Chapter 154: A Trial Won by a Headlong Fall

The radiant humanoid figure dashed and bounded forward, showing no intention of testing the waters whatsoever, charging straight ahead with a hard-nosed, head-on assault.

Shi Tiexin’s eyes flashed—it was basic fist technique, utterly uninspired basic fist technique. The martial arts and boxing forms of this radiant humanoid were entirely mediocre, and... and why did its movement speed seem somewhat slow?

It was like watching a video that should have been playing at 1.0 speed, but was actually running at 0.7 speed. Along with the sluggishness, there was a faint hint of weirdness and comical clumsiness.

The flaws within its fist techniques and stances were even more glaringly obvious down to the finest detail.

This was Shi Tiexin’s first time encountering such a situation, and he couldn't help but be momentarily stunned. But he quickly shook his head to adjust his mindset. The radiant humanoid before him was none other than the first trial of the Lesser Provincial Examination. As long as he defeated this figure, he would ascend to the Bronze Roll, become a regular student, and obtain the most basic academic degree.

Although the Bronze Roll was not his ultimate goal, even a lion hunting a rabbit must use its full strength, and Shi Tiexin had no desire to capsize in a drainage ditch. As the radiant humanoid closed in within a range of two meters, Shi Tiexin’s gaze tightened; the muscles in his legs suddenly tensed and then erupted with force.

His front leg reached forward, his rear heel pivoted, and the power surged forward layer upon layer as he stepped out—

With a swish, an accident occurred! Shi Tiexin felt the world spin, completely unable to control himself as he lunged forward, stumbling head over heels for three consecutive steps in an attempt to regain his balance. But the harder he tried to exert force, the more bizarre things became, until finally, with an awkward plop, he tumbled head over heels and fell flat on his face on the ground.

What, what is this... Damn it!

What on earth is going on!

How did I just slip and fall like that!

My coolness factor had just peaked and then I went and ate dirt—this is way too embarrassing!

No, no, no, this isn't the time to worry about embarrassment; the exam is still ongoing! Shi Tiexin hurriedly rolled over and lifted his head, nervously looking left and right. Yet, try as he might, there was no sign of the radiant humanoid anywhere—only drifting motes of six-colored light scattered across the air.

Shi Tiexin was utterly bewildered.

What on earth is going on here? I entered the Lesser Provincial Examination full of confidence, only to run into such a massive unexpected accident right at the start!

Rolling back to his feet and pondering carefully, Shi Tiexin suddenly understood.

Glancing at the Light of Physics wrapping around his legs, Shi Tiexin suddenly realized why he had still slipped despite having previously adapted to the smoothness of the floor: it was entirely because his output of force had suddenly surged. His muscles had called upon the same amount of effort as before, but the actual thrust generated was greater than he expected. That was why every step felt wrong and why he couldn't maintain his balance.

"So this is what the stacking effect is all about..."

The six-colored layers of light had indeed merged offensive and defensive qualities onto his physical body, but it didn't simply increase numerical stats like in a video game; the effect was far more pronounced than Shi Tiexin had imagined. This layer of light was like a suit of powered armor, comprehensively amplifying all his power outputs and even enhancing sensory faculties like vision.

The reason the radiant humanoid had appeared to move in slow motion earlier was precisely due to the effect of the Light of Natural Philosophy upon his head.

"No wonder those guys were acting so fiercely during the provincial exams the other day! I thought every single one of them had broken through the limits of the human body, but the secret was right here!"

Having an arm fractured by a single punch or a cervical vertebra shattered by a kick—was that the kind of destructive power the Qi-Nourishing realm should possess? Previously, Shi Tiexin had felt immense pressure, thinking the provincial exam venue was truly terrifying, filled with monsters who had broken human limits while still in the Qi-Nourishing stage, making him feel like a helpless little weakling.

Only today did he realize that it wasn't because he was too weak, but because the six-colored layers of light were playing tricks. Had they not been within the Mind Realm, those people could never have unleashed such exaggerated destructive power either.

Now that he was also immersed in the Mind Realm, enjoying this comprehensive stacking of combat capabilities, the effect was truly formidable. As for that radiant humanoid from the exam... when he had been flailing about and slipping forward earlier, he seemed to have collided head-first into some sort of bubble-like object. It was so effortless and met with so little resistance that he hadn't even noticed it at the time.

That fragile thing he shattered with a tumble was likely that pitiful radiant humanoid.

The first trial of the Lesser Provincial Examination had been passed simply by tumbling right through it!

It was truly ironic and absurd, but upon second thought, Shi Tiexin realized this wasn't entirely a good thing for him. He had to get used to this amplified power output as soon as possible, or the subsequent exams would become troublesome.

Pricking up his ears, he noted that the "helpful person" had not yet announced the defeat and departure of any loser, indicating that other exam rooms had not yet finished testing. Shi Tiexin’s awkward stumble might have actually bought him quite a substantial amount of time. Shaking off his embarrassment, Shi Tiexin hurriedly began adapting to his brand-new output characteristics.

Testing this way and that, the situation looked grim; his old shoes, with their soles worn completely smooth, were truly unusable.

"The loser leaves the arena!"

The voice of the helpful person echoed throughout the Mind Realm, and the next exam was about to begin. Gritting his teeth, Shi Tiexin simply pulled off both of his shoes. He tried testing it with just his socks on—hell, that was even more slippery! He decisively stripped off his socks as well, standing barefoot directly on the wooden floorboard. Wiggling his toes, he splayed his ten toes wide and gripped the wooden floor fiercely, which finally felt somewhat better than before.

"Second round, begin!"

Ten meters away, another radiant humanoid leaped out. This time, the radiant humanoid appeared slightly more solid than the previous one. Without wasting a single word, this radiant humanoid swooped forward with a whoosh, looking somewhat more ferocious than its predecessor.

Shi Tiexin twisted his ankle, feeling that he shouldn't be too careless this time. To avoid another face-planting, cringe-worthy tumble, Shi Tiexin decided to stay put in his tracks, meeting shifting circumstances with steadfastness and reserving his counterattack for after the enemy struck.

Swish, the radiant humanoid threw a direct, straight punch straight at his chest. Shi Tiexin’s eyes flashed as he raised his arm to block, intending to first test the attack intensity of this second-trial humanoid before considering his counter-strategy. Moreover, he could use this humanoid to practice movement, defense, and counter-attacks in preparation for the ranking of the Gold Roll.

Let's see you block this!

Puff, like striking rotten leather, the entire arm of the attacking radiant humanoid exploded into pieces.

Shi Tiexin was practically speechless—you were the one hitting me, not the other way around! I was just putting up a guard, and your arm blew up? Are you even competent at this?!

Swish, the radiant humanoid didn't hesitate in the slightest, delivering another punch right on the heels of the first. Shi Tiexin instinctively blocked once more—crack, the entire radiant humanoid blew apart, and colorful wisps of mist swirled around his vision once again.

Amidst the swirling mist, Shi Tiexin was filled with question marks.

Did I perhaps imagine the Lesser Provincial Examination to be far too difficult previously?

No, that shouldn't be the case.

What the Lesser Provincial Examination tested, when all was said and done, was the cultivation of mental arts. Much like the exam papers in Top Scholar Shi’s timeline, although the radiant humanoids in this timeline looked vastly different from written exam papers in form, their essence was largely identical. Given his current level of complete perfection in the first tier and double excellence in the second tier, these "exam papers" were indeed far too simple, appearing utterly vulnerable.

However, when the time came for the PVP of the Gold Roll rankings, the rhythm would likely be completely different from PVE.

"The loser leaves the arena, third round, begin!"

Following the voice of the helpful person, another radiant humanoid bounced out from the void ten meters away. Yet, before the humanoid could even execute a single move against Shi Tiexin’s proactive, heavy forward punch, it burst apart into six-colored mist.

Shi Tiexin retracted his fist, stood straight, adjusted his breathing carefully, and prepared to face the true challenge.

The ranking of the Gold Roll.