"I've never seen the Young Master struggle so much in a fight. His opponent is also weak in comparison, only being at the peak of Spirit King. He would normally defeat such opponents without batting an eye, yet he's been struggling for over 10 minutes now." Feng Yuxiang sighed out loud, breaking the silence.
Lan Yingying shook her head, "Can you blame him? His movements are sluggish and stiff, almost as though there's something weighing him down."
"Brother Yuan will defeat pig face soon. His movements have gotten much better compared to when he first began. He's rapidly adapting to the changes in his body." Xiao Hua mumbled.
"Also, he's not using any of his sword techniques. It's like he's treating this trial as a training ground." Lan Yingying said.
"That's the Young Master for you." Feng Yuxiang smiled.
Indeed, Yuan was getting used to fighting with the restriction on his body. However, that isn't to say that things have gotten easier for him, as the restriction grew stronger as he got more used to it, almost as though it was growing with him.
After another ten minutes of nonstop clashing, Yuan finally managed to defeat the masked man without using any of his sword techniques.
He could've used everything to defeat his opponent in an instant, but if he needed so much resources to pass the first floor, there was no way that he'd pass the later floors, hence why he restricted himself even more by not using any sword techniques.
This also allowed him to familiarize with his situation.
"Congratulations on passing the first floor. What do you want for your reward? Spiritual energy or a Heaven-grade treasure?"
Yuan didn't immediately respond, as he had no need for either of these rewards. His cultivation was stuck at peak Spirit King until he upgraded his physique, and he had no use for a Heaven-grade treasure.
"What if I don't want either of these rewards?" Yuan then asked.
"You can forfeit these rewards and receive an even greater reward on the next floor— if you pass it. If you fail, the rewards on this floor will be forever gone. If you accept a reward on this floor, you can still choose the rewards on the second floor, but it won't be as good."
"Alright, I will forfeit these rewards." Yuan answered without even the slightest hesitation.
"Very well. I will now take you to the next floor."
Yuan's vision flickered for a split second, and the man with the pig mask is now suddenly wearing a mask of a sheep's face.
"Welcome to the second floor. The trial will begin in a minute."
The only thing Yuan could think about now was the second restriction.
A minute later.
Ding!
<Your body has been restricted by a mysterious force!>
"Eh?"
Yuan looked down at his hand with wide eyes. The sensation of his sword had suddenly disappeared, but when he looked, the sword was still there.
'What's going on? Why can't I feel my sword?' He wondered.
"The second restriction has blocked your sense of touch. You won't be able to feel anything except for pain."
"My sense of touch?"
Yuan now realized that even the sensation of the platform that he was standing on had disappeared, and it felt extremely awkward.
One might think that losing your sense of touch isn't that bad, but without being able to tell when your foot touches the ground as quickly, it would instantly throw off one's balance and make movement techniques near impossible. This also affects how one wields and swings their weapon.
"What a pain in the ass…" He sighed out loud.
Ten seconds later, the masked man began his assault.
Now that he's lost his sense of touch, Yuan's movements only became more awkward and unstable, and even the way he swung his sword looked different.
If someone who did not know about the situation were to see him at this moment, they would think that he was drunk to the core.
Yuan knew that it would be pointless to fight the masked man while in such an unstable condition, so he decided to spend as much time as he needed to get used to the restriction. After all, there was no restriction on how much time he had on each floor, so he could stay there for as long as he wanted— needed.
Ten minutes… twenty… thirty…
In the blink of an eye, over three hours have passed since Yuan entered the second trial. During this time, Yuan did not go on the offensive even once and remained defensive.
Once he got used to his new restrictions and could perfectly calculate the moment his foot touches the ground for all of his movements, he started to work on his sword and how he swung it.
In the end, it took him almost four hours to adapt, but once he did, he started going on the offense, defeating the masked man and clearing the second floor.
"Will you choose a reward this time, or will you forfeit it again? The choices remain the same— spiritual energy or a Divine-grade treasure."
"Forfeit." Yuan responded instantly.
"Very well… I shall now transport you to the next floor."
Meanwhile, Long Chen was already on the fourth floor.
Unlike Yuan, who hadn't used any sword techniques up to this point, Long Chen blew away his opponents with his superior techniques from the first floor.
Despite that, he was also struggling to defeat his opponents.
After narrowly passing the fourth floor, Long Chen fell to his knees and muttered in a low voice, "The person who created this place is such a sadistic bastard..."
Long Chen was someone who wasn't used to feeling the ground with his knees. In fact, he doesn't even remember the last time he was brought to his knees.
"I am one of the Four Dragons! There's no way I am going to let some nobody from the Third Heaven defeat me! I am going to defeat the seventh floor and become the first person to clear the Sword Pagoda! Just you wait!"
Long Chen gritted his teeth in frustration.
He forfeited his rewards on the fourth floor and climbed to the fifth floor shortly after.