fanqie novel
Chapter 810 - 104: The Third Challenge
Chapter 810: Chapter 104: The Third Challengenoveldrama
Upon entering the living halls at Longxi, the Arbitrator separated the four of them, assigning each to a prearranged compartment.
Tang Luo looked up at the number two plate above his compartment, realizing that the rooms were arranged according to their rankings in the second stage: thus, Xiang Loulan must be in room number one, and Cao Changqing in room number three.
Glancing at the furnishings of the small room, he noticed a paper album sealed with candle wax on the table, bearing the title “Secret Arts Atlas.” The scholarly Four Treasures of the Study—brush, ink, paper, inkstone—in room number two did not seem to differ from those in the other compartments, indicating that, just as Master Wei had said, the rankings of the second stage did not affect the challenges of the third stage.
However, this strong sense of an imperial examination felt baffling to Tang Luo: they were all martial artists capable of cleaving mountains and cracking peaks with their fists—what was the purpose of these writing implements—were they to compete in poetry and couplets?
Finally, after all participants took their seats in the quiet rooms, the kind-looking elder spoke softly, his voice not loud but spreading through every small chamber in the Divine Fire Hall like a spring breeze caressing willows, eliciting exclamations from everyone.
“The final trial of this Longzhou Youth Martial Arts Tournament is an assessment of both your martial arts cultivation and your imagination.”
“Before you is the ‘Secret Arts Atlas,’ which contains three hundred and sixty types of martial arts techniques covering Yin and Yang, the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams, soul, intent, curses, and spells—nothing is left out. Due to time constraints, I have omitted the parts about technique cultivation and recorded only the involved meridians, the eventual outcomes, and the compatibility aspects.”
“The question for the third stage is how to enable a martial artist who has just entered Fierce Realm, without having awakened any bloodline abilities, to cultivate five secret techniques to achieve the utmost strength.”
“Within three days, you must select five secret techniques from the three hundred and sixty available, and combine them. The brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on your tables are for your calculations. You need to write why you chose these techniques, how these combined techniques will attack, how they will defend, how they will cope with different opponents, what their limits are, and what their weaknesses are. All of this must be annotated in written form.”
“I believe after experiencing the Illusion Dream in the second stage, you have gained some understanding of Master Chen’s abilities. After you hand in your papers, Master Chen will use your manuscripts as a basis to simulate in the Illusionary Dream Space, creating a phantom spirit possessing the five techniques. Therefore, the deeper your understanding of the combined techniques, the more complete and powerful the phantom spirit will manifest. At the end of the assessment, Master Chen will pit your designed technique combinations against others in a controlled showdown. Ultimately, the one with the highest winning rate will prevail in this third stage.”
“The ranking in this stage will directly affect your final standing in the Martial Arts Tournament. Put simply, even if you secured first place in both the first and second stages, but your rank falls beyond the hundredth in this stage, your overall ranking will not be in the top fifty.”
“Conversely, even if your performance in the first two stages was mediocre, shining in the third stage can earn you a very high ranking. Not only that, but the secret arts research departments of Qilin Mountain and Phoenix Mountain will also send out invitations.”
“Thus, this final stage is the one that will determine your fate. Remember, you have only three days. Once three days have passed, you must submit your answers, even if you have only written half; the Arbitrator will collect them. Of course, you can choose to submit early, but this won’t give you any advantage, as Master Chen’s time to review the models is the same for everyone. Writing too intricately might not necessarily be beneficial.”
“Now, I declare the assessment for the third stage officially begins!”
As the kind-eyed elder made his final announcement, thick barriers of Spiritual Power rose around the hundred or so compartments of the Divine Fire Hall, blocking out all sounds and scenes from the outside world.
“`
It was as if he was sealed in a dark room. Tang Luo didn’t rush to start writing; instead, he activated his pupil technique to observe the Lingbi but found that even with his keen eyesight, he could not see through the Lingbi to glimpse the outside world. He could only see the flow of Spiritual Power on its surface.
He expanded his six senses to their limits, almost able to hear the movement of Spiritual Power, yet still, he heard not the slightest noise from the outside world.
At that moment, Tang Luo truly gave up hope and wiped off the fiery seal from the “Secret Techniques Catalogue”, then flipped it open.
“Blood Flame Fire Poison Curse, a fire-element curse technique, requires a soul-guided Blood Fiend. At the acupoints of Ran Valley, Shining Sea, Foot Messenger, and Yin Valley, one must nurture Yin Fire and Yin Wood Spiritual Power and stimulate it with incantations to break protective techniques. Once the technique affects the target, their heart will be attacked by the Poison Curse, tainting their Spiritual Power.”
“Locust Rain Sealing Acupoint Gu, where one raises poisonous locust spirits in one’s flesh, and nourishes them with essence blood and Spiritual Power. These locusts are impervious to knives and spears, water, and fire. When facing an enemy, they are spat out from the mouth like a shower of arrows. The locusts can break through the Five Elements protective techniques, and by biting into flesh, seal the acupoints and Spiritual Power.”
“Seven Sha Return Yuan Slash, one must cultivate Yin Sha, Blood Sha, Gold Sha, Wood Sha, Water Sha, Earth Sha, and Fire Sha in the seven major acupoints: Abundant Fullness, Blinded Shu, Central Pillar, Great Gigantic, Stone Gate, Business Curve, and Yin Capital. With the power of the seven Shas, once the technique is mastered, it can break all Five Elements protective techniques and sever even the strongest bodies under heaven.”
Tang Luo propped his chin with one hand and flipped through the thick “Secret Techniques Catalogue” with the other, the smile on his face growing ever more intense.
It had to be said that Martial Saint Mountain truly had vast resources. Every secret technique recorded in the catalogue was of significant origin. It wasn’t just about picking out five; an ordinary martial artist, by merely practicing one, could already be considered a formidable foe in the Fierce Realm.
But this was the first trap set by Martial Saint Mountain. Although the secret techniques were desirable, they weren’t something everyone could practice. Not to mention anything else, just take the Seven Sha Return Yuan Slash. Without blood as strong as a dragon and a body art master as a disciple, practicing this secret technique would just be digging one’s own grave.
An average Fierce Realm martial artist would already be hard-pressed to cultivate a single Blood Sha, let alone seven. If they didn’t have a secret technique to protect their mind and spirit, they’d go insane before even needing to fight anyone.
Even if one were to luckily master the Seven Sha Return Yuan Slash, the seven extremely Yin and evil energies would completely shatter the physique of an average person from the Fierce Realm.
The kind-looking elder had made it clear: the final challenge of the martial arts tournament was to test their imagination, for those who can stand in the third trial must at least be martial artists who have achieved unity of spirit and intent. And for such young ones to reach unity, their future in the Fierce Realm was all but guaranteed.
Therefore, imagination was especially important to them. In some sense, the strength of their imagination would define the strength of their future.
Secondly, it was about martial arts cultivation; imagination isn’t about daydreaming or fanciful thinking—it must be applied in practice.
Just as theoretically martial artists could practice countless secret techniques regardless of talent, bloodline quality, and so on, in reality, it was simply impossible.
“`
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