Chapter Seventy-Seven: "Ghosts Fear It!"

In the virtual combat chamber, Chen Bing looked at Tang Fei and Shen Qingping and said, "Please choose the map, both of you."

Shen Qingping smiled at Tang Fei and said, "Since it is Tang Fei who is taking the assessment, let him choose the terrain he is best at. I have no preference. Anywhere is fine."

Hmm?

A little too syrupy.

Tang Fei gave Shen Qingping a meaningful glance and said with a smile, "I am not very familiar with this system either. Why not let the examiner choose?"

Shen Qingping nodded without objection. "Then let it be the glacier map. I enjoy watching snow on the glacier, and everyone can appreciate such a beautiful scene."

The sword techniques of the Shen family were exceptionally attuned to cold, yin energy, with a built-in advantage.

What was more, he had once undergone trials in the Blood Glacier and knew the terrain well, knowing exactly how to turn such harsh surroundings into a shield and a weapon.

Choosing the glacier map was the same as stepping into his own home ground.

Tang Fei's absurd dream of entering the Imperial First Military Academy would end right here, on the frozen glacier.

By then, he would discover that not only the body could turn cold, but the heart as well.

"Then we will follow the examiner's decision." Tang Fei nodded with a smile. "I'll just choose a map at random."

"..."

Shen Qingping's expression shifted slightly.

What did this brat mean?

"I choose the primeval forest." Tang Fei said with a genial smile, then asked, "You don't mind, do you?"

If it was a contest of politeness, who couldn't do that?

I drink tea every day now. I'm far better at it than you are.

"I just asked for your opinion. If you wanted to choose the primeval forest, you could have chosen it from the start," Shen Qingping said sharply. "Why make me choose first, and then reject my choice?"

"I was afraid you were good at that too." Tang Fei looked a little shy as he said apologetically, "If you had chosen the primeval forest first, then I would have had no choice but to pick another map."

"..."

In the main hall of the martial arts center, everyone watching the scene on the giant screen was stunned.

"You can even play it like that? This kid is way too devious."

"Let the other person choose first, then reject it—doesn't Shen Qingping care about saving face?"

"Look at Shen Qingping's expression. He really seems angry."

"Of course he's angry. When has anyone ever humiliated a Shen family member like this? I think this kid is not going to end well today."

"The younger brother is so honest and plain, yet this older brother... how can he be so cunning and slippery? They can't possibly be real brothers, right?"

"Heh, heh, heh. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. This kid suits my taste. When a man has no shame, he is invincible."

---

Shang Xiulin remained calm, showing no emotion at all, but the other teachers could not help frowning.

They wanted students with high talent and great comprehension, but character mattered just as much.

Take that little fat boy, for example. He did nothing at all, just stood there before you, and you would think, This child has upright conduct and could be accepted as a disciple.

His performance in the gravity chamber had indeed proved that the teachers' judgment was sound. Such an honest, steadfast child with that kind of endurance—where could one find another?

But this Tang Fei...

He had not even entered the virtual battlefield, had not even connected his brain to the machine, and yet you already got the feeling that he was not to be trifled with.

If such a student ever committed the unthinkable and betrayed his master and ancestors, you would not be surprised at all.

Phoenix, however, was beaming. She knew Tang Fei too well for this to surprise her in the slightest.

His creed was simple: survive, strive to survive, and use every means imaginable to survive.

This assessment was an extremely difficult one for Tang Fei.

He had never tried brain-machine networking before, so he was inevitably unfamiliar with the controls, whereas the other students often used this training method to hone their survival and adaptability across different environments and maps.

Thus he had to be even more careful, placing each step with extreme caution.

The assessment had already begun the moment the two combatants entered the chamber.

Map selection was part of the test as well, and naturally one had to do everything possible to uncover the opponent's hidden cards before striking accordingly.

Tang Fei would not care in the least how others saw him. He only wanted to win.

He knew exactly why he had come.

Tang Fei did a splendid job!

Phoenix cheered for him in her heart.

Shen Qingping looked toward Chen Bing and asked, "What does the director mean?"

"The examinee has the right to choose the map first," Chen Bing said. "If you have no objection, then there is no problem."

At this point, Shen Qingping naturally could no longer object; doing so would only make him seem unable to accept defeat.

After all, Tang Fei had said in public that Tang Fei could not afford to lose. Could he do the same? Of course not.

Tang Fei might have no shame, but the Shen family still had some.

Shen Qingping nodded, shrugged, and said, "I said any map would do."

"Map confirmed: primeval forest." Chen Bing said. "Both sides, choose your weapons."

Shen Qingping picked an ornate long sword from the weapon list. Tang Fei likewise chose a long sword, then added a dagger. Unfortunately, there was no dog-leg blade in the arsenal, which was the weapon he was best at using.

He wondered whether, if he asked Phoenix to put in a word, the school might be persuaded to make some improvements.

"Weapons selected. Both parties, enter the virtual pods for brain-machine connection."

Shen Qingping was the first to lie down in the pod. From the top of the capsule, two small clamps extended and fastened to his temples.

Tang Fei followed suit and lay down in the pod, where the same two clamps settled against his temples.

Cold and hard, a little unfamiliar.

But that was nothing strange.

"The final duel begins now."

As soon as Chen Bing's voice fell, Tang Fei felt a thunderous hum in his head, and then he was hurled into a primeval forest.

What delighted him was that this map had actually been modeled after the primeval forests that emerged after the great catastrophe on Blue Star. Once inside, he immediately felt a strange sense of familiarity.

I like this.

Tang Fei thought to himself.

At that very moment, a fierce flash of sword light descended from the sky and came cleaving straight toward his forehead.

Shen Qingping was far too familiar with this style of combat and needed no adaptation period at all.

The instant he entered the map, he had already hidden himself in position. While Tang Fei was still observing the terrain around him, he had already launched the attack.

Shen Qingping knew that there were spectators outside and wanted to defeat Tang Fei in the shortest possible time.

He also knew that the less time it took, the more humiliated Tang Fei would appear before everyone.

Tang Fei hastily raised his sword to block, only to be hurled backward by the strike.

He stumbled back more than ten paces before finally stopping.

Without pausing after that blow, Shen Qingping's long sword in hand transformed into thousands upon thousands of sword blossoms, sweeping toward Tang Fei like a vast net.

Within the forest, starlight glittered.

Meteor Sword Art!

It was said that the master who created this sword art gained insight after watching countless meteors streak across the heavens, and thus devised the Meteor Sword Art, defeating countless foes.

Tang Fei knew those were not sword blossoms, but condensed sword aura.

Any strand of that sword aura that struck his body could tear open a wound, or even kill him outright.

Tang Fei dared not underestimate it. As he retreated swiftly, his right hand clenched into a fist, and the vague outline of a dragon and an elephant appeared.

Just as the dragon and elephant seemed about to become tangible, Tang Fei launched a punch.

The dragon soared across the nine heavens, the elephant strode through the wild mountains.

Dragon and elephant plunged into the myriad sword blossoms, crashing through the sword aura with their violent, barbaric bodies until it vanished without trace.

Shen Qingping naturally knew that one sword alone could not possibly deal with a master of the Breath-Controlling Realm like Tang Fei.

The instant Tang Fei threw his punch, his body had already risen into the air, dividing into two, then four, then myriad forms.

In an instant, countless Shen Qingpings were attacking Tang Fei from every direction with swords in hand.

A bitter wind blew, and ghostly shadows loomed.

Tang Fei seemed to have fallen into an abyss of hell.

"What kind of movement technique is that?" someone exclaimed in front of the giant screen.

"Countless clones... that doesn't look like a movement technique. It looks more like magic."

"The Shen family's secret art is truly formidable. Shen Qingping is formidable too..."

---

"Ghosts and Worries." Shang Xiulin praised aloud. "The Shen family has a vast inheritance and countless secret manuals. Tang Fei will have a hard time with this one."

People say ghostly shadows are everywhere and impossible to track.

Yet this movement technique is so fearsome that even ghosts would worry upon seeing it. That alone shows how powerful it is.

Phoenix found that somewhat displeasing and said, "Ghosts and Worries is indeed the most eerie art under heaven, but its effect also depends greatly on the practitioner's strength. If it were used by the Shen family head, Shen Boyu, that would be one thing, but Shen Qingping has not even mastered the true essence of the movement technique."

Shang Xiulin naturally would not bicker with the young girl, and only explained, "If one's cultivation far surpasses Shen Qingping's, then the flaws would be obvious at a glance. But Tang Fei's strength is roughly on par with his... perhaps even slightly inferior. I fear it will be difficult for him to see through the illusion."

"I believe in Tang Fei. He always has a way," Phoenix said.

Shang Xiulin cast her a sidelong glance and gently shook his head.

In the face of absolute power, blind trust is meaningless.

Thud!

Tang Fei fell.

Yes, on the giant screen, Tang Fei had dropped stiffly to the ground.

This left everyone baffled.

The other man's sword hadn't even reached him yet—why had he fallen over on his own?

Had he simply given up because he knew he could not win and chosen to lie down in surrender?

Such soft earth, and Tang Fei could even smell its peculiar fragrance.

He scooped up a handful of dirt and flung it fiercely into the sky.

The soil scattered through the air, passing between the countless figures of Shen Qingping's clones.

What was empty remained empty, void and hollow.

And yet one spot struck true.

In Tang Fei's eyes, the grains of soil as fine as dust had hit something substantial.

That was Shen Qingping's true body.

The dagger, already suspended in midair and poised to strike the moment Tang Fei scattered the dirt, had long been waiting for this chance.

The opening lasted only an instant.

But Tang Fei seized that split second of lightning flash and thunderclap.

The dagger struck like lightning, aiming straight for Shen Qingping's fatal point.