4: Chapter 4 The Ghostly Assassin, Test of Talent

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

After entering the army, Li Yuan's cultivation was actually much freer.

Unlike the restrictions he faced as a handyman in the City Lord's Manor, the army supported soldiers practicing martial arts and cultivation.

In half a month, with the help of Medicinal Pills and his own focused cultivation, Li Yuan leaped into the Fifth-Grade Realm.

Through looting corpses, Li Yuan continued to harvest a large amount of martial Internal Energy.

The martial arts strength of ordinary soldiers was usually mediocre, generally not exceeding Third-Grade.

But this front-line battlefield was a slaughterhouse where lives were harvested.

Both the Da Shun and the Jin Kingdom had lost many officers and soldiers.

Although the amount of martial Internal Energy obtained each time was small, it added up due to the frequency.

Furthermore, during this half-month period, Li Yuan's Corpse Looting Technique reached Level 3.

On this battlefield, Li Yuan had not seen any corpses glowing with anything above a blue light before.

But today, Li Yuan encountered a familiar person while collecting corpses.

His body was glowing with a purple light.

Yin An, an adjutant on the Yingyang Pass front line and City Lord Liu's right-hand man.

To his surprise, he had been killed on the battlefield in an unexpected sneak attack.

This adjutant had placed enough importance on his own safety and possessed decent strength; he was at the Sixth-Grade of martial arts!

On the front-line battlefield, that was already top-tier strength.

Li Yuan collected his body and transported it back to camp.

Seeing his body, City Lord Liu rushed over immediately, his face filled with grief and indignation.

Half an hour later, City Lord Liu gathered the soldiers to explain the current situation.

"The Jin Kingdom has sent an assassin who is extremely skilled at assassination."

"His movement is like a ghost, leaving no trace or shadow."

"Preliminary judgment suggests he has at least Sixth-Grade strength!"

As City Lord Liu said this, panic began to spread through the army.

A Sixth-Grade Martial Artist specialized in assassination.

How many people in the army could resist such an assassin?

Except for the two army Enshrined Experts stationed there, everyone else was like sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Even City Lord Liu, with his Seventh-Grade strength, was in danger.

City Lord Liu knew that saying this would shake morale.

But he had to speak up and personally address it; it was far better than letting the soldiers' anxiety fester in secret.

"This City Lord knows what you are afraid of, but from today onwards, I, Liu Shengyong, will eat and live with everyone."

"This assassin is coming for us commanders; I, Liu Shengyong, will be waiting for him here!"

The City Lord's words quickly halted the spread of panic in the army.

Indeed, such a powerful assassin was certainly targeting high-ranking officers.

If even the City Lord was like this, what face did they have to shrink back?

"The Imperial Court has already sent assistance, not only to help us deal with this eerie assassin."

"At the same time, they will also provide guidance for the soldiers' martial arts training."

"A Magical Artifact used to test a Martial Artist's talent and potential has been delivered to the camp."

"In one hour, we will conduct tests in batches."

"The army will put all its effort into nurturing those with talent!"

Hearing this, Li Yuan went to observe the martial talent testing device an hour later.

The Magical Artifact was placed in an open space at the back of the camp.

It was a very large Magical Artifact, three people high and very thick.

This object was incredibly heavy, and transporting it required a lot of manpower.

This Magical Artifact would automatically detect a Martial Artist's bone age, then judge their martial talent through the force they released and their movement speed.

The Magical Artifact would give an evaluation across three major levels: Heaven, Earth, and Human.

Within the minor levels, it was further divided into nine ranks.

Those with martial talent had to at least receive an Earth-Grade evaluation.

Soon, the soldiers at the Yingyang Pass front line began to step forward one by one for the test.

The expectation was beautiful.

Using this as an opportunity to give the front-line soldiers a test while selecting martial arts talent.

But after the testing began, their results were all at the Human-Grade.

The excellent ones were Human-Grade Rank Seven.

Most soldiers were Human-Grade Rank Three or Four.

The martial academies and Sects of the Da Shun Dynasty wouldn't even pay attention to this kind of talent potential.

They probably wouldn't even be willing to give them a chance to test their talent.

After testing two hundred soldiers in a row, the best was only Human-Grade Rank Seven.

City Lord Liu Shengyong temporarily called a halt, telling everyone to come back for testing tomorrow.

He didn't dare let people continue testing like this.

The morale they had finally raised would be instantly destroyed.

As the border front line of the Da Shun Dynasty, Yingyang Pass still had sufficient military funds.

Even if the soldiers under his command didn't have much talent, Liu Shengyong would still invest resources into their cultivation this time.

The danger of the front line was something they, as commanders, could feel.

The crowd dispersed, and about an hour passed.

Several of Liu Shengyong's children, as well as the children of his cousins who were being raised by him, all ran over to take the test.

Liu Shengyong didn't stop them; cultivation resources were scarce on the front line, and such opportunities were rare.

The younger generation of the Liu family, however, had much more excellent talent.

The lowest could reach Human-Grade Rank Seven.

Liu Shengyong's second son, Liu Weihe, was even evaluated as Earth-Grade Rank Eight.

It was the highest rating so far, almost reaching Heaven-Grade!

Praise instantly surged through the military camp.

In the crowd, Li Yuan listened to people talking about Liu Weihe, the Second Young Master of the Liu family.

Li Yuan hadn't seen him before at the City Lord's Manor.

Listening to the people around him, he had gone to Qianqiu Mountain to cultivate and was a Genius Martial Artist favored by a martial Sect.

"The City Lord's second son was recruited into the Sect at the age of seven. Now, at twenty, he has already reached Fourth-Grade Perfection."

"Even in a place like Qianqiu Mountain where Prodigies gather, he is highly valued."

"It's indeed not surprising that he could get an Earth-Grade Rank Nine evaluation."

Hearing this, Li Yuan nodded to himself.

It seemed that Liu Weihe was indeed extraordinary.

He wondered what kind of evaluation he would get in front of this Magical Artifact.

Looking at the current situation, Li Yuan planned to find an opportunity to try it after nightfall.

Since obtaining the mysterious Corpse Looting Technique, Li Yuan's strength had grown rapidly.

But speaking of which, he hadn't tested or verified it at all.

The sky gradually darkened, and many people in the military camp began to rest.

Both visible and hidden sentries were arranged at key positions throughout the camp.

After that terrifying Jin Kingdom assassin struck, many more sentry posts were added to the front-line camp.

City Lord Liu Shengyong had spoken grandly before, but in reality, the sentry posts were almost all arranged around the commanders.

The testing Magical Artifact was placed at the very back of the military camp.

The Magical Artifact was large and heavy, so it wasn't easy to steal.

Furthermore, this Magical Artifact wasn't too precious; many martial academies and Sects possessed one.

At night, it was simply left there without anyone assigned to guard it.

With that manpower, City Lord Liu and the others certainly arranged them by their side to guard against the assassin.

Li Yuan circulated the Cloud Mist Step to avoid the camp's sentries.

Walking up to the Magical Artifact, he touched its base.

The next moment, the Magical Artifact began to operate.

In an instant, a burst of pressure began to rush towards Li Yuan's sides.

Avoiding the pressure, Li Yuan suddenly threw a punch, releasing a powerful might.

This was the blade intent of the Heavenly Thunder Blade released through fist force.

Releasing blade intent without a blade; if a martial arts expert saw this scene, they would definitely be so shocked they'd be speechless.

To be able to do this, one must definitely be a grandmaster of the blade.

But the young man before them could use blade intent so casually, without needing to rely on a sharp blade at all.

His steps avoided the pressure, and his fist force had already landed on the Magical Artifact.

The Magical Artifact let out a dull thud, and the incredibly heavy, massive body of the device shook along with it.

The testing method of this Magical Artifact was very simple.

Next, he just had to wait for the Magical Artifact to give its evaluation.