Chapter 20: Senior Female Apprentice

"Use your awakened power to strike me, and hold nothing back."

After Luo Er spoke, she waved her hand, indicating Nan Jin and Zhong Wei should move farther away.

Then, she closed her eyes.

The girl placed one hand behind her back, and with her other hand, pointed at the center of her forehead.

"Come on, strike."

Gu Shen's forehead was slick with sweat... He had not awakened any so-called Extraordinary Power, and although he carried the Truth Ruler with him, it was impossible to use it at that moment; this secret needed to be cautiously preserved.

How to strike?

There was no way to strike!

Nan Jin silently retreated with her sword, standing alongside Zhong Wei, quietly waiting... Gu Shen's talent was only documented in records, they had never witnessed it personally.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

The training ground was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"..."

Luo Er slowly opened her eyes, but there was no disappointment in them, calm as a mirror, she lightly said with a smile, "As expected, can't you do it? You seem different from what those old folks at the Judgement Institute have guessed... If you were to go for the evaluation now, let alone an S, you wouldn't even get a C-grade."

Gu Shen clenched his hands in silence.

"That's enough."

A hand gently patted his shoulder.

Gu Shen's pupils contracted, he had not even seen how Senior Sister Luo moved, she had appeared beside him in an instant.

"Don't be discouraged. It is quite common to be unable to use Extraordinary Power due to its overuse," Senior Sister Luo chuckled lightly. "Isn't this just proof... that Zhong Wei and I came to Da Teng for a reason?"

Gu Shen was taken aback.

He looked behind him and saw the other two smiling.

Did they all think... it was because of 'overuse' that he couldn't harness the Extraordinary Power?

"Your destiny is in your hands."

Luo Er turned and walked towards the weapons rack in the practice field, filled with swords, "The evaluation is in fifteen days, and every hour from now is crucial. The special training... has already begun."

She approached the huge rack.

Without any movement from Senior Sister Luo, the entire rack suddenly trembled; the sharpened swords and blades, one after another, began to levitate... Keep in mind, these alloy-crafted weapons were very heavy, some weighing dozens of pounds!

An untrained adult male would find it difficult to wield them.

These dozens of swords and blades, collectively, might weigh nearly a thousand pounds?

Luo Er slowly turned around and at the same time, each sword and blade turned its edge, swimming through the air like fish, their blades flickering, emitting a clear tinkling sound.

She asked, "Does this scene look familiar?"

Gu Shen stared at Senior Sister Luo as if he had seen a ghost.

At this moment, Luo Er, within a ten-meter radius, was surrounded by blades, much like the scene when he first used the Truth Ruler, trying to emulate Nan Jin's Sword Domain... How did she replicate it? Was the secret of the Ruler discovered?

"I used 'Profile'."

She smiled slightly, "I went to the site of the fire last night, and what happened there... Through Profile, I reconstructed part of it. I had hoped to directly determine your Extraordinary Ability through 'Profile', but unfortunately, your image in it was too blurry."

"My Extraordinary Ability, should be... related to spiritual power."

Thank goodness, the Ruler hadn't been discovered... Gu Shen heaved a sigh of relief internally, pretending to speculate, he slowly said.

Chu Ling had mentioned 'Profile'... it is a unique power of the Spiritual type, it appears Senior Sister Luo is a Spiritual Transcendent! His use of the Truth Ruler was, in a sense, a manifestation of spiritual power, this kind of explanation should not reveal any flaws.

The backlash from using the Ruler was exceptionally swift, Chu Ling said it was related to his insufficient spiritual power... this special training with Senior Sister Luo could really help him.

Gu Shen took a deep breath and resignedly revealed his condition, "After the fire, I always felt like my spiritual power was drained... I laid down for two days, but my head is still empty, struggling to concentrate, and often feeling the pain of needle pricks."

Luo Er was listening intently, nodding from time to time.

"It's normal. Your spiritual power is too weak... It seems this requires strict training."

She waved her hand.

Zhong Wei and Nan Jin both moved closer.

"Power, speed, spiritual power, control… The Judgement Institute's evaluation is actually quite simple, assessing newcomers from these four aspects. No matter which of the three sectors you're in, you can get an objective evaluation within this four-sided scoring system."

Suddenly, Luo Er raised both hands, her back to the spacious empty space of the training ground.

The suspended group of blade lights and sword shadows suddenly became violent, and rows of knives and swords began to dance without warning.

"Rustle rustle rustle—"

Silver light filled the air like snow!

The next moment.

The dozens of hovering targets and wooden figures on the training ground were struck by the sweeping swords at vital spots like the bullseye, heart, and forehead... Sharp noises burst forth all at once, piercing the eardrums.

"In essence, Extraordinary Power has no hierarchy, just differences in combat intelligence and the degree of development. Newcomers who have just awakened, even if they possess strong origin power within, cannot perfectly control it."

Luo Er said, "Power corresponds to might. Speed corresponds to dodging. Spiritual power determines how long you can wield Extraordinary Power. And control represents precision and distance."

"Possessing strong origin power but failing to hit your target, even if you go all out, can only result in a fleeting bloom. Such Transcendents... It's hard to consider them truly strong."

A bead of sweat formed on Gu Shen's forehead, slowly sliding down, eventually dropping onto the surface of a dagger blade close by.

"Ding."

A ring of crisp, thin ripples.

That dagger, manipulated by spiritual power, hovered in front of his own cheek, its unseen edge nearly piercing through the cheek, seeping into the marrow.

This was... truly monstrous.

To simultaneously control dozens of blades—what immense spiritual power was this?

This was no intangible Sword Intent, weightless...

Moreover, unlike the frenzied slaughter aimed at the same target on his own roof… Each sword Senior Sister Luo controlled precisely stabbed into the targets, and the most terrifying thing was, she did not use sight to aid her aim at all!

This was clearly a usage of Spiritual Extraordinary powers, allowing her to perceive the world behind her, even sharper than an eagle's "gaze."

Gu Shen took a deep breath, and with difficulty, he extended two fingers, moving away the dagger now suspended right in front of him.

This dagger was only about a centimeter from piercing his skin.

Gu Shen knew that just a tremble of his hand would cause the blade to draw blood.

He did not feel fear, but rather... amazement.

This time when Gu Shen looked at Luo Er, it seemed to him that he saw the immensely powerful soul housed within her seemingly frail body.

Like a mountain, like an abyss.

The recent lecture about strength was somewhat hollow and powerless.

But when Luo Er spoke it.

It was so right, so accurate… because she was, undisputably, a strong person.

With a "buzz".

The dagger slowly floated up into Luo Er's palm.

"Want to learn?"

"Call me Senior Sister..." she said with a smile: "I'll teach you."

"...Senior Sister!"

Gu Shen nodded vigorously, "From today on, you are my dear Senior Sister!"