Chapter 24: Zhang Qiang

The two entered the Martial Artist Tower. Jiang Yan took out the Life-Extending Green Plant from the black bag, broke it in half, and handed one portion to Chen An.

“Take this to use first. We’ll settle the payment later. Also, the remaining materials in the bag—help me take them upstairs to sell.”

Chen An glanced at Jiang Yan with a touched expression but said nothing more, hoisting the large black bag and heading upstairs.

Jiang Yan looked at the remaining half of the Life-Extending Green Plant in his hand, carefully wrapped it in a cloth, and stored it away.

Uncle Wang had been injured on the battlefield, leaving him with significant aftereffects after the war. Knowing the restorative properties of the Life-Extending Green Plant, Jiang Yan immediately thought of giving it to Uncle Wang.

Fortunately, the plant was large enough; otherwise, he would never have sold half to Chen Sheng.

First Floor.

Following the signs, Jiang Yan found the area for testing Talent.

In the spacious venue, small groups of Martial Artists gathered to test their Talents.

Punching force testers, weighted training equipment, speed testing machines… all kinds of instruments for testing Physique were arranged here.

Each person’s Talent differed—some focused on defense, others on speed, while some had peculiar Talents. Over the years, the Martial Artist Tower had refined the testing instruments to be quite comprehensive. No matter what Talent you possessed, it could reasonably test its Rank.

At a punching force tester, a woman with a good figure, dressed in a professional blazer, instructed a student who looked young and inexperienced:

“Your Talent focuses on strength amplification. I need to test the threshold of your Talent’s amplification. Come, first try hitting the instrument without using your Talent. Don’t even think about secretly holding back to get a higher score—the instrument will accurately detect whether you’ve used your full strength.”

“Alright.”

The female staff member stepped back. The student stood on the instrument, aimed at the red center marked on it, let out a loud shout, and struck with his right fist using all his strength.

Boom!

Loud thunder but little rain—the instrument didn’t even budge. A number quickly flashed on the screen above.

800kg

Jiang Yan watched, thinking to himself, “800kg is roughly the strength of Body Tempering Late Stage. This person is probably a high school senior who just recently underwent Aperture Opening.”

“Now use your Talent and hit it again.”

The female staff member called out from outside the instrument.

Jiang Yan stopped paying attention to this side and directly lined up at the registration desk.

The line wasn’t long, after all, Martial Artists with Awakened Talent weren’t exactly common.

Soon, it was Jiang Yan’s turn.

“Show your ID.”

“What is your Talent related to?”

“Physical attributes, I suppose.”

“Which aspects?”

“Uh… all aspects.”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment and answered truthfully. He wasn’t lying—his Talent was indeed very comprehensive. Defense had a 100% amplification, while other attributes had 40%. It could truly be called all-around.

“Hmm?”

The person at the registration desk adjusted his glasses, giving Jiang Yan a somewhat surprised look. But it lasted only a moment before he withdrew his gaze and said calmly:

“You’d better not lie about your Talent just to get a good rating. The instruments here can accurately detect whether you’re telling the truth.”

Many Martial Artists liked to exaggerate their Talents to obtain higher ratings. Clearly, he regarded Jiang Yan as one of those trying to cut corners.

“Then guess whether I’m lying or not?”

Jiang Yan smiled as he looked at the staff member, his gaze meeting the other’s without hesitation.

The staff member felt a chill run down his spine, experiencing the illusion of being stared down by a wild beast. Having spent many years navigating the workplace, he belatedly realized he had spoken out of turn earlier and hurriedly tried to make amends:

“Sorry, my tone was a bit harsh just now. Please follow the other staff members to the instrument testing area.”

Sometimes, a simple apology can truly save a lot of unnecessary trouble, and humility works the same way.

Jiang Yan didn’t dwell on it too much. After completing the registration, he was led away by a woman for testing.

In front of the punching force testing machine.

Two people were still standing ahead of Jiang Yan, so he waited where he was.

Currently testing his punching force was a burly man, whose imposing and battle-hardened aura clearly indicated he had experienced much in the Wilderness.

He wasn’t here to test his Talent; he simply wanted to see how much his strength had improved after his breakthrough, along with indulging in some unique little quirks.

The burly man let out a fierce roar, his powerful voice seeming to make the entire hall tremble slightly.

His punch was like the roar of a tiger and the bellow of a dragon, landing squarely on the target with overwhelming force.

The machine shook violently, and the display screen above it rapidly flickered. Many people turned to look at the source of the loud noise.

1306

2306

8069

The final number stopped at 9000 kg.

Below the Innate Realm, the strength of one’s Physical Body is what matters.

For Body Tempering Martial Artists, punching force—excluding Talent—generally falls below 1000 kg.

Blood Coagulation Martial Artists experience a further leap in their Physical Body, with the upper limit of punching force in this Realm typically around 10,000 kg.

For this burly man to possess 9000 kg of force without using his Talent meant he was at least at the Perfection stage of Blood Coagulation.

And indeed, that was the case. The bald man had recently broken through to Blood Coagulation Perfection and, having just returned from the Wilderness, couldn’t wait to come test his punching force.

It was a small hobby of his—this burly man simply enjoyed seeing the awestruck and admiring looks from the newly Awakened youngsters.

It was essentially—

An old bird pretending to be a new recruit, showing off out of sheer boredom.

“Zhang Qiang, why are you here testing again?” A staff member seemed very familiar with the burly man, casually striking up a conversation.

“Ah, just felt like throwing a few punches, wanted to give it a go.”

“Hahahaha, I think you’re just here to show off your muscles.”

The staff member laughed heartily, not holding back in calling him out.

The burly man named Zhang Qiang didn’t take offense either. Rubbing his large head, he chuckled warmly, “Hahahaha, nothing like that. Want to grab a drink tonight?”

“Nah, I can’t keep up with you.”

The burly man stepped down from the punching force testing machine, satisfied as he watched the students behind him staring dumbfounded at the string of numbers on the screen. He patted one of them on the shoulder approvingly:

“Young man, keep training hard. I believe you’ll definitely surpass me one day.”

“Good heavens, coming back after hunting Fierce Beasts and showing off feels so damn good! I’ve got to treat myself tonight!” the burly man thought to himself.

As Zhang Qiang passed by Jiang Yan, he also patted his shoulder in a familiar manner, winking at him:

“Youngster, keep pushing. Maybe you’ll be the next Zhang Qiang~”

Jiang Yan pondered this, not particularly bothered by the burly man’s familiarity, just finding it somewhat amusing.

He politely smiled, not wanting to dampen the man’s enthusiasm: “I look forward to the day I surpass you, Senior.”

“Hahaha, you’ve got backbone. I, Zhang Qiang, really admire people with ambition like you. How about coming out for a few drinks tonight? After that, I’ll take you to experience what real men should be doing.”

Zhang Qiang once again extended an invitation for a drinking session to an outsider.

The staff present all smiled. This scene occurred almost every month. With his personality, Zhang Qiang had become quite familiar around the Martial Artist Tower, and there was no one who didn’t know him.

Jiang Yan politely declined, “No, thank you. I’m not much of a drinker.”

Zhang Qiang didn’t take it to heart. He walked to the back, found a chair to sit in, crossed his legs, and began watching the young martial artists test their Talent.

Until Jiang Yan, under his gaze, stepped onto the punching force tester.