Combat Assessment

The combat assessment was about to begin.

Xu Qing put on his combat uniform, took his bow, slung his quiver over his back, and joined the other Quasi-Martial Artists as they followed the soldiers to a spot outside a small town.

The small town was the site of this combat assessment.

Barbed wire surrounded the town, and numerous soldiers patrolled the perimeter with guns in hand.

Outside the town, Xu Qing and the others could hear beasts roaring within. There was no doubt that they had released a large number of assessment monsters inside.

"Everyone, this combat assessment will follow the usual schedule. It will begin at six thirty tonight and end at six thirty tomorrow morning, lasting a total of twelve hours."

"The more monsters you kill, the higher your score. For every monster you kill, you must cut off its left ear as proof. Otherwise, the kill won't count."

"Fighting among yourselves is prohibited..."

An officer explained the rules of the combat assessment to Xu Qing and the others.

According to the officer, surveillance cameras covered the entire town. Quasi-Martial Artists were forbidden from fighting one another, and only those who ranked in the top sixty percent would earn their Martial Artist qualification.

In other words, forty percent of them would be eliminated.

Hmm, the elimination rate was pretty low, Xu Qing thought. After all, only forty percent would be eliminated.

The officer also reminded them that killing three monsters was generally enough to pass. If contestants had the same score, their rankings would be determined by how long they took and how badly they were injured.

So, once they had met their target, they could leave the town early.

If they couldn't defeat a monster and were seriously injured, they should press the distress button on their Communication Watch. Someone would come to rescue them, but that would also mean they were eliminated.

"Three kills are enough to pass. To be safe, I'll kill four. Yeah, that's what I'll do," Xu Qing decided.

"All right, all Quasi-Martial Artists, enter the town and begin the combat assessment!"

At the officer's command, Xu Qing and the others surged into the town. More than a thousand people quickly scattered after entering.

The gates closed, and the Martial Artist Combat Assessment officially began.

Xu Qing picked a direction at random and sprinted off.

Night soon fell.

Xu Qing appeared inside an abandoned house. He knew there were cameras everywhere, so he tried to avoid them as much as possible to keep from drawing attention.

He released his Spiritual Force, sensing everything within a hundred meters.

"Found one—a big cat." Xu Qing immediately locked onto a monster. It was the lowest grade, about as strong as a Beginner Warrior.

The big cat had grayish-white fur and was half a meter long, like an oversized house cat. But its claws were sharp, and it moved quickly.

This catlike monster was called a Shadow Cat. It excelled at speed, and Beginner Warriors could barely keep up with it.

Xu Qing crept closer. The Shadow Cat was crouched on the eaves of an abandoned house, poised to pounce. Its pupils glinted coldly as it waited to ambush any human who passed by.

The area was clear, so Xu Qing began drawing his bow from a hundred meters away. At that distance, he could hit his target every time.

"I'll aim for the head." Xu Qing took aim at the Shadow Cat's head, then released the bowstring.

The arrow hissed through the darkness, its sound jarringly loud. The Shadow Cat crouching on the eaves seemed to hear it. Its ears pricked up as it looked around.

But in the next instant, its head was pierced, and it fell from the eaves.

"Hit." Xu Qing immediately ran over to the Shadow Cat's body.

He examined the corpse. The arrow had pierced its head, killing it in one shot, and gone straight through without getting stuck.

It felt a little like hunting, but nothing special. Xu Qing took out his dagger, cut off the Shadow Cat's left ear, and put it in his backpack.

"Three more kills, and I'm done." Xu Qing was full of confidence.

After that, Xu Qing used the same method to shoot a Tiger Mastiff, an Iron-Haired Boar, and another Shadow Cat.

The entire process took him only an hour. Thanks to his Spiritual Force, he could easily avoid the other Quasi-Martial Artists and find targets to hunt. It was incredibly convenient.

"Objective complete. Now I just have to wait for the assessment to end. I should find somewhere to rest," Xu Qing thought.

He then found an abandoned flat-roofed building near the edge of town, close to the barbed wire. Soldiers patrolled outside, and beams of light swept past every so often.

Xu Qing figured this had to be the safest place. The monsters wouldn't come anywhere near it.

Besides, the flat-roofed building had partially collapsed, leaving only a narrow gap to crawl through. The monsters definitely couldn't squeeze inside, and even if one came, it would make a lot of noise.

After crawling through the gap, Xu Qing set down his bow and quiver, lay down on the ground, and closed his eyes.

While Xu Qing was already turning in early, the other Quasi-Martial Artists in town were still using their wits to battle the monsters.

At six thirty in the morning, an ear-piercing alarm blared throughout the town. A man's voice also rang out through the loudspeakers. "Time's up. All Quasi-Martial Artists, report to the town exit immediately."

Xu Qing woke up inside the flat-roofed building and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He knew the assessment was over.

Just as he'd expected, no monsters had bothered him during the night.

He picked up his quiver and bow, then crawled out through the gap.

"Huh?" At that moment, several soldiers on patrol happened to be passing the barbed wire and saw Xu Qing crawling out of the abandoned flat-roofed building.

Xu Qing made eye contact with them, and the scene turned a little awkward.

Still, Xu Qing climbed out without a hint of urgency, then waved at the soldiers. "Good morning!"

The soldiers stared at him, unsure whether they should respond. It would feel awkward to answer, but rude not to.

They really wanted to know how Xu Qing had gotten in there—and when he had gone inside.

"Thanks for your hard work on patrol. Bye!" Xu Qing waved and jogged away.

Watching Xu Qing's back, the soldiers exchanged bewildered looks. "She... should be one of the Quasi-Martial Artists taking the assessment, right?"

"Of course. Didn't you see his combat uniform? It's the one our military district handed out."

"Why'd he crawl out of there? Wasn't he supposed to hunt monsters? Did he spend the whole night hiding in there?"

"Maybe the poor girl got scared when he saw the monsters and hid. Still, she was pretty smart to find a spot like that. Even if he gets eliminated, at least he wasn't hurt."

"That's true. The girl looks pretty young to me. I wonder if she's even eighteen..."

The soldiers chatted on and off.

Meanwhile, at the town exit, several officers sat at computers, recording the assessment results.

Many Quasi-Martial Artists came out. Almost all of them were covered in blood, and some were injured and being helped along by their friends.