As a person from modern Earth, when was the last time Yang Ze saw something as terrifying as this? He kept on running around while wondering if he was teleported into a Lovecraftian world. After all, the thing chasing him didn't seem like a normal beast, no matter which angle he looked at it from.
In that little space, Yang Ze kept on running around, hoping for the trial to end. But even after running for ten minutes straight, the only thing that greeted him was the constant strikes of the beast.
Every time he got lax or slowed his speed, the beast would catch up to him before striking him with its tail, which was covered in internal energy.
Even though Yang Ze had more than seventy strands of internal energy, and both of them were in the same realm, there was still a massive difference between them.
Only when someone reaches the peak of the Pulse Opening realm can they imbue things with internal energy. And regardless of the amount of Internal energy, it wasn't something one could take on directly.
If he accidentally got hit by that, he would be crippled, if not dead.
"Damn it." Yang Ze was even looking for any openings in hopes of taking it down directly. But there wasn't any... the damned thing chasing him didn't seem to run out of energy.
"This can't go on." After realising that he couldn't run forever, Yang Ze grit his teeth and turned around.
Taking a deep breath, he bent his knees, pulled his right hand back like the string of a bow while keeping his right palm in front as if taking an aim.
One second passed... two seconds passed...
On the third second, the beast was already in front of him, and even faster than it was, its tail, which was already heading towards his head, was intending to go for the kill.
Yang Ze circulated his breathing and used the only fighting technique he knew.
A technique that he bought from Feiyang Town. Till now, he was only able to practice it to the first layer because he did not have enough time and was constantly being dragged around.
But even with the first layer, its power was devastating. Even though he never tried it, Yang Ze could make a rough estimate about its strength.
Without any hesitation, he circulated the technique and within moments, his right hand was covered in a thick layer of black smoke that looked eerie.
"Holy." Yang Ze wanted to admire it, but, feeling the rapid decline in his physical strength, he didn't have the luxury to do so.
Gritting his teeth, he immediately threw the punch towards the incoming tail headed for his head.
The moment his hand met the beast's tail, there was no earth-shattering explosion or a burst of loud noise.
Instead, what filled the scene was the sound of crunching noises.
Yang Ze watched in disbelief as his fist easily shattered the tail enveloped with Internal Energy before hitting the creature in the head.
*Crack..
With the sound of bones crushing, the beast's entire head caved in before bursting like a watermelon.
Fortunately, there was no blood; otherwise, Yang Ze would have been drenched with it.
"Huh!?" Yang Ze first looked at his fist, then at the corpse on the ground in disbelief. "So... So strong?" Even though he expected this technique to be strong, he didn't expect it to be this strong.
However, his happiness didn't last long as he felt his body rapidly losing strength.
"Not good." In a panic, Yang Ze stopped the technique and with it, the smoke on his right hand disappeared. But the feeling of weakness overwhelmed him.
Yang Ze thought for a moment before hurriedly checking his dantian.
"Phew." After noticing that the strands of Internal energy remained unchanged, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, this thing uses physical strength, huh?" Right now, he was so tired that he didn't even want to lift a finger.
The power of this technique was unquestionable, but the price was equally painful. Yang Ze was sure that without the talent 'Mighty Vigour' and his strength in the Pulse Opening realm, he would have fallen unconscious after using this technique once.
Taking deep breaths, he calmed his anxious mind before looking at the corpse in front of him, which was gradually disappearing.
"CAN I EXIT NOW?" This was the second round, and he had almost lost his life. He didn't dare to imagine what the next round would be like.
Unfortunately for him, the only thing that replied was the same old monotonous voice.
{Second Stage Successful}
"You motherfuc..." Before Yang Ze could even complete his sentence, another figure appeared in front of him.
"What the hell is this?" Looking at the puppet that was about five meters in height and had six heads along with twenty hands and eight spider-like legs, he felt his scalp tingle.
Without any hesitation, he looked at its panel and almost fainted in anger.
[Ancient Six-Faced Colossus]
[Realm: Peak Foundation Forging]
[Talent: Indestructible Frame(Blue), Soul-Shattering Roar(Purple), Myriad-Arm Barrage(Green), Spider Climb Mastery(Blue)]
"How is this a trial? This is a goddamn death trap." Yang Ze didn't even dare to stand still. The moment he saw the puppet appearing, he immediately turned around and ran in the opposite direction. All the while cursing Cang Yue and her mother.
Thankfully, he had the Amulet of Life, making his stamina and energy recover fast. Without it, he would still be lying on the ground, exhausted.
"No wonder she agreed to free me from the Duality Sect. Isn't death just another kind of freedom?"
Thinking about how he agreed to her request for ruins exploration... Yang Ze's intestines were turning green with regret.
Just because he didn't want to follow her order and preferred death to listen to her didn't mean he was willing to die. Who wanted to die if they could live? Especially in such a mysterious world filled with wonders.
Had he known, he would have honestly stayed in that goddamn sect without any complaint.
Alas! There was no medicine for regret.
Yang Ze kept on running while thinking about it. It wasn't until a few more seconds had passed that he stopped in his tracks.
"Eh!?" Looking at the puppet that was just standing there without any movement, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "Is this thing broken?"
Even though it wasn't moving, Yang Ze didn't dare to approach it.
Instead, he looked at its panel and, without any hesitation, chose to use his daily quota of sign-ins.
"Sign in to Soul-Shattering Roar."
This was the only purple talent and the most suitable one for the current him. It didn't look like a talent that would change one's appearance dramatically or change mental state.
And sure enough, the next message proved him right.
[Congratulations on signing to Soul-Shattering Roar(Purple). Received Inverted Wail(Gold).]
[Inverted Wail(Golden): Let out a silent screech that bypasses physical defence to target the opponent's source of internal energy, causing disruption and great harm.]
"AAAAH PERFECT." Yang Ze, who was already scammed by his first golden talent, almost shed tears of joy upon seeing his second golden talent that wasn't useless.
And it was at this moment that the puppet, which was still standing there, suddenly made a move.
Under Yang Ze's horrified gaze, the puppet put all its hands inside its large stomach and brought out different kinds of weapons.
"..." Yang Ze even forgot to breathe as he saw the puppet taking out Swords, sticks, knives, daggers, tridents, whips, hammers and numerous different kinds of weapons.
Holding a different weapon in every hand, it looked at Yang Ze as if it were looking at a bug before rushing towards him.
"FUCK." Anyone would be terrified if such a nightmare-like existence appeared before them, much less Yang Ze, who had just gone through a battle and was almost out of energy.
Without any hesitation, he turned around and began to run.
As for fighting against it?
Didn't you see that two-meter-long glowing giant sword that was after his ass?
Fight with it? He was sure that if he dared to go anywhere near it, those numerous weapons would make a meat patty out of him.
"What a shitty luck." Yang Ze kept on jumping around like a monkey, but in this limited space, there wasn't much ground to cover. In the end, he just ran around in circles, hoping that the puppet would run out of energy.
For the next twenty or so minutes, Yang Ze kept running around while the puppet chased after him.
Even with the help of the Amulet of Life, Yang Ze was almost out of strength.
"I can't run like this forever." Constantly running around like this was not an option. Sooner or later, he was bound to get tired, and once he did, he would be like a sitting duck.
Turning around, he faced the incoming puppet. Raising his hand, he was about to use the Black Tiger Technique and his newly gained talent when he saw the puppet suddenly jumping up in the air.
"What the hell?" Looking at the massive creature that was almost ten meters above in the air, Yang Ze's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
And just when he thought about dodging, he saw the six heads of the puppet opening their mouth at the same time and then...
~EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~
It was a loud screech that almost made him deaf. Yang Ze felt the world around him getting blurry. He wanted to put his hands on his ear to stop the sound, but was horrified to discover that he had lost control over his body. He could see, he could hear, he could speak, but he couldn't move his body.
"Damn it." Biting the tip of his tongue, Yang Ze used that pain to clear his mind.
Looking at the dense number of weapons pointed towards him as the massive figure fell down, Yang Ze knew there was no escape.
In the end, he just grit his teeth, opened his mouth and decided to use his newly gained skill.
The moment he opened his mouth and thought about using the skill, a small red mark formed inside his mouth and disappeared shortly after.
Unlike when the puppet used its skill, there was no deafening sound. In fact, it would be better to say that there was no sound at all.
One moment, the mark appeared, and the next moment it disappeared, and with it, Yang Ze felt a sense of weakness unlike before.
On the other hand, the puppet above him seemed to have received an electric shock as its joints stiffened like a dead spider, and the light in its eye disappeared. It has lost its functionality.
Even though the puppet was 'dead', unfortunately for Yang Ze, its body didn't disappear immediately.
Under Yang Ze's helpless gaze, the numerous weapons pierced his body before the entire weight of the puppet flattened him like a meat patty.
"FUCK."
These were his last thoughts before everything turned dark.