An Easy Pass, the Sixth Trial

Afternoon.

Linjiang No. 1 High School, third waiting hall.

The atmosphere in the hall was even more solemn than in the morning. Candidates who had passed the blood-energy test were either closing their eyes to rest, whispering to each other about their experiences, or repeatedly performing stretches in hopes of maintaining a good physical state.

The air was thick with a restlessness mixed with tension, anticipation, and the urge for a final sprint.

Lin Ye sat quietly in his assigned seat, his eyelids slightly lowered as he rested. The Spirit-Nurturing Stance circulated naturally within him, isolating him from the noisy surroundings and leaving him with a mind as calm as an icy lake.

This state even influenced Wang Tao, who had been somewhat restless beside him, helping him to calm down significantly.

A moment later, the trial began.

Batch after batch of candidates were called in, and soon it was Lin Ye's turn.

"Batch 15, please enter the preparation area!"

The broadcast sounded, calling the batch Lin Ye belonged to.

Lin Ye opened his eyes, his gaze clear. He glanced at Wang Tao, nodded at him, and followed the guide into the examination hall to find the virtual pod corresponding to his admission ticket number.

He lay down, connected, and his consciousness sank.

After a brief moment of darkness and weightlessness, light shone before his eyes.

He stood before a hexagonal tower that reached into the clouds, the ground made of primitive stone, surrounded by an infinitely extending starry sky.

At this moment, a prompt sounded in his ears, signaling him to enter the tower ahead.

Lin Ye followed the prompt into the tower, and the scene before him shifted instantly.

A hexagonal bluestone platform appeared, surrounded by boundless pure white.

At the same time, a prompt sounded.

[First stage, start.]

The Guardian Phantom materialized, possessing the strength of the Late Body Tempering Stage and entry-level fist techniques.

Looking at the phantom, Lin Ye did not use any footwork. He simply stepped forward and delivered a precise, powerful straight punch, shattering the phantom.

[First stage passed, score: 80]

The prompt lit up, and then the scene refreshed.

For the second stage, another NPC warrior materialized. However, this time the opponent did not specialize in fist techniques, but leg techniques—the Wind-Chasing Leg. It still wasn't enough; Lin Ye shifted his feet slightly, easily dodging the kicks, and backhanded a strike to the opponent's neck, causing the phantom to dissipate immediately.

[Second stage passed, score: 60 (cumulative 140)]

The scene refreshed for the third stage.

The warrior that materialized this time was more agile than the previous two, with coordinated fist and leg techniques, but to Lin Ye, it was still not enough.

Employing his mastery-level Lost Track Steps, his figure moved like a ghost. With a few shifts, he circled to the opponent's side and rear, then easily finished it off with a hand blade.

[Third stage passed, score: 40 (cumulative 180)]

For his current strength, the first three stages were like a warm-up.

Arriving at the fourth stage, Lin Ye became slightly more serious.

After all, this was where he had failed during the last mock exam, defeated by the NPC guardian.

In an instant, the Guardian Phantom emerged, possessing the cultivation of the Late Body Tempering Stage.

This time, it was randomly assigned the Flowing Cloud Palm. The guardian's palm techniques were dense, excelling in defense and dispersing force.

Perhaps sensing that Lin Ye was difficult to deal with, the phantom warrior took the initiative to attack, its palms fluttering like clouds without a trace, making them hard to distinguish.

Lin Ye curled his lips, and his Lost Track Steps unfolded instantly.

His mastery-level Lost Track Steps possessed basic visual deception capabilities, making him move like a ghost, swaying left and right, making it difficult for the NPC warrior to track him.

Then, during a feint to the left by Lin Ye, the NPC warrior's Flowing Cloud Palm missed. In reality, Lin Ye had already slid to the front right and closed in on the opponent's side. He clenched his five fingers into a fist, which fell like a rolling boulder, knocking the NPC back several steps with a single punch. The opponent's rhythm was thrown into chaos, and a flaw appeared in its palm technique.

Lin Ye followed like a shadow, not giving the opponent a chance to catch its breath. With a fluid combination of Rolling Stone Fist techniques, he struck the phantom's vital points in succession.

The NPC warrior's phantom collapsed, and Lin Ye passed the stage easily.

[Fourth stage passed, score: 40 (cumulative 220)]

He arrived at the fifth stage.

The guardian phantom in this stage still had the cultivation of the Late Body Tempering Stage, but its fist techniques... or rather, its leg techniques, had reached the Great Success level.

Once the phantom warrior materialized, it immediately attacked Lin Ye with swift and fierce leg techniques.

Lin Ye did not dare to be careless. He set up the stance for his perfect-level Rolling Stone Fist, responding steadily while interspersing his Lost Track Steps to dodge the sharpest edges of the kicks.

This time, he no longer relied solely on footwork to dodge, but began to try combining the agility of the Lost Track Steps with the steadiness of the Rolling Stone Fist, using footwork to create gaps for attacks and fist techniques to forcefully contend with the opponent's leg techniques. For a time, the sound of fist winds and leg shadows intertwined on the platform, and the sound of collisions was incessant.

Although the phantom's leg techniques were fast, under the interference and deception of Lin Ye's mastery-level Lost Track Steps, its hit rate dropped significantly. Meanwhile, Lin Ye's fist techniques became increasingly heavy, each strike causing the phantom warrior's offensive to pause. However, the phantom warrior was not without options; its blood-energy value began to climb, which made Lin Ye realize something was wrong.

Therefore, after thirty moves, Lin Ye used the visual deception of the Lost Track Steps to dodge a fierce strike, then risked closing in on the opponent. Seizing the opening where the opponent could not create distance in a short time, he delivered a fierce Advancing Crushing Fist, smashing it hard into the phantom's chest.

The NPC was sent flying instantly, and Lin Ye followed up, taking advantage of the moment before it could stabilize its stance to land several more strikes, causing it to dissipate.

The fifth stage, cleared!

Although this stage took a bit of effort, the initiative remained firmly in the hands of Lin Ye.

However, upon arriving at the sixth stage, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.

The Guardian Phantom slowly coalesced, the blood energy fluctuations it emitted reaching the peak of Body Tempering. This exerted a solid sense of pressure on Lin Ye, leaving him no room for carelessness.

Fortunately, the Guardian Phantom had randomly been assigned the Rolling Stone Fist this time. With his mastery at the Perfection level versus the opponent's Great Success level, Lin Ye held a slight advantage. Yet, in the face of the opponent's peak Body Tempering strength, this edge was forcibly leveled out. In fact, due to the opponent's robust blood energy, Lin Ye wasn't certain he could win a direct exchange of blows.

At this moment, the phantom let out a low shout, stepped forward, and threw a punch. It carried the rumbling sound of rolling stones, its momentum far more ferocious than the previous guardian.

Lin Ye's gaze sharpened; he dared not slacken and met the attack with his own Perfection-level Rolling Stone Fist.

Bang!

As their fists collided, Lin Ye's entire body shuddered. He felt a massive force surge through his arm, his blood energy roiling, and he was forced to retreat two steps against his will.

The opponent's strength was clearly superior to his own. Even with his Perfection-level Rolling Stone Fist to mitigate the gap, he was still no match.

This was a pure crushing of blood energy values.

With no other choice, Lin Ye could only maneuver using Lost Track Steps.

Fortunately, the opponent excelled only in fist techniques and had mediocre footwork, much like Lin Ye had previously.

However, relying on its strength advantage, the Phantom Warrior pressed its attack relentlessly. It unleashed the Rolling Stone Fist, each punch heavier than the last, like a true boulder tumbling down a hillside—unstoppable.

Seeing this, Lin Ye could only push his Lost Track Steps to the limit. Shifting between reality and illusion, he utilized frequent visual deceptions to dodge, deflect, and skirmish. He occasionally launched counterattacks, mostly relying on his higher mastery of the fist technique to strike where the opponent was forced to defend, thereby disrupting its continuous barrage of punches.