Chapter 60

Quite a number of people had already started to imagine the scene: this young man, who didn’t know how to keep a low profile, would be knocked to the ground with one punch, then he would hug the iron fist's leg and cry out for mercy. Such acts of bullying the weak, which involved humiliation and a loss of face, were always the most entertaining for these people. For a moment, everyone was excited, their eyes wide open.

The Iron Fist sneered and threw a punch, which was launched suddenly and from behind Xu Dong, making it the perfect opportunity and position. Although it was a sneak attack, the idea was to catch the other off guard, and it did look a bit unfair. But who cared?

At this moment, a sudden crackling sound was heard. Xu Dong's body was filled with energy, and the wooden stool beneath him first had its four legs break into pieces, followed by the backrest, which snapped into three segments! At the same time, amidst the flying wood chips, Xu Dong's posture remained unchanged, but it seemed as if there was a conveyor belt under his feet, suddenly moving him backward, his back colliding with the opponent's chest.

The Iron Fist's full-force punch missed!

The moment he collided with the opponent, a sneer appeared on Xu Dong's face. Since this guy had no shame, he shouldn't blame him for not showing mercy. His right arm bent at the elbow and struck the opponent's abdomen with great force. As soon as it hit, Xu Dong heard a sharp intake of breath.

The burly man, in pain, bent over like a cooked shrimp.

In the next second, he stomped the ground with both feet, making a dull "thud" sound, and three cracks spread from where his heels touched the ground. Xu Dong snorted and leaped up, his fist swinging upward and hitting the opponent's chin.

Smack!

Saliva and blood splattered instantly, and six or seven broken teeth were knocked out, one of which, covered in blood, flew in an arc and landed in the food bowl of the person who had earlier joined in, splashing sauce everywhere.

The chin is one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Due to the large number of nerve endings, in many boxing matches, it is a key target for knocking out the opponent. Once the chin is hit hard, the brain experiences severe dizziness. The Iron Fist's reaction was just like that.

However, this guy was tough and, despite the dizziness, instinctively swung a horizontal punch.

But as an agile-type Awakened, Xu Dong's reaction speed was far beyond this person's. He ducked to avoid it, then moved his feet and launched a series of punches. First, he hit the man's left and right ribs, causing him to scream in pain. Then, with the final punch, he struck the man's ear, sending the massive figure flying and breaking three tables, drenched in sauce and soup, and he fell unconscious.

From the moment the Iron Fist launched his attack to his defeat and fall, it took only a few seconds. The expressions of the onlookers, who had been watching the spectacle, froze, looking both ridiculous and strange.

Xu Dong silently looked around, and everyone who met his gaze immediately lowered their heads.

Finally, he wiped his hands, threw a gold coin to the boss lady, and said without looking back, "Charge this to my account." Then, he walked directly to where the Iron Fist lay, dragging him upstairs to a room like a dead dog.

The entire process was silent, and no one dared to stop him. Only after Xu Dong disappeared from sight did the crowd burst into a cacophy of voices.

"Damn, what's this kid's background? He's so powerful!"

"Indeed, the Iron Fist is a seasoned one-star Awakened, yet he was knocked out in just a few moves. Damn, and he was the one who launched the sneak attack! How embarrassing!"

At this moment, those who knew Xu Dong couldn't help but feel smug. "Don't you know this young man? He was one of the main characters in the incident at the Broken Hand this morning!"

"He's Ah Dong?! Indeed, he's very young."

"I heard later that the person who impersonated a subordinate of Master Ma was at least a five-star Awakened. A person who can harm a five-star Awakened, no wonder the Iron Fist lost."

After dragging the Iron Fist back to the room, Xu Dong closed the doors and windows, then kicked him awake.

To be honest, when Xu Dong noticed something was amiss and left the room, he wanted to find out the reason from others. By boasting and provoking, he successfully lured someone out. Don't think Xu Dong is heartless; in the given situation, he had no choice but to use this method to obtain crucial information.

Of course, if the Iron Fist hadn't been blinded by desire and tried to target Xu Dong, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

When the Iron Fist regained consciousness and saw the situation, he immediately started cursing, "You little bastard, I won't let you off!"

Xu Dong shook his head and sighed, "It seems you still haven't grasped the current situation. Looks like I haven't given you enough of a lesson."

Soon, the room was filled with muffled, agonized screams. After about fifteen minutes, the screams stopped.

Xu Dong moved a stool in front of the Iron Fist and sat down, arms crossed. "Iron Fist, right? I want to know what this three-day assessment starting tomorrow is all about."

The Iron Fist's pupils dilated. He finally had a clear and direct understanding of this young man. He no longer dared to show any defiance or hide anything, and he spilled out all the information he knew.

It turned out that the three-day assessment was a customary rule for the adventurer qualification exam. There were two reasons for this rule:

First, the branches of the Adventurer's Guild in various cities did not have a unified recruitment time but chose to recruit based on their own circumstances. This meant that while the Blood Helmet City branch might be recruiting, other city branches might not be. In other words, if someone from another city wanted to become an adventurer, they would have to come to Blood Helmet City for the exam.

Second, due to the large number of talented individuals flooding into the area around Blood Helmet City, the number of candidates far exceeded the selection capacity of the Adventurer's Guild branch. Therefore, this customary rule was established to sift through the candidates, like sifting through sand, to select the most outstanding ones for the actual exam.

What exactly was this three-day customary assessment?

The official information stated: Candidates for the adventurer exam will register at 7:00 AM three days from now. Those who are late or absent will be considered to have abandoned the exam. During this period, please keep your qualification certificate safe.

The implication of this information was clear: it was openly encouraging those who didn't pass the initial exam or those without the qualification to fight with those who could register.

Xu Dong, upon hearing this, couldn't help but show a look of surprise. He thought deeper: would those who passed the initial exam just wait quietly for the time to pass? Wouldn't they hope their competitors would abandon their qualifications?

In other words, during these three days, Xu Dong might face three types of enemies: first, those who couldn't find a way in and were trying to obtain the qualification through robbery or other means; second, those who didn't pass the initial exam; third, those who had already passed the initial exam. The biggest threat would come from the third group.

The mayor of Blood Helmet City had already set off to participate in the tribute day in Huamu Province, taking a large number of elite forces, including veteran one-star Awakened and two-star Forged. However, the mayor, being the mayor, would still leave some people behind, as he wouldn't want his home to be raided.

This meant that such a bloodbath could not happen openly. As the saying goes, it's easy to avoid a direct attack but hard to guard against a hidden one.

The only good news was that this process would only last for three days!

After Xu Dong pondered for a moment, the Iron Fist added in a low voice, "Generally, those who have passed the initial exam rarely form groups, as they have already met the registration conditions and are more worried about being stabbed in the back. However, those who haven't met the conditions have no such concerns, as they have no other choice but to form groups to make up for their lack of strength."

Xu Dong looked at him, "So, you haven't met the registration conditions?"

"No..." The Iron Fist lowered his head in shame.

Xu Dong continued, "Besides robbing those who have met the conditions, is there any other way to meet the conditions?"

The Iron Fist smiled bitterly, "The examiners for the initial exam are the gate guards. You can also try to persuade them to meet the conditions, but the risk is extremely high!"

Xu Dong thought carefully and quickly understood what he meant. If it were possible to gain the gate guards' recognition through means other than force, someone would have done it early in the morning. At this point, unless using force, what other means were there? However, the leaders of the gate guards lived in the military camp. Meeting them was already extremely difficult, let alone getting them to grant the conditions.

In other words, the only way was to storm the military camp.

But was the military camp easy to storm? Once stormed, it would be considered an act of treason, and the punishment would be death!

If the scale of the candidates' attack on the military camp exceeded the limit, would the remaining strong forces in the city just stand by and watch?

Theoretically, attacking the military camp was a viable method, but in practice, it was almost impossible.

At this moment, a piercing scream came from outside the window. Xu Dong's expression changed, and he immediately rushed to the window and pushed it open. The moon was rising, and the sky was clear. He looked far into the distance and saw a figure lying on the ground, unconscious, on a square four streets away. On one side of the square, another figure was running away at high speed, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Soon, the city guards appeared, but they were not surprised by the situation. They used a burlap bag to carry the body and then left as a group.

At this moment, a slight movement occurred in the depths of his mind.

Due to the excellent performance of the selected individual in the exclusive skill upgrade task, the combined exclusive skill upgrade task: Scavenger has been activated.

This task cannot be refused, and failure will result in the loss of survival rights...

What?! Xu Dong's expression changed drastically.