Chapter 6: Passing

A month later.

Today, there were no classes.

Su Chen sat on his bed, his hands moving and gesturing as he gently pressed down in the air.

Although it seemed as if nothing had happened other than a brief gust of wind, Su Chen’s eyes could clearly see a brilliant net of Origin Energy covering the area in front of him.

He grabbed a nearby slab and tossed it out. The slab passed through the net, instantly splitting into ten or so chunks. The clear net trembled briefly, but it didn’t break.

A brief moment later, it dispersed.

Success!

Su Chen revealed an expression of joy.

The new Origin Skill had formed much faster than Su Chen initially expected. Both in terms of sharpness and durability, it was already far superior to its earlier form. Most importantly, it had incorporated the Light Bending Technique, making it hard to see with the naked eye. It was very well-concealed and could definitely be used to catch people off-guard.

Of course, the wind net’s durability and sharpness were not undefeatable. But invincibility didn’t exist among Origin Skills; there would always be a better one. Based on Su Chen’s current cultivation base, there was no need to pursue better results.

Let’s go test it out in the Refinement Chamber.

He was like a child that had just obtained a new toy. He wanted to play with it!

In this period of time, he had concentrated on analyzing Origin Energy Patterns, and so he was becoming more familiar with the Whitetower Teleportation, Soul-Fixing Technique and Origin Energy Bullets. With his new proficiency in these skills, he felt his power must’ve increased by a great amount and he was eager to test it out.

The moment this idea surfaced in Su Chen’s mind, he stood up and headed for the Hidden Dragon Institute’s Hundred Refinements Hall.

The Hundred Refinements Hall was provided by the Hidden Dragon Institute specifically so students could assess their progress.

Every student could come here to find out how much their strength had grown.

This was Su Chen’s first time coming here. Upon arriving, he was greeted by the sight of a massive, vast hall.

The massive hall was very majestic. There were eighteen copper soldiers standing on either side. While they looked like statues, they were most likely Demonic Puppets, there to uphold the Institute’s rules and maintain order.

There were twenty copper doors, each with a different image inscribed on them.

Su Chen didn’t understand what they were used for. Thankfully, student assistants were present, so he approached them for help.

The student assistant he approached was extremely thin. He looked quite similar to a string bean. To Su Chen’s question, he replied somewhat impatiently, “The twenty doors represent different levels of strength. New students will enter from the first door on the left. Whenever you are able to clear what’s behind the first door, you can enter the second. In addition, behind each door are contribution points. If you clear the room, they’re yours. As for how many there are, that depends on how many times you’ve entered the room. The more often you enter, the less contribution points you’ll earn.”

“So you’re saying that if I’m able to beat the first door on my first try, I’ll obtain the most contribution points, but if I’m unable to do so, I’ll obtain less contribution points even if I’ve never beaten it before?”

“That’s right. Every student must be very clear about the strength they possess.”

“So can I just cultivate for a few years, then take the test?” Su Chen asked.

“Of course you can. However, the rules are that the more years you’ve been here, the less contribution points you’ll obtain. Each door also has a target time; if you go higher than that value, the contribution points you can earn will decrease. The same goes for every time you enter.” The student laughed. “It’s pretty difficult to take advantage of the Institute.”

So that’s how it is!

To obtain the most contribution points, he would have to clear the room in as short a period of time as possible with the lowest number of attempts. This required students to not only possess great power but also an accurate perception of their own abilities.

Understanding the limits of his strength was an extremely important skill for survival. Otherwise, if he jumped headfirst into battle without so much as a clue what was awaiting him, that was tantamount to inviting death!

The Institute implemented this rule to force students to accurately assess their own strength.

They called it the “Hundred Refinements”, yet the more he practiced, the lower the amount of points he would earn. If it really took a hundred tries to clear a room, that person was probably quite worthless.

“Are you sure you want to enter? Normally, this place is the busiest just before the school year ends. After all, that’s the last time where they will still be part of the same year. However, it will be much busier at that time, and it will cost you contribution points to enter a room.”

There were very few loopholes to take advantage of.

Thankfully, Su Chen wasn’t here to take advantage of any loopholes.

He laughed. “I’ll do it right now.”

“Good! I like people who are straightforward!” The student praised, giving Su Chen a thumbs up. “Place your identity tablet into the door and you can enter.”

Su Chen discovered that there was a small slot on the door.

He walked over and placed his identity tablet inside the slot, after which the door opened.

Su Chen entered. His vision went blurry, and he found himself standing in a scorching desert.

Although he knew this was an illusion set up by the formation, Su Chen still felt a sense of oppressive heat for seemingly no reason.

At that moment, a streak of light shot out from underneath his feet, pouncing towards him.

This attack was sudden and vicious, but Su Chen easily sidestepped it. The black shadow’s pounce missed, but it turned around in midair and pounced at Su Chen again, roaring in anger. It was a Mirage Lynx! The first Vicious Beast Su Chen had ever battled was a Mirage Lynx. Unexpectedly, it was also the first Vicious Beast Su Chen was fighting here.

The Mirage Lynx lived in forested mountains, not inside a desert. But since this was all just an illusion, Su Chen didn’t pay much attention to these things.

With Su Chen’s current strength, dealing with a Mirage Lynx was easy. However, he made this trip precisely because he wanted to test out the effect of his new Origin Skill in battle. He conjured a wind net in front of him.

The Mirage Lynx flew forwards like lightning, passing through the wind net. Su Chen didn’t dodge the lynx, allowing its sharp claws to reach his own throat. The lynx trembled violently and just before it would clash with Su Chen, it fell to the ground.

After the lynx disappeared, a squad of soldiers appeared.

Although they were only soldiers at the Body Tempering Realm, each one was covered in battle armor, holding sharp blades in their hands. They even understood how to use group tactics.

But in the end, they were no challenge for Su Chen.

He formed the wind net and the soldiers charged unknowingly into it one after the other.

This time, the wind net was not as effective as before. The hard armor blunted the sharpness of the net, and the weight of these soldiers put a lot of pressure on the wind net. It broke before it was even able to cut open the opponents.

Even so, the squad of soldiers still sustained heavy injuries.

Su Chen retreated, conjuring another wind net.

The illusion soldiers charged forwards, unafraid of death. They continued to be torn up and shredded.

Another net. Another charge.

Su Chen created a total of five nets before the last soldier lost his life.

After the soldiers disappeared, a large flock of birds appeared.

When Su Chen saw the birds, he was happy.

Without question, the wind net was most suited for these kinds of opponents.

Su Chen relied on just a single wind net to deal with all birds. He constantly tested out his new Origin Skills to deal with all kinds of opponents in different settings.

Only after extensive testing could an Origin Skill be considered good. Through this process, Su Chen began to realize some drawbacks to the wind net that prevented it from being immediately usable. He also discovered when it was effective and when it wasn’t.

He memorized everything, using it as a basis for future improvements.

No Origin Skill was invincible, and no Origin Skill couldn’t be improved.

Only if he was always unsatisfied could he continue to improve.

After testing for quite some time, Su Chen discovered that there were suddenly no more opponents.

He discovered he conquered the first room!