8. Murder

"Re... reconcile?" Liu Biao could not believe his ears! This was his father! A veteran martial artist who had always been known for his iron-fisted approach! How could he possibly suggest reconciliation with a mere punk?

"You idiot!" Liu Zhendong's eyes were cold and vicious.

"It... it's impossible... that kid hates my guts... The way he looked at me in front of the milk tea shop last time, there's absolutely no chance of reconciliation!" Liu Biao argued.

"Fool! Either you don't strike, or if you do, you must ensure he is dead! Look at the mess you've caused!" Liu Zhendong said in a chilling voice.

Liu Biao shivered. "Then what should we..."

"I will handle the arrangements," Liu Zhendong said.

Liu Biao let out a sigh of relief. "Good! Good!"

That evening, Wang Ji left the Limit Martial Hall early. With the prospective martial artist assessment tomorrow, he wanted to head back and rest.

As he neared his residential complex, Wang Ji suddenly felt his heart skip a beat! Danger!

Behind him, a car swerved as if out of control, barreling straight toward him!

Wang Ji dodged rapidly to the front, but the car pursued him, intent on the collision!

It was intentional! Absolutely intentional!

However, Wang Ji wasn't overly panicked. After all, he possessed the physical fitness of a prospective martial artist. His speed of 26m/s was not much slower than the car, and his agility was far beyond what any vehicle could match.

Wang Ji glanced at the street ahead and ducked into a side alley. The car narrowly brushed past him, slamming into the corner of the alley wall. "Bang!"

The front of the car crumpled inward!

It was clear from the speed that there hadn't been a hint of braking!

Just as Wang Ji let out a breath of relief, "Whoosh!" A cold glint flashed by. Wang Ji dodged with all his might! He managed to evade it!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two more cold glints followed simultaneously! Wang Ji used every ounce of his strength but only managed to dodge one. Then, he felt a sharp, intense pain. A foot-long pure metal crossbow bolt had pierced through his knee.

"Go!" With a low growl, two men dressed in black sportswear quickly fled the scene.

They were after his life, but they weren't looking to be caught for murder. After all, a "traffic accident" could be brushed off, but killing someone—especially a student of the Limit Martial Hall—was a major incident! Losing their own lives for a bit of money wasn't worth it. They weren't stupid!

After all, they were in the Base City; ruining this genius was enough. Whether it was Liu Zhendong or the two assailants, that was exactly what they thought.

Wang Ji's eyes glinted with cold light. He fumbled to twist off the arrowhead before pulling the metal bolt straight out. Blood flowed down his lower leg, pooling on the ground. Wang Ji tried to focus his mind: "10 points of Essence! Use!"

"Refreshing! It itches!"

Ten seconds later, Wang Ji looked at his completely healed knee, his eyes struggling to contain his excitement. "This Essence is even better than I imagined!"

"Strength: 1010kg, Speed: 26.7m/s."

It seemed that healing the injury had wasted 3 points of Essence. Otherwise, his strength should have increased to 1040kg!

Wang Ji thought for a moment, used the crossbow bolt to scratch a small cut on his leg, and then dialed Jiang Nian's number. "Hello! Uncle Jiang, something happened to me!"

With a grim face, Jiang Nian arrived at the alley where Wang Ji was located, accompanied by a small, fully armed squad. The Limit Martial Hall had its own military! A legal military! Only people like Hong and Thor, who had transcended the limits of the world, could facilitate such outrageous privileges.

Jiang Nian's expression remained dark until he saw the small wound on Wang Ji's leg, at which point he let out a sigh of relief!

"Don't worry! I will give you an explanation! This is sheer audacity!" Jiang Nian said coldly. "Let's go! I'll take you back to the Limit Martial Hall first. You will stay at the hall, and I will accompany you to the prospective martial artist assessment tomorrow!"

"Professional investigators will come here to conduct a thorough search! They won't be able to run!"

Wang Ji asked, "What about after..."

"After this, you will be a prospective martial artist and will temporarily enjoy the same privileges as a martial artist! Unless someone is truly insane, they wouldn't dare murder a martial artist in the Base City! Even if the perpetrator is a martial artist, they would have to die!" Jiang Nian said.

"As for the families of martial artists, that is a forbidden scale! Whoever touches it dies! This is a rule forged from the corpses of more than ten War Gods!"

The next day, Jiang Nian took Wang Ji by train directly to the Extreme Pavilion in Jiangnan Base City.

"Instructor Jiang!" A white-haired man with a spirited demeanor smiled at the entrance of the Extreme Pavilion.

"Oh! Uncle Zhang! You're on duty today! I've brought our student from Yangzhou City to participate in the assessment," Jiang Nian greeted with a smile.

"Haha! Come in! Hurry inside! You are the earliest ones here," the white-haired Uncle Zhang said with a laugh.

Once inside the Extreme Pavilion, Jiang Nian briefly introduced Wang Ji to everything. Afterward, he told Wang Ji to head to the sixth floor on his own. That was where the assessment took place. He himself had many old friends to greet.

"Ding! Dungeon discovered: Training Ground. Please move closer to enter the range!"

Training Ground? Wang Ji felt a surge of excitement; he had finally discovered a new dungeon!

It was just... the distance was too far? Wang Ji pretended to be inspecting the assessment venue, circling the sixth floor. Only near the punch-force testing area could he hear the prompt: "Please move closer to enter the range." In other areas, he couldn't even hear the prompt!

It seemed to be in the vicinity of this location... Hmm! But it wasn't exactly here either... Could it be... upstairs or downstairs? After all, the floors above and below were at most seven or eight meters away, which was quite close! Wang Ji looked at the floor levels. The floor below was probably easy to access, but as for the floor above... perhaps he could enter once he obtained his martial artist qualification.

Nearby, several instructors were chatting and laughing.

"This little guy is so calm! Walking around without a hint of nervousness! Old Jiang, is he the one you brought?"

"Heh heh! Just you wait and see!" Jiang Nian chuckled, keeping his thoughts to himself.

The assessment began.

Beside the assessment arena, the chief instructors or instructors from various affiliated cities were chatting and exchanging pleasantries.

"Huh! Old Liu, this student of yours is quite something! His speed is impressive!"

"Damn, this neural reaction is incredible! Excellent for an intermediate warrior, passing for an advanced warrior!"

"Wait! He doesn't look very old! Punch power 1000kg, speed 27m/s! What a promising talent! Old Jiang, did you train him?"

Jiang Nian grinned like a fox that had just stolen a chicken, "Not bad, right? He's only seventeen!"

"Holy crap! That's amazing! Old Jiang, you're buying!"

On the testing floor.

Wang Ji's performance was remarkably steady. Punch power: 1007kg; speed: 27m/s; neural reaction: excellent for a junior warrior!

Amidst the excitement and frustration of the other students, Wang Ji passed the prospective martial artist examination. Following this, he signed the application contract for the prospective martial artist combat test.

"This contract is so formal and tedious!" one student muttered.

The instructor glared at him: "This combat test isn't like today's exam! People actually die in that one! How could it not be formal? Do you have any idea how normal it is for a portion of candidates to die during a single combat test?"

Another instructor added: "While the mortality rate for the combat test is low, the disability rate is quite high." He then said in a low voice, "The martial artist combat test involves life-and-death struggles against monsters. Of course, this is just the most basic level of combat. When you eventually head into dangerous zones to hunt monsters on your own, the danger will be far more terrifying than this test. If you can't even pass this hurdle, you aren't qualified to be a martial artist."

The student shrank back, not daring to make another sound.

"Little Ji, you can head back on your own! Don't worry, you're already a prospective martial artist, so safety shouldn't be much of an issue! Remember to come to the dojo tomorrow morning!" Jiang Nian instructed.

Wang Ji nodded in acknowledgment. Then he asked, "Uncle Jiang, is it possible to go upstairs?"