Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Wooden Man Array
"Since class is over, we’d like to take the assessment," Yun Aoxue said hurriedly.
"I’m sorry, but the assessment period has passed. We’re tallying the results now. If you wish to be tested, please come earlier next time."
Upon hearing this, Yun Aoxue hurried forward. She took something out, flashed it in front of the two, and said a few words. The two looked at it, hesitated, and seemed to confer for a moment. Then, they finally nodded and made way.
"In that case, the student can go in. But please be quick, the manager is already tallying the results."
Yun Aoxue obviously knew the protocol. She nodded and said to Ye Xuan, "Ye Xuan, go on in by yourself. Remember to give it your all, understand?"
Under Yun Aoxue’s watchful gaze, Ye Xuan walked into the building, feeling utterly baffled.
Stepping inside, he found himself in a vast, empty hall. There wasn’t another person in sight.
"You’re here for the assessment?" Just then, a middle-aged manager walked over, looking at Ye Xuan with an impatient expression. "If you want to be tested, remember to come early next time. Showing up this late... it shows a complete lack of commitment."
With that, he extended a hand and said indifferently, "Hand it over."
Ye Xuan froze.
’Hand what over?’
He asked, confused, "I don’t think I was given any kind of token when I came in."
He assumed the man was asking for some sort of assessment pass.
But he never expected that as soon as the words left his mouth, the middle-aged manager’s face would fall. "Kid, are you messing with me? You want to take the assessment, but you don’t know you’re supposed to make a little gesture? Did you think just anyone could take this test?"
Ye Xuan finally understood what the man meant by "hand it over." He immediately sneered, "Apologies, but I don’t have the ’gesture’ you’re looking for. And since this test isn’t for just anyone, I might as well not take it."
In any case, he hadn’t planned on taking this so-called assessment in the first place. He had only come because Teacher Yun’s passionate insistence was impossible to refuse. If this man wouldn’t let him take the test, it made no difference to him.
However, Ye Xuan simply turning to leave gave the middle-aged manager a start.
Every single student who had come for the assessment over the past few days knew to offer him a little something in exchange for some helpful information. Even disciples from the families of princes and high ministers were always respectful, not daring to be the slightest bit remiss.
He had never before seen someone as arrogant and disdainful as Ye Xuan.
Yet, the more arrogant Ye Xuan acted, the more nervous the middle-aged manager became.
’What ordinary person would dare to put on airs in front of me? Could he be some prominent figure?’
It was no wonder he thought this way. As the highest institution of learning in the Liuyun Kingdom, the Profound Spirit Academy had educated its fair share of princes and princesses—not just one or two. As for Commandery Princes and Commandery Princesses, they were a dime a dozen.
The kingdom’s First Prince and Fourth Prince, now at the height of their power, had both studied here and graduated at the top of the academy rankings.
For this person to get past the guards at the entrance after the assessment had already concluded... if he didn’t have some kind of special status, the manager wouldn’t believe it for a second.
With this in mind, the middle-aged manager could no longer be bothered with putting on airs. He quickly called out, "Hold on."
Ye Xuan paused.
The middle-aged manager spoke, his voice cold and sullen, "Since you’re already inside, I’ll be merciful and grant you a chance to take the test."
As his voice fell, he tapped a spot on the wall, and a pitch-black corridor instantly materialized before Ye Xuan’s eyes.
"Go on in," the middle-aged manager said languidly.
Normally, when students gave him a little something before the test, he would offer them a few pointers. ’But for this kid? Forget it.’
’In fact, he hoped Ye Xuan would mess up spectacularly.’
Ye Xuan didn’t mind. Since the man had backed down, he couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and stepped into the corridor.
For one, he didn’t want to let down Teacher Yun after all her effort. For another, he was genuinely curious about what this so-called assessment actually entailed.
The corridor was silent, lined with still, wooden figures. The moment they sensed Ye Xuan’s presence, the wooden men sprang to life, launching a lightning-fast attack against him.
"The Eighteen Wooden Man Formation!"
Ye Xuan rubbed his nose. In an instant, a full eighteen wooden figures were surging toward him.
Ye Xuan, who had been wondering what the test would be, was sorely disappointed. Each of these eighteen wooden men had the strength of roughly a Martial Master of the Second Layer. Any Martial Master of the Third Layer could easily break through, as long as they didn’t get surrounded.
Just as Ye Xuan was about to sweep the wooden figures away one by one, his expression suddenly froze. He watched as they arranged themselves into a complex battle formation.
In an instant, the power of the entire Wooden Man Array skyrocketed. The eighteen figures coordinated seamlessly, covering every corner of the corridor and supporting one another. This allowed the wooden men, each with the strength of a Martial Master of the Second Layer, to collectively exert the power of a Martial Master of the Third Layer.
The might of the Eighteen Wooden Man Formation had increased in a flash.
’Hm, this battle formation isn’t bad. Could it be that this trial isn’t about fighting the wooden men, but about breaking their formation?!’
Ye Xuan muttered to himself, then nodded, instantly certain of his guess.
In his eyes, while the battle formation wasn’t particularly complex, it was more than difficult enough to test the students here.
In his previous life, to be honest, Ye Xuan hadn’t known much about the battle formations used for slaughter on a battlefield.
However, a battle formation was still a type of Array. For an Array Master like Ye Xuan, this Eighteen Wooden Man Formation was laughably simple.
Ye Xuan simply strode forward. Each step he took was placed with exquisite precision, landing squarely on the core nodes of the Wooden Man Array. As a result, no matter how the eighteen figures coordinated, they couldn’t land a single blow on him.
Ten breaths later, Ye Xuan had already passed through the Wooden Man Array and reached the other side of the corridor.
The next thing to appear before Ye Xuan was a room. Inside was a single table, upon which sat a game of chess.
’What kind of trick is this now?’
Ye Xuan looked down at the board. A single red pawn had crossed the river and now stood before the black general. Red had no other pieces. Meanwhile, the black army had the lone red pawn completely surrounded. A battle was about to erupt.
Beside the board was a line of text: "Red pawn checkmates the general to pass. Red moves first!"
’Red moves first?’
Ye Xuan was puzzled. ’If that’s the case, hasn’t Red already won?’
Taking a closer look, he suddenly chuckled. This chessboard was actually an Array Disc.
’Looks like there’s a trick to this,’ Ye Xuan thought. Unconcerned, he reached for the pawn, ready to capture the general.
The moment he touched the red pawn, his heart trembled involuntarily. A sense of cold apathy rose from the depths of his soul, and a wave of drowsiness crept into his mind.
’An Illusion Array? Let’s see what this is all about.’
Ye Xuan didn’t fight it. He allowed his mind to fall under the Illusion Array’s control, curious to see just how powerful it really was.
By deliberately letting go, Ye Xuan quickly entered the scene created by the Illusion Array.
He found himself standing alone on a vast, boundless plain. The air was still, silent, and heavy with a murderous aura.
But then, the thundering of hooves broke the silence. A terrifying, murderous aura permeated the air as it rushed toward him from the distance.
Soon, Ye Xuan saw it. A black army appeared before him, a charging horde of thousands. Behind him, a red army materialized. Right in front of him, the two forces clashed violently.
Hot blood splashed across his face.
Severed limbs rained down around him. Heads with eyes wide in terror and defiance rolled at his feet.
Fear, slaughter, resentment, and screams—a cacophony of sounds and sensations echoed relentlessly in his ears.
Warhorses shrieked, their cries a mournful song. The red army was being swiftly massacred by the black. The black-clad soldiers laughed, savagely plunging their blades into the bodies of the red soldiers.
Rivers of blood flowed. In moments, the red army was all but annihilated, leaving behind a field of devastation.
The black army closed in, surrounding the lone survivor: Ye Xuan.
Amidst wild, savage laughter, the black general, seated high upon his warhorse, slowly approached Ye Xuan and raised his battle blade.
"Kill!"
With a thunderous roar, the blood-soaked soldiers of the black army charged madly toward Ye Xuan. He could see their twisted, ferocious faces and clearly smell their foul stench.
"How boring."
Ye Xuan sneered. He finally understood what this second trial was testing: one’s tolerance for the gore of a battlefield.
An ordinary Martial Artist facing such a scene would have been scared witless, their legs trembling uncontrollably. Even some geniuses might not be able to remain composed.
The Illusion Realm was simply too real. No one could witness such a hellish scene and remain completely indifferent. Furthermore, the students of the Profound Spirit Academy would have no way of breaking free from such an illusion.
Thus, the trial tested a Martial Artist’s willpower and fortitude.
Only a true genius, a true warrior, could face a horde of powerful enemies in this Illusion Realm and still retain their composure to fight back. The cowardly would be completely overwhelmed, cut down in an instant.
Faced with the soldiers swarming in to kill him, Ye Xuan simply gave a faint smile. With a slight tremor of his mind, the Illusion Realm shattered, and he found himself back in the room, standing before the chessboard.
’He had no desire to fight a bloody battle inside some Illusion Array.’
’And while this Illusion Realm might be enough to trap students from the Profound Spirit Academy, it was useless against him.’
The red pawn in his hand landed lightly. Ye Xuan captured the general with ease, then walked out of the room.
’The second trial was the Illusion Realm. I wonder what the third will be.’
Filled with a little curiosity, Ye Xuan proceeded to the third trial.
Not long after he left, the middle-aged manager from before arrived outside the room with the chessboard. Seeing that Ye Xuan was already gone, he couldn’t help but let out a cold sneer.
"And here I thought this kid had some skill. He didn’t even break a single puppet in the Eighteen Wooden Man Formation, and he couldn’t even last ten breaths in the chess trial. With such a terrible performance, he still had the nerve to show up for the assessment. Ah, now I get it. No wonder he came so late. He must have been afraid his pathetic score would get him laughed at by the other students."
