Chapter 234: Chapter 70: Assessment in Progress (2)

Ahead, the desert came to an abrupt end. Bordering it was a lush, fertile grassland.

Zhang Deming frowned slightly as he took in the sight.

When he reached the border, a Light Curtain blocked his path. It was because of this Light Curtain that the grassland and desert met so jarringly.

As Zhang Deming reached out and touched the Light Curtain, it rippled slightly, and a block of text appeared.

"Minimum survival time: fifteen days. Current survival time: three days. Remaining time: twelve days.

Failure to find an exit within one month also results in failure!"

Reading this information, Zhang Deming finally understood the full scope of this trial.

It was basically a fifteen-day desert survival challenge, coupled with the task of crossing said desert.

Although he had quickly found the right direction and reached the edge, he had only passed the test of Wisdom, not the survival portion. Therefore, he couldn’t leave even though he was at the boundary.

He felt the five Spirit Fruits in his pocket. With his current supplies, Zhang Deming was confident he could last.

However, he couldn’t open his storage pouch, which meant he couldn’t pass the time by crafting Spirit Nurturing Beads.

Furthermore, his Cultivation script ran automatically, so his Cultivation didn’t require any conscious effort. Zhang Deming couldn’t possibly spend the next ten-plus days just staring into space.

So, after getting his bearings, Zhang Deming used the Light Curtain’s boundary as a base and began to fan out, endlessly searching for more Spirit Fruits.

After all, they were the only other things Zhang Deming could find in this desert.

Besides, while five fruits were enough to last twelve days, the feeling of starvation was hardly pleasant.

Moreover, Zhang Deming suspected these things were an ancient species and wanted to save a couple to study back home.

Thus, Zhang Deming began searching in an ever-expanding area around the Light Curtain, covering a radius of a half-day’s journey.

Zhang Deming discovered that these Spirit Plants seemed to be evenly distributed throughout the desert.

In other words, as long as he picked a direction and kept going, he was bound to find one.

After several days of searching, Zhang Deming had found nine more, bringing his total to fifteen.

For the remaining days, he would have more than one per day.

Of course, to be on the safe side, Zhang Deming only ate one per day.

Eating one a day was not only enough to sustain him but was also just enough to keep the hunger at bay.

In the blink of an eye, twelve days passed.

Because he had a storage pouch, Zhang Deming hadn’t brought a backpack. Many of his daily necessities were inside the pouch and had thus been sealed away along with it.

After half a month, even though Zhang Deming had been as meticulous as possible, he was still incredibly disheveled.

When the time was up, Zhang Deming passed through the Light Curtain and let out a long sigh of relief.

But before Zhang Deming could do anything else, he froze.

An endless Spiritual Light erupted from his body, and the two remaining Spirit Fruits in his pocket began to emit a dense Spiritual Power.

Zhang Deming’s entire body floated up uncontrollably.

"Experience Points +100"

"Experience Points +100"

"..."

The rapidly increasing Experience Points instantly made Zhang Deming realize what was happening. Those Spirit Fruits weren’t Low-Level Spirit Fruits at all! From the looks of it, they were actually quite powerful.

They must have been suppressed by the environment before, which was why Zhang Deming hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

’No wonder I couldn’t determine their specific grade, even though they didn’t seem to have much Spirituality.’

"Experience Points +100"

"Experience Points +100"

"..."

Zhang Deming floated gently, a smile spreading across his face as he watched his Cultivation skyrocket. ’The filth of the past few days was worth it.’

Just then, he felt a surge of Spiritual Power from his pocket. He looked down and was slightly taken aback.

The two uneaten Spirit Fruits in his pocket had also erupted with dense Spiritual Qi, but as the Spiritual Power burst forth, it was also rapidly dissipating into the air.

The Spiritual Qi erupting from the Spirit Fruits wasn’t being contained within them; it was all continuously leaking out.

After realizing this, Zhang Deming only hesitated for a moment before grabbing one Spirit Fruit in each hand and quickly starting to munch on them.

’I can’t let the rewards I grinded for half a month go to waste just like that!’

The Spirit Fruits weren’t large. Zhang Deming finished both of them in just a few bites.

After eating them, Zhang Deming finally breathed a true sigh of relief.

A moment later, Zhang Deming landed back on the ground. He had already absorbed all of the erupted Spiritual Power.

Thanks to his script, it could be said that he absorbed it all without a single drop of waste.

Zhang Deming opened his panel to check his Cultivation.

Cultivation Technique: Turtle Water Array Skill (Tier Five)

Cultivation: Tai Chi Lv1 (227,000/300,000)

Skills: Spirit Nurturing Summoning Skill Lv3 (0/50), Jade Demon Vine Lv3 (0/50), Enhancement Skill Lv3 (0/500)

Spiritual Power Recovery: 100 Spiritual Power/3 minutes

Experience Growth: 10 Experience/3 minutes

His Experience Points had shot up by 150,000. He wasn’t far from reaching Tai Chi Second Life.

Fifteen Spirit Fruits for 150,000 Experience Points, and the effect was so gentle. Even other people without a script should be able to absorb most of it.

’At this level, they have to be at least Three-Star Spirit Fruits, right?’

’No wonder!’

’No wonder those Spirit Plants couldn’t bear fruit again so quickly.’

’If a Spirit Wood of this grade could continuously bear fruit, wouldn’t that be completely heaven-defying!’

Zhang Deming looked back greedily at the desert, reaching out to touch the Light Curtain. To his regret, he found he could no longer re-enter.

’What a pity. If I had known how incredible these things were, I would have endured any hardship and refused to come out until I had plundered every last Spirit Plant in that desert.’

’Too bad. By the time I realized, it was already too late. I can’t go back.’

As Zhang Deming was lamenting his loss, a screen-like Light Curtain appeared before him.

"Congratulations, you have completed the first stage of the trial. Now entering the second stage.

Second Stage Trial: Comprehensive Combat and Recovery!

Please make your preparations, then choose to begin when you are ready."

Zhang Deming’s expression changed slightly as he read the message.

He didn’t choose to start immediately. Although the past ten-plus days hadn’t seemed dangerous, Zhang Deming was mentally exhausted, and his body was quite fatigued as well.

Judging by the description, this second stage wouldn’t be easy. He needed to get himself into peak condition.

This was, after all, a trial for a Blessed Land’s Core Disciple. Even if the Blessed Land had fallen, its standards remained.

A Core Disciple represented the fundamental reputation of a Blessed Land. A trial like this, a combat trial no less, would obviously not be easy.

’At the very least, it has to be much harder than the Celestial Spirit Sect’s Inner Sect Trial, right?’

Zhang Deming opened his storage pouch. Aside from some daily necessities, it was mostly filled with materials—materials for making Spirit Nurturing Beads.

However, thanks to his crafting, quite a bit of Space had been freed up.

Zhang Deming took out numerous items and first took the time to clean himself up properly.

Half a month of desert life had really taken its toll on him.

If it weren’t for his handy Water Element Technique, things would have been several times worse. This experience taught him that while he didn’t necessarily need many Attack Techniques, it was never a bad idea to prepare a few inconspicuous minor techniques.

After cleaning up, Zhang Deming took out a good amount of food and had a delicious meal.

Then, Zhang Deming set up a simple Array, pitched his tent, and chose to rest.

...

The next day, once Zhang Deming’s mental and physical states had returned to their peak, he chose to begin the trial.

As he confirmed his choice, countless motes of Spiritual Light began to converge on the grassland.

A Demon Beast, about the size of a person and somewhat resembling an ant, slowly materialized.

Zhang Deming frowned slightly as he looked at the ant-like Demon Beast.

’This... it should be a Powerful Ant Demon, right?’

’Judging by its Cultivation, it’s just entered the Tai Chi realm. As a Power System Demon Beast, it’s not particularly outstanding.’

’In terms of both its abilities and its rarity, it’s quite common.’

After it finished materializing, the Powerful Ant Demon charged directly at Zhang Deming.

But the instant it moved, Zhang Deming had already pressed both hands to the ground, his Spiritual Power surging rapidly.

"Technique: Thorny Earth Spike!"

Dozens of emerald-like spikes, glinting with a cold light, shot up abruptly from the ground, instantly impaling the newly appeared Powerful Ant Demon.