After more than 1000 days of ceaseless repetition, the trial finally reached a new phase.

Black Seol Jihu began teaching Seol Jihu Spatial Abilities and a variety of other skills.

This didn’t mean that Seol Jihu stopped climbing.

Like Jang Maldong, Black Seol Jihu equated experience with training. He wanted Seol Jihu to learn as he continued his trial.

And Seol Jihu had no reason to refuse. When he reached the bottom of the second slope, he waited for the boulders to appear.

—Thousand-Ton-Pushing Strength is a technique based on tai chi.

Black Seol Jihu stood behind Seol Jihu and sent him a mental transmission.

—Have you heard of the expression ‘softness overcomes hardness’? The point of this expression is that even powerful strength cannot subdue softness.

—Think of inertia or a lever. Suppose someone is running at full speed towards you. Instead of facing him head-on, what do you think will happen if you move slightly to the side and trip him with your leg?

—Your opponent will lose his balance and fall. Now you have him down without even breaking a sweat.

—But in order for this to work, you need to be capable of identifying the size of your opponent’s strength, the direction of his movement, and his center of gravity in a split second and aim for the correct spot.

—It will be difficult, especially during a battle in which your life is at stake.

As the boulders neared, Black Seol Jihu stood closely behind Seol Jihu.

—Relax your body as much as you can and focus on my energy.

He then grabbed both of Seol Jihu’s wrists and pushed them forward, infusing them with his energy.

Seol Jihu’s palms brushed gently against the first boulder.

“!”

Seol Jihu flinched.

The familiar impact wasn’t there.

‘But why?’

The moment he touched the boulder, a stream of energy shot out from the center of his palm.

The mana quickly trickled down the surface of the boulder and landed exactly where the boulder met the ground.

As a result—

‘What happened?’

Even though his hands touched the boulder, he felt almost nothing.

If anything, he felt the sensation of pushing the heavy boulder aside.

In fact, the boulder had lost its equilibrium and was swinging from side to side as it rolled down the slope.

—Floral Substitution is a technique that utilizes this principle.

Black Seol Jihu’s mental transmission continued before Seol Jihu could even take a breath.

—It’s similar to what I said earlier. You either pull or push your opponent’s arm in...