Lin Xun’s days continued to cycle between being brutalized and growing stronger.
Xiaoke’s personal training, the seemingly endless supply of Lengning Pills and Lin Xun’s relentless hard work had allowed him to rapidly grow within an extremely short timespan.
His cultivation had broken through and reached the True Martial seventh layer, Little Cycle stage, making the aeth power in his body comparable to a peak True Martial ninth layer expert. Moreover, his aeth power’s quality would surpass most ninth layer experts.
He also had a breakthrough in his martial arts: his mastery of the Marching Army Fist had risen to the perfect level! Despite being a basic fist technique, the power of every move had ascended to a whole new level and boasted unmatched might.
Most importantly, Lin Xun had found his own fist style through the Marching Army Fist; it was a fist which was compact with boundless power like a devouring abyss!
His spirit had likewise achieved a breakthrough, as he had lit up the third spirit star in his mind-sea! The range of his senses had now expanded to three-hundred feet. Within this range, he would be able to detect even the tiniest movement.
His physical power had grown tremendously as well. According to Xiaoman, if he were to only use physical power, he could easily match a True Martial eighth layer expert!
In physique cultivation, this was known as inner-outer perfection. In other words, his body was as precious as gold while flawless and beautiful as jade.
With regards to battle experience, Lin Xun could be called a veteran of a hundred battles. He had absorbed plenty of experience and knowledge from fighting a high-level combatant like Xiaoke and transformed it into a part of his own battle power.
All of these changes caused Lin Xun to be increasingly immersed in his training. Although he was still one-sidedly being thrashed by Xiaoke every day, the progress he obtained was more than worth it.Lin Xun relished this feeling of growing stronger. He began to forget the passage of time and how many points he had accumulated.
Old Mo wasn’t slacking off either. He studied various rune arrays every day and continuously tinkered with the aeth engine design. The old man was lost in a world of his own.
In comparison, Xiaoman seemed rather free. Besides tending to Lin Xun’s wounds, she prepared meals and would occasionally give him pointers in his cultivation and combat practice.
……
As time passed, the atmosphere in the 39th Campground grew increasingly tense.
All the students were preparing for the month-end exam. Every second outside their training schedule was used to improve themselves.
The month-end exam was not just about avoiding elimination, but more importantly, a matter of individual honor!
They were proud hot-blooded youths and elites who were both far more capable and shrewder than their peers. As such, they naturally would not tolerate the other campground students one-upping them.
In other words, the month-end exam was a matter of the entire 39th Campground’s honor. If they lost, their campground would be disbanded!
When a campground was disbanded, those who managed to stay would be allocated to other campgrounds as losers. This was undoubtedly hugely humiliating for these young and proud students.
It was worth mentioning that there were only twenty-four students, including Lin Xun, remaining in the 39th Campground three days before the month-end exam.
This meant that four more people had failed to make the mark and had been eliminated.
Xiaoman’s requirements were very stringent. According to the fat middle-aged man, she had the highest standards among all forty campgrounds.
As a result, the 39th Campground had the highest elimination rate and the number of remaining students was the least among the forty campgrounds.
This put them in a very precarious situation where they would always be at a numbers disadvantage against the other campgrounds.
The fat middle-aged man had warned Xiaoke about this multiple times. However, she refused to change her stance and no one could do anything about it.
Although the 39th Campground students found this puzzling, no one dared to say anything due to their fear and respect for Instructor Xiaoke.
However, this also placed them under a tremendous amount of pressure. The month-end exam was essentially a clash between two campgrounds. The fewer people they had, the greater the disadvantage!
……
It was three days before the month-end exam and Lin Xun’s daily routine continued as per usual, not changing in the slightest due to the approaching exam.
While he was recovering from his injuries at night, something suddenly occurred to Lin Xun. Nearly all of Blood Kill Camp’s many students were at the True Martial ninth layer. In addition, they were all talented people with astonishing potential. So why had no one chosen to advance to the Spirit Dipper stage?
Xiaoman was surprised by Lin Xun’s question, “No one told you when you came to Blood Kill Camp?”
Lin Xun had a blank look on his face. He had been sent here at the very last minute, almost like an afterthought, so how could he know any of this?
Xiaoman quickly gave him the answer, “They’ve been restraining their cultivation in preparation for entering the Dipper Transformation Lake a year later! Although they’ve come to Blood Kill Camp partly for its cruel, hellish training to temper themselves, their ultimate goal is to establish the most perfect aeth power reservoir when advancing to the Spirit Dipper stage!”
She paused for a moment before continuing, “The Dipper Transformation Lake can help them realize this aspiration.”
Lin Xun’s heart churned at this revelation.
The Spirit Dipper stage was a whole new cultivation stage that surpassed the True Martial stage. It was also known as the real starting point of a cultivator’s journey.
Upon reaching this stage, a reservoir would be established in the cultivator’s qi sea. Through this reservoir, the cultivator’s aeth power would be transformed into dipper qi!
The Spirit Dipper stage was divided into three lesser cultivation realms: Human Dipper, Earth Dipper, and Heaven Dipper. However, the aeth power reservoir was always the core of each stage.
Aeth power reservoirs were categorized into three grades, where first-grade was the best and third-grade was the worst.
Most Spirit Dipper stage experts had established third-grade aeth reservoirs and were considered ordinary Spirit Dipper stage practitioners.
On the other hand, first-grade and second-grade aeth power reservoirs were not achievable by just anyone. Only cultivators with outstanding talent, innate disposition, skeletal structure, and cultivation foundations had any chance of establishing higher grade reservoirs.
In addition to all these advantages, a cultivator also needed a certain amount of luck and opportunity to establish a first-grade aeth power reservoir!
The Blood Kill Camp students were an excellent example. They were all very talented and hailed from astonishing backgrounds, but had still used various means in order to enter Blood Kill Camp. Besides hoping to further perfect themselves here, their main goal was to establish the most perfect aeth power reservoir possible when they advanced to the Spirit Dipper stage!
Blood Kill Camp’s Dipper Transformation Lake was an opportunity to fulfill this wish. As such, no one would willingly allow themselves to be eliminated and lose the chance to enter the lake!
Without the lake’s help, the aeth power reservoirs they would have ordinarily established would almost definitely be of a lower grade.
Of course, the Dipper Transformation Lake wasn’t the only place which could provide such an opportunity. However, it was still a highly sought-after chance for the Blood Kill Camp students!
After understanding this, Lin Xun could not help but sigh. No wonder Ning Meng had suppressed his cultivation for four whole years. It was all for Blood Kill Camp’s Dipper Transformation Lake.
It was likely the same for the other True Martial ninth layer students.
Smiling, Xiaoman’s eyes swirled amorously as she advised Lin Xun, “Handsome boy, do you understand how important Blood Kill Camp is now? Since you’re currently at the True Martial seventh layer stage, you should strive to reach the ninth layer in a year. If you manage to enter the Spirit Dipper Lake, it will bring you unbelievable benefits when you advance to the Spirit Dipper stage.”
Lin Xun thought for a bit and said, “I will certainly do so if I have the chance. However, my biggest concern, for now, is to avoid being eliminated.”
Xiaoman praised, “Smart boy. There are about a thousand Blood Kill Camp students in this batch and roughly a hundred of them have already been eliminated in less than a month. You can imagine how many will be left after a year of eliminations.”
This made Lin Xun think. However, there was nothing he could do. Blood Kill Camp’s elimination rate was just far too high; it was so high that he did not dare to entertain any thoughts of entering the Dipper Transformation Lake for now.
Xiaoman began to reminiscence, “I remember there has never been more than thirty people ultimately entering the Dipper Transformation Lake in past batches.”
Lin Xun’s heart shivered as he blurted out in surprise, “Thirty?! The other nine-hundred people were eliminated?”
Xiaoman displayed a sliver of disdain, “Do you think that just anyone can enter the Dipper Transformation Lake? It’s a huge opportunity! Only a handful of places in the Ziyao Empire can compare to it!”
“It seems that I’ve come to the right place…” Lin Xun’s heart surged with excitement. Only the greatest challenge could make a person’s fighting spirit rise to its highest.
……
One day before the month-end exam, Lin Xun left Old Mo’s warehouse and was brought back to the 39th Campground by Xiaoke.
Since the exam was tomorrow, Lin Xun naturally needed to participate as a member of the 39th Campground.
Before leaving the warehouse, Old Mo arrogantly thumped his thin chest and declared, “Kid, go ahead and let loose! Even if you are thrashed by others, I guarantee that you won’t be sent out of Blood Kill Camp!”
However, Old Mo deflated when Lin Xun asked if he could guarantee a spot to enter the Dipper Transformation Lake and quickly found an excuse to slip away.
Evidently, preventing Lin Xun from leaving was Old Mo’s limit. Lin Xun could only depend on himself to enter the lake.
In contrast, Xiaoman had the utmost confidence in Lin Xun. She proudly crossed her arms, fully displaying her mesmerizing curves.
She winked and smiled flirtatiously, “Don’t be too outstanding and try to keep a low profile as much as possible. In the million-and-one chance that you draw Instructor Xiaoke’s interest, your big sister’s heart will be shattered.”