Assessment Complete, Perfect Control!

When he reached the registration desk, even the mage in charge of registration was intimidated by Zhang Yang's aura and stared at him blankly.

After a long while.

The registering mage finally came to his senses. Seeing the black wooden plaque Zhang Yang presented, his face instead showed an expression of "as expected."

He took out a plain set of robes representing a mage apprentice and informed Zhang Yang that he had passed the assessment. He could either rest for the night or enter Kamar-Taj immediately.

As expected, Zhang Yang chose to enter Kamar-Taj early.

Watching Zhang Yang's departing back, the registering mage muttered, "This year's recruits... it seems a monster has appeared."

Zhang Yang changed clothes nearby and, with the help of a mage, returned to the foot of Mount Everest.

Looking up at the shrunken Mount Everest, he inexplicably felt waves of guilt.

"Climb up."

The mage returned the black wooden plaque to Zhang Yang and pointed toward Mount Everest's summit. "During this process, the plaque will point you in the direction of Kamar-Taj."

"Climb?"

Gazing up at Mount Everest amid the wind and snow, Zhang Yang gritted his teeth. "I'll climb!"

The freezing wind cut to the bone. It was an idiom describing cold weather, where the frigid wind seemed to blow through the skin, straight to the bones, bringing bursts of stinging pain. Zhang Yang had only known the phrase before, but now he experienced it firsthand.

He remembered that, for a time, people online said that iron tasted sweet during winters in the Northeast, drawing countless people there to try it.

Only when their tongues stuck to the iron did they understand why it was called sweet.

Because blood had a sweet taste.

Zhang Yang's current situation was much the same.

Without any protective measures, Zhang Yang climbed through the biting wind.

The extremely low temperature meant that whenever his hands touched the rocks, they either slipped away or froze onto them. Without force, he simply could not pull free.

And after wrenching them loose, a layer of skin would tear away where his hands had touched the rocks. His blood had barely begun to seep out before freezing in the brutal cold.

"Use your mental power."

The mage below offered a reminder. "Protect your hands, increase friction, and keep them warm!"

"Believe in yourself. You can do it!"

After giving Zhang Yang that reminder, the mage said nothing more and simply watched his back.

"Mental power..."

Zhang Yang gritted his teeth and focused as hard as he could, trying to attach his mental power to his hands.

After several failures, he finally grasped a tiny bit of the technique.

With his mental power attached, his hands, already numb from the cold, regained a little feeling. The pain of ten fingers connected to the heart surged through his nerves into his brain, as though he were being torn apart.

It hurt like hell!

Zhang Yang's face scrunched up. The sweat that had just seeped out had already frozen into ice.

His mental power continuously washed over his entire body, especially his hands, which endured wave after wave of cleansing.

Gradually, Zhang Yang could no longer feel the biting wind. Streams of heat filled his limbs and bones, thoroughly stimulating the vitality of his body.

He moved.

Mental power clung to his hands, greatly enhancing his grip and providing a considerable degree of warmth.

He climbed upward bit by bit. He did not know how long had passed, but with the aid of his mental power, Zhang Yang finally stood atop Mount Everest!

Looking up at the sky, the sun that had once been there was gone, replaced by a brilliant expanse of starlight.

Suddenly, the black wooden plaque moved.

Without anyone controlling it, it slowly floated into the air. A moment later, it flew in a certain direction.

Without time to admire the night sky atop Mount Everest, he ran closely after the plaque.

Even a bottomless cliff ahead of him, even towering snow peaks, could not stop his steps.

When his foot stepped into the air over the abyss, golden points of light flickered in and out of sight. A mysterious force supported his body, allowing him to walk on level ground.

The towering snow peak seemed like an illusion. When he plunged into it, there was no sensation of impact, only the feeling of passing through a thin membrane.

Two enormous statues appeared before Zhang Yang. The black wooden plaque floated between them.

Once he passed through the statues, everything around him changed.

The biting cold wind vanished!

Though he had already reached the mountaintop, he discovered that there was another peak to climb.

And atop that peak, there was vaguely what appeared to be a small village.

That was the sacred land renowned throughout the magical world—Kamar-Taj!

It took Zhang Yang another five hours or so to reach Kamar-Taj's gates. Looking at the towering doors, he took a deep breath.

"Kamar-Taj!"

"I'm here!"

Holding his head high and chest out, Zhang Yang took a step forward and officially entered the sacred land of magic—Kamar-Taj!

At the entrance, a mage dressed in something like Taoist robes smiled and said, "Welcome to Kamar-Taj!"

"Ding. Detected that the host has completed the Kamar-Taj apprentice assessment. Please hold for 10 seconds."

"10."

"9."

"..."

"0!"

"Ding. Mission complete. You have received the reward: Perfect Control!"

Ten seconds passed quickly.

What did it feel like to have perfect control over one's own power?

Zhang Yang could tell you now.

All 206 bones, 639 muscles, and 6 billion muscle fibers in his body—Zhang Yang could mobilize every single one at will.

Even without relying on magic, Zhang Yang could now mobilize all his bones and muscles to unleash dozens of tons of force!

Of course, the cost would be extremely severe. After the outburst, every bone in his body would shatter, and all his organs would be crushed into a heap of mush under the pressure.

The endless magic within him was like one of his own organs. It could flow and erupt freely with a thought. He had a feeling that if he unleashed all his power, every universe... and yes, that meant every universe, would cease to exist.

Of course, no one knew whether his body could endure until the moment his magic fully erupted. Perhaps he would be dissolved by the endless magic before then.

In short, Zhang Yang could now perfectly wield every bit of his own power. The only thing limiting him was the strength of his body.

As long as his physical strength kept up, with his nearly inexhaustible magic, he felt that he could slaughter gods!

The gods he meant were not false gods like those of Asgard, but true gods like the Beyonder and O-A-A!

But if he truly fought existences like those, it was hard to say what the outcome would be.

It had only been ten seconds. The mage responsible for receiving him did not notice anything unusual about Zhang Yang and waited patiently.

When Zhang Yang opened his eyes, the receiving mage spoke. "Next, you may go to the apprentice dormitory and rest properly for a day. Tomorrow at noon, a mentor will be assigned to you."

"The apprentice dormitory is over there, the tallest and largest building. Just take the black wooden plaque symbolizing your apprentice status with you."

After carefully listening to everything he needed to note, Zhang Yang nodded to the receiving mage. Dragging his utterly exhausted body, he arrived at the apprentice dormitory. After registering, he was assigned a single room.

Although the single room was not large, it had every necessity for daily life. There was even a bathtub in the bathroom.

He looked longingly at the bathtub, but his body would not allow him to soak. He could only choose to rinse himself with warm water.

The dirt he had picked up while climbing mixed with blood and washed away under the warm water. Water tore open wounds that had not yet closed, and blood continued to seep out, twisting the muscles on Zhang Yang's face with pain.

But he did not stop.

At first, he had lacked the conditions and had no way to deal with the dirt and grime in his wounds.

Now that he had the means, he had to treat those wounds. Otherwise, terrible aftereffects awaited him.

After showering, he tossed the blood-soaked towel onto the floor. Following the registration desk's instructions, he found a medical kit beneath the table and selected a few items to disinfect himself.

Fortunately, most of his wounds were on his hands. The wounds on his body were merely cuts from accidentally scraping against sharp rocks, so they were easier to clean.

After treating them, he did not bandage them. Zhang Yang lay down on the board-like bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, at noon.

Zhang Yang woke from his deep sleep. Just as he was about to get up, pain shot through the hands touching the bedboard.

The wounds that had already scabbed over split under the pressure, and blood seeped out once more.

"What rotten luck..."

Zhang Yang shook his head. After disinfecting them again, he left the dormitory.

Only now did he have time to observe this sacred land of magic.

It was a massive city, filled with an unknown number of buildings.

Some buildings were small but strangely shaped, as if woven from branches, or as if they were wooden houses grown into that shape by trees themselves.

Some buildings were enormous, like white palaces. They were entirely built from an unknown white material that even emitted a milky white glow under the sunlight, making them look quite extraordinary.

But most of them were small, single-story structures resembling temples.

Behind these houses was an open space paved with marble slabs, where several mage apprentices dressed like him were training.

They were performing a set of movements that Zhang Yang could not understand at all.

They raised their hands, and with only a few motions, gathered spark-like energy in the air and shaped it.

Zhang Yang unconsciously began copying their movements.

The ocean-like magic within his body stirred slightly with those movements.

He spread his hands, separating his thumbs from his other fingers. His hands were neither fully closed nor fully open, forming a shape like a triangle.

Then, his right hand moved upward and his left hand downward, and a golden line of energy crackling with sparks appeared.

Next, his hands rotated counterclockwise, and a circular energy line wrapped around the elongated one.

Then, he thrust out his right palm, and the pattern formed by the energy lines shattered.

Except...

Zhang Yang scratched his head, staring at his sturdy energy lines, which were as solid as steel, unsure how to make them shatter.

"How about flicking it?"

On a sudden whim, Zhang Yang extracted the tiniest bit from his ocean-like magic, an amount no larger than a grain of rice, attached it to his right hand, and flicked his finger.

"Boom!"