Arranging the Assessment

"10, 9... 1! Contestant No. 2558 wins."

"You may now proceed to the 20th floor." The ticket was handed to him.

This ticket could be exchanged for the corresponding amount of money on the appropriate floor, and it also served as a registration form for continuing to compete.

The audience had already erupted into cheers.

This sudden reversal of the battle's outcome had taken them by surprise, but they found it entertaining as well.

Some people who watched matches especially enjoyed seeing the weak defeat the strong.

"Thank you!" Contestant No. 2558 said gratefully.

As for the contestant who had been knocked down, Heavenly Arena staff had already arranged for people to carry him off the ring. Of course, he would also receive basic medical treatment.

That level of protection was still provided. Otherwise, if there were too many injuries and deaths, it would affect the number of participants.

Lucky continued officiating the matches. Unlike the first match, the contestants he encountered afterward were all quite ordinary.

Most matches ended in under three minutes.

Some contestants did not even need to score ten points, because their opponents would surrender outright.

It did not even take the whole morning for Lucky to finish the number of matches he had originally set for himself.

Since he was only getting familiar with the job anyway, he applied to take a look at the 50th floor.

"You want to go to the 50th floor?" Martha asked Lucky doubtfully. She knew who he was, but she had not expected him to request a floor transfer on his very first day of work.

"Then you should know that transferring to work on another floor requires an assessment, right?"

The salaries of Heavenly Arena referees were also tied to their floors. The higher the floor, the higher the pay.

Naturally, the assessment standard was combat ability. They had to face an examiner and either defeat them or demonstrate that they could remain undefeated.

"Then let's take the assessment. I can accept that."

If he had been an ordinary referee, it certainly would not have been so easy. Usually, one had to accumulate a certain amount of work performance on the corresponding floor before applying to be assessed for promotion.

But Lucky was different. He was the chief referee's adopted son.

"Wait here. I'll arrange it for you." She immediately made a call to notify the relevant people and make the arrangements.

Then she led Lucky to the 57th floor.

It was where referee assessments were conducted.

As such a massive enterprise, Heavenly Arena had tens of thousands of staff members alone.

When Lucky arrived, others were also taking the assessment.

Like the matches, referee assessments used a ten-point system.

The slight difference was that the examiner determined the scoring criteria.

Lucky's arrival also drew the staff's attention, and they began whispering among themselves.

A referee Lucky's age naturally became a topic of discussion among the staff.

First, Lucky's identity was easy to learn about. Then there was the legendary story of his adoptive father, Barn Frank.

Mentioning the chief referee might not have meant much to some people, but once his legendary experiences came up, many would admire him and regard him as an idol.

Starting as an ordinary person and working his way up step by step to become the chief referee and one of Heavenly Arena's managers—it was incredibly inspiring.

Lucky paid no attention to their discussions.

Soon, it was his turn.

"Lucky Phoenix, is it? I've always been curious why you use Phoenix as your surname," the examiner asked.

It was also something that puzzled many people after learning about Lucky's identity and Barn's.

As an adopted son, why did he not use the surname Frank?

"Do I need to answer that for the assessment?" Lucky asked in return.

"Not very lovable, are you?" The examiner was a middle-aged man in his forties.

"But as Barn Frank's son, your martial arts skills should be pretty good, right?" The middle-aged man was certain of that.

He would not underestimate Lucky because of his age.

As soon as he finished speaking, he took the initiative and attacked Lucky.

Lucky only dodged and did not counterattack. At this moment, his Sharingan was already open.

A jujutsu school?

This level was far beyond the 50th floor. He probably had the strength of someone above the 100th floor.

Heavenly Arena was in the fighting business, so it naturally employed martial artists from various schools. Even those who were not martial artists themselves could have family members working for Heavenly Arena.

It could be said that Heavenly Arena's existence had freed many martial artists from many worries related to making a living.

Having only just become a referee, Lucky did not yet know that there were factions among the referees as well.

First came the division between independents and Martial Arts Schools, followed by the divisions between the various schools.

Many of the higher-ranking referees were also Martial Artists from Martial Arts Schools.

There was a hint of class stratification in it.

There were many factors in combat, which Lucky mainly summarized as physical attributes, reaction speed, and combat experience.

As for martial arts techniques, unless they possessed some profound and mysterious martial intent, ordinary techniques still required physical attributes to support them.

With powerful physical attributes, even without much technique or experience, one could still win in battle.

A typical example was Gon Freecss from the anime, who had pushed his way straight up to the 200th Floor with a single palm-pushing technique.

Lucky's physical attributes naturally went without saying.

After dodging for a while, Lucky began engaging head-on, though he still maintained a defensive stance to get a feel for how the techniques changed after a clash.

At first, the examiner wanted to use his strength to overpower Lucky, but he quickly discovered that his strength was actually inferior to that of this twelve-year-old boy.

He then switched to a joint-locking style of combat.

But Lucky's reaction speed was extremely fast. Even when there was a chance of locking him down, he would simply break free with brute strength.

Could this be what a genius was like?!

The examiner thought of his fellow disciples. Some of them had also been called geniuses, but compared to Lucky before him, they were far too lacking.

The examiner stopped.

"With your strength, you'd have no problem serving as a referee even above the 150th Floor." This also meant that Lucky's assessment was over.

"Thank you for your guidance!" Lucky said gratefully.

He did not have much combat experience. Most of his skill lay in the evasive ability he had developed through sparring with his adoptive father time and time again.

"With talent like yours, you shouldn't be a referee. You should be competing in fights," the examiner advised.

"No need. My accumulation isn't sufficient yet. Being a referee is just fine for now," Lucky replied.

The examiner paused, then understood. "So that's how it is? That does suit your path."

He recalled Barn Frank's rise to fame.

He had first been a competitor in the Heavenly Arena, then became a referee, later resigned, and continued competing in the Heavenly Arena.

He had fought his way up to the 200th Floor, undergone the baptism of the 200th Floor, and eventually become a referee once again.

Watching the battles of various Martial Artists!

That seemed like a pretty good path of "cultivation" as well.

The martial heart that had fallen silent because of his own talent now stirred faintly once more.