Chapter Forty-Six Consecutive Challenges

The Trial Tower in the virtual space was a necessary stage. Qin Ming understood that this was also the moment to showcase his true potential.

Before entering, he first applied for a force amplitude assessment. Instantly, a measuring device appeared before him. With the technique of the Ninefold Thunder Blade, Qin Ming struck with a force amplitude of 3.5 times, which made Liu He nod approvingly. This assessment left a genuine record.

Soon after, the void presented various battle armors and weapons. After selecting, he stepped into the Trial Tower.

In his left hand was a six-sided shield, and in his right, the Blood Shadow Battle Blade.

The moment he stepped inside, the void shifted, and Qin Ming found himself standing on a vast grassland. The emerald grass stretched endlessly, and even the scent of fresh grass wafted in the air.

Above his head, an electronic synthesized voice sounded.

“Qin Ming, this is your first time entering the Trial Tower. You will begin the trial from the first layer, stage A. Shortly, sixty primary beast general-class wild bulls will surround and attack you. You must slay them all within twenty minutes. If you die partway, you fail; if you do not kill them all within twenty minutes, you fail! As this is your first entry into the Tower, you have five minutes to prepare.”

“Sixty wild bulls?” Qin Ming murmured.

Such a challenge was far beyond imagination. His physical abilities now were only equivalent to those wild bulls, and yet he had to face an assault from sixty of them and slay them all within twenty minutes. It was practically brutal.

No wonder there were many in the elite training camp who had not passed even the first layer.

But this was where combat will and insight were tested most severely.

Combat will needed no explanation; as for insight? Without sufficient insight, how could one grasp force amplitudes and various combat techniques?

Qin Ming did not simply wait. He began moving, adapting to his new body and strength.

Five minutes—more than enough!

In an instant, time was up.

“The trial begins!”

With the electronic voice echoing, a hundred meters ahead appeared a herd of wild bulls. Bulls themselves were robust, and these wild bulls stood three meters tall, their horns curved like blades, their hair long and fine. One charge seemed enough to bring down a mountain.

They were herd animals, coordinating perfectly.

The wild bulls roared, shaking the plains.

Lowering their heads, they thundered toward him, their hooves pounding the earth, grass trembling and almost uprooted by their force.

In less than a second, they were upon him!

“Then let the slaughter begin!”

Naturally, Qin Ming would not go head-to-head; that would be certain death.

With a step, his figure vanished, appearing at the flank of the herd.

It was the Instant Step.

Slice!

The Blood Shadow Battle Blade flashed coldly, severing the throat of one wild bull. Without pausing, his right hand danced, leaving afterimages.

In quick succession, three more throats were cut.

By now, the wild bulls had reacted, turning to attack.

Whoosh!

Qin Ming leapt away.

Alone, he circled the wild bull herd, striking from all sides.

The speed of his Instant Step outstripped the bulls' response.

Soon, only thirty or so remained.

Qin Ming stood firm, gripping his battle blade.

“Group slaughter is a skill one must master!”

He deliberated, then actively charged into the midst of the herd. Only in the thick of encirclement could his potential be pushed to its limit. He knew, if he could not kill thirty wild bulls head-on, the coming trials would be even harder.

The moment he plunged in, he reaped another bull, displaying his perfect movement technique to the fullest—dodging while harvesting lives.

Perfect movement meant calculating the trajectories of all surrounding objects as if in harmony with the heavens—everything within his sense, evading every attack.

When only fifteen remained, Qin Ming was encircled at the center.

From four directions, wild bulls attacked simultaneously.

His pupils contracted, his heart growing ever calmer.

With a sudden step, his figure soared upward.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The bulls behind seemed to anticipate his move, all leaping up, intending to surround him overhead.

If he was hemmed in, unable to leverage the ground, even survival would be impossible.

Crisis bloomed in an instant.

Within half a second, life and death would be decided.

“Again!”

Qin Ming steeled himself, roaring fiercely. In the span of a tenth of a breath, his right foot stomped several times.

This speed surpassed the eye’s ability to follow.

The air compressed to its limit, creating a force of rebound.

Whoosh!

In midair, his figure soared higher still.

“Success...!”

Qin Ming showed a hint of joy, though it was not perfect—but sufficient.

Swish!

He slashed the neck of a wild bull beneath him, severing its head in midair, using its body as leverage to spin and land far away.

“Kill!”

Qin Ming charged in once more.

When the last wild bull fell, he exhaled deeply.

“Just now, I shouldn’t have leapt up... If not for having honed my Instant Step, and stepping again in midair, I’d have been in real danger!”

Qin Ming considered.

It was due to his lack of combat experience.

That situation actually offered many ways to evade.

“Lacking experience? Then hone it!”

As Qin Ming resolved, the electronic voice sounded again.

“Time taken: eight minutes, twenty-six seconds. Sixty primary beast general-class wild bulls slain. First layer, stage A trial passed. Congratulations, student Qin Ming.”

“Next is stage B trial. Your target: kill one hundred primary beast general-class wild bulls within thirty minutes. Good luck!”

The voice faded, and a hundred meters away appeared a hundred bulls.

Compared to stage A, ten more minutes were granted, but forty more bulls appeared.

“Kill!”

This time, Qin Ming’s slaughter was somewhat slower.

As the deadline approached, he finally struck down the last bull, finishing in twenty-eight minutes.

Qin Ming did not leave, but pressed on.

Next was the first layer, stage C trial: slay two hundred wild bulls within fifty minutes, ten of them medium beast generals, the remaining hundred ninety primary beast generals.

“Fifty minutes, two hundred bulls, plus ten medium beast generals!”

Though he anticipated it, facing it directly made Qin Ming’s scalp tingle.

Two hundred—far larger than the previous herd, and led by medium beast generals.

“Nothing to say, only one word: kill!”

Qin Ming dared not charge recklessly. His physique was still ordinary.

He leveraged his force amplitude, pushing his speed to the extreme, combining it with Instant Step, remaining agile amidst the chaos.

This round, as before, focused on honing his skills.

Unconsciously, Qin Ming’s combat experience soared.

His Instant Step grew ever more refined, his movement technique approaching mastery.

With each moment, he improved, thrilling him all the more.

Each layer had three trials.

Each trial, he passed just as time was about to expire.

Such tempering in the midst of challenge brought Qin Ming truly astonishing growth.

In a blink, he reached the second trial of the third layer.

“Third layer, stage B trial: Qin Ming, you must slay two hundred Golden Vultures within thirty minutes, including one hundred ninety primary beast generals and ten medium beast general-class Golden Vultures. Good luck!”

“Flying beasts?”

“For warlords and even war gods who cannot fly, this is a death sentence!”

“But still...”

“Come!”

Qin Ming gazed at the dense swarm of Golden Vultures overhead, not the least bit afraid—on the contrary, his fighting spirit surged, his aura rising with wild abandon, giving the impression of a madman unleashed.