On the other side, Xi'er followed closely behind Yun Lan, passing through a pale golden aperture as the scene before her eyes suddenly changed.
This was a spacious and solemn training ground. The surrounding walls exhibited a dull iron-gray color, the ground was flat and smooth, and a sphere of light emitting a soft white glow floated overhead, illuminating the entire space brightly.
After coming to a halt, Xi'er turned her head to look at Yun Lan and asked.
"Teacher, how is my trial going to be conducted?"
Yun Lan crossed her arms, looked at Xi'er with a calm expression, and slowly spoke.
"Xi'er, you are an Attack System Spirit Master with a Tool Spirit, and your attribute is the dark attribute."
"Although the dark attribute possesses powerful explosive force and suppression, it also has obvious weaknesses. When encountering the light attribute or the sacred attribute, it will be greatly restrained and suppressed."
"Therefore, this training is targeted at this weakness of yours."
Hearing these words, Xi'er was slightly stunned, then nodded to show her understanding.
She was indeed very clear about this point. In the past, when she was by Wang Dong'er's side, every time Wang Dong'er released her Light Goddess Butterfly Spirit, that bright aura would affect Xi'er. And the very next moment after Xi'er nodded, the entire training ground suddenly began to change.
A thick and blazing light sacred element suddenly surged into the air. Those elements surged from all directions like a tide, instantly filling the entire space.
The originally dim corners became exceptionally bright, and the light of the sphere overhead suddenly intensified.
Xi'er's brows furrowed instantly. She could clearly feel that those light sacred elements were constantly eroding and suppressing the dark attribute power within her body, as if an invisible shackle had been placed upon her, making the circulation of her Spirit Power sluggish.
This feeling was quite uncomfortable.
Xi'er instinctively released her Spirit, and that pitch-black scythe appeared in her hands. However, the moment her Spirit manifested, her expression became even uglier. She could feel that the originally rich and sharp dark aura on the scythe was constantly being weakened by those light elements, along with her overall combat power plummeting in a straight line.
Right at this moment, the ground ahead suddenly emitted a muffled vibration, followed by figures slowly rising from the ground—they were ten heavily armored soldiers.
Each of those heavily armored soldiers was over two meters tall, covered all over with thick, ferocious silver-white armor, holding huge shields and long swords in their hands. A layer of faint runes flowed across the surface of the armor, exuding a sacred and solemn aura.
Looking at those heavily armored soldiers, Xi'er's pupils contracted slightly. The defense power of these guys looked quite astonishing, and their health bars were definitely very thick.
"Next, you must defeat these heavily armored soldiers under this layer of elemental suppression."
Xi'er took a deep breath, then gripped the scythe in her hand fiercely.
Without hesitation, she charged straight forward, her steps suddenly accelerating. Xi'er's figure was like a black afterimage, sketching an arc across the ground and pouncing directly towards the foremost heavily armored soldier.
Beneath her feet, four Spirit Rings lit up sequentially: two purple and two black.
The second Spirit Ring suddenly lit up!
"Second Spirit Ability, Nether Shadow Scythe Assault!"
Xi'er's figure instantly disappeared from where she stood, transforming into a gloomy afterimage that flashed past the side of that heavily armored soldier. The scythe in her hand, carrying a dense dark aura, fiercely slashed onto the shoulder of the heavily armored soldier!
Clang—!!
A harsh metallic clashing sound rang out, and the blade of the scythe collided with the armor of the heavily armored soldier, sparking a bright spark.
However, that heavily armored soldier's figure only swayed slightly, leaving a shallow white mark on its shoulder. Its armor wasn't even truly broken open.
Xi'er's pupils contracted sharply.
Her Nether Shadow Scythe Assault came with high dark attribute damage, capable of bursting out a powerful dark attribute impact upon hitting, while also reducing the opponent's Spirit Power and increasing her own movement speed. Yet, that slash just now unexpectedly only left a white mark?
The restraint of those light and sacred elements against the dark attribute was far stronger than Xi'er had imagined.
She had no time to think more as her figure flickered again, and her third Spirit Ring followed closely by lighting up.
"Third Soul Skill, Blade Return!"
Xi'er's figure made a sharp turn in mid-air, and the scythe continuously slashed out two strikes at an extremely fast speed, each strike landing precisely on the chest armor of that heavily armored soldier.
Clang! Clang!
With two crisp metallic clashing sounds, that heavily armored soldier was hacked back two steps, and two tiny cracks finally appeared on the armor at its chest.
Xi'er gritted her teeth, her figure rapidly retreating to widen the distance between her and that heavily armored soldier, her eyes filled with helplessness. Her strength was suppressed far too severely; she could feel that under normal circumstances, facing a heavily armored soldier of this strength, she could easily take it down, but because the environment here was different, the suppression she received was very strong.
Right at this moment, those heavily armored soldiers suddenly began to move. Their original actions were not considered fast, but after Xi'er attacked several times consecutively, they seemed to have adapted to her speed, and their overall movement speed actually began to gradually increase, closing in toward Xi'er's direction.
Xi'er's heart sank abruptly. Things were becoming more and more troublesome.
While dodging the attacks of those heavily armored soldiers, she rapidly thought of countermeasures in her mind.
Yun Lan stood not far away, watching Xi'er's somewhat disheveled appearance without voicing any reminders, only observing quietly.
Xi'er gritted her teeth, a flash of unwillingness crossing her eyes. She gripped her scythe tightly and charged towards those heavily armored soldiers once more. However, in the process of attacking, she could clearly feel that her strength was being suppressed, consumed, and weakened bit by bit by those light and sacred elements.
This feeling of powerlessness... reminded Xi'er of things from a long time ago.
At that time, she was still very young, living in a peaceful and tranquil village. Although life was impoverished, every day was filled with simple happiness.
However, one day, an Evil Soul Master broke into the village, and the entire village turned into a living hell overnight.
Xi'er watched with her own eyes as her family members, friends, and neighbors fell into pools of blood one by one, while she could only hide in a corner shivering, unable to do anything.
That feeling of helplessness, she would never forget for the rest of her life. Later, she joined Shrek Academy and became much stronger, but she could still feel that sense of powerlessness to this day. She wanted revenge!
She wanted to be able to protect everything she cherished right now!
Xi'er slashed a blade onto the silver-white armor in front of her, emitting a muffled collision sound, yet she was still unable to completely break open the opponent's defense.
And just as she swung her scythe the next time to hack at the chest of the heavily armored soldier in front of her, her blade grazed the surface of the armor, yet she suddenly felt a hint of anomaly.
Slippery.
There was an extra layer of greasy liquid on the surface of that armor. After her scythe hacked onto it, a portion of its force was unloaded by that layer of liquid, and even the blade slipped across it.
Xi'er's movements paused abruptly, and her gaze fell upon the armor of those heavily armored soldiers. She saw that a transparent oil film had appeared on the surface of the silver-white armor at some unknown time, shimmering with a faint oily sheen under the illumination of the light.
Xi'er was stunned.
That's not right, didn't they agree it was light and sacred attributes? How did oil suddenly appear?
Right at this moment, Yun Lan's voice came from the side.
"Xi'er, in this training ground, the light and sacred attributes as well as the defense of those heavily armored soldiers are fixed, but other things are not fixed."
Xi'er turned her head sharply to look at Yun Lan, and Yun Lan continued to explain.
"If there is fear in your heart, this space will materialize the fear deep within your heart."
"As an Attack System Spirit Master, you must not only shatter the enemy before your eyes, but even more so, shatter the fear within your own heart."
"If you are always bound by fear, then you will never be able to unleash your true strength."
After hearing these words, Xi'er froze in place.
She slowly turned her head, her gaze falling once more upon that layer of oily sheen, and a ferocious, distorted face instantly emerged in her mind.
That Evil Soul Master, the Evil Soul Master who slaughtered her entire village.
That person's Spirit was oil.
Xi'er's pupils contracted sharply, and the fingers gripping the scythe trembled slightly.
Right at this moment, the air not far ahead of her suddenly began to distort, like an image scorched by high temperature, and then a figure slowly emerged from that distorted air.
That was a middle-aged man with a tall stature and a gloomy expression, wearing a wide black robe. He held a rolling mass of oily liquid in his hand, and a cruel, playful smile hung at the corners of his mouth.
He slowly raised his hand, and the mass of oily liquid in his hand violently churned, then transformed into hot oil bombs of high temperature, shooting violently toward Xi'er!
Swoosh—!!
Xi'er's pupils contracted sharply, her body rolling to the side almost instinctively. Those hot oil bombs grazed past the corner of her clothes and landed on the ground with a sizzling sound, leaving behind patches of scorched black marks.
She stabilized her footing, knelt on one knee, and raised her head to look at that figure, her eyes filled with irrepressible hatred and fury.
That man... the person who slaughtered her entire family and destroyed her entire village... had unexpectedly appeared in front of her once again.
Xi'er's breathing became rapid. Her fingers tightly grasped the scythe, her body was trembling slightly, and those eyes were filled with rage.
----------------------------------------------
A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
1 Review = 1 Bonus Chapter
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.