Chapter 0010 – If You Show Up in 10th Place, You Lose – Absolute Returns

I walked slowly along the passageway of the grotto.

The cave was airy and well-lit, not as dark and damp as I thought it would be.

Judging from the beautiful carvings on the cave walls, this place would have been in the hands of a highly skilled craftsman.

As I walked, I suddenly felt that the space around me, had undergone a subtle change.

“Buzz ……”

I knew that was the sound of the array activating.

Only someone with a high level of cultivation would be able to detect this change.

It was then that I realized that those who died in the small heavenly cave did not do so because they were unable to pass the trial, but because, rather, they were trapped in the formation and were unable to escape.

The entrance to the Little Sky Cave was a one-way passage that could only go in, not out.

Only those who had passed the trial could disarm the formation and open the exit.

……

After walking for who knows how long, I came to a wide square.

At the entrance of the plaza, there was a stone monument with the contents of the trial written on it:

I. Cut down all enemies without using sword energy or sword astral.

Second, if you fail to complete the trial within the specified time, you can challenge it again after ten days.

Third, when you’re ready, stand in the red circle.

“Ten days? What will I eat then?”

I looked around and realized that in the corner, there was a large vat filled with pepto-bismol.

“Eating this for ten days? I’ll go crazy!”

I shook my head and walked to the center of the square and stood into a red circle.

“Click click click click ……”

The ground suddenly cracked open, and dozens of wooden men, burrowing out of the ground, surrounded me.

Each wooden man was marked with a red mark, some on his neck, some on his arms, some on his legs.

Instinctively, I drew my longsword and rushed towards the mooks.

“Swish Swish Swish ……”

The sword flashed, and the wooden men fell to the ground.

Those wooden people, were not stationary, the ground under their feet, could move and change their position.

Not only that, but there are also wooden people that will suddenly sink into the ground.

“No good!”

I knew that if I let those wooden people, sink into the ground, I would never be able to attack them again, and my trial, too, would fail.

I hastily changed my target and attacked the sinking mooks.

The other woodies, too, moved quickly to try to stop me.

I rose up in the air and swung my sword at the wooden men.

“Swish!”

A wooden man who was about to sink into the ground was cut off by me.

Those wooden men, moving faster and faster, I had to be constantly alert to keep up with them.

I originally thought that this was just a trial to test my stance, but now it seems that I was wrong.

It’s more of a trial of judgment.

I have to make the right judgment in a split second to decide which target to attack first.

Only then will I be able to complete the trial within the allotted time.

Although this trial, is not too difficult, it is not too difficult for me.

I passed the first hurdle with flying colors, thanks to my previous life’s experience, and my talent.

I knew that if I hadn’t gone back in time, there was absolutely no way I could have gotten through this.

Even if I put my best foot forward, I’ll fail just the same.

I finally realized why there was a ten day break.

Many challengers, who fail at the first level, need time, to learn from their experiences and to practice their skills.

Moreover, only those with superior memory can memorize the movement trajectories of those wooden figures and find a way to crack them.

Those who are slow to respond will have to take on the challenge again and again until they succeed.

No wonder, the average passage time in the Little Heavenly Cave, is three years.

“Rumble ……”

After I passed the first level, the stone door leading to the second level, opened automatically.

I was about to walk through the stone door when I suddenly realized that on the walls, there were some inscriptions carved.

Those were the previous challengers, leaving messages.

“It took me nine tries to get it to work, hahaha ……”

“I tried sixteen times.”

“This is insane!”

“It took me thirty-seven tries before I finally made it, I was so hard ……”

“Will I die here? I can’t get through at all, I hate my father ……”

“Damn! I want to go back, but I can’t anymore ……”

“I only tried six times and it worked, I’m amazing!”

……

In these messages, I saw a familiar handwriting.

“Bunch of losers.”

That’s my father, left behind.

“Hahaha ……”

I couldn’t help but smile, it seemed that my father had passed the first hurdle after only one try.

It was so arrogant of him to call those seniors trash!

“Father, I passed in one go too! Hahaha ……”

I walked through the stone door to the second level of the trial site.

Here, too, there was a stone tablet with the trial written on it:

I. Use the sword on the wall to split the stone in half within the time it takes to burn incense, and you can use sword qi and sword astral.

Second, if you fail to complete the trial within the specified time, you can challenge it again after twenty-one days.

Third, when you’re ready, stand in the red circle.

The break, this time, became twenty-one days.

In other words, the second level is twice as difficult as the first.

“Eating the Pesuvian Pill for twenty-one days? I might as well die!”

I took a deep breath, walked to the center of the square, and stood into a red circle.

“Ka!”

A stone platform that rose from the ground, and on it, an iron ball the size of a watermelon.

“So, it’s to split this iron ball.”

Time, it’s an incense burner.

It doesn’t take that long to split an iron ball.

I scrutinized the iron ball and found that its surface, smooth and unmatched, did not look like ordinary steel, but more like a synthetic metal.

I tried to move it and realized that it was so heavy that I couldn’t move it at all without using my inner strength.

On the walls, hundreds of swords, of all types and materials, hung.

This trial, it seems, is not simple, and I must carefully select a suitable sword to complete the task.

I walked over to the wall, picked up an ordinary iron sword, walked over to the iron ball, took a deep breath, and then, slashed down hard.

“Clang!”

With a crunching sound, the iron sword snapped in response, while the iron ball, however, was unharmed.

“Sure enough, it’s not that easy.”

I switched swords, and this time, I used the blade, sweeping it across the iron ball.