The footsteps were quick and steady.
Three hundred meters ahead, Ji Xinghuo ran with ease, but as he sprinted the last one hundred meters towards the anaerobic limit, a significant amount of lactic acid accumulated in his body, his face began to contort as well.
The treadmill slowed to a stop, and Ji Xinghuo jumped off, supporting his knees as he gasped for air, exhausted and slightly nauseous.
The final few seconds felt as long as an hour.
This was why so few people participated in the speed test, a 400-meter run was almost the most painful and exhausting event for the average person. Moreover, running required a higher natural talent than strength, many people could never run fast no matter how much they trained.
Ji Xinghuo looked at the time on the treadmill, it was nearly a second faster than his previous best record, far surpassing the test's standards.
The examiner beside him was shocked, it had been a long time since such a good result had appeared.
Ji Xinghuo steadied his breathing and then left.
Previously, the strength test examiner had mentioned that his strength training was not good enough, it was actually intentionally done by Ji Xinghuo, his real strength lay in speed and burst. If he focused on strength training, gaining weight and muscles, then his speed would not improve, and it might even hold him back.
The other two of the four tests included an endurance test, which was a 10,000-meter run with men required to complete it within 33 minutes, and women within 40 minutes.
The will test involved enduring ten minutes of pain under a seventh-level electric shock, with the same standards for men and women.
These two tests were also passable for Ji Xinghuo.
During his training, he often tested himself, able to complete 10,000 meters in under 29 minutes, and he could endure more than ten minutes under electric shock pain.
Actually, four years ago, when Ji Xinghuo was eighteen, he had already met the speed test standard, but he didn't take the test until after graduating from university, in order to pass all four tests with higher scores and apply for a Transcendent Ability.
But now, after obtaining the Wanxiang Star Pupil, he changed his plan, giving up the pursuit for a Transcendent Ability and settling for a lower level, the Superior Ability.
There were two reasons.
The first was that Ji Xinghuo wanted to maintain a low profile in the short term.
Applying for a Transcendent Ability would require an independent evaluation and political review by the Star Realm Department, not just limited to scanning and blood tests.
The Star Realm Department would scrutinize his record from childhood to adulthood, conduct several rounds of physical examinations, and require several interviews; the assessing officers were at least Super Mutants, even Legendary ones. Ji Xinghuo was not certain that the Wanxiang Star Pupil would go undetected.
Moreover, with his test results alone, he was not guaranteed to obtain the Transcendent Ability.
Out of the 5.6 billion people in the Asia-Pacific Community, there were too many geniuses!
Every year, hundreds of people passed all four tests with full marks, many of whom were younger, some even underage at fifteen or sixteen years old.
And being 22 years old, he didn't have much advantage.
Ji Xinghuo estimated that his chance of obtaining a Transcendent Ability was only one-third, which was not worth risking the exposure of the Wanxiang Star Pupil for a not so high probability.
The second reason, Ji Xinghuo had already planned his path for the next few years.
According to the capabilities of the Wanxiang Star Pupil, merging and adapting abilities quickly to form combat effectiveness, the few available Transcendent Abilities did not match with the Wanxiang Star Pupil.
Ji Xinghuo, having devised his future plans, arrived at the first floor of the Mutant Service Center.
"Hello, I have passed the physical fitness test and now I want to apply for an Ability." He walked into the application room on the first floor of the service center and spoke to the staff there.
"Please wait a moment."
The staff member, a young woman, quickly confirmed Ji Xinghuo's test scores and asked, "Mr. Ji Xinghuo, which Ability would you like to apply for?"
"Thousand Spirit Skillful Hand."
Ji Xinghuo replied without hesitation, "The Ranger's Thousand Spirit Skillful Hand."