Chapter 31 : Chapter 31
Chapter 31: Practical Combat
A few minutes later, the Spirit of the Space’s utterly emotionless voice rang out once more.
“Tester Lin Bai, the second stage is about to begin. Please prepare yourself.”
Lin Bai stood up and dusted off the nonexistent dirt on his clothes before asking, “How is the second stage tested?”
“Strength, speed, physique, and spirit. The four basic categories.”
The Spirit of the Space was concise as ever.
“I see. Then let’s begin.”
The moment Lin Bai heard that, he immediately felt reassured and chose to start without the slightest hesitation.
The method for testing strength was rather old-fashioned. A familiar stone mill slowly materialized before him, the same kind of massive stone grinder he had once used to temper his body before his awakening.
“Strength test. The requirement is to lift the stone mill and hold it for one minute. Challenger Lin Bai, what weight would you like to start with?”
“What weight earns the highest rating?”
Lin Bai went straight to the important point.
“You are currently in the Transcendent Realm. Lift a ten-thousand-jin stone mill, and that will suffice.”
“Then let’s go straight to ten thousand jin.”
“The testing tool has already been adjusted. Challenger, please begin the test.”
The stone mill looked no different on the surface, but Lin Bai’s 【Intuition】 could clearly sense the heavy, crushing pressure coming from it.
He grinned, stepped forward, grabbed the mill with one hand, tightened his waist and abdomen, and effortlessly hoisted the ten-thousand-jin stone mill high over his head. His expression remained utterly relaxed.
The Martial Skill Trial had put him under considerable pressure, but this stage, which tested physical ability, was his strongest field.
When Lin Bai had first entered the Transcendent Realm, he had already been close to the limit of that realm’s attributes. Now, he had been cultivating for a full month on top of that.
The following speed test examined both his short-burst explosiveness and his long-distance sprinting ability.
The physique test required Lin Bai to perform a series of difficult movements under fifty times normal gravity.
As for the spirit test, it involved breaking an illusion.
There was no suspense whatsoever. Lin Bai passed every one of those tests at the highest standard.
Still, he had one complaint about the spirit test: it had been far too noisy. It had not dragged him into any illusion at all. Lin Bai had only heard a stretch of ear-piercing, grating music.
At last, the second stage of testing was complete as well.
“Challenger Lin Bai, your result for the second stage is Radiant Sun.”
“Challenger Lin Bai, the third stage is about to begin. Please prepare yourself.”
Lin Bai adjusted his stance, making sure he would be in the best possible condition for the final practical combat segment. Then he seemed to remember something and called out to the Spirit of the Space.
“I’m used to fighting with a bow and a blade. Without weapons, I can’t bring out my full strength.”
As expected, a large assortment of weapons appeared before him for him to choose from.
While selecting his weapons, Lin Bai could not help but complain.
“I knew it. If I didn’t ask, you definitely wouldn’t say anything. The jade token was the same.”
Lin Bai had already been here for two days, and he had gradually discovered one of the rules of this place: you had to ask. If you did not ask, Firecloud Grotto-Heaven would not tell you.
Whether it was the jade token or the Spirit of the Space here, both were exactly the same.
In the end, Lin Bai chose a Goose-quill Saber, a Hard Bow, and a quiver containing thirty arrows.
The only problem was that the saber was too light. It could not compare to Lin Bai’s Light-Heavy Saber. Still, it would do.
After that, Lin Bai continued asking questions.
“What is the evaluation standard for the third stage?”
“There is no fixed evaluation standard. I will decide it.”
Hearing that, Lin Bai understood at once. So it depended on performance.
“The third stage, the practical combat trial, is about to begin. Challenger, please cooperate with the inspection to ensure that no deviation occurs during the challenge.”
As soon as those words fell, a ray of white light passed through Lin Bai’s body. He felt as though every inch of him had been thoroughly seen through.
“Challenger Lin Bai, you cultivate the Beast-Taming Martial Artist path and are on the verge of reaching completion in the Bear-Hide Stage. Are these data correct?”
So it can pull up my entire profile. That was the first thought to flash through Lin Bai’s mind when he heard that information.
But he immediately cast that distracting thought aside and confirmed it.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Lin Bai then noticed that the surrounding scenery began to render itself again. When the environment finally stabilized, he fixed his gaze ahead and saw a cold-faced youth in black standing opposite him.
Good grief, was that not himself?
So they were really using the oldest trick in the book: defeat yourself to prove you are the strongest.
The black-clad Lin Bai in front of him did not care what the real Lin Bai was thinking. The moment he saw the real Lin Bai fully arrive, he charged straight at him with saber in hand.
Lin Bai became fully alert. After all, “defeating yourself” sounded like the sort of trial that ought to be extremely difficult.
Very quickly, the black-clad Lin Bai reached him and slashed out with his first strike.
Lin Bai frowned, but not because the opponent was too strong.
It was because he was too weak.
The black-clad Lin Bai’s strength, speed, and even the physique he displayed were all far too weak. In Lin Bai’s eyes, countless openings appeared all over him.
Was that an illusion? Or was he deliberately exposing flaws?
Lin Bai could not be sure, so he chose the safest approach.
He met him head-on, blade against blade.
The moment their sabers collided, the black-clad Lin Bai’s weapon was knocked clean out of his hand by Lin Bai’s overwhelming strength, and then the opponent himself was split in two.
Lin Bai nimbly leaped backward, avoiding having “his own” blood splatter onto him.
His mind was still somewhat unsettled. He had thought the Spirit of the Space was about to pull some grand “defeat yourself to become the strongest” performance, yet the fight had ended the instant they made contact.
Was he just here to hand me a free victory? Or did he have some other trick up his sleeve?
Those were Lin Bai’s thoughts at that moment, because in his judgment, the other side did not even possess a tenth of his strength.
However, those thoughts vanished the moment the Spirit of the Space announced his success.
“Challenger Lin Bai, you have passed the third stage. Your result for the third stage is Radiant Sun. Would you like to continue the challenge? Continuing will grant a certain number of Merit Points. This event is only available during this assessment.”
Lin Bai did not answer immediately. As he replayed the battle in his mind, a thought gradually became clear, and he directly asked for confirmation.
“Spirit of the Space, how many points of Spiritual Talent did that opponent just now possess?”
“The gatekeeper’s Spiritual Talent was set at one thousand eight hundred points, which qualifies as high-grade Spiritual Talent.”
The moment he heard that, the confusion in Lin Bai’s heart was resolved.
A person’s strength was roughly made up of three major elements.
Strength = realm × Dao Path × Spiritual Talent.
Of course, there were additional influences such as combat experience, favorable timing, and terrain, but this basic formula was not wrong.
The assessment space had copied his realm and his Dao Path, but his own absurd Spiritual Talent of 129,600 points was something the other side had not even come close to matching.
And as Lin Bai’s realm continued to rise in the future, the gap between him and everyone else would only grow even greater.
At that moment, however, Lin Bai came up with an idea.
“Spirit of the Space, how many points of Spiritual Talent will the next challenger have? And what about his realm and overall strength?”
“Two thousand five hundred points. His realm will be the same as the challenger’s.”
When Lin Bai heard that answer from the Spirit of the Space, the corners of his mouth curved upward, and delight surged through his heart.
Just as I thought. This is practically a free reward. The only question is whether the gatekeepers’ realms will rise later on.
“Begin the challenge.”
Another black-clad Lin Bai appeared on the field.
Lin Bai did not hesitate. He took the initiative and cut him to pieces with a single stroke.
He did not stop and continued challenging.
The next three black-clad Lin Bais who appeared all shared the same Dao Path and realm as Lin Bai.
Their Spiritual Talents were three thousand points, three thousand and one points, and four thousand five hundred points respectively.
But all of them fell within three blows of Lin Bai’s blade.
Lin Bai’s face was full of smiles, and that smile only grew brighter and brighter, because at this point he was practically collecting money off the ground.
Although he still did not know what Merit Points were used for, he was not so ignorant as to miss the obvious.
Lin Bai guessed that this was probably an internal currency used within the Martial Academy. The materials he needed, such as the Zhixu Beast and the like, might very well require this thing for exchange.
After Lin Bai passed four additional stages, the Spirit of the Space spoke again.
“Challenger Lin Bai, you have passed the four stages of the basic assessment and obtained one thousand nine hundred Merit Points. The next challenge will open the Martial Tower. Do you choose to continue?”