CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: IS IT GOOD TO BE SUCH A DEMON?

Wang Lan followed the exhausted-looking young man to the testing arena. A circle had been drawn on the ground, and the other party stood at its center. "I am Xu Shiyun, your examiner," he said. "We will fight within this circle. I will not use Star Martial Skills to bully you, but you may use them as you wish. The rules of the test are simple: either you knock me out of the circle, or I knock you out of it. If you go out, the test is a failure. If I go out, the test is a success. Understood?"

"Understood!"

"Alright, let’s begin!"

"Wait!"

"Speak."

"Can I use a weapon?"

"You can. What do you need?"

"Give me a forty-meter-long broadsword!"

"PFFT—"

Upstairs, outside the testing arena, Wang Qianfeng, who was watching the test via surveillance, suddenly sprayed out the water he had just swallowed.

"HAHAHA..." Li Weixin, Chief of the Action Department and also wearing a black lieutenant colonel uniform, laughed heartily. "Old Wang... where did you find this kid... HAHAHA... he’s truly a talent."

On the testing field, Xu Shiyun’s face instantly darkened. This circle is only five meters in diameter. A forty-meter broadsword? What the hell are we supposed to do with that? Have a tug-of-war?

"We don’t have one!"

"Then how about a ten-meter-long spear?"

"If that’s not possible, surely a three-meter-long sword is fine?"

"This is your last chance to make a request. Otherwise, we begin."

"Give me an ordinary Octagonal Han Sword, one that can slice through iron as if it were mud."

Xu Shiyun nodded silently. "Two of them!"

Soon, a staff member delivered two Octagonal Han Swords to the testing arena. Wang Lan drew one and flicked it lightly. It’s supposed to slice through iron like mud... but this is just ordinary high-carbon steel...

"Don’t set your expectations too high. This is a standard-issue weapon from the Tianjian Bureau, and it’s what we use to kill our enemies. Are you ready? If you are, we’ll begin."

"Ready!"

"Old Wang, why does this kid want a sword? His file says he’s a bladesman. You said you passed the Star Cloud Sword Dance to him yesterday—could he have already mastered it?"

"Impossible!" Wang Qianfeng took a sip of his new coffee and shook his head. "The Star Cloud Sword Dance is not a simple Star Martial Skill. Learning it requires a high degree of control over Star Power, and one must flawlessly master its form-changing aspects. Even if Wang Lan has extraordinary talent, mastering even the basics in a single day and night is very difficult!"

The moment the test began, Xu Shiyun executed a graceful movement technique, thrusting his sword at Wang Lan like a fencer. With a single step, he lunged forward, quick as lightning, with a killing strike.

Wang Lan’s expression was serious. He nimbly dodged the thrust with a quick movement. Instantly, Xu Shiyun’s sword skill rained down on him like a myriad of starlight.

Xu Shiyun was at the Mid-Stage of the Star Cloud Stage. From a Star Martial level perspective, he completely outclassed Wang Lan, giving him justifiable confidence.

Xu Shiyun’s displayed sword skill showed that his Basic Combat ability was also exceptionally outstanding, significantly surpassing Jiang Xinyu’s. However, even with his superiority, Xu Shiyun’s Basic Combat ability was only at the Silver Stage.

If Xu Shiyun specialized in swordsmanship, he would at best be at the peak of the Silver Stage.

Wang Lan’s close combat, movement technique, and Close Combat Sword Skill were all at the Early Silver Stage. The gap between the Silver and Gold Stages is an insurmountable chasm, but distinctions within the Silver Stage were still discernible.

Thus, although Xu Shiyun’s attacks were sharp, Wang Lan barely managed to fend them off with nimble dodges and parries from his Close Combat Sword Skill, holding out against Xu Shiyun’s relentless assault.

"Such solid Basic Skills!" Li Weixin’s eyes lit up. "He’s only an Early Star Shine Stage Star Martial Warrior, awakened for less than a month, yet he possesses such solid Basic Skills? They’re comparable to some professional Star Cloud Stage Star Martial Warriors!"

"Naturally. Anyone I take an interest in is no ordinary person. To have refined his Basic Skills to such a degree, even before awakening, means his understanding of martial arts was already quite advanced."

"But if he has such strong close-combat capabilities, why was he almost killed in the Different Dimensional Space opened by the Demon Clan? With his current strength, those Biochemical Demon Soldiers shouldn’t be able to withstand a single blow from him, right?"

"Old Li, you’ve forgotten two things. First, in the Different Dimensional Space, Wang Lan was unarmed yet managed to kill nine Biochemical Demon Soldiers consecutively. That would be impossible without a profound martial arts foundation. Second, he’s now at the Star Shine Stage. In the past, even if he had the understanding, his physical body limited him from applying it. Now that those physical limitations are gone, the martial arts he comprehended have room to be expressed."

"Look at his dodging and blocking. These rely on strength, speed, and reaction ability. Without them, even if you know what to do, you can’t execute it."

"But using an Octagonal Han Sword as if it were a saber... does this kid think he can look cool just by wielding a sword?"

In the battle, although Wang Lan successfully resisted Xu Shiyun’s continuous attacks, he was still in a perilous position and constantly under pressure. Worse still, he had been forced to the edge of the circle, about to be knocked out.

Suddenly, Wang Lan’s body shifted. In a peculiar maneuver, using one foot as a pivot, he leaned like a roly-poly toy and, with the support of his Octagonal Han Sword, instantly broke through Xu Shiyun’s encirclement, returning to the center of the circle.

"Wow, what a masterstroke!" Li Weixin’s eyes shone. "This kid even has such adaptability!"

"If he didn’t, he would’ve died long ago."

"Hey, testing the newbie?" a voice suddenly called from the doorway. Another officer in a black lieutenant colonel uniform entered the surveillance room.

"He Lao’er, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing much. The Law Enforcement Department received a report that someone is using the Tianjian Bureau’s expansion to secretly place their own people, bypassing testing and assessment. I came to verify it."

Wang Qianfeng’s expression immediately darkened. "Are you referring to me?"

"That’s right. Where is this person you’ve placed? What’s their name?"

Wang Qianfeng coldly pointed towards the monitor. "That’s him. Isn’t he being tested right now? Who said he didn’t need an assessment?"

"Him!" He MingXue’s expression changed drastically at the sight of Wang Lan. "You poached him?"

A slight smirk touched Wang Qianfeng’s lips. "He Da Lang wants to compete with me for people? Even if he had dragged him into the army, I could still dig him out, let alone now that he’s practically in my bowl."

「Back on the testing field, it seemed as though things had come full circle.」

Xu Shiyun raised his sword, a smirk on his face as he looked at Wang Lan. "That was a pretty good move. However, this test has no time limit, so delaying tactics are pointless."

"Let me kindly remind you: I don’t like using swords! They’re too fragile, not satisfying to use at all."

Saying this, he casually tossed the sword out of the arena. "Give me an alloy bat!"

From the sidelines, a staff member quickly threw a silver-white bat into the arena.

"BOOM—"

A dull thud echoed, like a shot put hitting the ground. The vibration underfoot made Wang Lan’s heart tremble.

Solid... a solid core?

"Smart. Solid-core SKD61 material, hardness of sixty-five. A mere graze from this could send your little self to your next life," Xu Shiyun said lightly, easily swinging the bat. "If you know what’s good for you, step out of the circle yourself. Otherwise... you’re going to get beaten badly."

"Um... will you keep your word?"

"About what?"

"That you won’t use Star Martial Skills, but I can."

"Heh... enough nonsense!" As soon as the words left his mouth, a gust of Speedy Wind erupted from under Xu Shiyun’s feet, and he instantly shot towards Wang Lan.

In that instant, Spiritual Power surged around Wang Lan. His sword bloomed with a dozen rays of shimmering light, and sword shadows spread like a curtain, dazzlingly splendid.

The three people in the monitoring room watched this scene, their expressions freezing instantly. Wang Qianfeng’s look of utter disbelief was particularly striking.

"Old Wang, didn’t you say he couldn’t have grasped the Star Cloud Sword Dance so quickly?"

"Old Wang, you actually passed the Star Cloud Sword Dance to him?"

"I..." Wang Qianfeng took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "I only gave him the Star Cloud Sword Dance yesterday morning. How could he learn it in a single day? As far as I know, the fastest record for learning this Star Martial Skill is three days!"

"Truly a genius, just like his mother!"

"He Lao’er, don’t be so quick to attribute everything to ’genius’ and dismiss his effort. Even with his talent, Wang Lan must have practiced non-stop to grasp the Star Cloud Sword Dance in a single day. He might have practiced all night."

"However, it’s a pity. Merely relying on the Residual Shadow Sword Skill won’t be enough to defeat Xu Shiyun, who now wields a bat. Only by mastering the full Star Cloud Sword Dance would he have a chance against Xu Shiyun’s Mad Demon Stick Skill."

DANG, DANG, DANG—

In the test, Wang Lan’s sword was hidden amidst a myriad of residual sword gleams. The momentum of the fight instantly shifted. Wang Lan pressed his attack relentlessly, each strike unpredictable.

Yet Xu Shiyun’s bat danced like an orb, forming a sphere of defense around him. In Xu Shiyun’s eyes, there was nothing but Wang Lan’s sword gleams. In Wang Lan’s eyes, there was nothing but the afterimages of the bat.

The difference was that Wang Lan’s sword gleams were created by Star Power, while Xu Shiyun’s bat afterimages were the result of high-speed swings.

The whistling wind was piercing. Its buzzing drone made Wang Lan feel as if surrounded by countless bees. No matter from which angle Wang Lan attacked, Xu Shiyun perfectly deflected it.

Suddenly, Wang Lan’s figure grew hazy. It wasn’t just the flashing sword gleams that left afterimages; his own body began to produce them too.

Seeing this, the expressions of the three in the monitoring room grew taut.

"Old Wang, explain this. How did he manage to create bodily afterimages?" He MingXue asked Wang Qianfeng earnestly.

"Well... bodily afterimages work on a similar principle to the Residual Shadow Sword Skill. To create sword afterimages, you need to distribute Star Power evenly through every inch of the sword, treating it as an extension of your body. This also requires a high ability to manipulate Star Power forms, conjuring sword afterimages while hiding the true blade within them. Bodily afterimages are an upgrade. It requires distributing Star Power evenly throughout your entire body, achieving perfect balance. Your body must also take on the properties of the Residual Shadow Sword Skill, creating illusions and flitting between the tangible and intangible... Damn it, I can’t spin this any further! How is that even possible?"

Wang Qianfeng didn’t want to explain further. Damn it, such a high-level technique requires enhancing both muscle memory and control! It’s not that Wang Lan shouldn’t be able to learn it, but it takes time!

Only twenty hours! A normal person would need at least ten to twenty hours just to grasp the cultivation method, right? To comprehend, attempt, practice, and master it in such a short time... that’s simply impossible!

Just then, Wang Lan suddenly began to move, spinning like a gyroscope. He rapidly circled Xu Shiyun, and simultaneously, countless sword gleams enveloped his opponent like starlight filling the sky.

As this scene unfolded, Wang Qianfeng completely gave up trying to rationalize it.

"Fine, I admit it. He’s a genius! A true, bona fide genius."