Dozens of openings were arranged in front of the machine. The examinee had to remain inside a red circle with a diameter of 3.6 meters and could not leave its bounds.
Leaving the circle meant immediate failure, and touching the red light would deduct points.
Fang Yi stepped into the circle and took a single glance around.
"Doesn't he plan to take off all that black cloth?" Yang Wu asked, puzzled. "Using only one eye instead of both means losing depth perception, which will affect the test."
"No need to rush. Let's wait and see."
Luo Feng's eyes were bright.
He watched Fang Yi inside the circle intently, eager to see how he would pass the test.
"Begin!" Wu Tong pressed the switch.
The huge barrel began to rotate, and dozens of gun barrels fired red lights almost simultaneously. Bang, bang, bang!
Fang Yi instantly began dodging the red bullets.
And yet—
Every red bullet missed him at the very last moment, just before it could touch his body.
There were only a few millimeters between each bullet and Fang Yi.
Under the continuous barrage,
Fang Yi's dodges were neither too wide nor too small. Each movement was perfectly judged. The bullets looked ready to hit him, but he always managed to evade them with pinpoint precision. And he was doing it with just one eye.
Wu Tong and the large group of Martial Artists behind him all looked astonished.
"Micro-level Movement Technique, and very close to perfect!" Instructor Jiang Nian stared intently at Fang Yi, clearly seeing every dodge.
Yang Wu looked as if he'd seen a monster.
He thought back to his own past results, then shook his head. Fang Yi's movement technique far surpassed his best performance during practice.
Both of them used the smallest movements to achieve the greatest dodging efficiency.
But Fang Yi did it with far more ease.
Luo Feng had already formed some idea of Fang Yi's result, but he hadn't expected Fang Yi to dodge so perfectly. It far exceeded what he'd imagined.
When the test ended,
the results appeared.
"Sixty seconds. Hit zero times, never touched the red light. Pass!" Wu Tong announced.
A result with not a single hit had truly astonished many of the people present.
"With a result like yours, becoming a Martial Artist is a certainty. Your dodging was extremely fluid, and your movement technique is at the Micro-level. But your Micro-level Movement Technique is different from the usual kind. You haven't just reached peak efficiency—you've even left yourself room to respond. It's close to perfect."
Wu Tong's expression was serious, but his words carried approval.
"And you did it with just one eye. Your dynamic vision and bodily control are excellent. Your future is limitless. Join the team."
After Wu Tong finished his assessment,
a man in a black robe among the Martial Artists nodded in approval.
The others had no objections either.
Seeing Fang Yi's result, Luo Feng and the others understood that becoming a Quasi-Martial Artist was merely a small stepping stone for him. Becoming a Martial Artist was when he would truly take the stage.
"Next, Luo Feng."
When the shooting machine stopped rotating,
Luo Feng's result appeared as well. He'd been hit only 28 times in 60 seconds and hadn't touched the red light, earning an excellent rating!
Wu Tong nodded with equal satisfaction. Instructor Jiang Nian gave a brief assessment and a few pointers, then Luo Feng quickly returned to the group.
The nerve reaction test soon came to an end.
Another examinee, Bai Yang, passed as well.
Yang Wu also passed, relying on his not-yet-mastered Micro-level Movement Technique. But his movements weren't as fluid or perfect as Fang Yi's, and he still had a few serious flaws. After receiving a warning, he quickly joined the group too.
In the end,
four people passed.
Fang Yi, Luo Feng, Yang Wu, and Bai Yang.
The three besides Fang Yi all wore visible smiles. They were extremely excited.
"Next, you'll sign the Combat Assessment agreement... Captain, sorry to have kept you waiting. Let's head out."
After briefly explaining the next steps to the four, Wu Tong turned toward a silver-haired man in a black robe standing at the edge.
The moment he heard the word "captain,"
Luo Feng, Yang Wu, and Bai Yang were startled.
Clearly, anyone the chief instructor called "captain" had to be important, with a high-ranking position.
The next moment,
the silver-haired man in the black robe merely glanced at the four of them. Luo Feng suddenly felt his body go limp, as if he'd wandered into a sea of stars. But he quickly shivered and came back to his senses.
What was that?
Luo Feng turned in confusion, only to see Yang Wu and Bai Yang standing there in a daze.
He then looked to his other side, where Fang Yi remained utterly calm.
The visible brown-black eye was still bright and alert.
It was as if nothing had happened.
He seemed completely unaffected by the silver-haired man's gaze—or perhaps he'd come to his senses even faster than Luo Feng.
That man's gaze is terrifying. It affected us in an instant!
The silver-haired man across from them, however, nodded with great satisfaction. "We've found two promising talents this time. Both have good potential, but the other one is even more surprising."
As he finished speaking, the man looked at Fang Yi again.
He said nothing more. The other two had just come around, still looking confused. In the end, Instructor Jiang Hua led the four of them to the Martial Arts Hall.
"These four applications for the Martial Artist Combat Assessment..."
A stout old man handed the applications to the four and clearly explained the risks. The chance of death wasn't high, but injuries were common, and the Martial Arts Hall wouldn't be responsible for any casualties.
Finally, he handed them another document.
He explained the RR Virus from the Great Nirvana Period, some of the research that had followed, and the key energy used in modern Martial Artist cultivation—Genetic Origin Energy.
Fang Yi quickly read through the document.
After all, he was already very familiar with all of it.
The old man pointed to one side of the document. "This is the cultivation method for Genetic Origin Energy: the Five Hearts Toward Heaven Cultivation Method!"
"Once you've passed the Martial Artist test and met the required standard, you can try cultivating Genetic Origin Energy. As for the more valuable Guidance Techniques, you'll have to become a Martial Artist and join either the Martial Arts Hall or the military to obtain one. Anyway, good luck."
There was only one method for cultivating Genetic Origin Energy.
But there were countless Guidance Techniques. Different Guidance Techniques produced different cultivation speeds, and the gap between them could be enormous. Some could even differ by dozens of times.
Guidance Techniques were what truly mattered.
After hearing this, examinee Bai Yang couldn't help asking a question.
A middle-aged man with some gray in his hair came over and explained.
Luo Feng and the others listened carefully, while Fang Yi quietly waited for them to finish discussing it.
After all, he was already very familiar with what would happen next.
But Fang Yi's thoughts
returned to that astonishing morning three days ago...
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Fang Yi stopped washing and stared at his left eye, confusion and astonishment written across his face.
"What happened to my eye?!"
Before you continue