Chapter 607: Chapter 606: The First Level
The aura of the Array System was elusive, Shi Xiaole tried to perceive it with his spiritual power, but found he could not trace its path. It implied that the level of the Array System reached at least the high order of the Divine Barrier Realm, or even beyond.
"Impressive!"
As Shi Xiaole marveled, the crowd around him had already jumped onto the platform. Seeing this, he followed suit and landed on it.
Boom...
In an instant, his surroundings transformed dramatically.
All the people disappeared, with a black brick-built majestic road stretching endlessly under Shi Xiaole’s feet. He could not see the end.
Looking down, Shi Xiaole noticed bands of green glowing iron blocks on his arms, legs, and abdomen. It was Hanshan Iron.
Known as the heaviest iron on East Victory mainland, Hanshan Iron weighs nearly eighty tons per cubic meter. Shi Xiaole estimated that the combined weight of the Hanshan Iron on him was around 1,500 pounds.
"My Vigorous Air is suppressed?"
Shi Xiaole realized his internal Vigorous Air circulation had stopped, and the weight of the Hanshan Iron was sharply apparent.
An average person’s weight carrying capacity is generally around 100 pounds, while regular exercisers can lift up to 200 pounds. Yet, martial artists at the Dragon Gate Realm level can handle about 1,000 pounds.
Therefore, bearing a weight of 1,500 pounds was a tremendous pressure.
Thanks to the Elephant Strength Fruit and Dragon Strength Grass he had consumed, as well as practicing the Vajra Unbreakable Body, Shi Xiaole’s physical strength was much greater than that of many martial artists, approximately reaching tens of thousands of pounds. Thus, he wasn’t exhausted for the time being.
"Pick up the water buckets and run forward at your fastest speed."
There were two water-filled wooden buckets by his feet. Hearing this instruction, Shi Xiaole picked up the buckets and burst forward, deep in thought.
The annual tests at Mount Wanxiang are always different. All he had to do was try his best.
...
The peak of Mount Wanxiang, a large area shrouded in clouds and fog.
Several elderly people were forming hand signs, seemingly controlling the middle of the mountain’s Array System.
"What a waste! He has already spilled half a bucket of water just after starting to run."
"Such a fool. Only ran a hundred meters and he’s already panting."
"Eliminated. Couldn’t even raise his hands straight. Didn’t have enough to eat, huh."
The elders were quite irritated, apparently seeing some scenes and constantly cursing aloud.
"Most practitioners only recognize the importance of Internal Power training, but don’t realize that physical training is also important. In my opinion, the first barrier alone will eliminate eighty percent of this lot."
One of the silver-bearded elders said coldly.
"It’s not as simple. After all, most are not Horizontal Practice Martial Artists. With the huge amount of energy spent on improving their cultivation, how would they have the strength to increase their physical power? I guess the Clan Leader’s requirements are too high."
A short and stout elder laughed. He was the only one who hadn’t cursed out loud.
"Only with extreme standards can extreme masters be born. Over hundreds of years, only three people have scored ninety points at the first test. I wonder when the next one will appear?"
Another elder suddenly said.
Although the form of the test varies each year, the essence remains the same, so comparing it horizontally is not a problem.
The silver-bearded elder shook his head: "Difficult! Although there is a surfeit of talents now, to reach ninety points in the first barrier, one needs to be an extraordinary Horizontal Practice genius. Even among the four monstrous talents, only Gui Zhihang, who has the strongest physical body, broke through ninety points, scoring ninety-five points, and that already broke the record of Celestial Phenomenon Mountain."
Even with their very critical eyes, they had to admit, the four monstrous talents were truly deserving of the name, being the most talented individuals they had ever seen.
The first barrier was seemingly simple, but it was tough to score high points.
Because the water in the wooden buckets, the running speed, the posture of the arms, and how far one could run, were all part of the evaluation criteria. The scariest part was, the road was only one person wide with no visible end.
As it is known, in a solitary situation, people often have a tendency to slack off, and the body involuntarily loosens up. Furthermore, without an end in sight, it means you must genuinely push beyond your limits. Even pausing due to exhaustion could result in points deduction.
This is why, over the centuries, no one has ever been able to achieve a perfect score.
"There’s a large number of people in this session, but inevitably the quality will decline. In my opinion, if someone can reach seventy points, it’s already quite good."
Having taken another glance at the countless illusions down the mountain, the silver-bearded elder sighed in disappointment.
...
Whoosh!
Shi Xiaole felt a tearing sensation in his lungs, forcing him to take deep breaths.
He had been sprinting tens of thousands of meters already, his energy largely exhausted. The weight of 1,500 pounds almost felt like it had become 15,000 pounds. The water buckets kept sinking, but he clenched his teeth and kept his arms straight.
Not a single drop of water was spilled from the spinning water inside the buckets.
"If I continue like this, at the most, I can run another 30,000 meters. I won’t be able to maintain the balance of the water in the buckets."
With his Divine Barrier Realm-level sensing abilities, Shi Xiaole could easily gauge his current state.
His whole body was sore, and his chest felt as though it was being relentlessly stabbed. The hardest part was preserving the high-speed advance. If he became slightly less determined, his body would involuntarily slow down the extreme state.
Even as his body endured unimaginable suffering, Shi Xiaole still pondered. He thought, if he could harness the Life and Death Dual Qi, he might be able to alleviate this fatigue significantly.
"Though I can’t use my Vigorous Air, I can still stimulate true intent. However, without Vigorous Air, the power of my true intent will be reduced by tens or hundreds of times."
In the end, true intent is just a mental state and doesn’t even qualify as a mental attack.
After running another 29,000 meters quickly, Shi Xiaole was almost unable to bear it any longer. He chose to risk everything and fully stimulated the Life and Death True Intent.
In the air, strands of Vital Qi burrowed into his body, but the effectiveness was more than a hundredfold lower than before. With a thought, Shi Xiaole channeled these vitality energies, infusing them into each arm.
The arms that were about to sink suddenly froze.
Other parts of his body felt both sour and numb, but relying on his remaining power, he was able to maintain the balance of the buckets. Shi Xiaole was enduring pain while sprinting with all his effort. He was wandering between hell and heaven, experiencing a fate worse than death.
Gradually, he discovered something shocking.
Although the consumption rate of the Vital Qi was faster than its accretion speed, thanks to the tempering from the Vajra Unbreakable Body, the strength in his arms was slowly recovering. If he could balance these three aspects, could he maintain this state forever?
Shi Xiaole concentrated. As it was his first time absorbing Vital Qi solely through the Life and Death True Intent, he was not skilled at it. However, with the passage of time, his efficiency gradually improved.
Just when his arms couldn’t hold on for the second time, his absorption rate of Vital Qi abruptly increased, and he barely reached a balance with considerable risk.
"This is it!"
Shi Xiaole felt a surge of joy.
Not only because he found a solution, he also accidentally discovered a feasible path from this attempt.
All along, he had been using the Undying Seven Illusions for healing and recovery. Could he directly create defensive martial arts based on the Life and Death True Intent?
Certainly, this path was destined to be difficult. Martial arts and swordsmanship were different, the former being more comprehensive and complex. It involved various paths of Vigorous Air, requiring countless trials.
The application at hand was nothing compared to complete martial arts, it was less than a drop in the bucket.
Time trickled by.
From the start of the first test, within a quarter of an hour, someone had already started slowing down. By half an hour, some people had collapsed on the ground. After half a two-hour period, less than 20% of the participants were still running.
"I can’t stop, I absolutely can’t stop."
At this moment, Fu Tong was drenched in sweat, his neatly combed hair glued to his face, looking dispirited. However, his eyes were terrifyingly red.
As the sixth-ranked genius, he came to Mount Wanxiang not to compete with others, but to keep up with the four monsters.
Fu Tong had a feeling that if he stopped now, he would be far behind the four monsters in the first test. This was something he could not tolerate.
Like Fu Tong, Wu Siming, Huan Yundu, and even the top genius, Tianya Saintess Qiu Yuchu were plagued in a fierce inner struggle.
On one side was the unimaginable pain, on the other was the will to compete with their peers. Their mental struggles inevitably affected their states.
However, to the elders on the summit, this was a very normal phenomenon. It only depended on who had the higher overall quality.
"Eh, that young man?"
Suddenly, an elder gazed at a certain direction, his eyes filled with surprise.
"You just noticed him now? This young man has been perfect since the start, and there has been no change in him."
The elder with the silver beard said indifferently. But his expression wasn’t as calm as his voice, not only was he not calm, he was quite astonished.
This first test assessed physical strength, control ability, and willpower.
It was evident, that the young man in the green robe’s strength did not match up to Gui Zhihang’s, but his control and willpower could only be described as horrifying.
Despite his running speed being just a little faster than an ordinary walk, and his swollen and red arms, he always predicted any minor tilt of the buckets in advance and made accurate adjustments.
Looking at his pale but composed face, it seemed as though he didn’t care about anything. The elder with the silver beard couldn’t help but wonder, if no one stopped him, that green-robed youngster would continue running until the end of time.
After one two-hour period passed.
Wu Siming, Huan Yundu, Qiu Yuchu and others collapsed on the ground, not even wanting to move a finger.
After a while, Fu Tong fell face first, gasping for air.
Among all the participants, only two were still running. One was Shi Xiaole, and the other was Han Yang, who ranked tenth in the genius chart. This man was a Horizontal Practice Martial Artist, his physical strength was unimaginable.
"This is my greatest advantage, I must hold on!"
Han Yang clenched his teeth, his face gruesome.
Thinking of his master’s prophecy about the upcoming splendid era, where talents were like stars in the sky, he knew he had to put in ten or a hundred times more effort than before to keep himself from being eliminated.
After two two-hour periods passed, Han Yang’s eyes turned white, his body stiffened and he fell to the ground.
"To be able to hold on for so long, he’s incredible. This man nearly reached his limit. His physical strength warrants a ninety points, his willpower isn’t far off, and his control was just a little lacking. All in all, he can get eighty-five points in the first test."
One of the elders on the summit praised. This was an excellent score, ranking among the top thirty in all previous tests.
But there was no response, because everyone else, including the elder himself, was looking at the only person still running.
The consciousness of Shi Xiaole was foggy, he couldn’t feel his breath, he only knew that he has to keep running, even if it meant exhausting all the strength in his blood and soul.
It wasn’t to outshine others, but rather, he embraced his struggles and constantly overcame himself.
After two and a half two-hour periods passed, Shi Xiaole recovered from his half-conscious state.
"He has broken his limit."
The elder with a silver beard drew a sharp breath.
After three two-hour periods passed.
Shi Xiaole finally stopped, his face against the ground, as if he had fainted.
