Harry stepped forward and decided to use his full strength since he didn't have any special techniques.
He combined Qi cultivation with pure body cultivation and soul cultivation, something impossible for others because they mostly cultivate their pure bodies just to increase their Qi cultivation. They couldn't use the raw power of their pure body cultivation to its full extent, but there were always exceptions.
Currently, Harry had almost double the power he should have. He couldn't imagine the day when his soul cultivation would match the other two.
Harry controlled his strength a little and simply punched the wall. The numbers started going up: 1000... 1100... 1200... 1329.
The numbers came to a halt. Liam, Tyler, and Meru had expected such results, so they were not surprised. Liam felt happy and sad at the same time because his friend had surpassed him despite being at a lower level. Blake and the others' eyes were about to pop out.
"It seems like he matched your expectations," the lady said to Aiden when she saw him smiling.
"He surpassed them," the instructor said with a dubious smile. 'Soul body, it seems like we found another talent,' Aiden thought to himself, nodding in satisfaction.
"We will move to the next part," another instructor announced.
"I think my decision to control my power was good," Harry thought, feeling pleased with the results because he believed he had done enough to impress. Little did he know, he had already piqued Aiden's interest.
"For the next round, you will have to fight one of us one-on-one," the instructor announced.
"So what if you are powerful? You have to show your combat abilities," Blake said, passing by Harry's group.
The fights started one-on-one, but none of the candidates were able to touch any of the instructors. When Blake fought, his style was more flashy. Although he was also unable to land an attack on the instructor, he showed great fighting abilities.
Tyler approached one of the instructors, nervous to fight. His hands shook as he held his daggers. He took a deep breath and calmed himself.
'Tyler, you can do it,' he reassured himself. He made his first move, swinging his right hand at the instructor. The opponent dodged the attack by taking a step back, but then Tyler's kick followed, nearly hitting the opponent's face.
The instructor ducked the kick and delivered a powerful punch to Tyler's stomach.
Tyler felt immense pain but successfully retreated while holding his stomach.
"Focus, Tyler, focus," he shook his head and yelled. Another punch came at his face, but a white line appeared on the instructor's wrist. Tyler didn't hesitate and flicked the instructor's hand. The instructor looked at Tyler with surprise and retreated several steps.
"It seems you are not that bad," the instructor said to Tyler.
"This is the second time I've heard that comment," Tyler replied, assuming a dominant position. He could no longer see the white lines.
He saw a punch coming but ignored it, seeing a white line indicating he should attack his opponent's neck. He followed the line and swung his dagger with all his might. Just as the instructor's punch stopped inches from Tyler's face, his dagger hit the neck.
Pang!
Harry and the others' jaws dropped. When Tyler's dagger was about to cut the neck, the instructor's neck turned golden, leaving a faint scratch.
"You're good. Never hesitate to kill your opponents next time," the instructor said, returning to his original place.
"Next," the instructor announced, behaving unaffected by what had happened.
Harry gulped. If Tyler couldn't leave a scratch on that golden body, Harry doubted he could do any better.
Ignoring an incoming punch like Tyler did required some guts, especially knowing it would hurt. Tyler's decision was smart because opponents are most vulnerable when they attack.
Liam's fight mirrored Blake's, with fancy moves and swift defenses. Meru, on the other hand, lived up to her nickname, "Beast," attacking head-on without any tricks. Her sheer strength worked to her advantage.
Harry noticed that every time the instructor fought, it seemed like the opponent only needed a little boost to defeat him despite their level. The same thing happened with Meru; she was close to making the instructor surrender but couldn't push him past his limit.
Finally, Meru's match ended when she became exhausted. She fought for a long time, longer than Harry believed he could maintain his full strength.
"It's a break, and then we will continue," the examiner announced.
'What? I'm the only one left. Why did they take a break?' Harry thought but didn't dare to ask. The other contestants went back to eat, but Harry was curious about the instructors' plans. He joined them, keeping an eye on what the instructors were doing.
He noticed one instructor collecting dirt in a glass container, dirt drenched with Meru's blood. Harry thought the instructor was doing something suspicious but then saw him giving the container to Aiden, the apparent leader.
'It seems he's not hiding anything but following orders,' Harry thought but then noticed Aiden looking at him. Startled, Harry took cover behind a tree. His heartbeat increased. 'He didn't see me... yes, definitely, he didn't see me,' Harry repeated to himself.
Back at the practice ground, it was Harry's turn to fight. His heartbeat quickened when he heard a deep and menacing voice.
"I will fight him myself," Aiden declared.
'Did he find out I was spying on them and now wants to kill me, claiming I was too weak to handle his attack?' Harry thought. 'No, it can't be,' he reassured himself.
"Attack with all your might without hiding your strength," Aiden stated simply.
Harry felt relieved. It seemed Aiden had only noticed that he had held back in the previous test and wanted him to use his full power.
Harry nodded, thinking, 'I can't hide anything from him. I'll show him everything.' Harry gathered all his Qi into his punch, using his soul to strengthen it and the raw power of his pure body.
The punch made ripples through the air, and others felt the might behind it. But Aiden raised his palm to block the attack, unaffected.
"It seems a raw attack won't work," Harry said. He drew his black sword from the ring. This time, Aiden's face paled, and he took several steps back.
The same reaction came from the woman who had previously stood behind Aiden.
She gulped and blurted out, "Soul Judgment Sword."