The next two weeks went by and all these days, candidates didn't give up at all.
They are trying to replicate the void technique. They are trying so hard actually.
But unfortunately, there is not much progress. After all, it would be hard for them to suddenly gain this much control in such a short period of time.
The major powers although powerful, only teach their disciples in the conventional ways and according to them, the bigger the spell, the bigger the technique, the more damage it does, the better it is. They generally, wouldn't account for the disadvantages and backlash of the technique.
So, these candidates although chosen didn't get their training from God's themselves, they are only trained in these major powers and in the same ways.
They will learn the importance of control and efficiency of the spell or a technique when they truly meet a person who is a suitable rival.
They will only learn this the hard way when they experience what a second of time makes the difference in a cutthroat battle.
But they are still far from that. Sam is the only one who has at least some experience in this field. All his techniques are based on efficiency which relies on the control of his energy.
But even he has extreme difficulty in controlling this.
He has blasted his limbs many times due to the lack of control.
And for some reason, Monkey king is talking to him in a friendly way as the days passed.
As for the 'man' from the herb garden and Arman, they are just cultivating calmly. They don't have anything to do here. They are extremely calm and utilizing this environment to improve their cultivation.
As they are not qualified for the final test, they couldn't see the energy flow in the body of the statue no matter how much they tried, so they gave up.
Now, at this moment, Sam is setting back the bones in his palm. The fingers are all distorted in weird angles.
His expression is still so calm as if he is fixing someone else's bones and not his.
This time, the damage is not just because of the void technique, rather his punch and the monkey king's punch collided straight and his body is obviously not as strong and the monkey king's void punch is the better one with complete technique.
So, naturally, he lost.
But he is getting a hang of this. He could find a way to draw with the monkey king, if not defeat him. Of course, if a special situation arises, he could even win, the probability is less than two percent though.
After healing himself, he started meditating. Out of all people, he is the one who has taken the most damage.
The rest of them didn't get so close to the Monkey king. The chosen one from the beast faction is the only one who damaged his leg and the staff and stayed put for four days.
Sam is the only one who is constantly fighting back, he has fought three battles a day. Continuously, healing and destroying his body. At some point, he even stopped wearing the upper robe.
After all, for every battle, it is being torn into shreds.
Sam is the only one who has significant progress in the technique.
After some time, Sam came out of his formation and made his way towards the stage.
He held the staff in his hands and stood ramrod straight in front of the Monkey king. The Monkey king created the barrier around the platform and looked at Sam.
"So, are you confident in doing it this time?" He is asking about defeating him. Sam's expression is serious and he said in a low voice.
"No."
Sam started channeling the energy wave and is ready to make the move, this time the energy is being channeled into the staff. He kicked off the ground as he leaped towards the Monkey king.
He spun the staff around his head and aimed it straight at the head of the monkey king.
The latter didn't move immediately. He just smiled and moved his head to the side and placed the staff on his shoulder.
He also channeled his energy and just moved the staff a bit upwards. Both the staves collided and Sam's body took the most damage. The recoil of the attack is making his arms tremble and a cut appeared on his right palm, making him bleed.
The monkey king pushed the staff upwards one more time, wanting to push Sam away, but at this moment, his eyes flashed in surprise. Because Sam held both the staves in place and used the shoulder of the statue as his support and swung his high up into the air.
The Monkey King was surprised and wasn't able to react in time.
Before he could react, Sam is already making his. He kicked straight at the chest of the monkey king with his two legs.
The energy wave of the attack this time has covered the whole body and the impact is actually huge.
The kick landed squarely on the chest and Monkey king flew backward. Sam's legs are bleeding, the muscle fibers are torn apart. But he didn't stop at all.
As the monkey king is flying towards the barrier, Sam held his own staff and started channeling the energy.
He lunged forward and swung the staff with all his might.
He hit the monkey king in the abdomen with the staff and he could see the cracks that appeared on the chest and abdomen.
The Staff was broken and only a small piece of the metal rod was left in Sam's hands. But at this moment, both his hands are torn and bleeding.
But he didn't halt at that. He stood there and channeled his energy into the small piece of the metal rod.
He didn't go for the close combat. Rather, he is trying for a ranged attack. It is the same as the arrow the monkey shot.
The metal rod tore through the air and stabbed itself into the chest of the monkey king.
The three consecutive spiritual energy explosions happened in a mere second. Sam moved extremely fast and extremely decisively.
The Monkey king flew in the air and passed through the barrier as if it was not there and crashed into the ground below.
Sam who is on the stage couldn't stand anymore and fell down on the platform. He noticed that the barrier is dimming so, he tried his best to move his broken hands and cover his face back.
By the time, the barrier broke Sam is already disguised. Right now, he used all his energy to sit straight.
The Monkey also sat straight and looked around in confusion. He was making sense of what happened. In this small exchange, Sam actually took more damage than the monkey king himself. But the latter was thrown off the stage.
Sam also realized at this moment, that the barrier is only applicable for Sam. The reason why Sam was blocked by the barrier is that he doesn't want to be revealed outside.
As for the monkey king, he made sure that barrier shouldn't stop him. How can he rob the glory of a junior who was able to send him off the platform? That should be seen by the rest of the candidates and give him due credit.
The monkey king slowly stood up and took out a gourd. He walked towards Sam and slowly made him drink some wine from the gourd.
Sam's body started healing and he is as good as new in a few seconds.
The Monkey king sat beside Sam and took a swig of wine.
"Damn it. It is a pity that I don't have the real thing, otherwise, we could have shared a drink. You can keep it." He passed the wine gourd to Sam.
Sam felt extremely honored.
This is the first time he is feeling this in this life.
The Monkey looked at the rest of the candidates and spoke to the chosen one from the Beast faction.
"Akhil, I chose you because you have a relationship with monkeys and apes in the previous life. You are doing great, and I have to say that I don't regret my choice.
But you have to work hard. Harder than now. You have to face many things and this planet is but a minute place that was in this vast universe."
With that, he extended his hand a light fell on that person. His body slowly started going through the metamorphosis, which is similar to what Arman has gone through.
He then looked at the rest of the candidates and said.
"I am doing this openly because all five of you are chosen candidates by some other gods. You will get your chance sooner or later. Work hard.
And it is better to keep this topic on the down-low. The powers you all are in, you are not going to stay there forever. Don't get too involved in the disputes and don't pick a bone with the rest of the candidates."
He then finally turned towards Sam and said.
"Your talent is impeccable and I am not talking about the talent of cultivation, I am talking about your talent to learn, you might be the best candidate of all at this moment. I look forward for you to climb the realms and reach the highest place.
Then we can have a drink together."
He said that and stood up and pulled Sam up as well.
With a wave of his hand, the golden staff came to him. He then gave it to Sam and said.
"A spirit weapon. This may be useful for you. This is a replica of my own staff. Although it doesn't change the size, it still posses the spirit and will which are enough for you to save yourself. The seals will be opened along with your cultivation.
These are transference scrolls. You might be familiar with them."
He gave three to Sam and gave two to Akhil and Arkiv. Then passed one each to the 'man' from the herb garden and Arman.
"There is one more reward I can give you. What do you want?"
