Chapter 1075 - 443: Fifth Trial_2

Chapter 1075: Chapter 443: Fifth Trial_2

Witnessing An Rong’s sparring, Wu Chang immediately grasped the significance of the initial trials of the Kaiyang Immortal Mansion.

Bravery is about accumulating the challengers’ courage, staying calm in danger, and calmly responding. In the fifth trial, it’s about withstanding the immense killing intent unleashed by the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone and being able to perform at full potential amidst the killing intent.

Endurance is to make challengers accustomed to battles they know they cannot win, still maintaining their fighting spirit, not giving up, and finding and seizing the chance for victory.

Even when An Rong’s martial skills are inferior, facing the endless suppression of the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone, he can still use himself as a pawn, complete the layout, and deliver the attack that turns defeat into victory; this is the purpose of the Yi Pass.

Simply delivering an attack is not enough; hitting the enemy is not the goal; killing the enemy is.

The challengers must ensure that their final strike is strong and fierce enough to unleash the maximum possible damage with their Spiritual Power restricted to the YuLing realm, achieving a kill with one hit, which is the purpose of the fourth trial, the Li Pass.

Apart from the initial Yi trial upon entering the Immortal Mansion, all other trials pave the way for the fifth trial.

An Rong clutched his left arm, smiled bitterly, and said:

"After observing Sect Leader Tang’s battle, I had some insights. Passing the trials of endurance and strength again, I indeed gained something. I thought maybe this time I could complete the fifth trial, but I still lack practice."

He sighed and said: "It seems the Immortal destiny of Kaiyang Immortal Mansion is still not meant for me. I have to ask Sect Leader Tang for assistance. Sect Leader Tang, did you clearly see my demonstration of the method to complete the trial?"

Wu Chang nodded, "I saw it clearly, though there’s something I don’t quite understand; when Brother An was setting up his layout, how did he ensure that the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone would definitely fall for it?"

Before An Rong could answer, the observing scholar and drunkard, having gained insights from An Rong’s challenge, vied for the next opportunity to challenge, fearing the other might seize the Immortal destiny meant for them.

While competing with each other, they also kept an eye on Wu Chang. However, Wu Chang believed the level of the two would not be able to complete the fifth trial. He gestured to them courteously, saying:

"Everything has an order; you two arrived before Tang, so naturally, you should go before Tang for the trial."

Upon hearing this, they developed a great liking for Wu Chang and bowed to him, exchanged some polite words, and continued their competition.

In the end, each exhibited three tries, with the scholar losing and being ranked after the drunkard.

While sparring, Wu Chang recalled the identity of the two from memory.

The drunkard appeared ordinary but was indeed the Sect Master of the hidden sect, Jinlin Sect, known as Su Wangyou, a true Great Grandmaster.

However, unlike other hidden sects, during the time of spiritual qi dissipation, Jinlin Sect faced a decline in talent. Su Wangyou and Tang Sect Leader were merely granted a protectorate position within the Human Dao alliance, unable to squeeze into the core power circle.

Su Wangyou entered the central area to begin the fifth trial.

The drunkard, scholar, and An Rong all challenged the fifth trial multiple times, and their solution ideas were similar in reference to each other.

The drunkard’s choice was also to first appear weak to the enemy, waiting for the right moment to counterattack.

During the battle between the drunkard and the Immortal Mansion Master, Wu Chang noticed some nuances. Many attacks the Immortal Mansion Master made against the drunkard were very similar to those against An Rong, even considered identical moves.

Not only were the moves identical, but even the scenarios where those moves were used were similar.

He instantly understood why An Rong and the drunkard could manipulate the actions of the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone through their layouts, thus advancing the battle to their desired situation.

It turns out the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone lacks intellect; it functions like a program, akin to a game’s boss, executing corresponding moves based on the challengers’ actions.

To manipulate the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone’s actions, one must repeatedly challenge, memorize all of its action patterns, and then find ways to break them.

The only difference lies in the number of moves.

No matter how complex, a game boss has only about twenty skills, whereas the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone likely possesses no less than a thousand martial arts techniques.

Memorizing these patterns is challenging; sometimes missing by even a tiny margin results in completely different responses from the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone, causing a disruption in the skill cycle and the failure of all previous layouts.

To ensure consistency, the drunkard and An Rong had many similarities in processing the battle, especially since both used long weapons—one the Fangtian Halberd and the other a spear—making their battles more similar, which allowed Wu Chang to notice clues.

Wu Chang said: "The Immortal Mansion Master’s clone’s pattern is fixed to some extent?"

An Rong praised: "As expected of Sect Leader Tang, rich with battle experience, discovering the key after only observing twice."

"This is the answer to your earlier question. We are seeking such patterns, to the extent of manipulating the Immortal Mansion Master’s clone’s actions, thus creating the opportunity for us to strike the final blow."

As they talked, the drunkard had already completed his layout; he chose to strike two moves earlier than An Rong.

The drunkard chose to use a surprise thrust to pierce the Immortal Mansion Master’s chest, but in terms of faith, he wasn’t as strong as An Rong, and his movements were affected by the Immortal Mansion Master’s killing intent, pausing momentarily at the moment of striking.

That brief pause enabled the Immortal Mansion Master, without needing to evade, to strike with his spear first, hitting the drunkard in the chest and knocking him away.

The drunkard clutched his chest, struggled to sit up from the ground, unable to say anything immediately, then swallowed an elixir to begin healing.