All grunt disciples who took part in the evaluation held inside the Training Field had to exit through a passageway.
Participants either succeeded or failed in the testing.
Those who passed the evaluation assembled on the left side of the auditorium.
Those who were unsuccessful could leave the field on their own anytime they wished.
Hundreds of disciples underwent the evaluation. At the end of the first phase, only around seventy or eighty grunt disciples were left and were eligible to go on to the next round.
Those who made it had smug looks on their faces as they watched the disciples who failed leave with dejected expressions.
Everyone who passed the first round was excited after their experience. There was a heated discussion among these disciples about the dangers and risks they encountered inside the passageway that was full of dummies.
Some of the disciples were boasting of how courageous and remarkable they had been to overcome many barriers that they had encountered inside the passageway.
Meanwhile, there were disciples who needed to recover and build up their energy for the next round, after being drained of strength and suffering from bruises inside the Training Field.
They knew that to survive another round of evaluation, they had to prepare harder.
Other grunt disciples who stood outside the Training Field as spectators both envied and admired the disciples who passed the first round of evaluation.
Everyone had been waiting for a long time, but there was still no announcement of the next round of evaluation in the auditorium.
Out of impatience, some impetuous grunt disciples began yelling.
"What's wrong? The first round ended a long time ago! Why is there still no announcement about the next round of evaluation? We're all getting anxious here." Another one added," Yes, we've been waiting here for a long time." After letting the disciple finish speaking, Evan interrupted to reprimand them.
"Take it easy. Tin hasn't come out yet. Who told you that the first round has already ended?" As he blurted out the words, Evan stared at the disciples ferociously, irritated by their impatience.
The mere mention of Austin's name by Evan had them shutting up.
They knew better than to make any rash remarks.
Grunt disciples knew too well how aggressive and fearsome Austin was. Since he and Evan were best friends, the latter's position had improved tremendously. Every grunt disciple was aware that Austin would be offended if they displeased Evan.
The exchange of words had Matias crossing his arms and laying his hands on his shoulders. The man looked sullen and lost in thought.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAfter several minutes, he looked thoughtful. It was likely that he was thinking of Austin.
Inside the auditorium, several stewards were now fidgeting in their seats.
"Ms. Dai, you're an elder of our sect. Based on your observations, has he broken the rules?" one asked.
"How should | know? Go ask other elders of our sect!" the sole female steward remarked.
She was just as impatient as the spectators, and gave another elder a hard look.
"All dummies within 50 to 80 meters have already been defeated by participant No.78." The announcement, made with a tinge of resignation, was delivered by an elder steward.
He was referring to Austin, who held the token numbered 78 for this evaluation.
"From 80 meters onward, the dummies encountered are mostly as mighty as people in the fifth level of the Energy Gathering Realm.
The participant No.78 wouldn't be that brutal.
He is only a grunt disciple after all," another elder offered.
But the others weren't convinced.
"What are you worried about anyway? Aren't elders always complaining that there have been fewer and fewer geniuses in our sect? Now that we've witnessed a genius here, you're still not pleased? Would you prefer that he gave up?” When they realized that what he said made sense, other stewards became hopeful. Many of them had similar thoughts, ‘As the elder mentioned, the guy is really a genius.’ "Let him proceed with the evaluation.
Now, dispatch someone to check the register to find out the name of the participant No.78," an older steward ordered.
Among the stewards present in the Training Field, he was respectable and had higher authority for making decisions, so his orders carried weight.
Austin had still not gone out of the Training Field.
At the moment, he was 80 meters away from the starting point.
The young warrior had stopped to rest for a while.
For this phase of the evaluation, he successfully defeated 120 dummies and earned more than 2, 400 vital energy crystals.
Without a doubt, he was exhausted and had depleted a considerable amount of his strength. Moving along the passageway as he fought numerous dummies, he supplemented his energy using the vital energy stone near his elixir field.
After resting for several moments, Austin felt his physical strength slowly restored.
So, he continued striding forward and walked towards a dummy that stood on the left of the passageway.
"Hey, buddy! Let me start with you, okay?" Austin taunted.
As he spoke, Austin raised his left hand and slammed it towards the dummy's shoulder using his vital energy.
Assaulted by the vital energy, the dummy reacted and quickly moved in defense.
Its right hand had a sharp axe that it flung towards Austin in an attempt to chop him with fierce force of vital energy.
He muttered to himself," The fifth level of the Energy Gathering Realm!" By this time, he had walked along the passageway for a total of 80 meters. As he kept going, Austin realized that as he walked farther, the dummies he would encounter belonged to the fifth level of the Energy Gathering Realm.
To counter the axe's blow, Austin tiptoed slightly and assumed the Wind-commanding Skill position. He dodged the dummy's violent and swift attack quite smoothly. Before the weapon descended on him, Austin quickly slid to the left and now stood beside, not in front of, the dummy.
It was no wonder this dummy was in the fifth level of the Realm, Austin thought. It was both quick and flexible when moving. As it saw Austin moving to the left, it switched positions, so the axe now targeted the disciple’s right ribcage.
Still, Austin refused to be bested by a dummy and moved even faster.
Spectators were thrilled watching the match and were awed at how fast Austin was moving. He swung his arm, and his fist hit the dummy's head on the left.
Without warning, the dummy stopped moving and threw up.
From his mouth came out 50 vital energy crystals.
It shocked Austin to discover that dummies on the fifth level of the Energy Gathering Realm could spit out 50 vital energy crystals. He was delighted that things were turning out better than he expected. Thinking of the satisfactory results he was seeing, Austin became even more energetic.
Without pausing, he immediately strode towards another dummy, and readied himself to defeat it.
Using every ounce of energy, he attacked.
His goal was clear: to get more vital energy crystals! At the auditorium, a disciple rushed towards the elderly steward to report.
He had been tasked to find out who the Number 78 disciple was.
He spoke in low tones and the steward acknowledged this.
After learning the identity of the disciple, he cleared his throat.
Loudly, the elder steward declared before other stewards,” The Number 78 disciple is Austin!" There was a collective murmur after the announcement.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmEveryone had similar thoughts running through their minds.
"Austin? That guy is Austin? He's fierce and ruthless! No wonder he's managed to hang on until this point." As it became very clear who this excellent warrior was, they finally understood why he's continued to be successful in this exercise.
He's reached 90 meters.
Now, it's 100 meters! And Austin continued to move farther and farther, meter by meter. There was no one stopping this brazen disciple.
Many minutes had passed, and people were becoming impatient.
The disciples continued to wait for the next round of evaluation outside the Training Field. The spectators that had crowded around the field, and even stewards in the auditorium were running out of patience.
As people became more restless, they turned noisy. The sounds of impatience growing louder and louder. The din inside the entire Martial Arts Performing Field was akin to water boiling in a cauldron.
It was Austin, who was sweating all over as he remained busy fighting dummies inside the passageway. That was the cause of all the noise.
He would rest on the spot if he got tired of fighting the dummies and ran out of strength.
When drained of strength, he boosted himself through the vital energy stone inside his elixir field from time to time.
By this time, Austin had already traveled for 150 meters inside the passageway.
After waiting for so long for the next round of evaluation, a rotund steward lost his composure and complained loudly to his peers.
"Steward Ouyang, don't you think it would be impossible to complete today's promotion exercise if we just continue waiting here doing nothing? Is that guy an iron man? It appears that he is not getting tired at all,” he said about Austin.
His words forced a smiled out of the other stewards.
The observation, though sarcastic, sounded plausible. Austin had been inside the passageway for quite a long time. But based on their orbs, they sensed he was still energetic. More astounding was the fact that he likely defeated each dummy on the fifth level of the Energy Gathering Realm using no more than four moves.
"It seems his vital energy is truly mighty.
Well, there is no more time for him to go ahead.
Ask someone to inform him that the evaluation is over," Steward Ouyang directed.
After careful study, he finally made his decision.
A few moments later, Austin’s rangy figure finally appeared at the small passageway beside the gate of the Training Field, and the young disciple walked out slowly.
As he did so, all eyes were trained on him.
The young warrior was at the center of attention.