Chapter 24 - 24: The Peak

"2450!?"

The other applicants all could not believe what they were seeing. 2450 kilograms? The biggest points that the previous applicants achieved were at 1,600kg, and that was already impressive. Of course, seeing as they were here, their families and their sponsors were confident enough that they would pass-- maybe except the first applicant.

In short, they were one of the best that humanity had to offer. Be it skill, strength, speed, and potential. But hitting 2,450 kilograms? The strongest ever recorded in the normal population was from a martial arts champion at the force of 2,142. But that wasn't the only thing that was abnormal in this scenario.

That record was from a kick. And Yun Hao…

...Yun Hao used his fist.

Sun Fang was the most perplexed of all, of course. His master and sponsor from the Huang family got in between the two of them before Yun Hao could strike him. Now Sun Fang could only take in a gulp as he imagined Yun Hao's punch hitting his face head-on-- he would have surely died. What kind of punch is that? A shotgun?

It's impossible for a Normie to… Wait, a normie? Sun Fang took in a deep breath as something came to his mind,

"That man is a Cultivator!" Sun Fang shouted as he pointed towards Yun Hao, "He's pretending to be a Normie!"

"..." Yun Hao, who was lightly massaging his fist, could not help but look at Sun Fang as if he was some kind of retard. It wasn't only him, even the other applicants were looking weirdly at Sun Fang. The only one that didn't pay him any mind was the only female applicant in the test, Jia Ning.

She thought that she would have the highest score on the test, but it would seem she was wrong. She was confused at first as to why their mother made them take this test, but now she knows exactly why.

There was a famous saying in the Cultivation world about being a frog in a well, and she was shown exactly that today. There were monsters out there hidden in the world, and today, she met one of them. Just what kind of secret did this young man had that he would gain such strength? Was this what her mother was telling her?

Was this young man in front of them the peak of what normal humans could achieve?

She then slightly pushed her green hair to the side, hoping that she and Yun Hao make eye contact so that she would be able to talk to him. She could just talk to him instead directly, of course. But years of isolation and training made her completely… inept in all things social.

She wasn't as talented as the young miss from the other big families like Song Jian, so she had to double and even triple her effort if she wants to be able to match them.

"You're called Yun Hao, yes?" instructor Anna then approached Yun Hao, who was currently removing the wraps on his hand, "Good, good job. Let's talk later so I can put you more in my video."

"...Video?" Yun Hao then looked at the phone instructor Anna was holding, "Okay?" Was it some kind of documentation? Yun Hao thought as he went back to the line.

"Bro, that was awesome. What are you, some kind of terminator?" As soon as he got back in line, the previous applicant who was asked to stay even though he did not reach the required points, stretched his hand towards him, "I wouldn't want to be the next applicant going after you."

"...Just hard work and repetition," Yun Hao replied as he shook the man's hand.

"Oh come on, bro. Everyone standing here worked hard until they puked," the man let out a slight chuckle, "You're just a fricking monster, why haven't we heard of you before? What family are you from? You're even invited to one of madame Anna's vlogs."

"...Vlogs?"

"Yeah, bro. Don't tell me you don't know who madame Anna is?" Seeing the look of confusion on Yun Hao's face, the man could not help but let out a slight gasp,

"Do you live in a junkyard or something? Madame Anna is one of the most famous influencers in--"

"No more talking!" Before the man could finish his words, Anna once again clapped her hand loudly as she gestured to the last applicant to get in front of the machine-- Sun Fang.

Once again, Anna raised her phone, pointing its camera towards Sun Fang. However, Anna's gaze was still focused on Yun Hao. Seeing this, Sun Fang could not help but feel vexed. As far as he was aware, he was supposed to be the spotlight of today's tests. That's why he and his master specifically picked this date for him to take his test because he knew that Liu Hannah would be the proctor.

But now, that spotlight was slowly being taken away from him. He even declared from the paparazzi waiting outside the Confederation that he would come out as the top applicant of the Immersion, but to think that--

No. It wasn't too late. Sun Fang shook his head as he let out a long and deep breath before putting up his stance. Yun Hao was insanely strong, but so was he. He wouldn't lose to a man whose name has not been heard before.

He… will come out on top!

'1652!'

Or he was supposed to if it wasn't for the existence called Yun Hao. He made sure to give it his all with his kick, but alas, it was not even close. It would have been alright since there were still other tests and Yun Hao can't win all of them, but to lose to someone with such a large gap truly did a number on Sun Fang.

Sun Fang could only put his head down as he walked back to his line, not even waiting for instructor Anna to tell him to go back.

"That was a nice hit."

But as soon as he got back, the voice of the last person he expected to applaud him entered his ears. He then looked at Yun Hao, who had his thumbs up towards him.

"Thanks?" Sun Fang instinctively replied.

"Now maybe if you focused more on training instead of hitting women, you might have even scored more."

"Fuck you," Sun Fang once again instinctively replied.