"We are under attack! Work together to defend!"
The team leader shouted, and they regrouped in a swift motion, working together to defend against the incoming onslaught.
As soon as Ken saw they disengaged from him to fight the others, he also took his distance, unwilling to compete for the BP. After all, he didn't need it, and his body was wounded. The cut on his chest was especially large and sent constant pulses of pain to his pain receptors.
'There's a path, I can't risk fighting them now.'
Ken didn't fear fighting them if he was in optimal condition, but it wasn't the case. Upon noticing an opening, he sprinted in that direction.
"Stop him! He is wounded and carries tons of BP!"
One of the intermediate Nascent Soul cultivators shouted, but the child easily slid under his great sword, deflected another strike, and jumped against the wall to pass over the high Nascent Soul cultivator's head.
The weaker cultivators tried to take advantage of Ken's distraction to strike down their enemies, preventing the four from placing all their attention on stopping Ken.
The masked boy didn't hesitate to run into the corridor, crossing the 100 meters mark he previously noticed nobody dared to approach.
Immediately after, Ken understood the meaning of the trial's name. Small knives were thrown at him from the walls in every direction, and Ken had to deflect and dodge them if he didn't want to get hurt.
'I'm getting healed, that's why they wanted BP so badly!'
Ken noticed another peculiarity; Blood Points were sucked out of his token and energy filled his wounds, healing them while he remained inside the danger zone. Apparently, the trial wasn't as unforgiving as one might think. It also wasn't all roses; this mechanism encouraged the inheritors to kill each other for extra BP.
The young boy never stopped his sprint. He pushed forward through the flying knives, using his quick reaction speed and his swift sword to clear a path in front of him as he ran in the narrow corridor.
From time to time, a spear would come out among the knives. While it doesn't sound any different, it was much more dangerous. The spears carried a heavy weight behind them, and if Ken couldn't dodge them entirely, they'd slow him down and create openings in his defenses.
Ken's heart pounded within his chest as he sprinted through the long, narrow corridor, his body propelled by the sheer force of his cultivation. The confined space offered little margin for error, demanding precise movements and split-second decisions. His mind was always calm and focused on the task at hand.
As the knives cut through the air, Ken's eyes locked onto their trajectory, his mind calculating the perfect timing for evasion. He swiftly tilted his body, leaning to the side with superhuman flexibility, narrowly evading the deadly blades that sliced through the space he had occupied just moments before.
As he ran, he could hear the sound of knives and spears being thrown at him from the walls. He didn't bother to look back; he knew that if he did, he would lose precious seconds. Instead, he focused on his running and on dodging the incoming attacks.
A spear came next, and he jumped over it, landing on the other side of the corridor. Another knife came at him, and he deflected it with his sword, sending it flying into another incoming knife, sparing himself from dodging another strike.
His movements were a seamless dance of finesse and speed, but it wasn't just evasion. Ken's skill extended beyond mere avoidance. As the knives closed in on him, his flexible sword moved in a blur, nimbly deflecting them with accurate strikes, sometimes even sending them clashing against one another.
He utilized the momentum of the incoming blades to redirect their trajectory, sending them spiraling harmlessly away. The corridor became a battlefield, with Ken gracefully maneuvering through the onslaught.
Yet, the challenge intensified when more spears came hurtling toward him. Their formidable weight meant that blocking them head-on would impede his progress, but Ken's instincts kicked in with uncanny exactness.
He twisted his body with incredible agility, seamlessly weaving through the barrage of spears. Like a shadow in motion, he slid beneath one, feeling the rush of air above him as it narrowly missed. With a swift jump, he soared over another, the wind whistling past his ears.
He already lost over 50,000 BP and his body wasn't completely healed yet. His risky moves and exaggerated movements cost him extra pain and reopening his wounds, but Ken's focus was unbreakable. He knew the others couldn't predict the route of the assaults as well as he, which would explain their despair for BP.
In this high-stakes dance of danger, Ken's mastery of movement and his powerful body combined to create a mesmerizing spectacle. The cultivators behind stopped fighting and bore witness to his extraordinary proficiency, sending a shiver down their spines when they thought of fighting him when he wasn't wounded.
Ken continued to run, dodging and deflecting the attacks as they came. He was getting closer to the end of the corridor, but he knew that he couldn't let his guard down. If he did, he would be killed.
Finally, Ken reached the end of the corridor. He burst through the door and into the open air, breathing a sigh of relief. He had made it. His shoulder throbbed in pain from crashing into the wooden door, but he didn't care. He hurriedly took out a healing pill from his now unblocked storage ring and sat down to heal himself.
'Oh, this isn't open air, it's just a room with no ceiling.'
A few minutes later, Ken noticed he was still within four tall walls, but he could see the grey sky of the secret realm. His wounds stabilized, and none of the new cuts he earned in the challenge were deep enough to threaten his well-being.
"Congratulations on clearing the Challenge of Reflexes, Young Inheritor. You may now check the prizes."
Three pedestals came out of the ground, a sight Ken was already used to seeing.
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