Chapter 68: The Correct Way to Pass

The crowd was in an uproar. They didn't expect the Immortal-Decaying Sect to value this entrance selection so much that even the Vice Sect Master had shown up.

The Vice Sect Masters of the Four Great Demonic Sects were big shots who were counted on the entire Central Continent; just seeing them on a normal day was a luxury.

Lu Yang didn't feel much; it was nothing more than the same level as a Congwendao Sect Elder, and it wasn't like he hadn't seen one before.

"Your state is a thought; your true bodies remain in place. After the official trial begins, your cultivation and memories will all disappear, and everyone will be at the same starting point."

The Sect Master valued this trial very much. In the struggle of the great era, what was most important? Geniuses were most important!

If they had single spiritual roots, innate immortal bodies, or innate demonic seeds, then they would have the capital to wrestle with the righteous path!

For this reason, he had the Vice Sect Master carefully design three trials, must select true geniuses!

To prevent anyone from cheating, this time they used the sect's secret method to eliminate people's cultivation and memories, so that it could reflect their true level.

"The first trial officially begins. The standard for passing is to defeat the Liang Kingdom's army."

After the Vice Sect Master said this, everyone felt a dizzying sensation, unable to distinguish east, west, south, or north. When they came to their senses, they couldn't remember anything.

"Where is this?" When Man Gu came to his senses, his brain was still dizzy.

He was disheveled, holding a broken sword in his hand, and his armor was covered in blood.

Man Gu took two steps and stumbled, almost falling. His personal guard quickly supported him: "General, hurry up and get on the horse! Now is not the time to talk about integrity. The Liang Kingdom's army is about to catch up!"

In the process of fleeing on horseback, memories related to this trial gradually flooded into Man Gu's mind.

"There are two countries here, the Liang Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom. The two countries are mortal enemies and both want to defeat the other. The Jin Kingdom is not as strong as the Liang Kingdom. I am now the General of the Jin Kingdom, commanding the entire Jin Kingdom army."

"This time I was negligent and fell into the enemy's trap. I must adjust my mindset, make a comeback, and defeat the Liang Kingdom!"

Man Gu forgot that this was a trial, only remembering that he was the ever-victorious General of the Jin Kingdom and must defeat the Liang Kingdom to protect his country.

Besides background memories, combat experience also flooded into his mind. Now, Man Gu had thoroughly become the ever-victorious General of the Jin Kingdom.

Unfortunately, Man Gu was experienced, but the Liang Kingdom's general was equally experienced. The two sides fought, and Man Gu was defeated repeatedly.

Man Gu had high prestige in the army, and the soldiers trusted him very much. They believed that the setback was temporary and that General Man Gu would definitely lead them to victory.

Man Gu failed again. He was honest by nature; it was true he had combat experience, but he couldn't apply it well in practice and always fell into the Liang Kingdom general's traps.

"Huff, huff, huff..." Man Gu fled in a sorry state to a cave. This defeat was a total disaster, losing his armor and helmet; it was the shame of his life.

Outside, the wind and rain were miserable, reflecting his increasingly desolate state of mind.

Man Gu thought of the soldiers' trust in him, thought of the blows brought by repeated failures, and looked down at the sword full of notches in his hand, wishing he could commit suicide!

Die and be done with it; what failure, what Jin Kingdom, had nothing to do with him!

Suddenly, a spider caught his attention.

The spider looked strange, one Man Gu had never seen before.

The spider was weaving a web, and the wind and rain outside the cave blew in, breaking the web several times.

Every time it was blown apart, the spider would start weaving again, never discouraged.

Watching the spider's repeated failures and repeated attempts, Man Gu felt how much the spider was like himself!

"You will succeed!" Man Gu stared at the spider, hope gradually rising in his eyes.

If even a spider could do this, as a human, could his willpower be worse than a spider's?

Finally, after countless failures, the spider successfully wove its web.

Man Gu stood up abruptly, his fighting spirit ignited. The spider would succeed, and he would succeed too!

A raging fire ignited in Man Gu's heart; he would reorganize his troops and counterattack the Liang Kingdom!

"Hmm?"

Man Gu glanced at the spider unintentionally, wanting to thank it for its encouragement, but didn't expect a mantis to suddenly appear and kill the spider.

Man Gu originally wanted to angrily stomp the mantis to death, but then he thought of how similar the spider's situation was to his own—slack after success, forgetting the danger in the dark.

He was thoughtful: "That's right, perseverance is important, but strategy is equally important. Striking when the enemy is slack has an unexpected effect!"

Finally, Man Gu used small victories to paralyze the Liang Kingdom, then let the hidden army strike, defeating the Liang Kingdom's main force in one fell swoop and winning a great victory.

Man Gu passed the trial.

At the Immortal-Decaying Sect headquarters, the calm water surface displayed everyone's performance in the first trial. The Vice Sect Master observed their performance and gave his evaluation.

"How is it? Are there any good seedlings?" The space distorted, and the Sect Master appeared. "This first trial of yours is not easy. When facing continuous failure, one must not only realize perseverance from the spider but also realize the principle of striking when unprepared from the mantis."

The Vice Sect Master shook his head: "This is necessary. The righteous path suppresses us, and the Demonic Sect has failed repeatedly. Some people in the sect already want to give up. Our experience is so similar to the Jin Kingdom's. I want to select sect members with firm willpower through this trial, cultivate them into talents, and oppose the righteous path!"

"Opposing the righteous path cannot rely solely on willpower; one must also have skills. If one doesn't learn skills from both the spider and the mantis, how can one achieve victory?"

The Sect Master nodded: "Not bad, you said it very well. This is also the reason I let you organize this selection. The excellent sect members selected this time must be cultivated as a priority; these are our reserve army to oppose the righteous path!"

The Vice Sect Master pointed to one of the screens and said: "I am very optimistic about this one called Man Gu. His method of passing perfectly matches my intention. This child will definitely achieve great things in the future!"

The Sect Master looked at Man Gu and felt he was quite pleasing to the eye, saying: "Then let's look at the performance of others."

The Sect Master and Vice Sect Master stood together. The two watched for a while, and the Sect Master suddenly asked: "Do you think it's possible there are other ways to pass?"

The Vice Sect Master denied it flatly, speaking quite decisively: "Absolutely impossible!"

"This first trial is a fragment I intercepted from history. The Liang Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom were a corner of the world in chaos ten thousand years ago. At that time, there were far fewer cultivators than now, and the Liang Kingdom and Jin Kingdom had even fewer. I deduced based on this, ensuring authenticity to the greatest extent."

To intercept fragments from history, the Immortal-Decaying Sect invested a huge amount of resources, making the Vice Sect Master's heart ache.

"The Jin Kingdom general in history realized the Dao in the cave and defeated the Liang Kingdom army!"

"This was a miracle in the first place; I don't believe there are other methods!"

The Sect Master nodded. He thought the same; asking just now was just because he felt it was too awkward not to speak and wanted to find a topic to chat about.

Then they saw Meng Jingzhou and Lu Yang's way of passing.

I'll update again tomorrow during the day; I can't type anymore.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 69 =====