Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Furthermore, out of consideration for the Reincarnators’ safety, and for various other reasons, the annual regional tournament was always held within the Rebirth Space.

And for that very reason, their training and team coordination naturally took place in the Rebirth Space as well.

Li Chang’an had no objections. He immediately activated his Rebirth Mark and entered the pure-white expanse of the Rebirth Space.

For a Reincarnator, each person’s Rebirth Space was unique and isolated from the others.

The only way for them to meet was to create a private channel for friends within the public area of the Rebirth Arena.

As soon as Li Chang’an logged into the Rebirth Space, an invitation from Su Ruobing arrived.

By the time Li Chang’an reached the Rebirth Arena area, he found that everyone else was already there.

The other six contestants, all Tier Four or Tier Five, were sparring on the arena floor, familiarizing themselves with each other’s combat styles and evolutionary path traits.

Another person stood by, using the sparring sessions to devise the most suitable battle plan for the team.

Seeing Li Chang’an arrive,

the dark-skinned Caiyou dispensed with the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “Little brother, I’m going to have Xiaowan go up and fight a training puppet first. Make sure you watch closely. Xiaowan’s attack speed is blindingly fast. If you lose focus for even a second, you won’t be able to keep up with her rhythm!”

As she spoke, she gestured toward Zhao Xiaowan with her chin.

Zhao Xiaowan was powerful, but she clearly had no feel for things like “teamwork” or “tactics.” As such, Caiyou was the team’s true strategist.

At Caiyou’s command, Zhao Xiaowan wasted no words. With a single, light leap, she was on the arena floor.

After a few quick inputs from her, several messages flashed across the arena’s display.

[Ding! Confirm purchase of a one-hour usage permit for the ’Martial Arts Emperor’ training puppet?]

[Ding! Permit purchase confirmed!]

[Ding! Please select a combat mode!]

[Life-or-Death Mode selected. The battle will now commence!]

[Countdown: 10… 9… 8…]

As the messages rapidly appeared and vanished, everyone around the arena stopped what they were doing, their gazes unanimously turning to Zhao Xiaowan’s platform.

Caiyou’s expression turned grim. She couldn’t help but curse, “That lunatic! She picked the ’Martial Arts Emperor’ training puppet again, and even activated Life-or-Death Mode! Is she trying to show Li Chang’an her Spear Technique, or is she just looking for a fight to the death?”

Caiyou clearly hadn’t expected Zhao Xiaowan to be this insane. She had only asked her to demonstrate her Spear Technique; who in their right mind would be crazy enough to fight the ’Martial Arts Emperor’ training puppet on Life-or-Death Mode?

The contestants from the other groups nearby were also visibly shocked.

However, the gazes of several people were filled with admiration and awe as they looked at Zhao Xiaowan.

Zhao Xiaowan was known for being aloof and cold, giving everyone the same chilly expression. Yet, her extreme devotion to her own path filled her with a unique charisma at this moment.

She was a true madwoman—one with a devout heart for the Martial Dao.

Among everyone present, Su Ruobing, who knew Zhao Xiaowan best, was likely the only one unsurprised. She shrugged, sighed, and said to Li Chang’an, “You’ll get used to it. Zhao Xiaowan loves spending time in the Rebirth World; she’s not that interested in the Main World.”

“Besides, she’s a Martial Fool. Her pursuit of the Martial Dao comes before anything else… I heard she’s been trying to beat this new martial arts training puppet from the Rebirth Mark at her own Realm, but hasn’t succeeded yet. She’s probably been stewing over it, so now she’s picking a fight every chance she gets!”

Li Chang’an actually found this quite interesting. He nodded silently, his gaze fixed on Zhao Xiaowan, curious to see how she would handle the situation.

As the countdown on the large screen ended,

a figure appeared on the Rebirth Arena. It was completely shrouded in shadow, its features and facial contours a complete blur.

The moment it appeared, the atmosphere in the stands seemed to freeze for an instant.

Caiyou couldn’t help but shiver. She said, “The Martial Arts Emperor training puppet… It’s been out for almost half a year now. Even in standard combat mode, there are fewer than twenty people on public record who have managed to defeat it. In Life-or-Death Mode, the number is even smaller—I think less than three. How in the world did the Rebirth Mark create such a terrifying Puppet!”

She had clearly faced the Martial Arts Emperor training puppet before.

The mere sight of its silhouette now was enough to make her tremble.

The experience had clearly left her with psychological scars.

The others nearby also wore looks of fear.

The training puppets adapt to the Reincarnator’s Level.

Therefore, even if their own Realms weren’t particularly high, they could still afford the Martial Arts Emperor puppet’s training services as long as they had enough money.

After all, everyone here was one of the top prodigies of the Linjiang Reincarnator Association.

So naturally, they had all crossed swords with the Martial Arts Emperor training puppet at one point or another.

And for that very reason, the atmosphere offstage was terrifyingly tense!

…

However, regardless of the mood of the spectators,

the battle that had already begun on the stage would not be affected in the slightest.

Because it was Life-or-Death Mode, the ’Martial Arts Emperor’ training puppet wasted no time after appearing. It lunged straight for Zhao Xiaowan.

The Martial Arts Emperor was astonishingly fast.