The students of the five major academies had arrived, and they had gathered at the entrance of the valley, waiting for the trial to begin.
The differences between the academies were easy to see.
The Aegis Martial Academy students carried their familiar monster-slaying sabers.
First Martial Academy was completely different. Most of its students carried large two-handed greatswords, the weapon around which their academy's main martial art had been built.
Among the students from the other academies, Ryan could see sabers, glaives, poleaxes, and even several enormous heavy mauls.
Different academies had developed different combat systems, and there was naturally no reason for every Blood Warrior to use the same weapon.
Ryan walked around, seemingly wandering, but in fact, he secretly used his copying ability to inspect the talents of the people around him.
His main target was the students of First Martial Academy.
He deliberately passed within three meters of them one after another.
"Primary Cultivation Talent."
"Primary Cultivation Talent."
"Primary Cultivation Talent."
Ryan continued walking.
He found that most of the students sent by First Martial Academy possessed Primary Cultivation Talent.
There weren't many First Martial Academy students participating, only around thirty.
Ryan's eyes moved across the crowd.
He also noticed Adrian Blackwood among the participants from Aegis.
With Adrian's strength, it was hardly surprising that he had come.
Not far away, Damian Reed was also present.
Ryan only glanced at the two briefly before continuing to search through the crowd.
He looked around once more.
Victor wasn't here.
Ryan had half expected Victor to return before the trial, but there was still no sign of him.
It seemed he had not yet returned from the Langford family.
Ryan quickly put the matter aside and returned his attention to First Martial Academy.
"There are only five people left."
Ryan looked at the five students standing together and slowly walked over.
When he came within three meters, he inspected them one by one.
"Good guys, all of them are Medium Cultivation Talents."
Ryan was surprised.
Obviously, these five were the seed students of First Martial Academy.
Judging from the aura and physical condition they displayed, several of them had probably already reached Blood Warrior Apprentice Peak Stage and were only one step away from Rank 1 Blood Warrior.
Ryan didn't immediately become tempted by their Medium Cultivation Talents.
His own cultivation talents already consisted of Advanced, Medium, and Weak talents.
Another Medium Cultivation Talent would still be useful in the long term, but it wouldn't immediately increase his combat strength during this three-day trial.
His copying opportunity could only be used once before entering another month-long cooldown.
"If I can copy a talent that can assist me directly in combat, it will be much more useful during the trial."
Ryan thought silently.
Unfortunately, after walking around for a while, although he discovered several other talents, none of them were valuable enough for him to immediately use his monthly copying opportunity.
Suddenly, a young man with a saber at his waist walked toward the five seed students of First Martial Academy.
"Connor Blake, I want to challenge you!"
The young man pulled out his saber and pointed it directly toward one of the five students.
"This boy..."
Ryan looked at the young man with some surprise.
The young man was a student from another academy.
Unlike Aegis, his academy focused heavily on saber combat.
Yet he actually dared to challenge one of First Martial Academy's seed students.
He was very bold.
"I wonder what kind of talent he has?"
Ryan became curious.
He hadn't carefully inspected every student from the other academies.
But this young man dared to challenge one of First Martial Academy's strongest students, so he probably had something he relied upon.
Ryan slowly walked closer.
The young man didn't care about Ryan's actions and only stared at Connor Blake.
Connor carried a massive greatsword behind him.
"Leon Vance, I heard that you are called the number-one saber genius of your academy, but no matter how strong your saber technique is, it can't make up for the gap in strength."
Connor looked at him with contempt.
"I now have around 125 kilograms of strength, and you only had around 85 kilograms the last time we fought. You lost last time, do you want to lose again?"
"Hmph, I'm already at 100 kilograms now!"
Leon hurriedly said.
"Hehe, is there a difference between 85 kilograms and 100 kilograms in front of 125 kilograms?"
Connor said disdainfully.
The other four seed students beside Connor also looked at Leon with contempt.
They knew Leon's situation quite well.
His cultivation talent was poor.
Even though his saber technique was unusually good, the difference in physical strength between the two sides was simply too large.
"You..."
Leon was obviously unconvinced and was about to force his move.
"You are not allowed to do it here, and the violator will lose the qualification for the trial!"
A teacher's voice suddenly came from nearby.
Leon looked toward the instructor and immediately restrained himself.
This trial was an opportunity for him.
He didn't want to lose his qualification because of impulse.
He put away his saber and turned to leave.
"This friend, I admire your saber skills very much, can we make friends?"
Ryan suddenly walked over with a sincere expression and stretched out his right hand.
"You are..."
Leon looked confused.
But he still subconsciously reached out and shook Ryan's hand.
"My name is Ryan!"
Ryan said.
After chatting for a short while, Ryan turned around and left, leaving Leon standing there with a confused expression.
Ryan, who was walking away, thought about the talents he had just seen.
Human: Leon Vance
Cultivation Talent: Inferior
Martial Art Talent: Medium
Reflex Talent: Medium
Ryan naturally had no interest in Leon's Inferior Cultivation Talent.
The Medium Martial Art Talent was impressive and was superior to Ryan's current Primary Martial Art Talent.
However, Ryan had only one copying opportunity before another month-long cooldown. If he was going to use that opportunity to improve his Martial Art Talent, he would rather continue searching for a High or Advanced Martial Art Talent.
But the Medium Reflex Talent was completely different.
It was a new talent that could directly improve his combat ability regardless of the weapon he used.
Faster reactions would improve his defense, his timing, his ability to avoid beast attacks, and his ability to seize openings during combat.
It was exactly the kind of talent that could directly help him during this trial.
Moreover, if Leon died during the trial, Ryan might never get another opportunity to copy it.
Therefore, he did not hesitate.
During the handshake, Ryan copied the Medium Reflex Talent.
The moment the copy succeeded, the one-month cooldown immediately began again.
Ryan quietly walked behind a large stone.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he allowed the automatic fusion to continue.
Boom!
A sharp pain suddenly spread through his body.
His nerves and senses seemed to be undergoing some kind of subtle transformation.
Ryan remained behind the stone without making a sound.
Around ten minutes later, the pain gradually disappeared.
Ryan slowly opened his eyes.
With a thought, he checked his talents.
Cultivation Talent: Advanced + Medium + Weak
Martial Art Talent: Primary
Reflex Talent: Medium
"Reflex Talent..."
Ryan moved his hand slightly.
The change wasn't as obvious as an increase in raw strength.
Instead, everything around him seemed easier to respond to.