The broken corpses had not yet fallen when Max moved again.
He stepped diagonally and thrust forward.
A plain and direct stab pierced through the chest core of one puppet, then continued through the body of another standing behind it. Sparks and shattered tal burst outward as both collapsed.
He twisted his wrist.
A common upward cut rose from below and split the next puppet from waist to shoulder.
Every movent he used was simple.
Slash.
Thrust.
Parry.
Step.
Cut.
Turn.
Reverse strike.
Nothing he displayed was glamorous. They were the most fundantal sword motions imaginable.
But the terrifying truth was that Max had mastered those basics to a frightening degree.
He knew exactly where joints were weakest. He knew precisely when enemy montum could not be withdrawn. He understood angles, timing, spacing, rhythm, and pressure with instinctive clarity.
The Combat Puppets imdiately responded.
The rear ranks advanced while the side units collapsed inward. Dozens of swords attacked at once, sealing escape routes from every direction.
Max's eyes flashed sharply.
Seven-colored lightning surged again.
His body accelerated another level as he moved through the incoming storm of blades with impossible precision. One sword passed so close it sliced a strand of hair. Another scraped sparks from his sleeve. A third struck the ground where he had stood an instant earlier.
Yet not one landed cleanly.
Then Max retaliated.
He parried one sword just enough to redirect it into another puppet's shoulder. Before either recovered, he stepped between them and delivered a basic downward chop that split both helms at once.
He pivoted low, sweeping his blade across ankle joints and toppling three puppets together. Before they hit the ground, he stabbed downward through each core in succession.
He leaped backward, then launched forward again like living thunder.
Ten puppets fell.
Twenty followed soon after.
The arena floor beca littered with broken armor, severed limbs, and shattered swords.
Still, the remaining puppets showed no fear.
Their formation changed again, this ti dividing into smaller combat squads. So attacked directly while others attempted to restrict Max's movent and exhaust his stamina.
Max laughed softly as battle intent burned hotter in his eyes.
This was exactly what he wanted.
He no longer moved like a normal swordsman.
He moved like a storm unleashed across the battlefield.
Sotis he burst forward with raw speed and decapitated enemies before they could blink. Sotis he halted abruptly, allowing attacks to pass before stepping into the blind angle of multiple opponents. Sotis he used one fallen puppet's body as cover, then stabbed through both corpse and enemy behind it.
Every strike remained basic.
Every strike remained efficient.
Every strike killed.
Thirty beca fifty.
Fifty beca seventy.
The thunder of seven-colored lightning never ceased as Max carved through enemies far above his realm through pure combat mastery.
By the ti only twenty remained, his eyes were flashing with intense battle intent. There was no sign of any exhaustion from him.
His current combat power was around the peak of Law Refinent Realm and even beyond it. These 5th level Law Refinent Combat Puppets didn't stand a chance against him at all.
The final twenty puppets spread into a perfect killing ring around him.
Then they attacked simultaneously.
Sword lights descended from every direction, sealing sky, ground, and all lines of retreat.
Max planted one foot firmly into the cracked arena floor.
Seven-colored lightning exploded outward from his body in a radiant wave, illuminating every broken corpse scattered across the battlefield.
Then he moved.
He stepped forward and unleashed nothing but a flawless chain of basic sword attacks.
A slash took one throat.
A thrust pierced another core.
A turn placed him behind two enemies.
An upward cut split one open.
A reverse stab ended another.
A downward strike crushed helm and body alike.
His movents flowed one into another without pause, smooth as water and violent as thunder.
Within monts, the ring collapsed entirely.
The last Combat Puppet remained standing for a single breath with its sword still raised.
Then a crack spread from the top of its helt to the center of its body.
Its fra split apart and crashed onto the ground in two halves.
Silence descended over the arena.
All one hundred Combat Puppets had been destroyed.
Max stood alone amid a battlefield of wreckage, his sword lowered at his side while faint strands of seven-colored lightning still danced around his body. Broken armor covered the arena like fallen leaves after a divine tempest.
"I wonder what sort of sword art I would get to comprehend with this." Max muttered, very excited about the result of this small assessnt.
Silence lingered across the ruined arena.
For several monts, nothing happened.
Then the gray sky above began to vibrate.
Ancient runes appeared one after another in the empty air, rotating in vast circles above the arena. Pillars of pale light descended around Max, scanning the battlefield, counting every destroyed puppet, every strike mark, every fluctuation of energy, and perhaps even the thod by which victory had been achieved.
The sa cold chanical voice echoed once more.
[Combat Evaluation Complete.]
[Scanning participant performance.]
[Total Combat Puppets Assigned: 100]
[Total Combat Puppets Destroyed: 100]
[Participant Survival Status: Optimal]
[Damage Sustained: Minimal]
[Energy Efficiency: Exceptional]
[Weapon Technique Usage: Foundational Sword Arts]
[Combat Adaptability: Extraordinary]
[Cross-Realm Battle Capability: Beyond Standard Paraters]
Max narrowed his eyes slightly as he read each line.
The system was not rely counting kills. It was asuring everything, from efficiency to technique selection to how far he exceeded expected limits.
The glowing ssages paused for a mont.
Then the entire arena shook.
A deeper light erupted from the sky, brighter than before, causing even the shattered remains on the ground to tremble. New lines of text appeared in enormous characters before Max.
[Standard Reward Tiers:]
[Low Performance]
[Qualified Performance]
[Outstanding Performance]
[Exceptional Performance]
The ssages faded one by one.
For a brief mont, the arena beca completely dark.
Then golden light burst forth like a rising sun.
The chanical voice, which had remained emotionless until now, seed to carry the faintest trace of distortion.
[Unregistered Result Detected.]
[Participant Performance Has Exceeded Existing Standard Reward Tiers.]
[Recalculating…]
[Recalculating…]
[Recalculation Failed.]
Max's expression changed slightly.
Even the trial system could not process the result properly.
Then the sky split open with blinding radiance as the final judgnt descended.
[Final Performance Rating: PERFECT]
The word hung above the arena in colossal golden letters, illuminating everything below.
A heavy pressure spread through the battlefield, not hostile, but ancient and dignified, as though the creators of this inheritance space themselves had acknowledged the result.
The system voice continued.
[Perfect Performance is not included within the four announced public reward tiers.]
[Perfect Performance is reserved for participants who achieve total domination beyond projected limits.]
[Conditions t:]
[Destroyed all assigned opponents.]
[Won across multiple realm disparity.]
[Displayed supre combat awareness.]
[Used basic sword arts to surpass advanced paraters.]
[No external assistance detected.]
[Eligibility Confird.]
Max slowly exhaled as the golden word reflected in his eyes.
So the four reward tiers announced outside had not been the complete truth.
There had always been a hidden fifth level.
Not for ordinary geniuses.
Not even for excellent ones.
Only for soone who completely shattered the expectations of the trial itself.
The system ssages shifted once more.
[Reward Upgrade Initiated.]
[Perfect Grade Sword Inheritance Preparing.]
[Highest Comprehension Chamber Unlocking.]
The arena floor trembled as all the broken puppet remains dissolved into streams of light. Ancient sword marks across the battlefield began to glow one after another, and in the center of the arena, a massive stone platform slowly rose from below.
Atop the platform stood a portal.
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