"Old Jiang seems quite confident," Chief Instructor Wu Tong said with a smile, though his gaze remained fixed on Luo Feng. Nearly everyone present was watching Luo Feng, awaiting his assessment results.

Luo Feng stood before the power target. His feet suddenly exerted force, and his body twisted slightly at the waist and hips, unleashing immense power that shot through his frame, connecting instantly to his arm. Luo Feng’s punch was like an arrow released from a fully drawn bow, trailing a faint afterimage. With a solid thud, the fist slammed into the target.

After the punch, a flicker of triumph crossed Luo Feng’s eyes: "The feeling of that strike was incredible; I really put my full force into it." He glanced at the display screen—"1101g."

"Good."

"Not bad." Several of the martial artists present immediately offered praise.

Chief Instructor Wu Tong stroked his chin and nodded. "Young man, well done. In your strike, you clearly maintained your center of gravity. If he had recklessly sought only the heaviest possible punch, abandoning his balance, his power might have been greater. But in a life-or-death battle against a monster, losing balance is suicide! Excellent, excellent."

"Haha, this kid Luo Feng has serious combat ability," Instructor Jiang Nian chuckled heartily. "He once consecutively defeated three advanced trainees whose strength and speed were no less than his own. He handled them cleanly and decisively!"

Hearing the praise from the Chief Instructor and the other instructor, a surge of exhilaration washed over Luo Feng.

In his youth, he had twice fallen into a coma, resulting in a massive increase in his physical strength and speed. From that moment, he resolved to become a powerful martial artist! And a powerful martial artist demands high proficiency in actual combat. Although he hadn't joined the Limit Martial Arts Academy in his youth, he had searched the internet for basic sword forms, movement techniques, and other fundamentals, practicing alone at home and slowly accumulating experience.

That was the source of his strong combat instincts.

"A fine prospect. Hmm, passed!" Chief Instructor Wu Tong casually picked up another identification card and swiped it across the instrument. "Next, Bai Yang."

Luo Feng walked back to the area where the examinees were waiting.

"Not bad, Madman," Yang Wu whispered in impressed laughter.

Luo Feng grinned back.

...

The eight candidates quickly completed the 'Punch Force Test.' Only one among them was unlucky, scoring only 892g with a punch, just shy of the passing line, resulting in elimination. The next stage, the speed test, was thus down to seven people.

"Card!" Chief Instructor Wu Tong approached the speed testing apparatus and flipped the switch.

"One by one. The order is the reverse of before. First, Yang Wu," Chief Instructor Wu Tong directed. Yang Wu had been last for the power test, but now he was first up for the speed trial.

Yang Wu took a deep breath.

This was nearly his tenth attempt at the Provisional Martial Artist assessment, and every time, he stumbled at the speed test.

"Go, Brother Yang," Luo Feng lightly patted Yang Wu's shoulder.

"Watch this," Yang Wu adjusted his breathing and stepped onto the track.

Instructor Jiang Nian frowned watching the scene. Yang Wu was from the Yi’an district, but he had failed the 'Speed Test' multiple times already.

Boom!

Yang Wu's feet struck the ground with a muffled sound. He powerfully swung his arms, his strong propulsion quickly accelerating him to his maximum speed. His face contorted, veins throbbing on his forehead as he bit down, running frantically. As he swept through the speed testing zone, a suppressed roar escaped him!

I must pass! Yang Wu roared internally as he stopped running.

Anxiously, he turned to look, only to see Luo Feng giving him a thumbs-up. Seeing this, Yang Wu felt instantly transported to heaven.

"Haha, Yang Wu, you got lucky. You actually crossed the line," Instructor Jiang Nian let out a hearty laugh as well.

Yang Wu rushed over to look at the display screen—"25.1 m/s."

"Whew, that was close," Yang Wu laughed himself. If his condition had been even slightly worse, his speed might not have hit 25 meters per second, leading to another failure.

"Mm, passed!" Chief Instructor Wu Tong also smiled. "Next."

One by one, the candidates proceeded. In the previous power test, Luo Feng was second to go. This time, testing speed, Luo Feng was second to last.

Soon it was Luo Feng's turn.

"Luo Feng," Chief Instructor Wu Tong called out.

"Madman, push through! We have to go to the Martial Artist Combat Assessment together," Yang Wu encouraged him. Luo Feng smiled and nodded, then walked onto the track. He slightly adjusted his breathing, bouncing lightly on the spot. Unlike Yang Wu's display of sheer brute force, Luo Feng exuded a sense of relaxed control.

Whoosh!

With a burst of energy, Luo Feng shot out like a startled leopard, incredibly fast, slicing through the speed testing area with a gust of wind. It was plainly visible to the naked eye that Luo Feng's speed was noticeably higher than the previous few candidates.

"Felt decent," Luo Feng turned his head and saw Yang Wu also giving him a thumbs-up. Even Chief Instructor Wu Tong and Instructor Jiang Nian nodded in rare praise.

Luo Feng walked over himself to check the screen—

"28.6 m/s."

"Very good speed, significantly above the passing threshold," Chief Instructor Wu Tong said with a smile, nodding. "Last one, Tong Guan."

××××××

Following the sequential completion of the punch force and speed tests, one person was eliminated during the strength assessment, and two during the speed assessment. Only five remained. The third section was the 'Neural Reaction Speed Assessment.'

"Follow me." Chief Instructor Wu Tong led the group of martial artists and the remaining five candidates to the 'Neural Reaction Testing Room' adjacent to the training hall.

It was a spacious room, about a hundred square meters.

Of course, compared to the massive training hall covering several thousand square meters, this reaction testing room was considerably smaller. A tall, sophisticated instrument sat on the floor. At the front of this apparatus were numerous firing ports, resembling the barrels of a six-barrel Gatling gun, though there were far more than six—dozens in total.

"First, Tong Guan," Chief Instructor Wu Tong announced.

The bearded giant immediately walked to a spot directly in front of the testing machine's gun ports, inside a circle with a diameter of 3.6 meters.

Da! As the switch was flipped, the edge of the 3.6-meter diameter circle instantly emitted a hazy red light, enveloping the test-taker inside as if they were surrounded by a mysterious red veil.

"Remember, under no circumstances are you to leave the circle. Leaving the range means immediate failure. Touching the red light results in deductions," Chief Instructor Wu Tong explained before walking over to the neural reaction testing machine and pressing several buttons to adjust the testing intensity. This intensity had many levels.

The lowest level was for Intermediate Trainee assessment.

The highest level... was for training and testing the top echelons of martial artists.

"Begin!" The Chief Instructor pressed the red button.

Whirrrr... Whirrrr... The massive barrels of the neural reaction testing machine began to rotate, and dozens of muzzles instantly spat out streams of red light, varying in speed and completely random in their flight paths. They rapidly entered the red circle area.

The bearded giant stared intently ahead, his body rapidly shifting back and forth, left and right, weaving through the gaps between the projected red projectiles.

Thwack! Thwack! He was hit twice in quick succession.

However, these 'bullets' had rubber tips, possessing little power and moderate speed; getting hit didn't hurt much.

Time ticked by.

The bearded giant dodged desperately. Soon, the minute elapsed.

Whoosh! Chief Instructor Wu Tong pressed the button. The machine's barrels quickly decelerated and stopped spinning, and a large amount of data appeared on the central screen.

"Hit 57 times, touched the red light 3 times within 60 seconds. Failed, eliminated!" Chief Instructor Wu Tong stated, simultaneously tossing the ID card to the bearded giant.

"So close," the giant muttered, shaking his head as he stepped out of the red circle.

"Next, Luo Feng," Chief Instructor Wu Tong said.

Luo Feng and Yang Wu exchanged a fist bump once, and then Luo Feng walked directly into the red circle.

Standing inside the circle, facing the machine's muzzle, Luo Feng took a deep breath. Before entering the martial arts academy, he had frequently practiced movement techniques at home; evasion had always been his strongest asset: "Before the college entrance exam, I was usually hit 50 to 55 times in 60 seconds. Now that my physical fitness has improved and my reactions are faster, passing the test is no problem."

"Remember, do not leave the circle; stepping out means instant failure, and touching the red light deducts points," Chief Instructor Wu Tong finished, pressing the red button.

Whirrrr... Whirrrr...

The neural reaction testing machine rapidly accelerated its rotation, quickly reaching an extreme speed. Immediately, dozens of ports spat out streams of red light, and rubber bullets shot forth instantly.

"Hmm?" Luo Feng stared intently, his mind rapidly calculating trajectories, his entire body moving like a nimble cat, constantly dodging backward, forward, left, and right, evading rubber bullets one after another. Naturally, some were too fast to evade entirely, forcing him to take a 'hit.'

As Luo Feng dodged rapidly, the martial artists watching from the side began to discuss.

"This young man is excellent; his reaction speed seems even superior."

"It is very fast, his footwork is superb, and his foundation is solid. Look, his feet are like a cat's padded paws; every shift in movement retains his center of gravity, allowing him to change direction instantly. This kind of footwork... unless one is a genius, achieving such a solid foundation takes at least ten years of hard work."

The observing martial artists murmured in admiration.

A martial artist's physical conditioning could certainly be improved through training, but footwork and techniques like swordsmanship relied heavily on experience. Superior physical strength didn't automatically equate to superior movement skills.

Whoosh! After pressing the button, the neural reaction testing machine decelerated and stopped spinning. A long string of numbers appeared on the screen.

"Hit 28 times within 60 seconds, zero contact with red light. Superior grade!" Chief Instructor Wu Tong smiled. "Excellent, Luo Feng, congratulations. Once the official documents are issued and your information is logged into the citizen identity system, you will officially be a Provisional Martial Artist!" After passing the assessment, the formal certificate usually arrived within seven days and was recorded in the civic identity file.

Luo Feng clenched his right fist hard: "I finally succeeded!"

He had finally become a Provisional Martial Artist!

"Luo Feng, the Martial Artist Combat Assessment is on August 1st. Assemble at the Limit Club in the morning. Under the guidance of an instructor, you will join other Provisional Martial Artists to hunt monsters outside the human base city! Once you pass the combat assessment, you will be a true Martial Artist," Instructor Jiang Nian said with a smile.

———— Tomato wants to say—I need recommendation tickets! Throw those recommendation tickets over here!