Chapter 8 – I Am Strong Enough
Challenge’s first floor: Badlands.
Here, it was very hazy, it had an extremely dark sky. There were no moons or stars, the land was completely silent, with no traces of any other creatures.
Su Yun stepped forward as he marched on the cold earth.
“Oh? You’ve never heard of Sword God Sect?”
“I have never read many books and travelled the world, but I have never heard of the Sword God Sect. I think that very few people in the military continent even know about it.”
After entering the badlands, he carefully observed his surrounding while he continued to converse with the elder.
The elder continued: “The Sword God Sect should have survived the generations, but was deteriorating. There is only a head, only a disciple, a master, a disciple, a master and etc. I may have caused the catastrophe of the Sword God Sect after I was ambushed, which caused the sect to lose the head of the school. This might be why the Sword God’s reputation dissipated into nothingness now.”
“Do you remember when were you persecuted?”
“Martial God Year seventy-eight!”
“Now are the days of Martial Sky years! Your time was a full thousand years ago!” Su Yun was surprised of the elder’s words.
The elder sighed with sorrow.
Boom! Boom!
A loud sound was heard!
Su Yun was very nervous as he heard the sound! He looked everywhere, only to see a sword fall from the sky, which directly inserted into the ground in front of him.
This sword was a hundred meters tall and ten meters wide. The blade was not beautiful, instead, it emitted an oppressive aura that penetrated through the surround area.
Su Yun heart beated faster. He did not have time to think. Suddenly, the blade began to overflow like a released dam, a scourge-like atmosphere that began to submerge, squeeze and devastate him.
Bang!
The earth under Su Yun immediately gave way to the pressure from his foot. He almost had to kneel to withstand the pressure.
But he clenched his teeth, abruptly grabbing the sword despite the sudden pressure.
“This is the first part of the trial! If you want to give up, please tell me as soon as possible, do not overestimate yourself, because even if you barely fail, it will not hurt only your life, but it will wreck you talent. So you have to be careful!”
The elder’s voice sounded in Su Yun’s mind.
However, in Su Yun’s mind, was there another choice?
Su Yun was doing his best to resist the sword pressure, trying to prevent it from overwhelming himself.
More ground cracked and the surrounding stone began to crumble into pieces.
Su Yun’s face began to be covered with sweat and had a tense look.
“Ah?”
Suddenly, a trace of doubt passed his mind.
Why did the rock shatter, why did the earth crack, but it did not affect me?
His cultivation was not high, but how could he withstand such pressure, without a wound on his body? The elder said that this test will not hurt his life, but will impair talent.
Impair talent?
Does that mean that this was a spiritual attack?
Su Yun had suspected this was the case in his heart.
To compete with a spiritual attack, then he should be able to use a meditative technique to help him tolerate the sword pressure.
Then, Su Yun took a deep breath, closed his eyes and began to meditate using the techniques in his memories.
Sure enough, with a mental technique, it became much easier to tolerate the sword’s pressure. The sword pressure disappeared from his body soon after.
Crack. Crack. Shatter!
At that moment, the sword fragmented into numerous pieces into the dark sky and began to dissipate.
“Huh? Is that all?”
The elder said in a surprised voice: “This layer is composed of the spirit of the ancestors, if your spirit was not strong enough, you would have never made it past this test!”
“This proves that my spirit is strong is strong enough.”
“Don’t overestimate yourself! Quickly talk, kid, what method did you use?”
The elder seemed to be very interested.
“A spiritual technique, called: .”
“Using spiritual techniques? I’m not saying this is not allowed, but these spiritual techniques will not keep you safe forever! No strong spirit is unable to withstand just spiritual techniques. Ah….you’re not that simple, kid.”
Second Layer: Glacial Lands.
There was snow everywhere. It was like cold places such as the Arctic or Antarctic.
Su Yun stepped forward, to visit the numerous stands of sword-like shaped icicles in front of him. Suddenly, there was a loud sound of a strong gust. A gust of ice shards!
Su Yun was shivering, and clenching his teeth to withstand the cold. The cold chilled to the bone, even his blood almost seemed to freeze.
“The second layer is different from the test of the first layer, you should pay attention!”
“The elder’s voice sounded again.
Indeed, it was different. This was not a spirit attack, since Su Yun’s had already seen that his hands were purple and his feet were frozen. The effect of the environment was already working on his body.
There was no trick to this. It was to test willpower and tenacity!
With his mind set, Su Yun clenched his teeth, endured all the pain, and withstood the screaming gusts of the ice shards.
Initially, the ice storm was like a breeze, it was only cold, but it was not a big deal.
But as time went on, the more powerful the ice storm became. It began to become more terrifying, it began to blow crazily, like a huge hand pushing against Su Yun.
Su Yun stabilized his stance, he countered force with force, and his spiritual inner core remained at peace. He would not fall back one step.
The ice storm strengthened once again.
This time, it was not just simply pushing, but it had become dangerous, like countless beast claws, ripping Su Yun to pieces!
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
Su Yun’s roar seemed to support him. His body was covered with wounds and it seemed like he reached his limit. However, he had no intention to retreat.
“Good! Enough perseverance! You must hold on! If you do not pass through this test, you will not be allowed to learn my sword arts! Don’t do it for me, do it for yourself! You must hold on!”
The elder shouted.
Although the elder had experienced a dozen genius, they did not amaze him like Su Yun. From the first time the elder saw Su Yun, it seemed that the Limitless Sword Arts would finally reappear in this continent. He did not want to destroy that chance by his own hands. Su Yun was even more eager than the elder to pass the test.
The ice storm once again strengthened.
But at this moment, Su Yun had long surpassed his limit.
He barely held out in his mind. There was only one thought left in his mind.
To bare past this!
He abandoned all distractions to desperately support himself.
Eventually, the ice storm could not blow back him even half a step. It stopped.
Everything once again returned to silence.
“Congratulations kid! You successfully passed the second trial!”
The elder cried out in joy.
“I will succeed.”
Su Yun exhaled, his voice was weak, but his tone was firm.
Su Yun knew he was weak. He couldn’t do a lot, but if he decided to do it. He will fight to do it. To put it bluntly, he was overconfident, but to him, this meant he was committed, he would not give up!
The elder nodded in agreement and said no more.
A Yellow door appeared. Su Yun went in and arrived at the third layer.
The third layer: Scarlet Lava Lake.
There was silence. It was not cold, but extremely hot.
There was magma everywhere, bubbling hot gas seemed to burst out randomly. It looked like the land could roast people alive.
But, this place was special.
Only ten meters away from Su Yun was a red hot sword. It was stuck inside the magma, but there was no path.
The sword was surrounded by lava, the blade was displaying a scorching fire around it, like a dragon wrapping around the sword.
Ten meters behind the sword, there was the door leading to the fourth test. Standing in front of the door, there was a white haired young man.
“You want to learn Limitless Sword Arts by passing this trial?”
The young man shouted.
“Who are you?” Su Yun questioned.
“This is the Limitless Sword ancestral Legacy! Behind him, lies the treasure!”
The elder said excitedly.
“If you want the Limitless Sword Arts, you will have to complete the third level of the test: to remove the “Red Sun Sword.” Then you will have to win against me on the fourth floor. I’ll see you on the fourth floor!”
Then, the image of the man disappeared.
After Su Yun heard this, he frowned.
The place he was currently at was not more than ten meters away, but it was difficult to jump across. The sword handle was in the middle, so it was going to very difficult to land.
There was no foothold, what could he do?
“This is the third layer, the test is no longer about endurance, toughness, but to test whether the sword and mind can be one and whether your eyes are sharp enough. This is tricky. In conclusion, with the sword, you must overcome all. Even if you are given soldiers, once you fall into magama, you will only be able to rely on your sword. Once you fall into magma, your talent will be damaged and you will fail this test. What? Do you intend to continue?”
The elder said.
However, Su Yun remained silent.
He stared at the plug in the magma: “Red Sun Sword,” he focused on the it more and more. Like a serpent about to attack, he kept a close eye on his prey.
Throwing away his hesitation, Su Yun made his move and actually leaped to step unto the “Red Sun Sword” in one jump.
“You’re too impatient! You have to carefully observe the magma! This will definitely cause you to fail, alas!” The elder sighed in disappointment of Su Yun’s actions.
As expected.
After Su Yun made his move, the bubbling magma suddenly set off bursts of hot plasma waves, hitting Su Yun.
However, the wave’s height was not tall enough and Su Yun jumped higher in the air.
The plasma wave did not touch him, but there was no hope in the elder.
It was much different for Su Yun. The elder’s jump was much higher and it seemed that the elder could easily pass this test.
But the result was contrary to the expectations of the elder.
After looking at Su Yun falling from high up in the air, he did not slam into the magma, instead, he suddenly stopped a few feet above the magma.
The elder was astonished by the result of Su Yun’s action.
Su Yun had actually stepped on the Red Sun Sword’s hilt!
“huh? Really well done kid! But you have to pull out the sword, so what will you do? If you pull it out, you will not have a place to step and you will die!”
Nonetheless, Su Yun was breathless. He stabilized his body, stood on the hilt and stared at the fourth door. Suddenly, he took a deep breath, the spirit qi converged in his feet and legs. Then he jumped to leap towards the fourth door in one go.
While doing this, he spinned 360 degrees and grabbed the Red Sun Sword. He pulled it out quickly and flew towards the fourth door.
Poof! Boom!
Su Yun crashed directly into the ground. He looked embarrassed, but he successfully crossed the border.
The elder heart burst in surprise. He would have never thought about the unique method Su Yun used to pass the third test.
The fourth layer: Burial Grounds of Swords.
There were broken swords littered everywhere.
They were stuck in the ground: tilted, dark and lifeless.
But among these, a white-haired young man stood.
The young man was eight feet tall, was very handsome and the sword on his black exuded black and white gas, extremely magical.
This was the sword of Limitless Sword Art of ancestor Cannian.
Cannian walked towards Su Yun and emitted sword pressure, flooding Su Yun.
“How will I defeat this ancestor in this realm?” Su Yun was pressured in his heart.
“No, as long as he recognizes you as a suitable candidate, but you have to use all your strength. With the Red Sun Sword, you must try to beat him!”
“A sword fight?”
Su Yun frowned.
Both the ancestor’s ability and weapon probably surpassed Su Yun’s.
However, Su Yun understood that fighting was the only option.
Su Yun breathed slower and then proudly stepped up to fight the ancestor.
Just for this test, the virtual ancestor of this realm would not be overly powerful that he would be able to completely suppress Su Yun.
I have to go all out and maybe I will pass the test.
After making up his mind, Su Yun suddenly accelerated his pace, with the Red Sun Sword In his hands, he fed spirit qi into the sword.
Whoosh!
An extremely simple hacking move flew forward with the power of the spirit energy Su Yun pour inside. The sword was like whistling wind and the contained the momentum of a charging boar.
But not even a second had passed!
The sword ancestor’s just vanished.
In vain?
Su Yun heart fell, quickly turned around and retreated, but was surprised to find the sword ancestor suddenly appear beside him.
The sword ancestor took one step forward, raising a hand and cut straight towards Su Yun with his sword
The sword was as fast as wind, but also contained a rich amount of spiritual force.
But the sword, force, motion, angle, etc. was actually identical with Su Yun.
This was simply an imitation of his attack!
Su Yun was caught off guard, and the sword cut into his left shoulder. He rushed back as some blood dripped from his shoulder.
“The ancestor will not use his own master abilities, instead, he will use your own attack moves to defeat you! There is no trick to this test! To win, you must be able to beat yourself!”
The elder’s voice emerged.
“If you get hit by three sword strikes, you will fail. Figure something out, do not fail only at the last minute!” The elder shouted again, with an impatient voice.
But at the moment, Su Yun too busy to take the elder’s words into consideration.
Su Yun no longer chose to attack, but to retreat.
Since they imitate his attacks, should if he does not attack, the ancestor will imitate it also?
Su Yun thought.
Just then, the ancestor suddenly raised his hands and the entire atmosphere began to tremble. The scene of aura the ancestor began to demonstrate was grand.
“Boy, do not attempt to retreat and delay time, because once you give up attacking, the ancestor will execute his own move from the Limitless Sword Arts. If he manages to execute it, you will not be able to escape and will lose for sure!”
The elder saw through Su Yun’s actions very quickly.
Su Yun heart tightened for a few minutes, then quickly pushed his worries away. Suddenly, he made a move, and once again rushed in to attack the ancestor head-on.
As the ancestor was almost hit by the Su Yun’s attack, he disappeared again and once again appeared in a favorable position to repeat Su Yun’s attack.
But this time, Su Yun suddenly move sideways, and swung his blade directly at the ancestor, piercing the virtual image.
Shua!
** The sword broke.
“What?” The elder was surprised.
“The ancestor will always disappear in the forthcoming attack and appear to mimic the moves and attacks. He will always imitate the real attack, so this is my only chance to attack, but how will I find an opportunity? Very simple, I will intentionally make a flaw and when he imitates, I will launch attacks against this flaw to hit him!”
After Su Yun sword pierced the virtual image, he said seriously.
He may not have overcome ancestor if the ancestor used its own full power, but he could overcome himself.
“Good! Good! Haha, very good boy, the old man was really destined to meet you! It is really lucky you found its weakness so fast! Really great!”
The elder almost applauded.
This time, the virtual image of the ancestor stood still. It did not attack, but just stood in front of Su Yun and the elder.
“Although you have no sword at all, you use wisdom while wielding a sword. You are able to keep calm, cool and tough. This is rare, so you are fit to learn the Limitless Sword Arts. You’re done with my test young man!”
Then, the virtual image dissipated, and a slender gray and white sword hilt dropped on the ground.
Su Yun quickly walked towards it and picked it up.
“Haha, good! Great! Su Yun boy, you continue to surprise me again and again. You are recognized by the sword ancestor! So you’re the new head of the Sword God Sect! The revitalization of the Sword God Sect befalls on your shoulders!” The elder said while laughing with immense joy.
“I only said that I will learn the Limitless Sword Arts, but did not say that I would revitalize the Sword God Sect. Senior, I’m afraid that I cannot accomplish it.”
Su Yun softly said while he placed the sword hilt on his body.
“I know you have things you want to accomplish, but this task…worth mentioning, in the future we’ll talk about it.” The elder did not seem anxious. He laughed again and did not speak again.
“I have removed the sword hilt, then what is this virtual environment for? What is its use?”
“Of course, the virtual environment is to test for the sword hilt. When you decide to choose a new head, you can choose to give the sword hilt to anyone person. I went through the same test. I did not understand the meaning of this before, but now I seem to understand.”
“What?” Su Yun asked.
“Do not forget this.” The elder answered.
“Do not forget this?” Su Yun was confused.
“Yes, do not forget this, because this virtual environment is fundamental for Limitless Sword Arts, if I did not come here, how could I find the sword hilt before?”
“So….what will senior do nowadays?” Su Yun asked.
“I had a premature death! To kill my assassins, I met my end early! But it was worth it, I live ten thousand years as a monster! Everything that I wanted to enjoy, I enjoyed.”
“Uh….ten thousand years…” Su Yun was taken aback: “That sword ancestor, where is he now?”
“I do not know, it is said he died from mainland demons?”
“Continental demons?” Su Yun look slightly changed, but did not probe further.
Su Yun saw the surrounds suddenly twist and distort. Then he reappeared in the Tiger Plains. Everything was still the same as it was before.
“Congratulations, you have passed the test, now you can practice the techniques, and now everything is displayed in Limitless Sword Arts! As long as you persevere, you will be successful!”
“Well boy, I want to sleep now! I’m just a soul, since I hardly ever conversed for so long, I used up a lot of spirit qi. I’m still frail and if I continue, I might disappear permanently! Goodbye kid!”
The elder said.
After Su Yun heard this, his emotions stirred.
Ah, yes. If it is a spirit, the person will consume spirit qi and once all the spirit qi is used up, it might risk fading away.
However, in order to be able to give Su Yun a chance to obtain the Limitless Sword Arts, the elder used up a lot of energy.
No matter what, Su Yun was very grateful in his heart towards the elder.
Immediately, he placed the hilt on the ground and kneeled three times.
“Thank you senior for your careful guidance. Please allow me to pay my respects.”
The elder was a bit surprised, but after a moment, he comfortably added: “ Good. Good. Good. I did not think after after I stopped using the sword, I would finally get something in return……hahaha!!!!”