Only My Way

Noon.

Due to the geographical environment of Wucha Town, nestled between mountains and streams, coupled with the recent light rain and abundant moisture,

even at this time,

the area remained enveloped in mist.

Even the sunlight from overhead struggled to penetrate.

This created a somewhat hazy atmosphere.

However, seeing clearly was not difficult.

The white mist did not significantly obstruct vision within a certain distance.

Ling Wuyuan's ultimate goal, White Crow Mountain, was located approximately five kilometers away from Wucha Town, and the gang occupying it was the White Crow Gang.

The mountain's name, White Crow Mountain, originated from this gang.

Once upon a time,

it was merely an unnamed peak.

But after the White Crow Gang occupied it and made it their base, the place acquired a name.

It is said that after years of operation,

the gang's official members, those who had roughly practiced martial arts and could engage in combat with weapons, numbered over a thousand.

Their various businesses were spread throughout Wucha Town and the surrounding townships, making them virtually the local overlords.

Even the larger forces in Black Rock City would not casually provoke the White Crow Gang, these local bullies, unless absolutely necessary.

The most recent recruitment period for this gang was today.

The process was not complicated.

First, there was basic information registration and a check to ensure the facial features were normal: mouth, eyes, ears, nose, lips, hands, feet... to see if anything was missing or defective.

Then came a basic intelligence test and a basic physical fitness test.

The former goes without saying; you couldn't expect the so-called basic intelligence test in this world, where basic education was not widespread, to be difficult.

The actual difficulty was practically non-existent.

As long as the brain was normal, almost everyone could pass.

As for the physical fitness test, it was equally straightforward: just run!

Run around a circular track with an actual length of at least two kilometers!

Run until the examiners deemed you qualified.

However, because the ages of those wanting to join the gang varied, everyone was divided into five groups, each with different standards.

Five to seven years old in one group.

Eight to ten years old in one group.

Eleven to fourteen years old in one group.

Fifteen to eighteen years old in one group.

And all adults, regardless of age, were in one group.

To be honest, when registering, Ling Wuyuan was troubled for a while because he didn't know how old he was.

Especially when he learned that the White Crow Gang would test actual bone age for information verification during registration, he felt a bit of a headache.

Although his body had undergone repeated reorganization during the transmigration, it still originated from his original body.

So, what was the bone age of his body?

The sum of two lifetimes, thirty years old?

Or should it be counted from zero since the reorganization, making him five years old now?

After learning that this world had a method to detect bone age,

Ling Wuyuan immediately felt a heartfelt headache...

Reluctantly, he could only say that he didn't know how old he was.

The registration staff was already accustomed to this.

In this world, due to various unforeseen events and the lack of education among many people, many really didn't know how old they were.

Moreover, even if the registrant really knew their age, the White Crow Gang would still conduct checks and verifications to prevent some from falsely entering a younger age group.

The staff at the registration desk simply pointed, and the doctor immediately used a special tool to examine Ling Wuyuan.

Fortunately, the doctor's results showed that his bone age was not much different from his apparent age, indeed ten years old.

The doctor even praised his excellent physical fitness, suggesting he had good potential for martial arts.

He silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Ling Wuyuan understood that if he were detected to have a bone age of thirty years, it would be really troublesome...

Also, from the moment the doctor announced his true age as ten years old,

a long-standing worry in his heart finally disappeared partially.

That was the worry that the current world had a way to detect something wrong with his body and soul...

—

While running around the field,

Ling Wuyuan's group, the children aged eight to ten, both boys and girls, continuously ran nearly six kilometers in under twenty minutes.

The speed was fast and the distance long.

This directly eliminated most of the registrants on the spot.

The remaining twenty or so children were mostly panting heavily.

Including Ling Wuyuan, only five or six children looked relatively relaxed, barely panting, and it was unknown whether they had practiced martial arts before.

In this regard, Ling Wuyuan had considered whether to hide some of his physical fitness and make himself look more ordinary.

But after thinking about it,

for the sake of his future treatment,

he decided to present a relatively excellent appearance.

After all, being somewhat excellent but not too outstanding was the best state for coasting along.

Being too useless would lead to being bullied.

Being too ordinary would lead to being treated as cannon fodder.

Being too outstanding would lead to being closely watched.

Being excellent but not too outstanding was just right for enjoying certain benefits while still leaving room for himself.

He came to the White Crow Gang only to build a foundation, to learn the various basics that he would inevitably use in the future, and not to stay here forever.

In his plan, this was just a stepping stone...

So, after noticing that the examiner had given him a seemingly good score for the long-distance run, Ling Wuyuan felt deeply satisfied.

After successfully completing the long-distance running test,

after a short rest,

the next thing Ling Wuyuan had to do was weightlifting.

There were neatly arranged stone blocks and stone locks.

The light ones weighed only a few kilograms or tens of kilograms.

The heavy ones looked bigger than adults, and their weight was estimated to be calculated in tons.

The examiner glanced at the adult group, who had run at least ten kilometers and were still running, and pointed to a stone pier with characters marked on its surface, weighing at least fifty or sixty kilograms, and said:

"No matter what method you use, as long as you can lift this sixty-kilogram stone pier over your head, you will pass this level and be considered a member of our White Crow Gang from now on."

Then he pointed to the subsequent larger and larger stone piers and continued:

"Lifting this eighty-kilogram stone pier is considered good, lifting this one-hundred-kilogram stone pier is considered excellent, lifting this one-hundred-and-twenty-kilogram stone pier is considered elite..."

"For the sake of your future treatment, I suggest you test your limits."