Flowing Light

[You have passed the Martial Will Trial. Please wait for the second trial to begin.]

A line of text appeared before Jiang Ye.

"Is this the Martial Will Trial?"

Jiang Ye hitched up his pants and shook his head. "Pretty unremarkable."

Perhaps the illusion had felt very real to everyone else, convincing in every way.

But to Jiang Ye, it was riddled with flaws.

There was no other reason.

For the past six months, he had endured similar trials every night in the Martial Arts Heavenly Ladder.

And the illusions in the Martial Arts Heavenly Ladder didn't just look real. Their touch, smell, and taste were all brought to the highest level of perfection.

Every interaction sent his neural networks into a high-frequency tremor, unleashing wave after wave of dopamine and leaving him craving more.

After savoring such exquisite fare,

the Martial Will Trial just now had been nothing to Jiang Ye.

The moment he saw the girl with her snow-white bare feet, he had guessed that he was already inside an illusion.

Still, out of caution, he carefully examined the situation.

To his surprise, when the girl saw that he wasn't falling for it, she brought three or four equally beautiful girls into the room to serve him together.

What's more, all those beautiful girls had voices much like the Shadow Clan's, capable of clouding the mind.

The girls kept speaking in soft, seductive tones, trying to make him lose himself on the big bed.

Seeing that, Jiang Ye became completely certain that it was an illusion.

Then he passed the trial with ease.

"Nearly a minute to pass the trial."

Jiang Ye muttered, "I wonder if that score will get me into the top three."

The system hadn't announced the rankings yet, so all he could do was wait patiently.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, fifteen minutes went by.

[The Martial Will Trial has ended!]

[Anyone who has not broken through the illusion has been eliminated.]

A screen of light appeared before every trial participant.

The results list appeared on the screen.

In the trial space where Lin Xuan was,

the moment the screen appeared, Lin Xuan immediately looked at the results.

[Lin Xuan: 280 points]

"Only 20 points off a perfect score?" A smile appeared on Lin Xuan's face.

Although the illusion had frightened him for a while when he first entered it,

he was still the top student at Ancheng First Middle School, and his Martial Will was no weakling.

So he had passed the trial in just five minutes!

"Did anyone score higher than me?"

Lin Xuan continued scanning the results.

[Zeng Xueqing: 290 points]

[Xu Lei: 260 points]

[Li Zhichao: 210 points]

After glancing over those names,

Lin Xuan grinned. "Zhichao only got 210? What a disappointment."

His Martial Will couldn't match Lin Xuan's, and neither could his Martial Arts talent. What did he have left to compete with?

Lin Xuan shook his head, no longer seeing Li Zhichao as a threat. "My biggest rival in this trial should be this Zeng Xueqing."

"Hm?"

Suddenly, a name caught the corner of his eye, and his expression froze.

"Jiang Ye, 300 points?"

"How is that possible?"

Lin Xuan stared hard at the name, unable to believe it.

Someone had actually scored a perfect 300!

Did that mean the other person had passed the trial in just three minutes?!

In another trial space,

a graceful girl in a red dress frowned as she looked at the list.

"Jiang Ye."

Zeng Xueqing stared at the name on the screen, clenching her fist. "I have to give it everything I've got in the next two trials. I absolutely can't let someone from the Ordinary Class steal first place!"

Otherwise, she would become the laughingstock of her classmates!

"And that Lin Xuan from Ancheng First Middle School. He's only a freshman, so I can't afford to lose to him either."

Zeng Xueqing spoke softly, as if cheering herself on.

Li Zhichao stared at the results list and took a deep breath.

He wasn't surprised that he had scored 210 points.

After all, it had taken him nearly ten minutes to escape the illusion.

Martial Will had always been his weak point.

Taking performance-enhancing drugs could improve his Martial Arts strength, but they couldn't strengthen his Martial Will.

"Jiang Ye actually got a perfect 300?" Li Zhichao looked at the list. "Lin Xuan got 280, too?"

He clenched his fist, but he wasn't discouraged.

"Starting with the second trial, I'll show them what I can really do."

"Jiang Ye, Lin Xuan, and Zeng Xueqing. I'll surpass every one of you!"

A sharp glint flickered in Li Zhichao's eyes.

[The Martial Will Trial has ended. Number eliminated: 30.]

[The Flowing Light Trial is about to begin. Trial participants, please prepare yourselves!]

A cold, mechanical voice sounded in Jiang Ye's ear.

Looking at the text, he was a little surprised. "Thirty people were eliminated in the very first trial?"

Was this year's crop of candidates' Martial Will really that fragile?

"Looks like I underestimated myself and overestimated everyone else." Jiang Ye shook his head with a sigh.

He trained every day in the Martial Arts Heavenly Ladder, and his Martial Will had long since become as unyielding as solid rock. How could an ordinary person compare?

"The Flowing Light Trial has begun."

Jiang Ye looked ahead.

Although he had gained an advantage in the Martial Will Trial, the next two trials were just as important.

If he wanted to make the top three, he had to give it everything he had.

The surroundings around Jiang Ye suddenly went dark.

In the next instant, he appeared in a pitch-black space. Darkness surrounded him, with only a tiny glimmer of light.

[The Flowing Light Trial has begun.]

[Trial rules: Dodge as many light arrows fired at you as possible within fifteen minutes. The longer you last, the higher your score.]

[The trial ends when you are hit by a light arrow ten times.]

Seeing the text appear before him, Jiang Ye understood.

"So that's how it is. They're testing footwork and reaction speed?"

"In this pitch-black setting, I should be able to react easily if light arrows come at me."

Jiang Ye thought the trial's setup was pretty thoughtful.

But he soon changed his mind.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

Jiang Ye whipped his head toward it, then felt his heart jolt.

It was a pitch-black light arrow!

It seemed to blend completely into the darkness, as if invisible.

Fortunately, after all his training, Jiang Ye's reflexes were already far beyond an ordinary person's.

He shifted sideways and dodged the first light arrow.

"A black light arrow? That's ridiculously hard!"

Jiang Ye couldn't help feeling like cursing.

A pitch-black setting and pitch-black arrows—if they moved any faster, he might not be able to react in time!

But Jiang Ye quickly calmed down.

If he couldn't react in time, neither could anyone else.

It all came down to who could last longer.

"I have Wind-Following Ear and Gale Step. I can use sound to pinpoint their direction and react in advance."

"As for Gale Step, it only lasts thirty seconds, so I should save it until the very end."

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ye had already made a plan.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Several more light arrows came flying from different directions.

Jiang Ye pricked up his ears, carefully determining where they were coming from.

Wind-Following Ear: Hearing increased by 200%!

The next moment, he became a blur and darted aside.