Chapter 162: A Slippery Solution
Contrary to Yang Xiu’s expectations based on Master’s previous announcement, the Trials Pagoda sent a request to him to approve attempting a trial to improve her shield technique instead of simply immediately okaying it. Master, however, apparently did give his assent because the next thing she knew she was standing in a room that was unfamiliar to her. The floor was covered with some sort of springy material, and one wall was filled with mirrors.
Other than her and the mirrors, the space was completely empty.
A gangly man with long bushy hair and an equally unkempt beard appeared, wearing a dirty grey cultivator’s robe. Overall, his appearance was more someone she would have expected to see begging for food on the streets of Sixth Flawless Flowing City than a powerful expert martial artist. The only thing that gave her pause was that she couldn’t sense his cultivation level.
“Take the shield,” he said.
“What shield?” Before the last word was fully formed, a triangular shield about the width and length of her torso popped into being at her feet. “Oh.”
It was laying face down with two leather straps for her arm on top. At first, she thought it was made of metal, but when she bent to grasp the straps, she realized that it was actually constructed of a thin layer of ice.
Interesting.
Yang Xiu hadn’t known exactly what to expect from the trial, but she’d thought that it would be something like how she normally trained her shield technique. Either Kang Lin or Yang Ru would throw weapons or qi at her while she tried to form her shield quickly enough to block it. The method had worked well enough to get her to Small Success, albeit slowly.
Apparently, the Trials Pagoda had a different approach in mind as it was supplying her with an actual shield made of ice instead of relying on her to conjure one.
As she slung her arms through the leather straps, she expected the ice’s cold to sting, but it didn’t. In fact, it didn’t feel cold at all. The entire weapon was room temperature.
“Get ready,” the man said. “A large sphere will be shot at you from that aperture.”
Before she could ask the obvious question, a hole about the diameter of Yang Ru’s head appeared, hovering in the air at about chest height several yards away from her. On the other side of the hole was … nothing that she could make out. Just a grey void.