“Comprehend a secret manual?” Lin Yun and Xin Yu were both taken aback.
This meant the trial posed no mortal danger.
But the figure had said that while this trial was less dangerous, it was far more difficult, perhaps even tougher than the last?
This made both Lin Yun and Xin Yu tense.
“What? Hearing me say it’s difficult, are you scared?” the figure asked, eyeing them.
“Scared? I thrive on challenging trials, they get my blood pumping!” Lin Yun’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“I hope you maintain that optimism in the coming trial,” the figure said.
Lin Yun shrugged with a smile.
The figure continued, “One more thing, this trial offers only one attempt. Failure means your journey ends here. You can choose to delay the challenge and return later. Since you’ve passed the previous trials, you can come back unobstructed. Will you begin now?”
“Only one chance?”
Lin Yun and Xin Yu exchanged glances.
In earlier challenges, like the three arena battles, failure allowed retries as long as one’s strength sufficed.
A single attempt raised the stakes, as there was no room for error.
Failure meant being forever barred from this relic.
This instantly piled more pressure on Lin Yun.
“You two, will you start now or consider it further?” the figure asked.
“I’ll start now!” Lin Yun answered decisively.
He knew that studying a manual differed from combat.
If this trial involved fighting a powerful foe, Lin Yun could improve his strength and try again. But this trial tested comprehension, perseverance, and willpower.
Whether now or later, it made little difference to Lin Yun.
“I’ll start now too,” Xin Yu said.
“Very well, you’re both decisive. Please sit on the cushions ahead,” the figure instructed.
Lin Yun and Xin Yu walked forward and sat on the cushions.
A surge of information flooded their minds.
*Cang Lei Palm*.
A formidable, domineering Origin-level attack manual, comprising nine palms, though only the first seven were transmitted.
“You’ve received the manual. Within thirty years, master the seventh palm to pass, fail otherwise. The trial begins now.”
With that, the figure vanished.
An Origin-level manual, requiring mastery of the seventh palm—not even the ninth for perfection—was still immensely difficult.
Mastering an Origin-level manual to near perfection in thirty years was, frankly, daunting.
Lin Yun’s *Shadow Sword Art*, also Origin-level, remained far from mastery despite years of study.
But this trial offered no retreat.
Lin Yun dove into studying *Cang Lei Palm*.
He began by skimming the manual, then focused on the first palm.
Once he understood it, he started practising.
About a day later, Lin Yun raised his hand, threads of lightning crackling across his palm. With a wave, a palm shadow imbued with lightning formed in the air.
He then dispersed it.
“First palm, done!” Lin Yun smiled.
With his foundation, the first palm was effortless.
He moved on to the second palm…
…
Five months later.
“Phew, fifth palm, done,” Lin Yun exhaled deeply.
Having reached the Myriad Realm, his comprehension was exceptional, and his foundation made the earlier palms straightforward.
But progress slowed as complexity grew. The fifth palm took four months.
Two more palms to pass the trial!
“Next, the sixth palm,” Lin Yun murmured.
With the room’s time flow difference, thirty years were available, and only five months had passed, leaving ample time.
…
Time slipped by silently during study.
Three years passed in a flash.
In the quiet chamber, Lin Yun shook his head helplessly.
Since mastering the fifth palm, he’d spent three years on the sixth with little progress.
The sixth palm’s complexity was staggering, requiring intricate internal energy constructs in an instant.
His swift progress on the first five relied on his foundation, but from the fifth, things slowed. The sixth felt like a bottleneck, akin to his stagnation at the eleventh form of *Shadow Sword Art*, unable to grasp the twelfth.
For three years, Lin Yun relied on time to grind through, hoping accumulation would yield insight. Cultivation demanded such patience.
But after three years, a grim realisation hit.
“At this rate, in thirty years, I’ll at most master the sixth palm. The seventh? Impossible!” Lin Yun shook his head.
Based on these three years, he judged that by the thirty-year limit, the sixth palm was his ceiling, with no hope for the seventh.
Unlike *Heaven Shaking Hand*, which relied on physical strength and was easier with sufficient power, *Cang Lei Palm* was Origin-level, far surpassing the Heavenly Dao-level *Heaven Shaking Hand*. The difficulty gap was vast.
The power difference between Heavenly Dao and Origin-level manuals was immense.
Lin Yun’s mastery of *Heaven Shaking Hand* made it formidable, but a fully mastered Heavenly Dao manual could outshine an Origin-level one stuck at early stages. However, at higher levels, the gap widened.
The cultivation difficulty mirrored this divide.
