Chapter 00052: Simple Third Round (Additional Chapter for Alliance Leader Ding Ding Dad)
# Simple Third Round (Additional Chapter for Alliance Leader Ding Ding Dad)
Chapter 52
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 52: Simple Third Round (Additional Chapter for Alliance Leader Ding Ding Dad)
Lan Xiaobu walked to the strength testing machine. He didn't have much of a concept about his specific strength. However, he estimated that if he exerted all his internal Qi with one punch, he might just destroy this testing machine. The maximum scale of this machine was only seven horsepower, which is about fourteen hundred kilograms.
Thinking about how he answered eight questions correctly in the first round of assessment, he considered that to be somewhat exceptional, right? As long as he passed this round, it wasn't like there was a ratio-based elimination system.
With that thought, Lan Xiaobu didn't gather any internal Qi, nor did he use the Bright Fist, he just punched down like that. He didn't even hit with full force; after all, there were two opportunities, and if he failed the first time, he still had a second chance.
"One horsepower, pass." The examiner said, signaling Lan Xiaobu to enter the third round of assessment.
Several people who hadn't tested yet quietly thought that Lan Xiaobu was quite lucky. To be honest, that punch had only one horsepower of strength; they really didn’t know how someone like him thought he could participate in the Star Expedition Army's assessment. The key was that he not only passed the first round, but also just managed to pass the second round.
Lan Xiaobu didn't care; this wasn't a competition, just an assessment. As long as he passed, the result of first place and last place were the same—he could join the Star Expedition Army.
Lan Xiaobu stepped into the small door and found himself in a pitch-black corridor, so dark that he couldn't see his own hand.
Was this corridor the third round of assessment? Lan Xiaobu was somewhat puzzled. His consciousness extended out; even in the darkness, he could see clearly within a range of six or seven meters.
The corridor was only half a meter wide, and the walls were covered with bright, sticky substances, and he didn't know what they were. Lan Xiaobu didn't want to touch this stuff with his hands. He guessed that this slime was meant to be touched, seeming like a psychological suggestion. If he didn't have consciousness sensing, he would have to touch what was around him with his hands.
Indeed, consciousness sensing was a good thing; he thought he should continue to strengthen the training of the Spirit Refining Technique. It worked so well that it should have a special name—Divine Sense.
He didn't know who created this Spirit Refining Technique; it really was defying the heavens. However, he had added a training method to the Spirit Refining Technique, and having never cultivated Divine Sense before, he considered it not bad at all.
After walking three meters, his foot felt soft, as if he stepped on a caterpillar, chilling him in the dark corridor.
But Lan Xiaobu laughed; what was beneath him was just something similar to foam. If the third round of testing was merely a test of courage, as long as he passed the first two rounds, he could probably pass the third too.
However, what Lan Xiaobu thought was evidently incorrect; the corridor was just under twenty meters. After crossing it, his Divine Sense detected a small room. According to his Divine Sense, this small room should be movable. It was estimated that entering the third round of testing, everyone would enter such a small room. Once he entered, it would move away.
As Lan Xiaobu stepped into the small room, just as he thought, it immediately moved after sensing his Divine Sense.
The room was still pitch black, with nothing inside. Lan Xiaobu walked to the middle of the room, and just as he was about to inspect the walls, a powerful force slammed directly into his mind.
In the next moment, this force began to roar in his mind, as if turning into countless handprints that recklessly grabbed inside his head.
A piercing pain surged through him; if it were an ordinary person, they would surely be rolling on the ground in agony at this moment.
However, Lan Xiaobu didn't even twitch at the corner of his mouth. Compared to tearing his soul apart, this pain was merely like an ant bite. What's more, he had long been practicing the Spirit Refining Technique, and his spiritual awareness was extremely resilient. This minor impact wasn't anything to him.
At this time, Lan Xiaobu understood what the third round was testing—mental strength. If one couldn't hold on, their mind would cry for mercy. This cry for mercy would definitely be sensed by the testing machine, and once that happened, it was likely that the third round of testing would be considered a failure.
This kind of painful stimulation to the mental soul was truly difficult to withstand at first, especially not knowing how long the torment would last.
Sensing the mental attack violently stirring in his mind, Lan Xiaobu felt somewhat bored. After hesitating for a moment, he collapsed on the ground and rolled a few times.
Given what he had done since his rebirth, being cautious was of utmost importance to survive until today. Otherwise, he would have either been captured or eliminated by the palace.
Within only five or six minutes, the stinging sensation in his brain disappeared, and a line of words appeared in the small room: "Primary Willpower Test Passed. If you wish to continue to the Intermediate Willpower Test, please press the red button. Otherwise, please press the blue button to leave."
Naturally, Lan Xiaobu stood up and prepared to press the blue button. However, before he pressed it, he noticed more lines of text appeared below the red button. "Those who pass the Intermediate Willpower Test can start from One-Star Junior Lieutenant."
Was this a promotion? Lan Xiaobu wasn't a bureaucrat, but he was well aware that in such places, having a title presented a much larger survival opportunity than being an ordinary foot soldier.
With that thought, without hesitation, Lan Xiaobu pressed the red button.
A force twice as powerful as the previous mental stirring pierced into Lan Xiaobu's consciousness. However, the force of this disturbance and hurt still couldn’t compare to the pain of tearing apart his soul. Lan Xiaobu could even use the Spirit Refining Technique to resist this damage; he just chose not to do so.
In his heart, Lan Xiaobu was silently lamenting; for an ordinary person, if they couldn't hold on, they might actually go insane.
Fortunately, when he encountered Lian, he had already cultivated to the Meridian Opening Realm, which was far beyond what an ordinary person could compare with...
Wait, Lan Xiaobu thought about how Lian had taken over him, almost tear his soul apart. Why hadn’t he gone mad? Was it just unbearable torment? Logically, once his soul was torn apart, he should have gone insane. Anyone's soul being torn apart would go mad, let alone he.
If he went insane, wouldn't Lian find it easy to take over him? One must know that Lian practiced the Spirit Refining Technique; even if his soul was weak, a soul that practiced the Spirit Refining Technique was definitely more resilient and stronger than his soul cultivated with the Muscle-Tendon Altering Sutra.
He hadn’t gone mad despite his soul being torn apart, and even while cultivating the Spirit Refining Technique, he had repeatedly torn his own soul. Furthermore, if the Spirit Refining Technique could cultivate Divine Sense through the tearing of the soul, why didn't Lian know? Even if Lian didn't know, didn't those who once practiced the Spirit Refining Technique also not know this?
The only possibility was that only he could tear apart his soul and not go mad. An ordinary person would have gone mad the moment their soul was torn apart; how could there still be any possibility of counter-absorption?
What was different about Lan Xiaobu? Was it because he was reborn, and his soul was far beyond what an ordinary person could compare to?
Just as Lan Xiaobu thought about this, he suddenly felt the continuous stimulation and tearing in his mind disappear completely.
"Intermediate Willpower Test Passed, please leave the assessment room." This time, it wasn't words displayed, but a voice announcement.
There was no Advanced Willpower Test, and Lan Xiaobu didn't plan to continue; he pressed the blue button, and the door of the small black room opened. He arrived at a recruitment registration office for the Star Expedition Army.
"Stand on the white stone." An elderly man sitting at the registration desk gestured for Lan Xiaobu to stand on a white circular stone about one meter in diameter in front of him.
As soon as Lan Xiaobu stood on the white stone, a large screen above displayed his name and results.
"Not bad, you passed the Intermediate Willpower Test. Your knowledge of the starry sky test is also outstanding, scoring eighty points; unfortunately, your strength is a bit weak." The elder smiled and praised Lan Xiaobu, then took out an orange badge and handed it to him. "You are now an admirable soldier of the Star Expedition Army. Report to the army in fifteen days."
Still a soldier? Wasn't he supposed to be an officer? Lan Xiaobu felt puzzled, but he didn’t mind. He took the badge and returned to the army recruiting office lobby. Ke’er had gone in before him and still hadn’t come out.
While waiting outside, A Xu and Qin Yue walked over together.
"Lan Xiaobu, you came out so early! How was the assessment?" A Xu called out to him from a distance.
"Eh, Xiaobu, how did you come out before me?" Ke’er’s voice came. Looking at his disheveled appearance with blood streaks on his face, he seemed to have suffered quite a bit during the third round assessment. But he must have passed; otherwise, he wouldn't be so happy.
"I passed the third round of assessment; if you didn't, it’s okay. Just follow me in the future." Ke’er excitedly reassured Lan Xiaobu. In his view, even if Lan Xiaobu passed the second round, he must have entered the third round later than him anyway, and thus it was certain he failed and came out early.
Hearing Ke'er’s words, Qin Yue looked somewhat disappointed. She thought Lan Xiaobu seemed quite impressive; how come he hadn’t passed the assessment before Ke’er?
(End of Chapter)