45: Chapter 45 The Laws of Hell
There was no trace of any unnecessary expression on Thunderstorm's face, which was covered in rolls of flesh.
He simply used eyes that looked as if he were staring at dead people to slowly, inch by inch, scan the thousand faces in the square, all of which still carried a hint of naivety and arrogance.
"Test complete!"
"Now, I will announce the dormitory allocation rules, as well as..."
Thunderstorm's voice paused there.
He grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth, his smile carrying a cruelty that made one's bones turn Cold.
"Our training camp's 'Law of Hell'!"
The Law of Hell?
The hearts of the proud geniuses below all skipped a beat.
One by one, they pricked up their ears, their breathing subconsciously growing lighter.
"It's very simple."
Thunderstorm extended a finger so thick it was frightening.
"The duration is four months, with a comprehensive exam every month. The bottom twenty percent in the rankings..."
"Will be directly eliminated!"
"And get out of here!"
Boom!
Although everyone had been prepared, the commotion still broke out for a moment after hearing the rules.
Thunderstorm completely ignored the commotion from the group of rookies below.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch here!"
"Your cultivation resources, your spirit crystal quotas, how long you can spend in the gravity chamber training each day, and even whether the meals you eat are A-grade nutritional meals or the most basic synthetic food..."
"All of it is directly linked to your weekly point rankings!"
"Want to get stronger?"
A nearly cruel arc curled at the corners of Thunderstorm's mouth.
"Then use your lives to fight! To scramble!"
"Here, you are not geniuses; you are merely gladiators who must fight desperately to climb upward just to survive!"
"If you do not advance, you retreat!"
"If you retreat, you die!"
"Did you all hear me clearly, damn it!"
Thunderstorm practically roared the last sentence.
A fierce, violent, and iron-blooded aura swept across the entire square along with his roar.
The entire square instantly became as quiet as a graveyard.
Those thousand proud geniuses each lowered their arrogant heads.
Suffocation.
An unprecedented feeling of suffocation, like drowning, gripped every person's throat tightly.
They finally realized clearly what they were about to face.
This is not heaven.
This is hell.
It is a bloody gladiator arena paved with the bones and dignity of geniuses, leading to a higher hall!
"Very good."
Thunderstorm was very satisfied with this effect.
What he wanted was to shatter all the arrogance and fantasies of these little brats.
He picked up the light screen beside him and began to announce the dormitory allocation results.
"Iron Bull, Heaven Grade Room Number Nine!"
The honest young man who had been the first to test his strength and hit over eight hundred kilograms showed a hint of joy upon hearing this and strode out of the crowd.
"Wu Yue, Heaven Grade Room Number Seven!"
"..."
A series of names were read out.
Those Third-Rank Martial Artists who had performed the best in the strength test were, without exception, all assigned to the "Heaven" grade luxury single rooms, which represented the highest level of treatment.
From the crowd below, a chorus of irrepressible gasps filled with envy and jealousy rang out.
Everyone knew what the Heaven grade rooms meant.
It meant the most top-tier independent cultivation environment and the highest priority for resource supply; it meant leaving others far behind right from the starting line.
"Lin Zhan, Mysterious Grade Room Number Two!"
The Mysterious grade rooms were luxury double rooms, second only to the Heaven grade.
For him, this result was not the best, but it was acceptable.
He took a deep breath and stepped out of the queue.
Finally.
It was Wang Pingan's turn.
Almost simultaneously, at least several hundred gazes full of amusement and anticipation for a good show landed on him.
"Hey, do you think that vase will be assigned?"
"Him? With his strength of just four hundred and thirty kilograms, getting an Earth grade four-person room would be the absolute limit, right?"
"A four-person room? You're overestimating him! I bet it'll be a Yellow grade eight-person dormitory! Let him truly experience what communal living is like, hahaha!"
"Trash should get the treatment trash deserves; even squeezing in with us would be doing him a favor!"
The handsome young man named Cold crossed his arms, a look of undisguised contempt hanging on the corners of his mouth.
In his eyes, this clown who relied on luck had reached the end of his farce.
A ridiculous, pathetic end.
On the high platform.
Thunderstorm looked at the light screen in his hand, and a strange expression that no one could decipher suddenly appeared on his fierce face.
He cleared his throat.
With a voice louder and clearer than any time before, he read out the name that made everyone in the square prick up their ears.
"Wang Pingan!"
Here it comes!
Everyone's heart was in their throat.
Countless eyes were fixed on Thunderstorm on the high platform, waiting for him to announce the final "judgment" on this "God-level vase."
Thunderstorm deliberately paused for a full three seconds.
He enjoyed this feeling of controlling the entire scene and playing with people's hearts.
Then, word by word, he dropped a bombshell that was enough to blow up the entire training camp!
"Because his spiritual energy affinity has broken the record of this training camp from the last twenty years, it has been unanimously rated as 'God-level' by the instructor group!"
"Therefore, he possesses the only privilege in this training camp!"
"He is assigned to..."
"Heaven Grade Room Number One, the top-tier single cultivation suite!"
...
The entire square fell into a dead silence.
A silence so deep that one could clearly hear a needle drop on the ground.
Everyone's expressions froze completely at that moment.
The mockery and ridicule on the faces of those geniuses, who just a second ago had been chattering away and waiting to see Wang Pingan make a fool of himself, froze on their lips, looking comically ridiculous.
Cold's condescending expression of contempt also shattered instantly, replaced by utter astonishment and disbelief.
Heaven Grade Room Number One!
On what basis?
Why him!
A piece of trash who only scored a mere four hundred and thirty kilograms in the strength test!
A useless, decorative flower pillow!
Why does he get to live in Heaven Grade Room Number One!
After a brief silence.
The entire square exploded, like an ignited barrel of gunpowder!
"I refuse to accept this!"
"Rigged! This is absolutely rigged!"
"He's just a vase! What right does he have to live in Heaven Grade Room Number One! Is the strength we worked so hard to cultivate really not worth as much as some vague talent rating!"
"Protest! We demand a reallocation!"
Countless gazes filled with jealousy, resentment, and unwillingness seared into Wang Pingan's body like red-hot branding irons.
Wang Pingan had become everyone's target.
A living, breathing target that made everyone grit their teeth in hatred.
Yet, facing this storm of public opinion that was enough to tear a person apart, Wang Pingan's face remained calm, without the slightest ripple.
"Shut the fuck up, all of you!"
Thunderstorm's second roar timely suppressed the scene, which was about to spiral out of control.
His Cold, emotionless eyes were fixed directly on Wang Pingan.
"This is what you deserve."
"But this is also your only preferential treatment."
"Kid, I don't care what kind of God-level talent you have; here, I only look at results, not the process!"
"If you fail to translate this so-called talent of yours into strength that satisfies me during the first monthly exam..."
"I will personally throw you out of Heaven Grade Room Number One!"
"I'll make you live in the worst dormitory and eat the worst synthetic food until you are eliminated!"
These words were like a basin of ice water, doused over the heads of those geniuses who were about to be blinded by jealousy.
The anger on their faces gradually turned into gloating, Cold smiles.
So that's how it is.
This is killing with kindness!
He's roasting Wang Pingan over a fire!
He gave him the highest treatment, but also the heaviest shackles!
Once his performance fails to match this preferential treatment, he will fall from the clouds and crash hard into the mud, suffering a fate worse than anyone else!
Everyone's gazes landed on Wang Pingan once again.
But this time, those gazes were filled with the cruelty of someone waiting to watch a show.
They were waiting.
They were waiting to see how pathetic this guy, who had been forcibly pushed onto a pedestal, would look when the Chief Instructor kicked him down in a month!
However, to Wang Pingan's ears, Thunderstorm's words meant something entirely different.
He instantly understood the Chief Instructor's subtext.
This was giving him the green light!
It gave him the perfect excuse to spend money to level up without fear of being suspected!
God-level affinity combined with a top-tier cultivation environment.
His impending surge in strength would become incredibly "reasonable"!
Wang Pingan was overjoyed, yet his face maintained that calm, infuriating composure.
Amidst those countless complex gazes, he slowly walked up to the high platform and took the black metal key card representing "Heaven Grade Room Number One" from Thunderstorm's hand.
Just as he turned to walk down from the high platform.
A Cold figure brushed past him.
It was Cold.
He used a Cold, sibilant whisper that only the two of them could hear, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, and spoke right next to Wang Pingan's ear.
"Trash doesn't deserve to live in the best room."
"Within three days."
"Get out on your own."