...…

Filling the wooden barrel took longer than what Shin had expected. He didn't expect that the traps set up by Grandmaster Benn were that troublesome.

They were not just adjusting according to his speed, but they were also responding according to his movements. At first, Shin was able to take advantage of the flaws that he noticed from the formation. But the more he advanced, the lesser the flaws he could see – it was as if the traps were growing alongside him.

What's more, he also needed to climb back on the mountain top to bring the wooden bucket filled with water. Dodging the traps was one thing, but doing it while carrying a pair of water-filled buckets was another matter.

It was because he also needed to make sure that he would not spill the water while dodging the traps. And due to that, his movements became too limited.

With all of that, Shin felt that this new 'exercise' was quite interesting. Especially that he could see that this was an application of the reflex training that he was currently doing.

But even if it was quite challenging, Shin welcomed it with open arms since he could see the immediate changes and improvements that he was making. He only did that training for a single time yet he could already feel his progress.

The sun was already up when Shin arrived at the back of the cottage where Professor Plum was sitting on his rocking chair, relaxing.

When Old Plum saw Shin finally arrived, he couldn't but smirk a little while asking.

"Heh! So, how was it? Quite a challenge, isn't it?

"

"So-so,

" replied Shin while shrugging his shoulders which made the old man chuckle a little.

After that, Old Plum instructed Shin to stand at the encircled area surrounded by the wooden blocks hanging on the tree branch.

Hearing that, Shin did as he was told before waiting for Professor Plum to continue. And when he stood inside the circle, the old man suddenly added.

"You can already stand in there for as long as you want, right? Then let's make it a little more challenging then.

"

"As you can see, those wooden blocks also had different sizes on top of them having different shades of color. If the colors stood for which method are you going to choose between dodging, deflecting and counter attacking, then the sizes indicate how you are going to do it.

"

He then paused for a few seconds before continuing.

"But before that, we need to shaffle the methods for each color a little bit. For today, you need to dodge the red ones, attack the blues and deflect the yellow ones.

"

"For today?

" asked Shin suddenly when he heard that. Meaning, the order was going to change for the upcoming days.

While Shin was thinking about that, Old Plum immediately nodded his head and confirmed it.

"Yeah, you heard it right. Starting today, you are required to shuffle the methods for each day. It is to avoid yourself getting too used to it and building up new forms of habits.

"

Hearing that, Shin nodded his head repeatedly. He actually thought about it before but he didn't immediately do it because he was still in the middle of honing his reflexes during that time. And it might even mess up his progress a little if he became too greedy.

But since Old Plum was basically telling him that it was fine to do it now, then he was more than willing enough to welcome that challenge.

But that was not all since Professor Plum was still not telling him the purpose of the different sizes of the wooden block. And when the old man saw that Shin's expectant eyes, he couldn't help but shake his head a little before continuing.

"As for the sizes, they were quite tricky. So, I need you to listen carefully.

"

"Let's start at the blocks that you are going to hit directly. The largest ones need to be hit by your fist while the medium ones are needed to be hit by palm strikes. On the other hand, you need to use a hand blade attack when it comes to the smallest ones.

"

"Next is the blocks that are needed to be deflected. The large ones are needed to be deflected by the back of your hand while medium ones will be deflected by your palm. Meanwhile, the blocks with the smallest size can be hit by both. But it needs to be alternated; if it is deflected by the back of your hand first, then you need to deflect it by your palm next.

"

"Then the last set was the wooden blocks which needed to be avoided. This one is quite simple, you just need to dodge towards your right when dodging the large block and you need to dodge to your left when it comes to the blocks with medium sizes. As for the smallest wooden blocks, you need to dodge them by either moving forward or backward. There is no special rule for this one.

"

Shin turned silent as he fell into a deep thought after hearing those instructions. They were quite complicated on their own. And if you put all of them together, then doing this training was also going to be very challenging.

After a few more moments of thinking, Shin finally digested all of the instructions given to him. Then he raised his head at Professor Plum before nodding his head.

Seeing the determined look at Shin's face, Old Plum suddenly smiled before waving his hand while saying.

"If you are ready, then start your training now. And if you managed to complete this one, then we are going to immediately proceed at training your control over the 'Demonic Qi' inside your body.

"

Hearing that, Shin slightly nodded his head for another time before proceeding to his training. As usual, he closed his eyes first before throwing a powerful punch in the air right after opening his eyes. That punch sent a strong gust of wind in every direction which made the wooden blocks sway alongside it.

With that, the next level of Shin's training finally started. And this time, he was very excited to do this training. Because given how complicated it was, he was sure that it would give him a lot of benefits in battle.

What's more, Old Plum also said that he was going to start training with his 'Demonic Qi' once he completed this training. Just that thought alone made him so excited because he would finally be able to see the real power of Professor Plum's 'Yin-Yang Arts'.

"Looks like this special training is going to be more and more interesting.

"

*********

Meanwhile, the harbor of the Easter Sea Region of the Soaring Continent was starting to get packed by a large number of ships that came from the different parts of the world. It was the same for the airports that had traffics due to a lot of planes arriving consecutively.

This was the busiest period of the Eastern Sea Region because the school year was about to start. And since the Magical Ace Academy was located in this region, a lot of young men and women from the different parts of the world were arriving here, hoping to pass the entrance exam.

And among these youths were the talents that come from different powerhouses of the world and aristocratic families. These guys were sent in this place to experience a different kind of atmosphere and to also spy for the young talents that they might encounter for the upcoming tournaments.

There were also some individuals who were a disciple of some famous experts, which made this place become even more lively.

But compared to the majority of the youngsters who came here just to take the entrance exam, these set of younger generations came to this place to take a look at the potential talents who were most likely going to become their biggest rivals in the upcoming 'International Empire War'.

But the Eastern Sea Region was not the only place having a busy time right now. It was the same for the Western Plain Region where the Top Military School was located, another top school alongside the Magical Ace Academy.

Being a 'genius creator' just like the Magical Ace Academy, the Top Military School was also having a large number of applicants. And even if their curriculum was much harsher, there were still a lot of young talents who wanted to enter this school since they could immediately become a part of any military forces as long as they showed good results in this school.

Similar things were happening in the other places of the world where the other top schools were located such as the Central Institute, Phantom Academy, Advance Technological College and others.

These schools were responding to these situations very carefully, despite them standing at the very top of the world's educational circle. It was because they all knew that these upcoming few years were going to be very crucial for them because the next 'International Empire Wars' was about to be held.

Given all of that, the world was starting to have its busiest period as it started to enter its new age due to this wave of new talents who were going to lit the spark of dawn.

.....