Tang Zen’s unusual approach drew some audience attention to her. It seemed almost as if she were randomly flailing her sword around, but for the more experienced practitioners, they could see something deeper.
Among the masters’ seats, Sei Yu and her two good friends, Wang Kun and Jin Huang were seated next to each other. Initially, Sei Yu’s attention was placed on Tianlan, but after a while of watching him sit on the ground doing nothing, she allowed herself to observe the other disciples.
There were a few standouts among them, and one, in particular, was putting on a unique performance.
“It looks like that girl is shadowboxing,” she said.
“Mm,” agreed Jin Huang. “And she’s really putting effort into it too. You can almost see the impact of the collisions.”
“Something’s strange though,” said Wang Kun.
“What’s that?” asked Sei Yu.
“Her opponent seems to be much stronger than her,” he answered. “I have an idea as to why she would create such a scenario for herself, but I want to hear what you two think.”
“I can’t see the reason for it myself,” answered Sei Yu honestly.
“It’s probably to bring out her true potential,” said Jin Huang. “While it may not make her look good in the eyes of an unskilled swordsman, the fact that she can simulate the movements of someone so much better than her shows that her understanding surpasses her physical condition. That makes her a very good candidate for a prospective master.”
“That’s what I was thinking as well. She seems to be talented in the sword, but she lacks experience. This may have been the best way for her to advertise herself.”
“But why wouldn’t she choose someone of a similar level to herself?” asked Sei Yu. “It would allow her to show her skills while maintaining a dignified appearance.”
“Choosing someone stronger shows that she’s not afraid of a challenge,” answered Jin Huang. “She’s saying that she’s willing to push herself to the limit to achieve her goals. That’s the type of person who will achieve great things.”
“Mm. Unlike Shao Tianlan who seems to be resting on his laurels,” said Wang Kun. “Perhaps he thinks his feat of defeating you is enough to secure his spot in the combat simulations.”
“Who knows what he’s thinking,” said Sei Yu, her slight annoyance evident in her tone.
She had come to observe the performance of the person who had defeated her in a fair fight, anticipating something special, but it turned out he wasn’t dedicated to his training at all.
Unbeknownst to her, beneath the noise of the various discussions and cheering that was going on, there was a faint humming sound. A quiet breath that was coming and going like the tides.
***
The minutes passed, and Tang Zen quickly reached the limits of her endurance. She used Dragon Breathing to gulp down the air, sending energy throughout her body as efficiently as possible, but her opponent was applying too much pressure.
She could barely hold on.
But even as she stabbed her sword into the ground to stabilise herself, she maintained her fierce determination to fight.
She raised her head and pulled her sword out, ready to begin the next round of battle, but then-
“Alright. We’ve seen enough. To those of you who are still standing on the stage, congratulations. You have passed the first round and will now be participating in the combat simulations.”
“Hm?”
The sound of the announcer’s voice cut through Tang Zen’s focus, causing her to open her eyes. She saw that there were no more than ten people still standing on the stage and that she was one of them.
She wasn’t able to get a good look at exactly who else was there with her, because almost immediately after the announcer spoke, gridlines appeared on the stage, from which white barriers rose, separating each person.
After that, a white ceiling formed above, completely enclosing each disciple in individual rooms.
When the structures were complete, the announcer explained what was to follow.
As he described, a stone pillar soon rose up from the ground. It had a small flat square panel for one to place their hand on, and when Tang Zen did so, she felt a warm current pass through her hand and into her body where it circulated through it and exited again through her hand and into the pillar.
A holographic projection appeared, showing a loading wheel, and after the system had finished analysing the data, a graphical representation of Tang Zen appeared.
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It detailed her stats in graphical form and showed her various metrics such as bone density, qi affinity, and maximum throughput, to name a few.
It was interesting seeing her information in a concrete form, but she didn’t place too much weight on it. Its main purpose wasn’t for review, but for the participant to know how their opponents would be calibrated.
Once Tang Zen placed her finger on the “confirm” button, the display disappeared and the pillar retreated back into the ground, its place taken by a small platform meant for Tang Zen to place herself on.
When she got into a comfortable kneeling position, she pressed confirm on the new prompt that appeared, and soon, she found herself in a new environment.
The tiles of the main stage’s floor were replaced by green grass that stretched out to the edge of a cliff, beyond which, one could see the sea. On the other side, there was a deep, dark forest. And above, there was a moonlit sky, adorned by innumerable stars.
A gentle breeze blew by, causing the grass to sway, reflecting the moonlight, creating a calm and serene atmosphere. It was clear that whoever designed the environment poured their heart into their work.
In front of Tang Zen, a number of floating logos appeared, and after they disappeared, the wind grew slightly more intense, as if to herald the coming of trouble.
Tang Zen stood up from her kneeling position and looked to the forest, from which she was hearing the sounds of movement. Her hands now empty, she rubbed the black ring that was placed on her right hand’s ring finger, causing a thin and light sword to appear before her.
She held that sword, her left hand gripping it normally, and her right palm placed underneath it.
The sounds coming from the forest grew louder and louder until a cloaked figure emerged from beyond the trees.
It came with its weapon drawn and had no intention of admiring the view.
***
“Can we get a round of applause for our friends at the Academy? It is thanks to them that we have access to this state-of-the-art training equipment.”
From the outside, the spectators could see each contestant’s performance through the several projections floating in the air. They were each in a different environment, ranging from a desert oasis to the slums of a large city.
Seeing what the new disciples could do was cool and all, but this was what most of the spectators came for. The Shimmering Sword Sect had been in partnership with the Academy for a few years now, and every time a mass recruitment was held, there would be something new to see in the combat simulations.
“We actually have an engineer with us who’s come to speak to you all today.”
Hearing that, the crowd erupted into cheer.
“It’s always wonderful to see such enthusiasm four our technology,” said the guest. “And as someone who personally worked on this model, It brings me much joy to see how much you like it. Speaking of, this model incorporates our brand new spiritual feedback loop, which not only allows for the participants’ virtual representations to have three times the fidelity of past models, but it also means that everything the participants’ avatars do in the virtual space will count as experience gained by their real bodies!”
His words caused a shockwave to pass through the audience. This was cutting-edge stuff that would mean one could train without worrying about messing up or overdoing it. It had far-reaching implications, and everyone was keenly aware of that.
“Furthermore, I’m pleased to announce that we’re already working to miniaturize this training-room technology, making it something that can be installed in one’s home for personal use. Right now, we don’t have any concrete estimate for when it will be release-ready, but we’re aiming to bring it to market as soon as we can. For now, please enjoy this demonstration of what will be possible in the very near future!”
If the last piece of news was likened to a shockwave, then this was the equivalent of an earthquake. To imagine having something like this in one’s home was almost ludicrous. Not only was the concept itself mind-boggling, but the astronomical price tag such a technology would likely come with could probably make even a king’s face turn pale.
Nevertheless, one could dream.
***
Inside the combat simulations, none of the participants could hear what was happening outside. They were all focused on facing their opponents.
The way the simulations worked was that the participants would be faced against opponents who utilised one of six sword styles commonly practised in the Shimmering Sword Sect, those being: the Thunder, Berserk, Shadow, Lotus, Cloud and Wave Series’.
The simulation was split into five levels, each comprising of six one-on-one duels with opponents of each sword style. The levels corresponded to the opponent’s mastery over their chosen style, with the first level corresponding to mastery of the first stance, and so on and so forth.
Failure to clear the trial wouldn’t be met with any penalty, and there was no prize for clearing it. It only served as an extra opportunity to display one’s skills to their prospective masters.
As such, it was more important to show what one had learnt than to simply defeat one’s opponents.
That was why Tang Zen’s chose to use moves of the Lotus Series exclusively, even though she knew that she wouldn’t be able to make it as far as a result.
She was now standing beside the fading corpse of her fallen foe, her final opponent of the second level. The cut grass and overturned soil all around her bore testament to the fierce battle that had just taken place.
She wiped at her lip, which had been split during the previous battle and turned her attention to the forest, where her next opponent appeared. Though it was cloaked in black clothing and she couldn’t clearly see its face, its feminine features were easy enough to pick out. The gentle sway of its hips as it walked past the trees completely unarmed almost made it seem as if it were dancing with the pink petals that swirled around it.
This was her first opponent of the third level, and the opponent she dreaded the most: the master of the Thousand Lotus stance.
***
Unfortunately for Tang Zen, who was giving it her all to impress Prime Elder Murong, the performances of both Shao Tianlan and Ming Hong were enough to outshine all others.
Ming Hong was handling his opponents with practised ease. Not only were they unable to show their might when faced with him, most weren’t even able to close the distance between themselves and him. He moved like darkness itself, flitting between the cracks of the castle environment his simulations were taking place in. By the time he appeared in earnest, his opponents would already be dead.
Shao Tianlan, on the other hand, was taking a completely different approach. Every one of his battles used up almost all of the five-minute limit placed on any individual fight. He used that time to absorb his opponent’s techniques like a sponge, defeating each and every one of them using their own sword style.
Compared to those two, Tang Zen’s relatively subdued performance failed to draw any attention.