Chapter 272: An Old Friend
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As Lin Huang walked out from the crowd, many of them began to check him out. The man that everyone was gawking at was a young man not more than 16 years of age who was about 1.7 meters tall. He had black, fluffy hair and bright eyes. His features were pleasant and he looked harmless.
"Is this Mr. Fu’s apprentice? He doesn’t look like anyone special and he’s only gold-level rank-2…"
People began to discuss among themselves and a group of men was especially puzzled. Most of them came from powerful families and they knew that Mr. Fu used to work for the Union Government - after all, they have heard of his legendary stories.
In the crowd, there were two people who had the biggest surprise of their lives. One of them was the head examiner of the Reserve Hunter assessment, Yi Yeyu who Lin Huang had met 10 months ago. The other was Li Lang who had earlier went to Lin Huang to investigate damages to his house when a vampire invaded his house 11 months ago. Lin Huang was not even iron-level when the both of them had first met him. Within the span of one year, Lin Huang managed to emerge as a gold-level rank-2. His speed shocked the both of them, especially Yi Yeyu because she had practically watched him grow up and she even knew about him killing iron-level and bronze-level Life Seed monsters. She did not expect to see him again at such a place.
However, Lin Huang did not know about all these. While he noticed Yi Yeyu in the Demon Slayer Legion, he was oblivious to Li Lang in the Hunter Association's team. As everyone watched, Lin Huang calmed himself down while walking into the black whirlpool…
The image before him changed as he stepped in. Soon, he was sent to another place. There was a pungent sulfuric stench surrounding the air. He looked at the burnt ground with a couple of volcanoes, smoke twisting out above them.
"Welcome to the Volcanic Hell, young man," a voice nearby greeted him. Lin Huang lifted his head to look at the sky. It was a man in a black Demon Slayer Legion uniform floating in the air who had uttered those words. The man had short golden hair with a pair of gold-framed glasses. His long, narrow eyes looked like they were closed. Although he seemed like a nice man, Lin Huang could sense a dangerous aura coming from him. He put his guard up instinctively.
The man descended from the air and smiled oddly at Lin Huang. "Don’t worry, young man. I am your examiner for the first round of training."
"Your ability to sense is extraordinary."
"Thanks for your compliment." Lin Huang did not intend to explain any further.
Just as he claimed, the man standing in front of Lin Huang was the examiner for the training. As the Union Government owned the ruin keys, that meant trespassers were forbidden here. This also meant that the unique aura that emanated from the Demon Slayer Legion uniform could not be fake. Seeing that the man could float in the air, it was clear that he was a Transcendent. Judging from his combat strength, it made sense that he was the examiner.
After coming out with this analysis, Lin Huang was slightly relieved. He did not ask about the rules of the training as all the participants had yet to arrive and the examiner would not bother explaining the rules to him one-on-one. He stepped aside while waiting for the rest to arrive patiently. Seeing that Lin Huang did not bother to talk to him, the examiner with the golden hair rubbed his nose. Soon, the participants started coming in, alleviating the awkward situation.
The second batch of participants that were sent in were members of the Hunter Association. There were a total of 300 of them. As they arrived, the quiet ruins suddenly became crowded. Many of them had not dared to speak when they were at the plaza as there were many seniors there. Without the supervision of seniors now, they started talking to each other. Seeing everyone chatting with each other, someone approached Lin Huang as if he was getting a closer look at someone he recognized.
"Li Lang?!" Lin Huang recognized him immediately as he had not changed one bit.
"Are you really Lin Huang?!" Li Lang was unsure earlier but upon hearing Lin Huang call out his name, he was quite certain now.
"I didn’t expect to see you here." Lin Huang smiled. If not for Li Lang giving him the Life Crystals earlier, he might not have been able to pass the Reserve Member assessment.
"I should be the one saying that. You weren’t even an iron-level when I met you the last time. You've grown so much in less than a year!" Li Lang exclaimed. He managed to level-up from silver-level rank-3 to complete gold-level in 11 months. His progress considered fast but Lin Huang’s speed was even more impressive.
"That’s true…" Lin Huang was speechless. It was June when he had arrived in this world and it was now May in his second year; it had not even been a year since his arrival. His improvement was unbelievable.
"We haven’t seen each other for almost a year now and you’ve grown taller!" Li Lang laughed. He remembered Lin Huang being only 1.6 meters when they last met, a whole head shorter than him. Li Lang had only grown two to three centimeters taller within a year but Lin Huang was now 1.73 meters. Lin Huang smiled helplessly when he heard such a comment that was usually made by the old folks. However, he was not concerned about his height because he had just turned 16. His body would hit puberty in a couple of years and with the nutrients in the food provided in this year, it should be an easy feat for him to grow 10 centimeters within two years.
"Although you’ve made some terrifying improvements, you are only a gold-level rank-2 after all. Your combat strength must be at the bottom of the food chain with these thousands of people here. Let me know if you need help with the training." Li Lang patted his shoulder as though he was speaking to his junior.
"Oh, sure," Lin Huang replied immediately but he was actually speechless. He did not think that Li Lang could even defeat him if they were to fight.
As they chatted, more and more participants entered the ruins. After 10 minutes, the Demon Slayer Legion arrived at the dimensional ruins as the grand finale. All of the participants that had joined the training were in the ruins now. Seeing that the entrance to the dimensional ruin had closed, the examiner with the golden hair floated into the air again, attracting everyone’s attention.
"Alright, kids, please be quiet and listen to me," the examiner’s voice echoed in the ruins. All of the participants turned silent.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Si Kongjian and I'll be your examiner for the first round of training…"