CHAPTER 234: SECOND TEST, TECHNIQUE STEALING SPREE

Space contracted and expanded until all the remaining disciples were drawn together into a single place.

Each stood before a stone tablet.

Fang Wu, Wuji, Tianling, and the Martial Ancestor materialized before them.

Some of the disciples stared at the elders with barely concealed resentment. After all, they had been forcefully kidnapped and brought here to fight to the death.

"Now, before each of you is a martial technique you must comprehend. This is both reward and test for the next selection," Fang Wu announced, letting his words hang in the air.

The disciples glanced at one another; only one, among them would survive.

There were, however, exceptions — first among them Yu Xuan and Long Anming, then the disciple of the Life and Death Peak Master, and a few informed disciples from Martial Heaven Peak.

Wuji’s eyes gleamed as he looked over his own disciples, the Wu brothers.

Those two young men in stood out.

One carried a keen, cutting aura and brows like drawn blades — Wu Jianxiao.

The other was plainer in bearing but possessed a sharp, handsome face; he was Wu Tianjian, the elder among the two.

Wu Jianxiao watched Yu Xuan with bitter hatred.

He did not know why, only that the moment he saw Yu Xuan he felt something precious had been stolen from him; unease gnawed at him.

Fang Wu studied the gathered disciples and nodded inwardly. Though most were from Martial Heaven Peak, the truly outstanding ones had come from other places.

"Starting now, you will comprehend the martial scripture given to you. Each scripture is specially chosen for you, judged by your performance. Not everyone who understands it will qualify, the Ancestor will decide who proceeds to the final test. The rest will perish," Fang Wu said, his words tightening the air.

At Fang Wu’s signal, the stones before the disciples flared to life. Symbols and intricate diagrams carved themselves onto the surfaces, revealing martial techniques of unknown origin.

Yu Xuan stood silently before his tablet.

While others immediately pressed their palms to the stone, straining to study the diagrams and feel the Qi flow, he did nothing.

Their cultivations were sealed, their abilities suppressed — most could barely extend their divine sense, let alone comprehend the deeper meaning behind the inscriptions.

Normally, when a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul Realm, their spirit sense — usually first awakened in the Core Formation stage — merges with the soul, becoming true divine sense.

With it, they can perceive the laws of heaven and earth, an ability essential for higher comprehension and enlightenment. But divine sense has countless other uses.

[A/N: Perceiving laws and comprehending them are two different things.]

Yu Xuan, however, had already formed spirit sense at the early Foundation Establishment Realm — a feat unheard of even among geniuses.

And with his amazing comprehension, to him, this so-called "test" was little more than an exercise.

He extended his spirit sense, enveloping the stone tablet before him.

Yet he was not the only one who refrained from physical contact.

A youth with abyssal-black hair and lifeless eyes stood motionless nearby, his divine sense active despite the seal on his cultivation.

Long Anming, too, stood in place, her dragon bloodline allowing her to perceive in ways others could not.

The watching figures exchanged quiet, meaningful glances but said nothing.

Within Yu Xuan’s mind, the technique unfolded. Its title appeared in ancient characters: [Unheard and Unseen Void Steps].

He arched an eyebrow.

"Void Steps? Are they playing a joke on me?" he muttered, glancing toward the elders, only to receive indifferent stares in return.

He thought it was a simple technique.

Sighing, Yu Xuan focused again.

But as he delved deeper into the technique, his amusement faded.

His expression grew solemn — the structure of the art was elegant and profound, hiding a delicate balance between emptiness and motion.

Intrigued, he began to weave it into his own martial method, the one gifted to him by the system yet seldom used: [The Formless Martial Path].

The fusion occurred naturally, like abottle of water flowing into ocean.

When he reopened his eyes, he was satisfied, the merged technique had quiet perfection.

It no longer required a fixed pattern or the rigid grid of steps the original demanded; instead, it flowed freely, unrestricted, truly formless.

Barely ten minutes had passed since the second trial began.

Deciding he had grasped enough of its essence, Yu Xuan exhaled softly and moved.

Or rather, he didn’t move. The space around him folded inward, and he vanished.

The disciples nearby gasped; even Long Anming’s golden eyes widened in disbelief. Two seconds later, he reappeared in the exact same spot, as if nothing had happened.

"I’m still not proficient," he murmured, brushing dust from his sleeve.

The four people stared down in stunned silence, their composed expressions finally cracking.

"Ah... Ancestor," Fang Wu began carefully, eyes narrowing in disbelief.

"Didn’t you say you granted him the most complex technique present here?"

His tone carried genuine confusion; deceiving a junior was beneath the Martial Ancestor’s dignity, so what he had just witnessed made no sense.

Wuji folded his arms, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

"Peak Master, you’re missing the real point." He turned slightly toward Baotian.

"Grand Elder, don’t you think that what he displayed just now was not the original [Unheard and Unseen Void Steps]? It was... slightly different."

Even as a High Elder, he spoke to the Peak Master with the measured respect their hierarchy demanded, but astonishment still slipped through his voice.

He had seen Yu Xuan vanish using a method that should normally be impossible for a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator to execute and worse, the structure of the technique itself had changed.

It was smoother, freer, as though Yu Xuan had refined an art on instinct. And he had done it in less than ten minutes.

Baotian’s brows furrowed; his usually calm features showed clear surprise.

"To modify a high-grade movement art on the first comprehension..."

He trailed off, then muttered almost to himself,

"Is he truly a natural genius or something beyond that?"

His words hung in the air.

Only the Martial Ancestor remained silent. His gaze lingered on Yu Xuan below, the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

’Interesting... not bound by form.’ he thought.

Tianling too laughed, the future of sect is bright.

***

Oblivious to the scrutiny of the elders above, Yu Xuan remained where he stood before his stone tablet.

He quietly replayed the technique in his mind — analyzing every shift, every flicker of movement.

It had gone well enough for a first attempt, though not perfectly. After mentally retracing the flow of energy several times, he opened his eyes once more, a calm gleam flickering within them.

His unique trait, [Adaptive Mind], had greatly accelerated the process. It allowed him to absorb new information with terrifying efficiency, refining unfamiliar concepts into instinct.

Humanity, after all, was one of the most adaptable of races and Yu Xuan embodied that principle to an extreme.

Looking around, Yu Xuan noticed that the Peak Master of Martial Heaven Peak had yet to summon him or offer any comment, even after his display. He was certain all four elders had seen him perform.

’What should I do now?’ he wondered, tapping his fingers thoughtfully.

Without hesitation, he extended his spirit sense toward the tablet in front of Long Anming, who stood beside him.

The dragon girl’s golden eyes glowed faintly, threads of light weaving through them an ocular technique. She was too focused on her own comprehension to notice the intrusion, and Yu Xuan’s spiritual presence brushed against her tablet without resistance.

A new technique formed within his mind.

[Dragon’s Domination], a spirit technique meant to subjugate weaker wills.

Yu Xuan raised a brow.

’Hmm... a diluted copy of my [Immortal’s Gaze], perhaps?’ he mused. Two minutes later, he opened his eyes again; they shone gold for an instant, a thin, vertical slit flashing within his pupils.

With a faint smile, he activated his skill [Ultra Instinct] and expanded his spirit sense further — this time sweeping across every tablet in the arena.

He wasn’t stealing, not exactly.

He merely wished to record the contents, memorize the structure of the martial arts gifted by the Martial Ancestor. Such treasures were too valuable to let vanish once this illusionary test ended.

But as his spirit sense brushed past one particular stone, before a black-haired youth with lifeless eyes something strange occurred.

The other’s divine sense stirred and met his own.

For a brief moment, the two locked perception upon one another. It wasn’t sight nor sound, but a shared awareness — like two beings peering into the same space, each fully aware of the other’s gaze.

A chill rippled through the air.

The black-haired youth’s brows drew together in displeasure, a faint shadow of irritation flickering across his otherwise emotionless face.

Yu Xuan, however, merely gave a mental shrug.

He had no time for prideful glares, others were beginning to test their techniques, each trying to polish their own moves.

Above them, the elders continued their silent observation.

Grand Elder Baotian’s eye twitched.

"This boy... truly shameless," he muttered.

Tianling chuckled softly, amusement dancing across his lips.

"This child is shameless," Wuji agreed, slightly irritated.

Fang Wu remained silent, his gaze complicated.

And the Martial Ancestor — he said nothing at all. But deep within his ancient eyes, there was a flicker of something rare; genuine curiosity.