Chapter 14: Practical Combat Assessment

In the afternoon.

1894 preparatory warriors all stood on a spacious square, and on the front platform of the square stood the senior officials of Jiangnan City Northern Military District, as well as some senior officials from the Thunderbolt Martial Hall and the Extreme Martial Hall.

"Below, the preparatory warriors whose names are called, come forward to receive their combat uniforms and weapons."

"Yan Zhuo."

"He Feng."

……

"Jiāng Jiāng."

Each preparatory warrior can report the equipment they need before the assessment, and the assessment side will prepare a full set of assessment equipment for each preparatory warrior.

That loud sound, Jiāng Jiāng heard it immediately and immediately ran to the front.

"This is your combat uniform and combat boots, this is the Long Shadow Battle Sword 3-series you need, and this is the 75-kilogram one we prepared as the heaviest."

That officer handed over a set of items while speaking.

"This is a communicator watch with positioning and communication functions, and this is a hexagonal shield."

That's right, Jiāng Jiāng trained with a dagger for a month, but she plans to use a longsword and will carry a longsword in the future.

According to the plan, she will later enter the War God Training Camp, a place many forces pay attention to; although this makes Jiāng Jiāng feel insecure, who let Chén Chén get into trouble?

However, when entering that kind of place, Jiāng Jiāng also has plans in mind: first, the ability of the Spiritual Thought Master must be concealed; second, the weapon used must not be easily exposed.

As for whether her swordsmanship level can meet the requirements for entering the War God Training Camp, she still has a bit of confidence in this, because before confirming the short dagger as her weapon, Jiāng Jiāng had always practiced longswords in the martial hall.

If it truly is as Chén Chén said, then her level would indeed be considered genius-level.

Moreover, if she uses a longsword, she can also conceal the fact that she has already studied other Secret Manuals, further reducing risks.

The officer looked at this slightly petite girl, his brows slightly furrowed.

This era, without a doubt, is the era where men sacrifice their heads and shed blood; female warriors are not nonexistent, but seeing someone this young come to participate in the preparatory warrior assessment is still a first.

And the reason for sacrificing head and blood, for country and family, this girl before him looks about the same size as his own daughter; no matter how you look at it, she seems to be of school age.

However, seeing Jiāng Jiāng happily run off with one hand carrying something nearly two hundred kilograms heavy, the officer also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Hope this girl doesn't get injured.

But at this moment, Jiāng Jiāng is worried in her heart that her swordsmanship is too poor and might not meet the 'elite' requirements set by many big shots.

On the square, all the warriors immediately put on their combat uniforms, repeatedly trying to see if the cold weapons issued to them feel comfortable in hand.

After everyone put on their combat uniforms, the whole square was a dark mass; the 1894 people looked orderly, if it weren't for the preparatory warriors chatting and laughing about the assessment.

"This set of equipment altogether costs at least seven or eight hundred thousand; although it's just the most ordinary type used by warriors, wearing it should give us a few more tens of percent confidence against monsters."

"At least need to kill two or three to have hope; after I kill three, I'll come back to rest, hahaha!"

Looking at these preparatory warriors with no self-awareness, Jiāng Jiāng suddenly felt the disparity of the world. Why are these people obviously weak yet so confident?

Moreover, they are clearly about to face combat, yet instead of preparing and adjusting their condition, they are chatting idly here; don't they know that practical combat assessment also has a mortality and disability rate!

"Hahaha, a thousand monsters—no matter what, we have to kill a thousand, right?"

How brainless does one have to be to say such a thing……

Oh, it's Chén Chén, then it's fine.

Luòfeng, on the other hand, didn't take Chén Chén's words to heart; facing a small practical combat assessment, Luòfeng naturally is full of confidence, but there's no need to be as exaggerated as Chén Chén said.

Practical combat assessment focuses on adapting to fighting monsters, not on competing for superiority.

"Luòfeng, Luòfeng." A shout came from afar; it was indeed Chief Instructor Wū Tōng of the Yangzhou Extreme Association.

"Uncle Wu."

"Chief Instructor."

Chén Chén and the others also returned the greeting.

Luòfeng, having been previously recruited into the Extreme Martial Hall and entered the Bright Moon Residential District, thus his relationship with Wū Tōng has also become much closer.

"Mm, you all should also work hard."

Wū Tōng nodded and said to Chén Chén and the others.

Chén Chén was originally also supposed to be recommended by Jiāng Nián and Luòfeng to Wū Tōng, but because Chén Chén had earlier told Jiāng Nián that he wanted to join the World Tree, he thus did not receive this honor.

Now, Wū Tōng only retains some impression of Chén Chén and does not pay much attention.

"Luòfeng, come with me." Wū Tōng said, and then led the way ahead.

Watching Luòfeng and Wū Tōng's departing backs, many preparatory warriors around showed envious looks.

"That must be the Luòfeng who was pre-recruited this time, truly impressive!"

"What's the big deal; this is just the starting point of the warrior'spath……

Jiāng Jiāng, meanwhile, was secretly comparing herself, wondering if displaying strength comparable to Luòfeng's would be enough to draw the attention of all major forces.

"Chén Chén, how many monsters do you plan to hunt this time?" Jiāng Jiāng whispered to Chén Chén.

Anyway, whether Chén Chén exposes himself or not no longer matters; Jiāng Jiāng also feels at ease letting Chén Chén act as her shield.

She only needs to keep it at one-third of Chén Chén's output; then she can safely attract attention without overdoing it.

"Didn't we just say that, a thousand?" Chén Chén said matter-of-factly.

Jiāng Jiāng suddenly felt she had asked a stupid question; the idiot Chén Chén would definitely be using full force.

But a thousand…… no matter how you think about it, that's impossible.

Chén Chén is not a Spiritual Thought Master, and the assessment time is so limited; even if it's one kill per strike, those thousand monsters would take who knows how long to kill, even if it were a thousand pigs……

Forget it; maybe Chén Chén had already secretly taken her to the Wilderness District……

She should just worry about herself.

After all, this is still her first time facing monsters; although she feels fine now, actual combat remains uncertain.

Clearly, even with excellent physical fitness, many preparatory warriors die at the hands of monsters; Jiāng Jiāng certainly does not want to become one of them.

Jiāng Jiāng gripped the long sword in his hand, over four feet long, and the feel of its model was exactly the same as the one he had used before in the martial hall.

"Jiāng Jiāng, you're the best." Jiāng Jiāng secretly gave himself encouragement in his heart.

Soon after, Luofeng returned to the team, and Yang Wu also curiously asked Luofeng what he had just been called to do.

Luofeng is not someone who likes to show off; he only said he was brought over to meet a few of the Chief Examiners for this assessment.

"Speaking of Chén Chén, just now at the Thunderbolt Martial Hall two prospective martial artists said they wanted to compete for first place in points; if you went over, you'd surely be interested."

"Eh, I'm afraid it would be too much of a blow to them." Chén Chén sighed, lying face up.

Few of the people around took Chén Chén's words seriously; some even started muttering quietly: "If you're really strong, why weren't you recruited early?"

However, because Chén Chén and Luofeng were standing together, nobody really said much more.

Luofeng, however, knew that this brother of his had always been merely confident, not arrogant.

Only Jiāng Jiāng was once again speechless.

Everyone gathered for this operation; thanks to Luofeng's reputation, Wu Tong also went along with Chén Chén and the others.

Under the leadership of many soldiers, a force of nearly two thousand people marched mightily into the destination of this practical combat assessment—the "Monster Town".

Around the town, the surroundings were enclosed by thick iron wire netting; only a few sparse monsters could be seen, their eyes glowing with bloodlust as they stared outward, yet they dared not approach the netting even a little.

The hissing and strange cries of the surrounding monsters grew denser; many martial artists who had never seen much of the world couldn't help trembling instinctively.

Chén Chén observed Jiāng Jiāng with a peripheral glance that no one else noticed, seeing her extremely focused yet utterly fearless gaze, and he felt much more at ease.

"Hurry, the number of monsters inside is insufficient; send another 1,200 iron-haired wild boars, 300 shadow cats, and 500 tiger mastiffs."

Following the sound, he looked over—

One after another, heavy-duty trucks rumbled, each emitting bursts of angry roars. On each truck were cages, each holding a monster. Those angry roars caused many martial artists who had never seen a monster before to show fear even more physically.

Wū Tōng looked at this group of youngsters, couldn't help a wry smile, and said casually to Luofeng beside him and to Chén Chén and the others:

"Good physique, good swordsmanship doesn't mean you can kill monsters! After all, some people, at the sight of blood or when faced with life and death, can't even exert one-tenth of their strength. So this martial artist practical exam is mainly to temper your mindset. You must adapt to life-and-death combat with monsters; do not be merciful or hesitant."

How many times have Wū Tōng and the various martial arts school deputy masters, instructors, said such words? Despite this, every year someone still ends up disabled in the exam.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

After gathering in the town, Wū Tōng also bade farewell to Luofeng and left.

Only a voice from above was heard:

"Everyone."

Following the sound, he looked up and saw a military officer standing on the roof of a dilapidated three-story building inside the town, addressing all the prospective martial artists,

"This practical exam follows the same rules as before! It starts promptly at 6:30 p. m. tonight and ends at 6:30 a. m. tomorrow."

"The more monsters you slay, the more points you earn. For each monster killed, cut off its left ear as proof."

"Remember, prospective martial artists are forbidden from killing each other; all your actions are under surveillance, and violators will be shot on the spot."

"Among the 1,894 prospective martial artists, those ranking in the top 60% by points will earn martial artist status; the bottom 40% are considered failures and must wait for the next practical exam."

After the officer finished speaking, the crowd below erupted in an uproar; most of the prospective martial artists were taking the practical exam for the first time and never expected the elimination rate to be so high.

"Silence!" the officer barked, his voice actually louder than the chatter of the crowd below.

"Just a reminder: normally slaying three monsters is enough to pass the exam; if you only kill two, it comes down to luck."

The officer's voice rang in everyone's ears.

"If achievements are equal, ranking will be based on the time spent killing monsters and the extent of injuries. Therefore, once you have killed a certain number of monsters, leave the town as soon as possible."

"Remember, if you are seriously injured, you can press the SOS button on your communicator watch; someone will come to rescue you immediately… but that moment also means your practical exam is over." The officer leapt.

Whoosh!

He leapt directly from the roof of that small building inside the town, jumping up several meters high, then with two consecutive jumps he was outside the town.

"Enter the monster town!"

1,896 prospective martial artists marched into the monster town in a mighty throng.

"Close the gate!"

Accompanied by the officer's command, the gate over ten meters high slowly closed.

The martial artists' practical exam officially began.