No use of spiritual energy or light. This left them with only a few ways to determine which glass was stronger to stand on.
"We need light," Tianlei said to his squad. "To determine which glass is stronger."
Tianyu crossed his arms. "And how will that help?"
"Tempered glass has stress marks—"
"Alright, but I don't think we have any light. From what I see, they intentionally reduced the lighting so no one could use that trick."
Tianlei sighed, rubbing his temples. If they resorted to guessing, they might lose one of their members, and that would affect their overall efficiency.
"When light is pointed at tempered glass, it…" He paused. "Light?"
A smile crept onto his face as realization struck. From his storage ring emerged the Lotus Staff of Returning Mind. Its milky surface both emitted and absorbed light.
He pointed It toward the glass bridge on the left letting the light from his lotus staff wash over it .
At first, he saw no stress marks, but as he pointed the staff further on the glass bridge , faint colors and grid-like patterns emerged.
Then he turned to the glass bridge on the right. Simply pointing the staff at it revealed colors and tiny stress marks, but as he pointed further, they vanished.
"This is strange," Tianlei muttered. "The glass bridge on the right has tempered glass but so does the one on the left."
"This is bullshit," Tianyu said, marching forward. He shoved Tianlei aside and positioned himself in front.
"What are you doing?" Tianlei demanded.
Tianyu scoffed, turning his head slightly to look back at him. "Unlike you, we are stronger. Rather than wasting time, let me show you."
He clenched his fist and punched the ground, releasing a rippling vibration. The shockwave tore through Tianlei's legs, nearly buckling him. A punch from a peak nine-star soldier-class cultivator was stronger than Tianlei had anticipated.
Tianyu closed his eyes after striking, his ears shifting slightly, almost like a bat's. A second later, his ears twitched, then relaxed. He smiled and walked toward the right bridge.
It was clear he had used vibration to sense the difference between the two glass structures.
"As your provisional executor, I command you to stop," Tianlei said sharply.
Tianyu ignored him.
His foot touched the glass bridge and surprisingly it didn't break.
He took three more steps, then stopped and turned around.
"We don't need your science to figure everything out. Strength saves time. Come on."
Some of the cadets grew confident and moved forward, bypassing Tianlei. One of them glanced back with a mocking expression, clearly undermining his authority. Another cadet, his hair tied in a ponytail, hesitated before following.
Tianyu reached the middle of the glass bridge and stomped his foot.
"See? Provisional Executor. Han brothers, come on. Let's go."
Han Yu and Han Kai exchanged a look before Han Yu spoke. "It's clear the right glass bridge is the correct one."
"Finally, someone sensible speaks," Tianyu said.
The two cadets moved toward him. The ponytailed cadet lagged behind, unease evident on his face, while the other had already reached Tianyu.
Tianyu patted the cadet's back.
"Come on. Let's go."
The sound of cracking glass cut through the air.
Tianyu's eyes widened as the glass bridge gave way beneath him. He fell, vanishing into the darkness with a scream.
The cadet beside him followed.
The ponytailed cadet froze, standing rigid as the others disappeared below.
Then a voice echoed.
"Two members of Team Black have been eliminated."
The sound reverberated through the sunken grid, reaching even Muyan's ears.
He grinned. "Those fools. I knew they'd fail."
"Move backward," Tianlei ordered the ponytailed cadet.
The cadet obeyed slowly, his body trembling as he retreated .
"But how is that possible?" he asked. "He walked on the glass without falling."
Tianlei cut him off. "Because there's a distance one must jump. The left bridge has tempered glass but only after a section of normal glass."
He paused.
"And we wouldn't have learned that if you had trusted me."
Everyone fell silent.
Tianlei stepped forward and pointed his staff at the left bridge. Veins shot out from the staff and struck the glass. It shattered instantly, cracks spreading rapidly before stopping at a certain point.
"If I'd thought of this earlier, it would have been easier," he said. "But brains matter more than muscle."
"The cracks extend three meters," he continued. "We have to jump."
Tianlei stepped back, then sprinted and leapt across the gap. His foot slid on the glass, and he fell hard on the other side.
One by one, the others followed. After witnessing the consequences of disobedience, no one spoke unless Tianlei ordered it.
Strangely, Tianlei didn't mind the silence.
" Attention Team blacks , congratulations on securing the first victory . Divide into groups for faster navigation of the sunken grid"
Tianlei didn't know why ,but that voice was getting on his nerves .
"We've lost two squad members," he said. "That leaves seven. It affects the plan to divide and search the sunken grid quickly."
"Han Yu and I are stronger and senior cadets," Han Kai said. "We can each lead one cadet. You, as team leader, will lead three."
Tianlei nodded immediately.
"Perfect."
For fairness, he chose the stronger members, including the ponytailed cadet, leaving the remaining two with the Han brothers.
"Move out."
Tianlei led his group down the right corridor, passing the shattered right glass bridge. Bodies stiffened as they saw the hole left behind.
They walked down a long corridor with glow sticks showing them the route to take ,which was weird since they were supposed to make it look hard but it was a positive thing rather than searching the sunken grid all day .
The light from his lotus staff also helped to navigate the corridors.
After a while ,they reached what appeared to be a dead end.
"This is—"
The same voice echoed.
"Attention, Team Black. You have reached the second test. In front of you is a door that will lead you to the other section . In front of you are three round platforms ."
Tianlei looked at the six small platforms, slightly sunken into the ground.
"The platforms are your chances to open the door. Your squad members must stand on them and you will choose each one card basing on the number of members you have . These cards are the passwords to success. Good luck."
Tianlei spotted countless boxrs of cards. Above them were different members ranging from two to ten ,since they were three ,he grabbed the one with number 3 and pulled them out.
Inside were nine cards , displaying four types of cards .
He laid them on the ground.
"We have two diamonds, two spades, three hearts, and one club."
"Each of us must choose a card," Tianlei said.
"This is simple," one cadet said. "Three hearts, three chances. Hearts are the password."
A woman's voice echoed through the system.
"Two members of Team Red have been eliminated."
A second later, it repeated.
"One member of Team Black has been eliminated."
Tianlei felt a brief satisfaction at the first announcement but the second made his heart sink. They were now down to six.
"Do you think it would be that simple?" the ponytailed cadet asked.
"Of course not," Tianlei said. "But we had three chances. Hearts represent faith and we need to have faith in order to pass"
He hesitated, then picked up a heart card.
The others followed. They placed the cards into the door's slots and stepped onto the platforms .
A magnetic force attached their feet tightly on the platform that they couldn't even move .
The platforms clicked ,then dropped one meter.
"Fail. Please try again."
The force restraining them released, and the platforms returned to their original height. They gasped, chests heaving.
"How did we fail?" one cadet asked.
"Now we have two diamonds, two spades, and one club," Tianlei said. "Two of us must choose the same card."
"Which one? Diamonds or spades?"
"Diamonds represent wealth. Clubs represent labor. Spades represent war."
If not for gambling in the slums as a child, Tianlei wasn't sure he would have known this.
"Diamonds are correct," the ponytailed cadet said.
Tianlei turned to him. "Why?"
"Wealth buys everything," he replied. "We can buy our way through."
"You're joking," the other cadet scoffed. "Spades are war. This is a military branch and we are trained for war ."
Tianlei rubbed his chin, even though he had no beard. Time was slipping away.
"Team Red has secured the first core," the voice announced.
That ended all debate.
"We choose now," Tianlei said. "We are soldiers in training to become war lords . Let's pick spades."
The two cadets picked spades leaving Tianlei was with the club card .
"Wait," Tianlei said quietly. "In war, both sides suffer losses."
They froze.
"This round," he continued, "one of us is going down."
Silence followed.
"I hold the club," Tianlei said. "You hold spades."
He met their eyes.
"It's clear who that will be."