Chapter 17: Improving Strength, Awaiting the Assessment

The System actually transformed into the image of a cute little loli in front of Lin Chen. As the little loli spoke, she unceremoniously looked Lin Chen's female body up and down, occasionally pinching her delicate, rosy cheeks and touching her soft, slender waist.

"My goodness, I had only heard of this Cultivation Technique before; I didn't expect it to have such power! Lin Fan—uh, no, Lin Chen! Let's be friends!"

Lin Chen looked at the System's little loli image speechlessly and sneered, "Friends? Sure, if you want to join my harem, I can consider it."

The System immediately jumped up, her cheeks puffed out, "Peh, peh, peh! Who wants to be in your harem! I came out to remind you that the female Disciple guarding the door doesn't understand musical theory; even if you capture her, you won't gain any Villain Merit."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow, looking slightly surprised, "Doesn't understand musical theory? Shouldn't all Disciples of the Xuanyin Qin Sect be proficient in musical theory?"

The System shook her finger and snorted, "She is just an Outer Sect Disciple; musical theory is just a facade. Capturing her is meaningless." The System, in her little loli Incarnation, looked up at Lin Chen with her hands on her hips, a smug smile on her face, "If you want to earn Villain Merit, you need to find someone who truly meets the criteria."

Lin Chen sighed softly, "It seems capturing her is still too simple. System, do you have any other hints?"

The corners of the System's mouth curled up, and a trace of cunning flashed in her eyes, "Rest assured, the mission difficulty is gradually upgrading, and I will remind you at the appropriate time. But before that… you need to think carefully about how to take each step."

After the little loli Incarnation of the System finished speaking, she vanished instantly, as if she had never appeared at all.

Lin Chen looked in the direction she had left and shook her head helplessly, "Trying to scare me again, and 'upgrading'?" She muttered to herself dismissively, then stood up and walked gently to the bed.

She sat on the bed, slowly crossing her legs, her whole posture like a lotus flower quietly blooming.

Her two slender legs were crossed quite naturally; she placed her hands on her knees, closed her eyes, and began to breathe steadily.

Although she had already stepped into the Golden Core Stage of cultivation, she knew deeply that cultivation was just an empty shell; if she didn't master powerful Spells and techniques, she would be unable to establish a foothold in the cultivation world, let alone complete her villain missions.

She calmed her mind and silently began to Cultivate the Void Heaven-Swallowing Art. This time, what she wanted to comprehend were the two powerful skills of the Foundation Establishment Stage: Void Barrier and Void Blast.

Void Barrier can form an indestructible barrier around oneself by condensing Void Power, blocking an enemy's frontal attacks.

And Void Blast is channeling the power of the Void Realm to instantly trigger an explosion, forming a powerful energy sphere that deals lethal area-of-effect damage to surrounding enemies.

Lin Chen closed her eyes, sat cross-legged, and sank into her spiritual consciousness space.

Inside the spiritual consciousness space, Lin Chen stood on a mirror-like surface, and the surroundings were gradually enveloped by endless darkness.

Suddenly, a scorching force rapidly condensed in front of her, the temperature in the air rose abruptly, and a massive fireball lunged at her from the darkness.

The intense light of the fireball almost stung Lin Chen's eyes, and she immediately realized this was the critical moment to test the Void Barrier.

With a thought, Lin Chen quickly circulated her Cultivation Technique, attempting to form a Void Barrier in front of her. However, facing such a powerful attack, her heart couldn't help but tighten, and the power actually went somewhat out of control.

"Steady!" She reminded herself secretly, but the fireball had already approached too quickly.

Just as she was about to condense the barrier, her mind wavered, the circulation of the Cultivation Technique lost control, and the Void Power failed to condense into form as planned.

The next moment, the fireball swept over like a wave in an angry sea, slamming violently into her body.

"Bang!"

A tremendous impact force blasted Lin Chen's entire body away.

Lin Chen tumbled in the spiritual consciousness space, her chest feeling as if it had been struck by a giant hammer; air was instantly squeezed out of her lungs, and the intense pain almost made her faint.

Her robes were rapidly scorched by the high temperature of the flames, and hot tongues of fire licked at her clothing.

"Ah!" Lin Chen gasped in a low voice, her clothing was instantly torn by the flames, and waves of pain radiated from her chest.

Cold sweat broke out on her forehead; she had originally thought her body was just an effect of the Thousand Appearances Formless Divine Skill, but she hadn't expected to be able to feel pain so realistically.

She couldn't help but wonder, "Have I really turned into a woman?" She subconsciously touched her chest, and the realistic sensation made her even more shocked, "This… is completely real."

While Lin Chen was lost in surprise, another fireball suddenly lunged at her face.

She had no time to think and could only quickly dodge to the side.

She kept maneuvering amidst the fireball attacks, trying to find a safe space. Whenever a fireball approached, she would try to cast a Void Barrier to defend.

At first, Lin Chen could only barely manifest a thin layer of barrier, but facing the ferocious fireballs, these barriers had almost no defensive capability and would often shatter instantly under the impact of the fireballs.

Lin Chen's body was knocked down by the aftermath of the fireballs more times than she knew; her clothes were burned to tatters, and there were several burns on her body.

Time passed amidst constant impacts and falls; Lin Chen tenaciously stood up time and time again, adjusting her posture and Cultivation Technique.

She repeatedly attempted amidst the relentless attacks of the fireballs, gradually mastering more techniques. Finally, after countless attempts and tempering, a sturdy Void Barrier quietly took form in front of her.

The indestructible barrier successfully blocked the fireball, and a trace of joy rose in Lin Chen's heart.

But at this moment, another new fireball came attacking from behind her back.

"Damn it!" Lin Chen felt a surge of anxiety; she separated her hands, wanting to condense a Void Barrier with one hand.

She barely managed to prop up two thin barriers, but it was of no use. The two weak barriers were shattered by the fireballs one after another.

Lin Chen was blasted away by the fireball again, her body falling heavily to the ground; she crawled on the ground in pain, almost on the verge of tears.

She murmured in a low voice, "Is it really this hard?"

Her voice carried a touch of fragility, making her look pitiful.

In the past, no matter what challenges she faced, she could remain indomitable, but now, under the influence of the Thousand Appearances Formless Divine Skill, her Heart-Nature had also been affected.

Lin Chen gritted her teeth, wanting to continue persisting.

Just at this moment, a knock on the door suddenly came from the outside world, "Miss, the three days are up. Do you still need to renew the rental?"

Lin Chen was taken aback, not expecting time to have passed so quickly. She forced herself to exit from the spiritual consciousness space, feeling the exhaustion of her body and the fatigue of her spirit.

She lifted her heavy body and walked toward the door.

Opening the door, Lin Chen saw the landlady standing outside, a look of concern on her face. A hint of care was revealed on the landlady's face:

"Miss, you look very exhausted. Are you alright after Cultivating for these few days? Why don't you renew for a few more days and get some good rest."

Lin Chen smiled slightly, trying her best to hide her exhaustion; she had to go participate in the entrance assessment, so where would she have time to rest.

"No need to renew. I'm just a little tired, that's all."