Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebel Scanlations
The Fifth Elder walked to the front of the crowd, his calm gaze sweeping over the participants as he said, “Seeing that everyone is here, I’ll announce the rules. Listen carefully.”
This year’s task was different from last year’s. Though it was also testing a mage’s soul, they were using a training method the students in ward A, so this was the first time for all the participants.
The second round was called the Gravity Room. All the participants would enter a stone room, but this room wasn’t a normal stone room, but one made from a type of black gravity stone. The Gravity Room affected both practitioners and mages alike, as soon as they went in, it would be as in there was a huge weight on them.
And the winning conditions for the second round was to stay in there the longest.
“Now you all know about the second round. Behind me lies the Gravity Room where the competition will occur. In a moment, I will give you each a transport stone. If you are unable to take the gravitational force inside, you simply have to crush the stone and you will be transported out,” the Fifth Elder informed them.
Teng ZiXin stepped forwards, asking, “Fifth Elder, may we know how the points are calculated?”
The Fifth Elder looked to Elder Ye who was beside him. “You explain.”
And then he backed away.
Elder Ye bowed to his wishes, stepping forwards to explain, “We will award up to five points based on how long the participant manages to stay inside for…”
From zero to five minutes, inclusive, no points were given. From five to ten minutes, inclusive, it was one point. From ten to fifteen, inclusive, two points would be given. All the way up to twenty-five to thirty minutes where all five points would be awarded.
The reason why it didn’t go over half an hour was because no mage had managed to stay in the Gravity Room for over half an hour on their first go.
“This round, all those who have obtained less than three points will be eliminated, unable to advance to the third round.” Seeing everyone’s thoughtful expressions, Elder Ye continued, “Upon entering the Gravity Room, you will see the records for the Gravity Room above the doorway. Those are the top one hundred durations for first timers in the Gravity Room, and the one in first place is Teng ZiYe with a time of twenty-nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds…”
Coming to this, Elder Ye glanced at Teng ZiXin. Teng ZiYe was Teng ZiXin’s older brother. Though his natural talent wasn’t as good as Teng ZiXin, he was just as good with the effort he showed.
Most people thought that Teng ZiYe was still a mid level five mage at age twenty-one, like his younger sister. In reality, people didn’t know that half a year ago, the academy had made an exception for Teng ZiYe to join Ward A as a low grade level six mage. Now, he was probably mid or high grade.
He didn’t participate in the competition either. When You XiaoMo first enrolled in, Teng ZiYe was undergoing a closed-door cultivation, so You XiaoMo had never heard of him. And as soon as Teng ZiYe came out, he went to Ward A right away.
But if even Teng ZiYe had performed so well, Teng ZiXin’s performance was something they were eagerly waiting for, since her potential was even higher. This answer wasn’t enough to satisfy Teng ZiXin.
Her sleek eyebrows furrowed, and Teng ZiXin asked, “Elder Ye, what if we manage more than half an hour. Is it still five points?”
Her current total score was five points. If she wanted to beat You XiaoMo and the other two, five points wasn’t enough.
Elder Ye looked back at the Fifth Elder.
The Fifth Elder stepped forwards, stroking his beard and saying, “Anyone who gets anything over half an hour will obtain six points.”
Teng ZiXin’s eyes lit up. She still had a chance to turn the tides. After obtaining the answer she wanted, she stepped back.
“If no one else has any more questions, then let’s start. Remember to swipe your card on the slot beside the door before you go in. That way, the Gravity Room will automatically record your achievements. Now, everyone will go in one by one.” The Fifth Elder swept everyone with his gaze.
You XiaoMo turned back and said to Ling Xiao and the others, “I’m off, remember to wait for me.” Ling Xiao folded his arms, not moving.
Jiang XiaoFeng nodded with an eager expression. BaiLi XiaoYu had gone to find Tong YueXu, so he wasn’t here. Then, Qing Qiu who wasn’t far suddenly began walking towards You XiaoMo. She seemed to want to go into the Gravity Room with You XiaoMo.
Jiang XiaoFeng suddenly felt a terrifying pressure around them. But just as he was about to gasp, the pressure vanished.
Jiang XiaoFeng raised his head and looked towards You XiaoMo. Qing Qiu didn’t manage what she wanted because Tong YueXu stepped in between them. A gentle smile was on his face like always, giving people a warm feeling.
BaiLi XiaoYu ran back, saying with triumph, “I was the one who got brother YueXu to go and find You XiaoMo!”
Jiang XiaoFeng gave him a thumbs up, “Nice one.”
The corner of Ling Xiao’s lips curled up, “Not bad.”
His words were rather flattering to BaiLi XiaoYu. Though he was friends with You XiaoMo, Ling Xiao had barely talked to him.
Since there was only one slot to swipe ones card, everyone could only enter the Gravity Room one by one. Before they went in, Elder Ye who stood at the door would give each person a transport stone.
When it got to You XiaoMo, he took the stone from Elder Ye and took out his red card. Under the dim lighting, the red light from his card was especially eye-catching.
Apart from Teng ZiXin who had seen it before, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise. You XiaoMo quickly swiped his card and entered, ignoring the shocked crowd behind him.
“Where did he get that red card?” Chai Zheng muttered as he seethed.
The red card didn’t have much use in Ward B, but that was because the places that could only be accessed by a red card were all in Ward A. Yet You XiaoMo hadn’t even gotten into Ward A yet and he already had one.
Teng ZiXin glanced at him, saying, “Don’t forget, his master is my grandmaster.”
What she implied was that You XiaoMo didn’t obtain that card through his own merit, but most likely got it from Duan QiTian. Even so, Chai Zheng was still displeased.
As soon as he walked into the Gravity Room, You XiaoMo felt an immense pressure on him. It seemed to be pulling his entire body down, even his soul felt like it was being squashed. This was the effect of the Gravity Room. If you trained here every day, you could improve your body and soul.
Like how practitioners used the Gravity Room to train their bodies, mage’s focused on their soul. If they made their soul more resilient, it would be strengthened. Then, if they trained Soul Techniques, they could achieve more with less effort.
You XiaoMo took a deep breath and, after getting used to the pressure, started to move further into the room slowly.
Those who had come in before showed their disbelief at how quickly he managed to recover his movement capabilities. When they got inside, they had almost been pulled to the ground. It took them a lot of effort to stand straight. Yet, he could already walk. No wonder people thought he was one of the possible victors.
Though this was true, You XiaoMo was already sweating with just a few steps. Behind him, Teng ZiXin, Chai Zheng and the others had entered and were experiencing the same thing he was. At first, they weren’t used to the pressure, freezing in place.
After getting used to it for a minute or two, they finally began to move, though each step was very slow.
You XiaoMo had already turned, watching their slow movements. It was as if they were moving through sludge, like they had been put through slow motion. It was actually quite funny. But because of the force on their bodies, none of them could speak.
You XiaoMo slowly raised his head. As Elder had said, there was a list of records above the doorway to the Gravity Room and in first place was Teng ZiYe. The person in second place was behind by almost thirty seconds. This proved that Teng ZiYe really was very strong.
On the list of a hundred, only the first sixty four had a record between twenty-five and thirty minutes. The times weren’t very far apart, some even in the same second.
You XiaoMo blinked slowly. The Gravity Room had existed for a long time already, yet only sixty four had lasted over twenty-five minutes. That meant the number twenty-five was a clear boundary.
You XiaoMo moved further inside with the pace of a snail until his back met a wall. Though the Gravity Room would affect everyone’s movements, he didn’t want to expose his back to Teng ZiXin and Chai Zheng.
Not long after, Tong YueXu came to stand beside him, smiling at him gently. Speaking inside the Gravity Room would expend a lot of energy, so unless it was pressing, no one would speak. Everyone knew this so they all stifled their words.
When the timer on the wall went past five minutes, not even to ten, some were finally unable to take it, crushing the transport stone one by one. Suddenly, about a quarter of the people were gone from the Gravity Room.
The sweat on You XiaoMo’s face had increased, but his rivals were all in the same situation, their faces paler than usual.
