The Trial Begins

"Once you're inside, find a way to stay as long as you can."

"The longer, the better, but don't get reckless. This trial is dangerous. If you're badly injured, you'll be teleported out. But if you stubbornly refuse to give up and get too greedy..."

"The longer you last, the higher your ranking. As long as you make the top hundred, you'll earn the Empire's favor. Go."

"You're the Empire's most outstanding geniuses in four years. Go."

The guards explained the rules in a few brief sentences.

The trial participants hurried past them, their hearts uneasy. The guards stepped aside to clear the way.

A gigantic red stone gate was carved with enormous images of strange beasts. It looked unremarkable, but everyone who approached could feel the tremendous energy within it—enough to crush them all with ease. Their expressions changed at once.

Guen couldn't help taking another couple of looks at the gate. Chen remarked, "Suqi Volcano was originally only the second-largest volcano on this planet. But the largest one went dormant, and the lava spewing from Suqi Volcano now supplies the Land of Inheritance with enough energy. Suqi Volcano used to erupt dozens of times a day, but even so, it still takes a full four years to accumulate enough energy."

Guen glanced at him in surprise. He was astonished both by the vast amount of energy the Land of Inheritance required and by the fact that Chen knew all this. It wouldn't have been strange to hear someone like Ganlan say it, but hearing it from Chen left Guen puzzled.

Chen was candid. "If I make the top hundred, you'll find out. If I don't, there's nothing more to say."

Guen didn't press him. He simply nodded.

In Double Moon Town, Red Hair Guen and Green Hair Chen stood out from the rest. Everyone had known that for a long time.

"Let's go. The trial won't begin until all five hundred have entered." Chen took the lead.

Guen followed. Beyond the gate was a deep-red stone cavern, but the moment Guen stepped inside, the entire cave rippled like water, and the temperature around him shot up.

By the time Guen came to his senses, he had appeared in a strange, fiery-red space. Scattered stone slabs beneath his feet were scorching, while the hazy red expanse above was too indistinct to make out.

The space around him was empty and vast. Chen, who had entered alongside him, had vanished without a trace.

In this strange space, there was only a stone pillar ahead. A script appeared on it, one Guen had studied but rarely used: the Universal Language.

Then the Universal Language slowly transformed into the script of the Aoyu Empire.

So this really had something to do with the universe?

Guen was shaken.

The final script displayed the names of all five hundred trial participants. Guen's name was among them.

A hazy screen suddenly appeared straight ahead. On it, a figure was demonstrating a series of moves, with numerous written annotations beside him.

"Are these moves related to Force Application Techniques?"

Guen's eyes widened as he studied each movement.

The figure on the screen repeated the limited set of moves again and again. Guen quickly grasped each one.

There were sixty-two moves in all. Yet even if he mastered every one, they amounted to only the first ten moves of the Hundred Refinement Fist. In other words, both taught the same one-times force, but the Hundred Refinement Fist used just ten moves, while the screen's sequence took a full sixty-two.

Even so, Guen was surprised.

The fact that ten moves covered the same material as sixty-two didn't mean the Hundred Refinement Fist was superior.

Guen had noticed something: the sixty-two moves progressed much more gradually. Even a warrior who knew nothing beyond imitation could easily master the Force Application Technique after completing the sequence.

The Hundred Refinement Fist, on the other hand, required talent. Without enough insight, progress with each move would be slow, and mastering them would take a long time.

These sixty-two moves were different. You only needed to imitate them and practice repeatedly to master them.

The barrier to entry was much lower.

The sixty-two moves taught the same thing but broke it down in far greater detail. That was actually a sign of the creator's profound mastery. Only someone who had grasped techniques at a deeper level could devise a method like this.

That was why Guen was surprised.

It was said that the Hundred Refinement Fist had been created by a powerful being of the Norde Race.

Kolong often muttered that if he could reach the Universe Level, which was above the Saint Tier, there would be a good chance he could return to his people. Even the crimes he had committed might be forgiven.

A Universe-level warrior could dominate an entire planet.

There were only five Saint Tier warriors on this planet—all of them at Star Level. In Kolong's eyes, even those five Star Level warriors had little chance of breaking through to Universe Level.

In the universe, Planetary Level warriors were mere cannon fodder and hired muscle.

A Star Level warrior could comfortably hide away on an ordinary Life Planet and reign as a local tyrant.

As for a Universe-level warrior, under normal circumstances, only one such powerhouse would emerge in an entire star system. A single star system contained over a hundred thousand Life Planets. Even if each Life Planet had just one Planetary Level warrior, a Universe-level powerhouse would still be one in tens of thousands of Planetary Level warriors.

After all, some planets, like the Aoyu Empire, had more than one Planetary Level warrior—and even several Star Level warriors.

Yet among all those planets, only one Universe-level warrior would emerge under normal circumstances.

The creator of the Hundred Refinement Fist was said to be even more powerful than a Universe-level warrior. That was beyond what Guen could imagine.

Could the creator of this Land of Inheritance really be more powerful than the Norde powerhouse who had created the Hundred Refinement Fist?

"No wonder that Super Tier expert said this was both a trial and an opportunity." Guen smiled.

It really was an opportunity. Even though these sixty-two moves only covered the first ten moves of the Hundred Refinement Fist, they had still given Guen new insight, and he was eager to see what came next.

Guen had already learned the fifty-first move of the Hundred Refinement Fist. If the moves shown in this space continued to break things down in such detail, they could help him enormously.

But while Guen's thoughts ran ahead, the space shuddered. From every direction, countless rocks and lava flew in, rapidly fusing into a Lava Stone Monster over a meter tall.

"Grr!"

The Lava Stone Monster roared, and Guen's head grew a little hazy.

"Hmm? That roar has some kind of Illusionist attack effect." Guen's eyes lit up. The effect was too weak to do much; one shake of his head was enough to clear it.

But Guen was intrigued. Whether they were ferocious beasts or humans, most fought hand to hand. Very few could launch attacks on a mental level. Only a small number of Artifact Users could do that.

But Guen knew that in the universe, this had even developed into a specialized path: the Illusionist.

For a Fighter to make their way through the universe, they needed a way to counter tricky schools of warriors like Illusionists and Controllers.

Strictly speaking, Artifact Users could only be considered Controllers. They fought by manipulating telekinetic weapons, but the Artifact Users of the Aoyu Empire used the same materials as Fighters. Otherwise, their strength could be even greater.

Guen tested the Lava Stone Monster and found that, despite its fearsome appearance, its basic strength was only on par with a Tier 7 Warrior, and its Force Multiplier was just one.

"It should be related to my level. Its Force Multiplier should also be related to the moves I just watched. The sequence on the screen only went up to one-times force, so there should be stronger moves later. But I'm in no hurry. I'll first get a feel for the characteristics of Illusionist attacks."

Guen circled the Lava Stone Monster without rushing to attack. The closer he got, the stronger the Illusionist attack became. This was a perfect chance to hone his ability to resist it.