Armipotent

Chapter 1971: Anticlimactic Trial (2)

Grandmaster Xu Guanyu looked up at the remaining four aloof grandmasters, whom Tang Shaoyang assumed might be the strongest grandmasters in the Thousand Vows Pavilion. The four Grandmasters showed no reaction for a moment. It seemed like they were truly considering the offer, and he felt silly for attacking Grandmaster Peng.

’Maybe Xu Guanyu is right about me being short-tempered...’

[Or maybe you just have a violent tendency. You have followed their rules, and they keep being unreasonable with their demands and conditions. You snapped and chose violence instead of trying to persuade them with your words.] Vandir added.

[I think it’s more like a bad habit than a tendency or short temper. When things don’t go your way, even though you are being patient, you choose to solve the problem with your power. It’s a habit you pick up even before The Game, no?] Zara had a different opinion.

Tang Shaoyang felt that Vandir was right, and he agreed with Zara’s assessment as well.

Or maybe both, and Grandmaster Xu’s words have some truth in them. If I control my temper, maybe I might be less of an enemy.’

He was contemplating his encounter with the Sorc Clan. The bear beastmen he met in the Trial of God. They tried to kill him over something silly. He knew they didn’t have the power to kill him, and if he did not kill them, the Sorc Clan would not come for him.

The Sorc Clan itself was not a threat. He defeated the Sorc Clan’s Chief and almost killed him, but Arion stopped him. The Chief of the Sorc Clan tried to commit suicide against him to involve the Ancient Kingdom, and thanks to Arion, the Ancient Kingdom never got involved with him after that. That was one less enemy from one less killing.

[That’s a weakling mentality, too many ifs. The strong don’t care about such thoughts. Let’s say you spare the son of the Sorc Clan’s Chief, are you sure they will leave you alone? No! They will do something even more foolish that might even threaten your empire. They might send assassins to your world. There are many possibilities, and most of them are negative if you don’t kill that spoiled brat. He thought he could act cocky just because his sister is the Ancient Kingdom King’s consort.]

Vandir seemed to be disgusted when Tang Shaoyang thought of the incident with the Sorc Clan. Tang Shaoyang laughed when he imagined the skeleton’s upset expression. The laughter interrupted the musing Grandmaster, and some of them were offended by his laughter.

"I am sorry. While you are deciding on my offer, I have a quick chat with my spirits." He tried to explain to them that they did not laugh at them. At the same time, he imagined Vandir talking to him. "The strong man doesn’t need to apologize or explain his actions!"

[That’s not funny, you know. I am questioning your jokes right now that you can laugh over something like this.]

"Spirit?" Grandmaster Xu had a different reaction from the other grandmasters. The other Grandmasters thought Tang Shaoyang might be insulting them because they were just conscious. The spirit in his mouth might be them, but Grandmaster Xu was different. He had a genuine curiosity, which diffused some of the anger from the other grandmaster’s anger.

"Yes, one of my powers. It’s similar to a familiar, and I can talk with them in my head," Tang Shaoyang did not mind telling them that much.

"Interesting. Is it a dead spirit or a different type of spirit?"

"The dead spirit, and I don’t really want to explain more than that, Grandmaster Xu."

Grandmaster Xu Guanyu’s curiosity was not easily satisfied, but one of the aloof grandmasters interrupted them, "Focus on the matter at hand, Grandmaster Xu. After thinking about it, I do agree with the offer. The goal was to revive the Thousand Vows Pavilion, not to find a successor. As long as you agree to keep rebuilding the Thousand Vows Pavilion, then I agree with your proposal, child!"

[Isn’t it weird being called a child? Regardless of their age, they should start to put some respect in your name. Their sorry faction’s fate is in your hands right now.] Vandir made a comment in his head, which Tang Shaoyang ignored. For Tang Shaoyang, he just wanted to get over it.

Tang Shaoyang tossed the Divine Contract back to Grandmaster Xu, expecting the latter to change the content. To his surprise, Grandmaster Xu threw it back at him without changing anything.

"We can’t change the contract because we made the Divine Contract before we put our consciousness in the Thousand Halls. You just have to sign it with your blood, and we will trust you with your words to do the best for the Thousand Vows Pavilion!"

Tang Shaoyang let out a chuckle as he felt silly. What was the point of the previous scuffle if the content could not be changed? However, Grandmaster Xu Guanyu winked at him, trying to tell him something, but he did not know what it was.

He shrugged and bit his thumb and dropped his blood on the scroll. The moment his blood touched the scroll, it glowed brightly and dispersed. The scroll entered his right hand, and there was a symbol of a pavilion on the back of his palm. It looked like he had a tattoo of a pavilion, and it did not look that bad.

"That’s the sign you bear the Divine Contract for the Thousand Vows Pavilion. You can hide it if you don’t like it," Grandmaster Xu tapped his head, "You just need to use your intent, and it will disappear."

"No, it’s fine. Let’s start the trial. I think we have wasted too much on the thing that doesn’t matter," Tang Shaoyang was ready for the trial.

Grandmaster Xu Guanyu turned around and announced.

"For those of you who disagree, put our trust in him, you can test him!"

Tang Shaoyang was waiting for the trial, and he expected a fight. Based on his experience, a trial was always about a fight. He expected to fight these Grandmasters. He was waiting, but then he saw the Grandmasters burst out into lights and went up to the book outline.

The invisible golden book slowly materialized, turning into a golden giant book. Not just the normal Grandmasters, but the four top Grandmasters also burst into light. Everyone turned into light, and only Grandmaster Xu Guanyu remained.

Grandmaster Xu Guanyu had the same gentle smile, "As I said, power is not everything. Sometimes your words could work wonders, too. Temper your temper, Tang Shaoyang, and you might be able to see what you can’t see before. And I have put a note for you, the breathing technique that might help you."

"Congratulations. You have obtained all one thousand Grandmasters’ approval, and you will inherit our techniques," He pointed at the slowly materialized golden book above, "We call that Grandmasters Codex. All techniques we have developed are in that book."

Tang Shaoyang was flabbergasted and certainly confused by what happened. He was about to ask Xu Guanyu, but the latter turned into golden light particles as well, just like everyone else. He wanted to ask what about the trial, but Xu Guanyu just told him that he obtained all the Grandmasters’ approval, meaning he completed the trial.

"I don’t know why, but I feel like I am being cheated here..." He muttered in a low voice.

[I think so too. There’s something off with these people. Be ready for anything!] Vandir warned him.

Tang Shaoyang was on alert while watching the Grandmasters Codex to materialize. With the last light from Grandmaster Xu, the codex was complete. The codex grew smaller and smaller until it turned into the size of a normal yet thick book. It slowly descended and stopped in front of Tang Shaoyang, floating at his head level.

There was no instruction or anything, but he felt like the codex was talking to him. It asked him to touch the book, and he followed his instinct to touch the golden book. The moment he touched the book, there was an unstoppable force that pulled him. He tried to fight back, but he could not do anything about it.

"Shit! This is a trap!" Tang Shaoyang thought this was a trap. His vision blackened for a moment, but then it returned right away.

Tang Shaoyang raised his right eyebrow, still confused. His Chaos Eyes were active, and his bird-view vision told him that he was still on the floating island. The only difference was the Thousand Halls. The Thousand Halls disappeared, and it was just a floating island with no buildings on it.

"This is not a trap..." Still sounded confused until the System’s notification confirmed that this was indeed not a trap.

[You have acquired the seventh class, God of Martial]

[You have acquired the Thousand Vows Pavilion’s Grandmasters Codex!]

"That’s it?"

Tang Shaoyang understood there would be no class calibration since this was already the God of Martial. The highest ranked in the class. However, he expected the bonus stats and also skills, but there were none. The System did not give the notification about the skills or about the stats. This was different from what he thought.