Chapter 59 What's His Background?

Wang Xi followed the line of candidates along the corridor. No one made any noise or whispered during the journey; only the dense sound of footsteps echoed through the passage.

Passing the written examination rooms from earlier, they ventured deeper into the facility. After traversing a grey flagstone plaza, they entered the innermost building of the Association.

They arrived at a spacious hall resembling an indoor basketball court. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of special metal, shining bright like mirrors. Neatly arranged strip ceiling lights emitted a pure white glow, bathing the entire environment in a stark brightness that naturally evoked a sense of oppression.

Tap, tap...

Several Association personnel in sharp business suits walked with their hands behind their backs to the front of the crowd. A calm voice rang out, succinctly explaining the rules to everyone.

The second round of the examination was commonly known as the martial test.

It evaluated the candidates' comprehensive qualities across three major dimensions: offensive capability, defensive capability, and survival emergency capability.

The total score of the martial test would be evaluated in a 3:3:4 ratio, which would then be combined with the written test results. The panel of examiners would ultimately judge whether to grant the title and certificate of a professional hero.

It sounded simple, but it was actually extremely difficult.

Taking Gucheng as an example, the number of amateur heroes participating in the examination every year ranged from several hundred to nearly a thousand, yet those who ultimately passed, became professional heroes, and completed their citizen level transition were merely a few dozen, or even fewer.

Those capable of participating in the professional hero examination were already the elite chosen from thousands. This alone demonstrated the extreme difficulty of the test.

Soon enough.

The first segment of the martial test began.

The offensive capability test.

Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank!!

Before the iron wall in front of the crowd, square openings split open on the floor, from which full-metal dummy targets rose one after another. On the iron wall behind the dummies, data projections appeared:

"Unarmed offense; Armed offense."

This segment evaluated two aspects of offensiveness.

Guided by the Association personnel, the candidates tested in batches of 20 per round, ordered by their assigned numbers.

Naturally, the first to take the stage were candidates numbered 1 through 20, which included the six seeded participants.

Yu Jiali made the first move.

Swish!

Chewing her gum, she let out a cold snort, her figure flashing forward. Her slender, long legs, clad in knee-high socks, whipped out like a lash, fiercely slamming into the head of the dummy target.

Bang!!

A loud explosion echoed.

The dummy target shook violently.

Beep, beep——

"Yu Jiali, Candidate Number 003."

"Unarmed offense: 1490N (80 points)"

Data flickered instantly on the projection upon the iron wall.

The short-haired girl clicked her tongue, appearing dissatisfied.

"Ten more Newtons and I would have gotten 90 points..."

She muttered under her breath.

Bang!!

Bang, bang, bang!!

At the remaining target stands, the other candidates launched their attacks, aggressively striking the full-metal rubber-coated dummies.

Loud crashes rang out continuously.

Beep, beep, beep, beep——

Streams of data appeared before the candidates and the lenses of the broadcasting drones.

The entire venue, as well as the livestream chat, erupted in uproar.

The highest score belonged to the seeded participant from the Glitter Consortium, a girl named Lin Xin'er.

This girl appeared to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. The whites of her eyes were filled with black ink, and her pupils were golden rings. She wore her black hair in a ponytail, donned a dark blue compression suit, and maintained a cold, indifferent expression.

With a single punch just moments ago, she had actually deformed and caved in the face of the dummy target.

"Lin Xin'er, Candidate Number 004."

"Unarmed offense: 2820N (100 points)"

A beep sounded.

The projection even spewed out a celebratory confetti animation.

Among the six seeded participants, she was the only one to achieve a perfect score!

This was the ultimate destructive power attainable through pure physical strength alone, instantly sparking astonishment among everyone present.

Among the other four seeded participants, Carlyle, the young man from the Gear Consortium, scored the highest at 1980N (90 points). The remaining ones performed similarly to Yu Jiali, ranging between 1250N and 1500N, earning 80 points.

As for the other 14 ordinary candidates in the same batch, they were completely out of her league, almost all scoring below 800N, with grades ranging from 30 to 60 points.

Astonishment, reverence, tension...

Various emotions lingered in the hearts of the candidates.

Wang Xi stood within the crowd, deep in thought.

He was not entirely sure what kind of novel unit of measurement "N" represented, but he was certain it belonged to a comprehensive evaluation rather than a simple strength test.

'That Lin Xin'er has undergone mana modification,' Wang Xi thought to himself.

Since his "Moonlit Breathing Technique" had now progressed to a quarter of its experience bar, he could naturally perceive the subtle differences in her body.

'Patented technology of the Glitter Consortium? Or some sort of skill card similar to a breathing technique?'

Wang Xi guessed inwardly.

The first segment continued.

Next was the weapon-armed offense test.

Yu Jiali was still the first to strike.

She retrieved a green card and held it between her fingers. Light flickered, transforming the card into an eight-faced bronze sword covered in intricate patterns. A red silk tassel hung from the pommel, exquisitely crafted.

The short-haired girl flashed forward, holding the sword with both hands, and thrust fiercely with a cold expression, striking the exact center of the dummy target's left chest.

Clang!!

A crisp ring resounded.

The tip of the sword pierced the rubber exterior, driving more than three inches deep into the internal metal.

Beep, beep——

"Yu Jiali, Candidate Number 003."

"Armed offense: 3050N (80 points)"

Accompanied by the gasps of the crowd, the remaining candidates also pulled out their universal cards, materialized their weapons, and once again launched attacks against the dummy targets.

Clink, clank, rattle!

Crash!!

This time, the best performer was Carlyle, the seeded participant from the Gear Consortium.

The blonde young man, wearing a white shirt and casual trousers with his sleeves rolled up to reveal tattoo-like metallic circuits, wore a jet-powered metal gauntlet on his right arm. With a single strike, he caved in and shattered the chest of the dummy target.

"Carlyle Li, Candidate Number 005."

"Armed offense: 4260N (100 points)"

Beep!

The second confetti animation of the event appeared across the venue.

Including Yu Jiali, the other five seeded participants cast surprised and scrutinizing glances toward the blonde young man.

Carlyle smiled slightly and bowed to the crowd with a hand over his chest. He did not possess Shanhai heritage; rather, he looked more like someone from the Eden Federation (Buden United Nations) or the Icefield Empire (Caucasol Empire), carrying a distinctly different cultural aura.

Soon, the offensive test for the first batch concluded.

On the iron wall to the right of the hall, the ranked projection scrolled into view.

Ranked in first place was precisely Carlyle.

His offense score was 95.

The subsequent rankings in order were Lin Xin'er, Jiang Tianjie, Xiao Yuzhe, Nagata Anzu, and Yu Jiali.

With a snap, the short-haired girl bit her lollipop in half and cast a cold glance at the leaderboard. As a seeded participant, scoring at the bottom among the six naturally left her somewhat displeased.

Batch after batch of candidates stepped forward to take the test, but essentially no eye-catching figures appeared. Among them, only a dozen slightly outstanding individuals managed to score in the 60s.

Comparison brings humiliation.

As time passed and the tests progressed further, both the candidates themselves and the audience in the livestream came to realize a stark fact.

That was, the six seeded participants belonged to a tier of breakaway geniuses. It was already no easy feat for ordinary people to endure rigorous screening and painstakingly enter this examination, and trying to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those geniuses was practically impossible.

"It really makes one feel so far behind..."

"I get it now. These six geniuses are just put out front by the officials and consortia to put on a show!"

"You just realized? It's the first public livestream; the more explosive it is, the more buzz it generates!"

"I understand the logic, but after watching their performances, the later candidates are somewhat disappointing."

"Disappointing my foot! You go if you think you can! If you can hit an offensive data score of 200N, I'll kneel down and call you daddy."

In the sofa area of the Cupid Housekeeping Hall.

Zhu Yuhe looked at the bullet comments and asked the long-haired youth Yu Zihan with a curious expression:

"Hey, what kind of score did you get during your amateur hero exam last time?"

"360N." Yu Zihan glanced at her, a look of defeat crossing his face. "400N is enough to get a Level 6 certificate, but compared to the professional hero exam, it's a far cry!"

"Oh." Zhu Yuhe thought for a moment, then suggested: "Why don't you send a bullet comment and adopt a son to play with?"

"..."

One hour later.

It was finally the turn of Wang Xi's batch.

He blended into the crowd without standing out, stepping forward toward a metal dummy target just like the preceding candidates.

However, many viewers in the livestream recognized him and began frantically typing bullet comments:

"Whoa! Brother Six is up!"

"Mock Brother Six, understand Brother Six, become Brother Six."

"No, you should add 'surpass Brother Six'. If I have the chance to participate in the exam next year, I must eat more than him to make it worth my while!"

"Facing geniuses is truly despair-inducing."

"30 points, satisfied and leaving."

Naturally, Wang Xi had no time to play with his phone or check the livestream chat at this moment, nor did he know that many viewers were focusing their gazes on him.

He quietly stared at the 1:1 human-sized target, silently shifting his left foot slightly outward to adjust his stance.

Based on his previous observations of the other candidates, Wang Xi had actually analyzed a few things.

Although humans, through the evolution of long ages, had discarded claws, fangs, and scales in favor of brain development, it did not mean they lacked offensiveness.

Aside from the five-finger grip and the ball-and-socket shoulder joint—the two crucial evolutionary milestones that cemented humanity's status as a "terrifying upright ape"—parts such as the fists, elbows, knees, and heels were also fatal weapons in hand-to-hand combat.

High rigidity, resistant to self-injury; high power transmission efficiency, with muscles and bones coordinating perfectly; wide attack range to cope with various situations.

Therefore, to achieve a better score, using these four body parts made it much easier to score high.

Swish——

Wang Xi moved without warning.

The consummate and perfected "Rundell Body-Forging Technique" provided him with formidable physique, while the "Bloody Knight" blessed him with powerful combat techniques.

He surged forward, bending his arms and raising his elbow.

At this moment, Wang Xi seemed entirely like a standing black panther, pouncing to slaughter the dummy target.

His right elbow swept horizontally, striking violently at the head—

Crash!!

A loud explosion erupted, and air ripples expanded outward.

The dummy target shook violently, its head caved in on one side and bent sideways at a sixty-degree angle!

Beep, beep——

"Wang Xi, Candidate Number 666."

"Unarmed offense: 2680N (100 points)"

Beep!!

The data projection behind the iron wall bloomed with a confetti animation!

Another perfect score!

The candidates in the venue, as well as the viewers in the livestream, erupted in uproar.

A single elbow strike knocked the target's head crooked!

A score of 2680N!

Second only to Lin Xin'er's 2820N!

What in the world is the background of this guy?!