The countdown continued to decrease.
Twenty seconds.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Li Yan remained motionless in the center of the arena while carefully observing the four projections surrounding him. Unlike the previous trial, there was no obvious weakness in their formation.
Each projection occupied a different direction, ensuring that any attack against one would expose its back to the others.
The difficulty of a Nightmare trial was immediately apparent.
Five seconds remained.
Li Yan slowly adjusted his stance and allowed Defiant Judgment Sword Intent to circulate through the blade.
Three.
Two.
One.
[Fight Begins]
The four projections moved simultaneously. None of them rushed forward recklessly.
Instead, they advanced from different directions while maintaining enough distance to support one another.
Li Yan's eyes narrowed. The coordination alone was already superior to every opponent he had faced so far.
The first attack arrived from his left. A crescent-shaped slash swept toward his waist. At nearly the same moment, another slash descended from behind.
Li Yan stepped forward, avoiding both attacks while swinging his sword toward the nearest projection.
His attack forced the projection to retreat. Before he could pursue, however, the remaining two projections attacked.
One launched a horizontal slash. The other closed the distance directly. Li Yan immediately abandoned his pursuit and shifted into defense.
His sword intercepted the incoming attack before he retreated several steps. For the first time since entering the Trials Arena, he found himself unable to dictate the pace of battle.
The projections worked together flawlessly. Every attack created opportunities for another. Every retreat became a trap. Every opening disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.
Several exchanges passed. Li Yan's expression remained calm, but his movements became increasingly cautious.
The four projections continued tightening the pressure around him. Eventually, one of them made a mistake. Or rather, what appeared to be a mistake.
The projection on his right advanced slightly farther than the others. Li Yan immediately attacked.
His sword erupted with Defiant Judgment Sword Intent, and a powerful slash shot forward. The projection raised its sword to defend.
At that exact moment, Li Yan realized something.
Too late.
The exposed opening had been intentional. The other three projections attacked simultaneously.
One slash descended toward his shoulder. Another targeted his back—the third cut off his retreat.
Li Yan's eyes sharpened. Instead of continuing his attack, he redirected it forcibly. His slash changed direction and collided with two incoming attacks.
The impact shook the arena. The third attack still reached him. A sharp pain exploded across his side. Although death was impossible within the trials, the pain felt completely real. And with his consciousness, the pain felt even more than physical.
Li Yan frowned but immediately retreated.
The wound vanished moments later as his consciousness was restored, yet the lesson remained.
His first mistake. Overcommitting to an apparent opportunity.
Near the monument, Jian Ling watched silently. "You saw an opening."
Li Yan dodged another attack before replying. "I did."
"It was bait."
"I know."
Jian Ling's expression remained calm. "Good. At least you recognized it."
Li Yan almost laughed.
Only Jian Ling could turn being wounded into a compliment.
The battle continued.
This time, Li Yan became more patient.
Rather than searching for opportunities to attack, he focused on disrupting the projections' coordination.
Gradually, the pressure began shifting. After observing their movements for several exchanges, he finally noticed a pattern.
Whenever one projection launched an attack, another would immediately adjust its position to support it.
Their teamwork was excellent.
Predictable.
Once the pattern became clear, Li Yan began exploiting it. A slash forced one projection to retreat. The supporting projection moved exactly where he expected.
Li Yan immediately changed targets. His second attack erupted toward the support position. The projection barely managed to defend.
A third attack followed.
Then a fourth.
The rhythm of the battle finally shifted. Instead of reacting, Li Yan began forcing the projections to react. Several moments later, an opening appeared.
A real one.
Li Yan moved instantly. His sword flashed—the nearest projection dissolved into particles of light. The balance of the battle immediately changed. Three opponents became two. Then two became one.
The remaining projections continued resisting, but their coordination was no longer sufficient. Li Yan steadily dismantled them one after another.
When the final projection dissolved, silence returned to the arena.
Li Yan exhaled slowly. The battle had lasted significantly longer than any previous trial.
Moments later, the monument was illuminated.
[Trial #18 Complete
Result: Victory
Completion Time: 26 Seconds
Evaluation: Good
Reward: 300 Sword Merit Points (Reward adjusted according to the level difference between Trialist and Projection)]
Li Yan's gaze immediately moved toward the evaluation.
Good.
Not Excellent.
The combat analysis soon appeared beneath it.
[Trial #18 Combat Analysis
Strengths:
- Strong battlefield awareness
- Effective adaptation during combat
- Stable Sword Intent under pressure
- Good pattern recognition and tactical adjustment
- Maintained composure throughout prolonged engagement
Weaknesses:
- Overcommits when identifying apparent openings
- Limited experience fighting coordinated opponents
- Target prioritization requires improvement
- Defensive transitions remain inefficient
- Excessive Spiritual Energy expenditure during prolonged combat]
Li Yan carefully read every line.
Nearby, Jian Ling finally spoke. "Your first Good evaluation."
Li Yan nodded. "I noticed."
"There will be more."
Li Yan looked toward her.
Jian Ling crossed her arms. "The previous trials were too weak."
Her gaze shifted toward the fading battlefield. "This one finally exposed your weaknesses."
Li Yan studied the analysis again.
To his surprise, he did not feel disappointed. Instead, he felt satisfied. Because the monument had revealed flaws he genuinely possessed.
The purpose of the Trials Arena was never to praise him. It was to improve him.
After a moment, Li Yan looked toward Jian Ling. "If I challenge this trial again after improving, can I obtain an Excellent evaluation?"
"Possibly."
Li Yan raised an eyebrow. "Possibly?"
Jian Ling nodded. "The trial does not evaluate victory. It evaluates how you achieve victory."
Li Yan fell into thought. That answer made sense. A stronger swordsman could still fight poorly. A weaker swordsman could fight brilliantly. The Trial Hall judged the battle itself.
Not merely the result.
Jian Ling looked at him and added calmly, "Your Sword Intent is strong enough. Your swordsmanship is not."
Li Yan's eyelid twitched slightly.
The criticism was direct as always.
Yet he could not deny it.
His Sword Intent had advanced rapidly, but his actual combat experience as a swordsman remained limited.
Most of his previous battles relied on cultivation advantages, physical strength, techniques, or overwhelming power.
Pure swordsmanship was another matter entirely.
A faint smile appeared on Li Yan's face. "Looks like I found my next weakness."
Jian Ling nodded. "Good."
Then she pointed toward the nearby white circle. "Now go challenge Trial #18 again. For once, repetition is exactly what you need."
Li Yan looked at the white circle for a moment before stepping into it.
The arena trembled lightly as Sword Qi gathered once more. Silver light condensed throughout the battlefield, and four familiar projections appeared around him in the same positions as before.
The monument displayed the trial information again.
[Trial #18
Opponent: Sword Earth Level (Beginner Stage) ×4
Difficulty: Nightmare
Victory Condition: Defeat Opponents]
[Fight Begins in 30 Seconds]
Li Yan stood quietly in the center of the arena. His gaze swept across the four projections. The previous battle replayed briefly within his mind.
The baited opening. The wasted movements. The unnecessary exchanges. Most importantly, the mistake was allowing the projections to dictate the pace of the battle.
This time, he already knew what needed to be done.
The countdown reached zero.
[Fight Begins]
The four projections moved simultaneously.
Just as before, they advanced while maintaining their formation.
However, Li Yan attacked first. The moment the battle began, Defiant Judgment Sword Intent erupted from his blade.
Rather than targeting a projection, he attacked the formation itself. A powerful crescent slash swept across the battlefield.
The four projections immediately adjusted their positions to avoid the attack. That single reaction was all Li Yan needed.
The formation broke. Li Yan dashed forward. His sword flashed. The nearest projection dissolved into particles of light before it could complete its attack.
Without stopping, Li Yan twisted his body and launched a second slash toward another projection attempting to support its companion.
The projection barely managed to raise its sword.
It wasn't enough.
The attack shattered both sword and projection simultaneously.
Two opponents remained.
Both launched attacks immediately.
Li Yan stepped between the incoming slashes with precise footwork and swung his sword twice. The first attack cut through an incoming slash and struck the third projection directly.
The second attack followed almost instantly. The final projection disappeared before it could retreat.
Silence returned to the arena.
The entire battle had lasted not only half as long as the last time.
The monument is illuminated.
[Trial #18 Complete
Result: Victory
Completion Time: 12 Seconds
Evaluation: Excellent
Reward: 100 Sword Merit Points (Additional Reward after evaluation changed)]
A second set of information soon appeared.
[Trial #18 Combat Analysis
Strengths:
- Excellent battlefield awareness
- Effective disruption of enemy formations
- Decisive offensive execution
- Strong target prioritization
- Efficient Sword Intent utilization
- Excellent combat pacing
Weaknesses:
- Defensive swordsmanship remains less developed than offensive capabilities
- Experience against higher-level Sword Intent users remains limited]
Li Yan read the evaluation and nodded. The difference between Good and Excellent was immediately apparent.
He had not become stronger within a few minutes. Instead, he had corrected the mistakes identified during the previous attempt.
Nearby, Jian Ling glanced toward the monument. "You learned quickly."
Li Yan smiled faintly. "The Trial Hall pointed out the problem. I only had to fix it."
Jian Ling nodded. "Most people spend their time repeating the same mistakes."
Li Yan looked toward the green circle that had appeared nearby. The next trial awaited him.
After a brief moment of consideration, he shook his head. "That's enough for today."
Jian Ling seemed unsurprised. "Your Spiritual Energy is nearly exhausted."
Li Yan chuckled. "So you noticed."
"I always notice." The answer sounded so matter-of-fact that Li Yan could not help but laugh.
Without challenging the next trial, he stepped into the red circle.
The battlefield gradually faded.
The monument vanished.
Moments later, the familiar main hall of the Eternal Sword Tower returned.
Li Yan's gaze swept across the memorial swords one last time before he turned toward Jian Ling. "I'll return soon."
"The tower will still be here." Li Yan nodded.
His consciousness gradually withdrew from the Sword Tower.
The ancient hall faded.
The Spiritual Sea receded.
The sensation of the living room slowly returned.
A moment later, Li Yan opened his eyes.
The familiar room greeted him.
Li Yan exhaled slowly. The gains from the Sword Tower over the past two weeks had been substantial.
His swordsmanship had improved.
His understanding had deepened.
And for the first time, he felt as though he was truly beginning to walk the path of a swordsman rather than merely possessing Sword Intent.
After stretching his slightly stiff body, Li Yan stood up from the floor. The first thing he needed now was not cultivation or alchemy.
It was a bath.
With that thought, he went to the bedroom and headed toward the bathroom to wash away the fatigue accumulated from days of alchemy and training.
After Li Yan took a bath and rested briefly, he headed toward the Fire Mine.
The familiar heat greeted him the moment he entered the cavern. Streams of crimson light flickered along the stone walls, while dense Fire Qi drifted through the air like an invisible tide.
Even though a year had passed since Li Yan used this Fire Mine as his cultivation source, the Fire Qi here remained as dense as it was the first time he came.
Without wasting time, Li Yan began preparing a medicinal bath. One herb after another was being refined into a thick crimson liquid before being mixed with the water in the cauldron. When everything was ready, he stepped inside and sat down cross-legged, beginning to temper his skin.
The following days passed quietly.
The medicinal essence seeped into his skin. Waves of heat rolled through his flesh, tempering every inch of his body. The process was neither comfortable nor easy, yet Li Yan remained completely focused. Time lost its meaning within the depths of the mine as one day blended into the next.