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Waking Up Again
The Morning Sun, as usual, pierced the quiet night sky over the Trial Grounds. The sound of birdsong accompanied by the wind graced the earth, and training continued as usual in each hall. Inside the Temple of a Hundred Refinements, the three who had just finished their first lesson also woke up in their beds.
The three gathered in the pavilion of the nine-square grid within the hall, chatting about scenes from their training. However, Ran Xing began to jokingly talk about Luo Yue.
"So you’re fine after all; I thought you were hurt or something."
Luo Yue smiled and said, "I might have been a little tired at the time, but I'm fine. Thank you for caring about me."
"Is that so? That's good."
Ran Xing instantly understood and then removed his restless hand from Luo Yue's shoulder.
"You, kid, why are you always so unserious? You finish one training session and then you're off?"
Shao Meng looked at the two people getting close in front of him with hostility, but he didn't want to speak ill of the girl directly, so he reminded Ran Xing a few words.
"Where is it not proper? I am just caring for a friend. We are all from the same palace, friends who train together. There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing, right, Luo Yue?"
Ran Xing had just finished speaking when he saw Shao Meng place his fist in front of his own eyes.
"Yeah, we're all friends here. You two don't need to be like this."
This allowed the two to pull apart again Fire, and the three of them started talking about the training just now.
"When we were training just now, the teacher separated us individually. Those evil spirits were really arrogant and powerful. The speed at which they moved was something I had never seen before. At first, I didn't know where to start."
"Just like us, we have to use vitality to act within our environment. However, at the beginning, the evil spirit was hidden very deeply, making it impossible to find a starting point. The evil spirit would attack you from all directions, starting with defense and then using techniques of Water Attribute to shift from defense to counterattack, but it took me quite some effort."
Ran Xing continued along Luo Yue's topic.
"The teacher told us at the beginning: vitality is the creator of all things in the world. Therefore, no matter how fast or fierce the evil spirit is, they themselves are also a collection of vitality. The evil spirit is forged from the dark side of the five elements' vitality, so their every move will also bring about the movement of vitality."
Shao Meng also recalled the scene of his own training and continued,
"In that kind of situation, it's very easy for people to become anxious, eager to find a target and defeat the opponent. Every time you feel anxious, you will be met with attacks from the evil spirit. But when you calm down, the frequency of the evil spirit's attacks will decrease noticeably, not as frequent. Luo Yue had a similar experience to mine. Both of us would be anxious at the beginning, and the process of calming down is the process of perceiving the environment."
Luo Yue immediately agreed with Shao Meng's point of view.
"Yes, at first, I was also anxious because I couldn't find my goal. I really wanted to quickly find the evil spirit in the situation of malfunction, but the more I tried, the less I could find the evil spirit. Later, I tried to calm down, and the flow of vitality gradually became clear. So, it's really important to calm the mind, but why are Ran Xing and us different?"
Ran Xing was stunned, not knowing how to explain his training process at that moment.
"In my case, it was like sensing various water flows. The art of war is ever-changing, and water has no constant shape. Every movement and attack of the evil spirit was like a sudden acceleration of water flow, or like a giant rock falling. But as the enemy comes, I block; as the water comes, I cover the earth. When she really attacked, the feeling of water flow was within my perception, and I could counterattack with my skills."
Luo Yue and Ran Xing listened to what this person had to say, each looking at him with confusion. These things had not appeared in the martial arts books they were familiar with. However, when they turned around, it was Teacher Yu Long who had come over, following the direction of the sound.
The group known as the Mysterious Group was present. Teacher Yu Long playfully transformed his vitality into small trinkets, engaging in casual conversation with everyone.
"You all did very well in summarizing. It seems that you each have a good understanding of the content of the first trial. Great job!"
Teacher Yu Long waved his hand, and the various small objects instantly merged into a scroll containing intelligence, which then returned to Teacher Yu Long's hand.
"The small objects from earlier were all materialized elements of this intelligence. I'm here to tell you that some time has passed since the last trial, and this time Commander Qian Wen's informant has brought us intelligence. The mission is now ours to take on. So, it's time for me to introduce the mission to you."
The three individuals immediately stood at attention. Seeing this, Teacher Yu Long began to introduce the existence of a mysterious group known as the Scouts of the Trial Grounds.
The Scouts have been a group that has existed since the emergence of the Trial Grounds, inheriting their legacy from the Ancient Heroic Swordsman. They are a group that ranks just below the heroes, sharing the same Mark as the heroes. Some may not have passed the selection process, others may have missed the selection date, or perhaps their parents come from special backgrounds, preventing them from surpassing their parents' limitations. They can only inherit their parents' responsibilities. After each selection, those chosen as Scouts are dispatched to various locations to search for evil spirits that plague the Trial Grounds and return intelligence for operations.
This time, the intelligence comes from a Scout who returned from Soulbreak Cliff, a canyon near the mysterious valley. There, traces of Liu Hen were found; he seems to be conducting some kind of research and has taken surviving villagers as tools to extract the evil thoughts of evil spirits. The Scouts there are further investigating.
"The general situation is as follows: there are numerous evil spirits lurking near the mysterious valley. This operation marks your first mission after half a month of training. You must pay attention to your actions and protect the captured villagers, providing cover for them until Teacher Meng Jiang's team arrives. Afterward, we will delve deeper into the canyon to find what they are researching and destroy it."
Teacher Yu Long finished narrating the task, and several people showed expressions of confusion.
"Teacher Yu Long, what could the evil spirit be researching?" Ran Xing asked with uncertainty.
"This inquiry has not yet been clarified; we will know when the time comes," he replied.
Teacher Yu Long His eyes flickered as he looked at the other two people.
"Do you have any more questions?"
Luo Yue and Yu Long shook their heads, and Yu Long prepared their respective parting gifts. Suddenly, Yu Long waved his hand and three things appeared.
"These are your parting gifts before departure, commemorating your first mission. The previous one was to mark your arrival here. These items are what you will need in the future. Carrying the stored vitality of the teacher, they will help you deal with various situations when necessary."
"How beautiful these earrings are," exclaimed Luo Yue, marveling at the teacher's exceptional artistic taste. The earrings are in perfect condition, with smooth jade stones and almost no flaws, revealing the pure color of the jade at a glance, without any chaos.
Shao Meng also received a ring similar to Luo Yue's, with an incredibly clear jade stone that feels comfortable to wear.
Ran Xing received a sachet, which she hung around her waist with vitality from Yu Long.
After distributing the items, the three of them were excited and looked at each other's gifts.
"Do you like them? I made these myself. You won't be able to get them in the future because this gift is only given once, before the first mission, as part of the entrance and graduation ceremony. Once you've confirmed your items, get ready and we'll leave together later!"
"Yes, teacher," the three of them said in unison.
Shang Qing
In the mysterious valley, Shang Qing was injecting vitality into the girl's body as usual, maintaining the balance of the God pendant.
As he opened his eyes, it seemed that the familiar person and his voice had arrived here at the same time.
"My old friend, your work is a bit too slow. Will it affect our cooperation?"
The voice of Gui Mei came, and Shang Qing opened his eyes, showing some surprise under the cover of his hair.
"What's the rush? Gui Mei, I think you should understand that the God pendant is sealed within a mortal's body. If you're in a hurry, you should know the consequences, right?"
Shang Qing gathers vitality, in the past half month, my own vitality has already been infused into this girl's body. The God pendant can only barely maintain the balance. If a new vessel is not found, then the disappearance of the God pendant is only a matter of time.
"Oh, this doesn't sound like the tone of a collaborator. What's wrong? Do you have any difficulties? If so, why not tell me? I seem to have a new arrangement here, maybe I can find what you're looking for?"
Gui Mei Pretending to be mysterious, the soul-consuming voice walks around Shang Qing while scrutinizing this collaborator.
"Is that so? This is worth celebrating. Tell me, how do you arrange it?"
Shang Qing seemed unwilling to say much. After receiving vitality, the girl opened her eyes, stood up by herself, and walked over to Shang Qing, standing expressionless with a vacant gaze.
"My subordinate, Liu Hen, is preparing something at the nearby Soul-Fragment Cliff. It may take a few more days, but they have been disturbed by some probing. Soon, the Trial Grounds will likely send someone. My partner does not want to be interrupted; he still needs some time. Perhaps once her project is completed, she will help you open a way to obtain what you need."
Gui Mei spoke, leaning close to Shang Qing's ear, emphasizing that there is a young man from the Trial grounds who possesses both evil power and vitality, and Shang Qing must bring him back.
"Alright, you take care of your part, I have my own arrangements."
Shang Qing looked directly at Gui Mei, and the two exchanged smiles.
"Hey, come on, you're a Tai Chi Swordsman after all. How can you just send me away like this after I've helped you? Don't you think that's... appropriate?"
Shang Qing With a smile, "I pity that I don't even have decent tea sets here. Perhaps this time, I can only tell you who is leading the team of knights."
Gui Mei Smirking, "Very well, I knew the ink in your belly hasn't been sucked dry by me yet. But I've noted what you said. This time, I don't mind if you don't see me off."
After finishing his words, Gui Mei turned around and disappeared into the cave with his subordinates...
Six Hen, represented by Hen Duan, Hen San, Hen Dau, Soul Fall, and Hen Sha, is an existence in the evil spirit world that corresponds to the Four Symbols of Cultivation. They are led by their superior, Long Shan of the Eight Desolates. For a long time, Gui Mei has been conducting a hidden project: to achieve the fusion of vitality and evil power by having evil spirits possess heroes.
The leader of this project is naturally Long Shan, who leads Six Hen. Although he has a name distinct from other evil spirits, he is one of the few humanoid evil spirits in the Eight Desolates that possesses perception and emotions. He is also a formidable enemy in the Trial Grounds. In his experimental site, there are dozens of skeletons and countless splattered blood or rivers of blood, all sacrifices for this experiment.
After multiple failures, Long Shan decided to change his approach. Since heroes originate from the human realm and everyone has malevolent thoughts, the Heroic Mark naturally obstructs the evil spirit's perception of the inner thoughts of the possessed hero, thus preventing the evil spirit from utilizing the hero's desires for possession and transformation. Therefore, is there another way to allow the evil spirit to discover these desires without going through the Heroic Mark and directly possess them?
Soon, the proactive adventurers became a topic of interest for Long Shan.
Hen Duan, one of the Liu Hen, was short in stature but exceptionally skilled. Countless adventurers had fallen at his hands, particularly due to his talent for exploiting uniquely human emotions to torment his targets. This earned him the admiration of Gui Mei, placing him among the beasts of Liu Hen.
Gui Mei also arrived at Long Shan's testing grounds, where progress remained unchanged. Some of the test subjects committed suicide outright, others perished from exhaustion before completing their transformation, and some were corrupted by the malevolent thoughts of evil spirits right from the start, their vitality dissipating. This batch of captured spies, along with previously captured adventurers, had all turned to bones except for a few who survived the first round of testing.
"What about the other project?"
The voice of Gui Mei made Long Shan shudder.
"It's almost done, Gui Mei -sama."
Long Shan He reported his thoughts in detail and is already working on something.
"Very good, but someone is already coming to disturb you. I think you should hurry."
Gui Mei With hands behind his back and an impatient tone, he said, "I will probably need a few more hours, or maybe a few days. Once it's done, I will Fire it up immediately. We need to stop these people from Shang Qing. I know his methods. You can rest assured, sir."
Gui Mei With hands behind the back, nodding while harboring doubts about the effect.
"I hope it's as you say, but if I find something wrong, do you know what to do?"
Long Shan nod immediately
As the crows in the sky cried out, Yu Long also led the team to the entrance of the mysterious valley...
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