Chapter 4: Wooden Man Lane Assessment

  On the copper stove, a two-foot-long incense stick was lit. This type of incense is called Longevity Incense and is much more expensive than regular incense. It burns for exactly one hour when lit once. According to legend, this incense is often used in palace banquets. The incense is now burning steadily.

  An hour feels short when you're having fun, but it feels long when you're waiting. Now, however, it's dragging on and on, making everyone feel restless as they wait in their own ways.

  Time is flowing slowly, slowly, slowly.

  The incense head suddenly brightened and then went out, finally burning up the last bit of Longevity Incense, completely extinguished.

  Fifty young men and women walked out, not from the wooden man's lane gate, but from another direction. These fifty young men and women were all injured to varying degrees, but basically they could walk, none of them were seriously damaged or dead. Gu Chao secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, thinking: It seems that the saying that the outer door disciples' recruitment will not kill people is accurate.

  Then, Nan Gongyuan, the elder, shouted loudly: "Those who have passed, come into the white circle behind me. Also, all those who have passed the test are not allowed to communicate with those who have not passed the test and those who have not taken the test. Violators will be deprived of their qualifications." Behind him was a three-zhang-diameter white circle. The five boys and one girl who came out of the wooden man alley immediately stepped into the white circle, sat down cross-legged, and looked happy. They had successfully passed the recruitment test for outer door disciples of Mount Tai Sect. From now on, they would be members of the outer door disciples of Mount Tai Sect. Being an outer door disciple of Mount Tai Sect was a quite honorable status. Just thinking about learning various ultimate skills and martial arts of Mount Tai Sect in the future and having the hope to become a famous martial artist in the world made them feel happy.

  The other forty-four people were taken to the other side of the square to rest, and the losers all had a dejected look on their faces, some with dull eyes, others with complex expressions sighing, they failed, did not pass the outer door test of Mount Tai Sect.

  "Among the first batch of fifty young men and women, only six passed the examination. Fifty to six, this is roughly ten to one, which shows that the difficulty of this assessment is quite high." Gu Chao thought to himself.

  Hou Er didn't know when he had slipped back and said: "I just overheard some things about Mù Rén Héng from the side."

  He paused, then said: "In the Wooden Man Corridor, there are many, many wooden men inside. Their defensive power is high, and their attack power is not low either. Although the frequency of attacks is ordinary, it's hard to withstand because of the sheer number of them, coming from all directions. It's extremely difficult to get through, but you can form a team. However, forming a team also has its drawbacks - the more people in the team, the more wooden men will be attracted, and the more attacks you'll receive. If you don't work together well, it's easy to make mistakes. So, the best team size is three to four people: one main attacker, one main defender, and one assistant."

  It's just that you can only get a little intelligence from those who didn't pass the test, people are roughly the same psychology, I didn't pass, why should I help you pass, so it's just this one piece of intelligence. Only public information like group formation is not worth keeping secret, so everyone knows. The Taishan faction also tries to arrange members of the same family in the same group for testing.

  It seems that the test can be done in teams, and Gu Chao suddenly remembered what Nan Gongyuan, an old man with a youthful appearance, said at the beginning of this assessment, which also tested everyone's teamwork ability.

  Next, the old man with crane hair and youthful face, Nan Gongyuan, began to read out the second list. The second group also had fifty people go in, just like the first group. An hour later, the results of the second group came out, and in the end, only five people entered the white circle with a victorious smile, passing the assessment.

  The other forty-five all failed.

  After completing the second group assessment, they didn't continue with the third group because it was already noon, so they ate lunch first before continuing. The lunch was quite ordinary, plain rice with a few dishes, sitting on the floor to eat, Gu Chao naturally ate with ease, as he had often eaten like this when studying and participating in military training on Earth. In fact, Gu Chao thought that eating from large bowls of rice and dishes was more appetizing. However, those black iron family princes seemed unaccustomed to it, most of them couldn't bear sitting on the floor and eating with many people, a few just randomly picked at their food to maintain enough physical strength. But there were also a few who brought their own food and had a pleased expression, while more of the princes who didn't bring food furrowed their brows, looking worried and unhappy, their hands shaking as they held their chopsticks, unable to take a bite, it seemed they were too used to being pampered.

  The third group of people is seven.

  The fifth group has five people passing through.

  The four groups of assessments took a total of four hours, and twenty-three people passed.

  These four groups were assessed, and the other untested boys and girls were mostly very nervous because the pass rate was too low. The previous four groups had a total of 200 people, but only 23 passed, with a ratio of 10 to 1. Such a low pass rate would make anyone nervous.

  At a time when all the young men and women were extremely nervous, Gu Chao presented a stark contrast, appearing calm and composed. He was more immersed in the state of martial arts experience that was filled with epiphanies and memories. The temporary Buddha's feet, the last-minute sharpening of guns were meant to familiarize himself with knife techniques, familiarize himself with the flow of internal energy within his body. After getting familiarized, he actually felt a little eager to try it out, after all, these were some incredible things that he couldn't feel in his past life no matter what.

  To be honest, Gu Chao's strength is only at the second level of the Post-Heaven realm. Among all the people present, he can be counted as one of the top two, but if we count from the bottom up, it would actually be more difficult for him to pass the assessment than most others.

  However, Gu Chao is a transmigrator, and although his previous life was only over twenty years old, he has experienced many "big scenes", college entrance exams, sports competitions, car accidents, being robbed, dozens of job interviews, fighting for bosses in online games... He has been through so much that he can already face the collapse of Mount Tai without changing color, and no matter how strong the wind, rain or waves are, they cannot shake his mind.

  The recruitment of this outer disciple of the Taishan Sect is extremely important, but if he gets nervous and afraid, then it's really not the reincarnation of Gu Chao.

  He calmly observed everything around him, even taking out a bottle of huangjiu from his backpack, which he had brought with him from home. The huangjiu tasted smooth and refreshing, with a rich flavor that was not bad at all. This wine was brewed by their own family and had a certain reputation in the local area. Its taste was more mellow and harmonious than some of the high-grade wines he had drunk in his previous life. Moreover, due to its low degree, drinking it would only make his blood burn with excitement, stirring up his fighting spirit, without getting him drunk to the point of affecting the upcoming assessment.

  Gu Chao leisurely took out the peanuts wrapped in oil paper and started eating them with relish.

  Peanuts with wine, what a wonderful life!

  In the tense atmosphere where everyone was on edge, Gu Chao was relaxed and calm, with a tranquil expression.

  Among the people who were most calm and composed throughout the event, Gu Chao was definitely one of them.

  Gu Chao had asked Hou Er if he wanted to drink the wine in his hand, but Hou Er was also afraid of affecting his assessment state and didn't dare to drink. Some young men and women around them saw Gu Chao like this and were secretly ridiculing him in their hearts. Most people thought that Gu Chao must be crazy or just came to play, so he dared to drink before such an important assessment. Haven't you seen that even Mu Rongying, the person with the most prestige in the entire arena, was meditating to adjust her state?

  。。。。。。

  The fourth group finished the assessment and the fifth group started immediately after.

  The old man with white hair and a youthful face, Nan Gongyuan, cleared his throat: "Next is the list of 50 people who will be taking the fifth assessment. Zhang Yuan, Tu Sheng, Fang Yin, Murong Ying... Si Tu Feng... Gu Chao... Lin Yuan..." The list of 50 names was read out completely, and upon hearing this list, everyone couldn't help but discuss it among themselves.

  That Murong Ying is the young genius of the aristocratic family, the Murong Family. His power at the late stage of the fifth layer of the Acquired Realm is considered to be the strongest among all, and he is the one who attracts the most attention.

  There is also Lin Yuan, who is also from a black iron-level aristocratic family, the Fang family, with a strength of four layers at the peak of the acquired realm.

  Fang Yin, from an ordinary family, Lin's family, later became a fourth-layer peak master, and among this group of people, there were many masters.

  What a coincidence, it's really a gathering of masters!

  Did he get to himself? Gu Chao secretly said in his heart, and on the surface, he was not anxious. He just poured the last few mouthfuls of yellow wine from the bottle into his mouth, threw a few peanuts into his mouth, and savored them. After wiping his lips with some remaining wine stains, he finally stood up and walked towards the entrance of the wooden man alley with the other forty-nine boys and girls.

  Hou Er originally wanted to team up with Gu Chao if they were in the same group, but it turned out that only Gu Chao was on the list and not him. He couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Gu Chao casually waved his hand and said, "I'll go first."

  The long-awaited Wooden Man Lane assessment is finally about to begin!

  The wooden man's appearance can finally be seen!

  The wooden man's alley assessment is really something to behold!

  At this moment, Gu Chao's eyes also flashed with sharp edges! Must succeed!

  In an instant, Gu Chao had already walked to the front of the wooden man's alley!