Reincarnation of the Strongest Healer

Chapter 1390: Sunrise Inner City Part 7

Xu Feng didn’t pay attention to what Carmen had said to the guild members.

He was currently consolidating his mindset to prepare for session 3.1.

Although he was confident in passing, he wanted to make sure it was doable and had good lecture materials for the rest.

After all, anyone who got to this point had signed the loyalty contract and was considered a true member of the Vanguard Guild.

’Phew, never felt this much pressure for a while.’ He took a deep breath and glanced around the surroundings.

[System Notification: Training Hall Session 3.1 shall commence! Try your best to survive! Time Limit: 15 minutes!]

As the system prompt appeared, informing him that the session was about to start and the time limit, he began to assume his battle stance.

The time limit was set as 15 minutes because that was enough duration to indicate whether the player qualified or not. Any further would just be a waste of time, and any less would be inadequate for the data record.

As the arena began to seal up, isolating him from all sorts of distractions, Xu Feng still remained vividly visible to the outside arena. After all, the isolation was only intended for the test taker to ensure maximum concentration.

"It’s finally starting! I wonder what the Guild Leader will receive."

"Beats me. Session 3.1 is filled with many random events. You can’t even guess what will come. You just have to be cautious and react fast enough."

"The Guild Leader mentioned speed, so now you’re trying to talk like an expert. Get out of here!"

While the members were relaxed thanks to Xu Feng’s method, Carmen was entirely focused on Xu Feng.

She was also beyond curious about his ability and how far apart they were.

’Last time, Feng was able to escape unscathed from a Tier 4 Summoner. I didn’t get to see it in action, but this should suffice.’ Her eyes were staring intensely at Xu Feng, wanting to keep up with him and not become a burden.

As everyone scrutinized Xu Feng, the arena had already dimmed. The visibility couldn’t be any lower.

What made it ominous was that the silence was very loud. Even a tiny droplet of water falling to the ground could be heard in such an environment.

’A test of our danger perception and reaction, huh.’ Xu Feng quickly identified the objective of this round.

Still, just because he learned what it was didn’t mean he could be complacent.

"It’s starting..." He murmured. From the corner of his vision, the first wave of puppets activated.

Their mechanical joints clicked with a very soft sound as they fanned out, deliberately avoiding a frontal approach.

One moved left, another right, two more circling behind at staggered intervals.

’A pincer setup,’ Xu Feng noted instantly. He made sure to listen to the minimum sound offered to him. A total of four puppets were spawned by the session.

Truly, the system really despised him. Four was the highest that could be spawned, with one being the lowest.

Although he was confident he could clear the session, that wasn’t the point.

This had to be replicable, something the others could learn from. It can not just be raw execution, but decision-making under pressure.

’Fucking hell. What kind of luck is this?’ Xu Feng seriously couldn’t fathom his luck being this terrible when Carmen was present.

Little did he know that Carmen had purposely manipulated the setting and set it to the greatest difficulty.

’Sorry, Feng, but only with the highest difficulty can people really learn and not struggle much later on.’ Carmen apologized silently.

After all, anyone who had reached this stage had already signed the loyalty contract. They weren’t spectators anymore—they were Vanguard. Carmen must ensure these Vanguard members can benefit at the highest limit.

This was also something Xu Feng had taught her. Always maximize for the greatest profit.

In the meantime, Xu Feng remained unaware that he had been schemed against by his beloved.

Instead, he exhaled slowly, stretching his fingers as his stance adjusted half a step to the side.

’It’s been a while since I had to think this far ahead.’ He thought to himself.

A few seconds later, the puppets closed in.

"Hmph, not a chance." He snorted coolly.

Rather than reacting to the nearest threat, Xu Feng calculated three movements ahead, mapping angles, attack timings, and terrain spacing in his head.

If he dodged backward now, the rear unit would force him into a dead zone.

If he advanced too aggressively, the flanking puppets would collapse inward.

So he didn’t retreat!

Instead, he moved diagonally, just barely enough to shift the engagement line into forcing the two puppets to overlap their approach paths.

Their synchronization broke for half a second.

That half-second was enough!

’It’s now!’ Xu Feng stepped into the opening, repositioning himself so all remaining puppets were now within a narrow frontal arc.

Now this is manageable!

The session had officially begun.

With a palm strike on the split opening in one puppet, he struck at their Critical Flesh Points, effectively staggering them while utilizing the knockback effect to reposition himself to avoid the other puppets’ attack.

The moment he stabilized himself after avoiding the onslaught, Xu Feng was about to make his next move until he sensed the vibration from the ground.

The floor beneath him hummed, signaling a second layer activating.

’Carmen, just what kind of difficulty did you set me in?’ At this moment, Xu Feng would be a fool to believe this was the regular session 3.1 that every member had to pass.

The second layer activating when there were still puppets active meant that this session 3.1 was set at extreme mode.

Yes, extreme mode!

It was the hidden difficulty level higher than Hell Mode!

Unfortunately, he didn’t even have the time to complain when the activation was already in progress.

Thin glyph-lines flared briefly across the training platform before fading, and the puppets adjusted almost immediately. Their footwork became cleaner.

Their approach angles shifted as they were no longer converging blindly, but staggering themselves to deny him clean resets.