High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingxue breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I heard it's dangerous outside the city, and I've been worried about you..."

She suddenly realized what she had said, her face flushed slightly, and she quickly changed the subject, "By the way, what's your Qi and Blood value now? You must have gained something from the training, right?"

Lin Qingxue's eyes were clear and full of genuine concern. She was unaware of Song Chen's true strength and simply believed that he had obtained a small opportunity outside the city and broken through to level 1.0.

Song Chen nodded: "It's alright, I gained a little something."

Lin Qingxue was quite pleased to hear this: "That's good. Be careful during the assessment later. The beasts drawn in the actual battle are all captured from the wild, and their strength varies. If you draw a powerful one, just give it up and try again next time. Safety first, understand?"

Looking at her serious expression, Song Chen suddenly felt like laughing.

"Know."

Lin Qingxue glared at him: "Don't take this lightly! I heard that someone has drawn a mutated armored rhinoceros. That thing has thick skin and flesh. At the peak of the first rank, it's equivalent to 8.5 of a human's health. Last year, a candidate had his stomach pierced by it and almost didn't survive."

"Okay, I've got it."

Before Lin Qingxue could say anything more, a shout came from ahead.

"Candidates for the 8 o'clock session, please enter the examination room now!"

The crowd began to surge.

Lin Qingxue waved to Song Chen: "Go for it!"

"come on."

The two followed the crowd into the building. The lobby on the third floor was even more crowded than yesterday, with dozens of candidates crammed into the waiting area. Some were warming up, some were checking their weapons, and some looked pale and extremely nervous.

In the center of the hall stood more than a dozen huge alloy iron cages, each over ten square meters in size, all empty, waiting for the strange beasts to be sent in. The examiners stood beside the cages, checking the list with expressionless faces.

A middle-aged man in a black uniform walked to the center of the hall and clapped his hands.

"Quiet!"

Everyone quieted down.

"I am today's chief examiner, my surname is Zhou."

"I'll only say the rules once. First, enter in order of your number. When your name is called, come forward and draw lots. Whatever beast you draw, you'll go into that cage."

"Secondly, no one may interfere during the assessment process. Unless death is certain, the examiners will not come to your rescue. Since you have chosen to become martial artists, you must bear the risks of becoming martial artists."

"Third, the way to admit defeat is to throw your weapon out of the cage. After you throw it out, we will open the door and let you out, but admitting defeat also means failing the test."

His gaze swept over the candidates present, a hint of coldness in his eyes: "Did you understand?"

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison.

"Okay, let's begin. Number one, Zhang Qiang, let's test your Qi and blood levels first."

A tall boy stepped forward and placed his hand on the blood pressure monitor. Soon, a number appeared on it: 1.4.

"Qi and blood test passed, proceed to actual combat."

He went to the box in front of him, took out a slip of paper, and handed it to the examiner.

The examiner glanced at it: "Mutant wild dog, into cage number one."

The tall boy took a deep breath, stepped into the cage, and the alloy door closed behind him.

Soon, a gray wild dog, about half a person's height, was herded into a cage through the back passage. When it saw people, it immediately bared its teeth and let out a low growl.

The battle begins.

The tall boy was quite skilled in martial arts, and he knocked the wild dog to the ground with a few slashes. However, his hand trembled slightly during the last slash, and he was almost bitten by the wild dog in its death throes. He dodged awkwardly, his face covered in cold sweat.

"Number one, passed," the examiner announced.

The tall boy stepped out of the cage, his face showing relief, but his legs were still trembling.

The assessment continues.

Number two, number three, some passed, some failed. The one who failed drew the mutated fox and was completely outmaneuvered by that cunning creature. In the end, exhausted, he had no choice but to throw down his weapon and admit defeat.

"Number four, Song Chen."

Song Chen stood up.

Lin Qingxue whispered from the side, "Good luck! Draw an easy one!"

The examiner pointed to the blood pressure monitor and said, "Let's measure your blood pressure."

Song Chen pressed his hand on it, and the instrument emitted a slight buzzing sound. Soon, a number appeared on the screen: 2.2.

Lin Qingxue stood in the crowd, her eyes wide open, her mouth slightly agape, her face full of disbelief.

Song Chen, whom she had always worried about and wanted to protect, Song Chen with a blood energy level of only 0.6...

2.2?

It rose by a full 1.6% in just one week?

Song Chen walked back, stood in front of the examiner, and began to draw lots from his opponent. There were many slips of paper in the box. He grabbed one at random and handed it to the examiner.

The examiner unfolded the slip of paper, glanced at it, and his expression changed.

The entire room fell silent for a second.

Then the examiner looked up at Song Chen, his gaze somewhat complicated.

"Kid, you're really unlucky. A mutated armored rhinoceros, peak first tier, which is equivalent to 8.5 human health points. Do you want to give up? If not, go into cage number four."

Lin Qingxue really has a jinx; she was right.

The hall erupted in uproar.

"An armored rhinoceros?"

"Peak of Tier 1? Isn't that one of the most difficult?"

"What luck this kid has..."

"This thing's hide is so thick that even a C-grade knife can't cut through it. How are we supposed to fight it?"

Lin Qingxue's face turned pale instantly. She rushed over and grabbed Song Chen's sleeve. She lowered her voice and said urgently, "Song Chen, give up. This is too dangerous. You can't beat it. Next time, I'll come with you."

Song Chen looked at her anxious face but didn't move.

The examiner looked at him and said, "Young man, the armored rhinoceros is not easy to deal with. It's too much for you to do this. I suggest you give up this round of assessment and come back tomorrow."

The other candidates also chimed in.

"Yeah, brother, don't go to your death."

"The one that got pierced last time was the armored rhinoceros."

"Admitting defeat is not shameful; if you lose your life, you lose everything."

Everyone was looking at him, their eyes filled with sympathy, regret, and a desire to see him make a fool of himself.

Song Chen stood there calmly: "This is it, I'm in a hurry."

He then turned to Lin Qingxue and patted her shoulder: "It's alright, it's a minor issue, you can go back now."

Another uproar erupted in the hall.

Lin Qingxue naturally refused to leave, tugging at his clothes and signaling with her eyes for him to give up.

Song Chen was too lazy to explain and went straight into cage number four.

The alloy door closed behind him.

Soon, heavy footsteps echoed from the passage behind.

"Knock knock knock..."

Every step felt like it was stepping on one's heart.

A gigantic creature emerged from the darkness.

That was a mutated armored rhinoceros. It was a size larger than a regular rhinoceros, and its entire body was covered with gray-black horn armor, like it was wearing a thick layer of stone. The single horn on its head was half a meter long, and its tip gleamed with a cold, eerie light.

It let out a deep roar, a sound that seemed to come from deep within its chest, making the iron cage vibrate.

"Damn, it's so big..."

"That single horn could easily pierce through a person, right?"

"Even a second-tier martial artist would have a hard time fighting this; its skin is too thick..."

There was a lot of discussion outside.