Chapter 34 – Dream Trial
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“This Sun Ping has already been at the Third Stage of Body Transformation for a period of time, but still only managed to strike out with 2300 jins. He’s also only seventeen years old; he isn’t a threat to me.” Wang Yanfeng said as he waved his fan. He narrowed his eyes as he gauged Sun Ping. The final evaluation of the entrance exam would be dependent on not only the results of the Trial, but of the age and talent grade of those who passed. The younger they were and the higher the talent grade, the higher the evaluation would be. In the many young martial artists and talents that participated in the exam, seventeen years of age was considered a bit old.
“Young master, it’s your turn.”
“Mm.” Wang Yanfeng folded his fan and handed it to his attendant.
As Wang Yanfeng stepped in front of the stone column, many people begin to recognize him.
“It’s Wang Yanfeng of Yuelu City!”
As the crowd began to spread the news, the nearby candidates turned their gaze over to him. In this group of candidates, Wang Yanfeng had the greatest chance of competing for first place. Not only was his strength formidable, but he was a youth of fifteen years of age.
And most importantly, Wang Yanfeng’s talent was high!
Wang Yanfeng was a grade-four talent, but the truth was that the grade-four talents and above, was also divided into low, medium, and high quality. Wang Yanfeng was of the rare high grade-four talents.
Wang Yanfeng stood before the stone column and let out a single breath. The breath curled into the air like twin snakes; this was a sign of the Third Stage of Body Transformation, Viscera Training.
The surrounding crowd gasped in awe. “Seriously, he has just entered the Third Stage of Body Transformation and yet he can already breathe out the twin snakes, and he is only fifteen years old. This is truly talent that defies the will of Heaven.”
“Mm. Martial artists at Viscera Training have true essence protecting their heart and lungs and other five major internal organs. They can protect their frail internal organs from attacks, and moreover, their heart and lungs are strong. They have abnormal vitality and could prolong their breathing. Their muscles would naturally strengthen under these conditions and rise. This Wang Yanfeng already breathes snakes but has just entered the Third Stage, it truly makes one jealous.”
As this discussion continued, Wang Yanfeng had already struck out at the stone column. A ‘bang’ rang through the air and the stone column shook. The beam of light jumped up and finally settled at two feet four inches.
“2400 jins!”
Generally speaking, the average martial artist who had entered the Third Stage of Body Transformation would reach about 2000 jins. But Wang Yanfeng, he had just entered the Third Stage, was only fifteen years old, and yet managed to show a strength of 2400 jins. It really was shocking to all onlookers.
However, before the crowd had recovered their composure, there were cries of alarm and surprise coming from another side. A tall and burly youth had walked in front of a stone column and punched his fist. The light beam rose and fell two feet and four inches. 2400 jins!
Wang Yanfeng’s record had just been born but was already rendered average by another youth. Lin Ming looked at that tall and burly youth and was startled to see that he was someone who was also at the Second Stage of cultivation!
It wasn’t out of sorts to see someone at the Third Stage of Body Transformation reach 2000 jins, but 2000 jins at only the Second Stage? That was just too excessive.
By now Lin Ming had noticed that although the youth appeared to have a naïve and innocent appearance, his height was higher than those of his peers around him, and his muscled body seemed to be thicker and denser than an adult’s.
Was this what they called inborn divine strength?
Those with inborn divine strong were several times stronger than those of their age. Although they were very rare, it appeared that this tall and burly youth was one such type.
Wang Yanfeng also saw that impressive youth and let out a light humph. He didn’t give it too much thought. Inborn divine strength? Martial artists fought with not just their strength, but also with their martial arts and skills. Not only that, but the higher one’s cultivation, the more important true essence becomes. Those who were born with this divine strength did not necessarily become some fierce martial arts figure.
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The trial continued, and several youths past with a strength of 1000 jins that were at the peak the Second Stage.
The Seven Profound Martial House stipulated that the candidate’s age must be between fifteen to eighteen years of age. It was easy for those of this age bracket to have had achieved the peak of the Second Stage of Body Transformation.
Occasionally there would also be those youths that had reached the Third Stage of Body Transformation. These youths had managed 2000 jins, and some even reached 2500 jins.
Now, it was finally Lin Ming’s turn.
Before Lin Ming arrived at the stone column, he had already realized that this was a more serious situation than he thought. Although he was confident that he wouldn’t lose to Wang Yanfeng, his natural talent was also far from his.
It was third grade compared to a high fourth grade. In the final evaluation, Lin Ming would suffer a great penalty!
In every round of this exam, Lin Ming had to put forth his whole heart and soul!
Lin Ming breathed lightly and let his entire body relax. He eliminated all distracting thoughts and sounds. The ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’ revolved silently in his body. Compared to a martial art at the same cultivation, his true essence was several times thicker in his muscles.
Strength Training’s ‘flow like silk’, the principles of hardness and softness; Lin Ming engraved these thoughts onto his mind as he meditated with the ‘Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians.’ His vision condensed and his relaxed body suddenly went taut like a longbow. His waist lowered and he thrust forwards with the strength of his thighs like a sleek and mighty leopard.
“Bang!”
The strike hit the center of the stone column. The light beam rose dramatically and crazily bounced up until it settled at 2700 jins.
Lin Ming’s strength was 2600 jins, but if he put forth his full effort, 2700 jins was also possible.
“My god, 2700 jins!”
“This boy, this boy is simply a vicious beast in human form! A few hundred more jins and he would have caught up to someone at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation!”
“No, this isn’t right, it’s just not right. The young fellow is only at the Second Stage of Body Transformation. Is he also someone with inborn divine strength?”
The crowd wildly discussed this, and some people had quickly recognized Lin Ming. “I know that person! Just half an hour ago on the main road he had used his strength of arm to throw off someone on a horse like a windmill! He threw off someone that was also at the Second Stage of Body Transformation and was holding a lance on a horse! The man was thrown but the boy hadn’t been moved at all. I thought he was some demon child but it turns out he was also someone with inborn divine strength; no wonder he was capable of that!”
“Wasn’t he arrested by the authorities? How did he get back?”
As people buzzed, the tall and burly youth who had beaten Wang Yanfeng and reached 2400 jins also looked at Lin Ming. The youth revealed a friendly expression as he happily smiled at Lin Ming. He had not thought that he would also meet someone with inborn divine strength at this examination, so he was quite sympathetic towards Lin Ming.
Wang Yanfeng looked at Lin Ming and frowned. This boy also had inborn divine strength? It truly was annoying. It was like these rare youths were crawling out of the woodwork like c*ckroaches.
“Brother Feng, this kid came out of nowhere and dared to steal Broth Feng’s limelight. Brother Feng truly was robbed.” A man at Wang Yanfeng’s side said.
Wan Yanfeng said, “It’s not anything special. Having this result at the Second Stage of Body Transformation is decent. Battle prowess doesn’t depend on just strength. Although those with inborn divine strength are rare, not many of them have great achievements in the future.”
Wang Yanfeng said this with a tone of exasperation. Although he had already determined that he would take first during this entrance exam, he was repeatedly overshadowed again and again by these fellow youths which made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
“What Brother Feng said is absolutely right. In the future what one will need to focus on is the true essence. The superiority of strength is only useful at the start. This kid will only be happy for a few years.” Wang Yanfeng’s entourage echoed.
After Lin Ming, it was Lin Xiaodong’s turn. As he approached the stone column he began to turn his neck back and forth and wiggle his waist. He continued this for a few minutes until the examination officials appeared to be increasingly annoyed and impatient. Then Lin Xiaodong finally cried out and punch the the stone column.
“Thud.” There was a dull thumping sound as the stone column’s light beam shook for a bit and then settled.
The examination supervisor frowned as he looked at Lin Xiaodong. “750 jins…but you also have two more opportunities.
The result was really bad considering that anyone less than 900 jins would not dare to register. No one wanted to idle in this huge crowd only to end up embarrassing themselves. But in Lin Xiaodong’s point of view this result was very good, and he had this natural shameless capability of ignoring the thoughts of others. He wiggled his waist and stretched his neck again, and then punched out again. ‘Peng!’
“700 jins.”
Another punch!
“750 jins.”
Without a shadow of a doubt, Lin Xiaodong had suffered a miserable defeat.
To Lin Xiaodong, this was a decent result. He was only fifteen years old and his father had decided that only when he was eighteen would he have any possibility of entering the Seven Profound Martial House. Lin Xiaodong had not planned on breaking through the Pulse Condensation period from the start, and his only ideal and wish was to preserve his position within the family.
“I gave you the Golden Deer Pills, did you not take any?” Lin Ming asked as Lin Xiaodong walked back.
“I ate them all; otherwise there was no way I would get past 600 jins.” Lin Xiaodong innocently shrugged. He left Lin Ming at a loss for words.
However Lin Ming also thought this was normal. After all, before he practiced the ‘Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians’, his best result was 850 jins. His diligent and tireless training was far above Lin Xiaodong who had only managed 600 jins at the time.
It was difficult for someone with only a grade three talent and no formidable aristocratic background to enter the Seven Profound Martial House at fifteen years of age. Even the first round of the entrance exam was prohibitively difficult to pass.
The Strength Trial finally finished around noon, and the candidates were allowed a short rest before the entrance exam continued.
Because the rest time was too short, Lin Ming simply ate a small meal before sitting back in meditation and then hurrying back to the square.
The second inspection was the Dream Trial. It was a test of a martial artist’s heart.
For a martial artist, they needed not only talent and support of their background, but moreover, they had to be someone with an earnest and indefatigable martial heart.