Testing

For today's assessment, Bai Yang had specifically requested support from Principal Wei and Mei Xiaqing.

Luo Feng was taking his assessment at the Limit Dojo in Yangzhou City.

Jiangnan First Military Academy was in the main urban district of Jiangnan Base City, so he had to use his authority to get a train ticket to Yangzhou City.

Although his hometown was in Yangzhou, he hadn't gone back. He couldn't go to the Limit Dojo in Jiangnan's main urban district, either.

Otherwise, he might run into his uncle and get another lecture about going to Kyoto.

After arriving in Yangzhou, he followed the directions he'd arranged with Mei Xiaqing beforehand and went to a designated location to pick up a car.

Then he drove alone to Bright Moon Residential Quarter to take the assessment.

As the Limit Dojo's headquarters in Yangzhou City, Bright Moon Residential Quarter was heavily guarded.

Bai Yang showed his ID card and student card from Jiangnan First Military Academy. When he entered, he drew quite a few curious looks.

"A student from Jiangnan First Military Academy? What brings you here for an assessment?" one of the soldiers at the gate asked casually.

"My hometown's in Yangzhou City, and it's summer break. I felt like I'd made a breakthrough, so I came over." Bai Yang gave the excuse he'd prepared in advance.

In fact, since the Limit Dojo had been founded by Hong, the world's strongest fighter, its results were considered highly credible and recognized throughout the world.

That was why soldiers and members of cultivation families also liked to take their assessments at the Limit Dojo.

Everyone understood that they were keeping their options open, in case one path didn't work out.

Still, as soldiers of Huaxia Nation, they couldn't help grumbling a little when they saw this. But they didn't say much.

The young guard returned Bai Yang's documents and led him to the central hall.

Once they entered the hall, the guard said goodbye and left.

Bai Yang walked over to the small bar in the hall. Of the eight people taking the assessment in the story, only two had arrived so far. He really had come early.

He sat down on a sofa and waited quietly.

Before long, Luo Feng came in and started talking with the two other supporting characters he already knew, Yang Wu and Tong Guan.

Bai Yang studied him carefully. Luo Feng looked about seventy percent like his animated counterpart, so he was easy to recognize.

The three hadn't said much when a middle-aged man called everyone up to the sixth floor.

More than a dozen examiners had gathered in a huge training hall. Among them were Luo Feng's instructor, Jiang Nian, and a middle-aged man with long, loose hair: Wu Tong, the chief instructor of Yangzhou City.

The others couldn't help feeling nervous, but Bai Yang was full of confidence.

He already had a clear understanding of his own strength. What worried him was having to go all out and attracting trouble.

The eight submitted their ID cards, and the machines were switched on. The assessment began.

"First up, Tong Guan," Wu Tong said coolly. "You'll take the punch-force test. People from the military coming to take assessments at my Limit Dojo, too. Interesting."

Bai Yang scoffed inwardly. You sure know how to make people feel welcome.

Luo Feng was the second to test his punch force, and, as expected, he drew a chorus of exclamations. Everyone praised him for achieving so much at such a young age.

He delivered an impressive punch-force score of "1101 kg."

That was well above the Quasi-Martial Artist standard of 900 kilograms.

And next up was Bai Yang.

While Luo Feng was punching, Bai Yang had watched his movements closely.

Luo Feng had paid attention to shifting his center of gravity when he exerted force, but that was about it.

Bai Yang remembered a classic joke he'd read in his previous life and chuckled to himself.

Rather than use his own perfected technique, he imitated the way Luo Feng's muscles had moved to generate force.

Power rose from the soles of his feet. He twisted his waist and hips, then drove his right fist forward with a whoosh, slamming it into the target.

The screen immediately displayed: "1102 kg!"

"Huh?"

"Mm?"

The fighters present all froze. The two had taken the test one after the other, and their scores were astonishingly close.

Wu Tong could see more than the others. He took another look at Bai Yang's file.

"Nineteen years old, exactly one year older than Luo Feng? What are the odds?"

He was puzzled, but he couldn't find anything to say.

Still, it was a little irritating that this military academy kid had managed to edge out the Limit Dojo.

Unlike the praise that had filled the room just moments earlier, the dozen or so Limit Dojo instructors had fallen silent.

Jiang Nian was curious and couldn't resist checking Bai Yang's detailed information.

"His uncle is Bai Pianyong? He's Uncle Bai's nephew!? Thank goodness—he's practically one of ours, then."

Luo Feng and the others didn't think much of it. They were still far removed from the subtle politics of the people at the top.

After all eight had finished the punch-force test, one was eliminated. Next came the speed test.

Wu Tong switched on the Speed Tester. This time, they went in the reverse order, so Bai Yang was ahead of Luo Feng.

He walked onto the track, gave Wu Tong a slight smile, and suddenly shot forward at full speed.

A gust of wind swept past, and a number appeared on the screen:

"28.7 m/s!"

"Great score!"

Before any of the instructors watching could speak, the other six candidates had already cried out in excitement.

That was way over the passing mark of 25 m/s!

Luo Feng was next. Just like in the original story, he ran at 28.6 m/s.

This time, even though no one pointed it out, Luo Feng, who rarely paid attention to trivial things, vaguely sensed something odd.

He looked seriously at Bai Yang. When Bai Yang noticed, he turned and smiled at him in a friendly way.

Wu Tong's face had grown rather grim, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Why was this kid always just a tiny bit better?

Could he accuse him of doing it on purpose? What grounds did he have?

Should he scold him for predicting the scores in advance? Or blame him for being strong?

Once all the tests were complete, two more candidates were eliminated.

"Come with me!" In a bad mood, Wu Tong led the five remaining candidates to the neural response testing room, his face cold.

There were dozens of openings here, each fitted with something like the barrel of a Gatling gun.

Candidates had to dodge the various attacks fired from the machine guns while remaining inside a circle three-point-six meters in diameter.

"Remember, no matter what happens, you must not leave the circle. Step outside, and you fail. If the red light touches you, you lose points."

After Wu Tong finished speaking, he went to the testing machine and adjusted its intensity.

The first candidate failed quickly. Wu Tong tossed his ID card back to him without a word.

"Next, Luo Feng."

This was Luo Feng's strongest event, and he was confident.

Sure enough, as soon as the test began, he deftly dodged the red beams shooting from the openings and the rubber bullets flying toward him.

He displayed excellent footwork. Bai Yang watched with some admiration. That's a rock-solid foundation. Impressive!

"Hit twenty-eight times in sixty seconds. No contact with the red beams. Excellent!"

Wu Tong finally smiled again. "Not bad, Luo Feng. Congratulations. Once the official paperwork is issued and your information is entered into the citizen database, you'll be a Quasi-Martial Artist!"

Luo Feng clenched his right fist. "I finally made it!"

"Luo Feng, the Martial Artist Combat Assessment is on August 1. Meet at the Limit Hall that morning. Under your instructor's guidance, you'll go with the other Quasi-Martial Artists beyond the human base city to hunt monsters. Once you pass the field assessment, you'll be a true Martial Artist."

Instructor Jiang Nian relaxed and smiled at him.

"Mm." Luo Feng nodded excitedly.

Wu Tong's smile vanished. "All right. Next, Bai Yang."