The gate facing the city ruins opened.
Over a thousand young people charged inside in three groups.
The first consisted of youths with absolute confidence in their own strength, naturally holding trump cards in reserve.
The second was a more levelheaded group. They did not enter quickly, but they were extremely cautious.
As for the third, it all came down to fate and luck. Although these youths also had the strength of prospective martial artists,
they clearly had never experienced a real life-and-death fight. When they actually faced Demon Beasts,
they might well be so frightened that they could not bring out even a tenth of their strength.
Chu Tiannan naturally entered with the third group. When he was the last to go inside, the enormous gate behind him slowly closed.
"What a huge city..." Only after the thousand-strong crowd surged into the city ruins did Chu Tiannan realize that, once everyone scattered, there seemed to be very few people around.
Roar!
Perhaps because of the sudden prospective martial artist assessment, the furious roars of numerous Demon Beasts rang out in the distance from time to time.
Whoosh! Just as Chu Tiannan swept his gaze around, a black shadow hurtled toward him at incredible speed.
Sharp black claws seemed capable of tearing through a human body as they descended upon the black-clad youth.
Slash!
A cold gleam flashed past with dazzling speed, and the black figure that had been so ferocious a moment earlier was instantly cut in two.
Blood splattered onto the ground.
Chu Tiannan saw a "1" appear on the black wristband on his wrist, indicating that he had killed one Demon Beast.
"Kill five Demon Beasts to qualify?" Knowing the requirement for passing the assessment, Chu Tiannan returned his longsword to his back. The corners of his lips lifted slightly, and his eyes filled with excitement.
"That's nowhere near enough for me. I need to really consolidate my combat strength."
With that, Chu Tiannan fixed his gaze in one direction and quickly vanished into the vast city ruins.
Inside the East Martial Arts Hall's camp.
When the gray-robed figure looked at the screen, he naturally saw Chu Tiannan kill the cat demon with a single slash and nodded slightly.
"This youngster has very solid fundamentals."
"Deputy Hall Master, Chu Tiannan is self-taught. Before he signed the contract, he already had the strength of a junior martial master," Wang Jinhai said, cupping his hands.
"A junior martial master?" A trace of surprise flashed through Deputy Hall Master Li Dongjie's eyes before he smiled.
"Jinhai, you've made a real contribution this time. If those fellows at the North Martial Arts Hall find out, their expressions will surely be quite a sight."
"Doing my utmost for the East Martial Arts Hall is my duty!" Such praise from Li Dongjie was rare, and Wang Jinhai's heart immediately surged with excitement.
In contrast to the East Martial Arts Hall, inside the North Martial Arts Hall's camp,
the atmosphere was somewhat gloomy.
"This Chu Tiannan killed a cat demon so cleanly and decisively. I'm afraid he's more than a mere martial artist."
A purple-robed man spoke with a slight frown. Everyone around him was exceedingly respectful, including Cao Fang from earlier, who could not help speaking up.
"Deputy Hall Master, this was my oversight. The East Martial Arts Hall got him." Although Cao Fang said this, inwardly, he disagreed.
He's just a kid who taught himself to become a martial artist. Surely he doesn't warrant the higher-ups' attention?
"One clean slash, without the slightest hesitation. I'm afraid..." The purple-robed figure sighed and said slowly,
"he's already surpassed the martial artist level."
"This..." Cao Fang looked startled at those words. Beyond a martial artist? Wouldn't that make him a martial master?
The purple-robed man shook his head slightly and looked at Cao Fang.
"For a self-taught youngster to reach the martial master level, with guidance from a powerful expert as well, his chances of becoming a martial grandmaster are extremely high."
"Then I'll hurry and apply to the higher-ups for a better contract. After all, this Chu Tiannan is from my South District. We can't just let the East Martial Arts Hall take him away!"
As Cao Fang spoke, he made to turn and leave. It was no wonder he was anxious.
Self-taught geniuses were not unheard of on Earth, but someone who could attain the martial master level through their own cultivation
was already a genius among geniuses. Once Chu Tiannan received better training,
it would be no exaggeration to say that his future achievements would soar.
That talent was enough for the North Martial Arts Hall to pay a hefty price to recruit him.
"There's no hurry." The purple-robed man instead waved a hand and said, "Let's watch this youngster first."
"You're right, Deputy Hall Master. After all, we also have prospective martial artists whom we recruited in advance this time..." Cao Fang said at once.
"The youngsters we recruited in advance might not fall short of Chu Tiannan in talent, but they lack that ruthlessness of his."
Although the purple-robed figure thought highly of his own people, he still shook his head.
"You're absolutely right, Deputy Hall Master!" Cao Fang echoed.
"I don't expect our youngsters to catch up to Chu Tiannan this time. It'll be enough if they can outperform the other few whom the East Martial Arts Hall recruited in advance," the purple-robed man said.
Cao Fang smiled bitterly inwardly at that, but dared not say anything more, afraid of displeasing the important figure before him.
"Chu Tiannan..."
Looking at the screen, the man's eyes flashed with a brilliant light as he said with a soft chuckle,
"Let's see whether he's worth recruiting at any cost!"