Chapter 52: Formal Investigator Certification Assessment

The examiners in charge of the formal certification assessment were two official Investigators of the Zhenling Bureau.

A middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman, both carrying the bearing of seasoned veterans, their eyes sharp and wary of everyone around them—even their own colleagues.

Seeing that some people were still talking, the chief examiner, the man, bellowed in a voice like a great bell:

"Silence throughout the hall!"

The moment his voice rang out, the once somewhat noisy venue instantly fell quiet.

The chief examiner nodded, then continued: "Next I will explain the rules of this assessment. There are three rounds in total."

"First is the Heavy Pressure Test. Anyone who can remain standing for the entire half hour under the heavy pressure environment passes; if you fall midway, you are eliminated."

Immediately after, everyone saw the female examiner toss out an ancient-looking small mirror. First published on Tiantian Kan Xiaoshuo—super easy to use, ttkt. tw awaits your reading, offering you a flawless, out-of-order-free chapter experience.

The mirror flipped in the air, growing larger and larger, until its surface could cover all the examinees present before it stopped.

"The first round of assessment… begins!"

As the female examiner's words fell, a powerful pressure was released from the mirror. Everyone suddenly felt their bodies grow heavy, as if carrying a massive boulder, and this pressure continued to intensify.

A Linghai Chuji Investigator taking the certification assessment for the first time, caught completely unprepared, was pressed down directly into a sitting position on the ground.

The chief examiner swept a glance over and said coldly:

"You are eliminated."

Immediately after, that person felt the pressure on his body ease. He climbed up from the ground, then turned and left with a bitter expression.

Jiang Qin felt the pressure on his body continuously stacking. At this rate of increase, let alone half an hour, even holding out for a full day would be no problem for him.

He looked to the side: "How do you feel?"

Su Lingwei nodded and replied: "Should be no problem, I can hold on."

Her foundation was extraordinarily solid. For her, although this pressure was somewhat uncomfortable, holding out for an hour or so was no difficult task.

Soon 15 minutes had passed.

Fewer than 10 people had been eliminated.

Seeing this, a look of satisfaction appeared in the chief examiner's eyes. He opened his mouth and said: "It seems the strength of this batch of examinees is quite decent. Raise the pressure up by two more levels."

The female examiner acknowledged, and controlled the Spirit Treasure to increase the Spirit Power output.

The heavy pressure bearing down on everyone surged again. This time it wasn't rising little by little—it was as if the stone on their backs had suddenly been swapped for a solid iron block weighing several thousand jin.

"I… damn…"

"No good, no good, I can't hold on anymore!"

Over a dozen people couldn't bear this pressure, their faces flushed red, and they hurriedly spoke up to voluntarily withdraw from the assessment.

Afterwards, on average several people withdrew from the assessment every minute.

By the time the half hour ended, the field had gone from the original ninety-plus people to only thirty-odd remaining—one round had eliminated half the people.

The female examiner retracted the Spirit Treasure suspended above everyone's heads.

"Congratulations on passing the first round of assessment."

The chief examiner offered a faint congratulation, then with his hands behind his back, added:

"But don't celebrate too early. Next is the second round, the Strength Test."

Soon, staff members carried a piece of equipment over in front of the remaining people.

The chief examiner pointed at the black square area in the middle of the equipment. "Without using any external force, anyone who can leave a fist imprint on it using only their own strength passes."

"Who among you will go first?"

"I will."

A short-haired woman with a cold gaze stepped out from the crowd. Her name was Yang Ningxue, also a strong candidate for first place in this assessment, her cultivation at Linghai Late Stage.

Yang Ningxue took a deep breath, then suddenly exerted her strength, throwing a punch that gathered all her body's power into the equipment.

The testing board, supported by that special black metal, trembled violently.

A fist imprint two centimeters deep was left clearly visible on the testing board.

"Not bad. From your strength, you've already reached the standard of Spirit Sea Peak. You pass the second round."

Yang Ningxue paid no heed to the examiner's words, and with her cold personality, returned to the formation.

The chief examiner was not annoyed—he had long heard of her temperament.

Afterwards, the remaining people took the test one by one. The ratio of those who passed to those who didn't was nearly equal. Fortunately, Su Lingwei passed this round by the skin of her teeth.

Then it was finally Jiang Qin's turn.

He walked up to the equipment, raising his hand as he walked, with no intention of gathering power at all. His fist struck the equipment seemingly lightly, yet it sank deeply into it.

Those examinees who had passed wore expressions of shock—they knew very well what this represented.

Even Yang Ningxue, who had performed the best, hadn't reached even half of Jiang Qin's result, and from the looks of it, he hadn't even used his full strength. Could this young man have already reached Spirit Sea Peak?

Jiang Qin's aura was very well concealed, so these people couldn't see through his cultivation.

The chief examiner was not surprised by this result. When he had received the list of assessment personnel, he had already seen Jiang Qin's information.

Compared to Jiang Qin's terrifying battle record, his current performance could be said to be utterly unremarkable.

"You pass."

"Everyone rest for five minutes, then prepare to begin the third round, the Speed Test…"

After 5 minutes had passed, the third round, the Speed Test, began.

As expected, even though Jiang Qin had held back somewhat, his performance was still the most eye-catching, followed by Yang Ningxue.

As the chief examiner finalized the rankings, another three people regretfully left the field.

And Su Lingwei, by the narrowest of margins, placed tenth. The gap between her and eleventh place was negligible, but the result was ultimately a good one—after all, she had only recently broken through to Spirit Sea Realm.

With a result like this, it was already very impressive.

The chief examiner put away the list, looked at the remaining ten people, and said: "Someone will take you to handle the relevant procedures shortly. The rewards for passing the assessment will also be distributed according to ranking. Jiang Qin and Su Lingwei, you two come with me, I'll take you to collect your martial techniques."

In the previous mission at Heitu Cheng, the two of them each earned a chance to select an S-Class Martial Technique.

The chief examiner left the venue with Jiang Qin and the other person in tow.

Yang Ningxue walked over to the female examiner, looking a little unwilling to accept it and somewhat deflated, and said: "Auntie, I let you down—I didn't take first place."

"Don't make that face. Losing to that boy is nothing to be ashamed of." The female examiner saw right through her thoughts and, wanting to take the chance to rein in her niece a little, said:

"Those two just now are both freshmen at Zhenling Academy this year. Counting from when they awakened their talents and began cultivating, it's been less than two months. Just the girl following behind him is already a genius among geniuses."

"As for that Jiang Qin, his talent is so extraordinary that even looking back over the past century or more, no one can stand shoulder to shoulder with him."

"He may well become the sole one of this era…"

A crushing sense of defeat settled over Yang Ningxue's heart; never before had the gap between people felt so clear to her.

In just two short months, he had already reached such a level.

If she had been in the same cohort as Jiang Qin, let alone catching up to him… she feared that even catching a glimpse of his back on the martial path would be a luxury.