Unexpected Crisis

Tao Xue walked up to the altar where he had gotten the rewards previously, and stood there, his mind full of anticipation. He wanted to see if the rewards were better than first time, or even if they weren't better, they'd at least be as good as the previous ones. He was getting excited, and he wanted to know what the rewards were.

He then heard the voice that he was expecting to hear, as the voice spoke, "Here are the rewards."

Just as the voice had spoken, a mysterious golden colored scroll, about the same length as that of the previous one, appeared in his hands. It was golden, and very bright in color, and the writing was in thick black color, and it gave the feeling as if it were permanently engraved on to that scroll.

He was a bit surprised after seeing it, as he knew that it was something different from the previous scroll. It would be more valuable, presumably, or it had some hidden use.

As he looked at the scroll, and inspected it, the voice again spoke, "This is a Sub-Training Method Scroll. These kinds of scrolls are useful as they give the user a way to practice a different sub-type of Cultivation. This scroll here, is the for the sub-type 'Agility'. By this, the user can train his agility to a shocking degree."

Tao Xue was shocked, as he loved this scroll, because improving his agility is something that would be very helpful here in battles. He adored it for a while, and then suddenly, his expression changed.

He asked his master, in a serious tone, "Master, you said that I can't use Cultivation techniques or perks here, so why are the rewards mostly related to Cultivation?"

Master was impressed, as he knew that his disciple would ask such a question after getting the rewards.

He smiled and replied, "Well, this rule only applies to the first three matches, which you have to do today, and that's a rule that I myself specially set for you. Afterwards, you can use the skills and perks of Cultivation. You wanted some battle experience with your ability, Control, so I made this a special condition."

Tao Xue knew that this was his master's doing, and he smiled. He was happy to know that he would be able to use these skills, or else they were pretty much worthless over here.

After that, the scroll disappeared, and he got the next reward, which was a level 1 crystal.

After getting the two of these rewards, Tao Xue decided that he should prepare for the third battle, because he had a gut feeling that this battle is going to be way different, and way more difficult than the previous two combined.

He thought that he should improve the range of his ability, because he ca only use it in melee combat, so the range is something he needed to expand, for sure.

Currently, it was about 7 meters, as his speed was reckless. He thought that before the battle, he should focus on increasing it to 8 meters, as the range is what will ultimately give him more of an advantage.

He sat down, and started training, he made the energy stretch to the borders of 7 meters, and kept on stretching it. Gradually, it broke through the limits, and expanded. In a short amount of time, it had reached 8 meters.

He was now ready to take on the enemy. He wanted to quickly finish this, so that he can use his obtained resources, because right now, in this world, he can't use them, and he also can't get out of here.

That just means that he had to finish this fight first, and then think about Cultivation. He walked up to the arena, and got ready to face the enemy.

Just as he was ready, another enemy appeared, but it was really different from before. This time, the enemy wasn't some living being, but it was a huge boulder. The boulder was as big as a house, and it was just sitting there.

The voice was a also quiet, as there wasn't anything it said. It wasn't clear how to defeat a boulder, so Tao Xue didn't know what to do. He would have to either smash it to pieces (which wasn't an easy task), or move it and throw it out of the stage (which was equally difficult as compared to the previous).

Then suddenly, a text appeared inscribed in mid air, which spelled, "To win this level, you have to break this rock in a single hit, and that too with only a single punch from any one of your fists. If you aren't able to do that in one attempt, you will lose the match instantly. Even if you touch the rock, it will count as an attempt to break it. These are the only rules fro this level."

Tao Xue felt like this was a joke, and he laughed, but after a while of laughing, he realized that it wasn't a joke! As he knew that his master had made him prohibit using Cultivation, he could also use other methods to increase the difficulty of the levels!

He immediately plopped down, and was sitting on the floor. He couldn't believe that something like this could actually be happening! This felt like a joke to him, but now that he had thought it through, he had found out that it wasn't even possible for him.

It wasn't even possible for him to break it in one punch, as it would take him at least 10 to 15 punches. With a single punch, he could only barely crack the outer surface. 10 to 15 punches would only be able to break the rock if he consecutively hit it, and that too if his armor of energy didn't shatter. If the streak breaks, he would take at least 20 punches!

Even if he trained in here, and focused on improving his strength, it would take him a week, and that too if he continuously trained, to accomplish the feat of breaking this rock only using a single punch.

He swept his gaze past Master, and had immediately realized that this was his doing. With that undeniable smirk on his face, Tao Xue knew just how he was feeling. He seriously wanted to beat the crap out of him, but that was impossible. If it would take him a week to pass this level, it would take him way more time to surpass his master. First of all, he didn't know his level. According to him, it would take at least a thousand years to surpass his master, looking at his own current state.

He was very puzzled, as he had no clue of how to break the rock in one single punch. It was as big as a house, at least 12 meters tall, and 18 meters wide. That was way bigger than Tao Xue could get if he expanded himself to the highest he could, which was 8 meters from every side.

According to him, practicing was futile, as he knew that there was another way than waiting for a week, and keep on training for the whole time. He knew that there was a huge trick, or loophole of some sort, with which e could exploit with the rules, and easily complete this level.

As the rules suggested, and made it obviously clear, that this was a test of physical prowess, most people would only be able to think of the first solution, which was to force your way through using brute strength, but that wasn't logical, as it was something which was way too time consuming for just level 3 of the whole lot of battles in the arena.

It wasn't like time was a problem, but it wasn't something that would be preferred by most people, including Tao Xue, because even if time wouldn't pass in the outside world, it would still be both physically and mentally exhausting to keep on practicing for a whole week, without any stopping in between.

He had finally made his decision, which was to think. This seemed to be a physical test by all possible means, but it was actually a challenge to see how strong one's thinking prowess can be. It must be obvious that there was a solution to something like that.

Tao Xue sat down, and started calculating the possibilities, and started to try to find any loopholes in the rules which he could later exploit.

He kept on doing this for a while, but each time he thought he was near to a solution, he was always getting it wrong. Each wrong attempt made him feel more miserable, and that lessened his great will power to overcome this trial.

He read out the words of the rules again, and again, thinking where he could find a weakness.

He said, "You have to break this rock in a single hit, and that too with only a single punch from any one of your fists. If you aren't able to do that in one attempt, you will lose the match instantly. Even if you touch the rock, it will count as an attempt to break it. You have to break this rock in a single hit, and that too with only a single punch from any one of your fists. If you aren't able to do that in one attempt, you will lose the match instantly. Even if you touch the rock, it will count as an attempt to break it."

Suddenly, a smile came up on his face, as he shouted, "Bingo!"