Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 136 First Test of Skill
The secret realm is like a closed building; upon entering, you first encounter a narrow corridor.

Gao Wu could sense that the concentration of source energy around him had increased significantly, but it was still much lower than that of a true secret realm.

With a solid foundation in cultivating source energy in the real world, progress in the secret realm is rapid. However, there is a huge difference in source energy between the real world and the secret realm, and balancing this difference is very troublesome.

If not handled carefully, it could even directly destroy the samurai's body.

Therefore, martial arts masters such as An Ziru and Shen An advised Gao Wu to slowly hone his source power, not to rush to advance, and even less to go to secret realms to cultivate.

This was Gao Wu's first time entering such a man-made secret realm. It was different from Wan Canglong's mirror space, which was opened by borrowing the power of a demon god.

Although demons are evil and terrifying, they are, after all, powerful beings from another world. Judging from the power they display, their level of existence is indeed far superior to that of humans.

However, this thing is too evil. Although its life level is high, it can only bring killing and destruction.

Human faith stems from reverence for heaven and earth and nature, and from a yearning for supreme divine power.

Once humanity established societies, faith became a tool of the ruling class to maintain social stability.

In modern society, faith remains a tool. It's just that some people are consciously aware of this, making faith extremely utilitarian and simplistic.

Believe it if it's useful; there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Demons are of no benefit to humanity; their higher level of existence is meaningless. They only manage to gain some followers through their immense power.

It can't be said that these believers are stupid; they are just delusional, trying to exploit the demons for personal gain.

They thought they were exchanging faith and the flesh and blood of others for power, money, and beauty, but in reality, the moment they knelt down, they had already offered their souls to the demon god.

Gao Wu despised the foolishness of the demon god's followers, and even more so their selfishness and malice. However, he still held the demon god's power in high esteem.

Intelligent life can distinguish between good and evil using human morality, but power is only differentiated by its level, not by its nature.

The strongest person Gao Wu had ever seen was undoubtedly Lu Yuan. He secretly observed Lu Yuan with his Yin spirit and saw that the other party was shining with divine light like a blazing sun, so bright that even his Yin spirit could not open its "eyes".

The Yin Spirit was indeed wondrous, and Lu Yuan was completely unaware of it. However, the Yin Spirit was still far inferior to Lu Yuan in terms of level.

If Lu Yuan were to unleash his divine will, the Yin God might not be able to withstand it... This made Gao Wu feel genuine respect for Lu Yuan.

The power of a martial arts grandmaster is indeed formidable, so one can only imagine how terrifying a martial king must be, possibly equivalent to a human nuclear bomb.

Martial arts only enhance strength, the most direct manifestation of which is destructive power, but not creativity.

Simply put, martial artists use energy in a very simple and crude way, unable to convert energy into matter.

It wasn't until Lu Yuan explained the origin of the Nine Limits of Heaven that Gao Wu realized that the power of human martial artists had already reached the spatial level!
The "Hai Gong" that Lu Yuan mentioned actually refers to Hai Wuji, the Sword Saint of Limitless, who is also one of only three Martial Saints in the Alliance.

Apart from Martial Emperor Qin Liuhe, an eighth-level Martial Saint is already an unparalleled powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of humanity.

Now that Gao Wu has personally witnessed the secret realm created by Hai Wuji, or more accurately, "opened up," he is quite excited.

This secret realm is much larger than Wan Canglong's mirror space, and in his opinion, its structure is very stable.

This shows that human powerhouses also possess incredible abilities, and in the battle against demons, humans may not necessarily lose!

After walking more than a hundred meters along the long passage and passing through an arched doorway, Gao Wu's view suddenly opened up.

This is a spacious plaza with a black, arched dome that is at least thirty meters high, surrounded by circular black walls.
The square was littered with dozens of irregularly shaped boulders, three to five meters high, and weighing at least a hundred tons. The black boulders were covered with various signs of damage.

At the very center is a ring ten meters in diameter. A ball of black-gold light floats and slowly rotates in the center of the ring.

A red line is drawn one meter from the arched entrance; this should be the safety line that Yang Tielin mentioned.

The entire space resembled an enclosed martial arts arena, except it lacked seating and a fighting ring. The massive rocks placed there were likely barriers used by martial artists to evade the pursuit of the Golden Armored Flying Tiger.

As Gao Wu was studying the situation of the first level, a dark golden light shone from the central ring, and a giant tiger appeared out of thin air.

According to Lu Yuan, the giant tigers of the Nine Limits of Heaven are all energy bodies transformed from the energy cores of level seven exotic beasts, equivalent to the Dharma forms of martial arts experts, and are not real matter.

The transformed black and gold giant tiger truly astonished Gao Wu.

The giant tiger stood three meters tall at the shoulder and was over seven meters long. Its tail, as thick as a human leg, was three to four meters long. The tiger's black and gold stripes formed beautiful dark gold patterns, and its eyes were also dark gold, giving it a majestic and profound appearance.

Even though Gao Wu knew that such a colossal creature was formed from energy, facing the giant tiger still put him under immense pressure.

This is equivalent to an ordinary person facing a heavy truck. The problem is that the giant tiger is a living creature, and it has the ferocity and powerful aura unique to hunters, with indescribable vitality.

Such a terrifying and powerful beast requires immense courage just to face it.

Gao Wu could hardly imagine how powerful the giant tiger in this form was, or how terrifying its source energy was.

No wonder it caused millions of casualties; this thing is truly terrifying. "I'm destined to be the best in the world; how could I be stumped by this thing!"

Gao Wu encouraged himself in his heart. He stepped across the red line with his sword and quickly approached the giant tiger in the center.

The dark gold tiger locked its eyes on Gao Wu, lowering its head and shoulders into a crouching posture. This inward-curving stance gave the impression that it was gathering strength to pounce.

"Little kitty, come here." Gao Wu beckoned lightly. Through his Yin Spirit Observation, he could see that the giant tiger's body was becoming ethereal, with only a cluster of energy in its heart.

After all, it's just a phasic half-energy entity, and this is only the first level. The giant tiger's abilities have been weakened to the minimum. It would be ridiculous if it couldn't even pass the first level.

Without uttering a sound, the giant tiger exerted force with all four limbs, charging towards Gao Wu like a speeding heavy truck.

Even though it was merely formed from converted energy, the giant tiger's body possessed a remarkably realistic texture. When it charged, its fur flew wildly, creating a howling wind.

The giant tiger was still more than ten meters away from Gao Wu, and the gust of wind it stirred up was already making Gao Wu's bangs flutter.

"The speed is about fifty meters per second, which is equivalent to a beginner martial artist."

Gao Wu instantly calculated that the giant tiger's speed was similar to that of Wan Canglong, but the giant tiger was much larger than Wan Canglong.

Based on its size, the giant tiger weighs at least seven tons. Leaving aside any source energy, the impact force from such weight alone is terrifying.

Gao Wu thought for a moment but did not dodge. He knew that those huge rock barriers were prepared for those who wanted to pass through the pass, so as to avoid the terrifying impact of the giant tiger.

But he wanted to test just how powerful the giant tiger was, and to test the strength of the first level of the Nine Limits of Heaven.

The dark gold tiger looked ferocious, but it couldn't effectively convert all the kinetic energy carried by its massive body because it was too small.

On the other hand, the Dark Gold Tiger is, after all, just a form of energy transformation.

The two were less than a hundred meters apart, and at the speed of the giant tiger's charge, it reached Gao Wu in two seconds. Gao Wu did not draw his sword, but simply raised the scabbard like a stick and slashed fiercely at the dark gold giant tiger's head.

It was the Rock-Splitting Style, the most powerful and direct move in the Dragon Sword Technique.

His punching power now reaches 6,000 kilograms, and with the addition of source energy, it's at least 12,000 kilograms. A 98-kilogram sword, wielded with this force, whistles through the air with exceptionally sharp and piercing force.

The giant tiger also noticed something was wrong. It raised its paw, which was bigger than Gao Wu's head, and slammed it onto the Destiny Sword.

The two powerful forces clashed head-on, and Gao Wu was so shocked that his whole body went numb. His Destiny Sword flew out of his hand, and he was also knocked away by the tiger claw that followed.

He flew backwards for more than ten meters, rolled several times on the ground before recovering, and then stood up again by pushing himself up with his hands.

The combat suit he was wearing had torn in several places due to the intense friction, and his face, shoulders, knees and other areas were burning hot, probably because the skin and flesh had been rubbed off during the intense friction.

These were just the surface injuries on his body. What was more serious was the ferocious slap from the giant tiger's claw. He felt as if his internal organs had been shattered, and three deep bloody gashes were torn from his chest by the tiger's sharp claws.

If it weren't for his exceptionally resilient body, that claw would have torn him into four pieces on the spot...

A cyan spiritual light flashed deep between Gao Wu's brows, transforming into a flying dragon. The wounds on his body quickly closed and healed, and the discomfort in his internal organs instantly dissipated.

In the blink of an eye, Gao Wu had recovered to his peak condition. The Azure Dragon Divine Qi Curse at the Transcendent Realm level, combined with twenty points of physique, gave him terrifying recovery abilities. This minor injury was nothing to him.

Looking at the giant tiger opposite, there is a deep wound on its left claw, exposing the bone.

A single, ferocious strike from the Heavenly Destiny Sword is not so easy to withstand.

Although the giant tiger was a manifestation of energy, it clearly simulated the nature of a beast. It would feel pain when injured and even became somewhat wary.

Gao Wu, however, tested the giant tiger's true strength. This thing probably only maintained the huge body of a level seven beast. Its speed and strength were at the level of a beginner martial artist, but it was far inferior in other aspects.

For an ordinary samurai, such a behemoth would indeed be extremely difficult to defeat. But for him, it posed no challenge whatsoever.

Gao Wu beckoned again, and the giant tiger, spurred on, charged at Gao Wu. Having learned its lesson from the previous defeat, the giant tiger now pounced with all its might.

Just as the giant tiger pounced down at high speed, Gao Wu bent his knees and leaned back, sliding forward rapidly. The Heavenly Destiny Sword in his hand also transformed into a nine-foot-long sword (3 meters). He raised the sword with both hands and slid it across the giant tiger's belly.

This move, the Wind Riding Sword, lacked some of its fierceness, but it used the momentum of the giant tiger's pounce to strike. The Heavenly Fate Sword was a sixth-level divine weapon, so sharp that although the force of the strike was not strong, it still managed to rip open the giant tiger's belly...

The giant tiger, severely injured, landed with its limbs limp. It let out a defiant roar and collapsed to the ground, quickly turning into specks of dark golden light.

The scattered dark golden light re-coalesced and returned to the center of the ring.

An arched doorway silently opened in the opposite wall, clearly the entrance to the second level.

Gao Wu restored the Heavenly Fate Sword to its original state and muttered to himself, "The Nine Limits of Heaven are nothing more than this..."

He felt a little regretful that there were no cameras inside the secret realm. Such a dashing and effortless tiger-slaying sword strike, without a single bystander, inevitably lacked a certain charm.

(End of this chapter)