Inside the dueling arena—
Utter silence.
Everyone stood frozen in place.
Mouths agape.
It was the literal definition of jaw-dropped silence.
Everyone present—
everyone who had just witnessed Zhao Xuan send Cao Hu flying with two clean kicks,
including the spectators who rushed in after hearing the commotion, the Ability Users' Guild staff, even the referee—
All of them—
eyes wide, mouths hanging open, faces blank, minds completely wiped.
Stunned! Utterly, completely stunned!
滴答…滴答…滴答…
Tick… tick… tick…
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Only after a full three seconds of dead silence did everyone finally snap back to reality.
They looked up at Zhao Xuan, standing tall and proud on the platform.
Then they looked down at Cao Hu, the Third-Tier ability user, who was clutching his chest and awkwardly dragging himself up from the ground.
Once again, everyone froze.
Only two bold words echoed in their heads—
WHAT. THE. HELL!?
And then—
Whoooosh!
The entire arena erupted.
"What—what—what the hell just happened?!"
"Grassgrassgrassgrassgrass!!! (Damn!!!)"
"What's going on!? What's going on!? What's going on!?"
"What even was that!?"
"C-Cao Hu… lost?!"
"How did Cao Hu lose!? What's going on here!?"
"..."
Confusion, disbelief, shock—
the noise swelled into a deafening roar.
Everyone's minds were still buzzing.
Shock.
Bewilderment.
Doubt.
Blank incomprehension.
Those emotions tangled together inside every head in the crowd.
What on earth had just happened!?
Eyes widened, mouths hanging, faces full of question marks.
And then—
Zhao Xuan suddenly looked toward the referee and called out,
"Referee, does this mean I passed the Third-Tier ability user assessment?"
"Referee?"
"Referee!?"
Zhao Xuan had to call him four or five times before the referee finally snapped out of his stupor from witnessing that earth-shaking scene.
"Ah? Ah? You—you're talking to me? What is it?" he stammered.
"I said, that should count as passing the Third-Tier ability user test, right?" Zhao Xuan asked again.
The referee turned his head toward Cao Hu, still struggling to his feet, and blinked in confusion.
"Uh—just, just a moment!" he said.
Then—
He hurried over to the high-definition camera setup and began reviewing the recorded footage.
The entire battle had lasted less than three seconds.
Three seconds.
Two kicks.
And a Third-Tier ability user was down—KO'd.
The referee replayed the video seven or eight times before finally turning back to Zhao Xuan, dazed.
Under Zhao Xuan's calm gaze—
and under the burning stares of everyone present—
the referee finally nodded, voice trembling.
"P-passed! You—you've passed the Third-Tier ability user assessment!"
The moment those words left his mouth—
The crowd exploded again.
"WHAT THE HELL!!!"
"Are high school students this strong now?!"
"Cao Hu just got insta-killed?!"
"No way! He must've gone easy on him!"
"Yeah, totally fake! He must've thrown the match! He's just a soon-to-be high school grad—how could he be that strong!?"
"There's gotta be something shady here! A total setup!"
"..."
Exclamations, gasps, and accusations filled the air.
Zhao Xuan, however, didn't care.
He just wanted to go take on some missions and make money already.
But—
Just because Zhao Xuan didn't care didn't mean the Ability Users' Guild didn't.
Because if they didn't clear up the misunderstanding, their reputation would take a serious hit.
Facing the commotion, the referee stepped forward and announced:
"Everyone, the footage of this Third-Tier assessment will be displayed on the arena's main screen shortly. Once you've seen it for yourselves, you'll understand—there's no funny business involved in this fight!"
After saying that, the referee quickly approached Zhao Xuan, who was about to leave.
"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhao, please wait a moment."
"What is it?" Zhao Xuan stopped walking.
"It's like this," the referee explained. "Normally, we're not allowed to broadcast assessment recordings publicly, since they could reveal a participant's special abilities. But because so many people are questioning the result right now, we have no choice but to play the footage."
He continued, "So, to compensate you, we're willing to pay two hundred thousand yuan as a release fee for allowing the video to be shown. What do you think?"
"Two hundred thousand?" Zhao Xuan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," the referee said quickly.
"No problem! Of course I'm fine with that!" Zhao Xuan replied with a bright grin.
"Excellent. Please wait here for a moment, Mr. Zhao. I'll inform the others, and then I'll take you to the finance office to collect your compensation."
"Sounds good."
Zhao Xuan nodded with satisfaction.
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