After resting at the inn for one night, the two of them arrived at the arena the following morning.
Compared to yesterday, about one-fourth of the contestants were missing.
It seemed most people knew the standards of the first round, and those who participated were generally capable of reaching the 6-foot line.
Those who had been eliminated were likely those hovering right at the limit or those who simply had an off day.
Qiaolin returned to the candidate area. Once the doors opened and he entered the field, the Blue-robed Mage from the previous day took the initiative to greet him.
“Did you rest well last night?”
Qiaolin asked with a smile.
“You’re far too good of a drinker; I can’t compete with you at all,” the Blue-robed Mage laughed.
“However, you might not be stronger than me in the upcoming test.”
“This isn’t a competition, just a qualification test. There’s no need to compete.”
“No, that won’t do. I’m going to win back all the dignity I lost at the drinking table yesterday!”
Seeing his forced air of toughness, it was clear that even though he wasn’t as contemptuous or arrogant as he had been the day before, he still didn’t want a young Mage like Qiaolin to surpass him.
“Then I wish you good luck.”
Qiaolin stepped forward a few paces to his testing station.
It was no longer a black stone pillar but a rock roughly the size of a large millstone.
“Oh? This is…”
“This is the part that tests raw strength, young man. Even innate talent is useless here.”
The Blue-robed Mage walked over, a mischievous grin playing on his lips.
Far off at the judges’ table, Karl appeared once again to explain the rules of the second round to the crowd.
“Congratulations to all Mages for reaching the second round! The Mana Measuring Stone only evaluates a Mage’s mana capacity, but this time, we will test your mana intensity!” Karl extended his hand, and green Wind Attribute Mana lifted the millstone-sized rock beside him.
He raised it above his head to the gasps of the crowd and continued, “Every Mage only needs to use their mana to lift the rock in front of them off the ground to pass!”
After speaking, Karl made a grabbing motion with a blank expression.
A condensed Mana Hand crushed the stone into pieces.
“As expected of the Empire’s Number One Genius Mage! To think he could reach such a level!” For a moment, both contestants and spectators alike stared with fanatical eyes.
Gabriela felt a secret sense of joy.
She didn’t care about what Karl did, but she felt this test would be incredibly easy for Qiaolin, and even for herself.
“It doesn’t sound difficult,” Qiaolin muttered, rubbing his chin as he looked at the stone.
Condensing mana into a physical force was a high-rank technique for Mages.
Many powerful spells were built upon this foundation.
Without excellent control and proficiency, no amount of mana capacity would matter.
Lifting a stone with one’s own mana was a simple and direct test, but it was the best way to demonstrate one’s proficiency in mana usage.
‘It’s only simple in description, but in practice…’
The Blue-robed Mage extended his hands, and sea-blue mana, identical to the color of his robes, shot from his palms and hit the stone.
“Your focus is too concentrated; it’s better to spread it out a bit,” Qiaolin said from the side.
“Kid, don’t tell me what to do!”
He made a motion of bringing his hands together, and the blue mana transformed into a blurry claw that gripped the rock.
“Rise!”
He exerted sudden force, controlling the mana to try and lift the stone.
However, the harder he tried, the tighter the claw squeezed.
Instead of rising, several cracks appeared on the surface of the stone.
“Focus your energy on the action of ‘lifting,’ not ‘grabbing’…”
“Don’t distract me!”
Seeing this, Qiaolin wisely shut his mouth.
He didn’t want to be a meddler, but this man clearly had the power to lift the stone; it was just his method that was flawed.
Perhaps a small reminder would have helped him pass.
Seeing that the stone still hadn’t budged, the Blue-robed Mage gritted his teeth in anger.
He had failed the previous test at this very spot.
After 1 year of bitter cultivation, he absolutely could not trip in the same hole again!
‘Focus the energy on the lifting motion.’
The Blue-robed Mage remembered Qiaolin’s reminder and closed his eyes.
His agitated heart slowly calmed. The seemingly gentle water attribute mana gradually covered the entire rock.
Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and raised his palms high.
*Thump!*
Following a muffled sound, the rock was lifted.
Although the duration was so short it was almost invisible, as long as it left the ground, it was a success.
“Whew… finally…”
The Blue-robed Mage panted heavily and looked at Qiaolin triumphantly.
Qiaolin gave him a thumbs-up.
“It’s your turn to perform, young man.”
Qiaolin smiled and raised his hand, pointing his index finger.
A tiny white speck of light, barely visible to the naked eye, shot out and landed on the rock. Qiaolin’s mana was all-attribute White Mana.
If he exposed the color of his mana here, he might run into trouble, and he didn’t want to attract too much attention for the time being.
“Uh? Did you use your mana?”
The Blue-robed Mage looked at Qiaolin in confusion.
From his perspective, Qiaolin was simply pointing his finger at the rock.
What was that supposed to be?
Qiaolin’s seemingly low-key action instead drew the attention of many people.
“Isn’t that the kid who blew up the Mana Measuring Stone yesterday?!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. The officials already debunked that; they said the Mana Gathering Stone had quality issues.”
“I heard his actual score was exactly 6 feet.”
“He’s probably just a guy showing off because he has a bit of talent.
This round of testing will teach him how to be a Mage again.
Mana intensity requires actual cultivation!”
Karl stared coldly at the black-haired young man below.
He turned his gaze to the stone in front of the youth, his expression growing more solemn.
‘There is mana present, but why can’t I see it?’
“Lord Karl, I have halved the weight of the stones for this test. Also, for those on your list, their stones have been fixed with iron buckles. Unless they pull up the entire foundation, they won’t be able to lift them.”
“Mhm, very good.”
“Lord Karl, since we are filtering for our own people, why not just lower the difficulty for them alone?” an attendant asked in confusion.
“You saw it yesterday. There was that fellow who blew up the Shimo Stone and a few others whose strength is close to that of a Grand Mage. If I normally opened the back door for our people, it would be hard to guard against them. But if I lower the difficulty for most people, no one will notice anything fishy. Besides, the real determination of strength happens in the third round. I only need to eliminate those outliers in the second round.”
According to the rules, although the arena opened every month, each person could only participate once a year.
After undergoing a full year of cultivation, anyone who actively participated wouldn’t doubt their own strength.
As long as most people received validation, those few who were excluded would naturally have no reason for suspicion; people would simply lament their bad luck.
By this point, results had come out for most of the contestants.
The old man who had almost surpassed the limits of the Mana Measuring Stone had failed the second round.
Faced with the cruel reality, he could only sigh about his age, as aging also affected mana intensity.
*Boom!*
A man erupted with surging mana, shouting angrily at the high-ranking judges’ stand.
“Are you kidding me?! I am a dignified High-rank Mage with an 8-foot score on the Mana Measuring Stone! How could I not even lift a rock? I failed in this same spot the year before last, and after 2 years of training, you’re telling me I’m still standing in place?” he roared, reaching out to try the stone next to him.
“I’m going to see what kind of trickery is going on here!”
The moment he finished speaking, a giant green hand snatched him up and threw him out of the arena.
“Disturbing the examination records. Banned from testing for life!”
A green whirlwind surrounded Karl as he floated in the air, looking down from above.
With that example set, those who had objections to their results didn’t dare speak up.
They could only blame their own lack of ability.