Elimination Rate Over Fifty Percent

Phew-

Qin Chen let out a long breath, feeling refreshed all over.

"I didn't expect one climb up the mountain to condense all three of my elemental marks a little!"

He looked at the system. His three elemental marks had each condensed another two percent.

That brought his fire elemental mark to four percent condensed in total.

"My combat power has also increased to 516."

He was very satisfied with the changes. He had made some progress before the Genius Training Camp had even begun. Though it wasn't much, it was still a good start.

"The training camp should be up ahead, right?" He looked ahead.

The summit of Ming Mountain was a vast plateau. He couldn't tell at a glance just how large it was.

Two hundred meters ahead stood several structures, including some large buildings.

He walked toward them, and just as he was about to draw near, two men in military uniforms came out.

One of the men glanced at the time, then looked up at Qin Chen. "Not bad. You're the first to arrive, and you didn't take long either!"

"Which school are you from?"

"No. 1 Middle School!" Qin Chen looked at the two men.

"No. 1 Middle School?" The two were startled. They looked Qin Chen up and down, and one of them said, "Really, No. 1 Middle School?"

"The genuine article. There's no need to pretend, is there?" Qin Chen spread his hands.

The two looked him over again. One said, "No. 1 Middle School is at least a five-hour drive from here..."

"That means he climbed the mountain in less than two hours!" the other man continued.

Their voices were tinged with surprise.

Qin Chen didn't react to their words. He had been assigned to the camp at the last minute and had set off later than everyone else. In fact, he had taken less than an hour to climb the mountain.

"Good, very good."

"Welcome to the Genius Training Camp. We're in charge of security here."

The two began to introduce themselves.

"What's your name, student?" one of them asked naturally, extending a hand.

Qin Chen held out his hand as well. "Qin Chen!"

Their hands clasped.

But soon, Qin Chen frowned. He could feel the strength in the other man's grip gradually increasing.

"Qin Chen, not bad!"

The man nodded, but showed no intention of letting go. The strength of his grip continued to grow.

Qin Chen's expression remained calm as he gradually increased the strength of his own grip.

The man's expression changed slightly. He hadn't expected Qin Chen to fight back of his own accord, and he increased his strength again without hesitation.

The two continued their contest in secret, gripping harder and harder. When Qin Chen used the strength of Peak Body Tempering, the man stared at him in shock.

The man beside them was also astonished. He could tell that his colleague was already using the strength of Peak Body Tempering, yet there wasn't the slightest trace of pain on Qin Chen's face.

Peak Body Tempering! He was inwardly shocked.

The man shaking Qin Chen's hand was equally stunned, but he soon accepted it. After all, Qin Chen was the first to arrive, so it was entirely possible that he was at Peak Body Tempering.

He smiled faintly and increased the strength of his grip again.

Their task this time was simple: to give these geniuses a show of force so that they would put aside their pride as geniuses after entering the training camp, and to eliminate a few more people along the way.

But soon, his expression changed. He could feel the strength coming from the hand in his grip growing too, not the least bit weaker than his own.

"I don't believe it!"

Boom!

He directly used the strength of a One-Star Martial Artist. In terms of combat power, it reached at least 350 in an instant.

But the next moment, just as he was about to feel pleased with himself, his expression abruptly changed. The same amount of force surged into his palm, and it was still increasing.

A drop of sweat appeared on his forehead, making his scalp tingle.

As the force continued to bear down on him, he could barely withstand it.

"Student Qin, welcome to the Genius Training Camp!" he hurriedly said, starting to pull his hand back.

Qin Chen smiled and released him. "Sorry for the trouble, both of you."

"Haha, no trouble, no trouble." The man laughed, his voice trembling a little. Then he pointed to a spot. "Head over there first. Once the others arrive, you'll gather there. Your instructor is over there too."

"Thank you!" Qin Chen walked straight over.

"What happened?"

After Qin Chen left, the other man asked in confusion.

Earlier, he had seen that Qin Chen and his colleague were evenly matched, but afterward, he had been a little confused.

"One-Star Martial Artist. His strength has reached the level of a One-Star Martial Artist, and he's even stronger than me. That hurt like hell!" The man shook out his hand, lingering fear in his voice.

He had already broken through to become a One-Star Martial Artist, with combat power around 350. But the strength Qin Chen had just used was equivalent to at least 380 combat power.

With 380 combat power, unless his physical constitution was freakishly strong, he had definitely broken through to become a One-Star Martial Artist.

At that thought, the two turned to watch Qin Chen's departing figure, their hearts in turmoil. A One-Star Martial Artist who hadn't yet reached adulthood had appeared very rarely in Rongcheng's history.

"Should we report this?"

"No. That was only a covert test, after all. We still can't be sure whether he has actually broken through to become a One-Star Martial Artist."

"You mean he might have two elements?"

"Right, so we'd better not report it. With that person's temper, if we get it wrong, neither of us will have an easy time!" He thought of his superior's forceful manner. If they reported it without being certain and the information turned out to be wrong, they would get a scolding at best and all kinds of punishment at worst. It wasn't worth it.

Having made their decision, the two continued waiting for the other trainees to arrive.

By then, Qin Chen had reached the designated spot. It was a square that looked like an ordinary training ground, with nothing special about it.

After some time, people began arriving at the summit one after another.

"Hold out for five seconds without crying out, and you pass." A voice rang out, belonging to the man who had shaken Qin Chen's hand earlier.

Immediately afterward, a student walked over toward Qin Chen.

"Ah!" Before long, a scream rang out.

"Eliminated!"

For the rest of the time, the word Qin Chen heard most often was "eliminated." Someone was eliminated almost every few minutes.

As the sky gradually grew dark, fewer and fewer people made it to the summit.

At that point, another man in a military uniform approached the square from a distance.

He took a careful look at everyone standing in the square. "Seventy-two left. At least that's better than the previous class!"

"From now on, everyone who has yet to arrive is eliminated. At the same time, congratulations on officially entering the Genius Training Camp!"

"My name is Ma Jun, and I'm one of your instructors."

As soon as he finished speaking, the square erupted. Out of more than 150 people, only 72 remained. The elimination rate was actually over half.

"Also," Ma Jun suddenly said loudly, "entering the training camp doesn't mean you'll stay here the whole time. The camp lasts two months, and during that time, you'll be awarded points according to your day-to-day performance."

"The person with the fewest points each day will be eliminated!"

Everyone's expression changed. With one person eliminated each day, some 60 people would be eliminated by the time the camp ended.