Chương 167: War God — Chapter 167 - This is a Trial, and You're Actually Training in Here?

"Damn, this kid's impressive!" In the command room, Xiong Kuohai slapped his palms together. Watching the scene on screen, a long-dormant surge of hot blood welled up in his chest. And with it came excitement! The Qiongwu Preliminary Trial wasn't held every year. And the Dragon Flag: in every cohort, military martial artists who could pick it up on their very first attempt... One or two per cohort was already considered excellent. Let alone the fact that a Third Realm Martial Artist had picked it up!

If word got out, the military headquarters in other regions would have their jaws on the floor!

"This kid's adaptability is terrifyingly strong."

"And his physical conditioning is extremely powerful. Using his feet to embed into the cliff face to climb, and even the intense gravity fluctuations in the last 100 meters didn't stop him."

"Worthy of being the Old Martial Arts top scholar who suppressed an entire nation's New Martial Arts exam candidates."

"This physical body is strong enough to rival the fourth realm. And this tenacity is just too strong..." The more he thought about it, the more eager he became to see how far Wang Xian would go. He wasn't alone. The moment Wang Xian picked up the Dragon Flag, the many military martial artists who had already completed their trials in the observation room watched the next stage with mounting anticipation. Wang Xian descended the cliff and arrived before the second stage's Void Illusion Chamber.

A super-sized enclosed space. Entirely pure white, like some kind of laboratory. Martial artists taking the trial entered through different passages. After identity verification, the official trial would begin. The process wasn't complicated. Just like the first stage, Wang Xian walked into the Void Illusion Chamber. As he entered, he could see dejected martial artists emerging from the other side.

Walking and grumbling:"Without spatial martial talent, how can you possibly hit those spatial targets with perception alone?"

"And there are backstage personnel manually controlling it. Your personal habits and attack instincts get thoroughly worn down..."

"Even if you have profound-type spatial martial talent, how long can you sustain it once activated?"

"This trial is just too hard..." If it weren't hard, it wouldn't be the Qiongwu Preliminary Trial designed for the Alien Star Battlefield. Wang Xian thought to himself. After walking through a corridor, Wang Xian entered the interior of the Void Illusion Chamber. In the pure white space, an invisible pressure bore down. A row of green text appeared in midair with a brief introduction to the trial content.

Mainly to let martial artists do a final confirmation, preventing anyone from being completely clueless about what they were facing. It stated that martial artists could use any weapon, execute any martial technique, and as long as they hit the center of a target, it counted as success. In other words. Here, you could unleash your full strength. After reading, he clicked confirm. A 10-second countdown began.

'Still too lenient...' Wang Xian shook his head, walked to the side, and picked up an ordinary long spear. The countdown ticked away. Meanwhile. In the external observation room. Dozens of eyes stared at the screen showing the Void Illusion Chamber. Because it was an entirely enclosed internal space... This stage's trial had a certain degree of confidentiality. Martial artists watching the holographic feed could only see a simple score panel. They couldn't see the spatial targets from outside.

Whenever a spatial target appeared and was struck by the martial artist inside, the scoring panel would change. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. This allowed relatives outside to intuitively understand the trial situation inside. Furthermore, this stage had a time limit. Generally, hitting six or more spatial targets was required to pass the Qiongwu Preliminary Trial. So.

At this moment, everyone just needed to watch that score panel to know how things were going. The only place where one could see this stage's trial situation relatively clearly... was the command room. Because the command room was right next to the Void Illusion Chamber.

"This stage only lasts 30 minutes."

"For a Third Realm Martial Artist, only by learning wide-area martial techniques is there some possibility of hitting the spatial targets."

"And you can't rely on perception..."

"You can only fire wildly, like a blind cat stumbling on a dead rat..." Chu Xiao analyzed.

"As long as your elemental force is abundant enough, continuously unleashing area-of-effect martial techniques, making blade energy cover the room as much as possible, then within 30 minutes, you might possibly hit six." Big Sister nodded beside him. This method was used even by quite a few Fourth Realm Martial Artists. Although it somewhat went against the trial's original intent... There was no choice.

Without spatial-related martial talent, trying to perceive the appearance of spatial targets was extremely difficult. Unless one had extraordinary spiritual power and had undergone specific training, only then might it be possible. Big Sister looked at the white-haired woman from Eastern Sakura. That girl's talent was peculiar. She'd broken Old Chu's record of 10 targets, reaching an astonishing 15. Simply unbelievable!

"Looks like it's already begun..."

"The score panel isn't moving..." Relying on experience, Chu Xiao calculated the time since Wang Xian entered the Void Illusion Chamber. After reading the instructions, with 10 seconds of preparation... It should have started by now. One minute, two minutes, three minutes... Until five minutes passed. The score panel still hadn't moved.

"No good. This stage tests perception and experience."

"The demands on a martial artist's combat experience and combat intuition are too high." Chu Xiao frowned slightly.

"A Third Realm Martial Artist, even if they've learned an advanced martial technique with expanded range, still couldn't cover the entire Void Illusion Chamber. They can only gamble on luck..." The many martial artists nodded slightly.

"Gambling on luck, even passing is somewhat difficult." Qianye Longqi standing to the side said with a faint smile.

"This stage tests precisely a martial artist's combat intuition and perception."

"Combat experience isn't even useful, because those spatial targets appear from within space without any pattern."

"There's no way to summarize a pattern or perform analytical prediction."

"A martial artist can't rely only on experience. They must cultivate powerful combat intuition, and at the same time possess physical habits that are always battle-ready."

"No matter how strong his adaptability is, in this kind of environment, hitting three or four targets would already be difficult."

"Because combat intuition and perception are slowly developed through countless battles."

"No one's combat intuition and perception are innate."

"Even if you have powerful martial talent, without countless battle tempering, you still can't pass this stage." After speaking, he glanced at his younger sister beside him. His eyes carried a trace of pride. The many martial artists didn't refute him. What he said was factual. Facts must be acknowledged. Many Fourth Realm Martial Artists didn't pass this stage, mainly because their genuine battle tempering wasn't particularly extensive.

"Oh, the score panel jumped." Someone suddenly spoke up. Everyone's gaze sharpened. Wang Xian's score panel gave a slight jump. He'd already hit one spatial target.

"Ten minutes."

"One in 10 minutes... in 30 minutes, looks like two or three at most..." Chu Xiao's heart tightened. Roughly what Qianye Longqi had predicted. Indeed. For a Third Realm Martial Artist to achieve this much was already quite good. After all, even their Fourth Realm Martial Artists' battle tempering wasn't extensive. How much could a Third Realm Martial Artist who'd just entered university possibly have? How could he possibly have cultivated terrifying combat intuition and perception? However.

At this moment, the command room presented an entirely different situation.

"What's going on?"

"I clearly saw this kid pierce the spatial targets over a dozen times. What's happening? What is the control room doing?" Through the massive screen, Xiong Kuohai watched the scenes inside the Void Illusion Chamber at close range. In his eyes were confusion, surprise, shock... He'd been watching with near-total absorption for a full 10 minutes. Why? Because from the very moment this kid picked up that spear... He hadn't executed a single martial technique.

Up until now, he'd purely used only one move: gripping the spear and thrusting straight! The most basic move in spear arts. No martial techniques. Only this single most basic move. And yet... The instant a spatial target appeared... This kid, as if foreseeing it, would pierce it with one thrust. Every subsequent thrust, none missed! He'd watched for a full 10 minutes. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the scoreboard. He was instantly stunned.

"1?" He had no idea how many thrusts had been made. Where the hell did a 1 come from? A system error?

"Reporting to the Chief... the control room says... there's no mistake." The adjutant beside him said cautiously.

"They say that Wang Xian's first dozen-plus thrusts all missed the bullseye... all of them struck the edge."

"Only that last thrust just now completely hit the bullseye."

"?" Xiong Kuohai froze. He was completely dumbfounded. Because even he hadn't noticed. He suddenly turned his head. A strange light seemed to flash through his eyes. His gaze, in an instant, seemed to completely penetrate the walls, landing inside the Void Illusion Chamber. He saw every single one of Wang Xian's movements with absolute clarity. The moment the spatial target appeared. This time, he saw it clearly. Wang Xian thrust out his spear. His footwork trembled slightly.

The spear tip seemed to carry a peculiar fluctuation, landing neither more nor less right on the edge of the spatial target. The entire target showed slight cracks. Then in an instant, the target vanished and, counterintuitively, reappeared diagonally behind Wang Xian. Wang Xian, without even thinking, spun and thrust backward with a single spear strike. Once again hitting the spatial target, still on the other edge. As if symmetrical.

"This kid... is deliberately hitting the edge!" Xiong Kuohai blurted out. The adjutant beside him asked, puzzled, "The bullseye is already hard to hit. Hitting the edge is pretty normal, right?"

"Impossible! He's absolutely doing it on purpose!" Xiong Kuohai shook his head.

"This kid's combat intuition might be even more ridiculous than mine. He isn't using any energy at all. Purely relying on his physical body to grip the spear, sensing spatial fluctuations. Every thrust lands, and the positions of the two edge hits are symmetrical!"

"If it were an accidental edge hit, it wouldn't be this regular." The adjutant was stunned speechless.

"Everyone else is desperate to hit a bullseye with every strike. Why would he deliberately hit the edge?" Xiong Kuohai furrowed his brow and thought for a few seconds. His eyes flickered.

"This kid... is probably using the trial to train himself!"

"?" The adjutant was completely dumbstruck. No way, bro. This is our Qiongwu Trial! Not a place for you to train! Who the hell is this badass, daring to train himself in the middle of such a high-difficulty trial?

"This youth... is a bit heaven-defying..." the adjutant said.

"Only, training what? A martial technique? Or basic spear arts? Doesn't seem like there's much to train... Or a secret skill? But what secret skill requires this kind of training?"