12: test

July 2nd

Early in the morning, just as dawn broke, the alarm clock on his phone woke Qiao Yu.

After the alley fight last night, Qiao Yu felt his sleep quality had improved significantly compared to before.

After getting up, Qiao Yu immediately went to the restroom and reabsorbed the flesh and blood mycelium from the one-horned wild boar meat, which had turned into blood water, back into his body.

The feeling of morning hunger was instantly replaced by a sense of fullness.

After washing up and tidying himself, Qiao Yu grabbed the trash bag and left the house.

It was not yet eight o'clock, and it was still early. Not many people had arrived at the Dojo of Limits yet; he only saw people entering the martial arts hall in small groups along the way.

Qiao Yu walked straight into the Training Hall of the Advanced Teaching Building.

Although the Advanced Teaching Building was specifically for Advanced Trainees to practice martial arts, Beginner and Intermediate Trainees were occasionally allowed to come and observe, though the number of times per month was limited.

After looking around the deserted Training Hall and seeing no acquaintances, Qiao Yu decided not to linger.

He walked by himself to a corner and turned on a Punching Power Tester.

Qiao Yu stood in front of the Punching Power Tester. Before he could even think about how to exert force, his body's muscle memory had already driven him to stand in a stable stance and assume a punching posture.

He took a deep breath, then settled his Qi into his Dantian. Using his waist and hips as the center of gravity, he slightly turned sideways, twisted his hips to mobilize all his strength into his clenched right fist, and slammed it onto the target.

With a muffled “bang,” the target shook violently.

Instantly, the number “724kg” appeared on the screen of the Punching Power Tester.

“That’s not my limit, and the way I exerted force was a bit off. Again!”

Qiao Yu closed his eyes, quietly recalling the scenes where Luo Feng had previously taught his Original Body how to strike, and continuously corrected his own force exertion method according to the memory.

“740kg!”

“765kg!”

“798kg!”

Watching the continuously rising numbers, Qiao Yu's heart swelled with emotion.

In his recent memories, he saw the Original Body repeatedly use all his strength, but the machine's reading could never break 250kg, always stuck at the limit for a Low-Level Trainee.

In this test, Qiao Yu not only broke the Low-Level Trainee limit of 250kg, but his strength had even surpassed the baseline of 500kg required for an Advanced Trainee.

Although the Original Body was gone, that obsession with improving strength brought an inexplicable sense of emotion to Qiao Yu, as if he had helped the Original Body fulfill a long-held wish.

Although it was just the simple desire for his strength to exceed 250kg, it was the humble and unadorned obsession of the Original Body as an ordinary person.

“Although I don't know how you died, I will properly use this body that we share to gradually become stronger!”

Qiao Yu's body seemed to accept this promise, and the connection between his body and his thoughts became smoother.

Sensing this state of mental clarity and harmony, Qiao Yu swung his fist violently again.

“Bang!”

“892kg!”

The number displayed on the screen far exceeded the previous test results.

“Damn! Bro! Are you cheating? Your strength soared directly from 700kg to almost 900kg, nearly reaching the standard for a Quasi-Warrior. Are you even human?”

The speaker was a boy behind Qiao Yu, about 1.9 meters tall, with a burly build and astonishingly thick arms, who expressed shocked admiration upon seeing Qiao Yu's data.

“Haha, no, no! I’ve always been at this level; I was just warming up before.”

Qiao Yu rubbed his nose and responded with an embarrassed smile. He couldn't actually admit it; that would be too attention-grabbing. It was better to treat his best result as his normal performance.

He didn't know what had just happened; he simply followed that state of mental clarity, and his entire being erupted with such astonishing power.

Perhaps before this, his consciousness had not been fully recognized by the Original Body's physique. Only after fulfilling the Original Body's long-cherished wish did his consciousness truly merge with the body.

“Yesterday, Luo Feng and Yang Wu passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment. Bro, I bet you’ll be able to become a Quasi-Warrior next month too?”

The Strong Man’s tone was full of envy.

“Not necessarily. I haven't tested my speed yet, and Nerve Reaction Speed is also a critical hurdle that stops most people.”

Qiao Yu wasn't being humble; this was simply his first test since transmigrating, and the Original Body's test data held no reference value.

“Want to test your speed? Bro, I’ll turn on the machine for you!”

The Strong Man laughed and walked to the Track nearby, turning on the Speed Tester. His behavior seemed a bit overly enthusiastic.

But it was understandable. In the Yian District Dojo of Limits, very few people could become Warriors. It was always better to befriend someone who might become a Warrior in the future than to antagonize them.

“Thank you!”

Qiao Yu smiled and nodded in response, taking his position at the starting line of the Track.

He set his stance, exerted force fiercely, and whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Qiao Yu accelerated to his maximum speed. The powerful thrust caused the surrounding air to whistle.

After Qiao Yu dashed out of the testing area, he naturally slowed down and stopped.

“Holy crap, bro! 24.1 m/s! Just a little faster and you’ll hit the Quasi-Warrior passing line!”

The Strong Man waved at Qiao Yu, constantly uttering words of praise.

Qiao Yu walked closer to the Speed Tester, looked at the result, and nodded in satisfaction.

“Bro, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time coming to the Dojo of Limits in Yian District?”

After seeing Qiao Yu's excellent result, the Strong Man became interested in his background. Those who had previously passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment were familiar faces, so encountering a new face made him curious.

“Mhm.”

Qiao Yu responded verbally to the Strong Man's questions, but internally, he was embarrassed.

The Original Body had spent the last three years practically living at the Dojo of Limits, honing his strength almost every day, if not 24 hours a day.

But the reality was that no one paid attention to a Low-Level Trainee at a martial arts hall.

“As expected, this world still respects strength above all…”

Qiao Yu sighed softly and gave a helpless smile.

“Hey, bro, once you pass the Quasi-Warrior Assessment, people will respect you everywhere. Anyway, I gotta go train too!”

The Strong Man didn't continue flattering him. After greeting Qiao Yu, he went off to do his own testing.

Seeing this, Qiao Yu also went to continue testing his Nerve Reaction Speed.

A few minutes later, Qiao Yu walked out of the testing area. His Nerve Reaction Speed was also hovering just outside the Quasi-Warrior passing line.

Every indicator for the Quasi-Warrior Assessment was just one step away from reaching the Quasi-Warrior standard, but this final step was what many trainees spent several years trying to achieve.

Qiao Yu stopped overthinking and continued to train by himself in a corner.

As time passed minute by minute, the number of people inside the Dojo of Limits increased.

Everyone focused intently on training or sparring, and no one came up to talk to Qiao Yu again, leaving him in peace.

Time quickly reached noon, twelve o'clock, and the people inside the martial arts hall gradually dispersed to find food.

Qiao Yu trained all morning but didn't feel any further increase in his physical strength; such ordinary training provided very limited strength improvement.

“Since I’m only one step away from becoming a Quasi-Warrior, perhaps I should go back and try to see how much improvement a One-Time fungal swarm Genetic Optimization can give me…”