Lin Xun panted heavily in the dark room, feeling as if needles were stabbing every inch of his skin. His clothes were already drenched in sweat.
“The second trial was much crazier than expected…” mumbled Lin Xun. However, he was not discouraged. He had already predicted that he would not have a high chance of passing the trial on the first try.
The only surprise was that he would fail so quickly. He was honestly still a little unable to come to terms with it.
He glanced at the soundly sleeping Xia Zhi. Since he was not feeling the least bit sleepy, Lin Xun walked out of the room to take a cold shower.
As he left, Lin Xun was completely oblivious to the faint smile that rose from the corners of Xia Zhi’s lips.
She had sensed Lin Xun’s presence while asleep. Although she did not understand what had happened, feeling his presence gave her an unprecedented peace of mind.
……
It was late at night. Stars flickered in the dome of the sky, sprinkling their faint light onto the land.
In the yard, Lin Xun was soaking in the wooden tub. The ice-cold sensation of the water over his skin soothed the piercing pain, making it slowly recede.
“The second attempt will begin in three days, but I’m afraid that I’m certain to fail at my current level of physical power.”Lin Xun leaned against the side of the tub as he blankly stared at the night sky.
The water mountain was ten-thousand-feet tall, and the water flow was rapid and powerful; the battering force had wildly surpassed his imagination. It was basically impossible to ascend the peak against such a torrential flow.
Lin Xun suspected that even if his physique reached the True Martial ninth layer, he would still have little hope of passing the trial.
“What a headache.” Lin Xun was unable to find a solution no matter how hard he racked his brains. In the end, he let out a deep sigh.
Eh?
Lin Xun suddenly discovered that his energy was recovering at an unimaginable speed. Every inch of his skin, muscles, blood, and flesh were giving off a slightly numb sensation as if they were growing.
Lin Xun’s attention was immediately drawn and he took a closer look. Sure enough, he discovered wisps of peculiar power continuously fusing with his body.
Not only was his energy rapidly recovering, but his body was also growing stronger!
This unexpected change made him feel a surge of excitement, causing him to suddenly recall what happened several months ago when he first left the Omega Secret-Realm.
Back then, he had originally assumed his only prize for passing the Great Azure Cloud Path’s first trial was the Little Divine Meditation Art. Who could have imagined that the injuries at his four heart acupuncture points would also disappear and even allow him to create four aeth power vortexes!
Furthermore, his originally weak physique had been improved tremendously!
“Could entering the Omega Secret-Realm have some kind of secret beneficial effect on my physique? Or perhaps the changes have something to do with the body tempering trial?”
Various possibilities began to swirl in Lin Xun’s head. The Great Azure Cloud Path’s second trial had sent me into a rune battle realm called the Thousand Heavy Wave Sea.
Could what have initially seemed to be punishing pain left by the torrential downpour of water actually be a kind of training?
It was possible!
The name of the trial was body tempering. Aeth power was forbidden and I can only use physical power.
The more he thought about it, the more he was certain that the wisps of peculiar power in his body originated from the Thousand Heavy Wave Sea!
This discovery immediately excited him and swept away all his earlier disappointment. He hurriedly wiped his body dry, changed into a set of clean clothes, and began to practice the Marching Army Fist in the yard.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Fist winds rippled through the air. As he closely examined his physical power, Lin Xun discovered that it had grown substantially!
Previously, only a full-power punch could shake the surrounding air and make it howl. Now, even an ordinary strike could achieve the same impact.
“Hmm, it seems that I can’t give up on any trial attempts even if I have no chance of passing. If each trial improves my physique, I will grow stronger with each attempt. Correspondingly, the trial will gradually become easier than before.”
The more he thought about it the clearer it became. “So that’s how it is! The second trial’s true goal is to train my physique. There will be hope even if I fail repeatedly!
“Like how the first trial might have appeared to test the examinee’s ability to understand the secrets of the flowing light rune, but the true secret of the flowing light rune was actually the Little Divine Meditation Art?
“It seems that I’ve underestimated the Great Azure Cloud Path’s trials design. Who could have imagined that there would be an unimaginable secret behind each trial?”
Lin Xun felt as if the clouds had cleared and he could see the sun. Everything had suddenly become so clear. His eyes shone like stars as he stood amidst the darkness of the night.
……
Three days passed.
At night, Lin Xun entered the Omega Secret-Realm and attempted the Thousand Heavy Heavy Wave Sea trial again.
Due to his strengthened physique, Lin Xun managed to climb twenty feet higher this time before he was ultimately flung away by three torrential waves.
Rather than focus on his failure, Lin Xun was more concerned about the changes in his physique this time. Sure enough, after some careful inspection, he discovered that his hypothesis was correct. After the attempt, his physical power had grown again!
Lin Xun did some calculations: if the trial could be attempted once every three days, 108 trials would take 324 days. This was nearly a year!
If he could raise his physical power each time, the benefits were practically immeasurable.
This was not all. While the trial was awesome, his daily training was also an alternate method that trained his body. With these two superimposed together, it was exciting to imagine how strong his body would become.
All of this reignited Lin Xun’s fighting spirit, making him more determined than ever to conquer the Great Azure Cloud Path’s second trial.
“What a pity. If only I didn’t accumulate so many resources and be forced to make a trip to the Qingyang Tribe. I rather spend all of my time on training.” Lin Xun sighed. He had already promised Village Chief Xiao Tianren he would head out tomorrow and begin his long trip to the Qingyang Tribe.
……
The next morning.
At the village entrance, Lin Xun waved goodbye to the villagers from atop a majestic scaled horse.
“I’ll be waiting for your return.” Besides the scaled horse, Xia Zhi raised her face, revealing a serious expression, “If you don’t return, I’ll go find you.”
“Good.” Lin Xun grinned. His smile seemed more dazzling than usual under the morning sun.
Neigh!
The scaled horse neighed as it kicked out a cloud of dust and galloped away with Lin Xun.
Xia Zhi watched until Lin Xun’s figure completely disappeared from sight. Only then did she withdraw her gaze and silently return home, her tiny figure appearing exceptionally lonely.
Some of the villagers wanted to invite Xia Zhi to stay with them. After all, with Lin Xun gone, there would be no one to prepare her meals. It was far too heart-wrenching for a little girl to live all alone.
However, they were stopped by Xiao Tianren. He shook his head and said, “There’s no need to do so. Xia Zhi is different from others. We only need to keep watch from afar.”
The villagers understood after some thinking. Xia Zhi was very unique and completely different from the other children; even Lin Xun was not her match. Moreover, she gave off a very distant and indifferent aura that made the villagers afraid of approaching her rashly.
“We can only hope that little brother Lin Xun will return as soon as possible.” Xiao Tianren sighed deeply.
……
Boundless mountains rose and fell like the earth’s spine with rivers and creeks flowing among them. At a glance, all a person could see was the endless wilderness.
This was the Three Thousand Great Mountains, located at the Ziyao Empire’s southwest border and was also known as heaven’s border since ancient times.
The Three Thousand Great Mountains was home to numerous sinister and terrifying savage beasts and was filled with countless danger zones. Any ordinary person who stepped into this place would be faced with almost certain death.
Rumble~~~
The scaled horse galloped across the land, raising clouds of dust from its four hooves. A leather bag that was more than ten-feet-tall sat on the scaled horse’s back, weighing at least several hundred pounds.
Inside it was many savage beast skins, fur, bones, claws, and other ingredients. The bag also contained aeth herbs and plants which grew deep in the mountains.
Of course, the valuable goods were stored in Lin Xun’s storage ring—three hundred pounds of Feiyun Fire Copper!
These were not ores but pure processed Feiyun Fire Copper that would fetch a shocking price.
Lin Xun chose not to rush at full speed. The Three Thousand Great Mountains was far too dangerous, and any negligence might lead to disaster.
In addition, it was the first time Lin Xun was journeying to the Qingyang Tribe and he only roughly knew that he should reach his destination in three days if he headed north. The detailed path, however, was a mystery to him.
Under such circumstances, Lin Xun naturally intended to practice a little more caution.
Fortunately, besides meeting a few ferocious beasts, he did not encounter any danger all the way till noon.
The hot sun burned the land, the scaled horse panting heavily under its merciless rays. Lin Xun decided that it was not wise to continue and nudged the horse to slow down. He soon found a lush mountain forest where he dismounted to take a break.
He retrieved some jerky to replenish his energy as he made plans for his eventual arrival at the Qingyang Tribe.
An incense stick of time later.
Lin Xun saw that the scaled horse was rested and ready. He quickly flipped himself back onto the horse to continue their journey.
Rumble!
The ground violently shook as if there was an earthquake while giant boulders tumbled down a mountain in the distance.
Animal cries sounded from the forest, filled with panic and terror.
Even the scaled horse below him grew agitated.
Lin Xun’s heart shivered as he felt intense danger. He rapidly scanned the surroundings but he failed to discover anything.
What was going on?
A beam of dazzling golden light suddenly erupted from an extremely faraway mountain. Amidst the glaring light, Lin Xun could just barely make out what seemed to be a giant golden claw!