LRAB Chapter 89
Chapter 89
"Welcome to the Hall of Heroes. Your first trial is of intermediate difficulty. Name: Yu Chen, Age: 10."
"Test requirements: First round, hold for thirty seconds."
With a flash of light, a figure appeared opposite Yu Chen.
He was a very refined-looking young man with long, dark blue hair and a lazy smile on his face.
"Begin!" the electronic voice announced again.
The boy's eyes suddenly lit up, and then a blue light appeared between his eyebrows. Streaks of blue-purple electricity burst out like small snakes, circling around his body, and a lightning bolt mark appeared on his forehead.
Two yellow, century-old spirit rings rose from beneath his feet.
Without any hesitation, the boy changed his footwork, taking a seemingly casual yet mysterious step, and his figure moved like lightning, rushing straight towards Yu Chen!
During his sprint, his first spirit ring shone brightly.
"First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"
A dragon claw, about a foot in diameter and formed entirely of blue-purple lightning, slammed down towards Yu Chen's head with a scorching heat and a piercing roar!
Its power is swift and fierce, far surpassing that of ordinary Great Soul Masters.
Time zero.
With a slight thought, everything around Yu Chen became slow and viscous.
He calmly took a step to the side and back, easily escaping the dragon claw's attack range.
"boom!"
The dragon claw slammed down on the spot where Yu Chen had been standing, sparks flying and leaving a charred mark on the ground.
Time flow rate restored.
Yu Chen's figure became clear again in the distance, and he looked at his "opponent" who had missed his attack with great interest.
In fact, Yu Chen had just tried to use Dragon's Might to suppress the Soul Master with Dragon Clan blood in front of him, but it obviously failed. After all, the person in front of him was just a set of data, so Dragon's Might naturally had no effect.
"Virtual characters, huh? Soul-guided technology is truly interesting."
Although Yu Chen had experienced even more unbelievable things, this technology that turned science fiction concepts from his previous life into reality still fascinated him.
Before she could finish her thought, the blue-haired boy opposite her launched another attack.
He continued walking, quickly closing the distance, while simultaneously making a feinting gesture with his right hand forward—
A gentle yet irresistible attraction suddenly came, pulling Yu Chen's body involuntarily towards the other party!
Controlling Cranes and Capturing Dragons! The Ultimate Technique of the Tang Clan!
"Tsk."
Yu Chen snorted softly, no longer intending to passively observe.
"Your curiosity has been satisfied enough; it's time for you to leave. Perfect, try out your newfound abilities."
With a thought, his right hand and forearm were instantly covered with fine, dark black dragon scales, and his five fingers extended, transforming into ferocious and sharp dragon claws.
There was no glow from spirit rings; it was merely a casual flick of his wrist forward—
laugh!
Five faint, dark gold claw shadows, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, shot out and instantly swept across the space between the two.
"Pfft..."
A tooth-grinding, faint sound, like a sharp instrument cutting through leather, rang out.
The blue-haired boy suddenly stopped. Then, dozens of crisscrossing scratches of varying depths appeared on his body, as if he had been instantly cut by countless invisible threads.
Then the light and shadow flickered violently a few times, became extremely dim, and the movements completely froze, as if the program had encountered a serious error and lost the ability to continue fighting.
"Being struck by the claw shadow of the right hand will only cause severe cuts and impair mobility, but it won't immediately kill you..."
Yu Chen retracted his dragon claws, the scales slowly peeling away as he assessed the situation.
"It seems that this is a good alternative when we don't want to expose a deadly method like 'Judgment'. The power is controllable and it won't attract too much attention."
He let out a soft breath and shook his head: "Phew, a bit weak. It seems this 'intermediate difficulty' is more for ordinary geniuses."
"Just perform appropriately in the upcoming tests."
Yu Chen quickly formulated a strategy.
"If the opponent's strength starts to exceed the 'reasonable' range, just concede. It's not worth making a big fuss over some virtual data, or even revealing more of your cards."
"However, the boy in front of me should be the Thunderbolt Baby from ten thousand years ago."
"Thirty seconds are up. First level passed."
An electronic voice sounded at the right time.
The "Bebe" shadow on the ground, covered in cracks and with dim light, began to slowly stand up. Its wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its light became solid again.
"Level two begins. Defeat your opponent, or survive for another thirty seconds."
Once repaired, "Beibei" locked its gaze back onto Yu Chen, and the electric light on its body became active again, its fighting spirit seemingly even stronger than before.
……
A flash of light appeared, and Yu Chen rubbed his head wearily. His face was pale from excessive consumption of soul power, and he looked somewhat disheveled.
"It's out! It's out!"
Xie Xie was the first to call out. He didn't look too good either, with bruises on his face, but his eyes were full of curiosity.
"Yu Chen, how many levels have you passed? How long did you hold on?"
Yu Chen composed himself and looked around. Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie had already come out before him.
Tang Wulin was also bruised and swollen, especially his left eye socket, which was somewhat bluish, but his eyes were still bright.
Gu Yue appeared the most composed, though her breathing was slightly rapid and her eyes held a thoughtful expression.
"Advanced, two levels. The final level is really hard. I put in a lot of effort on the last level, but I still failed. How about you guys?"
Yu Chen said wearily.
Upon hearing this, Xie Xie immediately wilted and said dejectedly, "Intermediate, Level 1."
Tang Wulin touched his still slightly sore cheek and said, "I'm also at the intermediate level, two stages."
Gu Yue glanced at Yu Chen and said calmly, "Same as you, advanced, two levels."
"Advanced level two?!" Tang Wulin and Xie Xie gasped simultaneously, looking at Yu Chen as if he were a monster.
They struggled with all their might at the intermediate difficulty level, while Yu Chen and Gu Yue actually went straight to the advanced level and even passed two stages?! The difference... it's infuriating to compare people like that!
At this moment, Wu Changkong walked over, looked at the four of them, and nodded. "Come here."
The four of them did as he was told and walked up to him.
Xie Xie lowered his head, his heart pounding with anxiety. He had the worst grades and was prepared to be criticized.
However, just as this thought arose in his mind, the surrounding light suddenly shone brightly!
The familiar spatial fluctuations returned, and a strong pulling sensation instantly enveloped the four of them.
A blur of light and a feeling of weightlessness washed over them. When they regained their footing and their vision cleared, they found themselves out of the testing room.
This is a spacious, bright, and modern office.
The room is over 200 square meters and has a wide view. On the inner side is a large and heavy desk with a smooth, mirror-like surface.
In the center of the room is a set of simple yet high-quality white leather sofas.
"Please sit down."
Wu Changkong pointed to the sofa and sat down first on a single sofa opposite the four of them.
"There are some things I need to talk to you about."
The four of them were filled with doubt, but they sat down on the sofa as instructed.
The soft touch did not ease their tension and curiosity.
"You must find today's 'exam' very strange, or even a little confusing."
Wu Changkong got straight to the point, "In the Hall of Heroes, every opponent you encounter is not a simple virtual creation."
He paused for a moment to make sure everyone heard him clearly:
"They were all real Soul Masters who existed in history. The Tang Sect used special technology to simulate and record their fighting styles, Soul Skill characteristics, and even combat wisdom at their respective Soul Power levels."
"Because they are simulations, they can only exert about 70% of the original body's true strength."
Wu Changkong's gaze sharpened. "Then tell me, compared to these historical geniuses of the same level—even at 70% of their strength—how do you think your own strength compares?"
Sitting to the side, Yu Chen was speechless upon hearing Wu Changkong's statement that he "only had 70% of his strength."
Haha, 70%? You're kidding me!
The "BeiBei" he encountered in the intermediate level, with its fighting style and the power of its soul skills, did indeed resemble a powerful second-ring Great Soul Master. He could barely believe it if they said it was 70% true.
But in the higher-level stages, I still encountered "BeiBei," who also had two yellow spirit rings and could actually use "Dragon Transformation"?!
Is this some kind of bullying because Yu Chen is uncultured? To use Dragon Transformation, a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Master needs at least a three-ring cultivation level, a fact he learned from the Martial Soul Encyclopedia.
Let's just say it's because Beibei has a special talent, but the final level is even more outrageous!
But the mental shock he received from the "Dai Yuhao" he encountered next...
Thinking back to that mental shock, Yu Chen still feels a faint tingling in his mind.
The power of that attack almost sent him, whose spiritual power had reached the Spirit Sea Realm, to his death!
The level of concentration and impact of that spiritual energy is at least at the Spirit Abyss Realm.
The spiritual power of the Spirit Abyss Realm is at a level sufficient to attempt to fuse with a 100,000-year-old soul!
Although Huo Yuhao did seem to have absorbed the Ice Emperor Soul Ring, which was 400,000 years old, at around the second ring level, that was an exception. The difficulty of absorbing it through sacrifice and fusion are completely different.
That damn Tang Clan, they probably tampered with the data.
Especially that guy's close-combat ability!
When Yu Chen realized that he might be at a disadvantage in a ranged and mental battle, he decisively activated Bloodlust and then Time Zero, instantly closing in and intending to use his dragon physique to quickly end the battle.
The results of it?
That "Huo Yuhao" is practically a muscle monster!
His reaction was even more inhuman! He could still react effectively even in zero time, and his strength was outrageous. A powerful elbow strike almost made him lose his breath!
In a pure clash of physical strength, he was actually suppressed!
With that kind of physical ability, he would believe it if you said he was a power-type soul master!
In addition, the various unpredictable and effortless Tang Clan techniques—Ghost Shadow Tracking, Jade Hand, Crane Control and Dragon Capture—left Yu Chen in a rather sorry state.
While it's possible to fight with more trump cards (such as Second Bloodlust or Judgment) if we really wanted to go all out, it's not worth exposing so much for a virtual test.
So, feeling that he had played enough and had fully "demonstrated" his abilities, Yu Chen decisively "got bored" and withdrew.
To put it bluntly, I just feel it's unnecessary to work myself to death for Tang Sect's watered-down "historical data".
(Well, it's definitely not because I was slightly annoyed by being outmatched in close combat by a virtual second-ring Soul Master, and then I just couldn't be bothered to continue.)
Wu Changkong took in the reactions of the four people, especially the subtle look that flashed across Yu Chen's eyes.
He understood that with Yu Chen's knowledge and strength, he had probably already noticed some "tricks" in the "Hall of Heroes" data.
But this is part of the effect he wanted—to make these proud geniuses see the weight of history and the strength of their predecessors, and also learn to examine what lies behind the "rules".
"It seems you all have your own experiences."
Wu Changkong spoke slowly, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet office.
"So, next, we're going to talk about your future, and... an invitation."