In truth, this island was supposed to give a puzzle, testing the participant's knowledge of arrays, but Mingyue had Vesa turn off the trial and instead send something in.
As Linhua observed her surroundings, she realized a wooden mannequin was crouching down in the middle of the area.
If Alex were there, he would have remarked, "Wait, is it a mokujin?" since the mannequin's appearance looked eerily similar to one.
He would then understand that it wasn't something to underestimate.
However, Linhua knew nothing of this, and even if she did, she wouldn't think much of it since Alex came from another world.
But Vesa had modified the wooden puppet using Alex's knowledge, making it more deadly.
The puppet, usually running on simple commands, was now reprogrammed into a self-learning AI with some fighting styles already inputted into it.
Its goal now was to half-kill Linhua.
Sensing her presence, the wooden puppet stood up, its eyes glowing red as it raised its hands in a combat posture.
BAM! The puppet dashed forward.
Linhua swiftly moved, utilizing her new sword art, but the puppet maneuvered in a bizarre way.
It dodged her attack with a duck, quickly throwing a counter uppercut towards her chin.
Linhua stepped back to dodge, but the puppet's uppercut stopped midway as just a feint.
Instead, it dashed forward with its head crouched down, then delivered a liver blow to Linhua's stomach.
Linhua felt her intestines twist as her face turned blue. The puppet continued its attack, throwing multiple punches at her stomach.
Bam! BAM! BAM!!!
Each hit paralyzed Linhua with pain.
She quickly moved her Qi to forcibly jump high into the air.
Then, she took out an artifact she had received as a reward from another stage. Its effect allowed her to convert her Qi into the wind element, enabling her to fly.
Groaning in pain, Linhua shot her Qi into a wind blade towards the wooden mannequin.
To her surprise, the mannequin faced it head-on, jumping upward, placing two hands to block its face, and then suddenly, a slab of rock appeared in its hands.
Crack! CRACK!
The wind clashed with the rock, turning it into a cloud of debris and smoke.
After the dust settled, Linhua's eyes sharpened, but the puppet was nowhere to be seen.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she felt a presence appear behind her. Turning her head over her shoulder, she saw the mannequin now holding a sword, slashing towards her neck.
CLANG!
She forcefully concentrated her Qi, pushing her hand to move faster than possible, damaging it in the process.
The puppet's red eyes then glinted, its leg moved forward and kicked her straight in the torso, sending her shooting to the ground.
BANG!
As Linhua fell to the ground, the puppet also fell, pointing its sword at her.
Feeling her imminent death, Linhua's mind quickly churned, thinking of a way out.
She had used all her tricks to reach this far; the only thing left was the pill.
Her hesitation from before quickly vanished, and she took out the pill and swallowed it. A warm energy started spreading, healing her broken bones and torn muscles.
Then, Linhua quickly burned her Qi, creating wind to help her move in the air.
Her body moved gracefully as she utilized her sword technique, with the wind complementing each move, increasing her attack power to a new level.
Slash, slash, slash.
Linhua launched a barrage of attacks.
The puppet did its best to protect itself, but it was no use; its movements were very limited in its position.
BANG! The mannequin fell to the ground, with dust and chips of wood scattering in the air.
Linhua then used the wind to maximize her falling speed, her sword stabbing down with a bang, piercing through the wooden mannequin's body.
Mingyue, watching the fight from a projection made by Vesa, smirked. Her eyes glinted with satisfaction, knowing what was coming next.
The mannequin moved its hand and leg, grabbing Linhua's hand. The Qi inside its core then began to churn.
BANG! It exploded, taking her hands with it.
"Aarrrgh!" Linhua screamed as intense pain overwhelmed her brain.
Shock, panic, confusion, and fear—all these emotions quickly arose in her heart.
She felt confused about why the mannequin specifically targeted only her hand; had it pulled her closer, she would have died.
Shocked because of the pain, and panicked and fearful because she didn't know if the trial had been completed or not.
Seeing Linhua's pained face, Mingyue's rosy lips turned upward into a cold smile.
"Serve you right, bitch. You tried to kill me, and I am good enough to let you live longer," she mumbled.
[Shall we proceed, Queen?]
"Yes, do it as planned. Give her the reward. But are you sure the elder won't suspect the cultivation method?"
[No, the elder will barely understand how this cultivation works. You don't need to worry, Queen.]
[I am sure she will hide it. Just think, if you were in her position, getting a cultivation method like this one without any prior knowledge, what would you do?]
Vesa modified one of the cultivation methods they had obtained from the secret realm, integrating her knowledge from Edonia.
Mingyue knew what Vesa said was true; she would hide it from everyone.
Any news where an ancient grade cultivation method was found always ended with the disappearance of the founder.
"Alright then, give the information to her, do as we planned."
Linhua, now lying on the ground, tore her sleeve and tied it over her shoulder to try to reduce the bleeding.
She kept her senses on high alert, afraid something else might emerge. Then, suddenly, a genderless voice reverberated in the air.
"You have done well to come this far. I have waited many years for someone suitable to continue my cultivation journey.
I deem you suitable for it, but for now, I will only give you half of my cultivation method.
You will know where to find the rest after you achieve some success on the path."