Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 227 - 138: Assessment, Full Firepower

"Yu, you have to wash your hair upside down for a month."

Outside the Jian Palace, many cultivators of the Jian Palace burst into cheerful laughter.

Yu, being teased, wiped his face, feeling somewhat speechless:

"Out of just over a thousand people, someone actually achieved a Heavenly Level evaluation. Such a low probability actually fell upon me."

Someone turned to look in a certain direction in the void and said:

"It seems that no newcomer has reached a Heavenly Level evaluation in over sixty years. I remember the White Abyss Sword Saint is looking for a final disciple. I wonder if he’s moved."

"Hard to say. For someone at the level of the White Abyss Sword Saint, a disciple’s talent and qualifications aren’t the most critical. If there’s fate, perhaps even a Profound Level evaluation could enter the sect."

"Indeed."

Inside the Jian Palace, as everyone finished their assessments, the starlight disappeared, and everyone opened their eyes one by one. Immediately, someone shouted:

"Monstrous, there’s actually a Heavenly Level score."

"Definitely monstrous!"

Su Yu, like everyone else, agreed in his heart.

Because the Jian Palace’s scoring standard is based on the Ancient Era’s genius evaluation, achieving a Heavenly Level score means being a heavenly prodigy in ancient times, with each possessing the demeanor of an Immortal.

An Earth Level score has the demeanor of an Earth Immortal. A Heavenly Level score doesn’t definitely mean one will become a Celestial Immortal, but the probability is quite high.

Someone said with an envious tone:

"According to past rules, a Heavenly Level evaluation almost guarantees a second-tier reward, with a fifty percent chance to reach the first tier, and there’s hope for a Tier Ten Immortal Sword."

With that said, countless people became envious.

The second-tier reward is at least a Tier Eight, at most a Tier Nine Flying Sword. If a Sword Formula is chosen, it’s either a Profound Level or Sect-level.

If it’s the first tier, at least a Supreme Tier Sword Formula and a Tier Ten Immortal Sword, any choice will allow you to dominate the world.

Su Yu’s plan is to strive for the second tier, aiming for a high score, and then choose a Sect-level Basic Sword Formula, which would be sufficient.

As for the first tier, he’s not very confident.

He is not a true Sword Cultivator; he doesn’t even have a Sword Heart. In the Jian Palace, he’s at a disadvantage, making the chance of entering the first tier very slim.

The murmurs of the crowd lasted less than a minute before a clear bell rang again in the hall, and a loud voice resonated in their ears:

"Second Trial of the Jian Palace: Real Combat." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

As the words fell, beams of light descended from the dome, enveloping everyone. Then the light twisted, and everyone disappeared, leaving the hall instantly empty.

When he found his footing again, Su Yu had already appeared in an independent space.

Beneath his feet was a platform condensed from starlight, with a transparent light membrane at its edge. Beyond the light curtain were vast stars, as if he were in the midst of a starry sky.

On the other side of the platform stood a pillar of light with a 60-second countdown.

Meanwhile, a light screen floated before him, displaying the rules of real combat.

Su Yu carefully reviewed it, fully understanding the rules.

The rules are simple: the Jian Palace will draw five illusionary opponents of varying strengths from past participants. All non-swordsmanship spells are forbidden, including forbidden Divine Techniques and even equipment’s attribute and magic traits. Only by defeating the five opponents with the standard Flying Sword provided by the Jian Palace can one proceed to the next round.

It’s worth mentioning that after consecutively defeating five opponents, passing the first stage of the assessment allows the choice to continue the assessment.

If one chooses to leave now, they will be settled into the third tier, receiving either a Tier Seven Flying Sword or a refined Basic Sword Formula.

If not leaving, they will continue with the second-tier assessment, with the difficulty greatly increasing.

After reading the information, Su Yu reached out, gathering starlight before him, which transformed into two Flying Swords.

Starlight (Tier Seven): Divine Weapon, Flying Sword condensed from the power of stars.

Attributes: Attack Power 1000-1000, Attack Speed 600-600, Sword Control Speed 600-600, Sword Formula Enhancement 70%.

It only has basic attributes with no additional magic or extra features, purely simple, ensuring absolute fairness for everyone.

Su Yu infused his Mana into the Flying Sword to refine it, then with a thought, the two Flying Swords disintegrated into starlight, merging into his body. A moment later, he spat out two streaks of starlight that swiftly coalesced into Flying Swords, hovering before him.

Simultaneously, starlight emanated from his body, continuously rising and forming a crystalline light screen attached to his body.

This light screen manifests his fundamental attributes; the amount of Qi and Blood determines the defensive points of the light screen, and his physique determines the defense strength of the light screen.

Su Yu now has over eight hundred thousand Qi and Blood, so the light screen has over eight hundred thousand Defense points.

Physique is 10,200, so the defense strength is 10,200.

The assessment does not allow for the use of Taoist techniques, magical treasures, or the defensive capabilities of a Magical Robe, but one’s own Qi and Blood and physique, being innate talents, are applicable.

For absolute fairness, personal attributes are manifested without being affected by additional equipment attributes and traits.

The sixty-second countdown vanished in an instant, and the space rippled within the pillar of light, as a figure appeared out of thin air.

When the light pillar dissipated, the figure solidified, revealing a young man.

As soon as the man appeared, he summoned two Star Swords that slashed forth. As he was about to reach Su Yu, the twin swords flickered and split into over forty streaks of Sword Qi that smashed down, simultaneously both hands formed two blazing white Sword Fiends that swept over.

Upon seeing the speed and strength of the opponent’s Flying Swords, Su Yu had a clear understanding. He pointed at the Starlight Twin Swords to meet them head-on, and the twin swords spiraled around the opponent’s swords, fiercely grinding against them, sparking instantly.

As for the impending Sword Qi and Sword Fiends coming towards him, he didn’t even blink, letting them strike against the light barrier covering him. The Sword Qi shattered and the Sword Fiend wrapped around his neck and pulled forcefully, yet sparks flew, failing to penetrate the defense.

Supreme Dragon Transformation Bone +8000 Physique, Earth Vein Spirit Fish +2000 Physique, totaling a defense strength over ten thousand.

The Starlight Sword lacked the armor-breaking damage reduction trait, and this opponent’s Condensing Sword into Silk was only slightly accomplished, with armor penetration +2, reducing only 20% of the 2000 Physique’s defense strength, and the remaining damage was not enough to break the 8000 Physique’s defense, unable to cut through even the skin.

Unable to even break the defense, the outcome was naturally evident.

With a mana advantage, Su Yu aggressively reshaped and distorted the opponent’s sword path through sheer force, then relied on superior technique to steadily expand this advantage and ultimately claimed victory.

He defeated the opponent in less than a minute, as a beam of starlight descended to restore all states, including resetting all cooldowns of previously used sword moves.

Sixty-second countdown later, the second opponent appeared.

Upon engaging, Su Yu quickly assessed the situation. Although this opponent was somewhat stronger than the last one, the increase in strength was limited, and he still defeated him with the same move, even taking the same amount of time.

Sixty seconds later, the third opponent appeared.

This opponent was significantly stronger, rivaling his own power. This time Su Yu spent nearly two minutes to find an opportunity to gain the upper hand, then steadily expanded his advantage until he won.

This showcases the formidable aspect of his talent, a frightfully stable force. As long as he gains the upper hand, he can maintain it indefinitely, leaving the opponent with only the option to unleash their ultimate move to make a comeback.

As this was a sword duel, it restricted the usage of Taoist techniques and magical treasures for powerful outbursts. He was well aware of all possible explosive techniques in swordsmanship.

If you explode, I explode too; if you have Sword Fiends, so do I; if you can divide Sword Light, I can too; if you can forcibly merge twin swords, I can as well; if you can set up a sword net, so can I.

Apart from these explosive methods, the core of swordsmanship still lies in fundamental techniques.

With his Physique, Qi and Blood, and mana far exceeding the enemy’s, unless the opponent’s basic techniques are overwhelmingly strong, he cannot lose.

The fourth opponent was evidently more skilled in sword techniques than Su Yu but only marginally better.

When facing such opponents, Su Yu’s tactic was to defend to counter. No one could be as error-free as he was. As soon as they made a mistake, he seized the opportunity.

He spent nearly six minutes finding an opportunity to gain the upper hand, eventually cutting down the opponent in the eighth minute.

The final fifth opponent, the last one, exhibited a further enhanced sword technique far superior to his own, though not to a crushing extent.

In the Sword Palace assessment, opponents are selected based on personal strength, with difficulty gradually increasing. The third was evenly matched, the fourth slightly stronger, and the fifth much stronger.

To stand out, one must continuously defeat two stronger opponents.

This allows for no deception and necessitates a solid foundation to achieve.

Even a slight weakness makes it impossible to consecutively win against stronger opponents.

Facing such obviously stronger opponents, Su Yu had only one tactic—exhaust the opponent by relying on superior defense and mana.

Directly substituting attack for defense, Su Yu deployed his mana at full throttle from the start, with four Flying Swords crisscrossing and clashing, continually generating Sword Qi that erupted fiercely.

Simultaneously, he condensed two Sword Rainbows, forcing the opponent to form two Sword Fiends to counter, as electric light whipped back and forth, causing the Sword Fiends to explode violently upon each clash.

At the same time, he openly condensed the Geng Metal Sword Fiend to set up a sword net, forcing the opponent to expend mana and set up a sword net as well.

Such high-intensity full-force deployment minimized the skill gap, though at the cost of significant mana consumption, nearly two hundred per second, yet with a total mana pool of a hundred thousand, he could withstand it.

His opponent didn’t have such a strong mana reserve. Although they held an absolute upper hand in the counter-attack, the severe mana depletion greatly taxed them.

Both sides fiercely counter-attacked for nearly five minutes. With Su Yu’s mana consumption nearing half, his opponent could no longer sustain and had to prematurely activate the sword net formation.

Su Yu didn’t blink, allowing hundreds of Sword Qi to rise and form a Sword Qi Tornado that frantically sliced around him, yet it failed to break through his defense. He didn’t activate his sword net but continued the intense offensive.

A wave of Sword Qi Tornado slashed through thousands of swords without breaking the defense.

The opponent’s mindset was evidently affected; Su Yu could sense some fluctuation in the otherwise stable state of his opponent.

Although this did not let him seize an upper hand, the change in the opponent’s mindset reduced Su Yu’s pressure slightly.

Moreover, as time passed and mana dwindled, the opponent’s mental agitation became increasingly evident, leading to impatience.

Su Yu remained unaffected by the opponent, maintaining the high-pressure assault regardless of how agitated or varying the opponent’s strategy might be.

After less than twenty seconds of ineffective Sword Qi Tornado, the opponent’s assault noticeably weakened, switching abruptly from aggressive offense to defense.