"The test is beginning. Current difficulty: advanced. Requirement: hold out for one minute."
Yun Ze looked at the projection of the woman before him. She moved even faster than he did, and the instant the mechanical prompt ended, she charged straight at him.
Yun Ze showed no fear. He dodged her first thrust to the side, and a long spear appeared in each of his hands.
The Heaven-Propping Spear met the golden spear in the woman's hand, ringing with a clash of metal.
The spears met, and for the first time, Yun Ze's hands trembled slightly. Fortunately, the woman's attack wasn't particularly fierce.
Yun Ze could still barely hold her off. He immediately used the Heaven-Surpassing Spear's first Soul Skill—Fate Protection.
It doubled all his attributes, let his body sense danger a step ahead, and made it instinctively respond with the best movements to avoid it.
As Fate Protection activated, the girl visibly paused. Then two yellow Soul Rings lit up around her.
The two yellow Soul Rings activated at the same time, and the girl seemed to turn into a golden statue made of pure gold.
Her stats surged to an utterly terrifying level, making Yun Ze feel a flicker of fear.
That fear arose unconsciously because Fate Protection had heightened his senses.
Yun Ze hurriedly retreated, swinging the twin spears in his hands.
The instant the girl's golden spear met the Qingyue Dual Spears, it let out an even sharper, more piercing wail than before.
Yun Ze had now guessed who the girl was supposed to be: Wang Qiu'er, the human form of the Emperor Auspicious Beast Three-Eyed Golden Ni.
Just as Yun Ze's Heaven-Propping Spear slipped past the Golden Dragon Spear and thrust toward Wang Qiu'er's chest—
Everything abruptly changed direction, and the system prompt sounded.
"Advanced difficulty, first stage. Survive for one minute to unlock the second stage."
Yun Ze turned the Heaven-Propping Spear and loosened up his arm, muttering,
"Can't you play fair? I finally found an opening. I was about to win."
A minute later, Wang Qiu'er's figure reappeared before Yun Ze, but now another Soul Ring circled beneath her feet.
Her two yellow Soul Rings had become three: two yellow and one purple.
Yun Ze looked at Wang Qiu'er, whose cultivation and strength both surpassed his own. He still had plenty of fight left in him, but he no longer dared to meet her attacks head-on.
He raised both spears to block Wang Qiu'er's first strike, then used the momentum to kick her squarely in the stomach.
They were forced apart. Yun Ze seized the chance to catch his breath, then raised his spears again.
Wang Qiu'er's simulated form looked back at him. To his surprise, she lifted a hand and beckoned with one finger, taunting him.
Yun Ze clicked his tongue. This thing really is more interesting than the one in the Tang Sect Hall of Heroes in the original story. It even has a taunt animation.
With such a wide range of animations, it's more fun than most of the games in the original story.
The pain, though, is way too realistic. I can still feel the blood seeping from the web of my thumb.
To hell with it. Yun Ze steeled himself, then charged Wang Qiu'er with one spear held forward and the other behind.
After a fierce struggle, Yun Ze was covered in bloody holes, like a sieve.
He had barely managed to endure the minute on advanced difficulty when the merciless mechanical voice sounded again.
"Next, beginning the ultimate difficulty test. Please hold out for one and a half minutes."
Yun Ze couldn't help complaining,
"What's the point of adding another half-minute?"
Wang Qiu'er's projection appeared before Yun Ze again.
Alongside Wang Qiu'er's phantom, another woman appeared, distinguished from her only by her hair.
A gorgeous pair of butterfly wings spread behind the woman, and she held an enormous silver hammer.
There was no need to ask. This was Wang Dong'er from the same era.
"Isn't this a bit much? Two against one, and I have to last a minute and a half?"
Yun Ze rotated the Heaven-Propping Spear in his hand, while the tip of the Moon Sky Spear remained pointed at the two women.
A minute and a half later, Yun Ze had picked up a few more cuts, but he had also stabbed Wang Dong'er's projection in the calf.
In a real battle, his next thrust could have killed one of them. At least he hadn't done too badly.
But as the mechanical voice rang out again, the second stage of ultimate difficulty began.
This time, the pair went from two fighters with two Soul Rings each to one Soul Elder and one fighter with two Soul Rings.
The difficulty climbed another notch. Yet Yun Ze was less afraid now. Instead, the longer he fought, the bolder he became. His twin spears whirled, one defending while the other attacked, their roles alternating over and over.
Combined with the boost from his Soul Skill, he gradually found a rhythm that let him hold on.
The instant the minute and a half ended, the Moon Sky Spear was still buried in the heart of Wang Qiu'er's projection.
Though Yun Ze was in a sorry state himself, at least he had endured the intermediate test.
Just as Yun Ze was about to get up and boast, "That's it?", he heard an utterly shameless mechanical voice.
"Congratulations on passing the ultimate test. Next, entering the first stage of the hell-level test."
Yun Ze immediately abandoned the idea of boasting. Curious about what "hell-level" meant, he slowly raised his head and looked ahead.
At a glance, he knew he should give up. There was no way he could handle this.
It was still the combination of Wang Qiu'er and Wang Dong'er, except now each had freed one hand to hold the other's.
The phantoms of the Golden Dragon, the Clear Sky Hammer, and the Light Goddess Butterfly fused in midair.
Golden armor appeared on Wang Qiu'er. This was actually their legendary Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Golden Butterfly Dragon Transformation.
Yun Ze wanted nothing more than to curse. Was this really hell-level? It was more like "send him flying" level. How was he supposed to fight that?
The simulation wasn't even pretending anymore. Yun Ze could only grit his teeth and brace himself to be sent flying.
Whether it was because his Triple Martial Souls had made him exceptionally tough, or because the medicine Guan Yue had given him really worked, the first level of hell only made Yun Ze suffer unbearably.
But the test still hadn't declared him defeated. He endured two full minutes of punishment and managed to clear the first level.
Only when he reached the second level did the torture finally end. Yun Ze caught his breath, and when he came back to himself, he had already been knocked out of the simulation test.
Guan Yue was sitting beside him, with his cheap old man, Yun Ming, next to her.
"Ze'er did quite well. The first time I took this test, I didn't even make it to the second level of hell."
Yun Ze panted as he spoke.
"Father, isn't using a Martial Soul Fusion Skill against your own son a little unfair?"
Yun Ming smiled and said,
"It seems even a Martial Soul Fusion Skill couldn't truly extinguish your fighting spirit. Without one, I'm afraid the cultivation gap within the second-ring level wouldn't have been enough to hold you back..."
Before you continue