A day passed in the blink of an eye.
On just his first day, Chu Tiannan had already followed the map out of the assessment's outer zone.
"The core zone is still a day away. There'll be more Demon Beasts there, too. That's probably where I need to be."
Chu Tiannan looked at the gradually darkening sky as he analyzed the situation.
After advancing all day, Chu Tiannan did not know whether he had started too late or there were simply too few Demon Beasts on the outskirts.
He had killed only three pig demons and two cat demons in an entire day. That pace left him speechless.
Had anyone known what Chu Tiannan was thinking, they would probably have bled from all seven orifices in fury.
Many Prospective Martial Artists had to be extremely careful just to kill a single Demon Beast, yet Chu Tiannan had killed five in one day.
That pace might not have been heaven-defying, but it was still extremely fast.
As Chu Tiannan advanced, he occasionally caught a faint scent of blood in the air.
"Someone died..." Human blood was easy to distinguish from Demon Beast blood, and Chu Tiannan had indeed seen the corpses of Prospective Martial Artists along the way.
There were two or three scattered corpses, but none were intact.
They had clearly been gnawed on by Demon Beasts.
Chu Tiannan could not help shaking his head. This was the cruel reality.
If you wanted to rise above others, earn respect, and improve your standing, you had to be prepared to die at any moment.
The outskirts of the ruined city were merely a practice ground for Prospective Martial Artists, so the Demon Beasts there were only at the junior soldier level, and their numbers were relatively small.
Moreover, the Prospective Martial Artists who had set out full of confidence had already pushed far ahead, killing most of the Demon Beasts along the way.
Naturally, very few Demon Beasts remained, but even so...
Prospective Martial Artists still died. That alone showed just how dangerous this assessment was.
"Or perhaps... this Martial Artist assessment is merely meant to weed out those unsuited to becoming Martial Artists." Chu Tiannan shook his head slightly at the thought.
Passing the Prospective Martial Artist assessment brought an instant, tremendous change in status. When one person rose, the whole family benefited.
But failure meant either permanent disqualification from taking the assessment or death!
These poor young people had struggled for over ten years, even twenty, yet before their lives could blossom in splendor...
They had already withered.
Ding!
Just as Chu Tiannan was sighing inwardly, a faint alarm sounded from the black bracelet on his wrist.
"Someone's approaching me?" Chu Tiannan raised an eyebrow. Seeing several dots of light gradually approaching on the detection map, he shook his head with a smile.
"Don't tell me someone else wants me to join their team?"
Within this Martial Artist assessment area, the military's rules imposed no restrictions.
For instance, weaker Martial Artists could team up and cooperate. Whether in fighting strength or efficiency...
They far surpassed what one person could achieve.
Earlier, when Chu Tiannan had killed two pig demons in one go, two young men had witnessed it and enthusiastically invited him to join them.
But he had naturally refused. After all, Chu Tiannan did not yet want to expose his strength.
I'll leave before they get here. Having made up his mind, Chu Tiannan changed direction and left.
"Hm?" Just then, Chu Tiannan distinctly sensed a pair of eyes watching him from the darkness, and he frowned.
"Who's there? Come out!"
Several scattered figures slowly emerged from the shadows of the ruins.
The young man leading them wore a light brown E-grade combat suit. He looked calmly at Chu Tiannan and smiled.
"Brother, you're remarkably alert. Don't be nervous. We merely want to recruit you."
Hearing this, Chu Tiannan frowned slightly. Looking at the small team of no fewer than seven people nearby, he slowly shook his head.
"Not interested!" With that, he turned to leave.
"Heh, you really don't give us any face, brat. You won't even consider Brother Liu Cheng's invitation." Seeing their recruitment attempt fail, one of the young men sneered.
Under Liu Cheng's calm gaze, the other young men immediately surrounded Chu Tiannan, blocking his path.
"What's the meaning of this?" Facing these fellows whose strength was only at the junior martial artist level, Chu Tiannan truly could not muster the slightest interest.
"Nothing much. Let me introduce myself." The young man in light brown slowly walked over.
Then he looked at Chu Tiannan with a faint smile and said, "Since you won't join us, this is my territory-Liu Cheng's territory. Pay the toll!"
"A toll?" At those words, Chu Tiannan immediately understood. Recruiting him to their team probably had not been their true intention.
Instead, they had their eyes on the "5" displayed on his bracelet.
Looks like the military hasn't forbidden Martial Artists from killing one another to seize their scores... Chu Tiannan knew these people were here to rob him.
If he refused, they would very likely kill him.
Even if they committed murder, they would not be punished by the military's system.
But which of the life-and-death situations Chu Tiannan had experienced had not been more intense than this? Was he the sort to be afraid?
"Lucky bastard. You actually killed five Demon Beasts by yourself. Too bad that no matter how strong you are, you're only one person, while there are plenty of us."
The other young men approached with gleaming eyes, each wearing a cold sneer.
Clearly, they had no intention of letting such a fat piece of meat as Chu Tiannan slip away!
At the sight, Chu Tiannan's expression remained calm, but inwardly, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.
He had not even gone to rob anyone else, yet someone had already set their sights on him!
Chu Tiannan smiled faintly. Without even drawing his sword, he swept his gaze over the steadily approaching group and said casually,
"Just as well. I was worrying about having no targets to practice on..."