Free Web NovelChapter 254: Chapter 214: A Level Promotion Assessment
"Proceed."
Han Feng tapped his finger.
[Application accepted.]
[Assessment Time: Immediate.]
[Assessment Location: East Sea Martial Arts University’s Third Martial Arts Dojo.]
Seeing the word "Immediate," Han Feng nodded with satisfaction.
The efficiency was impeccable.
He stood up, went to the bathroom and took a cold shower, washing away the medicinal smell and sweat from his body.
He changed into a clean and tidy B Level Student uniform.
He straightened his collar in front of the mirror.
The youth in the mirror had a calm expression, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
"Let’s go."
Han Feng pushed open the door and strode out.
...
「East Sea Martial Arts University, Third Martial Arts Dojo.」
This was one of the busiest buildings on the entire campus, filled with the smell of sweat and the restless energy of excessive hormones.
Han Feng, wearing a faded B Level Student uniform, slowly made his way through the crowded throng.
"Excuse me."
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a cold indifference that was impossible to ignore.
A few boys ahead, deep in a heated conversation, frowned and were about to turn around and snap at him.
The moment their eyes fell on Han Feng’s calm face, the curse words on the tips of their tongues were choked back, like a duck being strangled.
"S-Senior Han?"
One of them, a boy with his left arm still wrapped in bandages, had his pupils shrink abruptly.
He was one of the survivors of the Secret Realm trial. He had personally seen how Han Feng slaughtered those Tier Two Demon Beasts outside the Trading Hall as if they were chickens.
That bone-deep awe made him subconsciously take a step back.
He even bowed slightly, making an extremely respectful gesture to clear the way.
"Mm."
Han Feng gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, his pace never slowing, as he walked straight toward the A Level assessment area at the very back.
This scene left the surrounding onlookers, who didn’t know the truth, completely stunned.
"Hey, who’s that? Acting all high and mighty?"
A newly enrolled freshman couldn’t help but mutter.
"Shh! Keep your voice down!"
The boy with the bandages looked at the freshman as if he were looking at a dead man and said in a hushed voice,
"That’s Han Feng! The badass from the Sharp Sword Club!
I heard that in the Secret Realm this time, he killed Tier Two Late Stage Demon Beasts like they were chickens..."
"HISS!!"
A chorus of sharp inhalations immediately sounded from the crowd.
The way they looked at Han Feng changed in an instant, now tinged with a trace of awe.
The originally crowded passage miraculously parted, forming a wide path.
Han Feng kept his eyes fixed forward, but inwardly, he was calculating.
’A reputation can be a burden sometimes.’
’But I have to admit, it’s pretty useful for cutting in line.’
Walking up to the window marked "A-Level Promotion Assessment," Han Feng knocked on the glass.
The examiner inside was an acquaintance. It was none other than Instructor Lin, the one who had been so disappointed when Han Feng refused to join the Martial Arts Element.
Instructor Lin was sipping tea from a thermos. The moment he saw Han Feng, he nearly spat out a mouthful of scalding hot tea.
"You kid... you’re still alive?"
Instructor Lin put down his cup and sized Han Feng up and down with a complicated look in his eyes.
As a senior instructor, he had heard some secrets about the Suspended Mountain Secret Realm trial.
For example, that this student named Han Feng had played some kind of "key role" in the incident.
"Thanks to you, I’m doing alright."
Han Feng smiled and handed over his Identity Card. "I’m applying for the A Level Student promotion assessment."
Instructor Lin took the card and swiped it on the Card Reader.
BEEP!
A bold, red pop-up window instantly appeared on the screen: [SPECIAL ATTENTION FILE: PERMISSION LOCKED].
Instructor Lin’s finger twitched.
’Special Attention.’
At East Sea Martial Arts University, only two types of people had this designation.
One type was seed contestants who possessed S Level Talent.
The other type was "special individuals" being directly monitored by the university’s upper echelons or even the military.
"The system has automatically matched the assessment difficulty..."
Instructor Lin stared at the string of data that popped up on the screen, his brows knitted tightly. He looked up at Han Feng, his tone becoming exceptionally grave.
"Han Feng, your assessment opponent isn’t a standard Intelligent Puppet."
"It’s a ’Hunter-4 Type’ Close Combat Mecha."
Instructor Lin paused before adding,
"And it’s being piloted in real-time by a retired First Level Ace Pilot from inside a Remote Full-Sensory Simulation Pod."
The surrounding students who had been eavesdropping instantly erupted.
A Hunter-4 Type?
That’s an active-duty frontline land-warfare Mecha used by the military!
Its entire body is covered in Depleted Uranium Armor, it’s equipped with a High-Frequency Vibration Saber, and when its Power Furnace is at full capacity, its speed can break the sound barrier!
Making a flesh-and-blood Meridian Passage Realm Martial Artist go one-on-one with that kind of steel monster?
And it’s being piloted by an Ace Pilot?
This isn’t an assessment, it’s a straight-up execution!
’Looks like someone up top wants to see what I’m made of.’
Han Feng understood perfectly.
This was obviously the work of Chen Beixuan or Li Tiecheng, wanting to verify how much substance there was to his "Ancient Cultivation Inheritance."
"No problem."
Han Feng shrugged, looking completely relaxed.
"Let’s begin."
Instructor Lin gave him a deep look, said nothing more, and pressed the start button.
"Enter the arena!"
...
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE.
In the center of the assessment hall, a hydraulic gate slowly rose.
A pitch-black steel behemoth, three meters tall, strode out of the shadows with heavy steps.
Its streamlined Armor glinted coldly under the lights, and the sound of its hydraulic joints was like the low growl of a beast.
The two-meter-long Alloy Vibration Saber in its hand was vibrating at a high frequency, emitting a tooth-grinding hum.
No pointless talk.
No probing.
The instant the countdown hit zero.
BOOM!
The Mecha’s back-mounted vector thrusters suddenly blasted out a trail of eerie blue flame.
The fifty-meter distance was covered in an instant!
It was too fast!
The Mecha moved so quickly it even left an afterimage on the retinas of the spectators.
The saber descended with the terrifying force of a Powerful Slash of Hua Mountain, carrying a crushing wind pressure as it plummeted straight for Han Feng’s head.
This was the oppressive presence of an Ace Pilot!
If that slash landed, forget a Meridian Passage Realm cultivator; even the Protective True Qi of an Enlightenment Realm expert would be torn apart like paper.
However,
Han Feng, at the center of the storm, didn’t even blink.
In his field of vision, the world had changed.
[Spiritual Vision], activated.
The movements of the once lightning-fast Mecha were broken down infinitely.
The blue Energy pipelines, the red load-bearing nodes, the 0.03-second delay in the hydraulic transmission.
All the data flowed before his eyes like a waterfall.
’Pressure imbalance in the left leg’s hydraulic pump, center of gravity shifted 12 degrees to the right.’
’Insufficient correction in the pre-attack windup.’
’Full of openings.’
Han Feng tapped the tip of his foot.
[Body Technique·Reversal of Heaven and Earth].
His entire body was like a weightless feather. Just 0.1 seconds before the blade could strike, he defied physical inertia and slid half a meter diagonally backward.
SWOOSH—!
The massive Vibration Saber sliced down, grazing the tip of his nose before slamming into the special alloy floor, sending sparks flying.
At almost the same time.
Han Feng’s right hand flashed to his waist like lightning.
The heavily modified "Sand Python" high-caliber pistol traced a cold arc under the lights.
"Naive!"
The Pilot in the simulation pod snorted coldly.
The frontal Armor of the Hunter-4 Type was thick enough to withstand an anti-tank rocket. A mere pistol?
He controlled the Mecha, and the heavy Tower Shield on its left arm instantly shifted to cover the core positions of the cockpit and the Power Furnace.
It was a textbook defensive posture, completely impenetrable.
But Han Feng wasn’t aiming at the Mecha.
His muzzle was bizarrely pointed at a patch of... air to the Mecha’s right.
’Did he miss his aim?’
The thought hadn’t even finished forming in the onlookers’ minds.
BANG!
A gunshot, as muffled and deep as thunder, exploded.
A special-made bullet shrouded in a faint, silvery-white light shot out of the barrel.
And in that very instant.
Han Feng’s vast Spiritual Power, as high as 2,000 points, grabbed the fired bullet like a giant, invisible hand.
’...Turn!’
The bullet traced an incredible, right-angled death line in mid-air, completely defying the laws of ballistics!
Like a predatory viper, it bizarrely bypassed the Mecha’s heavy Tower Shield in mid-air.
From a completely impossible angle, it viciously drilled into the barely perceptible gap where the armor plates on the back of the Mecha’s neck connected.
That was the Mecha’s only heat exhaust vent!
And an absolute blind spot!
PFFT!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Just a faint sound, like air leaking from a balloon.
The black Mecha, which had been preparing to launch a second charge, suddenly froze.
Immediately after, its eerie blue electronic eyes flickered frantically twice before going completely dark.
The massive steel body lost all power, as if its spine had been ripped out.
CRASH!
The Mecha fell heavily to its knees, kicking up a cloud of dust.
One shot.
A one-shot kill.
The entire assessment hall fell deathly silent.
Everyone’s eyes were wide, as if someone had pressed the mute button.
Instructor Lin’s thermos fell to the ground with a CLATTER, rolling far away. He didn’t even notice the tea spilling all over the floor.
"Is... is that Gun Fighting Technique?!"
He muttered to himself, his voice trembling.
"No!
No form of Gun Fighting Technique can make a bullet turn ninety degrees in mid-air!
Is this... a Mental Realm?
Or is it Spiritual Power interfering with matter?!"
Han Feng blew away the non-existent smoke from the muzzle and expertly holstered his "Sand Python".
Without so much as a glance at the scrap metal on the floor, he turned to the stunned Instructor Lin.
"Instructor, did I pass or not?"
Instructor Lin snapped back to his senses, looking at Han Feng as if he were looking at a monster in human skin.
"You... you passed."
He swallowed hard. "Han Feng, are you interested in becoming a teaching assistant in our Martial Arts Element? The benefits..."
"Thank you for the kind offer, Instructor, but I prefer to train alone."
Han Feng waved his hand, his rejection crisp and final.
He pushed open the doors and walked out of the assessment hall under the awe-filled, shocked, and complex gazes of the crowd.
He had barely taken two steps out when the personal terminal on his wrist vibrated.
[DING—]
[Congratulations, you have passed the A Level Student promotion assessment.]
[Your clearance has been upgraded to A Level.]
[The A Level resource depot is now open to you. The monthly purchase limit has been removed.]
Han Feng smiled. This was what he wanted.
Immediately after, another message popped up.
[Dormitory Assignment Notice: In light of your special contributions and A Level clearance, you have been assigned to Villa No. 6 in the core apartment area, "Azure Sea and Sky".]
This was a place where only the most elite A Level Students could reside.
