Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Shocking the Entire Audience

"?!"

"Holy crap! There are other masters here?!"

"Sixth Brother, I was wrong! It’s true, eating a lot really does make you stronger! My mom wasn’t lying! Waaaah!"

"My idol! Sixth Brother is the people’s idol! Seeing those geniuses from the conglomerates with their CPUs fried and their faces all constipated is so satisfying!"

"So arrogant before, so respectful now. It’s hilarious to watch."

The live stream chat suddenly exploded with comments, nearly as active as it was during the first seed contestants’ tests.

In the lounge of Cupid Housekeeping Hall.

"Huh?" Zhu Yuhe was dumbfounded.

The others exchanged a look, then repeated in unison like a broken record, "Huh?!"

"It really is Xiao Wang..."

Team Leader Lei Wen scratched his head, his face a mask of confusion.

"But isn’t he a fresh graduate? How... how does he have that kind of strength?"

Everyone fell silent. No one could answer.

Yu Zihan’s mouth opened slightly, her eyes staring blankly at the black-haired young man on her phone. She recalled his earlier movements, then focused on the data projected on the iron wall and murmured,

’So strong...’

Back in the exam hall, murmurs and gasps of astonishment rose and fell, and the six seed contestants representing the government and the conglomerates all simultaneously locked their gazes on the black-haired young man’s back.

Their expressions were varied and complex.

Yu Jiali watched the young man, a smile playing on her lips.

’He’s even better at hiding his strength than I am...’

’Interesting.’

’Looks like my big sister was right. This guy’s strength is a huge mismatch for his handsome, delicate face. He can’t be underestimated.’

The offense test wasn’t over yet.

The other examinees in Wang Xi’s batch were still standing dumbfounded, not yet having snapped back to reality.

Wang Xi had already taken out a White Card.

With a flash of light, a silver-gray longsword materialized in his hand. It was as wide as his palm and had a flat tip, looking almost like a giant ruler.

The crossguard and hilt were twisted into a spiral, like rope, and it was topped with a simple, coin-shaped pommel.

—Executioner’s Beheading Sword—

Though it was his first time using this sword, the power of the Bloody Knight made it feel not just familiar, but an extension of himself.

It was as if he and the Beheading Sword had been companions for years.

"HSSSSS..."

Wang Xi’s teeth clenched and his lips parted slightly as he drew in a slow breath.

He gripped the hilt with both hands and suddenly whipped the blade around.

With a piercing WHINE, the Beheading Sword carved a gray arc through the air, sweeping down like the Grim Reaper’s scythe to strike the dummy’s neck—

CLANG!!!

Sparks flew, and the ear-piercing noise vanished in an instant.

The metal test dummy’s head flew into the air, spun, and crashed heavily to the ground.

THUD!!

The metal head rolled twice, then fell silent.

The cut on its neck was perfectly smooth, wisps of blue smoke rising from it.

"Huuuh..."

Wang Xi held the Beheading Sword level, his stance unwavering. His nostrils flared as he finally released the breath he had been holding.

BEEP BEEP—

"Wang Xi, Number 666."

"Armed Attack: 6560N (100 Points)"

BEEP!!

The data projection on the iron wall once again played the firework animation. Not only that, but a line of large text began to flash:

"New Valley City Record logged!"

"Record-Setter: Wang Xi, Number 666, 17th Valley City Professional Warrior Examination."

"?!!"

The entire hall erupted into an uproar.

He beheaded the dummy with a single strike! Were they seeing things?!

A perfect score of 6560N?!

A new record for Valley City?!

This shocking information flooded everyone’s minds, almost causing them to short-circuit.

The Examiners present were also stunned. They exchanged glances, seeing looks of excitement and delight on each other’s faces.

Another star was born.

The six seed contestants were aghast. Lin Xin’Er and Carl both frowned, while Xiao Yuzhe, from the Overlook Bureau’s Disenchantment Class, couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration,

"To think that even Southern Continent’s Valley City has someone this amazing... Truly remarkable..."

Beyond the hall, the livestream—which had already broken a million concurrent viewers—was in an even greater frenzy.

The chat scrolled by in a mad dash.

"Sixth Brother, you’re the man! 666666!!"

"Holy shit!"

"Holy shit, holy shit!!"

"He beheaded it?! That was a proprietary iron composite target made by the Gear Conglomerate..."

"So, does that mean we just witnessed history?"

"Six Gods!!"

Hero Association Building, Second Floor.

Many active Professional Warriors had gathered here. They were crowded around a large screen on the wall, and quite a few of them shot to their feet, their faces etched with shock.

On the top floor of the building, the board of Examiners and the high-ranking officials from the government and conglomerates were just as surprised. They couldn’t help but begin discussing the identity of this unknown young man.

Only the representatives of the three major conglomerates looked displeased.

They had spent significant resources to package their seed contestants into stars during this event, and now some unknown kid had stolen all the thunder.

...

...

The second round of the examination continued.

On the scrolling leaderboard on the iron wall to the right, the top spot had now been taken by Wang Xi’s name.

His crimson 100 points dominated the entire field.

The second test was for Defense Ability.

This also involved facing a dummy target.

This time, however, the dummy would fire fist-sized black balls from its mouth, chest, and limbs.

The core of the black balls was a proprietary iron composite, coated in rubber, and they were launched at extreme speeds.

Their power was not to be underestimated.

A direct hit could easily shatter bones. A strike to a vital area like the head, throat, or torso could even be fatal.

From this round onward, the casualty rate for the examination would rise sharply. Many examinees in the past had died right here, too quickly for any medical intervention.

The six seed contestants continued to perform exceptionally well.

Each of them showed off their unique abilities, passing the round perfectly with stunning, even flashy, techniques.

The Defense Ability test could be handled in one of three ways—enduring, neutralizing, or dodging—with different scoring criteria for each.

For instance, the top performer in this round was Yu Jiali.

She used her Card deck, molding a lump of clay on the spot into an odd-looking ceramic pot that actually sucked in all the black balls fired by the dummy, neutralizing the attack and earning her a perfect score.

Lin Xin’Er’s approach was more direct. She simply threw her fists, obliterating every black ball with a blur of punches. This fell into the "enduring" category, and she also received a perfect score.

As for Jiang Tianjie, Carl, Xiao Yuzhe, and Nagata An, they all chose to dodge.

Jiang Tianjie was grazed on the arm once and only scored 95 points; the others all achieved perfect scores.

...

...

Batch after batch of ordinary examinees attempted this test, and nearly all of them chose the "enduring" approach.

Most had purchased shield or armor Cards beforehand to block the projectiles. A few of the more skilled examinees combined this with dodging, only relying on their defenses when a dodge was impossible.

But even so, the violent impacts of the black balls still caused injuries.

PANG! PANG!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!!

The loud sounds of impact were incessant, punctuated by screams of pain. One examinee after another was struck down, left writhing on the floor.

In each batch of twenty, more than half ended up injured.

BANG!!

Another black ball flew out, striking a middle-aged man squarely in the head. His metal headgear, which resembled a motorcycle helmet, caved in. The face shield shattered, and the man screamed as he collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from the wound.

The examinees’ scores were generally low—much lower than in the previous offense test.

Fewer than twenty people scored above 60, with most landing in the 30-to-40-point range.

Soon, it was Wang Xi’s turn again, his number being one of the last.

He stepped forward with his batch, immediately drawing the attention of everyone both inside and outside the hall.

"He isn’t wearing any armor, and he doesn’t have a shield."

Someone pointed this out in surprise.

"Is he planning to dodge or neutralize them?"

BEEP—

The tone sounded.

The dummy’s mouth opened, and with a BANG, it spat out a high-speed black ball that shot in a straight line toward Wang Xi.

Amid the piercing whistle, the black-haired young man raised the two-handed sword he was holding.

CLANG!!

The Beheading Sword parried the black ball with flawless precision.

The sharp edge of the blade vibrated, and with an ear-splitting ring, it sliced the black ball in half.

THWAP—THWAP—

The two halves flew past him and landed on the gleaming floor.

"He cut it..."

The crowd froze, their pupils shrinking in shock.

THWAP-THWAP-THWAP-THWAP-THWAP!!

Holes opened up on the dummy’s chest and arms, and it began firing a dense barrage of high-speed black balls, like a machine gun strafing.

The black-haired young man stood his ground, his legs like stone pillars supporting his ramrod-straight back. He held the Beheading Sword with both hands, swinging it so fast it left afterimages in the air.

As the blade flashed, it looked to the crowd as if he had formed a curved, silver-gray Round Shield.

As each black ball struck it, there was a crisp CLINK. Amid a shower of sparks, each projectile was split in two and sent flying.

DING DING CLANG CLANG!!

"Is he taking the same approach as Miss Xin’Er?"

To one side of the crowd, the crew-cut young man among the six seed contestants, Jiang Tianjie, folded his arms. He raised an eyebrow and said in surprise,

"To Parry so quickly and accurately with a Two-Handed Sword... his physical stats are off the charts!"

"His Swordsmanship is even more incredible."

The girl with long, straight black hair who had been silent until now spoke softly. She wore a cropped jacket of matte pink-and-green fabric and gray wide-leg pants. This was Nagata An, the seed contestant representing the Sky Dome Conglomerate.

The young woman’s Federation standard wasn’t perfect; she spoke with a slight accent from Shimahara Country (of the Jia Empire).

"Swordsmanship of this level requires a Three-Star Green Card at a minimum."

She hesitated a moment before adding,

"Or an Ultimate-grade White Card."

"Heh, that’s even less likely..."

Xiao Yuzhe stuck his hands in his pockets and shook his head with a faint smile.

"Even at East Continent University, there aren’t more than a hundred geniuses who can temper a Card to the Ultimate grade."

As a top graduate of East Continent University himself, he knew this better than anyone.

Every Universal Card has the potential to undergo Star Promotion to the Ultimate grade, at which point it will form a Seal on the user’s body.

It is a mark that belongs only to the strong.

Without extraordinary talent and effort, it is impossible to obtain one. How could a character as rare as a phoenix feather appear in a simple Professional Warrior exam in Valley City?

Not even the six of them could do it!

As he said this, Xiao Yuzhe, with his messy, shoulder-length hair, couldn’t help but think of his superior, a fellow Legendary genius from East Continent University: Chu Nai.

She...

...had a Seal.

And not just one.

BEEP BEEP—

A prompt sounded, drawing the attention of the six contestants.

"Wang Xi, Number 666."

"Defense Ability: Perfect, Unscathed (100 Points)"

Another perfect score!

Everyone in the hall looked toward the iron wall on the right—

The top of the scrolling leaderboard still belonged to him!

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