Chapter 13: Chapter 12
Ji Wuye clenched the rough stone bench tightly, his calloused fingers digging into the pitted surface until tiny shards pierced his palms.
A grimace flickered across his chiseled features as crimson beads of blood welled up and began trickling down his wrists.
With a pained hiss, he wrenched his hands back, only to watch in dawning horror as the bench contorted and morphed, stonework fracturing as a jagged earth spike erupted skyward.
The entire arena trembled violently underfoot, the remaining benches undergoing the same petrifying transformation into lancing spires.
Realizing the trial had commenced, Ji Wuye sprang backwards towards the center of the quaking arena floor. No sooner had he landed than an immense pillar of sharpened rock exploded from the space he'd just vacated.
"It's even larger than I remembered..." he murmured through gritted teeth, crimson eyes blazing with an intense inner light.
The ground rippled before him like water, deforming ominously as countless earth spikes aligned to impale him.
[!] Your passive skill, Quick Adaptation(F), has been triggered!
Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl within Ji Wuye's hyper-alert mind. His burning gaze rapidly analyzed every fractional movement, mapping out each spike's emergent trajectory in rapid headlong calculation.
Crimson pupils twitched and pulsed hotter with the strain of processing all the combat variables within the span of mere seconds.
"There will be one on my left...and the others will approach from the west and my right," he concluded sharply.
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
SWOOSH-!
With a series of agile dodges and gravity-defying backflips, Ji Wuye triggered his Quick Adaptation skill.
His hands slapped against the trembling floor, perfectly positioned to leverage his bodyweight up and over the striking spires in a whirling blooming of martial grace.
[!] Your passive skill, Quick Adaptation(F), has been triggered!
Yet even as he moved, the very ground beneath his palms began to disintegrate and transform, jagged rock blooming upwards to entrap him from all sides in an unforgiving cage.
Through the dusty miasma, the hint of a grim smile played across Ji Wuye's lips. "But this situation is not without hope."
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
SWOOSH-!
SWOOSH-!
SWOOSH-!
With whip-crack movements, Ji Wuye's body arced backwards, twisting in midair to land in an unsteady crouch as three spikes punctured the space he'd just vacated, sealing off lines of egress.
Towering pillars of rock surrounded him on all sides, granting only narrow ribbons of shadowed visibility ahead.
"And one would come from below me," he stated flatly, the words dropping like lead weights into the dusty air.
SWOOSH-!
In the same instant, Ji Wuye's entire form ignited in a sheath of coruscating Qi. With blistering speed, his hands plunged knuckle-deep into the emerging spike before him even as he registered the muffled thrum of another spire striking up from the earth behind.
Reflexes alone saved him as piercing rock shredded his tattered robe, leaving the muscles of his bare chest exposed to the stale air. Bloody cloth ribbons fluttered down around his braced feet.
Carried aloft by the skewering spike, Ji Wuye swung his legs up as sharpened rock tore through his palms, unleashing a torrent of crimson.
Clenching those ruined hands into defiant fists, he slammed them laterally into the surrounding stone pillars with earth-shattering force. One by one they burst apart, shredded debris raining down as he rapidly ascended amidst the chaos.
Using the remnant momentum, Ji Wuye angled through the disintegrating shards, still propelled ever higher until he reached nearly twice the apex of the grounded spire below.
Battered but undaunted, his fiery eyes narrowed to piercing slits as his Qi-shrouded form began spiraling with building velocity.
Tendons stood out like cords of iron from corded forearms as he delivered a devastatingly focused spinning kick to detonate against the emergent spire.
The backlash of that explosive impact sent shock waves rippling outwards, distorting the rising spire's trajectory as Ji Wuye's battered form was launched back towards the trembling earth, a spinning top of shredded flesh and tattered cloth.
From all sides, curved and misshapen earth spires bent inwards to intercept his descent in a vain attempt to find purchase in his hurtling body.
[!] Your passive skill, Quick Adaptation(F), has been triggered!
Ji Wuye spun through the air, dodging and weaving amidst the forest of malformed earth spikes seeking to impale him from every angle.
Bent shafts of jagged rock lanced in from the right, left and behind in an unrelenting assault. The solitary pillar below remained ominously poised to skewer him should he fall.
With the sky the only avenue of obvious escape, Ji Wuye knew flight was not an option open to him. Rotating again to gain altitude proved futile - amidst the choking clouds of pulverized debris, there existed no platforms to leverage against gravity's pull.
Dodging and blocking were rapidly becoming untenable maneuvers.
"Heh..." A harsh bark of mirthless laughter escaped his bloodied lips as Ji Wuye focused his concentration fully inwards.
Bypassing his tapped external reserves, he delved deep to draw upon the last dregs of Qi coiled tightly in his Middle Dantian, hoarded for just such a dire circumstance.
The faint, scattered tendrils of energy began contracting, condensing into a more potent, consolidated form.
Yet even as the protective Qi sheath firmed around his back and flanks, other areas like his chest, abdomen and face were laid bare, stripped of their energetic armoring. Like a turtle's vulnerability when bereft of its shell, Ji Wuye's front stood unguarded and exposed.
Such focused application of hardened Qi was a high-level technique impossible for a martial artist below 5th realm. But through hardships and dearly-bought skills in the previous timeline, Ji Wuye found he could just manage this feat in his current heavily depleted state.
"But...only one minute..." he muttered through gritted teeth, well aware of the inherent tradeoff required.
Utilizing his Qi reserves in such a recklessly concentrated manner, without a knowledge and real identity as a 5th realm martial artist, would subject his physical and energetic pathways to excruciating strain.
The risk of meridian damage could prove catastrophic.
CLANK!
CLANK!
CLANK!
One by one, the earthen lances slammed against Ji Wuye's hardened carapace, only to rebound impotently, unable to penetrate his partial Qi-armor.
Yet with each jarring impact, his protective integrity fractured further as precious reserves were depleted just to maintain the crystalline barrier.
On the tenth collision, just as Ji Wuye's battered form completed its descent to lightly settle atop the ring of gnarled earthen pikes, a thick spurt of arterial blood sprayed from his lips. "GAH!"
His protective Qi shroud collapsed entirely as he felt his Middle and Lower Dantians reserves crack under the strain, energetic pathways hemorrhaging in place of the vanished power.
A red haze swam across his vision as the intense focus required to channel his depleted reserves triggered severe cellular damage within his brain.
But just as his trembling fingers fumbled for the healing pill tucked in a tattered pocket, Ji Wuye froze, arm upraised as a shimmering transparent display blossomed into being before him.
[!] Congratulations, Climber Ji Wuye, on successfully surviving the last elemental test!
[>>[INFORMATION]<<]
Challenger Ji Wuye,
Congratulations on successfully clearing the second floor!
[!] Congratulations! You demonstrated exceptional resilience and achieved an extraordinary accomplishment by remaining conscious during the final test.
[!] Congratulations! Your injuries are relatively minimal compared to other challengers, showcasing your remarkable achievement.
[!] Congratulations! Your ingenuity and resourcefulness have captivated the gods, leading you to accomplish something truly remarkable.
[>>[REWARD]<<]
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• ....
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