When those words entered Maria's mind, a blinding light appeared, causing her to shut her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was in a different area.
"Welcome to the next test, Candidate! Now that you have proved your affinity, talent, comprehensive abilities, and capacity for making unique skills, it's time to move on to combat prowess! In the Cultivation World, only the strong reign supreme! Talent means nothing if you lack the strength to keep you alive! Prove your worth by defeating all of the enemies! However, should you not be able to pass this test, your only other option is death! Good luck!"
For some reason, when Maria heard the feminine voice this time, there was a hint of anger in its voice. She wondered if maybe an actual person was watching over this inheritance, but then she shook her head of these thoughts.
Whether or not a real person is watching her doesn't matter; she only cares about the inheritance. This is likely her only chance at being able to keep up with Mira's rise in strength.
All of a sudden, Maria sensed someone charging at her. She looked over and noticed that it was the silhouette of a person at the Peak of the Foundation Realm.
Maria didn't say anything and instead took out her sword and directly chopped the silhouette in half in one strike.
After she killed the first person, two more at the Peak of the Foundation Realm appeared and charged at her.
Maria shook her head and cut them down just like the first. This went on until she was surrounded by 50 people at the Peak of the Foundation Realm.
Still, Maria was able to cut them down without much trouble. Though it's not like these guys are weak, she's just incredibly strong. Her bodily strength is far higher than what her cultivation shows due to tempering it with the Magma Dragon Body Technique.
She's also gone through countless brutal training sessions against Mira and has been forced to fight in numerous life and death battles. Those in the Foundation Realm are simply not a match for her.
After defeating the last group of Foundation Realm silhouettes, this time, a Peak-Stage Rank 5 beast silhouette popped up and charged at her.
Maria sighed and cut it down just like the others. She was a little disappointed in this test as she wanted to fight stronger beings. She wanted to know just how strong she truly was.
A while later, Maria cut down 50 Peak-Stae Rank 5 beasts, and someone stronger finally showed up! A Stage 1 Core Formation Realm silhouette showed up and charged at her!
Maria grinned and began slashing at it with her sword. Unfortunately, it was still a bit too weak, and she was able to take it down in under 20 blows. Maria would've been able to defeat it quicker, but she hasn't really fought against any Core Formation cultivators yet and wanted to test just how strong they are.
When she defeated it, two more Stage 1 Core Formation Realm silhouettes popped up and charged at her.
Maria used this time to get used to fighting against numerous Core Formation Realm enemies as she assumed that she'd have to keep facing numerous of them in battle until she reached the end of this test.
It turns out Maria was right because every time she killed all the silhouettes, even more, would pop up and charge at her.
Luckily, she only needed to face 10 Stage 1 Core Formation Realm experts before it switched over to Low-Stage Rank 6 beasts.
This continued until she could defeat 10 Low-Stage Rank 6 beasts at once. Afterward, she was finally given a break!
She utilized the next hour well and was able to refill her energy and stamina completely.
After the break, Stage 2 Core Formation Realm silhouettes started popping up, which took her a bit longer to defeat as they were at least 50% stronger than those Stage 1 silhouettes. Still, they didn't prove to be much of a problem until she had to face 5 of them simultaneously.
Unfortunately, unlike the other battles, she wasn't able to get away completely unscathed. She received a few cuts and bruises, but it wasn't enough to affect her combat ability.
When she defeated the 5 Stage 2 Core Formation Realm silhouettes, a Stage 3 silhouette popped up and attacked her.
Fortunately, Maria was ready for the attack, but when their weapons met, it was clear that Maria was reaching her limit. She used her Light Transference ability to increase her power a bit more, but the two of them still went over 100 blows before Maria was finally able to defeat the opponent.
She also came out of the battle with numerous cuts, gashes, and bone fractures. These injuries would affect her combat power slightly, but she could still fight at almost full capacity if needed.
Luckily, she didn't need to, as she was given a break to rest and heal up after defeating the silhouette.
When Maria was nearly healed up, two more Stage 3 Core Formation Realm silhouettes appeared and attacked her, but after fighting the previous one, she gained a bit more experience, so she wasn't nearly as sloppy as before.
Of course, things didn't go quite as she had wished since she was facing two enemies that were multiple stages above her in cultivation, but after trading hundreds of blows, Maria was finally able to take them down. However, she suffered the consequences of fighting enemies slightly above her in power.
She had many bone fractures, several deep gashes, and several broken bones by the end of the fight, but thanks to Mira's hellish training, she could still fight even under such circumstances. By this point, she could barely feel the pain of breaking a bone as Mira would break her bones nearly every day!
Although she used to hate it when Mira would bully her like that, it's in times like these that she really cherishes those experiences. Because of those experiences, she can continue fighting in situations like this.
After defeating two Stage 3 Core Formation Realm silhouettes, she was given multiple days to rest and recover, which she took full advantage of.
Fortunately, her body is full of vitality, thanks to the Magma Dragon Body technique, her bloodline, and the Light Element. In just a few days, she was able to make a full recovery and was ready to face her next and hopefully final enemy.
Just like she thought, a Stage 4 Core Formation Realm silhouette popped up and immediately charged at her. However, Maria noticed that this silhouette was at least twice as strong as the Stage 3 silhouette she had faced before!
Maria had no intention of going into a battle of attrition against an enemy that was clearly stronger than her and had much more energy to spare. So, instead, she decided to put 85% of her power into her first strike, hoping to end the battle before it even began!
She increased her power with the Light Transference ability to empower her body, gathered all of her Qi around her sword, and covered it with her Light Dao.
*WHOOSH*
The air shook, and her sword looked like it had vanished only to reappear behind the silhouette. The silhouette stopped moving, and soon after, its head flew in the air, and it disappeared.
Maria fell to her knees, gasping for air. Using all of her energy like that places an incredible burden on her body. Luckily, she didn't use 100% of her energy on that strike, or else she would've passed out right after the attack.
It's also great that her body is so strong, or else she wouldn't have been able to defeat the silhouette.
For the next few days, Maria spent her time recovering her energy reserves and reflecting on the last few battles. At first, she thought that the last silhouette should be her final battle, but then she remembered that at the beginning of the test, she fought beasts of similar power as well.
She assumed that her next battle would be against a Mid-Stage Rank 6 Beast, and she was proven right in a few days. However, when she faced off against the beast, she didn't feel the need to use a full-powered strike right off the bat. From what she could tell, although the beast was stronger than a Stage 3 Core Formation Realm cultivator, it wasn't as strong as a Stage 4.
So, Maria used this time to gain some experience against Mid-Stage Rank 6 beasts and how powerful they are.
After exchanging nearly a thousand blows, Maria finally put an end to the battle. When the beast disappeared, a blinding light shone around her, and Maria knew she had finally passed the combat prowess test.
***
Thank you to Zg_Happy for gifting me a Castle worth 5000 coins! I really appreciate the support! I'll be uploading another chapter later today as well, but that probably won't be for at least another few hours.
