Chapter 23: Interesting One

"The first test… will be a test of strength."

As soon as the woman raised her hand, the floor beside her opened up like a shaft; and from it emerged some sort of machine similar to those you can find in arcades-- a punch machine.

Yun Hao could only let out a slight huh as he looked at the machine twice. When he was still in the boxing team, some of his clubmates let him borrow some novels. He had always thought how the Test of Strength worked in the books he lightly read as they were made with some sort of boulder that apparently lit up according to how strong your physical strength was.

But now, seeing a normal-looking punch machine emerging dramatically from the ground, he almost let out a snort. But seeing as the other applicants' eyes were dead serious, he was able to hold it back. It made sense, after all. Even if most of the Cultivator clans and families could be considered orthodox, it doesn't mean that they were foolish enough not to adhere to the advancements of technology.

They were arrogant, but they weren't fools. Well, maybe some of them are, Yun Hao thought as he noticed that Sun Fang was still staring at him.

"Are you gay?" Yun Hao finally returned Sun Fang's annoying glare.

"What did--"

"Motherfuckers, you can settle your differences later!"

Before Sun Fang could rebuke, the female proctor immediately clapped her hands, telling the two to shut their mouths, "I don't need a bunch of babies causing trouble in my tests."

"Sorry, coach," Yun Hao quickly bowed his head as he no longer heeded Sun Fang's presence.

"Tch," the female proctor only flicked her ash brown-colored hair to the side before she proceeded to step in front of the punch machine.

"The test is very simple," the female proctor then said as she got into a stance, "You just need to hit this red mitt with everything you got. I don't care if it's your fist, your palm, your leg, or your head. As long as you hit above 1000kg, then it could be considered that you passed this test, even barely."

1000kg? Yun Hao could not help but let out a slight gasp as he heard the woman's words. That was way above the strength of the punch of most heavyweight boxing champions. But since the female proctor did say they can use their legs, perhaps it wasn't that hi--

"!!!"

Yun Hao's thoughts were disrupted as a thunderous echo erupted throughout the spacious hall. It wasn't only him, but the rest of the applicants as well were looking at where the noise came from.

The female proctor had her palms slightly stretched, her face, still the same bored and impatient expression she had since she showed herself. The punch machine, however, was the opposite as the display on top of it lit up in red.

"9,999 kg!?" Yun Hao once again blinked a couple of times as he let out a loud breath. But after a few seconds, he calmed himself down. Of course, it would be that high-- the woman in front of him is a Cultivator. But to think she just pushed the mitt with her hand…

...Once again, Yun Hao was shown the difference between him and the Cultivators.

"And that's it. That's all you need to know," the female cultivator said as the mitt automatically lifted up and got back to its original position, "Now whoever is number 1, step up so we can get this over with. I know some of you are just wasting your family's money anyway."

"..." This woman is a straight-up savage, Yun Hao thought. He wondered what this woman's identity was, to be this blunt to the rich young masters of this generation. But seeing how Sun Fang's master treated an ordinary receptionist of the Confederation, it made sense that she wouldn't even bat an eyelid to them.

"My name is Lu Meng, madam Liu Hannah," the one with the number 1 slot was a bald man in baggy clothes. If it wasn't for the tattoos on his arms, then Yun Hao would have thought that he was some kind of monk from the mountains.

And Liu Anna was the name of the female proctor? Yun Hao should probably search her up after the tests are over.

"Just proceed," proctor Anna waved her hand nonchalantly as she retrieved her phone from her pocket, pointing its camera towards the first applicant, Lu Meng. For some weird reason, Anna, who had been pissed off ever since she got here, started to let out a light giggle.

Lu Meng the first applicant, on the other hand, felt something ominous climbing on his back. But still, it was not enough to deter him as he finally put up his stance. He stretched his right hand, placing the tip of his fingers on the mitt.

"This is the 3-inch punch!" Lu Meng roared before proceeding to move every inch of his body forward, putting all of it to his strike.

'69!'

"..."

"Get the fuck out of here," proctor Anna almost snarled as she looked the applicant straight in the eye, before turning her phone to the next applicant, "Nex--"

"Wait!"

But before she could call the next one, Lu Meng's loud voice almost pierced her ears.

"Please let me try again!" Lu Meng bowed his head repeatedly.

"Yeah, no. That's not going to happen, next!"

"Please! My family paid for this!"

"Then I feel sorry for you family," Anna finally put down her phone as she approached the first applicant, "I feel sorry because they are stupid as fuck for trusting someone like you."

"The test of strength is not important anyway!" Lu Meng once again raised his voice, waving his hand violently as he tried to plead his case, "Once I become a cultivator, physical strength wouldn't mean anything as I could just use my Qi to enhance my body!"

"...Great, another whiner," proctor Anna could not help but let out a sigh as Lu Meng continued to reason with her, "Kid, you didn't even reach half the required points. Maybe if you just kicked the mitt, you would have. But no, you had to be stupid. Next!"

"But--"

"The next word that will come out from your mouth, I will engrave on your body," proctor Anna glared at Lu Meng one last time, "Get out."

Hearing the sudden shift in Anna's tone, Lu Meng could only swallow his words as he finally ran out of the hall, crying. Yun Hao and the rest of the applicants watched as all of this happened right in front of them.

Honestly, Yun Hao was slightly taken aback. 69 kilograms for a strike like that? That could already be considered above average. But in the end, the proctor's words were right. Why in the world would one even try something like that at a test?

Are the rich people running out of things to do, and decided to just waste them here?

After Lu Meng dramatically left the hall, the test proceeded accordingly.

The 2nd applicant was another man, using a roundhouse kick that netted him a glorious 1002 points. Instructor Anna rolled her eyes from the result, but still, a pass is a pass. Instructor Anna just waved her hand, telling the applicant to return back to his line before calling the 3rd applicant.

This time, it was a woman. There really wasn't anything notable about her except for her green hair. Scratch that, her green hair was pretty notable, Yun Hao thought. He seemed to be seeing hairs of different colors lately, was that some kind of natural trait that a cultivator should have?

"My name is Jia Ning, madame Anna," the woman said as she saluted at instructor Anna.

"Jia? Are you from the Jia clan?" Instructor Anna raised her phone even further, zooming in the camera towards Jia Ning's face.

"Yes, madame Anna."

"What? Then what the fuck are you doing here? Shouldn't you already have your meridians opened by now?"

"Mother said that my brother and I should take the Immersion test," Jia Ning respectfully answered.

"I take it that's your brother?" Anna pointed at the only other applicant sporting green hair.

"Ye--"

"You know what, I don't really care, just start."

"Of course, thank you, madame." Jia Ning did not seem to mind the tone of Anna's voice as she stepped in front of the machine, and without even any hesitation, raised her foot and did the same exact kick as the previous applicant.

Her points, however, completely overwhelmed the previous applicant.

'1,600!'

"Hm," instructor Anna only nodded before gesturing to Jia Ning to return to the line. Jia Ning's brother was also impressive, scoring just slightly below his sister at 1,542.

Yun Hao could not help but let out a whistle as the sibling duo breezed through the test without even looking back at their score. Absolutely impressive, he thought. These two could probably stand toe-to-toe against Long Yazhu if they were fighting in a boxing ring, as expected from someone who grew up in a Cultivator clan.

The fifth applicant didn't really do too well, scoring just below the passing grade. He, however, accepted his defeat like a man as he just bowed and thanked instructor Anna before walking away dejectedly.

However, to Yun Hao's surprise, instructor Anna ordered the applicant to stay. Yun Hao had to wait for a while, but finally, it was his turn.

"Next," instructor Anna casually waved her hand once more, gesturing to Yun Hao to hurry it up as she pointed her phone at him.

"Yes, coach," Yun Hao only nodded his head before grabbing something from his pocket-- a set of bandages. He swiftly tied a strip of bandage around his left hand as he approached the machine every so slowly.

"Hurry it up!"

"Yes, coach!" Yun Hao once again shouted.

"Enough theatrics, you know what happened to the first appli--"

"!!!"

Before instructor Anna could finish her sentence, her eyes widened in surprise as a loud thud entered her ears.

"Oho… It seems we have an interesting one in our hands today," Anna then raised an eyebrow as she quickly panned her phone towards the light that was blinking above. She then flipped her phone as she stood in front of the machine, pointing the camera towards her face, "I can't wait to upload this so you peasants can see it."

She then once again focused the camera on the light above as it showed Yun Hao's score--

'2,450!'