29: Chapter 29 F-level Exit Permit

There was less than a month left until the Provincial College Entrance Exam Combat Ranking Tournament.

Although the Two-Tomoe Sharingan had already been awakened, Su Chen glanced at the pitiful balance on his System panel.

If he wanted to exchange for the higher-level Armament Haki: Hardening from the One Piece world, or the "Susanoo" he had been longing for, the origin points he had on hand were simply a drop in the bucket.

The Underground Black Market within Jiangnan City had already been swept clean by him, and he couldn't find a large quantity of items containing the abyss source in the short term.

To get rich quickly and frantically "grind for experience," he had no choice but to cast his gaze toward the wilderness beyond the high walls.

On the edge of the Jiangnan City black market, there was a blacksmith shop.

The furnace fire was burning brightly. Su Chen slapped a few Star Coins onto the anvil.

"Boss, I need a sword. The heavier, the better. It must be solid, pure steel. Do not engrave any spiritual energy conduction circuits on it."

The blacksmith, bare-chested, looked at him as if he were an idiot. "No spiritual energy circuits? That's just a piece of scrap metal! If you take that into the wilderness, you won't even be able to cut through the hide of the lowest-level D-grade exotic beast."

"That's exactly what I want. Do you have one?"

The blacksmith rolled his eyes and kicked a dusty, thick-backed iron blade out from a pile of scrap in the corner. It was unsharpened, with an extremely thick blade and a crude design.

"It's a defective piece, 50-jin heavy. Take it to practice your arm strength. Three hundred Star Coins."

Su Chen picked up the iron blade with one hand and swung it casually in the air, creating a dull whistling sound. The 50-jin weight felt as light as a feather in his hand.

He grabbed a piece of grey cloth, wrapped the iron blade layer by layer, and slung it onto his back.

Su Chen didn't need expensive spiritual energy divine weapons. During this time, he had carefully studied the power System of this high-martial world. The spiritual energy weapons here were filled with fragile energy circuits, mainly designed to amplify the power of Qi and blood.

However, once he forcibly infused his extremely compressed [Armament Haki] into them, those fragile circuits would be instantly shattered by the Haki.

Only this kind of pure, solid iron block without any Impurities was the perfect vessel to carry Haki and forge a "Black Blade."

...

An hour later.

Su Chen changed into a set of the most basic black tactical suit with no attribute bonuses, shouldered the heavy iron blade, and stepped into the "Wilderness Pioneer Hall" located on the edge of Jiangnan City.

The hall was enormous, with a dome over ten meters high, and was filled with groups of scarred mercenaries.

Su Chen walked straight to the counter for handling city exit procedures.

"Leaving the city, solo," Su Chen said.

Behind the counter, the fully armed military staff member didn't even look up as he typed on the keyboard. "Do you know the rules? Show your ID card or Martial Artist badge."

Su Chen handed over his student ID from Jiangnan City No. 3 High School.

The staff member took the student ID and swiped it on the identification machine nearby.

"Beep——"

A sharp electronic prompt sounded in the hall, followed by an emotionless mechanical broadcast:

"Name: Su Chen. Jiangnan City No. 3 High School."

"Talent Rating: F-grade mental mutation, F-grade physical dual mutation."

"Current Realm: High-level Martial Apprentice."

This broadcast wasn't very loud in the noisy hall, but because of the extremely rare "F-grade" trash rating, it instantly attracted the attention of a dozen or so mercenary squads nearby.

The staff member's fingers stopped typing on the keyboard.

He looked up and sized Su Chen up and down as if looking at a lunatic, his brows furrowed tightly. "A high school student? And an F-grade dual talent at that?"

"Is there a problem with the procedure?" Su Chen asked calmly.

"There's a huge problem!" The staff member slammed the student ID onto the table, his tone stern. "Kid, did something trigger you? This is the Wilderness Pioneer Hall. Outside the gate is the territory of abyss exotic beasts, not a simulation field for you high schoolers to play house!"

"I know."

"You don't know shit!" The staff member, seeing Su Chen's indifferent expression, became even more furious. "You, an F-grade High-level Martial Apprentice, can't even maintain the most basic spiritual energy shield. Once you step outside the high walls, any random mutant rat on the perimeter could gnaw you down to nothing but bone fragments in a minute! You call this training? You're just going out to deliver takeout to the exotic beasts!"

The argument here immediately drew jeers from the veteran mercenaries nearby.

"Hahahaha! Delivering takeout? Old Zhang is blunt but right!"

A man with a Scarface, bearing three claw marks on his face, walked over carrying a battle axe, mocking him loudly. "Hey, kid, what is that thing wrapped in cloth on your back? A fire poker? You can't even afford a weapon with spiritual energy, yet you dare to go out of the city alone?"

"Students these days really don't know how high the sky is or how deep the earth is. Probably read too many hero novels online and got water in their brains."

"I bet this kid will wet his pants the moment he hears the first wolf howl after leaving the city gate."

"I bet he won't last half an hour!"

The surroundings erupted in uproarious laughter that could have blown the roof off. Some whistled, and others banged their wine bottles against the tables to egg them on.

Everyone was staring at Su Chen with the gaze of looking at a dead man or a joke. In this era where human life was as cheap as grass, countless arrogant people died in the wilderness every day, and they loved watching such reckless newcomers go to their deaths.

Facing the mockery and disdain of the whole hall.

Su Chen's eyes remained without a ripple.

He didn't blush and retort like a hot-blooded youth, nor did he get angry.

A lion does not stop its pace because of the barking of dogs.

Su Chen looked at the staff member who was still trying hard to dissuade him, and tapped his slender fingers heavily on the marble counter twice.

"Are you finished?"

The staff member was stunned.

"If you're finished, take out the liability waiver." Su Chen's voice was flat, cold enough to make one's heart palpitate. "My life or death is not within the scope of your job duties. Let's proceed with the process."

The staff member was pierced by the cold, indifferent gaze of Su Chen, which saw through life and death, and a chill inexplicably rose in his heart. He gritted his teeth and pulled a red piece of paper from the drawer.

"It's hard to persuade a damn ghost with kind words. If you want to seek death, suit yourself!"

He pushed the paper to Su Chen. "《City Exit Life and Death Waiver》. Once signed, you are responsible for your own life and death, and it has nothing to do with anyone else! Even if you have your neck bitten off by an exotic beast and beg for help at the city gate, the military won't waste a single bullet to save you."

Su Chen picked up the pen on the counter and signed his name with fluid strokes.

"Clap."

The pen was thrown back onto the counter.

Su Chen grabbed his student ID and turned to walk towards the exit of the hall.

The Scarface mercenary carrying the battle axe deliberately took a step forward, blocking the middle of the path, wanting to see if the kid dared to take a detour.

Su Chen didn't even glance at him.

His pace didn't change, and at the very moment they were about to collide, Su Chen's shoulder tilted slightly with a tiny but extremely precise movement.

"Swish."

The black tactical suit brushed past Scarface's chest like a gust of wind, without causing any collision.

The playful look on Scarface's face froze. He hadn't even seen how the kid had bypassed him.

The mocking laughter in the hall continued, but Su Chen had already walked into the steel passage that was over a hundred meters long.

At the end of the passage was the hundred-meter-high steel defensive gate of Jiangnan City, covered in heavy spiritual energy artillery.

"Rumble——"

Accompanied by the deafening sound of mechanical gears engaging, the heavy steel gate slowly opened a gap several meters wide.

A wild wind from the wilderness, mixed with a strong smell of blood and the scent of rotting vegetation, rushed toward him. It blew the tactical suit on Su Chen's body, making it flap loudly.

Outside the gate was a grey sky and endless, dilapidated ruins.

Su Chen took a step, all alone, and crossed the steel high wall that had sheltered humanity for three hundred years without hesitation.

The true Shura field was only just opening up to him at this moment.