Entering the Combat Room

Qin Chen practiced the Star Body Tempering Art in the lounge until someone knocked on his door the next morning. Only then did he rise to his feet and end his cultivation.

After nearly twenty hours of cultivation, he felt he had grasped the basics of the Star Body Tempering Art, and his body seemed to have grown somewhat tougher.

When he opened the door, a soldier stood outside. "Qin Chen, Commander Yang wants you in the command room!"

"Let's go!" Qin Chen nodded.

It came as no surprise. Luo Bin had announced outright yesterday that Qin Chen had taken first place, which meant his days at the training camp were over. Before long, he would probably be competing against the geniuses of Jiang Province for the final General Star Selection spot.

A few minutes later, Qin Chen entered the command room. It was his first time there, and it was very different from what he had imagined.

He had assumed that, as the chief instructor, she would surely have a good office. Instead, it was remarkably bare: there was only a desk, a few stools, and a large screen on the wall. Apart from those, there was hardly anything else.

"Instructor Yang!" Qin Chen looked at Yang Xue, who was at the desk.

He had to admit, now that he was closer and could look carefully, Yang Xue was quite good-looking. She was the type whose appeal grew the longer one looked.

"Have a seat!"

Yang Xue pointed to a stool nearby.

Once Qin Chen had sat down, she said, "Luo Bin told you that you've been chosen to take first place in this assessment?"

Qin Chen nodded.

"I asked you here mainly to talk about the General Star Selection."

"You should already know the details. For the next three days, you can stay at the training camp and continue cultivating, or you can go down the mountain and spend some time with your parents. Three days from now, go to Yang City. Jiang Province's selection will be held there," Yang Xue said.

"All right!" Qin Chen nodded.

Yang Xue fell silent for a moment, then looked at Qin Chen. "Would you mind testing your combat power? Your explosive power!"

She had seen Qin Chen's punch on the screen before, but the whole thing had been obscured by a brilliant light, making it impossible to see clearly. Later, he also learned that Zhao Liang had been pumped up to three-star with drugs, so she couldn't judge just how much combat power Qin Chen's punch had unleashed.

As for this General Star Selection, Jiang Province wasn't much of a problem, but she didn't know whether there were any especially monstrous talents in the entire Western Theater Command. If she could get a clear understanding of Qin Chen's immense strength, then ask around about the geniuses from the other provinces, she would have a better idea of where things stood.

"Instructor Yang, I'm planning to go down the mountain tomorrow!" Qin Chen suddenly said, his expression serious.

Yang Xue looked puzzled. What did going down the mountain tomorrow have to do with testing his combat power? Besides, the test would only take a few minutes and wouldn't hold him up.

Qin Chen smiled. "I haven't been inside the combat room since I came to the training camp. How about I go there before I head down the mountain?"

Only then did Yang Xue understand what Qin Chen meant.

The mechanical puppets in the combat room ranged from Body Tempering to three-star martial artists. Qin Chen wanted to fight a three-star martial artist opponent under extreme pressure and test his true strength.

"All right!" Yang Xue didn't refuse, but she added, "A reminder: don't damage the mechanical puppets. If you insist on damaging one and can wreck a three-star puppet, I'll accept it!"

It wouldn't be hard for Qin Chen to damage a mechanical puppet below three-star, but she didn't think he could damage a three-star one.

"Don't worry, Instructor Yang. I'm not that violent!" Qin Chen said earnestly.

Yang Xue glanced at her. She said nothing, but inwardly scoffed at his words. He had wrecked ten of them as soon as he entered the training camp.

Yesterday, he had killed Zhao Liang without a change of expression. He was no longer a normal high school student.

"Haha... I'm back! I passed the assessment!"

Just then, loud laughter rang out from outside.

The first trainee had returned to the mountaintop.

After that, more trainees returned one after another.

Qin Chen walked out of the command room and saw that some of the trainees were exhausted, some were excited, and others had sustained various injuries.

About an hour later, all the trainees had returned. No one had died, making it a thoroughly successful assessment.

"Everyone, quiet!"

Luo Bin appeared and shouted at the crowd.

Once everyone had quieted down, he continued, "Everyone performed well in this assessment. There were no major incidents, and no one fled down the mountain to seek rescue!"

"This is your first assessment. Tomorrow, we'll give you a ranking based on your performance this time. Before the training camp comes to a complete end, there will be another assessment. If you improve on this ranking then, there will be generous rewards!"

Everyone looked excited at the news.

"Now, I have an announcement: the first-place winner of this assessment."

"Qin Chen!" Luo Bin looked at Qin Chen and made the announcement solemnly.

Everyone turned to look at Qin Chen as one. Their eyes held admiration, no envy, and still less jealousy. When someone surpassed you by too much, you could no longer even feel jealous.

Only Yu Yang's gaze toward Qin was exceptionally complicated; it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Soon, after Luo Bin dismissed them, everyone returned to their lounges. After a full day and night of assessment, they all needed to wash up and get a good rest.

Qin Chen, meanwhile, headed for the cultivation building, making for the combat room.

After entering the combat room, he found that it was several times larger than either the gravity room or the infrared room.

At the far end of the room stood a row of mechanical puppets, each marked with its corresponding cultivation level.

The martial artist-level mechanical puppets were also divided into more specific cultivation levels.

For example, the One-Star Martial Artist level had three grades: Lower One-Star Martial Artist, Middle One-Star Martial Artist, and Upper One-Star Martial Artist.

The highest level among the row of mechanical puppets was Upper Three-Star Martial Artist.

"They're different from the mechanical puppets back then." He noticed a row of buttons on the left wall, each corresponding to one of the mechanical puppets.

When he had first entered the training camp, the mechanical puppets he faced had activated on their own when someone came within two meters. Here, they were activated by switches.

Qin Chen walked straight over to the switches and pressed the one for the upper two-star mechanical puppet.

Bang!

The instant he pressed it, a mechanical puppet activated and charged straight at Qin Chen.

Qin Chen turned and watched it charge. The moment it reached him, he threw a punch.

A cloud of black smoke immediately rose from the mechanical puppet, and it was completely wrecked.

"Now even a casual punch can exceed the threshold for a three-star martial artist!"

Qin Chen was very satisfied with this strength. The terrifying power of cultivating three systems at once had now fully revealed itself: a One-Star Martial Artist was equivalent to a three-star martial artist. As far as he could remember, that had never happened before.

"I wrecked one, but that's not my fault!" Qin Chen looked at the wrecked mechanical puppet on the floor and recalled what Yang Xue had told him.

But there had been no helping it. He wanted to see what level a casual punch could reach. If he had gone straight for a three-star puppet, he might not have been able to test it.

Then he pressed the button for the Lower Three-Star Martial Artist.