"Who else wants to try and fail?!"

Yarko's voice seemed to belittle and even challenge those who wanted to enter the Heavenly Legion. He wanted them to understand that this simple test wasn't as easy as they thought.

Yarko was confident in his friend Gonan's abilities. An 8th-level mage was among the highest-ranking mages on the entire continent. Only a handful would pass this first stage of the test.

All the participants were now lining up, as if not wanting to get ahead of anyone. However, they wanted to see how others would advance and figure out the best way to scratch the steel box.

The line was long, and the first stage of the test was incredibly fast. Even though 1,000 people had advanced, not a single one had passed. Was this really the first-level test? In fact, no one had passed yet! And no one had even scratched the steel box.

Some of their weapons had even shattered before they even touched the steel box.

Yarko shook his head several times, feeling that the current generation of white warriors was far from what he had expected. How could they face the dark forces if the test was like this, and not even one in a thousand people passed?

Until a man with a short staff stepped up because it was his turn. He greeted Yarko with both hands. Yarko noticed the young man; it was Astro. A young man much talked about for his magical abilities, he came from Orpris and was one of Yonan's students.

Even so, the Array's magic remained objective, preventing anyone from penetrating its defenses. Astro was also rumored to have received many missions to explore and defend the oppressed on Yonan's orders.

Astro himself had already reached the rank of a 7th-level wizard at a very young age.

Astro prepared himself and tucked his short magic staff. The magic weapon, measuring approximately one centimeter, was hooked to his right waist.

This meant Astro didn't want to use the staff. It was certainly a powerful artifact. But why wouldn't he want to use it?

Astro stepped back slightly and prepared his stance. He opened his hands forward, and rays of light radiated from his right and left hands. The two rays were different colors, like red and blue.

Red on the right and blue on the left, his hands formed crystal spheres in each hand. The two spheres of light followed his twisting hands, preparing to attack the steel box.

Astro pulled the two spheres of light to the left and raised them upward. The two spheres merged and rotated alternately as his hands also joined. When the red and blue spheres of light finally collided, a sword of light emerged from the merging spheres.

The sword shimmered with a rainbow-like glow around it. Everyone was shocked. At such a young age, Astro could already form a weapon from energy.

Few people on the entire continent could do such a feat. Forming a weapon from energy. While some could, they couldn't last long if they couldn't maintain their energy form, as the combined energy was unstable.

However, Astro seemed to have trained well, so his form and energy seemed stable. Astro held the sword of light with both hands and raised it upward. A second later, he leaped forward, accompanied by an explosion of energy created by the sword's swing and impact with the steel box.

A clash of energies ensued. The array seemed to repel and shield Astro's attack. The energy of the attack and the repulsion collided. Astro, in addition to maintaining the power of his energy sword, was also exerting pressure on the array to reach the steel box.

Astro was sweating profusely in the face of the level 8 array, and he pushed with all his might to create a gap in the array.

"Hiiiaaaaaaaaa!"

Astro continued to press with all his might.

Whoosh!

The energy sword Astro had created shattered into pieces. Sparks of energy erupted again, and everyone could now see. Astro sat down, visibly exhausted from having expended so much energy.

Astro rose from his seat and adjusted his breathing to regain his energy. Yarko smiled at Astro.

Sure enough, Astro passed. A scratch, like a sword slash, appeared on one side where Astro had attacked. Although small, it was still a scratch.

"Astro Passed! Anyone else who wants to pass, please do your best!"

Yarko's shout further excited the remaining participants who hadn't tried. Of course, there was still a chance, and they also felt inspired by Astro's test.

Focus your energy on one point and use all your abilities. That's what they learned from Astro's passing.

Astro seemed delighted to have passed. His teacher had warned him that even though he created the array, he wanted Astro to pass the test himself. If he didn't pass, Yonan wouldn't be of any help to his student.

For Yonan, the Heavenly Troops were those who could truly carry out this mandate for the sake of peace in the martial arts world.

Astro smiled, confident that his teacher wouldn't disappoint him, and was happy to see him pass and break the Level 8 Array he had created.

One, two, the Heavenly Troops continued to try. But many still failed, despite their best efforts. However, out of the ten who took the test, one passed. Now, more and more were seen making inroads and making scratches on the steel box.

There was also one wielding a spear, and he was from the Phosphite Continent. Although known as a warrior, Arion, who wielded the spear, successfully passed. Arion was able to penetrate the Level 8 Array with all his strength.

Arion was a spear user with long flowing hair. He had previously stepped back to spin his spear, an inheritance from his parents. He spun it with both hands. As the energy spread, he immediately focused it on a single point.

Simultaneously, the energy at the tip of the spear converged and struck the steel box. The concentrated energy penetrated the Level 8 Array's defenses, and the resulting scratch was a puncture from the spear tip into the steel of the city.

Arion was declared successful.

More than a hundred have passed, but the test has also been taken by 5,000 participants, and most of them have undoubtedly failed.

They carry the good name of their respective martial arts schools. They all carry the high hopes of their families and the Continent they represent. They all give their best to qualify as members of the Heavenly Army.

Still, this army aims to uphold peace across the continent. So, of course, those who pass are no ordinary people.

This will mark a new chapter in the history of the white martial arts world. They will make the Heavenly Army the vanguard, capable of being the decisive force against the forces of darkness.