NOVPUB
Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Birds of a Feather Flock Together
The young man in splendid clothing was momentarily stunned, evidently finding the response quite interesting. He looked Lin Feng up and down and realized he couldn’t discern Lin Feng’s strength, which piqued his curiosity. "You seem quite calm. Are you that confident in yourself? How about it, can you light up four gemstones? Or even surpass that and light up five?"
Lin Feng pondered for a moment; he estimated that one punch from him could light up nine gemstones, as his strength was already at the peak amongst martial masters at 1999.
However, the young man in splendid clothing didn’t wait for Lin Feng to respond. He patted his chest and said, "Honestly, those four gemstones are not a challenge. I can pass that test with my eyes closed. Normally, I can light up six."
Lin Feng was speechless. You can light up six gemstones, and yet you’re flaunting it in front of me? He offhandedly commented, "Oh, that’s quite impressive."
The young man in splendid clothing smiled proudly upon hearing this. "Not bad, right? Just six. This time I aim to hit seven. Moreover, let me give you a heads up, those six gemstones carry extra points. See that guy over there writing on paper with a brush? Do you see him?"
Many glanced over, "What about him? He’s one of the mansion’s staff, right?"
The young man in splendid clothing chuckled, "Let me tell you, if it’s the usual four gemstones, that registrar over there would just mark it as ’passable’. But five means ’good’, six is ’excellent’, seven is ’outstanding’, eight is ’perfect’, and nine is ’extraordinary’. These all relate to the ranking later on."
His words led many to have a sudden realization.
They couldn’t help but admire the young man in splendid clothing wholeheartedly, "Wow, you know so much, that’s amazing."
Lin Feng smiled faintly; he had known all these details already. Indeed, just as the other had mentioned, each test was followed by a ranking, culminating in an overall placement at the end.
"Wow, eight gemstones!"
Just then, a shrill scream erupted from the crowd. Lin Feng and the others looked over and saw a test tablet with nine gemstones, eight of which were brightly lit, in front of which a young man stood still.
"Wow, who is this guy? He’s incredible."
"My God, some people can’t even manage four, and he doubled that."
"Don’t you know him? He is Xu Leiting, the Young Master of Thunder Mountain Villa!"
"Damn, it’s that tough guy!"
Xu Leiting had handsome features and a determined gaze, especially notable were his faintly purple eyes which were quite unusual, endowing him with a somewhat enchanting charisma. As the Young Master of the number one villa, he was born with a silver spoon and cherished by many, always ahead in the race since his early days.
"Eight gemstones, not bad."
Xu Leiting casually walked down.
The young man in splendid clothing couldn’t help but remark with emotion, "This guy’s strength is formidable, a notch higher than mine. But I’m not too far off; I might not hit eight, but I have a chance at seven."
Lin Feng glanced at Xu Leiting, who remained as aloof as he recalled from his previous life.
Soon, the test continued, mercilessly judging groups of contestants. The victors were overjoyed, while the losers were deeply disheartened.
It wasn’t long before it was the young man in splendid clothing’s turn. Confident, he approached the tablet and with a vigorous punch, he struck the tablet, emitting a soul-shocking clang.
"Wow, seven gemstones!"
"Who is this guy, so strong!"
Astonished exclamations arose as the tablet lit up with seven gemstones. The young man in splendid clothing was momentarily stunned then burst into joy — he usually could light up six gemstones and occasionally seven. He hadn’t expected to perform beyond his usual today.
After he completed his test, the next group was up, and it included Lin Feng. The two people beside Lin Feng were all nerves, taking a deep breath before they punched.
However, one had limited ability and was mercilessly eliminated, while the other performed steadily and passed the test.
Lin Feng was the only one left, hesitating whether to show all his strength. After all, standing out too much might not be a good thing, as the taller the tree, the more susceptible it is to the wind.
But being low-key wouldn’t catch the attention of the Divine Wind Camp, a ruthless place where everything was decided by strength; the stronger you were, the softer the bed you got.
"Never mind, I’ll use about 70% of my strength. That’s enough to avoid undue attention but still secure good resources."
Having decided, Lin Feng threw his punch at the tablet, and immediately, bright lights flashed.
"Eight, eight gemstones again?"
The gemstones on the tablet flickered rapidly before finally coming to a stop, shining brightly with eight gemstones!
Lin Feng nodded slightly, satisfied with the eight gemstones. It was among the top results, but since Xu Leiting also achieved the same, it wasn’t too shocking.
Lin Feng turned and left, registering his basic information with the Elder.
"Very good, here’s your token, take it and prepare to move to the next phase." 𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔭𝔲𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
The burly man changed from his usual solemn expression to a rare smile.
Lin Feng glanced at the token in his hand; it seemed different from the one he received when he joined the Divine Wind Camp in his previous life, but he was too lazy to study it further. Taking the token, he headed to the gathering area for the second phase, where already a couple of hundred participants who had successfully passed were gathered.
"You passed too?"
The young man in splendid clothing was surprised to see Lin Feng.
"Do you recognize him?" Several impressive young men stood by his side.
The young man in splendid clothing shook his head, "Don’t know him. He was queued behind me earlier, seemed interesting so I chatted with him a bit. His strength, well, it’s so-so."
Hearing the words ’so-so’, those young men lost interest, their eyes even showing some disdain. Being only ’so-so’ meant just barely passing.
As for the few of them, aside from the young man in splendid clothing who scored seven, the rest got five gemstones, which was significantly better than four.
So, they quickly formed a small group, naturally with the young man in splendid clothing as the core and de facto leader.
