Despite the fat middle-aged man’s complaints and the bewildered gazes from the students in the cabin, Xiaoke had never wavered once after she made her decision.
Before long, the treasure ship landed on a barren mountaintop, and Xiaoke guided the students out.
As the wind whistled around the mountain peak, Xiaoke stood upright, looking graceful and beautiful with her slim figure and straight back.
“This is the 10th training ground. There are many golden flame spiders scattered around here. What you have to do is fight them for three hours.”
Xiaoke pointed to the foot of the mountain, where there was a large rocky beach.
Golden flame spiders!
All the students became tense and their faces turned solemn. The golden flame spiders were extremely vicious and poisonous. They could spit toxic flames from their bodies and a person would fall into an unconscious state or, at worst, lose their life if poisoned!
Even though such savage beasts were only the around size of a palm, they lived and acted in groups of hundreds and thousands, which made them extremely difficult to deal with.
Even Lin Xun couldn’t help but shiver when he heard about the task. Golden flame spiders weren’t difficult to kill. At least, it was possible for cultivators at the fifth layer True Martial Stage.
However, the rules of their task were very tricky—They had to fight for three hours! In other words, they would be constantly attacked by an endless stream of golden flame spiders for three hours!This was the most terrifying part.
“Remember, students are not allowed to attack or kill each other. Also, anyone who runs away or sustained unbearable injuries in those three hours will be eliminated. You all are allowed to choose a weapon for battle.”
When Xiaoke finished speaking, the middle-aged man fatty was already walking towards them with a huge wooden box on his shoulder.
With a thud, the wooden box smashed to the ground, and a heap of weapons scattered across the ground. There was any weapon that one could think of, including swords, spears, swords, halberds, hatchets, battleaxes, hooks and pitchforks. Unfortunately, they were all ordinary weapons.
“Quickly choose your weapon and start!”
Everyone raced to grab the weapon they were skilled at. Lin Xun grabbed a three-foot black iron blade. It was pretty sharp.
After what happened yesterday, no one dared to disobey Xiaoke’s order. After picking their weapons, they all rushed to the rocky beach at the foot of the mountain.
……
“It’s their first day here. Regardless of how good they are, the 10th training ground is very dangerous and isn’t a place for rookies.”
The middle-aged fatty stood sighed atop the mountain peak. “If you do this, you will unnecessarily lose a lot of students.”
Xiaoke was calm as she explained, “Even if they aren’t eliminated here, they will be eliminated in the future. It’s better to eliminate the trash early.”
The middle-aged fatty sat down on a boulder and watched the students at the foot of the mountain with narrowed eyes. The students had already started to move on the 10th training ground.
“Xiaoke, if you don’t have enough points this time, I don’t know when you can leave this hell. Are you willing to stay here for the rest of your life?”
Xiaoke frowned and kept silent.
……
At the foot of the mountain.
Lin Xun avoided the group and cautiously moved forward across the rocky beach by himself. He had to find a position that was good for both offense and defense, otherwise it would be difficult to guarantee whether he could last three hours under the attacks of the golden flame spiders.
There were quite a few who had the same thought as Lin Xun. The rocky beach was huge and there was no reason to come into conflict with others over territories.
Interestingly, Lin Xun and the other students all chose to act alone.
Suddenly, a shadow rushed out from a rock like a strip of flames. It headed straight for Lin Xun’s face.
Shua!
Lin Xun did not dodge or evade. His aeth power surged around him as he swung his sharp blade down and split the shadowy flame into two parts.
It was a palm-sized golden flame spider. Its body was red-gold, and its eight long legs were sharp like a saw and emitted a threatening fiery light.
Lin Xun continued to advance without any hesitation. But he couldn’t help but frown when he realized that there wasn’t a defensive position on the rocky beach except for some broken rocks, which were like fragments of sand and dust.
“Could it be that the layout of the 10th training ground is precisely set up to allow students to hone their fighting skills and train their endurance in battle? If so, it might be impossible to find a perfect spot no matter how long I search…”
Lin Xun quickly tried to formulate a plan of action. In the end, he remained in the same spot and stopped running. Since he had to fight for three hours, he decided to not waste his energy.
Chi!
Soon, a golden flame spider shot out from the ground, like streaks of golden flame. Its face was hideous and terrifying.
Lin Xun’s handsome face was calm but serious. He was like a different person in battle. His aeth power was surging in his body and the edge of his brows were sharp as a blade. He concentrated on his breathing as his perception power spread out. He was akin to a drawn bow, ready for battle.
He swung his blade!
He slashed and killed!
He moved and dodged within a radius of a few feet!
With his black iron blade combined with the Six Word Blade Art, he began the long and fierce battle.
The secret to a long battle was to preserve strength. This was why he had to kill with one strike every time he swung his blade. Furthermore, every dodge had to be for the purpose of killing the enemy from a better position.
Unnecessary movement and usage of strength would only accelerate the consumption of energy.
Although Lin Xun understood this, it was still extremely difficult to achieve it.
This was because the enemies gave him no time to think. He had to use his fighting instinct to save and preserve his strength as much as possible!
For example, there were hundreds and thousands of golden flame spiders in front of him. They endlessly rushed out from the ground in groups and attacked from different angles and positions. The key point was how to kill them with the most effective means and least amount of energy.
This was easier said than done.
Everyone understood this, but there was still a difference from what they imagined when it was their turn.
Pu pu pu...Golden flame spiders were killed one after another, except they all died in different ways.
Some were split in half from the head, some had their heads slashed off, some lost their saw-like legs, some had their stomach pierced, and some were directly pulverized into flesh and blood.
As the battle progressed, Lin Xun adjusted and improved his fighting methods. The golden flame spiders that died under his blade were all pierced between their eyes.
A golden flame spider was only around the size of a palm, and its head was like a pigeon’s egg. The area between its eyes was very small, but after repeated tests, Lin Xun found that the area between its eyes was its weakness. He only needed to consume little strength to kill them in one strike if he struck that area!
Lin Xun’s discovery no doubt saved him a lot of strength but it was extremely difficult to pierce through the area between their eyes every single time. It required extremely skillful fighting.
The Six Word Blade Art that Lin Xun cultivated contained many mysteries and was extremely difficult to understand, which made it extremely difficult to practice.
Even now, Lin Xun had only grasped the Six Word Blade to the elemental martial arts realm and was still one step away from reaching the precise realm.
Back when Lin Xun was in Donglin City, he had already known that he had to go through the training of blood and fire to make a breakthrough in this blade art.
The battle against the endless stream of golden flame spiders was undoubtedly a perfect time to hone his blade skills. If he could improve his blade skills to the precise realm, it would undoubtedly be easier to deal with the golden flame spiders.
Precision emphasized on essence and accuracy.
The elemental realm was to understand the essence and mystery of the blade art. The precise realm was to bring out the power of these essences and mysteries with great precision!
As time passed, Lin Xun became increasingly absorbed in the battle. His face didn’t ripple in the slightest and he kept his mind free of distracting thoughts.
At the same time, the students from the 39th campground were also fighting frantically in other areas of the 10th training ground.
It was unknown how many golden flame spiders were hiding underground but they frantically sped out upon sensing the invasion of outsiders.
Their attacks were very always the same and very simple—They spat out fire poison, but that poison had an extremely astonishing destructive power. In less than a quarter of an hour, a student let out a sharp scream. Fire poison was shot into his face and his skin was instantly corroded while the terrifying poison spread along the wound.
Unguarded, the student couldn’t fight back and was besieged by a cluster of golden flame spiders. They crawled all over his body, and he couldn't help but scream out that he wanted to give up the battle. An attendant timely arrived and took him out of the training ground.
However, the student was eliminated as a result.
Some performed poorly, while others performed extremely astonishingly well. For example Shi Yu, Ning Meng, and Qi Can. Although they each had different fighting styles, their powers were extremely showy. All golden flame spiders were killed when they neared these youngsters regardless of the number.
Compared with them, Lin Xun’s performance was at most ordinary.
On the mountain peak.
The middle-aged fatty narrowed his eyes as he watched the battlefield. His gaze was fixed on Shi Yu, Ning Meng, Qi Can and eight other students. His eyes gleamed with interest.
“It had been decades since the Blood Kill Camp last opened. I didn’t expect its reopening to attract such good seedlings. They are much stronger than those in the past.”
The middle-aged fatty looked emotional as though he remembered something from the past.
“I don't know about the past, but at present, the overall performance of this group of students isn’t bad. But their methods are still too immature. They lack life and death training and they lack an imposing bearing that belongs to them in battle,” Xiaoke said indifferently. She was also watching the movements on the battlefield.
The middle-aged fatty said after a thought. “In your opinion, how many people would complete the training in the end?”
“Around twenty-five.” Xiaoke casually stated.
The middle-aged fatty sighed. “Then one-third of the students will be eliminated. This is the first day of training. That won’t be a good thing for you. At least it would be very unfavorable to you in the camp confrontation in three months.”
Xiaoke’s expression was unchanged. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and said calmly, “It doesn’t matter how many students there are. What matters is how many elite students there are.”
The middle-aged fatty stammered, “You and your older sister have completely different personalities, she…”
Xiaoke's face flashed a hint of coldness, and suddenly she lashed out with a kick. The middle aged fatty was sent flying. He smashed a huge hole into the wall and caused stone fragments to hurl everywhere. It was obvious how terrifying that kick was.
However, unexpectedly, the middle aged fatty’s seemingly soft body was unusually solid and strong. He quickly bounced back up and helplessly brushed the dirt off his body.
Xiaoke’s graceful and fair face was filled with murderous intent as she uttered clearly, “Don't mention her in front of me again, or I will definitely destroy your source of life!”
The middle-aged fatty shuddered, subconsciously covered his crotch, and clamped his mouth shut.