After finis.h.i.+ng off the next two challengers without any real difficulty, the surroundings finally started to change, as my earlier prediction about the layout of the entire thing appeared to be simply wrong. When I was done with smas.h.i.+ng the fifth opponent at the wall to the point where the barrier that enveloped the entire area started to crack, I pa.s.sed through what I thought would be the last set of doors that would lead to the corridor once again turning left and bringing me back to the very first circular open s.p.a.ce where my first opponent decided that the meal that he got earlier wasn"t that tasty and managed to pull it out of his stomach.
But to my surprise, while the corridor wasn"t straight as I expected it to be, instead of left, it turned right!
Looking at the walls I could also see how the red paint that only grew in intensity with each hall that I arrived at, completely disappeared, with the first hints of whiteness covering the wood of that currently surrounded me.
After pa.s.sing through the enclosed s.p.a.ce, I finally arrived at yet another hall, this time - far greater in scale than anything I expected before. Considering the change of the colours, now I was supposed to face the opponents already belonging to the white goose part of their sect, yet the guy standing in the middle of the arena - speaking of which, why were those people such misogynistic? I wouldn"t mind a nice change from smas.h.i.+ng some b.a.s.t.a.r.ds around to squeezing the b.o.o.bs of female cultivators in an unfortunate accident during the fight - was almost as weak as the last guy that I smashed into the wall in the last arena!
"Seeing that you have reached this place, I need to ask you a question."
Instead of starting the fight right away, or even rising up from the kneeling position of his, the cultivator at the centre of the stage only turned his head to me and asked with a great dose of seriousness in his voice.
"If you have something to ask, then ask. If you want to obstruct me from reaching the other door, then we fight. What else do you need to know?"
With how weak that guy was compared to the restricted power of mine that I decided to be rather moderate, there was no way his words could sway me away from my aim of reaching as far as I could. While at first, this entire trial was only for the sake of obtaining a comfortable place in the goose sect, as I went on and on without any real challenge, I couldn"t help but crave a real fight!
Even if it would be a fight in which I would use only a pitiful portion of my real strength!
"Seeing your att.i.tude I think you are either stupid… or simply strong enough to back it up. Either way, while defeating me will grant you the entry to the white goose… You can be h.e.l.la sure that everyone will hate you for doing that!"
Oh? While I expected him to say something that could shake anyone else in my position, but he actually managed to do something unimaginable!
Pique my interest.
"And why would it happen? What"s wrong with someone achieving what he is worthy of?"
Playing dumb was the second most powerful card in my a.r.s.enal after the dao of bulls.h.i.+ting. With those two paired up, I could move the mountains and dry the oceans! But most importantly, obtain even more information from the people clueless about my real aim of ever being in this sect in the first place!
"Only the greatest geniuses can use the trial to overcome the normal way of climbing the ranks. That means, if you decide to fight with me, you will have to make it all the way up to the dark blue goose, otherwise…"
Finally, the man moved, flinging his robes away from the front and locking his arms behind his back as if he wanted to appear as some sort of cliche sage from the eastern novels, despite his head being too bald though his young-looking face, for anyone to take him seriously.
"Everyone in the entire white goose sect will do their very best to make you regret the moment you appeared in this city!"
With such a haughty position and a prideful smile on his face, I almost lost control over the facial muscles, just barely holding back from erupting with laughter. Still on the very edge of self-control, I approached the guy slowly, as if I was going to meet with a childhood friend that went to the other high school and I finally got the chance to talk with.
Seeing that my body was devoid of any tension or killing intent, the guy"s smile only widened, as he moved out from the centre of the arena and smiled at me amiably.
"Good choice. Seeing how smart you are to choose the better path, I will make sure to recommend you…"
Just as he was about to reveal who he was willing to recommend me to, my first reached his face, flattening the ugly protrusion on his head that some would call a nose. As if it was all happening in slow motion, thanks to my upgraded senses, I could see how his eyes bulged out of his eyesockets, before the rest of his body finally absorbed the kinetic energy and flew away, cras.h.i.+ng against the barrier that surrounded the arena just like the last opponent of mine.
"I don"t care. I will be placed wherever my real strength belongs. There is no point in wasting my time cultivating with people weaker than me. Only by challenging the strong, I can become stronger myself!"
Even though I realised it before the guy even crashed against the wall, that his consciousness left his body the moment the wave of my kinetic energy reached his brain, I still stood still in place, threw my hands behind my back and uttered this actually smart sentence.
After all, it was directed to those, who were watching the trial instead of my opponent!