Chapter 935 - Sword Trajectory
As soon as Bloodsucker finished speaking, he logged out of the game.
“Is the mental burden really so heavy?” Shi Feng frowned as he watched Bloodsucker vanish.
After having observed Bloodsucker for a time, Shi Feng was certain that the man was a Void Realm expert. Even in a Super Guild, he would be an apex existence. This was also why Bloodsucker had been so confident when he had promoted his skills.
To pass the Titan Library’s inner test, a player had to rely on their techniques; their skills and equipment wouldn’t help them in the least.
Shi Feng found it hard to imagine how difficult it was to reach the central area for an expert like Bloodsucker to be rendered helpless.
When a player overdrew on their mental strength, they generally had to rest for three to five hours to recover. Even if one used an S-rank Nutrient Fluid to aid in their recovery, they would need to spend roughly an hour in the real world to recover fully.
However, players were only given three hours to choose a Skill Book in the Titan Library. If Bloodsucker rested for an hour in the real world, he would not have enough time to challenge the barrier between the inner and central areas.
“This test is vicious!” Shi Feng clicked his tongue.
If he failed once, he would lose a bottle of S-rank Nutrient Fluid. Moreover, even after recovering, he would only be able to choose a Skill Book from the inner area. If he did not rely on the S-rank Nutrient Fluid to recover, he would lose his opportunity to learn from any of the library’s Skill Books.
Only now did Shi Feng understand why so many apex experts had faltered before reaching the central area.
“Fortunately, I still have a few bottles of S-rank Nutrient Fluid. Without them, I wouldn’t qualify to challenge this test.” Once Shi Feng adjusted his mindset, he stepped into the dark barrier.
As soon as the darkness swallowed Shi Feng, he sensed something odd.
Not only did the barrier rob him of his sight, but it had also rendered him deaf.
Any expert’s combat power would drop significantly if they lost their sight, not to mention losing both sight and hearing. With both senses suddenly muted, even staying calm would be a problem, not to mention fighting.
Moreover, without being able to see or hear, one wouldn’t even know what kind of danger they faced.
Against the unknown, even an expert player’s mental state would crumble.
Fortunately, Shi Feng had experienced a similar situation in the Battle Tower. Although the circumstances hadn’t been as severe, they were not that different. Hence, Shi Feng remained calm and in control.
Although he had lost his sight and hearing, he still had his sense of touch and smell.
Hm? Something’s coming! After venturing a few steps into the darkness, he felt the air ripple against several areas of his body. However, these ripples were extremely weak. In the blink of an eye, he felt a pricking pain where he had felt the ripples. Something hit him, and he was forced three steps back.
Following which, Shi Feng tried to advance once more. In the end, however, he met the same outcome. After a few steps, he felt weak ripples, followed by the pricking pain. Particularly in the areas he had felt the previous pain, this pain doubled.
“So, that is how this works. It’s no wonder why so many experts were helpless against this test.” Shi Feng smiled bitterly after a few more attempts.
It was too difficult to sense an incoming attack by air currents alone.
As a Void Realm expert, he perceived his surroundings by pushing his five senses to their very limits. However, if he relied only on his sense of touch, it would be very difficult to predict an attack. Even if he evaded the moment he perceived the needles, he couldn’t dodge them.
Moreover, the pain he felt each time was frustrating, disrupting his calm.
“Since I can’t dodge them, I’ll have to block them.” Deciding so, Shi Feng unsheathed his swords and advanced.
After the previous attempts, he had a general grasp of the needles’ attacks.
Aside from powerful techniques and acute senses, the biggest reason why experts could become experts in the first place was their brain’s processing speed and their ability to memorize something instantly. Once one strengthened their mind, their memorization and calculation would improve tremendously. They could then run through various simulations in their minds using what limited information they had.
In this dark area, the needle attacks were not without a pattern. For each wave of attacks, the needles would target three to five locations. Based on where Shi Feng had already been struck and how many times, a total of twelve locations on his body were being targeted.
Although he could not be certain that the needles would only attack these twelve locations, knowing them was enough.
As long as he defended these points, he couldn’t be disqualified if he received a hit, even if he were hit elsewhere. At most, he would be forced to take one or two steps back and defend another location.
Following which, Shi Feng continued his advance, using his blades to form a barrier around himself as he repelled the needle attacks. Moreover, as he brandished his swords, Shi Feng refined his swords’ trajectories, little by little, gradually reducing his excess movements and strengthening his defense.
As Shi Feng had speculated, there were more than twelve targets on his body; fourteen areas were being targeted. These fourteen points seemed to contain some kind of hidden meaning. As Shi Feng improved his sword trajectories, the defensive range enlarged as well. Right now, he could block roughly 40% of all attacks aimed at him from the front.
This sensation astonished Shi Feng.
He was also ecstatic over his growth.
There were still many flaws in his sword trajectories, and his slashes were not as efficient as they could be. However, now that he could block 40% of the attacks coming from the front, he could theoretically block 20 of 50 targeted attacks launched from in front of him.
After Shi Feng had ventured 50 yards into the darkness, six to eight attacks assaulted him simultaneously. The number of targets on his body also rose from 14 to 21. The sudden change disrupted Shi Feng’s rhythm, causing him to waver back and forth over the 50-yard mark.
As attacks continuously struck his body, his pain grew more intense. The attacks were even painful enough to force a strong-willed person like Shi Feng to grit his teeth.
However, although the pain distracted him slightly, Shi Feng’s determination grew as he fought.
Now that he had to block 21 points, his sword trajectories became more complex. After half an hour of refining his techniques and eliminating unnecessary movement, Shi Feng finally pushed past the 50-yard mark. He could now block all of the needle attacks that assaulted him.
When he had ventured past the 80-yard mark, the attack count increased once more, increasing to 14 to 18 attacks at a time. Furthermore, he now had to defend 32 points. Although he only had to block another 11 areas, the necessary sword trajectories multiplied by several times. Even Shi Feng struggled to cope with this qualitative change.
Even after refining his movements for over an hour, his technique still had plenty of flaws. However, he could now block 60% of the attacks launched from his front.
After several more failed attempts to perfect his sword trajectories, Shi Feng decided to gamble. Rather than trying to block all 32 targeted points, he gave up his defense over a few that did not follow his trajectories. Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, he then attempted to cross the final 20 yards. In the end, with only 20 minutes of his three hours remaining, Shi Feng finally broke through the darkness and reached the Titan Library’s central area.