Chapter 154: The Trial Begins!

"The trial fee is 3 fifth-tier energy crystals per person."

At the entrance, after paying their trial fees, Lan Tian and Wei Lin watched as a soldier produced two egg-sized, transparent crystals marked with their names, saying to them, "Fisssure a wisp of spiritual consciousness and integrate it into your respective Fate Soul Crystals."

"Don't worry, just do as he says. This Fate Soul Crystal is a little gadget used to monitor whether you are still alive; once it shatters, it means the master of that spiritual consciousness has perished," Bai prompted him in his mind right then.

"So that's how it is..." Lan Tian felt relieved. Without further hesitation, he split off an extremely faint wisp of spiritual consciousness and fused it into the Fate Soul Crystal.

After completing all the formalities, Lan Tian and Wei Lin stepped aside to wait. He cautioned Wei Lin, "Apart from the first floor, no one knows what the trials in the Heaven-Defying Pagoda are like, nor do we know whether the trial is conducted alone or if everyone is gathered together. You must be careful yourself, don't push yourself, and if things get truly hopeless, just give up and quit."

Although this girl Wei Lin was rather noisy and annoying, and Lan Tian truly wished to be rid of her, he still did not want to see such a delicate and lovely young maiden genuinely lose her life here.

"Don't worry, I know," Wei Lin giggled. "When this young lady reaches the higher floors, I'll definitely look after you later~"

"......"

"Trial-takers numbered 982 to 1300, gather over here and prepare to enter the Heaven-Defying Pagoda!" After a few hundred dejected trial-takers walked out of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda, a planetary-level soldier not far away channeled his cosmic star force and shouted loudly.

Due to the unique rules of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda, no one bothered to ask the exiting trial-takers about the situation inside anymore.

"Haha, Lan Tian, we really are in the same batch!" Upon hearing the soldier's shout, Wei Lin was overjoyed and hurriedly pulled Lan Tian over to assemble.

"Alright, everyone is in position. Enter in order. Remember, once you enter the Heaven-Defying Pagoda, your life and death are up to fate; weigh whether you want to quit for yourselves!" The soldier guarding the entrance reminded them in a routine manner. Too many people had entered and never walked out; having seen it all, he was long since numb to it.

Following that, Lan Tian's batch filed in one by one.

Much like the first floor of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda simulated by Bai, the real first floor of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda was a vast, empty space. Upon stepping inside, Lan Tian was astonished to find that everyone, including Wei Lin, had vanished one after another.

Immediately afterward, he himself was teleported into a boundless ocean, standing alone on a protruding reef.

"The first floor of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda trial begins. Objective: Comprehend the first layer of basic combat techniques. You may quit at any time."

An aged voice suddenly echoed in Lan Tian's mind. Then, seeing the familiar rolling waves on the ocean surface, a smile appeared on his face, and his internal anxiety quickly receded. He smiled and said, "Bai, you're still quite reliable after all! This first floor is almost completely identical to what you simulated!"

For a long while, there was no response.

On second thought, Lan Tian realized the Heaven-Defying Pagoda was truly miraculous; Bai seemed to have been blocked off.

That being the case, he shouldn't waste time.

Lan Tian directly circulated the divine charm within his body and launched an attack toward the sea surface. However, before his strike could even hit the water, the surrounding environment shifted, and he was teleported right back to the first floor of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda.

"The trial-taker has previously mastered the first layer of the divine charm. It will not be counted in the clearance record!"

"Heh, quite intelligent," Lan Tian said with genuine surprise. After he materialized, dozens of figures appeared one after another. Lan Tian scanned the area and discovered that Wei Lin was among them, prompting a smile to surface on his face.

These people were presumably the ones who had already cultivated the divine charm of the first layer of basic combat techniques beforehand.

The Heaven-Defying Pagoda did not give them a chance to greet one another. With a flash before their eyes, Lan Tian and the others were instantly teleported to the second floor.

This was the true beginning of the trial!

Lan Tian looked around and found that he had arrived in a place resembling a martial arts arena. What made his scalp tingle, however, was that standing directly in front of him was someone who looked identical to him, staring at him coldly!

What the heck?!

Was this his own mirror image?

"The second floor of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda trial begins. Objective: Comprehend the second layer of basic combat techniques. Quitting midway is not permitted. Those who fail to comprehend within three years will be expelled."

"What? Is that it?" Lan Tian shouted in frustration. "The first-layer basic combat technique had a visual cue of ocean waves, but the second layer is just a single sentence?"

However, the person standing opposite him who looked exactly like him gave him no time for contemplation, raising a fist and striking directly at him.

For some time now, Lan Tian had not ceased interweaving the Soul-Suppressing Pagoda within his soul, and his spiritual consciousness had made considerable progress. Seeing the opponent's attack approaching, his subconscious reaction was to mobilize his spiritual consciousness.

Yet, the next second, he noticed something was wrong. The spiritual consciousness within his soul felt as though it had frozen solid; no matter how he tried to drive it, he could not summon even a shred of it!

Before he had time to be shocked, the opponent's fist was about to reach his chest. In his haste, Lan Tian could only manage to mobilize the divine charm within his body, wrapping it protectively over his chest.

"Huh?!" A tremendous force struck him, Lan Tian's expression changed abruptly, and his entire body was blasted backward by the impact.

Could this be... the second layer of the divine charm?!

Lan Tian steadied his footing, rubbed his somewhat aching chest, and a look of realization dawned on his face.

It truly was his own mirror image—its strength was completely identical to his own, except that it had comprehended the divine charm of the second layer of basic combat techniques, which he had not yet mastered.

With this realization, Lan Tian's expression turned rather peculiar.

It seemed that...

Given his current strength, even if he had comprehended the second layer of the divine charm, it wouldn't be able to inflict any actual damage on his own Azure Blood Divine Body, right?

Taking a full blow head-on just now while caught off-guard had merely caused a slight ache...

This meant that even if he just stood there motionless and let this mirror image attack him, the image couldn't inflict a single bit of damage on him!

Thinking of this, Lan Tian felt a twinge of guilt, suddenly plagued by the sensation of cheating on an exam.

Yet this feeling was undeniably fantastic!

Following that, Lan Tian continuously exchanged blows with the mirror image while pondering privately.

Was the second floor of the Heaven-Defying Pagoda designed to make people comprehend the divine charm of the second layer of basic combat techniques through combat?

No, if it were really that simple, there were plenty of people outside who possessed the second-layer divine charm. Wouldn't that mean anyone could acquire it simply through fighting?

It certainly couldn't be that simple!

He had also attempted to use his cosmic star force, and even his Azure Blood Astral Fire. True to his expectations, just like his spiritual consciousness, they were locked in an unusable state.

Still, that was probably for the best. The Azure Blood Astral Fire was far too overbearing; if he had actually managed to unleash it, it probably would have vaporized the mirror image in an instant. What if it didn't respawn after being killed? He would have been left with no tears left to cry.

He had to remember that the mission objective was to comprehend the second layer of basic combat techniques, not to destroy the mirror image. If his guess was correct, he still had to rely on this very entity to comprehend that second layer!

As expected of the second layer's divine charm, it seemed to have reached a threefold amplification. Even with the formidable resilience of the Azure Blood Divine Body, Lan Tian was wincing in pain.

What surprised him, however, was that as they fought, the mirror image suddenly halted, assumed a defensive posture, and simply stood there without moving.

What kind of trick was this?! Why did it suddenly stop?

"Every two hours, a ten-minute rest is granted to restore the initial state." Before Lan Tian could ponder for long, that voice rang out in his mind once more.

Immediately afterward, a wave of warm energy washed over him, and the bruises left behind by his exchanges with the mirror image began to fade. Seconds later, his body was restored directly to its prime condition.

What a miraculous power!

Lan Tian marveled at the phenomenon, yet this also untied the knot of doubt in his heart.

So that was how it worked...

This was all thanks to his own constitution. If it were anyone else facing the mirror image's relentless assaults, they would either be dead or severely wounded after two hours. And since quitting midway was prohibited, how could anyone possibly endure for three years without recovery!

It seemed the Heaven-Defying Pagoda was quite humane after all; it didn't genuinely mean to exterminate everyone, otherwise, heaven knows how many people would have died here!