Chapter 194: I Won't! (First)

By the nine hundred meter mark, two applicants gave up.

By 1.2 kilometers, ten more dropped out.

By 1.6 kilometers, Zhong Xuhao was among the next sixteen to give up.

By 1.8 kilometers, Liu Mang joined the next twenty-four to abandon the path.

……

“Two kilometers!!”

With grit teeth, Bai Yunfei took yet another step to arrive at the zone required to become a student of the inner school.

“Wh—wheww…” His right hand fell on top of the platform with the low-earth tier soul armaments. Even now, Bai Yunfei was panting from the exertion.

“F—finally, I’m here! I’m finally a student of the inner school!” Bai Yunfei yelled out inside his head. The pressure had been almost unbearable. Bai Yunfei already knew that he wasn’t as talented as the others, so his worries had intensified. This journey of two kilometers had been rough, but it was easier than he had previously expected. In any case, he now had the right to join the inner school. That fact alone was enough to drop the metaphorical boulder off his shoulders.

“Brother Bai, are you alright?” A concerned voice asked from the side. Looking up, Bai Yunfei could see the unaffected face of Ye Zhiqiu looking at him. Off to the side, Xi Yan and Mo Xiaoxuan were both in a state similar to Bai Yunfei where their breathing was jagged.

“I’m… fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” Bai Yunfei waved his hand. Compared to before, his face was looking much better already. He didn’t know whether or not it was an illusion, but after he reached the two kilometer mark, the pressure that was pressing down on him was much better than before.

Looking up, Bai Yunfei suddenly realized that only twenty-eight people were left standing!

“Out of thousands of people, only ninety-six people managed to enter the school, and out of ninety-six people, only sixty-eight people managed to make it to the outer school while twenty-eight people managed to enter the inner school!!” Bai Yunfei managed to force out a smile. Entry to the Crafting School had been utterly low; the fact that he was one of the twenty-eight people to do so was already hard enough. That alone was no small show of strength.

Seeing how several others had managed to stifle the pressure and head impatiently toward the selection of low-earth tier, Bai Yunfei took in another deep breath himself. Standing up, Bai Yunfei walked over to where a deep-blue sword was with trepidation.

Attack: 524

Upgrade Requirement: 81 Soulpoints

Low-grade legacy equipment were on the same par as low-earth tier equipment. For the smaller sects and such, an item like this would without a doubt be considered a treasure for them. Here today, the students that were capable of joining the inner school of the Crafting School would be given them as welcoming gifts, and they would be within hand-reach as well…

Putting down the sword, Bai Yunfei looked to the others. They were looking at the soul armaments as well, but he spoke up anyways, “Let’s go further in. The further in we go, the stronger the soul armaments…”

If he was going to be honest with himself, Bai Yunfei didn’t really think he could make it to the three kilometer mark and become a disciple of the headmaster or the disciple, but for the sake of picking out a super powerful offensive weapon or a strong defensive weapon, he’d do his best to get as far as his feet could take him.

Ye Zhiqiu nodded his head, “Yes, let’s go on then…”

Seeing how Ye Zhiqiu could walk ahead without a problem, Bai Yunfei felt slightly jealous of him, “Maybe he’ll… be the one to become a disciple of the first elder or the headmaster?”

……

By 2.6 kilometers, another five dropped out.

By 3.1 kilometers, Mo Xiaoxuan and Xi Yan were among the dozen that stopped there. It seemed that the desire to grab hold of a mid-earth tier soul armament had been enough to keep them going to this point, but after they reached that hallmark, their will to continue wasn’t enough…

What had been most unexpected was the fact that Bai Yunfei—who looked as if he was on the very brink of collapsing—was able to reach the 3.5 kilometer mark!

Attack: 832

Upgrade Requirement: 90 Soulpoints

His hands laid on top of a golden spear, but he was reluctant to pick it up. Turning around, he look farther ahead—just under two kilometers in front of him, a sparkling platform holding a selection of soul armaments could be seen. This platform was only several meters at its largest point.

When he looked up, the glint of something there caught Bai Yunfei’s eyes, causing him to light up; just two hundred meters away, a golden arm bracer was placed on top of the platform. With the light from the shining stones, the bracer was lit up extra-nice.

“A bracer! I have to have it!” Bai Yunfei’s eyes lit up at the sight of the object. Since the start of his journey, defensive-type soul armaments had been the rarest to find. Thus, the sight of one now made every single other soul armament he found pale in comparison; today, he was as happy as he could be. Now that this bracer was in front of him, Bai Yunfei was determined to obtain it.

Three hundred meters ago, Bai Yunfei had Ye Zhiqiu go ahead since he himself was walking at a slower pace. As of right now, only six people were struggling to travel ahead. Several hundreds of meters ahead, Ye Zhiqiu had already walked to the four kilometer zone. Unexpectedly, there was also a fair-skinned young man next to Ye Zhiqiu. Just vaguely, Bai Yunfei could remember his name to be Tian Yuhang, the only one left with the ‘best’ talent in the fire affinity.

Exhaling, Bai Yunfei circulated his soulforce once more so that the warmth of the elemental fire could spread within his body. Evaporating the sweat that was collecting on his skin, Bai Yunfei then urged the soulforce into his legs so that he could continue walking.

With each step, another step was taken. One by one, Bai Yunfei walked…

A hundred fifty meters remained.

A hundred twenty…

A hundred meters now…

If this were any ordinary situation, Bai Yunfei could have used the Wave Treading Steps to traverse such a small distance like this, but since it was not, it took Bai Yunfei several minutes to travel the same length. Each step he took lagged behind the previous one with increasing time in between. His back was stooped now, and it looked as if he was holding a six hundred kilogram rock on his back. Even his sense of reality was starting to grow warped; his surroundings were starting to blur, and his eyes could only hone in on the dark-golden bracer in front of him.

“I can do this! I can… I will do this!!”

His mind continued to echo with roars of encouragement, and even Bai Yunfei’s lips were starting to bleed from when his teeth bit down on them from exertion. His face was twitching slightly as his mood began to affect it.

He would not fail here!!

He was well aware of his state of affair, but even though he was at the very limits of his body, his mind refused to give up with a burning passion!

He refused to to experience ‘failure!’

Ever since he had awoken his soulforce and obtained the help of Ge Yiyun of the Fate School, Bai Yunfei had been able to embark on the path of a soul cultivator. In a short half year, he was able to go from an ordinary commoner to a late-stage Soul Sprite. Combined with the Equipment Upgrade Technique to create even stronger pieces of equipment, Bai Yunfei was so proud of his achievements it practically borderlined arrogance. But still—

—what genius could say they had done the same as he!?

Ever since he had learned of the Crafting School’s existence, he had decided that nothing would suit him better than joining it. No matter how far he had to walk, it was all so that he could grow as strong as he had promised he’d be at the very start of his story.

Indeed, ever since the start of the examinations to enter the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei had been plagued with a sense of disappointment. Against the false illusion that was ‘talent,’ Bai Yunfei had been completely dependent on the help of the Upgrade Technique. When he looked to Ye Zhiqiu, his equal, and Tian Yuhang, someone even weaker than he was, Bai Yunfei was nowhere near their level in talent for ‘crafting.’ Such a thought had plagued him consistently without fail.

The way things were now, progressing farther into the cave would be extremely difficult for him, if not impossible. He knew that he’d be unable to gain the right to be a disciple now, so he’d have to quash his disappointment and settle for the second best thing. As long as he could walk just a little bit more, he’d be able to obtain an even stronger soul armament. A high-earth tier armament was beyond hope, but he’d be able to get that bracer just two hundred meters ahead of him.

Even though the bracer was within sights now, his leg were refusing to listen to his mind. They were like stone and lifting them was incredibly difficult to do. His body felt as if it had been entangled in some sort of viscous liquid that made progression all but impossible.

“Ten steps! I just need ten more steps! I can’t give up here, I just can’t!”