Not far from the town, in a large building, a huge wall was covered with countless surveillance screens, each displaying different areas of the town.
At this moment, Dong Hao, Zhuge Tao, Wang Zhihong, Zhou Feng, and several military and high-ranking officials from various factions were sitting on the sofa in the room.
Nearby, waiters were serving red wine and fruit on the table. The group was observing the images on the screens while engaging in casual conversation.
In front of the surveillance wall, several military officers were continuously switching between cameras, ensuring that the performances of each quasi-warrior were brought into focus.
"What a nostalgic sight!" Major General Dong Hao exclaimed. "Watching these young men battle monsters reminds me of my own youth."
"They're mostly in their twenties," Zhuge Tao sighed, his graying hair reflecting the light as he seemed to recall his own past experiences. "They're young and still unpolished."
Wang Zhihong, the curator of the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall, glanced at Zhuge Tao and sneered, "Zhuge, where is that kid Xia Zhi, the one your martial arts hall specially recruited?"
"Nothing outstanding from him yet. Our martial arts genius, Zhang Lei, just took down three monsters by himself."
Zhou Feng, a senior executive of the HR Alliance, chimed in, "Impressive kid. For his first monster kill, he displayed remarkable strength."
As they spoke, one of the screens locked onto an image of Zhang Lei, the genius from the Thunderbolt Hall, whom the group had been discussing. He had just finished a fight, and the corpse of a tiger mastiff lay on the ground, its blood still pooling.
After severing the tiger mastiff's left ear as a trophy, Zhang Lei, holding a bloodstained ghost-head saber, strutted down the street, searching for his next prey.
"He's a solid fighter; this assessment shouldn't be too hard for him," Zhuge Tao remarked, nodding in approval at Zhang Lei's confident display on the screen.
"Hmm?" Major General Dong Hao's attention was caught by another screen in the lower right corner of the wall.
"Lock onto the quasi-warrior shown on camera 32, and switch it to the main screen," Dong Hao ordered the officer at the controls.
"Understood," came the quick response.
Wang Zhihong, still curious, asked, "Old Dong, what did you spot?"
"You'll see soon enough," Dong Hao replied with a playful smile.
Soon, the image from the lower right corner was displayed on the large central screen. The video showed a young warrior fending off six dark figures—H-class monster shadow cats. The young man wielded a six-sided shield and a bloodshadow saber, dodging the shadow cats' swift attacks with minimal movements.
His calm, measured dodges, each just barely avoiding the shadow cats' claws, gave the impression of someone entirely in control of the situation. The seamless flow of his movements captivated the high-ranking officials watching.
"That's Xia Zhi," Dong Hao said, impressed. "He's treating this combat assessment like a free body training session!"
"And... look at his form," Dong Hao marveled. "He's reached the micro-level!"
"The micro-level!" Zhuge Tao's eyes lit up as he focused on Xia Zhi, who continued to evade the shadow cats' attacks.
Reaching the micro-level of physical skills, a feat that even seasoned generals struggled to achieve, was no small task.
"He's only 18, and he's already achieved micro-level body techniques," Zhou Feng exclaimed, clearly taken aback. "Unbelievable."
Turning to Zhuge Tao, he added, "Zhuge, your Xtreme Martial Arts Center hit the jackpot with this kid. At such a young age, with that kind of control over his body, he's bound for greatness."
Zhuge Tao smiled silently, his pride evident. His decision to offer Xia Zhi an A-level contract had clearly paid off.
"Hmph, just luck," Wang Zhihong muttered bitterly from the side.
The Xtreme Martial Arts Center and Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall, founded by the world's strongest martial artists, "Hong" and "Thor" respectively, had always been fierce rivals. Whether in terms of high-end combat power or martial arts students, competition was constant.
The genius Zhang Lei, whom Wang Zhihong had praised earlier, now paled in comparison to Xia Zhi from the Xtreme Martial Arts Center.
The video continued. After evading the shadow cats' attacks for a while, Xia Zhi suddenly swung his saber. The sharp blade sliced through the neck of one of the shadow cats mid-air. The creature's body flew forward a few more meters before collapsing, its head severed and blood spurting out.
As if triggered by this moment, Xia Zhi moved with lightning speed. In quick succession, five more shadow cats fell, their blood splattering the ground.
"The essence of micro-level body techniques is using the smallest movements to make the most precise dodges," Xia Zhi thought, standing amidst the corpses of the shadow cats, reflecting on the fight.
Achieving the micro-level meant controlling one's strength and body with extreme precision, making subtle movements with minimal effort. Each dodge felt like it had been calculated by a computer.
What made this difficult was that even a slight mistake in such precise dodging could lead to being struck by a monster. And getting hit could mean serious injury or death.
Thanks to the super-computation ability granted by his awakened spiritual power, Xia Zhi had been honing his physical skills by constantly battling monsters. He could feel his strength improving with each encounter, far surpassing his abilities before the assessment.
This was the allure of real combat. It tested everything one had trained for, revealing the true limits of one's capabilities. Only when pushed to the extreme could one discover the full potential of their dodging abilities.
Although Xia Zhi's physical strength allowed him to easily defeat these low-intelligence H-class monsters, such as tiger mastiffs, shadow cats, and iron-haired boars, fighting multiple monsters at once could still pose a significant threat.
Even with the ability to punch with nearly 4,000 kilograms of force, a failure to dodge a monster's attack could result in serious injury.
But Xia Zhi had a secret weapon: his spiritual power. If he ever made a mistake, he could immediately use his mental energy to manipulate the shield or saber, adding an extra burst of force to help him dodge again.
"Too bad this mental power only works on inanimate objects, not living beings," Xia Zhi sighed. "Otherwise, I'd be able to use it directly on myself."
Spiritual power couldn't control humans or animals; it could only manipulate objects like metal or wood. If that weren't the case, he could have used it to fly.
"Well, time to hunt more monsters."
Back in the surveillance room, the group of high-ranking officials continued discussing Xia Zhi's physical skills, none of them noticing the figure hidden in the shadows of the room quietly sending out a set of coordinates.