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Only fifteen minutes remained before the assessment was due to start, yet Boggy, as the chief examiner, was still immersed in training on the second floor.

Ever since he acquired the psychic power of Wind Fist, Boggy had devised a training regime for himself that could only be described as insane.

Aside from hunting expeditions, he spent over twelve hours each day in the training room, leaving most of the Hunting Group's affairs in the capable hands of Mai Mai.

It was only due to Mai Mai's repeated insistence that he finally agreed to make an appearance for the assessment.

In Mai Mai's words, "The Hunting Group has already had one deputy leader go missing; if the leader also remains absent year-round, it can make the newcomers uneasy."

Consequently, Boggy had no choice but to take time out to serve as the chief examiner.

His relentless training over the last month had yielded astounding progress, going from being suppressed by Seta and his Sand Soil Puppet at the outset to now being evenly matched. And during their spars, Seta's pressure was increasing more and more.

Boggy's foundation had always been solid; his only weakness had been his psychic power. Now that he had Wind Fist, he could finally pursue his father's legacy and step onto the path of becoming a top-tier hunter.

Boggy swung his fist again, commanding the swift winds that lifted the sandbags before him into the air. The sweat hadn't even had the chance to slide down his cheeks before it evaporated in the breeze.

Just then, the door of the training room burst open. Mai Mai rushed in looking flustered.

Boggy looked up at the clock on the wall, surprised, "Isn't there still some time left?"

"No, he's back!" exclaimed Mai Mai.

"Who?" Boggy retracted his fists.

"The deputy leader." Mai Mai was about to say more, but her vision blurred, and Boggy had already disappeared.

Nevertheless, Boggy stopped at the top of the stairs. He turned back and marched into the adjacent shower room. After a quick two-minute shower and a change of clothes, he descended the stairs.

Then, he spotted that familiar figure amidst the crowd.

Ma Lu was surrounded by people, signing autographs, and a young man with blue hair was maintaining order for him.

For a moment, Boggy felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he were seeing that man again.

Ma Lu had just finished signing his name on a blonde beauty's hand cannon when he looked up and saw Boggy on the stairs. He clapped his hands, "That's all for today, folks. Let's all get ready for the upcoming assessment and strive to join the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group."

After he handed back the pen, he walked toward Boggy, with the blue-haired youth smoothly clearing the way in front of him.

Boggy actually had quite a lot to say to Ma Lu, but it was difficult to voice it in front of so many people, so in the end, he simply said, "Since you're back, why not help proctor the exam..."

But before he could finish speaking, Ma Lu had already embraced him.

"Hahaha, well done! I leave for just a month, and the base becomes this lively!" Ma Lu complimented and then released Boggy. He proceeded to give hugs to Mai Mai and Seta in turn, before asking, "Where's Sadie?"

"My sister took the air transport out of town."

"Ah, she can fly air transports now?" Ma Lu was surprised to hear it.

"Mmm, she picked it up quite quickly. The instructor from the guild who came to teach flight skills said she has a real talent for it," Seta replied.

Afterward, Ma Lu didn't hurry to get his power card, but joined Boggy to observe the recruitment assessment of the Hunting Group.

The blue-haired youth was right, Twin Sunflower, as one of the mere six Diamond Hunting Groups under the Giant Curtain and currently the most legendary, had a tremendous attraction for Hunters.

Even after three rounds of recruitment, there were still hundreds of Hunters who had signed up, and the 50 people standing here now had passed preliminary selection to earn the right to be assessed.

Indeed, they all had quite impressive skills, and some had even rarer Psychic Power abilities.

The first assessment consisted of physical tests, ability demonstrations, hunting knowledge, and combat techniques, lasting a full three and a half hours, after which the 50 trainees were ranked according to their scores.

However, this was not the final outcome.

Just as the assessment was coming to an end, a loud rumbling sound came from overhead.

Boggy gathered everyone on the rooftop of the guild building, where a six-rotor transport aircraft, looking like a ladybug, hovered above them.

"I've just received a notice from the guild," said Boggy, "that an Iron-Eating Scarab has been spotted two hours by car north of the city. The guild is worried it might approach the Giant Curtain and cause more destruction to our city and hopes someone can deal with it."

Boggy paused before continuing, "After discussing it with Vice Captain Ma Lu, I've decided to make a sudden change to the upcoming real combat assessment, using that Iron-Eating Scarab as the target of our assessment."

No sooner had he spoken than quite a few of the candidates' faces changed.

The Iron-Eating Scarab was a beast more terrifying than an Earth Dragon. Before the beast tide, they would usually only be active in the Death Forbidden Zone. Its mouthparts could easily tear through steel plates, and it also possessed an incredibly hard shell that could ignore almost any attack.

Normally, only Hunting Groups above the gold level dared to challenge such formidable creatures and even then would prepare for half a month or even a whole month before the challenge.

And yet, as Boggy had made clear, they had just received the notification and decided on the spot to tackle the Iron-Eating Scarab.

This was too rushed, and having such a terrifying beast as a test subject was clearly a bit beyond the scope.

Boggy's gaze swept over the crowd, taking in the expressions on their faces, and he continued. Enjoy new chapters from empiren/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"This operation will indeed be quite dangerous and may result in injuries, and those with bad luck could even lose their lives, so I can understand if anyone wants to withdraw."

After Boggy finished speaking, the candidates on the rooftop looked at each other.

In the end, it was the blue-haired young man who'd spoken with Ma Lu earlier who first stepped forward. His score from the previous test was so-so, ranking only 31st among all the candidates, which was average.

But now, he showed unusual bravery. Without saying a word, he grabbed the hanging ladder and began climbing up to the transport aircraft.

This seemed like a signal, and more and more people began to respond, stepping out of the crowd and climbing onto the transport aircraft overhead.

There were also some who hesitated for a while and then chose to give up; Boggy did not announce their elimination.

Facing danger, it was a wise move to assess one's own strength rationally and choose to temporarily retreat.

But if there were any outstanding performances among those who joined the real combat assessment, Boggy would certainly prioritize picking from those individuals first.

Truthfully, she was not very in favor of increasing the difficulty of the assessment to such a level initially, but Ma Lu was constantly egging her on, saying things like only in absolute adversity can one truly see a person's real level.

Boggy was somewhat swayed by his arguments, but of course, the main reason was that Ma Lu would be going along, too.

Having him by her side always gave Boggy an inexplicable sense of security.