The trio soon arrived next to the other group of students.
"Are you guys still planning on trying?" Kaelen asked the members.
The group all looked at the new arrivals. Ma Kung, the guy who had just played, stepped forward.
"No, I was the last to try. You guys want to try?" He asked the boys.
"Yeah," answering simply, Kaelen nodded.
"Alright. Come on, guys, let's make some space." Ma Kung pulled his friends aside, leaving the scene to Kaelen, Rai, and Thor. Though they didn't go far; they also wanted to see what these extraordinary-looking boys could do.
"It's quite high up close." Standing in front of the 250ft tall structure, Rai exclaimed.
"Alright, I'll go first." The purple-haired boy took the large hammer on the ground. It was quite big; the head itself was a foot wide and half a foot tall. The handle was quite long, about five feet; it reached Rai's shoulders.
There were hundreds of people surrounding them, watching their every move.
"Hey, look, a new group is going to try."
"Ahaha, they'll fail just like the rest."
Bystanders commented as they saw the trio take the stand.
"They look a bit young; can they even carry the hammer?" Someone mocked.
"Don't know, they appear to be strong though, at least the taller ones," another commented.
"Yeah, that purple-haired pretty boy doesn't look strong at all. He looks like he should be playing a zither or something. Ahaha." Someone remarked, making many laugh.
Many such conversations took place at once. Rai, the current center of attention, naturally could hear them, as cultivators all had extraordinary senses. Hearing people laugh at him, a vein suddenly erupted on his forehead as he grasped the giant hammer and slammed it viciously on the ground.
"Boom!!!"
The whole square shook as the ground trembled; cracks even appeared next to where he slammed the hammer. The trembling ground made some who were laughing fall on their asses, causing them to be embarrassed.
"Hey you! You're supposed to slam at the rubber pad at the foot of the pole, not the ground, you idiot." A victim screamed as he stood back up awkwardly.
Rai only glanced at the guy before lifting the hammer and placing it on his shoulder. He coolly took a few steps as he got closer to the pad. As the bystanders saw with how much ease he wielded the hammer, they began to murmur once more.
"Hey, he actually seems quite strong. The way he carries that weapon without any problem at all, even Ma Kung struggled a bit."
"Yeah, even that ground slam, it shook the whole square. You must be at least at the peak of Xiantian with fifty thousand pounds of strength to have that much power in a casual slam."
"I'm looking forward to his results now."
As people noticed the ease at which Raizel carried the weapon, they began to be optimistic. Many girls had shining eyes as they looked at the not only incredibly handsome young man but very strong too.
"Hey, do you think he has a girlfriend?" A 15-year-old looking cute girl asked one of her friends, who was about the same age.
"Tss, back off, he's mine. Hey pretty boy, if you win a prize, I'll give you a surprise. Mwaa." The friend tells her off and proceeds to shout at Rai, blowing a kiss at the end.
Rai was lifting the hammer over his head as he heard the shouts; the content made him almost drop the hammer on his head as he processed them.
"Hey, you see that? He looks like he stumbled a bit; he might actually be weak after all." A very critical bystander said, adjusting his glasses.
Hearing that, black lines covered Rai's forehead as he exhaled exasperatedly.
"Oh, give me a break!" He mumbled lightly as he winds up the hammer and strikes violently at the pad.
"Paangg!!!!!"
An enormous noise shakes the square, the sudden explosive force rumbling the grounds, making many unexpecting bystanders fall. The lever in the pole shoots to the sky, reaching 50ft in a second.
"Holy shit. Look, guys." The previous group of players stared abashed at the rising lever.
"What the fuck. Where the hell did he get that strength from? It's still rising so fast." Someone commented.
The lever quickly reached 100ft. It only slowed down past 130, which was 40ft more than the previous guy, a difference of 40 thousand pounds.
"Good lord, is he a humanoid beast!? How the…" Shocked gasps rang from all directions as the crowds stared at the still-rising lever. The loud noise attracted more and more people; soon, the crowd doubled in size.
"Hoh? Hey, Qing'er, it's Rai and the guys." Amongst the newly arriving crowd, Tang Hao was walking with Xue Qing as they approached the loud area.
Seeing Rai at the center of attention, Xue Qing's indifferent pale icy blue eyes lit up slightly, as if her day suddenly took an interesting turn. They made their way towards the center, the gorgeous beauty attracting countless gazes.
"Who's that!?" Exclamations of surprise sounded as people looked at the duo.
"Fool, that's Xue Qing, she's the niece of the emperor, better not have any ideas; he treats her like his own daughter since he only has sons." A friend side-glanced at him as he advised.
"Tss, I'm just asking."
While the two walked closer, the lever had already reached 145ft; it was still rising at a relatively fast . Soon, it reached 150ft, sending the crowd nuts.
"Wow, he reached it!"
"How the…"
"He's so strong… and handsome."
Countless reactions erupted as the lever rose past 150ft, finally settling at 165ft.
"165ft, that's 165 thousand pounds of pure strength." Gasping, the bystanders couldn't wrap their heads around what they were seeing. It wasn't really the power, but the fact that you could only use physical strength and no Qi at all, or bloodline power. Plus, it was restricted to Xiantian and Elemental Resonance cultivators. However, everyone knew that your physical strength does not increase at all at the Elemental Resonance stage, unless you have a heavenly-grade bloodline, which automatically grants Innate divine strength that increases slowly as you get stronger. Meaning it wasn't rare for peak Xiantian and peak Elemental to have the same physical strength; in fact, it's expected. Heavenly bloodlines aren't cabbage, after all.
"Those three really are fucking weird…" Looking up at the lever, Tang Hao couldn't help but mumble.
Even Xue Qing beside him was surprised, as she didn't expect Raizel to be that strong physically.
When the lever stopped moving, the structure began shining and ringing loudly, as if announcing that a standard had been met.
Under everyone's eyes, a mighty-looking middle-aged man appeared atop the structure. He was very tall, standing at around two meters. He had a red open sleeveless jacket for his shirt, leaving his huge arms bare and thick, grey fur pants. He wore no shoes, so you could see his huge feet.
With a leap, he jumped down to the ground and landed next to Rai.
"Mouaahahah, finally an interesting candidate. Good job, kid." He wide hands tapping the boy's shoulder.
Feeling the tap, Rai's shoulder felt like it was hit by the hammer he just slammed.
"Who is this old brute!?" Looking up at the mountain-like figure hiding the sun, Rai was a bit stumped.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Tang Feihu. I'm the administrator of this game right here. You did good, kid. You have won a chance at a prize. It can be source stones of any kind, a nice weapon, a martial skill for the strong, or become a disciple of mine. Your choice. Ahahaha." He answered, introducing himself and explaining the prize choice in the same breath.
Hearing that, Rai thought for a moment, but before he could voice his choice, exclamations erupted around him.
"Tang Feihu!? That's Tang Feihu!"
"Yeah, it's really him."
"Who is he?"
"It's the younger brother of the current Emperor. One of the strongest generals of the empire's armed forces, the Sundering Tiger King. He's one of the strongest powerhouses of the empire; why is he here!?"
Chatter once again erupted amongst the onlookers. Hearing the identity of the man in front of him, Rai was a bit surprised. However, he shook his head.
"What does that have to do with me, anyway? I should ask Kai before I choose." He thought, turning to Kaelen.
"What do you think?" He asked.
The latter approached together with Thorin.
Seeing the approaching boys, Tang Feihu looked at them, a light flashed in his eyes as he assessed them.
"Hm… these boys are quite peculiar." He thought.
Kaelen looked at the towering figure next to Rai.
"This junior greets Senior Tang." He bowed as he greeted the man, Thorin following suit.
"Hello juniors. Were you guys planning on participating as well?" He asked.
"Yes." The two responded together.
"We want to all try before choosing, if that's okay." Kaelen added.
"Oh!? Sure, go ahead. You do know that you must reach the next levels though, right?" He reminded.
"Yes. We know. Thor, you go ahead." Kaelen answered, as he nudged Thorin to go next.
"Alright." The latter simply answered.
Taking a few steps, he and Rai switched places as he stood at the foot of the pole structure.
He took the hammer from the latter's hand and swung it around like paper, causing rustling sounds of wind as he agitated it with the quick and swift swings.
Seeing him wield the weapon even more easily than Rai, Tang Feihu, the Tiger King, nodded appreciatively on the side.
"Good strength, boy," he said.
Adjusting his shoulders, Thor lifted the hammer overhead and with a shout, slammed down viciously.
"Pang!!!" An even louder noise than before rang out, the sound circulating miles away. The ground shook even more, stumbling a larger number of people.
Numerous sounds of exclamations flared as the lever once again flew quickly past 50ft, then 100ft, 150ft. Swiftly, it reached the first level. It continued at a fast speed all the way up to 180ft, shocking the crowd.
"Holy, is he actually going to reach the second level?"
"Who are these guys? Why are they all so monstrous?"
More reactions sprang up as the lever slowly moved towards the 200ft level. 185… 190…195… 198…199…200. The lever stopped exactly at 200ft.
A similar yet brighter reaction emerged as the pole began to shine and ring again.
"He really did it." The crowd was once again shocked.
"But how is this possible? He's younger than Ma Kung yet he's more than twice as strong. Could he be at the Elemental realm already and have a heavenly grade bloodline?" Someone commented.
"It's probably that. He was very strong at the Xiantian realm, probably reached the extreme levels and got a few upgrades thanks to his bloodline when breaking through Elemental Resonance." Someone speculated.
After reaching his goal, Thorin turned and casually threw the heavy hammer at Kaelen, stepping aside to leave the space to him.
The latter easily catches it as he makes his way to the structure. Upon reaching the foot of the pole, he casually lifts the hammer. Mustering all his strength, he slams it hard.
An even larger sound erupts, as the ground shook violently. The lever that had fallen back down rises suddenly once more at lightning fast speed.
Before the crowd could react, the lever reached 100ft, then 150ft… 200ft. It didn't slow at all as it sped past 200 and soared towards 250. In a flash, shocking the crowd and even Tang Feihu; the lever rose so fast past 250ft that it broke the structure, flying high in the sky fifty more feet.
Silence...