Chapter 16: Just because you can't do it, doesn't mean others can't

The air suddenly grew quiet—the most dreaded kind of silence.

Li Jing and Kong Wu were left staring wide-eyed at each other, their faces filled with confusion.

Both were pondering the same question.

How did the knife shatter just like that?

Among the test-takers, Yi Xiuzhu slightly narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Li Jing carefully.

Kong Wu's steel knife wasn't an ordinary blade.

It was standard equipment issued by the Assistant Inspector Department.

Compared to the magic-level standard equipment issued by the patrol bureau, the equipment of the Assistant Inspector Department was much more mundane.

But, even so, this equipment was made from special material and it had the ability to house Spiritual Qi, thereby enhancing the strength of the blade.

Ordinary blades could not accommodate Spiritual Qi.

Kong Wu had not poured Spiritual Qi into the blade, leaving the steel knife's true strength unutilized.

However, the steel knife was crafted with the capacity to hold Spiritual Qi as its foundation. Even without infusing it with Spiritual Qi, the sturdiness of the blade far exceeds that of a regular knife; it doesn't easily shatter.

Kong Wu didn't exert his genuine strength, merely hacking casually.

And then the knife was broken.

The issue could only be with Li Jing.

While pondering this, Lu Yangcheng, who had also completed his skill evaluation, spoke up.

"This Li Jing has some tricks up his sleeve. He must have learned some kind of defense spell with a counter-impact effect."

Everyone present had at least Second Realm abilities.

Whatever Yi Xiuzhu could discern, they could too.

Upon hearing Lu Yangcheng's words, the crowd had an epiphany. Their gazes turned peculiar as they looked at Li Jing.

Defense spells with a counter-impact effect weren't rare, but they were very difficult to practice.

Normal defensive spells can be enhanced with regular practice.

But defense spells with a counter-impact effect are different; they can only improve with continuous impact.

The process is akin to enduring arduous training in martial arts dramas—extremely masochistic and slow.

It requires accumulating experience day by day, and enduring continuous beatings.

Such spells are troublesome to practice, and progress is slow.

To achieve tangible results, one must specialize.

For those capable of entering the Second Realm, Second Realm magic is just a transitional phase. Who would be willing to specialize in a single defensive spell?

Looking back.

Defensive spells with a counter-impact effect may not necessarily be more formidable than other spells of the same level, with some even weaker.

Their characteristic is merely having a counter-impact effect.

The only ones who would specialize in it are stubborn Alien Species.

Unlike everyone else, when Yi Xiuzhu heard Lu Yangcheng speak, he glanced at him as if looking at an idiot.

"Don't jump to conclusions so quickly. If this guy called Li Jing really knew a defense spell with a counter-impact effect, don't you think Inspector Kong would have been prepared beforehand?"

Lu Yangcheng was taken aback by this unexpected confrontation.

He frowned and glared back.

Although he wouldn't lose his temper when dealing with a Third Realm examiner,

Could he really remain temper-less when dealing with a co-examiner of the same realm?

But after thinking carefully, Lu Yangcheng realized that what Yi Xiuzhu said made sense.

All the spells that the test-takers needed to be assessed on were clearly recorded in the Assistant Inspector System.

Kong Wu had prior knowledge and would have taken precautions.

Suppressing his displeasure, Lu Yangcheng said,

"Then in your opinion, how was Li Jing able to shatter the steel knife?"

"The defense spell he has learned may have reached the Perfection Level,"

Whispered Yi Xiuzhu.

"No matter what the spell, once the proficiency reaches the Room-Entering Level and above, every elevation presents a qualitative leap. Upon reaching Great Perfection, the power can at least break through the realm's restriction."

He then added:

"At least in my opinion, the steel knife in Inspector Kong's hand was not shattered by shock, but because Li Jing, who was the target, was too hard, leading to the fracture upon intense collision."

After hearing what Yi Xiuzhu had to say, Lu Yangcheng reflected and raised a doubt.

"I understand your reasoning, but is there really someone in this world who can train a Second Realm spell to Great Perfection?"

"There is always someone better than you out there,"

Yi Xiuzhu remarked, nonchalantly.

"Just because you can't do it, doesn't mean others can't."

"..."

Lu Yangcheng frowned,

For some reason, he felt that Yi Xiuzhu's words carried hidden implications and seemed to be targeting him.

While the two held this conversation,

Kong Wu seemed rather confused on the other side.

He heard what Yi Xiuzhu was saying.

He too had his doubts.

According to the data recorded in the tablet, the defense spell Li Jing had learned was the highest-level spirit robe spell in the Second Realm.

The higher the spell, the more difficult it usually is to practice.

Li Jing had only registered as the Room-Entering Level, implying that he had concealed some of his abilities.

But to say that his spirit robe was Perfection Level could be a bit far-fetched.

Glancing at the broken knife in his hand, Kong Wu chose to stop pondering over it.

Anyway, Li Jing's defense spell has passed.

The level of proficiency does not matter.

The practical assessments he was in charge of were only to verify whether candidates were faking their registration information, it's not uncommon for candidates to hide their true skills.

Let's face it, personal learnings are kind of private.

If we were to really nitpick,

probably no one among these candidates would not be keeping some secrets.

After all, the registration information they filled out was only to meet the threshold for entry to the Assistant Inspector department, only a fool would reveal everything they've learnt in great detail.

Discarding the broken blade, Kong Wu rubbed the spot where the blade just snapped back and hit him in the head.

"Demonstrate the Vanishing skill you've learned."

Seeing that Kong Wu didn't care about the "accident" just now, Li Jing heaved a small sigh of relief.

His spirit robe's defense was stronger than he expected.

Because he hasn't had to use the spirit robe until now, he doesn't know how strong it is.

He doesn't particularly care about exposing his proficiency.

After all, even if he exposes it, he would merely attract attention and he doesn't need to respond to any questions.

The key thing he was worried about was whether Kong Wu would ask him to pay for the damages.

Having just learned the Vanishing skill, he only has a bit over 4000 left in his pocket, what can he use to compensate?

Stealing a glance at Yi Xiuzhu within the crowd, Li Jing carefully executed the Vanishing skill.

What Yi Xiuzhu said earlier was somewhat of a lesson for him.

He realized that a Great Perfection-level magic skill can surpass at least one realm limit.

This touched on Li Jing's knowledge gap.

In his view,

The toughness of his spirit robe isn't just due to proficiency, the use of spiritual power that has higher energy efficiency than spiritual Qi is also a factor.

This problem struck him when Chen Yuran questioned his robust Palm Thunder the night before.

At this moment, when performing the Vanishing skill, Li Jing had learned his lesson.

The Vanishing skill, like the spirit robe, is a passive skill.

Its characteristic is that it operates inside the body automatically without him having to use it deliberately.

How much power it uses is not up to him.

He had just learned the Vanishing skill an hour ago, he didn't know what kind of situation he was in.

It wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

After executing the Vanishing skill, Li Jing's figure gradually rose.

When he felt he was high enough, he chose to hover mid-air.

Seeing his steady mid-air hover from the ground, Kong Wu nodded and said,

"That's enough, come down."

As soon as Li Jing landed, Kong Wu retreated by more than ten steps.

"Use me as your target and demonstrate the attack spell, Palm Thunder."

"Ah? Use you, the examiner, as the target?"

Li Jing looked up in astonishment.

"Just do what you're told, don't waste time, there are many others waiting in line."

Kong Wu said impatiently.

"You're just at the early Second Realm stage, you can't hurt me."

"..."

Li Jing.

Thinking that Palm Thunder is an active skill and he could control how much power to use.

Given his early Second Realm strength, even Great Perfection-level Palm Thunder that can break realm limitations might not be able to hurt Kong Wu.

Li Jing hesitated slightly, then raised his hand and slapped out.

"Pop!"

A thin streak of lightning gold darted out from his palm.

At this sight, Kong Wu raised an eyebrow.

This Li Jing had hidden quite a lot!

Judging by the thickness of this Palm Thunder, it must be at the Room-Entering level.

The Minor Achievement level Palm Thunder at most would only look like a thin electric arc, it would be impossible to achieve this size.

Without much thought, Kong Wu calmly raised his hand to confront the incoming Palm Thunder.

But no sooner said than done.

The Palm Thunder collided with his palm.

At that instant, Kong Wu's face changed.

Supposedly, the electric light that hit his hand should've dissipated instantly, but instead, it broke through his defenses.

By the time he tried to seriously defend, it was too late.

"Damn!"

Kong Wu only had time to blurt out a curse before he started twitching on the spot and fell straight down.

"Bang!"

The ground was silent.

"..."

The assembled test-takers.

"..."

The perpetrator, Li Jing.