The assessment had not yet begun.
But merely by being enveloped in the faint red light and the heart-like sphere hanging overhead, the trainees felt a chill, as if they were being eyed by a ferocious beast.
This was a side effect of the Blood Fiend Heart Core.
It was not large, but its mere presence would subtly influence the surroundings with a faint blood fiendish aura.
"In this assessment, the Blood Fiend Shock will slowly intensify. Trainees who can endure for over three hundred seconds will be deemed to have passed."
"If you feel you cannot endure, simply step outside the area covered by the faint red light, and you will no longer be affected by the Blood Fiend aura."
"Now, the Will Assessment begins!"
As the words fell, the sphere, resembling a heart, began to beat faster.
An invisible yet incredibly terrifying Blood Fiend Shock descended like a hurricane. Instantly, many trainees turned pale and swayed precariously.
The trainees present had all experienced the rational shock of the bizarre.
However, this was slightly different from the rational shock. It did not cause madness or mental breakdown. The Blood Fiend Shock was more pure, akin to pressure, surging in waves.
Within seconds, some trainees could no longer stand and knelt on one knee.
The fear in their hearts amplified, their own hearts pounded violently, their vision blurred, and their bodies felt so light as if their souls were about to float away.
They couldn't endure.
But they were unwilling to give up. Having come this far, with only this last step remaining, no one wanted to quit. The dictionary of XinHuo trainees contained no such word as "quit."
To admit defeat? They would never be able to hold their heads up again.
They could lose their heads and spill blood, but admitting defeat was out of the question!
This was willpower, the will to grit one's teeth and give one's all.
Their faith and will were like fireworks in the dark night, not fiercely burning but stubbornly flickering, illuminating the surrounding area, growing stronger bit by bit.
The Fire of Faith.
"The willpower is good, but humans ultimately have their limits."
"This limit depends on one's own mind and the foundation laid in the past… Clenching one's teeth to endure can indeed increase willpower slightly, but it's not infinite."
Unless, like Hei Dao, they possessed a talent for indomitable will, a will that could recover and become even more solid no matter how many times it was shattered.
The trainees, naturally, did not.
Less than twenty seconds into the Will Assessment, figures began to fall one after another.
In twenty seconds, thirty-six people were eliminated.
This elimination rate… An Jianyou was shocked and frightened, glad she didn't have to undergo such an assessment.
"You can also use the Blood Fiend Heart Core to temper your will in the future. Grinding it more will certainly do no harm."
An Jianyou's mouth twitched.
Yes, don't be surprised. The instructor you're talking about is you.
Mainly you.
An Jianyou's Tong You Zhi Yan talent made her immune to the rational influence of the bizarre, a testament to her powerful talent. However, precisely because she didn't have to resist the rational shock, An Mei Zi's willpower was indeed somewhat lacking.
Well, just a little.
Compared to the newcomers, An Jianyou was still very strong.
He continued to observe.
At this moment,
As trainees fell one after another, including many investigators, each time someone fell, a white thread shot out from a distance, attaching to the trainee's clothes and pulling them out.
The unconscious trainees were dragged away from the faint red area.
Those within the area were already oblivious, their minds intensely focused, resisting the invisible Blood Fiend Shock.
The surrounding sounds had long since faded.
Before their eyes, a faint bloody mist seemed to spread, as if soldiers bathed in blood were charging at them, as if countless blades were slashing at their bodies.
All thoughts and ideas vanished.
Only one thought remained: endure, endure.
Only the spectators outside the field, seeing one stronger trainee after another fall, began to whisper in awe.
"This willpower assessment is too terrifying, how many have fallen already!"
"Is their willpower too weak?"
While they seemed fragile, falling after only standing for a short while, even those outside the red circle felt their hearts pounding. The faint residual waves emanating from it made their hearts beat like drums.
It was not difficult to imagine how terrifying it was to be inside the red circle, facing the Blood Fiend Shock directly.
"This assessment is too monstrous."
"No internal competition, but it's still difficult… However, this path was always thorny, so difficulties are normal. We'll fight again next time."
"The elimination rate has slowed down."
"It seems the Blood Fiend Shock changed more drastically at the beginning, making it difficult to endure. Now, as it gradually intensifies, it might be easier to hold on… slightly."
By the one hundredth second, fifty-nine people had been eliminated.
By the two hundredth second, seventy-eight had been eliminated.
At this time,
As the time approached, the dawn of passing the assessment was within reach, and the onlookers outside became tense.
More tense than the participants.
The participants were too focused to pay attention to the outside world. Only the observing trainees were counting the numbers.
"Still 98 people left."
"Still 96… only 30 seconds left."
"95, 94, 92, 89…"
When Xu Tian announced that three hundred seconds had passed, eighty-eight trainees remained on the field.
Some investigators counted.
Among the trainees who passed, forty-six were from their Investigation Bureau, exceeding half!
Very good!
Yang Chang, who was observing and testing the training effectiveness of the investigators, saw this and smiled.
'When this batch of investigators returns to headquarters, Director Huang will surely be surprised.'
The awakened personnel had been confirmed, but the willpower assessment was not over. The Blood Fiend Heart Core still suspended in mid-air, emitting a chilling crimson glow.
The invisible shock continued, and was getting stronger.
This was, of course, Fang You's command.
Push, keep pushing.
Let's see where the limit of this batch of trainees lies. The pressure from this Blood Fiend Shock also had a good tempering effect on their willpower.
Those observing, whether simply curious or those who had been eliminated and recovered, were also curious.
"I think I fainted around the hundred-second mark, but some people inside still look quite steady."
As the number of people continued to decrease, the remaining contenders still standing on the field became more prominent.
Most had pale faces, and many were swaying precariously or kneeling on one knee, clearly struggling to hold on.
It was precisely the struggle that was needed!
But why did some people look so steady, with rosy complexions, as if the Blood Fiend Shock wasn't strong at all?
Someone tried to step into the circle and, less than half a second later, nearly collapsed, falling to the ground and gasping for breath.
By the five hundredth second, only a dozen people remained on the field. At this point, the observing investigators suddenly noticed…
The number of investigators still standing in the circle had decreased!
At the three hundred-second mark, their investigators had the advantage, but as time passed and more were eliminated, they were now at a significant disadvantage in terms of numbers.
Three investigators remained.
Eleven XinHuo newcomers.
"Clearly, they were all ordinary people before. Unlike us investigators who have experienced so much combat, how do they have such strong willpower?"
"Are these people monsters?"
"That girl holding a sword is still a high school student! To be this formidable in high school!"
"That foreigner over there also seems very strong."
"We also have strong individuals from the investigator background. That guy still looks very steady."
"I know this guy. He's a first-level investigator from the Baijiang branch, named Jiang… Jiang what was it?"
"But no matter how steady they are, they can't compare to those XinHuo newcomers. Many of them still look so young."
The glory of the Investigation Bureau was gone again.
…
"But speaking of which, do we have so many foreigners at our base? Quite a few of them have lasted this long."
A bit too many.
An Jianyou looked at the instructor.
Fang You was not surprised. Unlike the trainees from Donghuang, he had been more stringent in selecting foreign trainees, even possessing Xiao Huan to cross thousands of miles to scout and observe.
There weren't many foreign trainees at the base, but those who were brought here were the cream of the crop. He had been watching a few of them.
"That girl holding the sword is from Sakura Country, named Yue Qi Wu Xiang, with very strong swordsmanship talent."
And she's an orphan.
Her family died in a bizarre disaster. Besides her potential and talent, her character, disposition, and personal experiences made her very suitable for cultivation.
In the future, she could be placed in Sakura Country to establish a branch.
Her spot was basically reserved, but Fang You, after some thought, decided not to use a recruitment voucher on her.
Letting them go through the normal path, gold will always shine.
"The thin blonde youth named Ben Marvin, the blue-haired girl named David Sibbel, and our domestic talents, Wang Wu, Lin Daozhi… they've all gathered here."
These individuals all possessed personal talents.
Although they hadn't contracted yet, and he couldn't see the specific talent descriptions through his detection, there was no doubt that they were all super talents with purple potential.
Each of them had also experienced many hardships and possessed very resilient willpower.
Fang You nodded, then looked at Yi Luoxi, "You can't poach these people, of course."
Yi Luoxi: "..."
Then why did you introduce them at all!
…
Whoosh—
Jiang Tingqiu was pulled out, still a bit dazed, sweat beading on his forehead, gasping for breath.
"I… I passed, right."
"You passed, you passed! Brother Jiang lasted over six hundred seconds, the first among our investigators! Absolutely amazing!"
"Of course."
Jiang Tingqiu raised his head slightly.
If only he had awakened earlier, he would have been a master among the special investigators.
There really are no strong fighters among the investigators.
Wait,
His peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of five figures on the field, still swaying precariously but still standing.
A slow question mark formed.
He was the longest-lasting investigator, which meant…
Everyone left on the field were newcomers.
Pure, innocent newbies!
It wasn't them, the investigators who had experienced so many battles, who had such strong willpower!
Jiang Tingqiu doubted his life.
…
While the assessments at the training base were in full swing, in Donghuang Country, Huang Du, within the Investigation Bureau Headquarters building.
Director Huang was also working late into the night.
With the powerful technical support provided by XinHuo, the domestic situation had stabilized considerably, but that didn't mean things were easy.
Moreover,
The instructor from XinHuo had once said that the current disaster was merely a prelude, and the true great terror had yet to arrive.
Thinking of the future, Director Huang's expression was heavy.
Fortunately, there was XinHuo.
Pinning hope on a mysterious organization was perhaps improper, but XinHuo's existence truly eased his pressure, allowing him to sleep peacefully occasionally.
At this moment, his deputy knocked and entered.
"Director, the municipal bureau below has confiscated a strange scroll. I believe you should see it."
"Bring it here."
Director Huang had seen many items related to abnormal events, and even strange objects.
But at this moment, he suddenly stood up.
Deputy Liu had never seen Director Huang so astonished. He saw Director Huang staring intently at the golden figure standing in the sky in the painting, unable to tear his eyes away.