The Mysterious Tower

Facing Xing Taisen's praise, Li Xin smiled, but inwardly, she was no less astonished than Xing Taisen and the others.

It was true that Lin Xuan had been brought by her to take part in the assessment, and because he had saved Duo Duo, she had always publicly claimed that Lin Xuan was one of her younger relatives.

But even she had never truly believed that Lin Xuan could pass the assessment.

Yet when she saw that Lin Xuan remained unaffected even under Vice Dean Pei's Martial Soul Domain, she was genuinely shocked.

Of course, she knew Vice Dean Pei had not used his full strength. Otherwise, let alone those youngsters, even the few of them would not have been able to remain unaffected.

But even without going all out, one-third of the candidates had been eliminated outright, including Xiang Beifeng, whom Gao Yang had previously thought most highly of.

Xiang Beifeng was not from some prominent family, and his background was quite ordinary, but he possessed an extraordinary adaptability toward weapons.

Especially after becoming a Mechanical Modifier, he could adapt to altered combat styles at the fastest possible speed. He was undoubtedly a true genius!

At the age of twelve, he was already a reserve member of the Crimson Flame Tianhai Branch, and Gao Yang had personally recommended him for this assessment.

Who would have thought that the very first test would strike right at his weakness and eliminate him?

"Looks like your judgment isn't all that great, Gao Blockhead."

Tong Jincheng floated over to Gao Yang's side, a gloating expression appearing on his face.

"Shorty, you think I didn't see that three of the people you brought were eliminated too?" Gao Yang shot back without mercy.

"Even if three were eliminated, I still have seven left, and they're the strongest seven. Unlike certain people, whose trump card is already gone. Tsk, tsk..."

Tong Jincheng was not angered by the retort and continued speaking in a mocking tone.

Clearly, Tong Jincheng had already learned about Xiang Beifeng's situation and knew that he had been personally recommended by Gao Yang.

As old rivals, he had rushed over to ridicule him at the first opportunity.

Gao Yang had not really taken it to heart at first, but after Tong Jincheng's sarcastic remarks, he found it a little hard to save face.

"Stop arguing. They'll all be eliminated in the end anyway. Why should fifty steps laugh at a hundred?"

A somewhat lonely voice came from behind them.

The moment Gao Yang and Tong Jincheng heard that voice, both their faces darkened, and they immediately turned around.

The owner of that voice was a middle-aged man in a brown suit, holding a glass of red wine. Judging from his appearance alone, he was indeed outrageously flamboyant.

Whether it was the bald and muscular Gao Yang or Tong Jincheng, who looked like a half-grown child, both seemed rather abnormal in comparison to him.

His name was Wang Chongzu, captain of the Crimson Flame Headquarters' Seventh Special Operations Team.

His authority level was comparable to Gao Yang's and Tong Jincheng's, while his standing within Crimson Flame was no lower than theirs.

Of course, the main reason he had suddenly begun mocking everyone was that he, Gao Yang, and Tong Jincheng had originally belonged to the same group.

Whenever the three got together, they could not help but trade barbs.

"Wang Chongzu, don't get happy too early. Your disciple may indeed be a prodigy, but you only recommended one person. If he gets eliminated, let's see whether you can still laugh!" Tong Jincheng snorted.

"Quality over quantity. What era are we living in? Little Tong, that outdated way of thinking won't do." Wang Chongzu took a flamboyant sip of wine.

"Which one is his disciple?" Gao Yang was clearly not very well informed.

"That boy in the undersized suit, I think his name is Xie Yi? He's only nine this year, but apparently his strength is already enough to get into the Five Great Academies."

Tong Jincheng pointed him out to Gao Yang, and Gao Yang was also stunned when he heard that.

At nine years old, if he was already qualified to enter the Five Great Academies, didn't that mean he was at least a Martial Artist who had just entered the Third Realm?

Even if Xiang Beifeng had not been eliminated due to his weakness of will, he would most likely have been no match for such a little monster in an actual fight—and he was several years older, too.

No wonder Wang Chongzu had seemed so calm.

"Enough arguing. The next test is about to begin." Li Xin had already turned her attention back to the ongoing assessment.

At this moment, at least ten miniature aerial cameras were livestreaming the assessment from different angles, their footage projected before everyone.

Wang Chongzu was obviously familiar with Li Xin as well. After her reminder, he smiled faintly.

"Long time no see, Third Sister. Once the assessment is over, would you be interested in... Holy shit, why is that tower here?!"

Wang Chongzu's gentlemanly facade, which he had maintained for so long, completely collapsed in an instant.

He accidentally crushed the wineglass in his hand, splashing red wine all over himself, but he had no time to care.

He could only stare at the aerial camera's footage in shock.

Meanwhile.

The remaining candidates followed behind Vice Dean Pei and soon arrived before a tall tower.

Looking at the tower standing ahead, Lin Xuan and the others did not find it particularly surprising. They simply did not understand why they had come here.

Vice Dean Pei offered no explanation and merely headed straight toward an entrance on the side of the tower.

The candidates had only recently been intimidated by Vice Dean Pei's Martial Soul Domain, so none of them dared ask questions. They quickly followed after him.

Inside the tower's entrance was a spiraling staircase that seemed to wind around the tower's interior.

The incline was not particularly steep, no more than that of an ordinary staircase.

Vice Dean Pei, walking at the front, had already begun heading upstairs at an unhurried pace.

Lin Xuan and the others quickly followed.

More than ten minutes later.

Some of the candidates had already begun running out of stamina. Dripping with sweat, they trailed at the very back of the group, needing to brace themselves against the wall just to keep up.

If this continued, however, they would soon be left farther and farther behind by the main group ahead.

Most of the candidates were still doing fine for the moment, especially those who were already Martial Artists. Their stamina was far beyond that of their peers.

There were even some freaks who became more energetic the higher they climbed—

"You are persistently climbing stairs. Toddling proficiency +1"

"You are climbing stairs at varying speeds. Toddling proficiency +1, Constitution +0.01"

"Originally, I thought True Meaning Five Elements Fist and True Meaning Swimming Dragon Step would break through first. Now it looks like Toddling might break through before them?"

Seeing that Toddling's advancement progress bar on the panel had already passed nine hundred, Lin Xuan was surprised and could not help feeling a little excited!

For some reason, climbing stairs was far more effective for him now than his usual desperate training.

To maximize the effects of his training, he would sometimes even deliberately add weight to increase the difficulty.

Yet even weighted training was not as effective as climbing stairs now, which was undoubtedly strange.

But he had no time to figure out why.

Since it worked, he naturally had to seize this chance and grind like mad!