Elsewhere—
On the circular stone platform.
As the time for one incense stick elapsed, Su Ba suddenly felt a powerful tremor throughout his body. His vision swirled, spinning wildly in all directions. He had no idea how long the dizziness lasted, but when it finally faded, he slowly steadied himself and opened his eyes.
Before him was a world of endless white.
A blank void.
It stretched infinitely in all directions, as if the world itself had no edge.
And all around him—every single participant in the advancement trial had arrived.
"Where is this place?"
The others were looking around, eyes wide with curiosity.
Most of them had no idea what the test of Martial Will would involve.
Then—
The ground beneath their feet shuddered slightly.
A subtle tremor.
Some of the more perceptive students felt their instincts tingle. These weren't ordinary people—they were cultivators, and good ones at that. Their senses told them something had changed.
The air had become… stifling.
Su Ba narrowed his eyes.
He concentrated for a moment—
Suddenly, a flash of clarity passed through his gaze.
The temperature was rising.
"Shit! Everyone, look!"
Someone pointed at the ground.
Sure enough, wisps of scorching heat began rising visibly from beneath their feet. The stone floor glowed faintly red, and the heat had already climbed past 70 degrees Celsius!
Ordinary people would've been shrieking and hopping by now.
Even among these genius-level martial cultivators, beads of sweat were beginning to form, their expressions shifting from composed to slightly uneasy.
The reason?
That wasn't the limit. The temperature was still climbing.
Su Ba's expression sharpened.
He raised his hand, attempting to form a thin true essence barrier to block the heat.
But the moment he did—
The heat reacted like a starving beast.
It pounced, devouring his true essence and forcing its way into his body. It surged toward his meridians, his flesh, and his organs—ready to wreak havoc from within!
Su Ba's eyes narrowed, and he decisively dispersed the barrier.
The moment his true essence vanished, the aggressive heat calmed—though it still continued burning his skin.
"So that's how it is."
He murmured to himself.
A test of will, huh?
So using true essence was cheating?
Fine by me.
With no hesitation, Su Ba sat down cross-legged.
He let the heat crawl across his body—burning his muscles, his bones, even his organs—and simply endured.
His expression remained calm. His eyes closed.
This was the path of martial cultivation.
Elsewhere on the platform, a young man in green robes also noticed something.
His eyes flicked toward Su Ba—who had reacted before him.
A flash of cold light crossed his eyes.
Then, without a word, he sat down as well, mimicking Su Ba's stillness.
This was Xi He, the three-star genius personally selected by Recruiter Qu Tai.
Meanwhile, other students were far less prepared.
"F*ck! Ow ow ow it hurts—!"
"Shit, this is unbearable!"
"Get it off me, it's burning my skin—!"
The whole space instantly erupted into chaos.
Dozens of martial geniuses suddenly looked like panicking chickens in a fire pit—staggering, hopping, shouting, some even rolling on the ground.
It looked like someone was forcing them to dance a feverish, painful version of 857.
But within a short while, they all realized the same thing—true essence was useless.
So they stopped resisting.
Sat down.
Grimaced.
And began to endure.
At the same time—
Back at the Yunmeng Martial Institute, inside the magnificent side hall—
A dozen recruiters stood before the grand array formation, watching the light projection that displayed everything happening within the illusion space.
One youth's reaction time was unmistakably ahead of all the others.
He wore black robes.
A cold, composed expression.
And eyes like blades.
Su Ba.
"Ha! That's my recruit!"
Xia Hang's eyes lit up as he pointed at the screen and laughed.
"This black-robed kid right here? He's the seedling I picked—Su Ba!"
"Impressive!"
"His reaction time is incredible! He identified the anomaly in the heat almost instantly and canceled his true essence before it caused internal damage!"
"Very sharp! Among all past recruits, his reaction is top-tier!"
Some of the other recruiters couldn't help but voice their admiration.
Then—
The green-robed youth also sat down.
His calm demeanor was eye-catching as well.
It was Xi He, Qu Tai's genius recruit.
Xia Hang raised an eyebrow and smirked.
Feigning casualness, he said,
"Not bad, not bad. Xi He's pretty good too. Only a half step behind Su Ba."
Qu Tai's face darkened instantly.
Of course he knew what Xia Hang was doing—this guy was clearly rubbing it in!
Stone-faced, Qu Tai huffed coldly,
"Hmph. Reaction time means nothing. The Martial Will test is about endurance and resolve. Whoever lasts the longest is what counts!"
Xia Hang didn't deny it.
But inwardly, he was grinning.
Even getting under Qu Tai's skin for a moment felt extremely satisfying.
The test had only just begun.
But the battle of pride between recruiters had already ignited.
And soon…
It would be Su Ba's turn to silence everyone.