Unbeatable! Invincible! Unparalleled!

"This second test will measure your spirit and will. Compared to the first test, this will be significantly more difficult. You will be thrown into an illusion magic through runic formations combined with hypnosis." told Ling Yu in a solemn voice.

"Hypnosis? What for... " asked Xiahou Yu looking reticent.

"The reason is simple. First, the runic formations will control s.p.a.ce magic and illusion magic at the same time to create a scene for you. Second, in order for these illusion to feel like the reality, you will be hypnotized and artificial memories will be made. Third, although the illusion magic used in these runic formation is of low level and would pose no harm for students, the hypnotization effect of perceiving it as reality will cause damage to your mental." explained Ling Yu.

"That"s right. Thus, the hypnotization will be done on you in two conditions;" continued w.a.n.g Guozhi to explain further.

"Firstly, is that the students to be hypnotized must agree that what they will experience inside the illusion magic would be perceived as real and their memories that it is actually a test to be suppressed."

"Secondly, is that the moment the body feels that its mental state will be in danger if the test were to continue on, the students must agree that the hypnotization effect will immediately wear off!"

"I see.. so it is like that.." nodded Xiahou Yu as she came into an understanding.

"En! In this way, not only would we be able to tell how your spirit and will would fare in times of trials, it also prevents you from being in danger as well!" said Ling Yu with a nod.

Hearing their explanation, Duan Li grew nervous. Knowing himself, would he be alright in this test..?

For him, the life of becoming a student of the Jixue Knights Academy was all too sudden and not of his choosing. If it was not to respect for his mother"s wish, he couldn"t even be bothered with all these and would just continue to eat, sleep and learn stuff until he grows old.

But now, spirit and will tempering? He had been living the lazy life all this while, a trial of pressure on him.. this will be quite tricky.

Duan Li wiped the sweat off his forehead. If he were to believe it as real, then, wouldn"t I try to use the abilities from the mysterious pearl?

Would they be able to observe me? If they do.. I would be in trouble!

"Hehe what"s wrong boy? Scared aren"t you?" laughed w.a.n.g Guozhi, "Don"t worry, the test won"t be too harsh on new students".

...

"knock knock!"

"Pardon us senior teacher Ran Yang, we have come here for the test!" said w.a.n.g Guozhi as they entered the hall.

This hall is quite s.p.a.cious and empty, perfectly lit due to the surrounding tall windows that enabled the sunlight to pa.s.s through. In addition, with its floor and walls made up from white marble, this place seemed extremely grand and holy.

In the middle of the room are four pillars, of which on top of it could be seen four figures sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed. Their attire was that of the student uniform, white and blue. When the party came in, they slowly opened their eyes.

In the centre between these four pillars, was a lady that also sat cross-legged which seemed to be around her 20"s. She had voluptuous curves at all the right angles and her facial features so beautiful that Duan Li almost chocked himself out in a fl.u.s.ter.

"Ohh..? w.a.n.g Guozhi and little Ling Yu.. let me prepare for a while.." replied the lady called Ran Yang as she gestured towards the four figures above the pillars.

They then formed a series of hand incantations as the center began to glow in purple light along the lines drawn on the hexagram.

"Mmm this is fine!" she said and walked towards the party. She wore loose white robe made from silk, multiplying the seduction factor a hundred folds!

"Your disciples?" asked Ling Yu with a monotone voice.

"No.. they are just the members of my fan club.. hehe!" she replied with a slight chuckle.

Seeing Ling Yu"s annoyed and cold expression towards the other party, Duan Li realized that their relationship isn"t on the friendly level. Perhaps they have some history?

Suddenly, w.a.n.g Guozhi pulled Duan Li slightly to the back as he whispered; "Do not be fooled by her appearance, she is actuall-..!!"

Just as he was trying to finish his sentence, a dagger came flying by towards his head as he immediately dodged to the left.

"I wonder what you guys are whispering about? Hehe!" said the lady while covering her mouth with shy expression.

If only Duan Li hadn"t witnessed that the dagger came flying straight from her, he would have thought that the other party was actually an innocent and pure young maiden.

"Cheh! petty tricks!" harrumphed w.a.n.g Guozhi as he crossed his arms together with a wide grin.

The atmosphere was a little bit awkward for both Duan Li and Xiahou Yu. It seems that not all senior teachers are on friendly terms with each other..

The lady called Ran Yang walked forward towards Duan Li as she inspected him from top to bottom.

"You better had no funny ideas on him, lest should senior elder sister Meng Yue would to hear you charmed her son, there would be h.e.l.l to pay!" warned Ling Yu towards her with cold sharp gazes.

Hearing this, the countenance of this seductive woman changed as she said awkwardly, "I"m not planning to do anything! Hehe.. " and continued with a smile, "so.. who will start first?"

Xiahou Yu turned towards Duan Li and the others as she nodded shyly.

"She really is quite shy.. but her temperament is not that bad.. " thought Duan Li.

"Step into the center of the runic formations and sit down.. " told the lady.

As Xiahou Yu walked to the center of the formations, she could feel that the surrounding air felt different and heavy, perhaps due to the formations.

After she saw Xiahou Yu settling down, she nodded as her face grew serious. She then warned her;

"Now, when I state the condition for the hypnosis, you must agree to it! This is very important.. otherwise.. you risk danger to yourself from being unable to pull out from the illusion!"

"En!" replied Xiahou Yu with a confident nod. Her gentle eyes shone with sharp determination as she clenched her hands into a fist.

Seeing this, w.a.n.g Guozhi smiled.

"Seems like she had already steeled her resolve.. I hope the test won"t be too harsh on her.."

After Xiahou Yu closed her eyes, the lady started to read out the conditions for the hyponsis;

"You will be hypnotized as part of the second tests and that you will believe the illusion to be your reality. Nod if you agree!"

Xiahou Yu nodded.

"You will be hypnotized as part of the second tests and that you will wake up from the illusion should your mental state risks from being damaged or traumatized. Nod if you agree!"

Xiahou Yu nodded again.

"Good! Now with the flick of my finger, you will enter the illusion under being hypnotized!" explained the lady as she step back slowly and started counting down.

3.. 2.. 1..

Flick!

Xiahou Yu"s body jolted slightly after the finger flick resounded from Ran Yang as she slumbered down deep into a trance.

"Now, the trials for her has begun.. she will be fine." said w.a.n.g Guozhi as he pointed towards a direction at the corner where a big reflective mirror was slotted into the wall, "Let us look at what her trials look like."

...

Xiahou Yu was sitting cross-legged atop of a boulder amidst an ancient waterfall. Her figure no longer bore the look of a 16 years old girl, but instead a mature woman who seemed to be in her late 20s. Her face had turned more beautiful and her waist looked extremely lithe and alluring, totally fatal for any young man.

Her eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened up her eyes, gazing towards the beautiful moon in the lonely night, her expression melancholic.

"This will be my toughest tribulations to come.. In my years since I started becoming a martial artists and walking the path of cultivation.. I have gone far and wide, experienced many sufferings and hard work to come this far.. " she said slowly to herself, a sad expression loomed over her beautiful face.

"I have sacrificed many things.. my emotions.. my feelings.. detached myself from the people around me.. all in order to focus to ascend to the higher realm.. and now.. I shall not fail!" her sad expression disappeared, replaced with a determined looks and clear eyes, devoid of any turbidity within it.

Inhaling deeply as her aura slowly rose higher and higher until it reached the peak, as if reaching the ceiling of a bottleneck, she suddenly shouted out towards the sky;

"Come! My tribulation!!"

Kacha!

The previous bottleneck within her meridians and acupoints were smashed like brittle gla.s.ses as her rumbling spiritual Qi pummelled it in one shot and continued to rise sharply, as if trying to reach for something.

It was then that the clear night sky suddenly turned darker as black clouds formed above her. Sounds of crackling thunders and flashes of lightning encompa.s.sed the whole sky, as if preparing itself to descend and decimate the whole world.

Xiahou Yu gritted her teeth and clenched her fist tight.

BOOM!

The surrounding trees were uprooted as fierce gales of wind a.s.saulted the area when the thunder struck down towards Xiahou Yu continuously.

...

"S-she! She got struck by a thunder!!" said Duan Li feeling extremely shocked and terrified as he watched this scene.

Holy cow! That thunder would roast anyone to ashes!

"That is the tribulation one had to endure in order to reach the nascent soul realm!" replied Wan Guozhi to the side.

"Nascent soul realm?" said Duan Li confused, as this was the first time he had heard of "realm" rather than "potential".

"En! Let me explain!" gestured Ling Yu.

"In total, when you enroll to become a student of the academy, naturally, you will start at the bottom-most level, which is the Qi Condensation realm!"

"In total, there are six known realms so far in the Tian continent, from the weakest, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Golden Core, Nascent soul and finally the strongest.. Immortal ascension stage! "

Duan Li listened attentively as these realm stuff seems pretty important for him later on. Also, since he loved learning, naturally he was able to remember anything that interest him well, even before the mysterious pearl gave him the abilities to do so.

"Realm is entirely different than the potentials of the dantian, although are very closely connected at the same time." Ling Yu explained as she took out a book from her ring.

Opening the book, she swiftly flipped through the pages where diagrams were drawn on the relationship between realms and potentials.

"The dantian potential as you already know, are also divided into six grades; Mortal, Inception, Earth, Nascent, Sky and Immortal!"

Duan Li nodded.

"By having a potential of Earth grade dantian, it means you will definitely be able to reach Core Formation realm in your lifetime! If you practiced martial arts and cultivated diligently, you could raise it by one grade and one realm!"

"Similarly, if one"s potential were only of the Mortal grade, then they would only be at the Qi condensation realm in their lifetime, and through luck, would be able to advance to the Inception grade and the Foundation establishment realm at most! That is as far as they can go!"

Hearing this, Duan Li came to a realization. His dantian potential is at the bright blue color, which is the sky grade potential! Then, what realm would be possible for him to achieve in his lifetime?

"Then.. what realm would I be able to achieve with the sky grade potential?" he asked curiously.

"Well.. that is why we were shocked before.. according to the trend between these relationships.. it is possible for to be able to reach.. the Immortal ascension realm without a doubt!"

Duan Li"s hair stood on end as he heard this and subconsciously clenched his hand into a fist in excitement.

To be of the immortal realm? What sort of conception was that?

Isn"t that like, ridiculously powerful being?

And I would be able to reach that stage in this lifetime?

Holy-moly!

Ling Yu and w.a.n.g Guozhi smiled when they saw his expression. Who wouldn"t be happy to reach such a stage in the future? For them, it is but a pipe dream. Thus, they felt a little bit jealous of Duan Li.

The lady called Ran Yang at their back was shocked to hear Duan Li"s potential to be of the sky grade. Flashes of scheme were reflected in her eyes as she smirked silently.

...