Chapter 211 Slas.h.i.+ng the Heavenly Pillar (Part III)
Kirst’s City Lord was also astonished by this attack. He then looked at Hoult’s Crimson Fire with great envy.
“So this is a top-grade level 29 Superior Divine Weapon… It’s really powerful, too powerful. Considering this longsword together with that attack which acc.u.mulates energy, just in terms of the damaging prowess alone, Hoult is undoubtedly the best among all the examinees.”
Most Knights in the training grounds who had seen this had all stepped back at least fifty meters away from the metal pillar, unable to take the high temperature.
Rota exhaled slowly, “He is strong, really strong. The prowess of this attack has probably exceeded the limits of a first transition Knight. This is not an attack that someone at Knight level can perform.”
Hamil also lamented, “Seems like Hoult will have the top position in the first stage. As expected of the third generation disciple of a Divine level expert. So this is the difference between us and someone from a powerful background.”
Anderson’s face turned green, as if he had not expected Hoult to perform such a powerful attack. This attack was neither fast nor ingenious, and the pract.i.tioner even had to store up power to successfully unleash it.
It was an attack which pursued only damage prowess. In this area, there was nothing more others could say about it.
From there onward, other students taking their turns as the compet.i.tion continued, including Rota, Hamil, and Manny. However, no one else could reach the level Hoult and Anderson had.
When it came to David’s turn, he went up wearing a pair of golden-colored gloves. When he clenched his fist, streams of electricity started to encircle his fists.
Governor Devitt’s brows twitched slightly, ‘ThunderG.o.d Gloves?’
This set of gloves was clearly one with a bit of a reputation for itself, as it was the heirloom of Mongul City’s City Lord. To think that this time around he had given them to David to use them in the Regional Selection!
This pair of gloves was a level 25 Superior Divine Weapon, and it encompa.s.sed one’s fists with layers of electricity which could both numb and scorch one’s enemies with the high temperatures. In a short instant it could release temperatures even as high as ten thousand degrees.
It was a pity that the temperature could not be sustained for long. Although the short outbursts of temperature were high, their damaging prowess was far from a match for the Crimson Fire longsword.
Many of the spectators had also recognized this equipment and had started mumbling between themselves.
David was wearing a proud smile as he took his stance to perform One Man Army. Controlling the air pressure and using the ThunderG.o.d Gloves, he wanted to create a high-temperature lightning attack to melt the metal pillar.
However, just before he punched out, a commotion broke out.
“Why is he not wearing his underwear?” Ferdinand shouted. “It isn’t yellow today?”
Many people broke out in laughter. David tensed up for a moment and could not help but reach with one hand for his belt, while the other fist missed its aim. In that moment, the thunder punch’s attack was greatly reduced, and it only made a five-inch dent on the metal pillar’s surface.
Devitt shook his head, “You’re unable to calm down, 11 points.”
The other examiners were also a bit disappointed by David’s performance, and eventually gave him 10.5 points.
They were testing candidates who would eventually become Conferred Knights, and who had to be equipped with top-notch attributes in all areas, including their endurance toward external interferences. A person who had a slip-up from other peoples’ ridicule would not get the examiners to stop the spectators’ laughs, but rather, the examiners will just feel that the candidate was too weak psychologically, and was not cut out for great things.
In the battles between experts, each minute and second was of extreme importance. During a battle, how much turmoil would distractions bring them? To Devitt, a person who could not even focus was too disappointing.
Hearing this, David lowered his head, embarra.s.sed. However, it also made him hate Fang Xingjian and Ferdinand even more as he swore to kill them. He glared at Ferdinand, only to receive a contemptuous look.
Finally, it was the last examinee’s turn. Fang Xingjian stepped forth. Being late, he was the last one to enter the compet.i.tion, and had thus been given the last number.
He stepped forth, but no one felt that Fang Xingjian would be able to make greater damage than Hoult. The people in the stands were still dwelling on Hoult’s previous Fire Dragon Slash.
“It’s Fang Xingjian’s turn. He has a rare first transition job as well as Heaven’s Perception.”
“Those are not going to be of any use either. Neither Windstorm Sword Hero nor Heaven’s Perception are cut out for attacks. There’s no way for his damaging prowess to exceed Anderson’s and Hout’s.”
The aristocrats in the stands and the partic.i.p.ants in the training grounds were all people who knew their stuff. Previously, they had all gotten an understanding of the traits of Windstorm Sword Hero and Heaven’s Perception, so they did not think that Fang Xingjian was able to get a high score.
Especially since Wei Leng, who also had Heaven’s Perception, had only scored 12 points. How much higher could Fang Xingjian possibly score?
However, Fang Xingjian was unaffected by all these. He had to pa.s.s the Regional Selection and eventually go through the second transition to become a Conferred Knight. When that time came, he would become middle management level in the Empire, and there would be no one who would be able to easily harm him. Everyone would be busy trying to rope him in to join their side.
There were only five thousand Conferred Knights in the entire Empire, and slightly over two hundred in the Great Western Region. Across the eight regions, there were about two thousand Conferred Knights, and the remaining three thousand all belonged to the Empire’s upper echelon.
What did this mean? It could be said that the entire Empire was governed by these approximately five thousand people. They either led cities, like Kirst’s City Lord and Mongul’s City Lord, managed Prefectural Academies like Headmaster Jackson, or lead armies.
Even if they were not leaders in a specific area, they tended to be important characters of major departments in political centers such as the Great Western City and the Imperial Capital.
Therefore, Fang Xingjian had less concerns now. What he needed to do was to display his talent to the best of his abilities, be more highly regarded, get more resources, build more relations.h.i.+ps, all these in order to cultivate even faster.
Therefore, he was not planning to hold back too much. He opened his palm and the Effulgence Weapon took shape. The High Frequency Effulgence Weapon, Silver Fox, appeared in his hands, akin to starry clouds and heavy fog. He then also drew out the level 20 Superior Divine Weapon, the Styx, which was attached at his waist.
The Silver Fox was placed above the Styx, and both the Effulgence Weapon and Divine Weapon gradually merged into one. It looked as if the Styx was covered in a layer of light and fog, and was consecutively trembling at a rate of one thousand five hundred times per second.
Holding the Styx in his hand, Fang Xingjian’s other hand reached out to the metal pillar right in front of him, which had long recovered its original state. Fang Xingjian placed his palm on the cold metal pillar, activating his Heaven’s Perception at full power, trying to perceive every tiny bit of information he could get.
Color, shape, weight, temperature, density… The shape of the metal pillar was slowly taking shape in Fang Xingjian’s consciousness.
Various pieces of information, both internal and external, gradually revealed themselves to Fang Xingjian. At the same time, his Unparalleled Sword Intent was activated, frantically searching for the metal pillar’s weakness.
Hints of light spots were appearing on the image in Fang Xingjian’s mind, but the metal pillar’s material was simply too strong. Fang Xingjian’s sword arts cultivation was not sufficient to allow him to easily slash through it, and thus he could only see some blurred spots representing its possible weak points. There was a total of one hundred and eighty-eight of them.
And he was only allowed one move in the stage of Slas.h.i.+ng the Heavenly Pillar.
This meant that he would need to slash out one hundred and eighty-eight times within a single move.