Cultivation Online

Chapter 2581: Military Recruitment(4)

A little over twelve hours after Yuan finished the first trial, a second participant finally finished their second lap.

The moment the man finished his lap, he looked around until he spotted Yuan, who appeared to be napping beneath a tree, shielded by its shadow.

"Hey, what was that guy’s time?" he asked the soldiers as he returned his necklace, sounding a bit hesitant, as if he was nervous to know.

"Two hours and fifty-nine minutes..."

"What?! But the last record was ten hours! How is it even possible to go so low?! There must have been something wrong with his weights!"

"No, we’ve checked the necklace. It was working and active the entire time."

"No way..."

After a moment of silence, the man approached Yuan and asked, "How did you do it?"

"What do you mean?" Yuan responded without opening his eyes.

"You know what I mean! How did you finish the trial in such a short time?!"

"Well... you know... I ran."

"Are you messing with me?!"

Yuan picked his ears with his pinky and said, "I’ve already answered your question. Now, can you stop buzzing in my ears like an annoying little bug?"

"You—!"

The man’s face turned red in anger. However, he remembered where he was and, not wanting to cause a scene, quickly turned around and walked away. But he continued to stare daggers at Yuan from a distance until the next participant finished the trial a little over half an hour later.

Soon, more and more participants finished the race.

In the military’s eyes, anyone who finished within 24 hours was considered average. Those who finished within 20 hours were considered above average. Those who completed the trial within 14 hours were considered talented, while anyone who finished faster than that was considered elite.

As for Yuan... he was considered an anomaly.

Mei Xiaoyun ended up finishing in 12 hours and 22 minutes, earning elite status.

Meanwhile, as Sergeant Zao had predicted, more than half of the participants failed the trial, bringing the total to more than 70,000.

Once the last participant finished the trial, Sergeant Zao appeared before them again and spoke, "Congratulations on finishing the first trial, but this is just the beginning. If you barely passed this one, you might as well just go home now because the second one will be even more difficult."

"Follow me."

Sergeant Zao turned toward the military building and began walking.

After nearly an hour, intentionally giving the participants some time to rest, they reached the building and entered.

Sergeant Zao then led everyone into a massive, dome-shaped room containing an obstacle course filled with various obstacles.

"For the second trial, you will need to complete this obstacle course," he said, giving them a brief and simple explanation."

The participants took a moment to examine the obstacle course, and one of them couldn’t help but mutter, "It looks so simple..."

While the obstacle course appeared massive, the courses themselves appeared simple, even easy.

Sergeant Zao chuckled after hearing that and said, "Just wait until you start doing it."

"Now, here are some rules for this trial."

After a moment of silence, he continued, "There are no rules. Anyone who reaches the end will qualify for the next trial. A hundred participants will go at a time, and the selection will be randomized. If you hear your number being called, enter the obstacle course."

Soon, a hundred numbers were announced through speakers.

"Number 21,132...91,533...5...1999...."

Once all one hundred participants had gathered at the starting line of the obstacle course, a loud beep signaled the start.

Despite having 100 people standing in a single-file line with 50 meters between each person, there was still plenty of space for them to move around.

At the start of the signal, all of them rushed forward.

However, their movements noticeably slowed the moment they passed the starting line, causing those watching to raise their eyebrows in puzzlement.

Meanwhile, those on the obstacle course were shocked when their bodies suddenly felt sluggish and weak, as if all their energy had been drained.

As a result, some of them even tripped over thin air and fell face-first to the ground.

"What’s going on?!"

"My energy! It’s all gone!"

"This must be the true trial!"

The participants quickly adapted and began moving toward the first obstacle—a mile-long wooden log barely wide enough for an average man’s foot to step on.

Of course, since there were 100 participants, there were 100 such obstacles.

Although all of them struggled at first, as they got used to their exhaustion, they started speeding up.

However, when the first person reached the half-mile mark, an arrow suddenly shot from the ceiling at him. Since he was completely focused on the log and too exhausted to react properly, the arrow struck him directly in the center of his forehead.

As a result, he was knocked off the log and sent falling to the bottom.

When the others saw this, they immediately heightened their senses and prepared to be attacked too.

Yet, when they reached the half-mile mark, none of them were targeted.

Instead, the arrows struck at random intervals, making them impossible to predict.

As they moved closer and closer to the end of the obstacle, the arrows would appear more frequently, slowing many down and completely eliminating others.

While the arrows weren’t fatal, they were strong enough to crack bones, so a few participants ended up with cracked skulls in the end.

"Since we have unlimited time, I think it would be better to take our time with this trial." One of the spectators remarked.

"No, that might not be the case. If you haven’t noticed, those who are slower have been targeted more than those at the front."

"Are you sure it’s not a coincidence?"

"It might be since it’s still too soon to tell."

Eventually, someone reached the end of the log and came to the second obstacle—a massive, lengthy pool resembling a sea with a sign right before it.

[Swim To The Other Side]