Chapter 86: Mark Keeps Failing
Mark’s condition was terrible. Even with his peak cultivation talent, it would still take a long time to fully recover.
But after about two straight days of resting, Mark had just enough strength to barely fight another battle against the skull ape.
The skull ape was only E-rank. Compared to Mark’s current strength, the gap wasn’t that big. The reason he got injured before was that Mark made some incredibly stupid mistakes.
In the next fight against the skull ape, Mark wouldn’t have many chances to make mistakes again. On the other hand, he already had experience and knew the skull ape’s weakness.
Two days passed. Even though his body still hurt, Mark could move fairly well now.
"A supreme spiritual root really is extraordinary. It doesn’t just help me cultivate faster; it also helps me recover insanely fast. At this rate, even if I lose an arm or a leg, I could probably recover on my own without going to the hospital."
Of course, that was only in theory. If he really lost a limb one day, Mark wouldn’t take that risk unless he had no other choice.
These past few days, Mark’s spear had always stayed by his side. There were even moments when he felt his relationship with this spear was better than with his ex. His ex betrayed him, but the spear stayed with him through life-and-death trials.
That ridiculous train of thought kept drifting further and further until Mark realized the constant pressure had apparently overloaded his brain.
Just as he was about to continue cultivating to recover from his injuries, a familiar sound made Mark become alert.
With his improved eyesight, Mark could see a skull ape swinging across the branches toward him. But something felt very strange...
This skull ape’s eyes were glowing as brightly as high-powered lights. It was clearly already in ’phase two’ instead of starting from ’phase one’ like last time.
Its movements, its direction... and many other things were way too similar. So similar that Mark felt like everything he had gone through was some dream that predicted the future.
Of course, there was no dream here. Mark’s battered body was the best proof of that.
"Are you kidding me? Even if you’re rigging it, at least try to be subtle. Doing it like this just makes me feel like an idiot."
Mark’s mouth twitched as he looked at Nexus’s and the system’s incredibly lazy ’masterpiece’. He knew they wouldn’t stop until he died or finished the lesson, but designing the lesson this half-heartedly was going too far.
"Alright. Come at me, you dumb monkey. Now that I know your weakness, don’t even dream of landing a single hit on me."
With experience under his belt, Mark’s confidence shot through the roof. Even with his injured body, he still felt that the skull ape, even with its intelligence buffed, had no chance of beating him.
First, exploit its weakness. He had to act vulnerable so the skull ape would look down on him. Then take advantage of the openings created by its stupidity to finish it off. That was how the script was supposed to go...
Not long after, two bodies were lying flat on the ground. The one with a spear piercing through its butt was the skull ape, and the other one was obviously Mark.
The more confident he was at the start, the more embarrassing the result became. Mark thought he had gained plenty of experience, but he still got beaten black and blue.
This skull ape wasn’t arrogantly stupid like before. Nexus and the system had obviously interfered with it using their cruel hands. Right from the start, it didn’t attack Mark first. Instead, it began smashing Mark’s backpack, destroying most of his supplies.
After that, it was Mark’s turn to get beaten before he started begging his spiritual root to lend him a little more power so he could break past his limits.
Compared to two days ago, Mark’s condition was even more of a disaster now. The only reason he hadn’t stopped breathing was that his spiritual root was keeping his last breath alive.
[This stupid mortal actually looked down on his enemy while he was weak as hell? Did he seriously think I’d let that dumb ape stay as stupid as it was the first time?]
Watching Mark’s disappointing performance, the system started criticizing him nonstop again. Of course, even while mocking him, it secretly buffed Mark’s mental clarity so he wouldn’t actually keel over and die.
"The next round will be in one more day. We’re not here to teach Mark how to fight a few apes."
Ignoring the fact that Mark was on the verge of dying, Nexus spoke indifferently. He figured he’d been too lenient, which was why Mark still couldn’t stay calm when facing death. Maybe the rest periods were too long. If death came faster, maybe Mark would learn faster.
Even if Mark actually died during training, the system would revive him anyway. Right now, there were barely any disciples, and the system itself wanted the Cultivation Academy to grow stronger, so it couldn’t let the academy suddenly lose fifty percent of its disciples.
After a few more hours, Mark struggled to his feet once again. His complexion looked worse than ever, and the heavy blow to his spirit left him completely discouraged.
The more confident he was at the start, the harder he failed. Sure, he technically won, but what was the point of winning like this? Mark only felt that he was even dumber than he thought.
"Stay calm... how the hell am I supposed to stay calm? When I’m facing death, I..."
While treating his wounds, Mark muttered irritably. He wasn’t blaming Nexus for giving him a lesson that was too difficult. He was only blaming himself.
Even though he’d already died several times, Mark still couldn’t stay unfazed when facing death.
"Forget it. Thinking about it won’t help. Better focus on healing first."
With a dejected expression, Mark closed his eyes and started cultivating. His cultivation efficiency had dropped somewhat because his mental state was terrible.
Another day passed just like that. Mark was now sitting inside the hollow tree, thinking about his life.
Even though he was extremely sleepy, Mark didn’t dare fall asleep. He was worried that if he slept now, he’d end up sleeping for a long time and get killed like an idiot while he was out.
If he died in such a pathetic way, Mark believed the system wouldn’t bother reviving him because he’d be too damn trash.