The spell over Yi Qiang shattered as brilliant light surrounded him and dissipated, whisking him away in the now-familiar sensation of teleportation. It was an instant before he was in entirely new surroundings, but before he started, the marksman needed to think first.

Okay, so the symbol for the Attuned trial - that's what I'm assuming it is - is probably the Empyrean dragon's scale. And because of my bond to Shenyu, my reason was suppressed, my instincts leading me to select that difficulty.

First off, can I even complete this? I used to be confident in my skills, but upon hearing that the greatest warrior in the kingdom could complete only the Artisan trial, can I really be so sure? The only thing that makes me unique is my specialized learning from a young age. When compared to this world, though, that's not so much of an advantage. The only thing I have going for me is my talent, and I don't even know how well that measures up to the geniuses of the kingdom.

Okay. Let's put that aside. Why is there the scale of an Empyrean dragon there? Is it a trophy? A voluntary gift? An ancient inheritance that the empire valued before it was destroyed?

I don't know nearly enough to make any conclusions. It adds up, though, that the kingdom hasn't been able to recreate the stat suppression effect. I don't know if it comes from this or not, but it's somewhat telling that this course exhibits the same ability that Shenyu has: to lower the stats of enemies within a specific range. Since that was as a hatchling, there's no telling how the ability might grow as Shenyu reaches adulthood. So, it's not so implausible that the empire was closely related to the dragons, or at least the Empyrean dragons, and used some of their abilities to form this course.

I'll keep that in mind. For now, I need to get to work. The obstacle course will probably not be as easy for me as the other trials so far, and there's even a chance I'll fail.

His composure regained, Yi Qiang looked up to a blue screen in his face.

Quest Received!

Cloud Court - Attuned

Pass the Attuned difficulty of the Cloud Court.

Quest Clear Conditions:

- Completion within the allotted time(30 days). Please note that the passage of time is tripled in this area.

Quest Clear Rewards:

- Experience.

- Skill: Dragon-Soaring Steps(Passive/Active)

- Empyrean Scale

Yi Qiang couldn't contain the excitement rising in his heart.

Not only do I have the opportunity to finally get the movement skill I've wanted for so long, but I can even get the scale of the Empyrean dragon? I don't know what that could mean for Shenyu, but there's no doubt it'll be something good.

The marksman's conviction to pass the obstacle course skyrocketed.

I also have a month to do it. It makes sense - the Absolute said that we could pass as long as we learned quickly enough. That means that if I can improve fast enough, this will be a simple matter, assuming I'm not skilled enough already. The time dilation is noteworthy, but there's nothing I can do to learn more for now.

Yi Qiang took a step forward, before immediately having to stumble slightly and regain his balance. The attribute suppression had hit him harder than most, given his incredibly high stats before it kicked in.

Even the marksman who prized control over all else had to take some time to get accustomed to his new body, performing some stretches and stances that familiarized himself with his new fitness level. A brief status check confirmed that his stats were indeed lowered, brought down to 100 points each by the effect of the Cloud Court. That change, which on paper, didn't even divide any of his stats by 10, actually weakened him by several dozen times, if the marksman's estimations were correct. 

Attribute points had increasingly high values as the stat they were invested into got higher, so reducing each stat by at least 300 was no different from crippling him.

It's shameful to think I was ever this weak.

The marksman quickly got accustomed to his new body, though, and turned his attention ahead. He seemed to be in a rectangular-shaped box, almost like a lobby, that only had one exit, pointing out to a long hallway about the width of his shoulders.

The only way to finally get an idea of what this is all about is to try it.

Yi Qiang walked onwards, taking a few steps into the long hallway without noticing anything. He was still on maximum alert, though, and his mind was on edge as the marksman advanced.

He didn't have to wait long for his first challenge. Around ten steps in, holes suddenly appeared in the walls. They were numerous, easily over 20 by Yi Qiang's count, though he wasn't able to stay focused on the number for long. Within instants, crimson arrows shot out, silently piercing the air directly at Yi Qiang.

The sheer bulk of the arrows made dodging an almost impossible task, especially at Yi Qiang's current speed, but absolute technique tended to make the impossible possible.

Dropping his torso and twisting through the air, the agile fighter spun around, avoiding every single arrow as it crashed into the wall next to him. 

The breadth of the hallway was not helpful either, severely restricting his movements as he dodged, but Yi Qiang didn't let that stop him. Displaying supreme levels of skill, Yi Qiang manipulated gravity with sheer instinct as countless arrows sank into the wall across the one out of which they shot.

Yi Qiang breathed heavily, having dodged yet another volley. These attacks had made him push his senses to the limits for minutes on end, and all of that was useless if he didn't squeeze every drop of energy from his muscles' cells. As such, exhaustion was unavoidable.

He looked back.

That's ten meters done. Around 200 more to go.

 It very soon turned out that passing this section of the obstacle course was not as easy as resting between volleys. Instead, the Cloud Course played fast and loose with the rules, attacking sporadically; anytime and anywhere was fair game.

It was around fifty meters in Yi Qiang suffered his first defeat. He was caught in an awkward position mid-air and didn't have much of a choice but to take a glancing hit. Unfortunately, this ended up setting him up to be punctured by multiple more arrows.

Yi Qiang didn't even have time to think before his world flashed black. An instant later, however, he found himself at the start of the course once again.

Right. If I had thirty days, there's no way they would expect me to gain enough skill to pass this, if I couldn't make any fatal mistakes. I don't know how they did it, but that's not important right now.

Luckily, it seemed that death didn't blur memory at all - he could recall every movement leading up to the lethal one with perfect clarity.

Yi Qiang restrained himself from entering. It had been a while since then, but when Yi Qiang was still learning and training, one of the most important parts of gaining skill was the reflection - after failure, his teachers would sit him down and drill him on every mistake he made.

He had no such outside perspective here, but the marksman had long since grown past that.

Yi Qiang spent five minutes reflecting, realizing that, assuming the arrows fired randomly, not based on his movement, his failure was inevitable ever since he misjudged the trajectory of one arrow ever-so-slightly, which set him off-kilter. This effect compounded until the mistake was impossible to mitigate.

Having cleared up where he went wrong, Yi Qiang entered the course once again.

The marksman weaved through the rain of arrows with slightly more fluid movements than before, but still died after fifty meters once again.

I should have known that such subtle mistakes would be harder to get rid of than one reflection session. 

In this case, Yi Qiang's experience almost worked against him. Indeed, it enabled him to pass through the earlier parts of the section, but it also limited him. His instinct had become so ingrained into his body that it was almost impossible to take control over his movements, especially in such a high-pressure and high-concentration environment. Even if he did manage to override the instinct that had become part of his nature, it would not be so easy to uproot it. 

To do so, he'd have to give his brain enough experience and stimulus with his revised technique to counter his current instincts. When that had been built up over years of continuous life-and-death activity, it was an insurmountable mountain to climb.

And yet, if he wanted to pass, it was a mountain he'd have to scale.