“Congratulations to all who passed. You will all be allowed to enter the Shang Kingdom Imperial Academy. However, before we let you go, I would like to have each of you tested. Don’t worry. This won’t affect your admittance. We just want to know how strong you are so we can figure out how best to help you grow.”

The crowd began to murmur, but no one seemed surprised, leading Wu Jian to believe this part of the test was well-known to everyone. Ding Hong and Yai Bazhu were both limbering up like they were preparing for battle.

“I take it this happens every year?” asked Wu Jian.

“From what I hear,” Ding Hong said. “I have a cousin who joined last year and this happened. He said there’s nothing to worry about, though. Lord Yu Chenguang would never attack someone weaker than himself. This really is just meant to see where our strengths and weaknesses lie so the academy can help us improve.”

Wu Jian nodded as Yu Chenguang began speaking once more. “Now, then, I normally let anyone who is eager to test their mettle to come up first, but since we have a rather powerful individual amongst us, I believe he should appear before me. Jian Wu, will you come up here?”

No one had given their names for this test, but everyone knew who the powerful individual was. Every eye suddenly turned on Wu Jian. He squared his shoulders and walked forward as the crowd parted before him.

The other instructors had already made way as he leapt onto the platform, leaving him and Yu Chenguang alone. They stood several chih apart.

“I have watched your spars with Her Highness several times now, and I must admit, this is the first time in a long time that I have actually wanted to see how strong someone is,” the older man confessed.

Wu Jian almost wished he wasn’t wearing a mask so the man could see his smile. “That is quite the coincidence. I’ve wanted to test myself against you for some time as well.”

Yu Chenguang was a legend among the Shang Kingdom’s people. He was the strongest cultivator among them, the only person to have reached the Human Limit Realm. Rumors had it that he hadn’t used a pill or anything either. He didn’t know if the rumors were true, but it was difficult to break through each realm without the aid of alchemy. If the rumor was true, then it meant this man was a genius without peer.

“Are there any rules?” asked Wu Jian.

“None--just don’t destroy the stage. We still need to test everyone else after you,” said Yu Chenguang.

“Understood.”

Since he was allowed to go all out, Wu Jian summoned Tiger’s Claw from his storage ring. He tapped it several times against the platform to test its sturdiness. It looked like this stage was quite durable and even had a sealing array on it, which seemed designed to prevent it from being damaged. It probably wouldn’t hold up if Yu Chenguang went all out. It was too sturdy for Wu Jian to break, however.

In response to his actions, Yu Chenguang drew his own blade. This earned a gasp from the instructors who now stood near the testing stone. It looked like this man drawing his sword was a big deal.

“I am ready whenever you are,” he said.

Wu Jian took a slow breath, held it, then exhaled.

And then he exploded into action.

“Raaaaaagh!”

With a loud roar, he swung his sword despite being too far for his weapon to hit. Black chi burst from the blade. Space was severed. The area before him distorted as the spatial blade soared through air toward Yu Chenguang, who swung his blade and released his own chi attack. Wu Jian’s eyes narrowed when the insanely sharp chi slammed into his attack and negated it.

He didn’t let this stop him and instead rushed forward. Wu Jian made it look like he was going to swing his sword down. The muscles in his arms bulged as he raised the sword above his head… and dropped it behind him.

“What are you--?!”

Yu Chenguang’s eyes widened. He had raised his sword to block, but now his stomach was wide open. As his greatsword clattered to the floor, Wu Jian slid his feet apart, adopting a horse stance, and thrust his palms forward. Chi erupted from them, bending and folding the space before him. An attack like this would have pulverized anyone below the Asura Realm.

But who was Yu Chenguang?

He was a legend.

A Human Limit Realm Cultivator.

He leapt backward and unleashed another sword swing, cutting through the warping space. That was fine with Wu Jian. It wasn’t like he expected the attack to hit.

Wu Jian darted forward and aimed a high kick at Yu Chenguang’s face. The man made to block the attack, but Wu Jian’s foot disappeared.

“What?!”

Yu Chenguang fell onto a knee when something struck the back of his left leg. It was, of course, Wu Jian’s foot, which had appeared within a distortion in space. Now on one knee, the man was practically helpless as Wu Jian brought his foot back down, spun around, and threw a reverse kick at Yu Chenguang’s face.

The older, more experienced man was somehow able to get his sword up in time to block. He took the kick on the flat of his blade. A loud “pow!” like lightning striking a mountaintop echoed around the testing site. Yu Chenguang skidded across the stage. His arms were shaking and smoke rose from the blade.

Wu Jian could have followed after him, but he didn’t. He reached out with his hand and channeled his chi. Space folded around the greatsword behind him. Then the greatsword disappeared only to reappear in his hand. More gasps echoed around the testing site, but Wu Jian ignored them in favor of eying Yu Chenguang.

The man stood up. He was smiling.

“Having watched your spars with Her Highness, I thought I knew what sort of strength you possessed. Never in my life did I imagine that you were going easy on her. It seems I was but a frog in a well.”

Wu Jian shook his masked head. “You’re not completely wrong. I was going all out against Jingshu, but we agreed to keep our battle to physical prowess instead of techniques.”

“I understand now. Barring the constraints you placed upon yourself, you were indeed using all of your strength. I still underestimated you, and for that, I apologize. Allow me to make it up to you by taking this test seriously. I would like to see where your limits lie,” said Yu Chenguang.

“Feel free to come at me,” Wu Jian rested the greatsword against his shoulder.

“Very well. Here I come.”

What happened next shocked Wu Jian. Yu Chenguang disappeared--or that was what it seemed like. Barely a second passed before several dozen blades made of chi soared toward him from multiple different angles.

Wu Jian’s eyes widened as he realized quickly that there were way too many to cut down. He channeled chi through his blade and spun, unleashing a spatial blade shaped like a ring around his body. Several of the chi blades were severed, but more than a handful made it through his attack, which couldn’t reach every angle.

He used Nihility.

Because he still lacked the amount of chi required to completely phase his body out of existence, Wu Jian was forced to calculate the angle of each blade, determine where they would strike him, and only phase that specific part of his body. The blades passed through him. Some struck the stage and others flew off into the distance. Fortunately, none hit the crowd.

Yu Chenguang looked truly shocked. His eyes were wide and he was gaping.

Wu Jian took advantage of his surprise to launch several blades of his own, though he lacked the ability to attack from multiple directions at the same time.

Yu Chenguang didn’t release any more chi blades. He cut down each spatial blade with a simple swing of his sword. His movements were elegant, refined, and above all, efficient. There was no wasted energy in his swings.

A simple push off the ground brought Wu Jian into Yu Chenguang’s guard. He swung his sword, which was met with his opponent’s sword. The two blades locked. Sparks flew. Wu Jian’s arms shook as he tried to push the man back, and he even succeeded, but Yu Chenguang was a Human Limit Realm cultivator. He was more than capable of holding his own.

“In… credible,” the man grunted. “Never in a million years did I expect to meet someone an entire realm below me who could match my strength. Her Highness has good eyes.”

“Thank you… for the… compliment!” Wu Jian grunted as he tried to push their blades away.

Unfortunately, Yu Chenguang had way more experience than him. He angled his blade, spun it around, and struck Wu Jian’s greatsword. Tiger’s Claw slammed into the ground. Wu Jian stumbled forward and the other man used that moment to point his sword at Wu Jian’s throat.

“Well? What will you do?” Yu Chenguang asked.

Wu Jian considered his options. He could continue the fight, and honestly, he really wanted to keep going, but there were several matters to consider. The first of which was whether or not he should aim to defeat Yu Chenguang. He was confident that he could win if he brought everything he had to the table. Whether or not attaining victory over this man was the right thing to do was what he needed to consider.

Yu Chenguang was not only a legend and a heroic figure, but he was hope. He represented the hopes and dreams of so many people. He was also the backbone of the Shang Kingdom’s military. Losing to a young man who had just joined the academy and was an entire realm lower than him would be a huge blow to his reputation, which could affect the military’s morale.

It was important for the military to maintain a high morale. If their morale dropped, it could cause them to perform poorly, which was the last thing Wu Jian wanted.

In the end, he deemed it more important for Yu Chenguang to maintain his reputation than achieving victory over the man.

He raised his hands. “I surrender.”

Everyone who had been watching suddenly blew out a deep breath like they’d been holding it in. Chatter instantly picked up amongst the students, and while Wu Jian could not hear what was being said, he was versed enough in lip reading to know what everyone was talking about. He could have figured it out even without having the ability to read lips.

“You are an incredible young man. I’m really not sure there’s anything our academy can teach you, but I welcome your strength nonetheless,” Yu Chenguang held out his hand.

Wu Jian took it. “Thank you. I appreciate your frank assessment and kind words.”

They took a step back, gave each other a traditional martial salute, then Wu Jian stepped off the stage and Yu Chuanuang called for the next person to come up based on their number.

“Did you see that?”

“I did, but I still don’t believe it. I don’t believe my eyes.”

“How could someone so young be so strong?”

“I never imagined someone would be able to fight with the Yu Chenguang.”

“My folks back home will never believe me when I tell them this.”

The crowd parted like it had before, and Wu Jian made it to where Ding Hong and Bai Yazhu were gawking at him. He gave them a simple look before turning around to glance at the stage. Another young man was standing before Yu Chenguang. He was so nervous that Wu Jian could see him shaking.

“You really are a monster, aren’t you?” asked Ding Hong after several seconds of silence.

“Why do people keep calling me that? I’m not a monster. I’m just a normal human,” Wu Jian mumbled.

“Hah! Normal human my foot! I’ve never heard of any new students almost defeating a legendary figure. You have to either be a monster or a genius to do something like that.”

“Can’t I be a genius?”

“Well… I suppose…”

“You’ll have to forgive him, this man was dropped on his head one too many times and lacks common sense,” said Bai Yazhu.

“Hey! I was not dropped on my head! At least… I don’t think I was?”

As Ding Hong began pondering whether or not he had been dropped on his head too much, Wu Jian thanked Bai Yazhu with a nod before turning his attention back to stage. He was curious to see how the other students compared.