Chapter 2742 – Grade 1 Authority

Upper Zone, outside the Mental Path:

Upon hearing the peal of melodious bells, both Luo Hanbing and Muxin revealed surprised looks on their faces.

It’s been less than 20 minutes since they went inside, yet someone’s already passed the assessment? Muxin’s surprise at the sound of the bell was inevitable.

The Mental Path was an incredibly important aspect of the Upper Zone. Whenever someone successfully passed the activated Mental Path, bells would be rung to notify everyone in the Upper Zone of the achievement.

The Mental Path’s bells’ peal proved that someone had cleared it already. However, the speed at which they cleared it was simply unbelievable.

Usually, it would take a person over 30 minutes to traverse the Mental Path. After all, the staircase’s length wasn’t exactly short. Even a person walking at a normal pace would take 30 minutes to descend it. Not to mention, every step a person took on the Mental Path would trigger an intense mental assault. Good! Good! A clear time of less than 20 minutes! It seems the higher-ups were right about that kid! He really is a monster! Luo Hanbing grinned in satisfaction. The price I paid to become the guide for this assessment was truly worth it!

As the invigilator for the assessment, the more excellent the newcomers that appeared under his watch, the higher his evaluation with the higher-ups. Moreover, as the guide for the assessment qualifiers, he would have a much easier time recruiting the qualified newcomers. If he could rope a peerless genius like Yan Wuming to his side, his status in Yuantian City’s Upper Zone would also rise.

Meanwhile, Muxin, who similarly realized this matter, revealed an ugly expression on her face.

If Luo Hanbing enlisted a mental monster like Yan Wuming to his side, his status in the Upper Zone would most likely surpass Hong Xinyuan’s.

After a few more minutes went by, the Mental Path’s bells rang once more.

Another person passed? Muxin was stunned when she heard the bells. Simultaneously, her complexion darkened even further.

The bells of Yuantian City’s Upper Zone rang only a handful of times each year. Yet, the bells had rung twice today. This was a situation that didn’t occur even once in a decade.

Yet, Luo Hanbing had actually chanced upon this day.

“Hahaha! Amazing! The newcomers this time are truly amazing!” Luo Hanbing burst into laughter. He then glanced at Muxin and said, “Muxin, you’re one of the famous geniuses in Yuantian City’s Upper Zone. You won’t have a future if you keep following Old Hong. How about you join me? You might even raise your mental strength by a rank in the next one or two years if you join me. At that time, your authority in the Upper Zone will also be elevated to Grade 1.”

“Thank you for your offer, Supervisor Luo, but I’m doing very well following Uncle Hong. I believe it won’t be long before I raise my authority to Grade 1.” Muxin rejected Luo Hanbing’s offer without hesitation.

Luo Hanbing was not at all surprised by Muxin’s refusal. He said nonchalantly, “Once behind, always behind. I hope you don’t regret your decision today.”

What the Upper Zone prioritized the most was a person’s mental strength. In fact, mental strength determined a person’s status in the Upper Zone. The stronger one’s mental strength, the greater the authority one would enjoy in the Upper Zone; hence the more the resources one could obtain.

However, developing one’s mental state was incredibly difficult. Moreover, the older one became, the slower one’s growth would be.

Take Muxin, for example. She had cleared the Mental Path at the age of 15. Back then, she was judged to possess advanced mental strength. However, as she wasn’t an internal member of the Green God Company, she was only granted Grade 2 authority, which was one level lower than that of internal members with the same mental strength standard.

Back then, the other individuals unaffiliated with the Green God Company who had passed the Mental Path had been granted only Grade 3 authority.

Unfortunately, even after so many years, Muxin’s mental strength had not improved by much. As a result, she remained at Grade 2 authority even today.

However, if Muxin could improve herself and reach Grade 1 authority, her status in the Upper Zone would undergo a qualitative transformation.

Fewer than 200 people held Grade 1 authority in Yuantian City’s Upper Zone. Even Luo Hanbing, a supervisor in the Upper Zone, only held Advanced Rank authority, one rank higher than Grade 1 authority.

After that exchange, Luo Hanbing stopped speaking to Muxin.

In Luo Hanbing’s opinion, Muxin was basically deadwood. With Hong Xinyuan’s meager resources, let alone raising Muxin’s mental strength standard, even helping Kerui, Muxin’s little sister, to the Grade 2 standard would be challenging. Following which, time passed quickly.

Why haven’t they returned yet? Did something happen to Kerui? Muxin looked at the time nervously.

While Kerui wasn’t immune to the Mental Path’s effects, with her past experiences, she shouldn’t have any problem dealing with the mental assaults anymore. The pain inflicted by the mental assaults should be well within her range of tolerance.

“It’s been almost an hour now, yet they still haven’t come out. They must’ve met with an accident,” Luo Hanbing said as he glanced at his watch. Sneering, he continued, “I warned him that he’d get hospitalized if he wasn’t careful. Youngsters nowadays really don’t know how to listen to advice. It’s a pity, but they’ll have to stay in there for a few hours.”

Did something really happen? Muxin’s complexion turned pallid.

The Mental Path’s activation and deactivation processes were very tedious. Even someone with special privileges would need two or three hours to power it down.

If Shi Feng and Kerui collapsed and remained in the Mental Path for such a long period, they would be fortunate to get away with just one month of hospitalization. If their condition was serious, they might end up with their future progress cut short.

Just when a wave of panic overwhelmed Muxin, the quantum watch on her wrist suddenly rang, notifying her of a call. Meanwhile, the caller was none other than Kerui.

“Kerui, what’s the situation on your side?” Muxin couldn’t help getting angry when she saw Kerui’s face on the screen. “Why haven’t you come out yet?” “Sis! That’s not important anymore! A major event happened on the Mental Path!” Kerui said excitedly.

“A major event? What is it? Are you talking about the two that passed the Mental Path?” Muxin couldn’t help feeling frustrated at Kerui’s words. She couldn’t believe her little sister was in the mood to care about incidental matters in this situation.

“Yes, Shi Feng actually passed the Mental Path!” Kerui said, her eyes filled with excitement. “Everyone in the hall got a shock! Afterward, I had to hurry through to get to the communication area. I’m dead tired after that trip.”

“Shi Feng…passed the Mental Path?” Muxin suddenly felt that her brain was somewhat lacking in processing power.

Shi Feng was undoubtedly over 20. Meanwhile, in the history of Yuantian City’s Upper Zone, no one past the age of 20 and under the age of 25 had ever managed to conquer the Mental Path.

“Mhm. I knew you wouldn’t believe me. Here, take a look for yourself. He’s here with me,” Kerui said as she adjusted the camera angle to capture Shi Feng, as well as Yan Wuming, who was glaring at Shi Feng with eyes brimming with fighting spirit. “Bye-bye! We’re going to enter the Upper Zone now.”

After Kerui finished speaking, she promptly disconnected the call, leaving her elder sister in a daze.

Impossible! Luo Hanbing was dumbfounded when he overheard Muxin and Kerui’s conversation. That kid is already over 20! How can he possibly get through the Mental Path?!

No sooner had Luo Hanbing thought this than a notice popped up on his quantum watch.

The next moment, his quantum watch projected a holographic table containing the data of the Mental Path’s qualifiers this time.

st – Shi Feng

Clear time: 13 minutes 41 seconds

Age: Under 25 years old

Affiliation: Non-member

Mental Strength Appraisal: Special Grade

Upper Zone Authority: Grade 1

nd – Yan Wuming

Clear time: 18 minutes 33 seconds

Age: Under 20 years old

Affiliation: Internal Member

Mental Strength Appraisal: Advanced Grade

Upper Zone Authority: Grade 1

Special Grade?!

Muxin was dumbfounded when she saw the tabulated data.

Although Shi Feng’s performance in God’s Domain was indeed astonishing, she never imagined his mental strength would be equally astonishing

Special Grade!

This was a mental strength she was striving to attain. However, no matter how much effort she put in, she remained far from reaching this standard. At some point, she had even begun losing hope of further progress.

Dammit! How could this be? Luo Hanbing’s face turned ashen when he saw the results. He had inadvertently offended a monster. Moreover, Shi Feng evidently had deep ties with Hong Xinyuan.

Meanwhile, inside the Mental Path’s innermost section, Shi Feng and the others were riding a platform descending deep into the ground.

The gravity here is getting stronger?

Shi Feng discovered that as he got deeper into the tunnel, the gravity his body experienced intensified. In less than ten minutes riding the platform, the gravity he experienced had already doubled.

After the moving platform exited the tunnel, Shi Feng was immediately dumbfounded.

However, his surprise wasn’t just because the gravity here was three times stronger than that of the outside world.

Instead, it was because there was actually a levitating mountain beyond the tunnel. This mountain’s radius exceeded ten kilometers, and there were several levitating escalators leading up to this mountain.

Many tall buildings stood on this levitating mountain. Clouds and mist shrouded its peak, preventing anyone from catching a clear glimpse of it. Overall, the mountain looked like a paradise on Earth.

“Well? Stunned, right?!” The shocked expression on Shi Feng’s face delighted Kerui. “Anyone visiting the Upper Zone for the first time would never think that the Upper Zone would be underground, much less there being such an unimaginably huge space deep underground.”

“Indeed, it is incredible,” Shi Feng admitted. He had never heard of or seen such a unique space before. It was no wonder those who knew of the Upper Zone’s specifics would be so desperate to live here. Just breathing the air here gave him a refreshing feeling. If he could reside here long-term, achieving longevity indeed wouldn’t be a dream.

When Kerui saw that the moving platform had stopped at the foot of the mountain, she promptly opened the platform’s gate and stepped off the platform.

However, when she saw that Shi Feng remained standing idly on the platform, she urged him excitedly, “Quick! You have Grade 1 authority now! Let’s go to the registration office and take a look! There might be some good rewards waiting for you!”