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More swords meant she needed to be more careful in her game of cat and mouse . She managed to dodge a number of them by bending her body, dropping to the floor, jump with a burst or stopping before one reached her spot before she started running again . It certainly didn't seem elegant, but her calm expression made one think otherwise .  

"Woah, how old is this girl? She's already Golden Core level? What's her stage?" One of the remaining applicants marvelled at her ability to contend with the top . If this goes on, she'll be contending with the top of their group!

"She's got to be Middle Stage, at least! Student Ningwu and them were at that Stage too . " Another answered .

"So young and already such a high level? Really a talent!"

"Maybe I should have waited until next year to apply . . . with this many talents, I wonder if I can even get in . . . " One of them expressed his wavering in confidence .

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"Don't compare yourself to those geniuses, ah! It'll just make you hate the unfairness of the world even more . The most talented out of the normal cultivators on this continent is only Meridians level, we're still in the range, still within range . " Another tried to comfort .

Despite the discussion about her going on, Shen Tianyu didn't even twitch an eyelash . All her senses were focused on the swords coming at her from all directions . The swoosh of a blade aiming for her face, the disturbance in air current of a sword coming from her right, and the sight of a third blade coming right at her face . She jumped to the left, the only opening and kept running .

For the fourth round and onwards, rather than running out of swords, the Array used a time limit to determine if it should increase it's minion army of swords, was what she had gathered from watching the two that actually pa.s.sed this round . She surmised the higher level the round, the longer the duration the applicant had to endure the attacks . That's also one of the reasons she was running around in the earlier rounds . Countering attacks drained more energy than running away, because one had to take into account the actual weight of the swords and the weight of gravity they gained by flying at you at top speeds . Just because they were made of light, doesn't mean they weighed the same as light . Otherwise, they wouldn't do any damage to normal humans like them . Even now, she was desperately trying to conserve her energy so she could advance another round . As a Qinw.a.n.gfei and as the renowned Master of Lavender Palace and Lotus Pavilion, how could she be on the same level as other people? She must gain face for herself and her fiancee so no one would cause trouble for them in the future with the excuse that she was "unfit" for him or whatever .  

This time, numerous swords came at her from all directions, an acc.u.mulation of all the ones she had dodged and the ones in front of her . Even above her were swords falling down at her .

's.h.i.+t . Since when have swords from Arrays been able to lay traps?' A slight panic made itself to the surface of her being but she forcefully pushed it down . 'Well, this wasn't a test about running away anyays . If there's no way out, then make a way!' She gripped her sword and raised it in a fighting position, coming to a complete stop . She took a deep breathe and surveyed her surroundings, looking for where the attack was thinnest . 'Distributed evenly, it should be sixteen swords from each side . If that's truly the case, then fending off any one side shouldn't be a problem . What would be a problem is what comes after, eighty swords chasing after you doesn't give you a lot of leeway to dodge . . . And the swords are more or less puppets so their speed could accelerate at any time if the Array Core so wished it . Then, rather than going in any of the four directions on ground, there's only one option!'

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She looked up and took a general count of the swords raining at her from above and seeing that it was about the number she estimated, she jumped . The first two row of swords were swept away by a swinf of her sswords, colliding with the crowd on her left and throwing that side into disarray . The remaining two rows, seeing their comrades so easily swept aside, changed tactics and split into three groups instead, trying to surround her from both the front and sides . Relying on her cultivation to fly, Shen Tianyu shot through an opening made by the swords when they were seperating and left their range . Despite being in the air, she wasn't considered to have failed since an Array was omnidirectional, the airs.p.a.ce was still considered to be within the testing grounds .

"Wow! She's definitely Middle Stage of Golden Core Level, maybe even Late Stage! Only Golden Core Level cultivators can fly after all!" The groupies that had yet to go started gossiping in awe again .

"Truly a talent only seen once in a century . "

"I give up, there's no way I can compete with that . But she really is amazing . "

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"Imagine all he benfits we could get if we befriended her . " One of them nudged the depressed but amazed sounding speaker .

"Don't even think about it . Didn't you see? She was personally escorted by THE Zhu w.a.n.gye . As if you could approach her so easily . " A third one shot the guy down .

Despite leaving the range for a short time, the swords followed after her at top speed, this time in a ma.s.s of eighty altogether . Not stopping, she flew around the perimeter of the Array formation in a downward direction, trying to get back on solid ground without being caught .

"I say, this is only the first test, isn't she worried that using too much energy now would negatively impact her in the later tests?" One of the applicants watching asked out loud, to no one in particular .

"Who knows, maybe this is her only skill so she's trying to rack up the most points with this . Or maybe she's just showing off . " One of the applicants that were viewing her actions in a more unfavorable light offered .  

"You think so?"

Shen Tianyu kept her eyes on the swords chasing after her like homing missiles but not as much attention to the front, as in where she was heading . 's.h.i.+t!' She hit the ground harder than she antic.i.p.ated, makin her knees buckle . Thankfully, because of that, some of the swords flying closely above her crashed into the floor at the same time, embedding themselves into the the pavement due to their force . Knowing she didn't have enough time to restabilize herself, Shen Tianyu went down and did a forward roll, resulting in a fw more swords missing her and embedding themselves to the ground . She got up again and continued running forward, her expression still as coldly calm as ever . 'When is this round going to be over? Were the previous two's round four as long as this or is it just me? My legs are starting to feel heavy . . . but I want to hold on until the fifth at least . ' She wasn't so oxygen deprived she was breathing through her mouth buut if one looked closely, her breathing was getting heavier . Just as she was about to start questioning the officer, the swoos.h.i.+ng sounds of the swords seemed to stop . Unlike before, she quickly glanced behind her to confirm the swords had indeed stopped their pursuit before finally stopping .  

However, the Array core started glowing immediately after . 'This thing really doesn't give much of a break, does it?' Eighty more swords appeared from the light, joining the eighty that had been chasing her, now becoming a total of one hundred and sixty . She immediately started her cat and mouse tactic again when the swords rushed at her . Unfortunately, though she lasted longer than the girl in the shuni, she couldn't finished the round and got a small cut on her cheek while she was countering . The swords then halted and started to fade from sight and she also stopped to secretely let out a relieved sigh . 'I didn't manage to outcla.s.s anyone but I'm in the top tier of this batch . I should focus on the positive and be proud . . . I guess . Really, who thought the Department Head of the Sword Department would be so crazy as to bring something like this out for the first test?'

"Congratulations, young lady . Please promptly proceed to the next a.s.sessment station . " The officer told her as he watched her from where he stood .

"Okay . " She nodded back and sheathed her sword as she walked away from the Array Core of the Sword Formation, head held high but not to the point of exuding arrogance . Walking alone, she put her sword back beside her waist in her waistband, next to the coil of dark red that was her whip that she chose to bring this time around .

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