On the outskirts of the city ruins.
Under the cover of night, several young men had gathered on a quiet road through the ruins.
They were divided into two sides.
One side had far more people, but their faces were now filled with disbelief.
The other side consisted of just one person. The young man wore black, his gaze calm, though a sharp gleam flashed through it from time to time.
His right hand hung naturally at his side, holding a sword, while his left held up a terrified figure.
Clang!
It was the sound of a saber hitting the ground. The young man in brown, held aloft, was utterly powerless to resist. He stared in terror at the calm young man before him.
His face filled with disbelief as he exclaimed in horror.
"That's impossible!"
Seeing Liu Cheng subdued in an instant by the young man in black, the others, who had been about to swarm him, froze in bewilderment. As they stared at him, they could not help feeling horrified.
These young men who robbed others of their scores understood that they had kicked an iron plate this time.
Chu Tiannan looked at the terrified young man he held before him and gave an intrigued grin.
"Advanced Martial Artist level? Is that all you've got?"
As he spoke, Chu Tiannan gained a rough understanding of the different levels of strength.
It looks like I can subdue an Advanced Martial Artist without lifting a finger. Beating a Peak Martial Artist probably won't take much effort.
Liu Cheng felt like crying. Where was his earlier air of a big shot now?
He did not even dare move, afraid that the unfamiliar young man before him would end his life in an instant.
After all, even if Martial Artists killed one another in these city ruins, the forces outside and the military would not punish them.
"I'm sorry... I... I failed to recognize Mount Tai. I didn't mean to offend you. Please show mercy, big brother, and spare me this once."
Liu Cheng's face flushed as he said this. He had no fight left in him, and his face showed nothing but terror.
Liu Cheng considered himself a reasonably talented young Martial Artist. If things had followed their normal course, he would have had no trouble qualifying.
Yet he had blindly provoked Chu Tiannan. Now he was in deep trouble. Not only would he fail to get any scores, but he might even lose his life.
This time, Liu Cheng finally understood that if you lived that life, sooner or later you had to pay. Before, he had controlled the lives of weaker Martial Artists.
Now someone could decide his life or death at any moment. Liu Cheng and Chu Tiannan were simply not on the same level.
Hearing this, Chu Tiannan continued to gaze calmly at Liu Cheng.
Though he said nothing, that silent stare completely shattered the last of Liu Cheng's mental defenses.
"Big brother..."
Thud!
Chu Tiannan tossed Liu Cheng straight to the ground, then pressed his sword against the young man's neck and said indifferently.
"Hand over all your scores, then call for rescue!"
"None of you has a choice!" As he spoke, Chu Tiannan's gaze turned utterly piercing, and his powerful Martial Master aura pressed down on the surrounding young men until they could barely breathe.
"Call for rescue, or... die!"
"I'll call for rescue..." Liu Cheng nodded hurriedly. He could tell that if he refused, the other man really would kill him with a single stroke. Compared with his career as a Martial Artist,
staying alive mattered more!
Several minutes later, the helicopter the military sent to assist them took away all seven young men, including the one whose finger had been severed at the start.
Though they were resentful, they did not dare defy Chu Tiannan. In the end, they reluctantly boarded the helicopter.
From that moment on, Liu Cheng and the other six young Martial Artists had effectively ended their careers as Martial Artists.
"Looks like they stole quite a few points..." Chu Tiannan looked at the score of 27 on his wristband. Subtracting his own 5, Liu Cheng had actually already accumulated 22 points.
That was quite a considerable amount.
"Time to enter the core area!" Having wasted a little time here, Chu Tiannan did not delay any further.
Even when he noticed dots approaching on the virtual map, he quickly avoided them.
Chu Tiannan's target was the core area!
That was the true testing ground for the Martial Artist assessment, and a good opportunity to show what he could do.
"This..."
Inside the East Martial Arts Hall camp, many instructors were staring at the screen in astonishment.
"Were my eyes playing tricks on me just now? I couldn't even see it clearly. Did any of you?"
Many instructors shook their heads one after another. Even the few who had been unconcerned earlier now began to take it seriously.
"Old He, rewind the video!"
"Yes! Let's watch it again."
The instructors had been shocked that they had failed to see it clearly, but then the footage of Chu Tiannan swiftly grabbing Liu Cheng replayed in slow motion.
Once everyone saw it clearly this time, they all fell silent.
Hmph. Every one of them thought the benefits the hall offered were too generous... Wang Jinhai looked around, sneering inwardly.
Let's see what they have to say now!