Chapter 164 - 127: What a Pity
"He is indeed worth cultivating," the Marquis Level expert beside the green-browed elder agreed with a nod.
"On the path of the Martial Dao, natural talent is the raft and resources are the oars. But without astounding comprehension to break through the fog, one will ultimately be stranded in the shallows. This boy... has a chance of reaching the Marquis Level."
From the main seat, the Chuhe King also watched with a profound gaze as the young man finished his demonstration, finally giving a slight nod.
Du Yun held a wooden spear, his expression as placid as still water.
He was demonstrating the very same space-shattering strike from the mural.
The first two forms were clean and sharp. Starting with the third form, his thrusts began to faintly stir the sound of wind and thunder.
As he executed the last three forms, the spear’s shaft vibrated at high speed, as if igniting the air to produce soft tearing sounds. His entire being—essence, energy, and spirit—was highly focused on the very tip of the spear.
"Seven Spear Forms. Record complete," the attendant in charge of his group announced, his voice filled with undeniable certainty.
Seven forms.
In any other year, such a result would have been considered brilliant.
The crowd’s attention naturally shifted from the boy who had performed nine forms to this spear prodigy, Du Yun, who followed right after.
But when Du Yun stopped, wiping the light sheen of sweat from his brow, his gaze didn’t fall on the attendant recording his score, nor did he pay any mind to the gasps of awe or probing looks from the crowd.
...
Time passed quietly. The plaza gradually fell silent, a mix of record-setting demonstrations and the dejected departures of those who were eliminated.
"Next batch—enter!"
Li Wen took a deep breath, his face as tranquil as an ancient well.
He adjusted the collar of his clothes and then strode forward. His footsteps on the cool stone of the plaza were steady and even, just like his heartbeat.
Without a trace of panic, his gait as steady as a mountain, he walked straight through the reopened doors of the Enlightenment Room.
He chose a spot near the front.
A meditation cushion where the light happened to illuminate most of the mural.
He didn’t immediately stare wide-eyed at the complex patterns like the others; he simply sat down quietly.
He slowly closed his eyes, the rise and fall of his chest gradually becoming long, deep, and even.
Instantly, countless scorching gazes from the outside world focused on him, penetrating the barriers of the virtual space, almost searing him with their intensity.
"It’s starting, it’s starting! It’s Li Wen, the one with ’Unrivaled’ Spiritual Sense!"
"Let’s see what his comprehension is like."
"The dark horse from Jiangnan Province... please don’t be a disappointment."
An invisible pressure, as tangible as mercury, hung heavy in the air above Li Wen’s area.
Even the Chuhe King on the main platform couldn’t help but lean forward slightly, his gaze fixed on the black-clad young man.
In the incense burner, a new stick of Enlightenment Incense was lit. A plume of cyan smoke—more pure, condensed, and imbued with an ancient Daoist rhythm—rose gracefully and spread out, its fragrance refreshing the soul.
A cold, mechanical countdown suddenly boomed in everyone’s ears: "Ten seconds to prepare..."
"...Three..."
"...Two..."
"...One!"
The instant the word "One" was spoken, Li Wen’s closed eyes snapped open.
The moment his eyes opened, it was as if two small lamps had been lit.
The crisscrossing lines and weapon diagrams on the mural instantly flooded his vision.
Saber, spear, sword, halberd, axe, battle-axe, hook, fork... The transitions and exquisite details of countless weapons rushed toward him like a roaring river.
Li Wen’s heart tightened slightly.
’This torrent of information is far larger and more complex than I expected.’
’I can’t rush to activate Absolute Focus. If I do, I might instantly enter a state of meditative trance, and that would be troublesome. How would I explain it? I can’t just say I have a cheat.’
’Besides, the time it takes to enter the trance is just a reference point. The final score still depends on the number of forms comprehended.’
’At the same time, I want to try comprehending with my own natural abilities first. If it really doesn’t work, I can always activate Absolute Focus later.’
And so, time ticked by, second by second, minute by minute.
Time dripped away in the sealed room.
In a flash, three minutes had passed.
In Li Wen’s batch, no one had managed to enter a trance in such a short time.
Three and a half minutes, nobody.
Four minutes, still nobody had entered a trance.
Four minutes and ten seconds, still no one.
At four minutes and twenty seconds, someone finally succeeded. It was a girl.
However, there was still no sign of progress from Li Wen.
When the time reached four and a half minutes.
"Li Wen still hasn’t entered a trance." The crowd outside was more anxious than Li Wen himself.
Seeing that Li Wen still hadn’t entered a trance, the spectators began to show looks of pity.
Even the Chuhe King and the others, who had held such high hopes for him, now had their expectations visibly diminished.
According to the records of the Fire Hall, every Marquis Level expert had, in their time, entered a trance in under four minutes and ten seconds. Now, with Li Wen still unable to enter after four and a half minutes, his comprehension was indeed looking a bit low in their eyes.
Time did not stop for Li Wen’s failure to enter the trance; it continued to tick away, second by second.
In the second batch, more people successively managed to enter the trance.
When the time reached four minutes and forty seconds, a ring of smoke finally formed above Li Wen’s head.
A cyan ring of smoke—looking slightly sluggish, its edges seemingly frayed—finally struggled into existence above his head.
"Four minutes... forty seconds..." Someone in the viewing crowd let out a long breath, unable to say if they were more relieved or disappointed for Li Wen.
"Phew... at least he made it under the five-minute mark."
But more voices were filled with disappointment. "Tsk, what a pity. He’s a good several dozen seconds behind the top tier..."
"I thought he’d be in the top three. Unrivaled Spiritual Sense paired with this level of comprehension... it’s a bit of a mismatch..."
"Looks like this is his weak spot. His Spiritual Sense is strong enough to dodge ninth-round bullets, but his brain... how come it seems to short-circuit at the critical moment?"
The glimmer of hope in the depths of the Chuhe King’s eyes, once like a ghostly flame, finally flickered weakly and nearly went out.
He leaned back silently in his chair, his majestic face expressionless. Only his eyes, which were fixed on Li Wen on the screen, lowered slightly, hiding the faint, internal sigh that ’in the end, he is not perfect.’
Beside him, the scholarly-looking, green-robed Marquis Level expert who had previously praised Li Wen’s Spiritual Sense frowned deeply and couldn’t help but speak again in a low voice:
"Senior Brother, this... this doesn’t make sense. A will as firm as a boulder and a Spiritual Sense as sharp as an autumn hair—both are fertile ground for comprehension... How could he be so lackluster in this most crucial aspect?"
He couldn’t make sense of it. "Could it be... that his Spiritual Sense is too sharp, and he was overwhelmed by the mural’s complex information? Thrown into disarray?"
Another Marquis Level expert at his side, one with a short beard and sharper features, spoke in a low but clear voice:
"For a technique-based Awakened, entering a trance in four minutes and forty seconds is already upper-middle tier. Paired with his unrivaled Spiritual Sense... it’s more than enough for him to become a Marquis."
His gaze swept over the still-crude ring of smoke above Li Wen’s head on the screen as he delivered his verdict. "The path to becoming a King... is ultimately too remote. A person’s abilities have their limits."
For a moment, the Marquis Level experts exchanged glances, and a murmur of discussion arose. Some were disappointed, while others found the result acceptable.
...
Among the other contestants, the moment that ring of smoke—representing Li Wen barely crossing the "five-minute threshold"—finally formed, the many gazes fixed on his image on the screen subtly shifted, as if stained by invisible ink.
Outside, in a corner, a few young, prodigiously talented individuals in lavish clothing, clearly from prominent backgrounds, exchanged a look.
The corner of one’s mouth curled into a barely perceptible arc as he mouthed to his companion:
"So what if he has Unrivaled Spiritual Sense? With poor comprehension, his ultimate potential is limited."
Another replied in a hushed tone, tinged with unconcealable relief, "This is good. One less powerful rival means our own positions are more secure."
Those who gloated were in the minority. More common were irrepressible sighs of regret:
"Sigh... I thought we were about to witness another legend."
"What a waste of that Spiritual Sense talent..."
"In the end, he fell just short of perfection."
The roaring tide of anticipation had completely receded, leaving only a complex, unspoken emotion swirling beneath the surface.
「Inside the Enlightenment Room.」
The sounds, the gazes, all the noise from the outside world could not affect the interior in the slightest.
...
Li Wen, currently inside the Enlightenment Room and enveloped by the dense cyan smoke, knew nothing of the tsunami of shock and disbelief sweeping across the White Jade Plaza outside.
Even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared in the slightest.
From the moment he activated [Absolute Focus Lv. 9], his mind had already severed all external distractions, becoming completely immersed in the ancient and mysterious mural before him.
The instant his consciousness sank in, the once-blurry and obscure mural of saber techniques seemed to have been wiped clean of dust and fog by an invisible force, suddenly becoming incomparably clear and vivid.
The figure on the mural was no longer a set of rigid, broken lines, but had transformed into a living, peerless saber master.
He held no saber, yet the saber was everywhere.
Every gesture, every movement, every turn of his body and flow of his intent, seemed to be demonstrating the supreme principles of the Saber Dao.
The gleam of the saber was no longer a static image but a brilliant, flowing trajectory filled with an indescribable spirituality and rhythm.
Every saber strike was broken down with absolute clarity into its fundamental components: the opening move, channeling of force, trajectory, change in direction, nullifying force, exerting power, movement of intent, and conclusion... Countless exquisitely minute details were branded into Li Wen’s sea of consciousness in an unprecedented way.
Obscure movements became fluid and natural, even possessing a heart-stopping beauty.
The transitions that would have required intense contemplation to grasp even a sliver of meaning now flowed as naturally as water finding its course. It was as if the true essence of the saber techniques was already in his blood, only now being awakened and verified.
The principles of the saber techniques—from the most basic power structures to the esoteric workings of channeling the energy of heaven and earth, and then to the transformation of condensing one’s will to invoke "momentum" and even touch upon "intent"—were all deduced, reconstructed, understood, and absorbed layer by layer within Li Wen’s Primordial Spirit, like peeling a cocoon thread by thread.
He was no longer watching with his eyes or thinking with his brain. Instead, his entire Primordial Spirit had become a mirror, a sharp saber, greedily reflecting, dissecting, and simulating the endless Saber Dao mysteries contained within the mural.
The peak state brought on by [Absolute Focus] had brought him to the verge of a state of all-seeing enlightenment.