The strength-testing platform possessed an aura vastly different from the spiritual test. It was imposing, and struck fear into the weak-willed.

Why?

That was because, stabbed into the wall at the far end of the hall, was a lone black sword with an extremely terrifying aura.

This black sword was infamous.

Known as Hatred's Bite, it had been put there by the Cedar Sect forefather, who killed the terrible evil spirit that wielded it in a battle to the death. Since then, no one had been able to remove it.

Hatred's Bite had a unique property – it could manipulate the strength of the gravitational field around it, and selectively 'bend' this field to only envelop a single person. Of course, without a proper master the sword could only perform its most basic functionality - which was a fixed heavy gravitational field that exerted a greater force for each step you took towards it.

Combined with an enormous boulder, this made the perfect strength test.

The man in charge of the exam had an elevated mood due to Ryan's performance. He was satisfied by this year's examinees in general, and even happier that they were able to find such a good seed! The Cedar Sect's speciality after all was to polish even ordinary gems to brilliance.

But with each subsequent examinee his elation wore away.

Earlier, there had been several girls and boys who had performed well in the exam, managing to walk eleven metres towards the sword. This was pretty good for the servantship entrance exams.

Then that Ryan boy was impressively able to achieve eight metres with no cultivation whatsoever! The examiner was excited, wanting to see more miracles occurring.

But unfortunately he was disappointed again and again. He had just sent off two examinees who failed in the very first metre!

Clouds gathering over his brows, he finally called out Van's number.

A young man of approximately thirteen years of age walked out.

Something about him seemed familiar – Ah! He was wearing the same villagers' clothing as the impressive young man from before.

Both the other examinees and the examiner in charge realized this. They inspected Van from head to toe.

Hm..it didn't seem to likely that there would be another miracle?

This boy was slightly shorter, but his expression was far calmer than the previous boy.

The examinees murmured amongst themselves. They wondered if one tiny village could produce two monsters. Surely not. A puny village? Someone replied arrogantly. An insignificant village was already beyond lucky to produce even one freak!

The examiner cleared his throat.

"Please proceed to the platform and stand beside the boulder. When I give the signal, you will have five minutes to walk as far as you are able to. Understand?"

Van nodded, stretching his muscles.

He leapt up onto the platform with a sense of heroism in his air. Without fear, he stood beside the boulder. He was ready for the signal.

"Ready, steady..lift!"

A fierce aura suddenly shot to the skies.

Van's muscles bunched up underneath his skin. There was a moment's pause. And then -

Hu!

The massive boulder was hoisted into the air!

The murmuring audience were silenced. They looked at him, completely stunned.

This contestant continued forwards. Unlike the other boy, he did not shake or teeter about.

The spectators looked at the thirteen-year-old kid and at the gigantic boulder he was holding as if it were a giant pillow.

There was no sense of pressure or stress on his face at all!

If they could not hear his heavy and dull footsteps on the platform, they would have suspected that the rock had been switched or some other foul play. But in fact, this was the reality!

The examiner nodded his head as he watched Van. This was on par with some of the examinees from earlier. Nothing ground-breaking, but still exceptional for a villager if they had reached first level of Qi Distillation.

Van proceeded stably.

He easily passed one metre.

Two metres were a breeze and the third metre was no harder.

The fourth? Not worth a second's thought.

Like this, Van continued smoothly passed the fifth metre.

The audience sucked in a cold breath.

Five metres was the average stopping point for the applicants and yet he had passed it just like that! Not even one minute had passed yet.

Everyone was watching with bated breath.

Some examinees who had failed in the first metre gnashed their teeth. Wasn't this exaggerated performance just slapping them in the face?

At least the other boy had exerted himself to the fullest - face red and limbs shaking as he advanced determinedly down the path. His sincere efforts pleased the audience, causing them to cheer him on. Everyone wished to see him succeed.

But this boy?

He was proceeding so smoothly, so unhurriedly it seemed as it were a stroll in the park! Then what did that make them? Those people in the audience felt as if they had swallowed a fly.

At least pretend it is difficult, okay?

The examiner watched with crossed arms. This one had reached the fifth metre without a single pause. This was indeed worthy of note.

Van wouldn't have cared one bit of what they were thinking, even if he had been able to hear them. He continued forwards and enjoyed the pleasant burning sensation in his arms and legs.

Truthfully, he wanted to push himself and see how far he could go. Twenty metres, twenty-five, thirty? Could he make it to forty out of the one hundred?

Distracted by his thoughts, Van did not pay attention to how fast he was walking.

The crowd was utterly silenced by now. They watched his progress with eagle eyes.

He began to slow down at the seventh metre.

The audience sighed with relief.

The eighth metre was passed at an even slower rate.

Then the ninth.

The examiner already had his brush in his hand, ready to write down 'ten.' On par with the rest of the examinees. It seemed like the fortune the village these two hailed from was not shallow.

The boy stopped at the tenth.

The other examinees murmured to each other again. So, it seems he wasn't some kind of amazing freak genius after all. Still good, but not anything special.

Suddenly, they heard another footfall.

It echoed through their minds like a clap of thunder!

What!?

Impossible!