World-saving Plan: The Only Savior-Chapter 659 - 496 The Awakener’s Trial (Combined)_2

Everyone initially set out from the starting point, traversing a thirty-kilometer jungle to reach a supply station.

Along the way, besides the challenging natural environment, there were various traps set up by Lord Bear. Many were eliminated right in the first round.

After making it through the first round, the group would enter a twenty-kilometer limestone area.

Here, several Awakeners would patrol continuously.

Participants needed to find ways to avoid them, which seriously tested their stealth skills.

Otherwise, once discovered, unless you could fight better than them or run faster, you were generally caught and sent back to the starting point to start over, and this was the most challenging round.

Next, they would enter Seven-star Lake and swim across a five-kilometer stretch to return to the island and face the final challenge.

The final challenge was a mutant beast, which the Star Alliance had obtained alive from a mission posted by the Wildfire Tavern.

Normally, these creatures were used as subjects for study.

However, on the day of the trial, they also served another purpose.

They acted as the ultimate bosses in the final stage, testing the trainees’ combat abilities.

Of course, for safety considerations, Awakeners provided protection covertly throughout the process, to prevent serious harm to the trainees.

The final mutant beast wasn’t anything particularly formidable; it was usually something like Mutated Black Rats or other monsters.

But even so, it was extremely difficult for ordinary people to handle them and it was impossible to win easily.

This was the first trial held by the Star Alliance since its establishment. Those who passed could participate in the Enlightenment Ceremony, join the Three Great Sanctuaries, and become an Awakener.

However, because it was the first time, many did not realize how terrifying this trial was and signed up bravely.

As a result, those newcomers who had only trained for a day or so suffered greatly, enduring unimaginable torment.

Although everyone knew that such a trial would not be easy, they did not expect it to be so horrifying.

After this personal experience, it’s unlikely that everyone will participate together in the future again.

This doesn’t mean that they had given up; they simply realized that if they were not confident, they should not lightly sign up for such a devilish trial.

After all, becoming an Awakener is everyone’s dream and they wouldn’t give up easily because of these setbacks.

The only two who passed this time were Aaron and Bena, who had trained relentlessly for days.

The injuries they had were primarily from the final boss battle.

Li Xiang envied these two for being able to participate in the upcoming Enlightenment Ceremony.

But he knew that with his current abilities, he couldn’t pass the test.

So, he had been attending every training session conducted by Lord Bear recently.

He just hoped he could pass the trial smoothly in the future and also become an Awakener who wielded extraordinary powers.

While he was daydreaming about his bright future, Li Xiang suddenly saw a familiar figure.

It was Zhang Xiaoman.

Zhang Xiaoman had just come out from the Original Realm and, passing through this training ground, had stopped to watch everyone’s practice.

Lord Bear’s ability was certainly commendable, and the training session was in full swing for the group of trainees.

Despite the hardship, everyone endured teeth-grindingly, with not a single person giving up halfway.

They all knew that this training was different from any physical training they had participated in before; it was crucial exercise directly related to whether they could become Transcendents, and there was no notion of giving up.

Currently, there were two instructors in the organization: Jannan and, naturally, Lord Bear.

Jannan mainly handled courses on safety protection, which was related to his previous profession.

With him teaching these, there were few in the world better suited for this job than he was.

The content Jannan taught was mostly theoretical and could be described as theory-focused.

In contrast, Lord Bear primarily handled physical fitness, combat, and survival training. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

He had even developed a new technique on his own, called the "Reverse Flow Technique."

Of course, this had nothing to do with riding a bike the wrong way.

This "Reverse Flow Technique" was a new combat skill developed by Lord Bear after observing the fighting styles of the Star Guards and then making improvements, making it more suitable for humans to learn.

The name perfectly matched the ethos of persisting against the current, never giving up within a year.

This technique mainly used long spears, longswords, shields, daggers, and other standard weapons of the Star Alliance for combat, without any flashy tricks, very efficient, deadly, and all close-combat weapons.

Certain students particularly liked this type of combat skills and would attend every class.

In light of the notoriously challenging nature of Lord Bear’s courses, they jokingly added a nickname for themselves, the devoted ones—they called themselves "reverse walkers."

Aaron and Bena were the pinnacle of combat power among these so-called "reverse walkers."

As Zhang Xiaoman walked along, students stopped to greet him, performing the Star Alliance’s standard salute, the Star Touching Ceremony.

This set of rituals had become widespread within the organization and, with Zhang Xiaoman’s tacit approval, had gradually become the standard greeting gesture among the members of the Star Alliance.

Zhang Xiaoman had grown accustomed to this manner of greeting, skillfully returning the gesture, and then continued walking towards the location of the underground base.

While walking, he suddenly heard someone calling his name, turned around, and saw it was Li Xiang.

"Star Lord."

Li Xiang spread his palm, positioned it towards his chest, and properly performed the gesture of the Star Touching Ceremony.

This gesture was originally learned from the Star Guards by the first batch of Awakeners, symbolizing the use of the Eye of the Starry Sky mark in the palm touching their chest, hence it was called the "Star Touching Ceremony."

To those like him who had not undergone the Awakening, naturally, there was no Eye of the Starry Sky mark.

However, since it had already become a unique form of ritual, there was no need to fuss over such details.

"Oh? What’s the matter?"

Zhang Xiaoman saw that the other’s expression was awkward, knowing he had something he wanted to talk about.

"Well...Star Lord, it’s like this..."

Li Xiang’s voice grew softer, his expression becoming somewhat unnatural.

"You don’t need to be restrained, just tell me directly if you have any difficulties."

"Er, actually, it’s like this, I don’t know if you still remember that day in the northern woods of Qionghua City, when I followed behind you and witnessed you eliminating the Dimension Rift..."

Zhang Xiaoman recalled the situation, indeed it was so.

That day, seeing this young man’s fearless and resolute demeanor, he casually assigned him a task, not expecting him to accomplish it commendably, after which he agreed to recruit him into the organization.

"I remember, what about it?"

"Well, back then...I was just an ordinary rideshare driver, because I followed you, I saw some things I shouldn’t have... so then, you cast a Forbidden Curse on me..."

Zhang Xiaoman was momentarily taken aback, then suddenly recalled the matter.

He had the Star Guard leave some of the man’s blood, deceiving him by claiming it was some kind of measure to prevent him from spreading the word.

Three months had passed, and he had actually forgotten about this man.

Seeing his expression, he probably hadn’t been without worries about the so-called "Forbidden Curse" in his body recently.

Zhang Xiaoman immediately smiled and shook his head:

"The matter of the Forbidden Curse, you needn’t worry, it was actually lifted when you formally joined the Star Alliance, since you are now part of the organization, there is naturally no need to restrict you in such a manner."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiang immediately showed a relieved expression and let out a long breath in his heart, feeling like a burden he had been carrying for some time had been lifted.

Zhang Xiaoman saw his expression and felt somewhat guilty.

After all, it was his oversight that had made the man uneasy for so long.

He thought for a moment, then from his chest he took out a small bottle and handed it to him.

"I also bear responsibility for this issue, not telling you right away. I give you a bottle of Sun Essence privately, as compensation. You should also push forward and not bear any psychological burdens."