Chapter 108: Successful Induction

Bang!

A hundred meters away, a burst of red mist suddenly exploded. The bullet had struck the first target with pinpoint precision.

"Nice!"

Cheers erupted instantly. Everyone behind Fang Mu wore expressions of astonishment. Most of them were Bronze-tier evolvers with extraordinary eyesight, and they could clearly see how small the target was. At a distance of one hundred meters, hitting such a small, moving target was a testament to his exceptional marksmanship.

The strength of a Gun-Fighter lies in the lethality of their Gun-Fighting Arts, but the prerequisite for realizing that true lethality is... hitting the target. If you can't even hit your target, what good is the most powerful Gun-Fighting Art?

The scarcity of Gun-Fighters is not only due to the difficulty of advancement but also because marksmanship is notoriously hard to master. After all, being able to take down targets from hundreds or even thousands of meters away is not something everyone can grasp; it requires innate talent.

Therefore, when the first target was obliterated in the blink of an eye, the gazes directed at Fang Mu brightened, and many felt a stirring of interest. It is well known that having a reliable Gun-Fighter in a squad can provide a massive boost to the team's combat effectiveness.

Such thoughts raced through their minds, yet in reality, not even a second had passed.

Boom!

The gun fired again!

"So fast?"

Everyone was stunned, but the next instant, they saw another cloud of red mist erupt a hundred meters away. Another hit? The crowd was dumbfounded.

This time, Fang Mu didn't pause for even a fraction of a second. As the red mist bloomed, he fired three consecutive shots—*bang, bang, bang*—so rapidly they almost sounded like a single line of fire!

A rapid-fire burst!

Following the burst were three clouds of red mist that exploded almost simultaneously, filling the entire rooftop with a haze of red.

*Hiss!*

The onlookers drew sharp breaths. This marksmanship... was it too terrifying?

The woman was even momentarily stunned before she snapped back to reality and hurriedly pressed the stopwatch in her hand. She looked down... 3.14 seconds?

This score... Her eyes brightened as she looked at Fang Mu.

Fang Mu also took a deep breath, lowered his rifle, and asked curiously, "How was it?"

"3.14 seconds," the woman said with a light exhale and a smile.

3.14 seconds? Fang Mu hadn't done a test like this before, so he didn't know if the score was considered good or bad. Back in school, although his marksmanship was the best in the academy, he had only ever shot at fixed circular targets at one hundred, three hundred, and five hundred meters, using prone, kneeling, and standing positions for an overall score. A test like this, involving five moving targets at one hundred meters with time as a standard, was a first for him.

"Go take a rest on the side for now," the woman said with a squinting smile. Judging by her expression, Fang Mu felt he had most likely passed. He nodded slightly and stepped aside.

"Buddy, your marksmanship is beyond words—in one word, legendary!"

"Brother Fang, from now on, we brothers will have to rely on your care!"

"Brother Fang is amazing!"

As Fang Mu walked into the crowd, Zhang Yun, Wu Tao, and the others instantly turned into sycophants, approaching him with expressions of awe. A Gun-Fighter with terrifying accuracy was a highly sought-after commodity. If such a person were willing to assist in difficult missions, it could make things significantly easier.

Fang Mu wasn't quite used to this level of enthusiasm, so he exchanged pleasantries and made his way through the crowd. The young female Gun-Fighter looked at him with bright eyes, filled with envy and admiration.

"Next, Zhang Wen."

At the woman's voice, the girl snapped out of her trance and responded in a slightly flustered tone, "Present..." With a nervous, anxious expression, she squeezed through the crowd. The woman nodded at her, and the girl bit her lip, took a deep breath, and walked to the window to pick up the heavy sniper rifle Fang Mu had just set down.

On the opposite rooftop, someone had already reset the targets on the machine. The machine began to sway again. The girl let out a long breath, gritted her teeth, and raised the rifle.

"Are you ready?" the woman asked.

The noise behind them quieted down as everyone watched the girl, clearly curious about how she would perform. The girl regulated her breathing, and after a few seconds, she gave a slight nod.

"Begin!"

The woman pressed the stopwatch. The girl peered through the scope, aiming at the target... One second, two seconds, three seconds... After aiming for a full seven or eight seconds, her expression tightened, and her finger pulled the trigger!

Boom!

The immense recoil of the heavy sniper rifle caused the barrel to kick upward instantly. It was clear the girl lacked the strength to fully suppress the recoil. But at the same time, on the opposite rooftop, a cloud of red mist exploded!

She hit the target!

"Not bad..."

"Go girl!"

Many people shouted in appreciation. The girl's face flushed slightly, but after exhaling, she lifted the heavy rifle once more, focusing her mind to aim. The difference was quite obvious. Fang Mu had fired five shots in rapid succession, and the barrel had barely moved. But every time the girl fired, the powerful recoil made the barrel jump significantly. Furthermore, Fang Mu had finished all five shots in 3.14 seconds, while the girl took seven or eight seconds—or even longer—for each individual shot.

However, the girl was clearly very skilled. Despite the long aiming time and the lack of recoil control, not a single one of her five shots missed!

When the final shot rang out and the red mist drifted away, the girl let out a long breath and looked at the woman with palpable anxiety.

The woman checked the time and finally revealed a smile. "Five hits, time: 1 minute, 07.49 seconds... Not bad. Go wait on the side for a while."

The phrase "not bad" made the girl's anxiety vanish instantly; her eyebrows lifted, and a look of anticipation bloomed on her face.

The last Gun-Fighter was a man of Black Iron tier. He walked to the window with a grave expression. After the woman asked if he was ready, he began to aim. However, it took him twenty or thirty seconds just to aim, and finally, gritting his teeth, he pulled the trigger!

Bang!

There was no reaction from the opposite rooftop... The first shot had missed. The man's face went pale, and he subconsciously glanced at the woman. Her expression remained unchanged as she waited. The man had no choice but to grit his teeth and aim again.

The second shot rang out, and finally, red mist emerged from the other end of the rooftop. This time, he hit the target. He continued to fire over a dozen shots before stumbling and barely managing to take down all five targets. By then, five or six minutes had passed.

"Thirteen shots, five hits, time: 5 minutes, 25.35 seconds," the woman calmly announced his score. The man looked dejected, realizing his chances were likely slim.

The woman tapped on her virtual screen, glanced at it, and said, "Alright, the test is concluded. I will now call out the names of those who have joined the Immortal Palace. For those who failed, please do not be discouraged. Although you do not currently meet our recruitment standards, if you continue to work hard on your cultivation, you will have opportunities in the future."

Everyone’s spirits lifted. The Immortal Palace was one of the largest legions on the battlefield, representing a massive backer. Joining it would make the future for ordinary people much safer and easier. Naturally, they were all filled with anticipation.

The woman began to call the names.

"First... Fang Mu."

Fang Mu was the first name called. He was slightly surprised, but the others didn't find it strange at all. A Bronze-tier Gun-Fighter! And his marksmanship was so terrifying! Such talent was rare even within the Immortal Palace. If he didn't get in, who would?

"Those whose names are called, please stand over here," the woman said to Fang Mu with a smile, gesturing to her side.

Fang Mu snapped out of his thoughts, nodded quickly, and walked to her side. He realized then that the woman was quite tall, at least one meter seventy, and wearing high heels, making her only half a head shorter than the one-meter-eighty-six Fang Mu.

The woman continued calling names: "Zhang Wen."

It was the girl... She had actually passed? Of course, her accuracy was there. While far inferior to Fang Mu, her precision was still quite good—five hits out of five. Zhang Wen looked surprised and overjoyed. After exchanging a few excited words with the man who had come with her, she hurried over and stood next to Fang Mu. She looked at him with eyes full of respect, yet seemingly a touch of fear. Fang Mu paused for a moment before giving her a slight smile. The girl's eyes lit up instantly, and she returned a radiant smile.

"Third, Zhang Yun..."

The woman continued calling names. She had skipped straight to the heavy blade users, clearly meaning the last male Gun-Fighter had been eliminated. To be honest, hitting five targets with over a dozen shots wasn't bad for an average person—if it were a normal person, it would be hard to say if they could hit even one in a hundred shots! But unfortunately, he wasn't an average person. He was aiming to be a professional Gun-Fighter! With that kind of marksmanship, who would dare to team up with him? It would be asking for trouble.

Zhang Yun walked over and grinned at Fang Mu, who nodded back with a smile.

The woman continued calling names...

"Wu Tao..."

"Su Zhang..."

She went down the list. In the end, fewer than ten people were called. The woman put away her light-computer.

"These are the ones who passed the test. As for the rest... please continue to work hard and strive to join the Immortal Palace next time."

The woman spoke to those who had been cut. Over thirty people had been eliminated. They sighed, but with no other choice, they turned and walked out of the testing hall.

After the group of thirty left via the elevator, the woman turned to Fang Mu and the others, smiling.

"First, on behalf of the Immortal Palace, I welcome you all. From this moment on, you are official members of our Immortal Palace. The growth of the Immortal Palace depends on the efforts of every member. I hope your work and life within the Palace will be smooth and enjoyable."

"Now, we will go to the 96th floor to create your identification badges. Once you have them, you can use them to access the internal network of the Immortal Palace. There, you can learn about the general situation of the Palace, including mission acquisition, the formation of permanent and temporary squads, the layout of the Immortal Palace building, how to use contribution points, and so on. All of this can be found on the internal network."

"Well, let's talk as we walk."

As she spoke, she led them to the elevator and headed for the 96th floor. Soon, they arrived. The elevator doors opened to a long corridor with rooms on both sides. The rooms had transparent glass, and many staff members could be seen working inside.

"The 96th floor is the Logistics Department, responsible for administrative matters. Most of the staff here are civilians, and many are not even evolvers. Therefore, weapons are strictly prohibited on this floor. Please keep that in mind."

Seeing everyone craning their necks to look around with curiosity, the woman added a few words. This surprised them—the Immortal Palace, one of the largest legions in the battlefield city, actually hired non-evolvers?

With curiosity, the woman soon led them to a spacious room. The room was filled with precision instruments, and several staff members were busy working. The woman asked them to wait at the door for a moment. After she stepped inside and spoke to the staff, they walked out together and had each recruit step under the instruments. They were scanned from all sides, and their fingerprints and iris information were recorded.

Then, they quickly printed out individual badges on a nearby machine and distributed them. Fang Mu looked at his badge. It was about two fingers wide, with the characters "Immortal Palace" engraved on the front and a relief of a cloud on the back. There was no name. Fang Mu knew it contained a chip that could be read by scanners.

The woman then told them to scan their badges with their personal communicators to enter the Immortal Palace's internal network to familiarize themselves with it. She said she had to leave for a moment but would return later to give them specific assignments.

Fang Mu and the others waited on the spot. Fang Mu scanned his badge out of curiosity, and the Immortal Palace internal network instantly appeared on his communicator. He began to browse through it curiously...

...

...

Meanwhile, inside an elevator in the Immortal Palace building, Xu Qing smiled and made a phone call. After it rang for a moment...

"Hello?" a lazy voice sounded from the other end.

"Sister Xi, where are you..." Xu Qing began with a smile.

"Wait a second, pong... Five-tube... Hmm, Xu Qing, what is it?"

Xu Qing paused for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "Sister Xi, are you playing mahjong again?"

"Nothing else to do, what else would I be doing if not playing mahjong? What is it... wait a second, I give up. Clear-one-suit, pong-pong-hu... pay up."

"Ahhh! Sister Xi! What kind of hand is that? You're even robbing the discard?!"

A girl's shouting came from the other end of the phone.

Xu Qing had a line of black veins appear on her forehead.

"Xu Qing, speak up, what is it?"

Xu Qing rolled her eyes helplessly and said in a muffled voice, "Nothing much, just that among the new recruits today, there are two Gun-Fighters. One of them is a real talent. I've already sent the test results to your communicator. Take a look. Let me know your thoughts on how to arrange them after you've reviewed them."

"Oh, okay. Anything else?" Cold Xiran's voice always sounded so lazy.

"Nothing else," Xu Qing said with a sigh.

"Hmm, I'll take a look. Hanging up."

*Beep, beep, beep...*

Cold Xiran hung up the communicator decisively. Xu Qing looked helpless. If she hadn't misheard, the one shouting just now was Vice-Commander Luo Yu, wasn't it? Do these Silver-tier and Gold-tier evolvers have nothing to do all day? They don't cultivate, don't hunt, and just play cards all day...

Sigh, forget it. She had already notified her, so it was out of her hands now. She would just wait for the feedback. Xu Qing stepped out of the elevator and contacted the others...

...

...

On the 100th floor, in a bright and clean office, several beautiful women were engrossed in... playing mahjong at a table.

"Humph! This hand, I must win big to avenge the defeat from just a moment ago!" Luo Yu shouted angrily.

Cold Xiran, sitting opposite her, gave a lazy yawn and said calmly, "With your skills, you'll need to pay a bit more tuition."

As she spoke, she opened her communicator and glanced at the information Xu Qing had sent. After only two or three seconds, she suddenly raised an eyebrow, and a look of surprise appeared in her lazy eyes.

"What's wrong with my skills?! Playing cards relies on luck, what skills? Just wait!" Luo Yu was still shouting indignantly. It looked like she was losing badly.

Cold Xiran ignored her. After reading it carefully, she suddenly turned her head and asked, "Hongyu, I recall you mentioning that Lin Chuyin's freeloading brother said he was coming to the Immortal Palace today, but he didn't show up... is that right?"

Qin Hongyu, who was drinking tea to her left, was slightly stunned by the question and nodded. "That's right. Why the sudden question?"

Cold Xiran suddenly smiled, looking enchanting. "Take a look at this."

She handed over her communicator. Qin Hongyu was surprised but took it. After looking at it, her eyes narrowed slightly, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Interesting..."