Chapter 187: Fear of Failure
Zou Tian waited outside all night next to the Contribution Points Shop. Yang Xiu and Yang Ru had taken only a few hours each inside the Trials Pagoda. Kang Lin, on the other hand, had entered before sunset and, as of dawn, had not exited.
There was no cause for concern. Probably. Master had been in the area working throughout the night installing roads and piping, and he hadn’t given the building a second look. If Kang Lin were in any peril, surely he would have appeared anxious at the very least if not tearing the place apart to get to her.
So Zou Tian merely waited, observed, and cultivated.
Finally, mid-morning, Kang Lin came out of the pagoda and walked right past him. Which made him feel good. He was hardly even hidden, barely in the shop’s shadow, but his Hide Presence technique did such a good job that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator didn’t detect him.
“Good morning, Kang Lin,” he called out from behind her.
The girl spun, surprised. “Zou—” She glared at him. “Stop doing that!”
He shrugged. It wasn’t like he’d really even been trying. “How did the trial go?”
Kang Lin grimaced. “Okay. I passed in the end, getting my shield to Large Success, but it wasn’t easy. I almost gave up many, many times before finally figuring out the trick.”
As he’d suspected, she’d struggled, and if someone as talented as she was with spiritual roots more than a full major rank above his barely passed, how was he supposed to complete his trial successfully? “Any advice?”
She hesitated for a moment. “Just be persistent. It didn’t feel like there was a time limit or that the pagoda would kick me out. Each time I died, it asked me if I wanted to continue. Just keep saying yes until you figure it out.”
He nodded. That made sense. If there was a trait all three of the Foundation Establishment cultivators shared, it was a certain degree of stubbornness. His determination didn’t match theirs, but maybe it would be enough. Maybe.
His face must have showed his doubt because she said, “Hey, you’re the smartest one of us. If you can’t figure it out, no one has any hope. Trust in yourself. You can do this.”