A substantial prize was at stake.
Except for the few with weaker abilities, who knew they lacked the power to destroy the Punching Power Tester and remained silent, the rest of the Awakeners were eager to shout out.
The Awakeners following Shay around on the tour of the Martial Arts Hall were not few in number—there were at least a hundred of them.
At that moment, at least dozens of Awakeners scrambled for a chance to test their strength, causing chaos to the point where no matter whom Shay chose, others would not be satisfied.
Finally, they decided the order of attempts by drawing lots.
The first Awakener to step up stood in front of the Punching Power Tester...
He tore open the buttons at his chest, eyes locked intently on the circular punching target, and took a deep breath.
The other Awakeners grew even more tense.
"Awakening to the third layer, there's no way to destroy the tester, right?"
"Probably... It depends on what you mean by destruction. If the tester is made from Transcendent materials, then merely with third layer Awakening strength, it definitely cannot be shattered. But since we are testing the machine's performance, generally speaking, damaging the machine counts as success. And these machines, even if their exterior is tough, have quite fragile internal structures."
"Let's hope this Punching Power Tester can hold up. After all, the folks from Extreme Martial Arts Hall seem quite confident."
The young Awakener burst forth with the full might of his abilities, his vital energy surging.
Taking a bow stance, he powered through his right foot, twisted his waist, and unleashed a punch, his bones making resonant cracking sounds.
The sound, however, was not loud. It seemed as if most of the punch's force had been absorbed, leaving only the punching target to shake.
A score soon appeared,
The crowd of Awakeners didn't understand the scoring mechanism of the Punching Power Tester, but they were clear about how strong a third layer Awakener should be. They could feel the might of that punch standing nearby, and there was no holding back.
Yet, the tester was unharmed.
At this moment, they were torn—wishing that each Awakener ahead of them would fail in their attempt, yet also hoping the tester wasn't so durable so they might have a chance to win the prize money.
The young Awakener walked off the stage a bit dejected.
Several others that followed also had third layer strength.
Perhaps seeing the first person's performance, they didn't have much confidence in themselves, and thus, not much disappointment either.
The result of punching with all their might varied not much from the first young man to step up, scoring between 2300 and 2900 points.
These Awakeners who had already tried were all third layer, but even among them, there were subtle differences in the intensity of their presence.
Some keenly sensed that those with slightly stronger presences scored higher… This seemed normal, yet they were amazed at the Punching Power Tester's precision.
Others tried releasing several punches in a row. The scores obtained, aside from being lower than the charged punches, showed very minor fluctuations.
The margin of error was incredibly small.
Many Awakeners, who would typically avoid regular exercise due to limited progress or inability to feel self-improvement, now faced a device that could precisely measure punching power. This allowed them to detect even the smallest improvements consistently, even if the daily scores only increased by single digits. It was progress nonetheless and let them know that effort was not unrewarded.
The motivation to grow stronger was there.
Initially attracted by the hefty prize, the Awakeners now took an increasing interest in Extreme Martial Arts Hall's equipment.
Of course, some Awakeners who considered themselves highly powerful were determined to win the 10,000 Source Crystals.
An Awakener with a red maple leaf painted on his combat suit stepped forward.
Beside them, some Awakeners sensed the aura of the man, especially upon seeing the red maple leaf on his chest, they were all shocked.
"It's the Three-leaf Captain from the Red Maple Mercenary Corps!"
"The Red Maple Mercenary Corps? Is that the super mercenary group ranked in the top three among the Sanctuaries, with countless elite mercenaries in its ranks?"
"Moreover, he's a Three-leaf level Captain, which makes him one of the top-notch experts in Red Maple, second only to the Commander and Deputy Commander."
The aura of the Red Maple mercenaries was at the peak of Fifth Tier.
The several other Awakeners of the same rank present did not dare to underestimate him and all had serious expressions on their faces.
Some people were also frustrated.
With top experts from Red Maple making their appearance, what chance did those who were ranked towards the back of the line have?
Then they saw the Red Maple Captain slowly walk towards the Punching Power Tester.
The muscles on the mercenary's body violently swelled up, his already muscular form abruptly shot up in size, his hair, his beard, grew rapidly, turning from black to brown. In no time, his face was covered in thick mane.
Like a humanoid beast!
"I remember now, it's him, it's him, it's Mad Lion Feng Yu. It's said that he once tore open a car with his bare hands, and is reputed to be the most likely person within the Red Maple Mercenary Corps to break through that layer of bottleneck. Moreover, he's rumored to have once defeated three wait-time Fifth Tier Awakeners single-handedly!"
The top-notch experts in the Sanctuary, as mercenaries, these people all had some knowledge of them. It might be hard to recognize them just by their looks, but their unique Special Abilities were the symbols of these individuals.
Without a doubt, this Three-leaf Captain from Red Maple was one of the well-known powerhouses of the Luoxia Sanctuary.
As soon as he displayed his unique Transformation series ability, some sharp-eyed mercenaries immediately called out.
Mad Lion Feng Yu's expression was unchanged, his eyes slightly squinted, and his bulging muscles swelled again.
Inch by inch, it traveled from all parts of his body to his fist, carrying surging power, his fist, bigger than a punching bag, swung out fiercely.
The sound of air Bursting was heard.
His fist slammed onto the target. This time, the noise was significantly louder. The punching target swayed greatly, emitting a buzzing sound.
"It didn't even burst yet..."
"Scary. No wonder he's Mad Lion Feng Yu. But that little Punching Power Tester is even scarier..."
The shaking of the target finally stopped, and with a ding, the score flashed on the display screen.
This number far surpassed the previous competitors.
Had this punch not struck the punching target but any one of the Awakeners present, it's likely that no one could have withstood it, even those who were themselves at the peak of Fifth Tier.
The Transformation series was too strong, especially those that amplified physical strength one.
Without looking at the scores, simply from the sound and the degree of shaking of the punching target, it was obvious that it far exceeded the previous few people.
Yet, even so, they still couldn't burst this Punching Power Tester.
Someone suddenly realized, "Among us, the strongest in terms of aura are only at Fifth Tier, and the Extreme Martial Arts Hall probably already figured that Fifth Tier strength is just within the tolerance of the punching machine. No matter how we burst out, we can't burst this seemingly fragile machine."
"A normal Fifth Tier Awakener will never burst this machine, but after Mad Lion Feng Yu's Transformation, his physical strength has far exceeded that of Fifth Tier. Just think of the violent shaking of the punching target just now; perhaps it's already close to the limit of the Punching Power Tester. It's possible that the maximum score for this tester is ten thousand, and Mad Lion is just a little bit off!"
"You're right. I wonder if Mad Lion will try again."