At the entrance of the Training Field, you will be given a token. Then the participants will be divided into
groups of ten. Only one batch can enter at a time.
Remember, the dummies can't see you or hear you, but they can sense the tokens. If you want to give
up, throw away the token, and the dummies will not attack you again. If presented with a life-or-death
situation, don't try to be brave. It may cost you your life.
What's more, when you are in the field, you can only fight alone. No cooperative acts are allowed.
Otherwise, we will find out, and you will be disqualified.
Now, you may go to the entrance for your token. Go,
the middle-aged steward finished instructing the contestants. In no time, hundreds of grunt disciples
who had enlisted for the test rushed to the entrance of the Training Field.
At the mouth of the cave, two disciples were handing out tokens.
"Only ten disciples may step forward to collect tokens. And every five minutes, another ten disciples
can enter the training field. Those who violate or break the rules will be disqualified," one of the
disciples announced impassively.
All the grunt disciples obeyed. Ten at a time, they stepped forward to receive the tokens. Then they
patiently waited to enter the field in batches.
Austin lined up in one of the squads and received his token. Before long, it was time for his group to
enter the Training Field.
Inside the cave, the Training Field was a deep and broad aisle, ten meters in height and fifteen meters
in width.
A dim light covered everything in bone white light, which added to the unnerving atmosphere.
Densely packed dummies stood in silence on both sides of the path. The dummies were black and
made of metal. They were cold, motionless, and intimidating to look at.
In the metal eye sockets of each dummy, green, glittering gems had been embedded.
The gems were made of a unique material that glowed despite the darkness. As countless dummies
were packed in this narrow space, both sides of the alley gleamed with a dense mass of green light.
The contestants felt as though they were stuck deep in hell, surrounded by innumerable demons.
However, this scene had been designed to test the disciple's mental endurance.
For greater effect, a cold spiritual power was also diffused in the passage. It added mental pressure on
the disciples. In this uncertain and threatening atmosphere, some of the disciples felt as though they
were suffocating.
However, Austin was familiar with this pressure.
Many names had been used to describe it, including one—"murderous will".
Presumably, this training field had existed for a long while. Dummies must have mercilessly
slaughtered countless participants in the corridors over the years.
It was thus, natural for these puppets to be inflicted to a certain degree with the deceased's
obsessiveness and resentment. These residual emotions would have spoiled and transformed over
time and endowed the dummies with a murderous will.
"Chattering- Chattering."
From among the grunt disciples that had entered with Austin, three were terrified by the horror of the
scene. Their teeth were clattering, and their bodies were shaking.
Looking at the terrified grunt disciples, Austin shook his head. He concluded that they were unlikely to
pass the examination. They had collapsed under the pressure even though they had barely entered the
training field.
But Austin was different. A few days ago, at Beast Mountain, he killed dozens of beasts alone. In the
process, his will power was fortified, and his killing intent was strengthened.
Even before Beast Mountain, Austin's spiritual power had been greater than normal. Therefore, after a
short period of discomfort, Austin was unaffected by the horrifying atmosphere.
All of a sudden, an incident happened.
"AHHHH! NOOOO! No! I quit! It's a horrible place. I don't want to lose my life here! I give up! I quit the
contest!"
yelled a frightened grunt disciple. After speaking, he tossed away the token. In the quiet aisle, only the
sound of his chattering teeth could be heard. He had been too afraid to continue, even before the
contest truly began.
When the token flew across the passage and thudded onto the ground, the wall on his side of the
passage rumbled in response, and a small hidden door opened.
Seeing the exit, the grunt disciple immediately turned and ran.
Another terror-struck grunt disciple watched his receding figure. After a moment's hesitation, he ground
his teeth, tossed the token aside, and followed the first disciple out.
Outside the Training Field.
The contest had only just begun. Many grunt disciples who had enlisted were still lining up at the
entrance of the cave to get their test tokens.
They were wondering what was going on in the Training Field. What sort of test was this? Was it
difficult to pass? None of them could answer these questions. Except for the contestants, the Training
Field was not accessible to grunt disciples.
That meant that none of the participants had entered the cave before, nor did they have any idea about
what lay inside.
And the contest seemed challenging. Although several groups of disciples had entered, in under a
minute, some of the participants came running out of the small door near the entrance with a frightened
look on their faces as if ghosts were chasing them.
Seeing them retreating in horror, the disciples outside were in an uproar as they tried to guess what
had happened to these participants in such a short time.
The onlookers were also laughing and jeering, pointing at the few who had quit.
Hearing the audience's taunts, the fleeing participants flushed and flung themselves into the crowd in
embarrassment. They were so ashamed that they wanted to hide their heads in the sand.
With passing time, more and more teams entered, and more and more grunt disciples hurried out in
horror. It aroused more intense discussion, and the people waiting in line were thoroughly confused.
Inside the Training Field.
Austin and the few remaining grunt disciples from his batch took a deep breath. They braced
themselves with vital energy and began to walk down the aisle.
"Kata-kata."
"Thump-thump."
The floor of the aisle was paved with slabs. They could hear their footsteps as they walked forward. An
ethereal echo resounded inside the silent cave.
However, as they moved, the dummies on both sides remained motionless. Only the footsteps of the
people echoed.
Suddenly, a grunt disciple in black yelled in a sharp voice," Why do we walk so slowly? We should use
vital energy and rush forward. If we ran fast enough, maybe we'd reach the final line before the
dummies react."
With that said, the disciple directed his energy to heels and darted forward swiftly.
After a few steps, he had advanced six or seven meters!
"Whoooosh!"
A sharp, piercing sound filled the cave as a dummy on one side of the passage was activated.
It stepped forward, blocked the passage with its metal body, and pressed towards the disciple with
great agility. Arms raised with a long, thick club in hand, it smote a mighty blow.
The disciple slowed down and stopped before he ran into the dummy, but he lost his balance.
He tried to draw back but stumbled. He was scared and surprised at the dummy's ferocity.
However, it was too late. He failed to evade the attack and was hit on the shoulder. With a scream of
pain, he was knocked into the air. In the next instant, he collided with the cave wall.
But the dummy didn't stop. It continued to chase the disciple and hit him continuously with the club.
The terrified disciple could do nothing more than scramble and flee from the attacks.
After seeing his miserable situation, the other disciples became more alert. They quickly gave up the
idea of a quick pass.
Seemingly, these dummies were programmed to launch surprise attacks. And in running through the
aisle, it became difficult to change one's direction or dodge attacks. Once the disciples were attacked,
they would be at a severe disadvantage.
So they kept walking at their normal pace and bypassed the injured disciple and the puppet.
After another four or five meters, several dummies were activated and launched attacks at them.
Each dummy targeted one disciple, and wouldn't attack the others.
One of the dummies holding a machete blocked Austin's path. It swung its machete at him
aggressively.
Austin dodged and scanned his opponent using his vital energy. He assessed the dummy's power and
strength and learned that despite its vicious appearance, it was as weak as a human cultivator at the
second-level of the Energy Gathering Realm.
But he wasn't surprised. The contest was designed for grunt disciples, most of whom were at the
second or third-level of the Energy Gathering Realm.
He felt sympathy for the disciples who had fled.
They were skillful enough to defeat the dummies, but their weak will power stunted them. They gave up
too quickly, even before the real examination had begun.
Thinking of this, Austin could not help shaking his head, hoping that Evan would not make such a
mistake.
Austin flashed the dummy in front of him a contemptuous smile. After dodging another attack from the
dummy, he directed his vital energy to his right fist and launched his counterattack.
"BOOM!"
His fist collided with the dummy's chest with great agility and strength. At once, the dummy fell to the
ground with a fist print on its chest. Then it crunched up and moved back to where it stood.
As easy as Austin expected! He knew he would be victorious.
The other grunt disciples heard the noise and glanced in Austin's direction. When they saw what
happened, they stared at Austin dumbfounded.
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