Seize, Seize How Much?

The testers, including the second-tier martial artist Jing Yuan, all rose from their seats. For some, it was less of a standing motion and more of a spring; the muscular man in the tank top even tumbled right onto the floor.

Aisha couldn't help but cover her mouth in shock.

A trace of astonishment flickered in Lin Qingyan's clear eyes.

"Fo-forty-one thousand, two hundred and thirty-two?!"

Someone's voice trembled, sharp and shrill.

The entire room erupted instantly.

"Ho-how much?!"

"Holy crap, am I seeing things?!"

Someone rubbed their eyes, their expression vacant as they muttered, "Did I hallucinate from over-exertion?"

"A dozen points of vitality, yet over forty thousand in combat power—is this even human?"

"If he's human, I'll eat my hat."

"The machine must be broken, no doubt about it!"

Everyone in the testing area wore a look of horror, their gazes darting repeatedly between the numbers on the combat detector and the young man standing before it.

The staff member spoke in an equally trembling voice, "It, it might be a machine malfunction. Could you please test one more time?"

Jiang Yuan nodded and threw another punch.

Everyone stared intently.

Lin Qingyan grew serious this time as well.

When she saw Jiang Yuan's seemingly ordinary punch land on the combat testing machine, a look of shock and amazement crossed her beautiful face beneath the brim of her cap.

What incredible force-exertion technique!

The power was released and retracted through five—no, six—changes in an instant, finally condensing into a single point before exploding like a stone hitting the surface of a pond!

In terms of technique alone, it was on par with her own, and his perfect mastery of power left Lin Qingyan even more astonished.

"Bang!"

With a deafening boom, most people's hearts couldn't help but shudder.

"42,093."

The number that popped up as the combat testing machine vibrated and groaned was even higher than before.

Jiang Yuan wasn't surprised; after all, on his way here, he had distributed the 20 free attribute points gained from leveling up equally across his four basic stats. His strength had increased, and his damage output, after amplification, was higher than it had been at the Chongming Martial Arts Hall.

Seeing the number on the combat testing machine, the entire venue fell deathly silent. Everyone stood with vacant expressions, mouths agape, jaws practically hitting the floor, while the sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed one after another.

The way everyone looked at Jiang Yuan had changed; they were staring at him as if he were a monster.

Shock, horror, disbelief...

Some people's brains were buzzing, and they stared blankly at Jiang Yuan, their minds losing the ability to think as if deprived of oxygen.

Jing Yuan clenched his scarred fists, his eyes wide as he stared at the boy, a storm raging within his heart.

As a second-tier martial artist, his own full-power strike only reached a combat value of twenty thousand or so.

Yet, this high school student, who was young enough to be his own daughter and absurdly young at that, had already shocked everyone enough by breaking his limits to become a first-tier martial artist.

And his combat power was actually double his own!

Double!

Just thinking about it made the man's scalp tingle.

Not far away, Lin Qingyan looked at Jiang Yuan, her beautiful face turning solemn.

Unless she used her second talent, she couldn't reach forty thousand points of damage at her current stage.

Watching the tall, handsome youth in the center of the arena, Lin Qingyan felt a wave of confusion.

How had she never heard of a guy like this in her past life? Where did he even come from?

After a long silence in the spacious testing hall, someone managed to force out two words.

"Monster..."

Possessing such terrifying combat power at such a young age—if he wasn't a monster, what was he?

The muscular man in the tank top, now drenched in cold sweat, hunched his shoulders. All his previous arrogance had vanished, replaced by sheer panic. He prayed that Jiang Yuan wouldn't notice him and would just treat his earlier words like hot air.

"I passed, right?" Jiang Yuan asked the staff member, who was still in a daze.

She snapped back to reality and hurriedly replied, "Ye-yes, you passed. You have reached First-tier Martial Artist, LV2."

"This is your martial artist badge. Please, take it."

Jiang Yuan took the badge; it felt like a mix of gold and jade, and the texture was quite good.

"I would like to apply for that 100,000-yuan subsidy as well, just like her."

Jiang Yuan spoke, glancing at Lin Qingyan as their gazes met for a brief moment.

"N-no problem." The young female staff member nodded like a pecking chicken. "Please, you..."

"I'll handle this," Aisha said, walking over.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Aisha looked at Jiang Yuan, her beautiful eyes shimmering with intrigue. "To possess a peak combat power of over 40,000 as a Level 1 Martial Artist—Student Jiang, you really gave me a shock. I understand now why Yihan said what she did."

Peak combat power?

Jiang Yuan smiled, saying nothing.

If he were to unleash his full strength, he feared that many people present would be scared witless.

Watching Aisha lead Jiang Yuan and Lin Qingyan away, the crowd remained rooted to the spot, unable to recover for a long time.

It took quite a while for them to snap out of their frozen state.

"This is too absurd."

"A high school student, a Level 1 Martial Artist with 20 points of Vitality and 40,000 points of damage." Someone groaned. "Just what level of talent must he have awakened?"

"Could it be a legendary-class job advancement?"

"But the profile says he's an Assassin..."

"There's no way he's an Assassin... What kind of Assassin has such high attack power?"

"Exactly. If an Assassin with over 40,000 damage got close to you and landed a hit, who could withstand that?"

"He could probably treat me like a child if he hit me now. Once his Vitality reaches 100, wouldn't he be able to go toe-to-toe with a Level 3 Martial Artist?"

"It's unimaginable..."

"My daughter is a senior taking the entrance exams. If she could just break through 4 points of Vitality, I'd be overjoyed to get her into a martial arts university. Comparing people really just makes you want to die..."

"Why don't you consider that it's your own fault? Did you buy her supplements? Did you buy her advanced martial arts techniques?"

"..."

"Jiang Yuan? Never heard of him. Where did he pop out from?"

"No idea. Regardless, this year's Martial Arts College Entrance Exam is going to be worth watching."