As he walked through the tunnel, Zhang Lie felt as though his whole body had been engulfed by the darkness, so all-encompassing that he couldn't even see his fingers when he stretched his hand out.

A whirring noise came from underground, perhaps from some sort of robot, followed by a series of crisp popping sounds. The tunnel lit up with bright flares of white light.

Zhang Lie frowned. He was still within the tunnel. Surrounding him were what seemed to be a variety of statues, which seemed to come alive when the light shone on them. A path, illuminated by the lighting, snaked forward deeper into the tunnel.

Knowing that the Wang clan was targeting him, Zhang Lie had no choice but to give this examination his full attention.

As he walked to the end of the tunnel and found a set of robotic doors barring his way, he knew that the examination was about to begin.

"The test of strength shall now begin," a cold, robotic voice intoned, before the center of the doors shone with red light. The doors opened, releasing a cloud of white smoke.

Zhang Lie discovered that the testing ground was a gladiator pit. The floor was paved with inscribed stone, specifically designed to be resilient against damage. Four tunnels were evenly spaced around the circular arena. Zhang Lie glanced into each of the dark tunnels, seemingly able to hear a faint rustling sound from inside.

"The test shall now commence."

The doors to the pit began to close, and the glaring white light dimmed. Thick mist sprayed out of small holes in the walls of the arena, making Zhang Lie feel as though he were about to face a dangerous foe indeed.

As the mist filled the entire arena, a dark shadow emerged from one tunnel. As he felt a gust of wind heading his way, Zhang Lie instinctively began to circulate his genetic energy, activating [Mirrored Refraction] as he did so.

The ground shone with refracted light, and the black shadow easily penetrated Zhang Lie's chest. However, there was no blood to be seen. Zhang Lie's image dissolved into light and shadow.

By that time, Zhang Lie had snuck up to the shadow's back and was observing it carefully. It wasn't particularly large in size, and it stood on four unusually thick legs. All in all, it seemed much like an adult pit bull.

Its body was covered with black armor, and each of its joints glowed with electricity—a robotic hound. Zhang Lie marvelled that this examination was to be carried out with robotic lifeforms.

Just as he was contemplating what to do next, dazzling light shone from within one of the tunnels as a pack of robotic hounds flew toward Zhang Lie. In mid-air, as their bodies crackled with electricity, they dashed forward far faster than before, pouncing straight toward Zhang Lie's throat. They opened their jaws wide to reveal sharp, spiked teeth, far stronger than even Zhang Lie's reinforced body could withstand. 

These robotic hounds were based on woofbugs, and were apparently able to display varying levels of strength depending on the quality of their construction. The ones that Zhang Lie were facing seemed to be at the peak of the first realm.

Zhang Lie used [Rippling Walk] to avoid the attack, then activated [Three-Wave Crescendo] against the closest hound.

It exploded almost as the attack struck it, but the remaining hounds swarmed him like a black tide. Zhang Lie's eyes gleamed. These robotic hounds were strong and agile, and would individually have been challenging even for a peak first realm hunter, but unfortunately for them, their opponent was Zhang Lie. He had stood against a veritable sea of woofdogs, let alone these inferior counterparts.

As he activated his galewolf soulshard, his speed rose tremendously, and he vanished from sight. The robotic hounds stood still, processing the battlefield around them in order to analyze and predict Zhang Lie's behavior and location.

As they locked onto Zhang Lie's position, their eyes gleamed, and Zhang Lie felt a tremor of unease. The robotic hounds opened their jaws wide, spraying out beams of fire in his direction. The beams were surprisingly rapid, and so hot that they distorted the air all around them.

His elemental attunement was water, and these beams wouldn't be too damaging to him, but something caught his attention the moment the hounds launched their attacks. The real danger wasn't these beams of fire, but rather what they were hiding.

As the beams of fire shot toward him, Zhang Lie waved Venombane, extinguishing the flames with his genetic energy. Smoke and steam filled the battlefield.

A chill shot down Zhang Lie's back as stealthed assailants, hiding in the darkness, finally revealed themselves. Before he could turn around, a huge wave of genetic energy slammed into him from the side. Blades of wind rent tears in his armor.

Zhang Lie frowned, activating [The Boundless Blade].

Countless hounds perished amidst the relentless tidal waves. At the same time, Zhang Lie activated his white-grub soulshard, condensing silver armor around him, just in time to face another bout of howling winds.

The wind blew with such speed that Zhang Lie felt as though he were about to be torn apart himself. Zhang Lie instantly deduced that this had to be a blow from a peak second-realm hunter.

So this is what the Wang clan planned. Zhang Lie smiled. As he had expected, the test of strength was governed by the dojo consortium, and while Official Yang might have been able to modify some parts of it, there was certainly a limit as to what he could accomplish.

For example, it was unlikely that Zhang Lie would face an opponent beyond the second realm. Against Zhang Lie, a second-realm hunter wasn't too difficult to defeat; after all, he had even killed a three-star black-tipped scarab on his own.

In other words, what he had to be wary of was his opponents' equipment and techniques, as well as the number of opponents he would have to face.

Indeed, there were at least two peak second-realm hunters.

From his other side, a row of bright flames made his face seem to glow red. A fireball shot toward Zhang Lie. Supported by the first hunter's wind, it grew larger and larger as it threatened to engulf him. The fireball and the gusts of wind combined into a frightening tornado, pulling Zhang Lie into its midst.

.