692: Weird Weaknesses

The Asking Dao Pavilion has a total of ninety-nine floors.

As long as one can reach the ninety-ninth floor and complete the trial there, they will receive personal guidance from a Dao Above existence.

For this opportunity, all half-step Dao Above cultivators in the entire Ancient Battlefield are giving their all.

Lin Yang stood before the Asking Dao Pavilion, recalling some information about it, and finally stepped inside.

He didn't aim to reach the ninety-ninth floor.

His goal was to reach as many higher floors as possible.

There are also rewards for completing trials upon first entering the Asking Dao Pavilion.

Anyone entering the Asking Dao Pavilion for the first time will receive a certain amount of Asking Dao points based on their performance during the trial.

If one enters for the first time and reaches the fiftieth floor or above, there are additional point rewards.

Asking Dao points can be exchanged for various treasures and resources, similar to battle merit.

So Lin Yang's goal was to reach above the fiftieth floor, and the higher, the better!

"Compared to currently killing Foreign race half-step Dao Above cultivators to earn battle merit, the Asking Dao Pavilion is more suitable for me."

Lin Yang didn't stop; he took a step and entered the Asking Dao Pavilion.

There are no conditions or restrictions for entering the Asking Dao Pavilion; anyone can enter, and there's no limit to the number of times.

Inside the Asking Dao Pavilion is an independent space.

Lin Yang appeared on the first floor, facing a sky of blue and a field of green grass.

In the middle of the grass was a special puppet.

At the same time, a voice entered Lin Yang's ears:

"Trial participant Lin Yang, the trial on this floor requires you to endure for fifteen minutes against the puppet to pass."

Lin Yang's eyes flashed as he looked at the puppet.

Since it was a puppet and made of materials he couldn't identify, Lin Yang couldn't sense any cultivation aura from it.

But he estimated its strength to be at least half-step Dao Above.

Whoosh.

The puppet quickly moved, directly launching a close-quarters attack at Lin Yang without any Dao power fluctuations.

Lin Yang narrowed his eyes and met the attack.

Then he discovered that his Dao power was also restricted.

"A bare-knuckle fight? Interesting."

Lin Yang seemed to understand the purpose of this trial. He immediately stopped trying to use Dao power and engaged in close-quarters combat.

Swish, swish, swish.

With his Dao power restricted, Lin Yang was quickly suppressed by the puppet.

"My own cultivation isn't even half-step Dao Above, and my Dao power is restricted. This puppet has half-step Dao Above strength. It won't be easy to last for fifteen minutes."

Lin Yang murmured, not daring to be careless, carefully dealing with it.

Fortunately, this trial only required him to last for fifteen minutes to win, not to defeat the puppet.

Otherwise, he would have almost no chance of passing.

However, lasting for fifteen minutes was no easy feat.

A cultivator's greatest advantage is having Dao power.

Without Dao power, one's strength drops by at least seventy to eighty percent.

Compared to this puppet specifically designed for close combat, he was at a great disadvantage.

"The first floor is already this difficult... How strong must King Baoning be to reach the ninety-first floor..."

Lin Yang couldn't help but think, and he was gradually suppressed more and more severely.

"No, constantly dodging and defending will make it hard to last for fifteen minutes."

Then, Lin Yang realized the problem.

This trial seemed to be testing a cultivator's close-quarters combat ability. Simply trying to defend and last for fifteen minutes would only lead to defeat by the puppet.

"The best defense is a good offense!"

Lin Yang thought of a famous saying and began to change his strategy, switching to active offense.

Although his attacks couldn't cause any substantial damage to the puppet, the pressure lessened considerably as he attacked.

"Attacking is indeed much better than defending."

Noticing the pressure from the puppet gradually decreasing after switching from defense to offense, Lin Yang breathed a sigh of relief and began to observe and ponder the puppet's weaknesses in its movements, starting from its weak points to better counter its attacks.

Time passed bit by bit.

Lin Yang also gradually became more adept at handling it.

Especially, he could use the Sky Tremor Bell to evade most of the puppet's power.

Although his Dao power was restricted and he couldn't unleash the Sky Tremor Bell's full power, the Sky Tremor Bell was, after all, a supreme treasure-grade Dao Weapon, and its inherent strength and material were also very durable.

With the Sky Tremor Bell protecting him, Lin Yang's attacks also became bolder and more proactive, even showing signs of being on par with the puppet.

Soon, fifteen minutes passed.

The puppet abruptly stopped attacking.

The previous steady voice sounded again:

"Trial participant Lin Yang, congratulations on passing this floor's trial. Your performance rating is Excellent."

"Please prepare for the next challenge. You will have thirty minutes of rest to face the next floor's trial, or you may choose to terminate this trial."

"..."

Hearing the voice, Lin Yang was a little surprised: "It's an Excellent rating?"

The Asking Dao Pavilion's trial ratings are divided into Normal, Good, and Excellent.

Different ratings yield different amounts of Asking Dao points.

He had originally thought a Good rating would be sufficient.

But he didn't expect to be given Excellent.

"My performance was decent; getting an Excellent rating should be related to my cultivation not being half-step Dao Above."

Lin Yang couldn't help but guess.

He believed his performance against the puppet just now wasn't particularly outstanding.

Among a group of half-step Dao Above powerhouses, it could only be described as average.

But to receive an Excellent rating, it was most likely because he successfully passed despite his low cultivation.

"It seems there are many extra benefits for those with cultivation below half-step Dao Above participating in the trials."

Lin Yang's eyes gleamed as he sat down cross-legged to recover his energy.

Half an hour later, the scene before him changed, and he arrived on the second floor.

The trial on this floor was against a ferocious beast Lin Yang had never seen before, emanating a half-step Dao Above aura.

This floor no longer suppressed Dao power, but it required him to kill the beast to pass.

"Fortunately, it's a beast without much intelligence. If it were an intelligent being, I would have failed as soon as I entered..."

Lin Yang grinned.

His strength was only comparable to half-step Dao Above; killing a half-step Dao Above being was very difficult.

But if it was just a beast, he could still try with various methods.

Moreover, this floor's trial had no time limit, continuing until the beast was successfully killed or he gave up.

This also gave Lin Yang more opportunities to kill the beast.

If there were still a fifteen-minute limit, he would basically have no chance of completing it.

"Roar..."

After the trial began, the beast roared and pounced at Lin Yang.

Lin Yang did not meet it head-on but engaged in a roundabout battle, while also, like in the first trial, continuously observing the beast's condition and weaknesses.

This observation lasted for half a day.

After half a day of probing, Lin Yang finally found the beast's greatest weakness.

Then, he attacked precisely.

Another half day passed, and as the Sky Tremor Bell directly smashed onto the beast's large head, the sound of passing the trial rang out:

"Trial participant Lin Yang, congratulations on passing this floor's trial. Your performance rating is Good."

"Please prepare for the next challenge. You will have thirty minutes of rest to face the next floor's trial, or you may choose to terminate this trial."

"..."

This time, Lin Yang's rating was only Good, no longer Excellent.

Lin Yang didn't mind this.

Although this floor's trial had no time limit, the shorter the time taken to kill the beast, the higher the rating.

He took almost more than a day to kill this beast.

Certainly, some half-step Dao Above powerhouses completed the kill in a very short time.

Although his cultivation was below half-step Dao Above, which seemed to give him a certain bonus in the trial rating, taking a full day was indeed too long, so getting a Good rating was already quite good.

Next, it was the third floor... the fourth floor... the fifth floor... Time also passed bit by bit.

Unconsciously, a millennium had passed since Lin Yang entered the Asking Dao Pavilion.

During this millennium, Lin Yang also successfully passed the forty-ninth floor of the Asking Dao Pavilion.

This speed was neither fast nor slow and did not attract anyone's attention.

Because he was not the first person to participate in the Dao Above trial with cultivation below half-step Dao Above.

Moreover, he hadn't even reached the fiftieth floor, so he couldn't cause any stir.

The fiftieth floor is the watershed of the Asking Dao Pavilion.

After this floor, the difficulty doubles.

Only after reaching the fiftieth floor will it somewhat attract people's attention.

After passing the forty-ninth floor's trial and resting, Lin Yang appeared in the trial space of the fiftieth floor.

This floor again featured a puppet, which looked similar to the one on the first floor.

But the condition had changed to defeating the puppet within half an hour.

"This difficult?" Lin Yang was a little surprised.

Although the puppet looked the same as the one on the first floor, with no signs of being stronger, and the time limit had doubled from fifteen minutes to half an hour, the condition for passing had changed to defeating the puppet.

This was a half-step Dao Above puppet; it wouldn't get hurt, let alone die.

The difficulty of defeating it and the difficulty of enduring its attacks for a certain period were completely different, like heaven and earth.

Although he had passed forty-nine floors of trials over the past millennium and improved in all aspects, he still wasn't very confident about defeating a half-step Dao Above puppet in half an hour.

Because, it was conceivable that this floor's puppet would definitely have more combat techniques than the first floor's, with fewer and harder-to-find weaknesses.

And it was true.

Just like the first floor, after the trial began, his Dao power was still restricted, and he could only defeat the puppet through close-quarters combat.

And this puppet indeed unlocked more combat abilities and more comprehensive response capabilities, making it much harder to deal with than the one on the first floor.

"With my current strength, if Dao power wasn't restricted, I might have a chance if I fought hard, but with Dao power restricted, there's basically no hope."

After a few brief exchanges, Lin Yang's heart sank.

He basically had no chance of passing this floor.

Although it seemed to be the same puppet, the weaknesses discovered on the first floor were completely useless; this floor's puppet completely circumvented all the weaknesses the previous puppet had.

"No wonder the fiftieth floor is a watershed. Even ordinary half-step Dao Above cultivators would probably find it very difficult to pass this floor in one go, needing to come multiple times to find the puppet's attack habits and weaknesses."

Lin Yang was also a little unwilling.

After all, this was his first entry, and if he could pass the fiftieth floor in one go, there would be an additional Asking Dao point reward.

This was not a small sum.

If he couldn't pass this time, there would be no additional point reward when he came a second time.

Lin Yang dealt with the puppet while pondering countermeasures.

But after much thought, he truly couldn't find a way.

Finally, he spoke to the System: "System, do you have a way to quickly find this puppet's weaknesses?"

Since coming to the High-Level Spacetime, he hadn't used the System's abilities for a long time.

The System had also remained silent.

But now he had no choice but to use it.

The System's voice, as always, sounded after Lin Yang's inquiry:

"Host, this System can find the precise weaknesses of this puppet, but it requires some time for analysis. Each second of the analysis process consumes one billion national treasure value. Do you wish to confirm activation?"

"...One billion national treasure value per second?!" Lin Yang was a little speechless.

This price... hmm... it's not outrageously expensive... after all, unlocking a database used to cost hundreds of billions or even trillions.

This was analyzing the weaknesses of a half-step Dao Above puppet. To be honest, this price only seemed very expensive at first hearing, but it wasn't too outrageous in reality.

"Activate! Immediately find this puppet's weaknesses!"

Lin Yang chose to activate the function without hesitation.

One billion per second, although it sounded expensive, with the System's ability, it definitely wouldn't take long.

And it was true; the System replied directly: "Received. Weakness analysis has begun. Estimated time needed: thirty seconds."

"Thirty seconds? That's only thirty billion." Lin Yang blinked.

This price was completely within an acceptable range.

Thirty seconds passed in a flash.

"Host, hello. Weakness analysis is complete. Please check the analysis report."

The System promptly sent a report to Lin Yang.

Lin Yang quickly read through it and praised: "System, you truly live up to your name! You can analyze an existence with half-step Dao Above strength so comprehensively!"

The analysis report provided by the System was indeed too comprehensive, almost containing an analysis of all aspects of the puppet.

It included where to attack, how to attack, what method to use for attacking, attack duration, and changes in methods, all of it!

This thirty billion national treasure value was well spent!

"Thank you for the Host's praise. It is this System's honor to receive your recognition!"

"..."

Lin Yang laughed heartily, then stopped talking to the System and turned to look at the puppet's... crotch.

Yes, that's right.

The puppet's biggest weakness was its crotch!

"This design is too clever. A normal person's thinking would probably never consider this place first, no matter what..."

Lin Yang marveled at the bizarre thought process of whoever designed this weakness.

A normal person's weaknesses are usually in the heart, dantian, and head.

Although a puppet isn't a real person, it would usually follow this design principle.

Even if there were changes, or it was made harder to attack, it wouldn't go to the crotch... After all, as a normal person, who the hell would think a puppet's weakness would be there... While speechless, Lin Yang didn't hesitate and directly kicked it.

At the same time, the Sky Tremor Bell also directly smashed over.

Bang.

The puppet instantly seemed to suffer a heavy blow, its body flipping straight over.

"...Bizarre!"

Watching this strange scene, Lin Yang's mouth couldn't help but twitch. (End of Chapter)