Selection Underway

Lin Maoxian, already standing in the center of the parade ground, was unaware of the conversation Tiger and the others were having outside the field. Had he known, he would have earnestly told Tiger, "In my last world, I barely received any missions at all. It was simply due to my talent that I obtained more Source Points than the average adventurer."

Walking to the center of the grounds, Lin Maoxian noticed that there were not many people participating in the competition—not even half of the total adventurers, totaling at most around 40 people.

Lin Wu carefully counted the number of people standing in the center and found it to be an even number. He shouted to those below, "The number of participants is exactly even. Each of you, find an opponent at random and stand about a yard apart from each other. If you feel you are no match, you may concede loudly; otherwise, if you are killed, you can only blame your own bad luck. Now, group yourselves. Once you have found an opponent, you may begin fighting when I call out the start."

The adventurers below listened to Lin Wu and each found an opponent.

Lin Maoxian didn't pay much attention to it; he simply stood where he was, as in his view, it made no difference who his opponent was. Before long, a young-looking man stood about three meters away from him. Lin Maoxian used his Probe skill to check the man's attributes and found them to be quite average, with Strength and Stamina both reaching 13 points, and nothing else of note.

Seeing this man's stats, Lin Maoxian dismissed him from his mind. Against an opponent like this, if he didn't concede after one punch, he would simply follow up with another to send him to Yama.

Not long after, when Lin Maoxian heard the call to start, he immediately rushed toward his opponent while activating his Copper Skin skill, choosing the temporary +3 Strength bonus. With the speed granted by his 16 points of Agility, he reached his opponent in less than a second, covering the three-meter distance. Before the man could even react, Lin Maoxian sent him flying with a single punch.

"Bang!" The sound rang out, appearing jarringly loud in the silent parade ground.

The other groups, who had been preparing to attack their own opponents, were immediately drawn to the sound, wanting to see what had happened.

Lin Maoxian listened to the prompt from the space:

Adventurer dealt crushing damage to the target. Target lost (35-13)*3+10% = 72.6 HP. Current remaining HP: 130-72.6 = 57.4.

Just as he had expected, the man was indeed the type he would have to send to Yama if he didn't concede.

Thinking of this, Lin Maoxian said to the poor fellow still lying on the ground, "Kid, aren't you going to concede? Do you want me to follow up with another punch?" As he spoke, he shook his fist at him.

The man had been stunned when he heard the prompt from the space. How could an adventurer deal such terrifying damage to him? And it was a so-called double crushing blow—an effect that only occurred if the opponent's Strength was at least 20 points higher than his own. It was truly terrifying. Upon hearing Lin Maoxian's words, he ignored the pain in his body and hurriedly shouted, "I concede! I concede!"

Lin Wu was also stunned when he saw that scene. He had never expected that there would be such an expert among the new recruits. However, he was pleased; the stronger this person was, the easier his own mission would be. Upon hearing the man concede, he immediately said, "Good, this contestant is the winner. The other groups, continue the competition." After pointing at Lin Maoxian, he addressed the other groups that had quieted down in the center of the grounds.

The adventurers in the other groups only regained their senses after hearing Lin Wu's words. Although they were still shocked by the strength of that unknown adventurer, the task at hand was most important to them. They quickly refocused their attention on their own opponents.

The few people outside the field stared blankly at what had just happened. After a while, Shasha was the first to recover, saying to the other two, "Seeing this situation again, I still feel so shocked. Do you think if the Captain wanted to kill me, he would just one-shot me?"

Tiger, having regained his composure, said somewhat dejectedly, "I don't know if you'd be one-shot, but I know for sure you wouldn't survive a second punch. Even for me, it would only be one extra punch at most. Looking at the Captain's speed, I'm afraid I wouldn't even have a chance to run."

Eel, standing nearby, nodded in agreement. Although he was confident that his Agility attribute was higher than the Captain's, it was only by a few points, and his Stamina was relatively low; he couldn't maintain full-speed running for long. If the Captain wanted to kill him, he would at most be able to run a bit further and delay the inevitable for a moment.

Lin Maoxian stopped using the Copper Skin skill after hitting his opponent, as the skill could be activated at any time. Once his opponent conceded and the Centurion confirmed his victory, he turned his gaze toward the groups preparing to fight, wanting to see if there were any other powerful adventurers he could recruit into his team.

After watching for a while, he realized that since all the adventurers had only experienced one mission world, no one had any flashy skills. Lin Maoxian couldn't use his Probe skill on everyone, so he didn't know whose attributes were better. He decided to wait until this round of the competition was over.

Lin Maoxian waited a short while longer before the adventurers began to finish their fights one after another. Those who realized they were outmatched generally didn't hold on and conceded quite readily; there was no real loss in doing so.

After all the adventurers had finished their matches, Lin Wu stood up and said to the center of the grounds, "Alright, those who lost, head outside the parade ground." Once they had left, he continued, "Since there are exactly twenty-four winners left, you will divide into twelve groups. Next, find your opponents yourselves. The old rules apply: the loser leaves the field, and the winner continues to fight."

After Lin Wu's words fell, everyone began looking for opponents, but they all tacitly stayed away from Lin Maoxian, clearly not wanting to spar with him. However, since everyone had the same idea, it was inevitable that one adventurer would be the unlucky one.

No one wanted to be that unlucky person. After all, judging by the attribute bonuses of the soldiers, the bonus for a Squad Leader should be even greater, and everyone coveted that position. Naturally, they had to avoid the strong. In their eyes, Lin Maoxian's performance marked him as a powerhouse, so avoiding him was a matter of course.

After waiting a while, Lin Wu saw a group of three standing in a standoff, with no one willing to fight the strong one. He had no choice but to point at one of them and say, "You, go over there and fight that person."

The man replied with some resentment, "Why me? Can't the other two do it?"

Regarding his words, Lin Wu said impatiently, "I said it's you, so it's you. If you don't go over and fight, I will immediately judge that you have conceded. I am the highest authority here, and what I say goes. I don't know where you get all this nonsense." Lin Wu found this ignorant new recruit hard to understand; to dare to question a superior's decision in the army—if it weren't for these special times, he would definitely have taught him a lesson.

Upon hearing Lin Wu's words, the man had no choice but to say helplessly, "Then I'll just concede." As he spoke, he walked toward the outside of the parade ground. He didn't think he was much stronger than the previous person, and if that guy suddenly went on a rampage and wanted to kill him, he would have nowhere to air his grievances.

"Very well, then this contestant is the winner. The other groups, continue the competition." Lin Wu first pointed at Lin Maoxian, then addressed the others.

Lin Maoxian, who had won without a fight, just shrugged at the result. He wasn't surprised by the victory, though he hadn't expected the man to concede directly. He didn't know that the man was simply afraid of him suddenly going on a rampage and finishing him off.

Lin Maoxian stood there bored for a while longer, until the other groups finished their fights one after another.

Seeing that the losers had all left the parade ground, Lin Wu said to the remaining people on the high platform, "Alright, there are now twelve people left. Since the Squad Leader position only selects ten, two more must be eliminated. However, this time I will take action myself. Whoever sustains the least injury from one of my punches will become a Squad Leader. Of course, if you believe you are skilled in speed or the like, you may also dodge my attacks; that will also qualify you to be a Squad Leader. As for the two who fail, don't be discouraged; you still have a chance. You can choose two of the ten Squad Leaders to challenge, and the winner will become the Squad Leader."

After Lin Wu finished speaking, he said to Lin Maoxian, who was standing in the field, "Then let's start with you, the strongest. Let me see how much strength you have." As he spoke, he jumped to a spot about three meters away from Lin Maoxian.

Lin Maoxian felt a stir in his heart upon hearing Lin Wu's words; he also wanted to know just how strong a Centurion was. Because he feared that the Centurion's perception was too high and that he might discover his Probe skill, leading to negative consequences, Lin Maoxian had not yet used his skill to check the Centurion's attributes. This was the perfect opportunity to test his Strength attribute and see how it compared to his own when his skills were active.

Lin Wu looked at the man with the solemn expression in front of him and said with a smile, "Kid, are you ready? I'm about to start." As he spoke, he shook his fist.

Lin Maoxian looked at the smiling Centurion and dared not be the least bit negligent. He immediately activated his Copper Skin and Iron Bone skills. After selecting the +3 Strength and +3 Stamina bonuses, he checked his attributes and found that his Strength had become 35 points and his Stamina had become 31 points. He believed that even if the Centurion was very strong, with his current attributes, he would definitely not sustain any serious injury.