Chapter Five Wooden Man

  At the entrance of Mù Rén Xiàng, on that big gate, three two-feet-square characters "Mù Rén Xiàng" were carved in crimson. Pushing open the gate, a line of fifty boys and girls entered into Mù Rén Xiàng.

  As soon as he entered, Gu Chaoren looked around and saw that the wooden man alley was about one and a half meters wide, winding and curved, with no end in sight. Within the two-meter range of just entering the wooden man alley, there wasn't a single wooden man, it seemed that this area belonged to the safe zone. However, two meters away from the main gate, about three feet apart, stood countless brand new wooden men, without any signs of fighting.

  "It seems that either these wooden men's bodies are hard and fearless of attacks, or more likely, they are all ingenious mechanisms that can be replaced with a single switch at any time. Otherwise, the previous few groups would have left battle scars on them..." Gu Chao thought to himself while sizing up everything in front of him.

  Those wooden men are basically around six feet tall, with bodies made of a strange red wood, quite exquisite. The elbows, joints, arms, torso, legs and other parts are roughly similar to those of humans, while the head is square-shaped without ears or nose, only with a pair of eyeballs shining with a pale blue light.

  This is Wooden Man!

  It is said that the wooden men of Mount Tai Sect have different strengths and weaknesses. The one used to test new disciples should be the lowest grade.

  Fifty boys and girls entered the Wooden Man Lane, among whom there was a hot-tempered boy named Tusheng. Although he was only twelve years old, he was born tall and strong, and now looked like a fifteen or sixteen year old, with even a hint of a mustache.

  Only to see that the bearded man let out a loud roar: "Wooden man, take my sword." The wooden man rushed up. As he approached, he turned his long knife in his hand and slashed it towards the waist of the nearest wooden man. This butcher was at the peak of the third layer of acquired realm, and the cultivation of the third layer of acquired realm could cut out a large gap from a thick yellow hardwood with one sword.

  His sword cut down the wooden man without any movement, and it was clear that he would be destroyed by his sword in no time. A few joyful colors appeared on Butcher's face.

  "With a 'ding' sound, the place where the wooden man was struck by the knife only showed a shallow knife mark."

  "What a strong defensive power this wooden man has!" The crowd standing at the door thought.

  Tou Sheng was also taken aback, secretly shocked. However, he couldn't hesitate any longer, and saw the wooden man being chopped at the waist by Tou Sheng's angry slash, but its wooden hand suddenly shot out extremely fast, accurately hitting Tou Sheng's left shoulder during his momentary distraction, causing him to grunt in pain and retreat several steps in a row. At this time, another wooden man nearby also coordinated with it to launch a swift attack on Tou Sheng, and the two wooden men joined forces to attack him. Tou Sheng endured the shoulder pain and barely parried the opponent's 20 or 30 moves, but eventually couldn't withstand it, and was heavily struck by the wooden man on his right ribs again, causing his knife technique to become disordered. From then on, he continued to take hits, and after his defense was broken, he no longer had any counterattacking power. His right ribs, back, and other areas were continuously injured, and it seemed that he would be thrown to the ground by the two wooden men and have his head trampled under their feet.

  It's too late to talk about it now!

  Just as everyone was shocked and frightened, a man in black suddenly fell from the sky!

  Only then did the crowd notice that on the top beam of the alley, tens of feet above the ground, many black-clad figures were standing. The speed at which this black-clad figure had fallen was like a startled swallow, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Tú Shēng, swung his pitch-black sleeves, and with a gentle yet powerful force, easily deflected the wooden man's attack. With another extremely fast spin on his heels, he pulled Tú Shēng to a safe place at the side. At the same time, the black-clad figure said in a low voice: "Injured and lost combat effectiveness, test result is failure!"

  Obviously, the first loser of this group was born, and it's a good player with a relatively high basic strength ranking. This made most people's hearts tighten suddenly. Tu Sheng's loss made them roughly understand the horror of this wooden alley, with an astonishing defensive power, extraordinary attacking power, and the ability to combine attacks!

  Gu Chao also slowly noticed the people on the roof, looking up to find that there were many thick horizontal beams above the wooden corridor, and on these beams, several black-clad figures were crouching. These black-clad figures were obviously high-ranking experts from the inner sect of Mount Tai, apparently worried that someone would suffer irreparable injuries during the assessment - if it weren't for the timely rescue by one of them earlier, Tuo Sheng's head wouldn't have been trampled into a severe concussion or even become an idiot.

  Just then, another person named Zhang Yuan climbed onto the wall in a very strange way amidst everyone's screams. The wooden alley was about one and a half meters wide, with extremely smooth metal walls on both sides that clearly were not meant to be climbed. But Zhang Yuan moved slowly up the smooth metal wall with incredible agility, his entire body stuck tightly to the wall, his face revealing a few hints of a triumphant expression.

  "This is... Gecko Technique?"

  "Unexpectedly, Zhang Yuan actually possessed the rare Gecko Skill."

  "With this gecko skill, he can move forward from the wall, taking a shortcut, it seems that he is going to be the first one to pass this assessment."

  "What's known as the Gecko Skill, also called the Wall-Climbing Gecko Skill, is a mysterious technique specifically used for climbing walls. Although it doesn't belong to any particular school of martial arts, it's not something that can be casually taken out and taught either... This Zhang Yuan has really good luck, I don't know where his family got their hands on it, and they've even managed to get him to develop a bit of skill with it!"

  The people below were discussing with different expressions. Zhang Yuan was crawling on the smooth wall like a gecko, apparently wanting to pass through the wall.

  Suddenly, several wooden men on the ground jumped up with a loud noise and rushed straight at Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan was stuck to the wall, and by the time he reacted and wanted to dodge, it was already too late, and he was knocked to the ground with a loud crash.

  The ground was entirely the domain of the wooden men, and Zhang Yuan only had time to turn his face down, curl up into a ball to withstand the wooden men's siege. For a while, he didn't even dare to show his face. The wooden men's attacks fell on his front and back, shaking him until he spat out blood. Fortunately, another black-clad figure descended in time, using a gentle yet powerful force to neutralize the wooden men's attack, taking Zhang Yuan away and leaving behind only a brief verdict: "Seriously injured, failed."

  "It's no use even if I try to climb... This Wooden Puppet Array is indeed not simple!"

  But what surprised Gu Chao even more was the strength of these black-clothed men, who twice resolved Mu Ren's attacks with super simplicity, effortlessly and lightly.

  While everyone was worried about how to get through the wooden puppet array, Mu Rongying, who was at the peak of the fifth layer of the Post-Heaven realm, suddenly moved his slender fingers and drew out a knife with a "whoosh" sound. With a cold smile on his face, he charged towards the wooden puppet array alone. Soon after, a wooden puppet attacked him, Mu Rongying turned his hand, making the long knife slash at the wooden puppet. The wooden puppet blocked it as usual, but surprisingly, Mu Rongying's knife flashed by and bypassed the wooden puppet's defense, accurately slashing at its neck. This should be an extraordinary knife technique. Mu Rongying consecutively slashed three knives at the same point on the neck, and in the next instant, the wooden puppet's head fell to the ground.

  What a precise and wonderful sword technique! All three knives simply dodged the wooden man's defense and accurately cut to the same place, it's as if ignoring all the wooden man's efforts! Just like an adult collecting a child, so relaxed.

  It's really awesome!

  The day after tomorrow, the fifth layer of the boundary's peak, Murong Ying is indeed very formidable, worthy of being a small genius from a top-notch family.

  Murong Ying sneered, "The Wooden Men aren't that strong, I haven't even used seven parts of my true abilities." After finishing speaking, he charged into the Wooden Men formation. This proud and arrogant white-clothed youth actually wanted to clear the level alone.

  "One person breaks through! Isn't that too fierce?"

  "His boasting is so outrageous, can't even squeeze out 70% of his true abilities?"

  "Murong Ying is indeed worthy of being called a young genius. I think he even has a chance to get into the Huang Jin Men Pai!"

  Murong Ying is so bold, daring to rush through the pass alone, but others don't have his boldness. After a brief discussion, everyone decides to form a team. Due to previous experiences, they understand that a team of three or four people is ideal. Too many people will attract more wooden puppet attacks, which is disadvantageous.

  "Form a team, form a team! Absolutely welcome for those who have reached the fourth level of the Back Heaven Realm, and also welcome to those who have reached the third level."

  "Team up, team up! Our team has Fangyin, who is at the peak of the fourth layer of the Post-Heaven Realm, holding down the fort."

  They started forming teams one by one. As mentioned earlier, the main group of people in this assessment have strength levels ranging from Late Heaven Realm 2nd layer to Late Heaven Realm 4th layer. People like Mu Rongying who are at the 5th layer of the Late Heaven Realm are extremely rare. Because everyone's strength is basically between the 2nd and 4th layers of the Late Heaven Realm, once they form a team, naturally, high-level experts at the 4th layer of the Late Heaven Realm are the most welcome, while those at the 3rd layer are also popular. As for those at the 2nd layer of the Late Heaven Realm, they can only play supporting roles, such as being sparring partners or stepping stones; having one more is fine, but having one less doesn't matter.

  Gu Chao also tried to ask a few shouting team-up youngsters, and as he expected, the second layer of Hou Tianjing's mid-term was not welcome at all, almost no one paid attention to him, and after tossing around for half a day, he only gained a few white eyes. Their words were more euphemistic: "Sorry, sorry, we're full."

  "Directly put it: 'Which side of the Two-Heaven Boundary's second layer is cooler? Just stay on that side!'"

  。。。。。。

  After a while, all the teams set off, leaving only Gu Chao standing alone at the original location. Among the fifty people in this group, there were more than ten who had reached the second layer of the Post-Heaven realm, but most of them didn't have any relationships with each other and hadn't been able to form a team either. In the end, these dozen or so people couldn't bear it anymore and shouted loudly as they charged into the Wooden Man Alley to find their own tragic locations, leaving only Gu Chao standing alone at the entrance.

  Gǔ Chāo had experienced all sorts of tests and assessments in his past life, with over a thousand big and small exams. He had basically faced every kind of test, so he naturally understood the importance of remaining calm and thinking things through when encountering problems. Beforehand, he would use his brain to plan and strategize, thinking about how to efficiently complete a task, which was better than starting off recklessly. Since he had those black-clothed men as escorts, he felt that he could try to make a breakthrough. If he didn't even have the courage for this, then it might be very difficult for him to survive in this world of martial arts in the future.

  Gu Chao decided to test the strength of the wooden man first, although the previous candidates had tried it before. However, some things can only be grasped by trying them out personally, just like how you can't tell the depth of a river without getting in yourself.

  He then drew his tempered steel long knife and slashed at a wooden dummy. The wooden dummy didn't block the attack, perhaps because it had judged that the force of the attack was insufficient. It allowed itself to be struck, just like when it was being slaughtered. As a result, the wound on its surface was very faint. At the same time, the wooden dummy's counterattack was also quite fierce. Fortunately, Gu Chao had seen many of the wooden dummy's attacking methods and was mentally prepared. He dodged to the left in time, barely avoiding the wooden dummy's chest strike. However, even though it was only one-on-one, Gu Chao still became flustered and disheveled after just a few exchanges, looking like he was about to be injured by the wooden dummy's attacks. Frightened, he decisively retreated back to the starting point. Fortunately, the wooden dummy only chased him for one step before stopping and retreating, not attacking the starting point.

  The old man let out a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his face with his hand, and thought to himself: What should I do? Could it be that he was really stuck here after all?

  Will my undefeated record of always winning in exams be broken here? Although it's just a nerd's empty boasts...

  Gu Chao sat down abruptly at the entrance of the wooden puppet alley, staring blankly. This had been going on for about a quarter of an hour, and an hour could be divided into eight quarters.

  Gu Chao leaned on his chin, thinking slowly and calmly. Due to the many storms he had experienced in his past life, he was not anxious at all this time. He could always remain calm and composed, which was a good trait he had developed since his previous life. Thinking was better than acting, and imagination was better than action. As he thought, Gu Chao even took out peanuts from his pocket and chewed on them one by one.

  When thinking, I unconsciously chew on something, which is also a habit brought from my previous life. Although when thinking, the taste of food can't be tasted.

  As I was thinking, time kept flowing non-stop. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck me and I recalled the words of Nan Gongyuan, the elder with crane hair and childlike face from the Mount Tai sect. At that time, Nan Gongyuan said: "This assessment will test your actual strength, teamwork ability, observation skills, as well as wisdom." Note that this sentence mentions four abilities.

  As for strength, fighting against wooden men is naturally considered strength.

  Teamwork ability in teams of three to four people.

  However, charging into the wooden dummy alley like others doesn't require emphasizing observational skills and wisdom, does it?

  That elder Nan Gong Yuan would not utter two useless words at a critical moment like this, so there must be a place in this assessment where observation and wisdom are required! There must be a way to pass the assessment through observation and wisdom!

  Now just wait for yourself to observe.

  The first chapter was delivered today, and the new book has just been released. Collection and recommendation are very important, so both are requested.