Chapter 345: Just Friends

Exaggerated, way too exaggerated—I don't even know where Commander Xia dug this young man out from......

The old man clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Thinking about it, I'm already over sixty this year, and I've only just reached the late Warrior Realm.

If it weren't for this customer service job, I would have been kicked out of the military district long ago.

Lu Jing naturally didn't know what the old man was thinking; he and Zheng Xuelan walked into the room, which was quite spacious—over three or four hundred square meters.

In the center of the room stood several strength-testing devices, while around the edges were chairs for resting, occupied by a few soldiers awaiting testing.

At that moment, several people were testing their strength, continuously punching a transparent crystal-pillar-like instrument.

Bang bang bang——

As soon as Lu Jing entered, he heard the sonic boom of fists tearing through the air.

Looking toward the sound, he saw a burly middle-aged man in a sleeveless shirt.

The man's blood qi surged, his veins bulging like wriggling small snakes, his mighty blood qi instantly raising the room's temperature by several degrees.

Since the final result should be the highest value from these, the sleeveless-shirted man kept throwing punches, each one heavier than the last.

Thump thump!

His fists flew out nonstop at extreme speed, as if the next punch followed before the previous one had even been thrown.

The crystal-pillar instrument he kept striking emitted multicolored light, quite a sight.

"Ha hey!"

The sleeveless-shirted man shouted angrily, then stepped forward with his left foot, slightly bent his right knee, and channeled his whole body's force into his right fist.

Then he unleashed his final punch with all his might.

Hum——

The crystal pillar seemed to vibrate slightly from that punch.

"Whoosh——"

The sleeveless-shirted man exhaled, retracted his fist, and stood upright.

"Alright, testing is over. Please have tester Wang Yongge step back outside the yellow line and await the results!"

A staff member nearby gestured for the man to wait a moment.

Soon after,

The crystal pillar's vibration faded, and it began calculating the final score.

Ding——

First, a brilliant light at the base of the crystal pillar lit up, then, as if triggering a chain reaction, it spread upward.

Ding ding ding!

The pleasant alert tone accompanied the continual rise of the light, focusing everyone's gaze.

Until five flashing lights lit up on the crystal pillar.

Only the fifth light's brightness wasn't very saturated.

"Holy crap, it lit up five stars!"

"Awesome, that means the combat power is over five hundred thousand!!"

After the sleeveless-shirted man Wang Yongge's test results came out, the people around him instantly switched to fawning mode, exclaiming in amazement and praise.

"Brother Wang, you're way too strong—there aren't many with combat power over five hundred thousand!"

"Those few punches just now were tiger‑vigorous; even from the side I felt a suffocating pressure!"

"Sigh, I wish I could have Brother Wang's strength someday."

"Brother Wang, you're probably about to break through to the mid Martial Marquis Realm, judging by how abundant your blood qi is......"

Wang Yongge laughed, rubbing his head, enjoying the flattery: "No way, I'm still far from reaching the mid Martial Marquis Realm."

"Heh......"

Just as Wang Yongge and his group were chatting and laughing, a man seated in the rest area let out a cold snort.

Lu Jing's gaze was drawn to those few people in the rest area; they seemed to look down on Wang Yongge, their eyes full of contempt.

"Tch, with that strength he can still be captain of the General Star Squad—nothing but riding on his grandfather's status as a military district leader......"

"How to put it—he was just born lucky; if I had his resources, I'd already be in the Martial Lord Realm!"

"But don't say that—Wang Yongge is young, and being able to emit five stars with an early-stage Martial Marquis Realm is already quite remarkable."

Lu Jing extended his mental power, catching every whisper of their conversation.

"Lu Jing, did you see that crystal pillar? It's the one Wang Yongge just punched."

Zheng Xuelan pulled Lu Jing to sit down in the rest area.

"I've seen it; this kind of strength‑testing instrument is still new to me—quite novel."

Lu Jing asked: "How does this thing test strength—does the more lights that light up mean greater strength?"

Zheng Xuelan continued: "Yes, warriors above the Martial Marquis Realm have explosive power too high for ordinary devices, which easily break, so I use this synthetic crystal instead—it not only absorbs external physical force but also measures the intensity of innate ability."

Zheng Xuelan added: "In other words, when you test later you can use mental power, and your score will be much higher."

"Oh, this instrument is indeed powerful, but it only tests those two things—can it accurately reflect a warrior's strength?"

Lu Jing asked doubtfully.

Previously, when he tested his strength, the first step was to draw blood to check his blood qi value.

The other punch‑strength tests were merely auxiliary; the main focus was still blood qi.

Yet this crystal instrument doesn't measure blood qi levels at all.

"Blood qi testing is only used for the Master Realm and below; for higher realms drawing blood is difficult, as many warriors' skin hardness exceeds that of the blood‑drawing needle.

So we have to use this method instead; don't worry, this device is quite accurate.

Zheng Xuelan explained.

How is that Martial Artist's realm evaluated? Isn't it determined by Blood Qi value?

Lu Jing asked.

Generally, a slightly larger Martial Artist Association will have a special blood-drawing needle that can pierce the skin of high-level Martial Artists.

This kind of blood-drawing needle is very expensive to make; only the Martial Artist Association has it, so there's no need to worry about the evaluation of Martial Artists' ranks.

"I see......"

Lu Jing nodded.

He couldn't help but feel curious: could the rare blood-drawing needle at the Martial Artist Association pierce his skin?

Just as the two were chatting, Wang Yongge, who had just finished testing, walked over with his little brother.

"Xuelan, why are you here?"

Wang Yongge wore a smile, his slightly hostile gaze occasionally sweeping over Lu Jing's face.

Lu Jing frowned slightly; he didn't even know Wang Yongge, so why did he show a look of displeasure upon first meeting?

In the next moment, he understood.

It seems Wang Yongge regards him as a love rival.

"I brought a friend to get certified as General Star."

Zheng Xuelan seemed not too pleased to see Wang Yongge; her tone turned very cold, completely lacking the previous enthusiasm she had for Lu Jing.

"Friend, your friend is impressive, coming to get certified as General Star at such a young age."

Wang Yongge chuckled, constantly sizing up Lu Jing.

At this moment, Lu Jing and Zheng Xuelan sat close together, almost leaning against each other, not looking like ordinary friends at all.

Wang Yongge's expression gradually turned ugly.

Furthermore, if I didn't missee, Zheng Xuelan and the one called Lu Jing were talking and laughing, behaving very intimately.

This made Wang Yongge's jealousy overflow, making him feel indescribably upset.