it into the massive punching target.

"Bang!"

The target only trembled slightly. A number immediately appeared on the Punch Strength Tester's screen: "968 kg."

"Pass. Next, Feng Lu."

The woman in red stepped up beside the Punch Strength Tester and threw a punch.

"Bang!"

"910 kg."

"Whew, that was close." Feng Lu patted her chest, looking relieved.

"Pass. Next, Lin Yun."

The chief instructor casually swiped the third ID card across the machine. He looked over the detailed information, then suddenly paused.

"Hm? Fifteen years old?" Wu Tong looked up at Lin Yun, surprise flashing in his eyes. "Old Jiang, he's from your Yi'an District, right? When did your district get such a promising talent, coming for the assessment at fifteen?"

"Haha, I wanted to give you a surprise, Chief Instructor!" Jiang Nian laughed heartily, unable to hide his pride.

"Whether he has the ability is still up in the air," a rather fat old man among the dozen or so Warriors teased. "Maybe he's just here to see what it's like. He might not have much ability."

Jiang Nian glanced at the old man and snorted. "What, jealous? Your Beiyou District doesn't have a genius like him, does it? Lin Yun, show them what a trainee from Yi'an District can do."

"Yes, Instructor!"

Lin Yun stepped forward and answered loudly, then walked toward the Punch Strength Tester.

"Old Jiang seems pretty confident," Wu Tong said with a smile, though his gaze remained fixed on Lin Yun.

Nearly everyone present watched Lin Yun, waiting to see how the fifteen-year-old would do.

Lin Yun stood before the punching target, took a deep breath, and steadied his breathing.

He couldn't reveal all his strength. Too much would draw attention; too little, and he wouldn't pass. He needed to find just the right balance—enough to earn the dojo's attention, but not enough to attract the notice of other forces.

"Intermediate Warrior level should be about right," he calculated.

A fifteen-year-old at Intermediate Warrior level was astonishingly talented, but not unheard of. The Limit Dojo headquarters had several geniuses like that. It wouldn't cause too much of a stir.

Lin Yun suddenly drove off his feet and turned his body slightly, powerful force surging from his hips and waist. The force flowed through him in successive waves and into his arm. His fist shot forward like an arrow loosed from a fully drawn bow, leaving a blur in its wake—

"Bang!"

His fist slammed into the punching target with a deep, thunderous boom.

Everyone's eyes turned to the tester's screen.

"2345 kg"

The training hall fell silent for a moment, then erupted.

"Excellent!"

"Holy crap!"

"Monster!"

The Warriors present were all astonished. A score of 2,345 kg was far above the passing mark for the Quasi-Warrior Assessment and reached the level of an Intermediate Fighter. If a veteran Warrior who had trained for years had scored that high, it would have been nothing special. But this result came from a boy who had yet to cultivate Genetic Origin Energy and wasn't even fifteen years old!

"This kid..." The fat old man's mouth gaped wide enough to fit an egg, and for a long moment he couldn't speak.

Chief Instructor Wu Tong stroked his chin and nodded slowly. "Not bad. When you punch, remember not to lose your center of gravity. If he ignored everything else and focused only on hitting as hard as possible, losing his balance, he might put more power into the punch. But if he lost his center of gravity while fighting monsters, that would be suicide. Very good, very good!"

He was an expert and had seen the essence of Lin Yun's punch at a glance. It wasn't about how much power he had, but how well he controlled his center of gravity as he struck. That kind of control couldn't be mastered without years of hard work.

"Haha, Lin Yun's a capable kid," Jiang Nian said with a hearty laugh, his face creased with pride. "He was already an Intermediate Trainee at the dojo back in his first year of middle school."

Lin Yun stood off to the side, his expression calm, but inwardly he couldn't help laughing. I used less than a tenth of my strength, and you're already this surprised. If you knew my true strength was already at Intermediate War General level, and my Spiritual Force had reached Primary War God level... you'd probably faint.

Of course, he wouldn't tell them. Not yet.

"He's a promising talent," Wu Tong said with a nod. He let his gaze linger on Lin Yun for another second, then looked away. "Next, Li Dahai."

The seven candidates finished their tests quickly. Only one person failed the punch strength test. Liu Tong, who was over forty, passed, but his score of 968 kg was just barely over the line.

Next came the speed test.

More people were eliminated in this round. Of the first three candidates tested, two failed. Their punch strength was decent, but they weren't fast enough. In the Wilderness Area, that would mean certain death against agile monsters.

"Next, Lin Yun."

Everyone's attention returned to Lin Yun. They wanted to see how the boy who had dazzled them in the punch strength test would perform at speed.

Lin Yun walked over to the speed-testing track.

It was a fifty-meter straightaway with photoelectric sensors at both ends to precisely measure a runner's top speed. Lin Yun stood behind the starting line, bent slightly at the waist, and assumed his starting stance.

"On your mark—go!"

The instant the starting gun fired, Lin Yun shot forward like a cheetah.

His stride was long and his cadence rapid, each step landing precisely in the center of the track. Wind roared past his ears as the scenery on both sides blurred by. In just a few seconds, he crossed the finish line.

Everyone looked at the machine's screen. It displayed a number: "38.3 m/s."

"His speed is excellent too. Pass!" Wu Tong's eyes filled with a smile. At fifteen, with punch strength of 2,345 kg and a speed of 38.3 m/s, Lin Yun ranked among the best of the younger generation across the entire Jiangnan Base City.

Discovering a promising talent like this was a credit to him as well.

The remaining two candidates finished their tests quickly. Feng Lu did much better in the speed test than she had in punch strength and passed with ease. Liu Tong just barely crossed the line and scraped through.

After two rounds of testing, only four of the seven candidates remained.

The final round was also the most difficult: the Neural Reflex Tester assessment.

The room was about a hundred square meters, spacious but smaller than the massive training hall. The atmosphere was heavier, though. A tall machine stood in the center. At the front was a device resembling a six-barrel Gatling gun, except it had far more barrels—dozens of openings in all.

So this is the Neural Reflex Tester, Lin Yun thought.

He had seen it in training videos at the dojo, but this was his first time seeing one in person.

"First, Liu Tong," Chief Instructor Wu Tong called.

Liu Tong took a deep breath, walked to the spot directly in front of the tester's barrels, and stood inside a circle with a diameter of three meters and sixty centimeters.

"Click!"

As soon as the switch was turned on, a hazy red light shot up from the edge of the circle. In an instant, the person inside seemed to be surrounded by a veil of red light.

"Remember, you must not leave the circle under any circumstances. Leaving the circle means failure. Touching the red light will cost you points." After giving the instructions, Wu Tong went to the Neural Reflex Tester and pressed several buttons to adjust the difficulty.

"Begin!" Wu Tong pressed the red button.

"Beep—beep—"

The tester's massive barrel began to rotate. Dozens of openings fired red shots almost at once. The rubber bullets varied in speed and flew along erratic, intersecting trajectories, rapidly shooting into the red circle.

Liu Tong stared intently ahead, darting back and forth to slip between the bullets.

"Thwack! Thwack!"

He was hit twice in quick succession. The "bullets" were tipped with rubber and had little force, so they didn't hurt much.

Second by second, Liu Tong desperately dodged around inside the circle, veins bulging on his forehead.

One minute was up.

"Whirr—" Wu Tong pressed a button, and the tester's barrels slowed to a stop. A mass of data appeared on the central screen.

"Hit 56 times and touched the red light twice in 60 seconds. Failed. Disqualified!" Wu Tong announced, tossing Liu Tong his ID card.

"Just a little short again... Sigh..." Liu Tong gritted his teeth, his eyes red-rimmed as he walked out of the red circle.

Watching this, Lin Yun couldn't help feeling moved. The path of a Warrior was long and arduous. This first hurdle alone stopped countless people. Liu Tong was over forty and still struggling for a Quasi-Warrior qualification, while some people seemed born for this path.

Fate was sometimes just that unfair.

The second person to be tested was Feng Lu.

Her speed and neural reaction seemed to be her strengths—she was hit 37 times within 60 seconds and touched the red light once. She passed.

"Next, Lin Yun."

Lin Yun took a deep breath and stepped into the red circle.

Standing inside the circle, he faced the test machine's muzzles. Dozens of dark barrels seemed like staring eyes, but Lin Yun wasn't nervous at all.

He and Luo Feng had started practicing footwork at home back in their first year of middle school, and his fundamentals were exceptionally solid. Although he hadn't yet reached the Micro-Level, with his Spiritual Force at the Primary War God level, he could still achieve the same effect. Passing this test would be no problem at all.

"Remember, don't step outside the circle. If you do, you fail immediately. You'll also lose points if your body touches the red light." After Wu Tong finished speaking, he pressed the red button.

"Beep—beep—"

The test machine's muzzles quickly sped up, soon spinning at an incredibly fast rate. Then dozens of barrels fired red beams at once, sending rubber bullets streaking toward Lin Yun from every direction.

Lin Yun fixed his eyes on the red beams. He moved like a nimble cat, dodging back and forth.

His steps were light and precise, each movement just enough to evade an incoming bullet. When one seemed impossible to avoid, he used his Spiritual Force to nudge its trajectory, letting it skim past him.

To the onlookers, it seemed as if the bullets were deliberately avoiding him.

"That kid's pretty good," the Warriors watching nearby murmured. "His reaction speed seems a lot better than those two who went before him."

"His footwork is excellent, and his fundamentals are rock solid. Look at his feet—they're like a cat's paw pads. Every time he shifts, he keeps his balance and can change direction instantly. Footwork like that... he's almost touched the Micro-Level. You need at least ten years of hard work to build such solid fundamentals."

A Warrior's physical attributes could be improved through training, but footwork and knife techniques depended on accumulated experience. Having great physical strength didn't automatically mean having great footwork. For Lin Yun to have footwork like this at his age meant he'd been training hard since he was very young.

A minute passed quickly.

"Whoo—" Wu Tong pressed the button, and the test machine slowed to a stop. A long string of numbers appeared on the screen.

"Hit 12 times within 60 seconds. No contact with the red light. Excellent!"

Wu Tong smiled, looking at Lin Yun with a touch of admiration. "Not bad, Lin Yun. Congratulations. Once the official documents are issued and your information is added to the citizen records, you'll be a Quasi-Warrior."

After passing the Quasi-Warrior Assessment, the official certificate was generally issued within seven days, and the result was also recorded in the citizen records.

"Thank you, Chief Instructor," Lin Yun said with a smile, though his heart was anything but calm.

Although he'd known all along that he had what it took, he still felt a thrill when he received official recognition and became a Quasi-Warrior. From this day on, he was no longer an Advanced Trainee. He was a Quasi-Warrior, standing on the threshold of becoming a Warrior.

All he had to do was take one more step, and he could become a true Warrior.

The last person finished the test—and failed.

Of the seven people, only Lin Yun and Feng Lu had passed all three rounds.