The Not-So-Simple Basement

Follow me. We're heading to the school gate to catch a bus."

As soon as the principal finished speaking, the teachers maintaining order began calling out.

Clearly, these teachers had been notified in advance, and they once again took on the role of guides.

"Tianyu, where do you think they're taking us? Why do I have such a strange feeling about this?"

Chen Yongguo followed beside Wang Tianyu, frowning as he looked at him.

Wang Tianyu did not know much more than Chen Yongguo, so he shook his head.

"I don't know either, but it should be related to the Martial Arts Class."

The eliminated students had all been sent back to their classrooms. Now, only those who had qualified, like Wang Tianyu and the others, were being taken to complete this so-called task.

No matter how he looked at it, what came next had to be related to the Martial Arts Class assessment.

Could it be that the assessment isn't over yet?

Wang Tianyu muttered to himself.

Five coaches were already parked at the school gate, and Wang Tianyu and the others were orderly arranged onto them.

"Brother, could the two of us switch seats? I have something to discuss with my friend."

The one speaking was Chen Yongguo. He had not been assigned to the same row as Wang Tianyu, so he was currently negotiating with the boy seated beside Wang Tianyu.

Although the boy also wanted to use this opportunity to chat more with Wang Tianyu, this clearly was not a good time.

The boy looked at Wang Tianyu, then at Chen Yongguo, and slowly nodded.

"Alright, you can sit here."

"Thanks, sorry for the trouble, brother."

Chen Yongguo was very polite. Seeing the boy agree to his request, he quickly voiced his thanks.

The boy who gave up his seat smiled and said as he stood, "It's nothing. We're all classmates, no need to make a fuss."

After the boy left, Chen Yongguo dropped heavily into the seat beside Wang Tianyu.

The moment Chen Yongguo's massive frame sat down, Wang Tianyu immediately felt cramped.

"I'm telling you, your build is way too huge. You're only eighteen—aren't you going to grow to two meters tall or something?"

Wang Tianyu looked at Chen Yongguo, his tone teasing.

Hearing that, Chen Yongguo immediately replied, "What's two meters? My goal is to grow to two point three meters. By then, you'll only come up to my armpit, and I'll be able to lift you with one hand. Hahaha!"

Having passed the test, Chen Yongguo was in an excellent mood.

"Two point three meters? If you really grow that tall, how tall a wife will you need to find? Don't grow too tall—if you get too tall, you won't be able to find a wife. Hahaha."

Amid Wang Tianyu's joking laughter, the coach slowly began to move.

"What the hell do you know? Girls all like tall, strong men. Do you even understand a sense of security? Who knows how many girls at school have crushes on me. It's just that I have high standards. I want a martial artist girlfriend. If I were less picky, I'd have already..."

Chen Yongguo wore an expression that said countless people secretly admired him, but he simply could not be bothered with them.

"Someone has a crush on you? Give me a break. Tell me, who has such terrible taste?"

"What do you mean, terrible taste? That's called having excellent taste, alright?"

The coach continued onward, only slowing down after nearly an hour.

In the end, it stopped in front of a very tall building.

"What are we doing here? It doesn't even look like there are many people here!"

No one came to explain Chen Yongguo's confusion.

After getting off the coach, Wang Tianyu and the others were not led upstairs into the building.

Following the teacher leading them, Wang Tianyu and the others headed underground.

"The third basement level? What are we doing here?"

Wang Tianyu observed the surroundings all the way, and the more he saw, the stranger it felt.

On the third basement level, the lights overhead were extremely dim. The underground environment, coupled with that murky lighting, gave Wang Tianyu an oppressive feeling.

Just as Wang Tianyu and the others had lined up in formation, three young people came down the stairs.

All three looked young, seemingly only a little older than Wang Tianyu and the others.

After the three entered, the teachers who had been maintaining order silently left the basement via the stairs.

"Hello, everyone. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Su Pengfei. I used to be a student at Second High School too, but that was in the past. Now, I'm your class supervisor."

The speaker was the leader among the three young people.

"These two are my teammates, Xie Shanqi and Xue Xiaolei."

The two who had been introduced merely nodded lightly without saying anything.

Looking at Wang Tianyu and the others below, Su Pengfei continued, "I'm sure you're all wondering why you were brought here. I won't waste words. I'll tell you why right now."

"Do many of you think that after passing the punch-strength test, all you need to do is study at Martial Arts University for a while, and then you can become martial artists? Your thinking is too simple. Though, to be honest, I thought the same way back then. Hahaha."

Su Pengfei first mocked himself, then continued.

"Becoming a martial artist is not such a simple matter. Right now, you haven't even earned the qualifications for the Martial Arts Class, much less Martial Arts University or becoming martial artists."

Su Pengfei's words revealed a great deal of information, but Wang Tianyu seized upon one important point.

The Martial Arts Class selection was not over yet. This place was very likely related to the next test.

"Martial artists' cultivation is not as simple as you imagine. A martial artist's life is not as glorious as you fantasize, either. If you're not cut from that cloth, being an ordinary person will be far happier than being a martial artist."

Su Pengfei shook his head, his tone becoming more serious.

"Enough of that. Let me first see whether you have what it takes to become martial artists."

Wang Tianyu looked at Chen Yongguo and said, "Be careful. I have a feeling what comes next won't be simple."

Chen Yongguo nodded. "Yeah. The two of us should stick together later. If something happens, we can look out for each other."

"Alright."

But Su Pengfei's next words shattered Wang Tianyu and Chen Yongguo's plan to team up.

"Do you see the iron door behind me? There are many empty rooms behind it. Each of you, choose a room and go in. There's something good waiting for you inside."

When he said the words "something good," Su Pengfei even gave a malicious smile.

After saying that, Su Pengfei opened the iron door behind him.

Through the iron door, Wang Tianyu saw a row of rooms with their doors open.

The rooms were built along a central corridor, laid out much like a hotel.

Then, under the lead of Su Pengfei and the other two, Wang Tianyu and the others each chose a room.

As soon as someone entered a room, its previously open door automatically shut at once.

Wang Tianyu also chose a room and entered.

Likewise, the instant Wang Tianyu entered, the door behind him automatically closed.

Wang Tianyu had not even had time to inspect what was in the room when a powerful beam of light forced him to shield his eyes.

As the intense light faded, Wang Tianyu finally saw what was inside the room.

The instant he saw it, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

The entire room was bare and empty, without a single unnecessary object. Apart from Wang Tianyu himself, there was only one thing in the room.

That thing was a sturdy iron cage. Naturally, the iron cage itself was not what made Wang Tianyu break out in a cold sweat.

What made him sweat was what was inside it: a massive gray wolf.

The giant wolf was about one and a half meters long, with a shoulder height of nearly one meter.

Its sharp claws and fangs looked even more menacing beneath the lights.

If such a giant wolf had been locked inside an iron cage, that would have been one thing.

If it were a caged beast, Wang Tianyu might even have curiously approached to take a look.

A caged beast was nothing to fear!

But at this moment, the wolf before Wang Tianyu was indeed in a cage. Yet the iron cage holding it was useless, because its door stood wide open.

The gray giant wolf seemed to have had its eyes irritated by the bright light as well.

Now that it had recovered, it too noticed Wang Tianyu's presence.

There was no howl, no roar. The giant wolf bared its jaws, walked straight out of the cage, and closed in on Wang Tianyu.

Wang Tianyu could even see its saliva dripping onto the floor.

Clearly, this giant wolf possessed an intense desire to attack. It was not some tame zoo animal.

After leaving the cage, the giant wolf immediately assumed an attacking stance.

It was Wang Tianyu's first time encountering such a situation. Looking at the wolf's enormous body, Wang Tianyu's first reaction was very real.

"Run!"

His body honestly obeyed his instincts. Wang Tianyu hurried to the door, trying to open it.

Wang Tianyu violently shook the door handle, only to discover that the door had been locked from the outside. No matter what he did, it would not open.