Passed

Liang Bo surpassed his opponent in strength, blade technique, and even movement technique, yet his opponent did not attack at all. It merely relied on its massive shield to cautiously defend every part of its body, leaving Liang Bo no opening to exploit.

Faced with such a turtle-style fighting method, Liang Bo found himself at a loss for the moment.

He did not rush to attack. Instead, he stood at a distance and kept thinking.

Since it was difficult to win through movement technique, should he switch to a strength-based style?

Liang Bo considered it and felt that this method would be hard to make work as well.

He had clashed head-on with the puppet before. Although its strength was inferior to his, the gap was not particularly great. Moreover, it was the defending side and skilled in all manner of defensive techniques. Combined with that enormous shield, it could completely offset his advantage in strength.

Therefore, it would be difficult to win through a head-on confrontation.

"Alas, I wonder how everyone else passed this stage." Liang Bo muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and he realized there was something he had previously overlooked.

Among the other Martial Dao First Grade martial artists of the True Martial Sect, someone passed the third stage almost every year. These people could not all have been top geniuses. In terms of strength, even if they cultivated both body refinement and inner strength, they could have had at most ten thousand jin. With the amplification of inner strength, they would not have exceeded twenty thousand jin.

As for blade technique and movement technique, Liang Bo did not believe they could surpass his. Since that was the case, how had these people passed when facing the puppet of the third stage?

Head-on confrontation? Impossible!

Crushing it through movement technique? Liang Bo believed that even less.

"So, there must be some method I don't know about that can defeat the puppet." Liang Bo reached this conclusion, his mind racing.

"Right. When this puppet engages in fierce battle, it must consume a tremendous amount of energy. Then where does its energy come from? Does it automatically absorb energy from the outside while fighting? Or does it need to be replenished after every battle?"

Liang Bo felt that the latter was more likely. Relying solely on energy absorbed from the outside during battle could never replenish such enormous consumption. Only replenishing it after the fight could possibly provide it with enough energy.

If that was the case, then its energy reserves should be limited.

In other words, if he could continuously drain its energy until it was exhausted, he would naturally win this battle!

At that thought, Liang Bo's eyes lit up.

To drain the opponent's energy, he could only use a head-on approach. Thus, Liang Bo decided to transfer part of his proficiency in movement technique martial skills to Wave Stacking.

Then, he could not be bothered to circle around the puppet any longer. He charged straight at it and fought it head-on in order to drain its energy as quickly as possible.

This method might take a great deal of time, but it was the best one Liang Bo could think of at present.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" Liang Bo's blade struck the puppet's shield again and again. For a time, the entire hall was filled with the sound of colliding metal, painfully grating to the ear.

The fierce battle continued.

A quarter of an hour, two quarters of an hour...

In the blink of an eye, more than half an hour passed. During that time, Liang Bo had no choice but to use pills several times in succession to replenish his depleted inner strength, yet the puppet opposite him showed no sign whatsoever of running out of energy.

"Could my deduction have been wrong? But that shouldn't be possible. If this method doesn't work, then how did the others pass this stage? Through direct battle? No, I absolutely don't believe it!"

Just then, Liang Bo brought his blade down upon the puppet's shield.

Bang! This time, instead of remaining rooted in place as before, the puppet was knocked back three whole steps.

Liang Bo was overjoyed. The opponent's reaction fully showed that its strength was declining, or rather, its energy supply could no longer sustain its strongest state. It had no choice but to rely on other means to withstand Liang Bo's offensive. This allowed him to see hope of victory.

"Continue!" Liang Bo took a bottle of pills from his chest, popped one into his mouth to make up for the consumption of inner strength, then continued his fierce assault.

Outside.

At this moment, the martial artists gathered outside the True Martial Tower no longer numbered merely a few hundred, but several thousand. Among them were even the Sect Master of the True Martial Sect and all the elders of the Elder Council.

So many martial artists had gathered here because they all wanted to see just how far Liang Bo could go this time. Would he pass the second floor directly, or even the third floor?

Though in theory, Liang Bo's chances of passing the third floor were extremely slim, and it was difficult to say whether he could even pass the third stage of the second floor.

But the problem was that Liang Bo's previous performance had been far too astonishing. He had passed the second stage of the second floor after joining the sect for only ten days. That was simply monstrous! A genius like him could not be judged by common sense. Perhaps what others could not accomplish was not necessarily beyond him.

At this moment, Sect Master Spirit Light Daoist poked the Grand Elder beside him and asked softly, "What do you think? Can Liang Bo pass the third stage this time?"

"Definitely," the Grand Elder answered with a calm expression.

"I think so too." Spirit Light Daoist smiled. "Since he passed the first and second stages in such a short time, it means his overall strength has already surpassed the three puppets on the second floor. Perhaps he will encounter some trouble at the third stage, but as long as he responds calmly, once enough time passes and the puppet exhausts its energy, he will naturally be able to win."

The Second Elder beside them also smiled. "That's right. Most martial artists of our True Martial Sect probably use this method. There should not be many like Liang Bo, who defeated their opponents head-on with absolute strength. However, while the second floor may be manageable, the third floor will likely be difficult for him. After all, there is a tremendous leap between the third and second floors, and the gap is hard to bridge. In the nearly ten thousand years of our True Martial Sect's history, roughly a hundred people passed the second floor within their first year after entering the sect, while fewer than five passed the third floor. The difference in difficulty is plain to see."

The Grand Elder smiled. "He should be able to pass the second floor, but there is no need to think about the third floor for now. Perhaps after cultivating for some time, he may be able to pass the third floor, but at present, it is absolutely impossible."

His judgment was quite reasonable. The gap in strength between the third and second floors was far too great. If Liang Bo possessed the strength to pass the third floor, then he would not have spent so long on the second floor. He would have passed it in an extremely short time, just as he had when challenging the first floor.

"Come to think of it, what I'm most curious about now is this: Liang Bo's performance has been so outstanding that, aside from Wine Daoist, those others cannot possibly be unmoved. I only wonder who will ultimately take Liang Bo under their wing?"