Chapter 3720 — The Defense Competition

One thing worth noting during those three days was that the ten spirit jades Wei Zhao had received as the additional reward for placing first in the rear-mountain trial were immediately besieged by the other newcomers after Li Zhengming had led the way. They swarmed around him like sharks that had scented blood, and within a mere three days, they had traded away every last piece of discarded jade.

Adding in the results of the ore he had secretly mined and pocketed over the past few days, Wei Zhao now had nearly four hundred and fifty spirit jades in hand. That was still some distance short of the thousand-jade price of the Star Ink Stone, but there was still a fair while before the next opening day of the Inner Street, so Wei Zhao was not especially anxious.

In fact, even if he came up short when the time came, he had a way to make up the difference. Of course, it would be ideal beyond measure if he could save up enough spirit jades before then.

In any case, that rare Star Ink Stone, obtainable only by the merest stroke of fortune, was something Wei Zhao was determined to have.

The three days passed in a flash. Once again, all the newcomers of the Three-Storied Pavilion gathered in the main hall of the Newcomer Welcoming Pavilion, each rubbing his fists and brimming with ambition. Unlike the first stage, the test of resisting oppressive force, this second stage required them to go nowhere else. It could be completed right there on the Newcomer Welcoming Pavilion's own grounds.

Before learning how to strike, one must first learn how to take a blow. Otherwise, no matter how formidable one's strength, one's development would be lopsided, leaving one a cripple liable to have one's fatal weakness seized. Even street thugs understood this principle, let alone these lofty cultivators present here.

Yet understanding the principle, however clearly, did not mean they were willing to work hard at it. The reason was simple: from every angle, this was unquestionably a thankless, laborious undertaking.

Never mind that high-grade defensive martial techniques were scarce to begin with. Even if they were fortunate enough to obtain one, they might not be willing to spend immense effort and pay a tremendous price to cultivate it. At the end of the day, defense was passive. If no one came to attack you, then no matter how heaven-defying your defensive ability was, it amounted to nothing more than a useless ornament.

After all, defensive ability was far less intimidating than powerful offensive ability. Two experts of the same level, once one of them had mastered a formidable offensive martial technique, could kill for treasure, venture into secret realms, acquire more cultivation resources, and rapidly advance even further, creating the legendary snowball effect.

But what could a defensive expert do? Apart from being somewhat harder to kill, nothing at all. Against a stronger opponent, of course, the situation was hopeless; but even when facing an expert of the same level, he could only find himself in the awkward position of passively taking a beating.

His sole advantage was no more than being able to endure a few more blows than others. But if he encountered a stronger opponent, what use would that vaunted defense be against a more advanced level of overwhelming offense? Even a tortoise shell would be smashed apart one day. The only difference was whether that day came sooner or later. Nothing more.

This was not merely a matter of whether one could save face. More importantly, it was all too easy to fall behind and become a stepping stone for other experts who had once stood at the same level.

Even taking the most charitable view, suppose one belonged to a small team in which everyone had different specialties and worked together. An exceptionally powerful defense could indeed produce unexpected results at many critical moments. But whenever mortal danger appeared, as the team's defensive expert, would you not have to stand at the very front of everyone else?

Put nicely, such a person was a powerful shield. Put less kindly, he was cannon fodder. Whenever a lethal threat appeared, the defensive expert standing at the front would certainly be the first to die.

Putting oneself in his place, who would willingly become a role that was useless in ordinary times, yet the first choice for cannon fodder when it truly mattered?

Everyone had selfish motives. Thus, during cultivation, the overwhelming majority made the same choice without prior agreement: even knowing full well how important defense was, they devoted most of their effort to offense and movement techniques, and absolutely refused to spend too much time on defense. Even if that left behind a fatal defensive weakness, they were willing to accept the risk.

This was not stupidity, but a helpless choice forced upon them by the realities of their circumstances. If they did not act this way, they might never even reach their present heights, much less have any grand future ahead of them.

Yet although the theory that defense was useless had become a bloody reality acknowledged throughout the cultivation world, that same world also shared another consensus: the truly top-tier experts had always been complete in both offense and defense, and never allowed themselves a weakness in the latter.

If someone possessed only overwhelming offensive power but had achieved little in defense, then even if he managed to make a name for himself for a time, he would never live long. Any ordinary expert of the same level could ambush him and send him to his death.

Experts who excelled in both offense and defense had no such concern. That was why they could live longer, and why their reputations naturally grew greater as well.

The Three-Storied Pavilion had spent every sort of resource cultivating these newcomers. It was not trying to produce false experts who knew only how to attack and not how to defend. What it needed were true experts, complete in offense and defense, capable of becoming pillars of strength.

Therefore, in an important newcomer assessment, an examination related to defensive ability was perfectly natural.

And the method used to test defensive ability this time was simple and brutal. In two words: take a beating.

Every newcomer taking part in the test could freely choose a full-power strike from a given level of strength. As long as he could withstand it and recover from his injuries within the allotted time, he would receive the corresponding number of assessment points.

Just as with the points for the first stage, the test of resisting oppressive force, the points for this stage likewise consisted of two parts.

One was the strength score, determined by the level of strength selected. The late Heaven-stage peak corresponded to five points, the Heaven-stage grand completion to ten, the early Foundation Establishment stage to twenty, and the early Foundation Establishment peak to thirty. There were no levels beyond that.

After all, the strongest among these newcomers were at most early Foundation Establishment experts. Being able to withstand an early Foundation Establishment expert's full-power strike head-on was already exceedingly rare. As for a full-power strike from someone at the early Foundation Establishment peak, even Kang Zhaoming and the others had a ninety percent chance of being killed instantly.

As for the level above that, they need not even think about it. Even if someone lost his mind and wished to challenge it, the Newcomer Welcoming Pavilion would never agree. That would not be a newcomer assessment. It would be blatant murder.

(.)RU

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