6: Chapter 6: Why Pay Back What Was Borrowed Through Skill?

"Beep, beep, beep—"

The person on the other end hadn't even finished speaking before Li Zhengyang hung up the phone.

"Pay what back?" he muttered to himself. "That's the money I got from selling nudes, isn't it?"

A woman passing by overheard him, glanced at him, and quickened her pace.

He didn't intend to use a single cent of that money to pay off the debt.

Ten thousand yuan meant 100 points of Vitality; wasn't that much better than paying off debt?

But the primary task now was to get the certification sorted out. With the certification, he could take on tasks independently; by taking on tasks independently, he could keep making money; and by keeping on making money, he could keep getting stronger.

Spend five thousand first to get the license.

Li Zhengyang turned and walked back into the agency lobby, heading straight for the front desk.

Liu Ting was organizing files. Seeing him return, her hand paused for a moment.

"Five thousand for the certification test, where do I pay?"

"Second floor, just go directly there."

"Can I pay by card?"

"Yes."

Li Zhengyang slapped a bank card onto the counter.

It was Zhao Hu's card. He had found the password in Zhao Hu's phone, written in the memo app: six 8s, quite lucky.

Going up to the second floor, the testing center was much quieter than the lobby on the first floor.

There was a hallway with closed testing rooms on both sides, and flowcharts and fee schedules were posted on the walls.

At the end of the hallway was a reception desk where a middle-aged man in uniform sat. His name tag read, "Test Official, Zhou Cheng."

He was in his forties, had a crew cut, and a cup of tea sat by his hand.

Zhou Cheng looked up at him: "Certification test?"

"Yes."

"Have you paid?"

"Paid." Li Zhengyang handed over the payment receipt.

Zhou Cheng glanced at it, entered it into the system, and then took a form out of the drawer.

"Fill in your basic information. Name, age, years of cultivation, and self-assessed strength level."

Li Zhengyang took the pen and scribbled it down quickly.

In the self-assessment column, he wrote Second-Rank Martial Master.

There was no need to hide his strength; it was all bought with his own hard-earned money, which was no less effective than diligent cultivation.

Zhou Cheng glanced at it without much reaction.

He had seen plenty of people coming for tests every day and had seen all sorts of forms. Some people exaggerated and wrote higher, while others were conservative and wrote lower. He only looked at the actual test data.

"Follow me."

The testing room wasn't large. The walls were covered in shock-absorbing material. In the center stood a Vitality measuring instrument, and next to it was a strength testing post and a set of reaction speed testing equipment.

"The process is simple: three parts." Zhou Cheng leaned against the doorframe. "First, Vitality measurement—put your hand on it, and the machine reads it automatically. Second, strength test—throw a punch to measure the peak value. Third, combat simulation—fight a mechanical puppet used for testing and hold out long enough. Your strength level will be determined based on the three items combined, and the corresponding certification will be issued."

"How long until the results are out?"

"Immediately."

Li Zhengyang walked to the Vitality measuring instrument and pressed his palm onto it.

The machine hummed, and numbers began to jump on the screen.

Zhou Cheng was holding his teacup, originally in the middle of drinking.

The numbers on the screen froze: 2248.

Zhou Cheng couldn't hold his teacup steady, and half the tea spilled onto his pants. He cursed under his breath, looked back at the screen, and rubbed his eyes.

"Has this machine been calibrated today?" he scratched his head.

No one answered him.

He walked over, brushed Li Zhengyang's hand aside, and pressed his own onto it.

The screen jumped a few times and displayed 1887. First-rank Martial Master—his own strength. No problem, the machine was accurate.

Zhou Cheng turned to look at Li Zhengyang, his expression very complex.

Zhou Cheng looked at the form again; the "years of cultivation" column said "two years."

Two years to reach Second-Rank Martial Master?

He had been a test official at the agency for eight years and had only just barely reached First-rank Martial Master.

"Did you write less than the actual years of cultivation? Two years to reach Second-Rank Martial Master?"

"It's not less. Actually, it could have been faster."

Zhou Cheng was silent for a few seconds.

"Where are you from?"

"Martial Arts Technical College."

"...Technical College?"

"Yes, a junior college."

From a junior college? At this level, he wouldn't be outdone by undergraduates either.

He put down his teacup, not even bothering about his wet pants.

"Fine, strength test. Throw a punch."

The strength testing post was a metal pillar with a layer of shock-absorbing material on the surface and sensors inside, capable of accurately recording the force of the strike.

Li Zhengyang loosened his right hand and threw a punch.

The screen displayed: 2217 kg.

Zhou Cheng didn't speak.

This was indeed the strength of a Second-Rank Martial Master.

He walked to the control console, brought up the combat simulation system, tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and adjusted the mechanical puppet's difficulty from the default "Martial Artist level" to "Martial Master level."

The side wall of the testing room opened, and a humanoid mechanical puppet walked out.

It was two meters tall with an all-metal shell. Two red light spots on its head were sensors acting as eyes.

"Rules: Defeat the puppet within three minutes, or hold out for three minutes without falling—either counts as a pass."

Before Zhou Cheng had even finished speaking, the puppet was already moving.

It was fast. Its metal fist struck with the sound of rushing wind, using a straight punch—simple and brutal.

Li Zhengyang stepped back, dodged two punches, and threw a counterpunch.

One punch. A large dent appeared in the puppet's chest armor.

Two punches. The chest armor cracked.

Three punches. Internal circuits broke, sparks flashed a few times, and the puppet stopped moving.

It took no more than three seconds.

The pen in Zhou Cheng's hand fell to the floor.

He looked at the timer, then at the ruined puppet, and finally at Li Zhengyang.

"That puppet costs 180,000."

"That has nothing to do with me, right?"

"...Nothing to do with you."

Zhou Cheng wrote on the certification form for a long time and then handed it over.

"Second-Rank Martial Master certification, effective immediately. This is your martial artist qualification card, valid nationwide. The agency system has already been updated."

Li Zhengyang took the hard card. It was laminated and featured his photo, ID number, and strength level.

He tucked it into his pocket.

When he went downstairs, he detoured to the electronic screen in the first-floor lobby.

With the certification, he could now take on tasks independently.

No need to beg others, no need to look at anyone else's face.

His gaze scanned the task list on the screen. This time, he didn't look at the E-level tasks at the very bottom.

He scrolled up.

There were C-level and D-level tasks.

C-level corresponded to Third-rank magical beasts, Great Martial Master level; with his current level, he couldn't handle them.

He moved his gaze to the D-level tasks.

[Task ID: D017] [Target: Exterminate 12 Second-Rank Iron-Spine Lizards] [Location: Outskirts of the Northern Suburb Wetland Reserve] [Reward: 60,000] [Risk Level: D] [Note: It is recommended that Martial Masters or above form a team to go.]

Sixty thousand yuan meant 600 points of Vitality.

Not bad, quite sweet. To gain 600 points of Vitality through self-cultivation alone, without the aid of medicinal pills, it would be impossible to achieve in a few years.

Li Zhengyang walked to the front desk.

"D017, I'll take it."

...