The Strong Fear Nothing

"Who got here first? Step forward," Ma Jun suddenly called out.

Everyone looked around. Soon, they saw Qin Chen walk out of the crowd and wondered which school he came from.

When Ma Jun saw Qin Chen approach, he took out a list and asked, "Which school are you from?"

"No. 1 Middle School, instructor!"

"No. 1 Middle School?" The instructor was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected someone from No. 1 Middle School to be the first to arrive.

The other students looked at Qin Chen too. Some were surprised, some puzzled, and others impressed.

No. 1 Middle School was among the schools farthest from here. Being the first to arrive proved his strength.

Ma Jun looked at the list in his hand and found the entry for No. 1 Middle School. "Are you Wang Qiang?"

Qin Chen was taken aback, but immediately understood. He had replaced Wang Qiang, but for some reason, the principal still hadn't called to explain, and the information here hadn't been updated.

"My name is Qin Chen," Qin Chen corrected him.

"Qin Chen? Did your school make a last-minute substitution?" Ma Jun frowned.

Last-minute substitutions had happened before. The reasons were complicated, but most had gotten in through connections.

"Yeah, they switched me in at the last minute." Qin Chen nodded.

At those words, the students from the other schools all changed expression.

"He got in through connections?"

"That must be it. No wonder he arrived first. He got in through connections, so maybe an elder brought him up the mountain."

Everyone began talking at once.

Only one boy remained silent.

He was the male student from the pair Qin Chen had encountered halfway up the mountain. The girl had evidently been eliminated, while he had made it into the training camp.

Hearing their discussion and recalling Qin Chen's terrifying speed on the mountain, he felt as though he were listening to a joke.

A bunch of fucking idiots. You'll find out how terrifying he is soon enough! he thought.

"All of you, shut up!" Ma Jun's expression turned stern as he shouted.

The group promptly fell silent.

"No. 1 Middle School, Qin Chen!" He crossed Wang Qiang's name off the list in his hand and changed it to Qin Chen.

Then he took out a number tag. "Since you replaced Wang Qiang, his number is yours too. Take it, then go wait outside the gate to Area Four."

As he spoke, he pointed into the distance.

Qin Chen looked where he pointed and saw ten areas. Each had a gate with numbers written above it.

The first gate read 1-10.

The second read 11-20.

And so on.

Qin Chen headed straight over without hesitation, but he didn't let his guard down. This definitely wasn't a place for them to rest.

The training camp's accommodations were all single rooms, so they wouldn't disturb one another's cultivation.

These ten areas had to serve another purpose.

Before long, everyone had arrived outside the rooms corresponding to their numbers.

Those whose numbers were over a hundred and hadn't been eliminated automatically filled the vacant spots.

At that point, Ma Jun walked over and called out, "You've just spent the day taking the entrance assessment. You're all geniuses who have made it into the training camp."

"Next comes the first points assessment. Anyone who comes out within half an hour of entering the gate will be eliminated. At the end, the person with the fewest points will also be eliminated."

"What?"

At this, someone couldn't help crying out. More than half the participants had just been eliminated, and before they could even catch their breath, another assessment was upon them.

Click!

Before the crowd could calm down, the gate ahead swung open. Beyond it were various rooms, each marked with a specific number.

Looking at the dim lights inside, no one knew what kind of assessment awaited them, and they felt a little uneasy. The unknown was the most frightening thing of all.

"Go in!" Ma Jun barked.

The group didn't dare hesitate any longer and carefully walked inside.

Qin Chen walked among them. As soon as he entered, a wave of cold swept over him.

He passed one room after another and soon arrived outside Room 37.

By then, quite a few others had also found the rooms corresponding to their numbers. Some were pressing their ears to the doors, listening closely for sounds from within.

"We're supposed to stay in here for half an hour. I thought there'd be something difficult about it, but there doesn't seem to be anything in this room. It's really quiet!" A burly man had listened for a while and found the room completely silent, with nothing out of the ordinary.

"It definitely isn't that simple. Do you really think the assessment will be that easy?"

"Why don't we just stay here and wait for the time to pass?" someone suddenly suggested.

Everyone looked at him as though he were an idiot. How could the genius training camp possibly leave a loophole like that?

Besides, if none of them entered a room, they would all have zero points. They might all be eliminated together.

They couldn't underestimate the training camp instructor's determination to eliminate people. He was absolutely capable of doing it.

"Who'll open a door first and see what's actually inside?" someone asked.

At that, everyone turned to look at Qin Chen in unison.

"Brother Qin, you were the first to arrive at the camp, so you should be the strongest, right? Why don't you open the door and take a look? If there's anything unusual inside, you'd have the best chance of dealing with it!" said a tall, skinny young man who was fairly handsome.

"Hehe, that's right, Qin Chen. We're all counting on you." On the other side, a girl with a great figure but an ordinary face smiled and chimed in.

No one else spoke, but no one objected either. They all knew Qin Chen had gotten in through connections at the last minute, and they were happy to push him out as a pathfinder.

Qin Chen gave them an indifferent glance, then stepped forward and reached for the door switch. "I'll open it, of course, but not to scout the way for you."

"The strong fear nothing. Only the weak cower!"

As he finished speaking, his finger pressed the switch beside him.

The door slowly opened, and he walked in without the slightest hesitation.

When the others heard Qin Chen's words, they froze for a moment before realizing what he meant.

"Did he call us weak?" someone said, his expression darkening.

"Forget that. Hurry and see what's inside!"

After Qin Chen entered, the door began to close slowly. The others came to their senses and hurried over to look inside.

"Is that... a mechanical puppet?" Someone's expression changed.

Mechanical puppets came in all shapes and sizes, some humanoid and others shaped like demonic beasts. Humans had specifically created them as sparring partners.

Even the weakest mechanical puppets were generally at Early Body Tempering.

Most importantly, mechanical puppets were a fusion of technology and martial arts.

A mechanical puppet contained a chip, and that chip held the essence of human martial arts. An Early Body Tempering mechanical puppet was definitely stronger than a human at the same stage. After all, no person could compare with the martial arts experience stored in the chip.

Bang!

A tremendous crash rang out. The crowd saw Qin Chen send a mechanical puppet flying with a single punch.

Just then, the door shut completely.

"He sent the mechanical puppet flying?" someone exclaimed.

"How is that possible? He only got in through connections."

"Could he really have gotten here on his own merits?"

For a moment, some people's impression of Qin Chen changed. Perhaps he wasn't what they had assumed from the start and really did have strength.

"Hahaha..." Suddenly, a loud laugh rang out.

The tall, skinny, handsome young man from before laughed. "What strength? I'm from No. 2 Middle School, which isn't far from No. 1 Middle School. Of course I know what things are like there. Wang Qiang, their strongest student, was number one from his first year through his third. I know that perfectly well."

No. 2 Middle School and No. 1 Middle School were the closest to each other, and he really had been keeping an eye on the strongest student at No. 1 Middle School, because that was his rival.

That was why he had known about Wang Qiang all along.

"My guess is that this mechanical puppet hasn't had its chip installed yet. At most, it's only half-finished," the young man said with absolute confidence.

"Don't believe me? You're all the top students at your own schools. Some of you must have looked into the number one at No. 1 Middle School too. Have any of you heard the name Qin Chen?" He sneered.

No one spoke. They really had never heard of Qin Chen, though some of them knew of Wang Qiang.