More than three hundred people met the basic registration requirements for trainees and investigators.
Among them, most of the official investigators from the Investigation Bureau had met the dimensional requirement. They were not weak to begin with and had made rapid progress over the past three days, with the fastest improving their physiques by 0.7 or 0.8 units.
Meeting the requirements was not difficult.
The newcomers recruited from all over Donghuang by Xin Huo, most of whom came from ordinary backgrounds, were some of them were even in a sub-optimal physical condition.
However, with the training from Hei Dao and the assistance of Yin Ling's nutritional tonic, their physical progress was still visible. Some older trainees had been training for more than ten, twenty days, or even longer.
The number of people who registered and were counted was even higher than the investigators.
Zhou Moumou looked at the throng of people around him and swallowed.
He did not recognize many of the faces. They might be newer trainees who had not participated in the previous rounds of admission assessments, but they had met the requirements now.
Perhaps many had caught up and surpassed him.
The pressure was immense.
Fortunately, there was no need to compete for rankings this time; passing the assessment was a victory in itself.
"Now, we will proceed with the first assessment: basic skills."
At Training Ground No. 6, Xu Tian stood on a high platform.
In front of him, on the wide training field, were some puppets that gleamed with metallic luster. These were the masterpieces of the forging workshop, but not entirely.
Their main bodies originated from a high-level piece of equipment provided with the training ground and had been modified by Wang Chui, making them the current test puppets.
For a double-awakened expert like Xu Tian, these puppets were too weak to be used for training. However, for trainees and investigators who were just ordinary people, these puppets were more than sufficient for testing.
Xu Tian continued, "There are four types of basic test puppets before you: knife, sword, spear, and fist puppets. You will choose one based on your preferred basic skill to spar with. Before the spar, the strength of the puppets will be set according to your dimensional measurement today."
"Simply put, the puppets' strength and speed will be slightly higher than yours. As for basic skills... you will pass the assessment if you can withstand the puppet's attacks for 20 seconds."
This was the basic skills assessment!
Zhou Moumou felt a surge of excitement, but after the excitement, he had to... obediently join the queue.
There was no choice. There were only a dozen or so test puppets, and there were over three hundred trainees registered for the assessment.
Especially those like him who practiced knife skills, they formed the largest group among the trainees. Fortunately, the number of knife puppets was also not small, and the tests continued one after another.
"Li Er."
"Physique 2.9, Spirit 1.5, proficient in knife skills."
"Testing begins."
The puppet holding a saber approached rapidly, its unsharpened saber slashing down one after another, like a storm, with immense power.
At the 15th second, the trainee named Li Er could not hold on. His saber was knocked aside, and he was sent flying by the knife puppet in the next second.
He fell to the ground, coughing up blood.
The physical injuries were secondary; the emotional pain was greater.
"Don't be discouraged if you don't pass."
"Keep working hard, keep training. You can still register for the next awakening assessment."
"Of course..." said Da Feng Novel Network.
Xu Tian added, "It's uncertain whether the standard for the next assessment will be raised."
If you don't add this sentence, it's not considered comfort!
The trainees who had already lost felt even more depressed.
Quite a few investigators also failed.
However, overall, the passing rate was higher for Xin Huo trainees, and many investigators chose fist techniques, incorporating military tactics.
Whether it was enduring for twenty seconds or hitting the puppet's 'vital point' and defeating it, those who did so passed the assessment.
Initially, when some trainees defeated the puppets, people exclaimed in surprise.
But gradually, as they saw more, they got used to it.
"After all, the knife skills, fist techniques, and so on set by the puppets are only at the proficient level, not very strong, according to Instructor Xu. It's normal for some people to defeat them."
"But why did I get my tiger's mouth numb after taking just one blow from that puppet, and I only lasted less than ten seconds before failing?"
"This is a problem with exerting force. The knife skills are not deep enough to respond in time, which is also a reason for failure."
"How can the gap between people be so large!"
Zhou Moumou also went up.
He maintained a steady fighting style and easily lasted for more than twenty seconds. If he wanted to 'defeat' the puppet, he estimated he could do it, but there was no need.
Doing so would involve some risk and would not draw attention.
After all, there were too many monsters.
"It seems that after this round of assessment, our numbers are fewer than the investigators' side."
Originally, they had more people, but they also had more eliminations.
Many more.
They were outdone by the international students from the Investigation Bureau.
The Xin Huo trainees who failed the assessment lowered their heads, full of shame.
Not far away,
The faces of the official investigators showed joy.
Today, they had indeed restored the glory of the investigators.
"But we only seem to have beaten some ordinary people?"
"Uh..."
Said one investigator.
The others were speechless. Upon reflection, they realized it was true. Why should they, the esteemed investigators, who had received professional training, be so happy to win against some ordinary people in an assessment?
Perhaps it was because...
The elites of Xin Huo were too formidable. Let alone the elites, even these trainees from ordinary backgrounds, many of whom were previously just high school students, sub-optimal sedentary males, or office clerks, were incredibly fierce when they trained, and sometimes their fighting spirit was even frightening to the investigators.
They heard that these were outstanding talents selected by Xin Huo from all over, and many came from overseas.
They were all geniuses.
Thinking of this, even though they knew they had only beaten a group of ordinary people, many investigators could not help but feel proud.
The basic skills assessment was quite time-consuming. After testing all over three hundred people, it was getting late, and no one showed any impatience.
Even the eliminated trainees did not leave, wanting to see the next assessment.
To broaden their horizons and accumulate experience.
On the high platform, Xu Tian spoke, "After this basic skills assessment, there are one hundred and seventy-nine remaining trainees. Next, you will undergo the willpower assessment. Those who pass will be arranged by the organization for awakening."
"Don't worry, this assessment will be quick."
He squatted down and clicked open a black box beside him, taking out a blood-red sphere that pulsed like a heart.
"Mysterious Item: Blood Fiend Core"
"Tier: Purple"
"Ability One: Blood Fiend Impact"
"Ability Two: Blood Fiend Absorption"
Like a terrifying monster released from its cage, just a glance made many trainees feel their hearts clench, and a chill filled their minds.
"This mysterious item is quite practical."
From a distant tall building, Fang You gazed down at the training ground.
Mysterious items were among the very few high-value treasures obtained from the previous draw of over two thousand destiny points.
A precious, high-tier mysterious item.
Ability one was area-of-effect attacks, and ability two was area-of-effect protection, which could not only absorb blood fiends but also the sanity-affecting influence of mysterious evils, or killing intent, and wide-area mental pressure.
It could be considered a divine artifact for protecting ordinary people.
It was also quite useful for testing and assessment. He had originally planned to use mysterious evils to test willpower, or have Hei Dao conduct killing intent tests.
However, it was difficult to precisely adjust the strength when using mysterious evils for testing.
Brother Hei Dao was precise enough, but it was a bit of overkill.
"If the effect is good, I can slightly modify this mysterious item later and use it as the 'Willpower Grinding Ground' for the training base." This was what he truly wanted.
The assessment today was a grand event, and he was not the only one spectating.
An Jianyou and Yi Luoxi were also present.
Yi Luoxi sat on the edge of the rooftop, her feet dangling in the evening breeze. "The newcomers this year are really energetic."
She wanted to recruit some people for the Witch Sisterhood.
But when she thought of Bai Shuang and Zi Luo, Yi Luoxi felt like crying.
They were her sisters, and they had also grown stronger and broken through. This should have been a happy occasion, but in the blink of an eye, they...
Were sent out on missions by the mentor!
They were clearly her people, but suddenly they were taken by the mentor. Damn it!
"Mentor, mentor, when will you allocate some talent to me?"
She glared angrily, pounding the bricks.
Fang You glanced over and thought for a moment. "It's not impossible for you to develop your sisterhood. I have a suggestion: you can expand overseas. The environment abroad is more suitable."
"If you agree, this will be considered an organizational mission, and you will be given some development funds, a small number of personnel, and organizational support can be requested when necessary."
This sounded promising.
There were indeed more awakened individuals in foreign countries, and the environment was chaotic, which was a great place for Yi Luoxi to showcase her talents.
However,
She needed more money!
Yi Luoxi started to bargain for personnel support, wanting a larger initial team.
Finally, she agreed. In addition to Bai Shuang and the other two, she was also provided with several capable awakened individuals who had graduated early and were quite skilled and professional.
Yi Luoxi beamed. "Can I pick some of tonight's newcomers as well?"
Fang You said, "Except for a few individuals, and those who have already been pre-booked, the rest are fine."
He didn't mind.
He was eager for Yi Luoxi to be motivated.
What an employer needed was motivation.
If Yi Luoxi didn't work hard, how could he, as an employer, have more excellent employees?
Sister An was less motivated; she was too laid-back.
She slowly brewed a pot of tea, and it tasted particularly good in the evening breeze.
"Mentor, please."
She then asked curiously, "Out of these one hundred and seventy-odd people, how many do you think will pass the willpower assessment?"
"Probably less than half."
"The elimination rate is so high? I think they are already very strong."
They were much stronger than she was before her awakening.
If she had participated in such an assessment before awakening, An Jianyou felt that she might, perhaps, probably... not have passed.
The newcomers were truly terrifying.
The mentor was truly strict.
"After all, the environment is different now," Fang You said.
Moreover, he was setting high standards. It was better to have a high elimination rate than to pass easily and then fail and die during awakening.
Strictness was necessary.
As they spoke, unrelated personnel retreated to the side. At the same time, Xu Tian manipulated the mysterious item "Blood Fiend Core," and it slowly floated into the air.
A faint red area enveloped all one hundred and seventy-nine assessed personnel.