Chapter 230: Mental strength
Sam sat before the Left side Platform as his target was the Transference Scroll. He doesn't know what they are, but he can guess from the name itself, it might be an escape item which could save him in an unprecedented threat.
As Sam started his refining, the rest also got to their own choice, some of them including Arthur focused on the Sabre.
There are only four people for the Transference scroll including Sam himself.
But right now, Sam is in a very shitty mood and he might stay in that mood until he finds a way to vent that so, he took out his two swords and stabbed them both beside him.
He doesn't want to compete with these guys for this, since he laid his eyes on this, he is going to get what he wants and he doesn't have enough patience to fight with these guys.
And just like that, he is alone in front of that platform.
Sam spread his spiritual sense on the sphere and started imprinting it. It is not the same kind of imprint as the one on the puppets.
This process is rather making the sphere disappear with their spiritual sense and mental strength and just leave a mark of their spiritual sense.
If multiple candidates are trying to make an imprint on the single thing, there would be a wrestle between the senses and the one with the strongest mental strength will be getting the treasure.
Since Sam doesn't have any competition it was done in three days and he stored the scroll away.
He then went towards the Thunder Prison.
There are eight people at the Thunder Prison and as Sam came towards it, they started having some mental fluctuations, but they don't want to give up.
Sam didn't want them to do so too. Of course, it would be great if they gave but since he already got what he wanted; he can at least give them a chance to get what they want.
Sam sat down and sent his spiritual sense.
His spiritual sense is a lot stronger than any of them here, he is a lot superior to his peers in this aspect as he cultivates his mental strength. His mental strength is on par with at least a Grand realm cultivator.
When he entered the fray as the ninth person the remaining eight spiritual senses trembled. Sam is having a great time now because the eight of them worked hard and eroded the sphere and then now Sam is here to take them.
He is mostly interested in this prison because it is a defensive item and also judging from its size it is equipment made in such a way that its size is manipulative which can give him some ideas in his further inventions.
So, he is more interested in this.
As the situation turned into a walk in the park to him, Sam suddenly felt a tug of resistance towards his spiritual sense and when he noticed, he saw that the eight remaining candidates are making a united attack towards him.
Since three days are already over and he already got one item, Sam decided that he would test his abilities in mental attacks and improve in this aspect.
So, Sam started his mental 'spar' with these candidates and the candidates' suffering started.
Sam closed his eyes and felt the attacks and the pressure from the other candidates. He is analyzing how mental strength can be used for attacking.
When he felt the pressure from the statue, the one that hurt him most is the mental pressure than the physical one.
He almost lost his confidence and arrogance as his mind was kicked into the abyss of his suffering and inferiority of his previous life.
This almost made him lose his mind.
That much overbearing power was just obtained with the mental pressure.
Now that he has an opportunity to analyze something like this arrived, there is no reason for him to back off.
Sam first started imagining his spiritual sense like clay or some dough.
He wanted to manipulate it as he liked which proved to be a hard one to achieve. But since he has enough time and eight sparring partners there is no need for him to get anxious or disappointed. He can take it one step at a time.
And the first thing is he has to stay alert so that he wouldn't take any damage because of the combined attacks and for that he has to make his spiritual sense and consciousness tight and guarded.
The second thing he did was to treat the spiritual sense like a dough with the help of his strong consciousness.
But that is not easy. It is almost as hard as his laser fusion.
Sam spent his time in deep concentration and slowly but surely, he started having better control over his spiritual sense.
In general, the spiritual sense is not used this way. It is mostly used in very limited ways and one of the most common and major usage methods is that a cultivator will use this to probe and learn about others' cultivation levels.
A cultivator will use the spiritual sense to check the elemental or spiritual energy levels of an object, area, person, beast, or any other item.
They will use it to check the places within their range but not under entirely visible under their normal vision and last but not least, they will use it to sense the impending dangers or any unwanted presence near themselves so that they can stay safe.
In all these uses, the spiritual sense will be controlled very liberally, there are no impossible constraints or any other restrictions when releasing the spiritual sense.
The most they could control is the range they want to inspect.
Other than that distance and rage there are not many restrictions including the amount of concentration in one area or on a person or an animal.
Now, Sam's first aim is to achieve the necessary control so that he can manipulate as much as he wants.
As two spiritual senses overlap there would be some frustrating and disturbing collision mentally for both parties and Sam's second aim was based on this.
If Sam can have the necessary control to manipulate the concentration, he believes that he can use it to create the necessary attack that affects the opponent's spirit and mentality.
And as he had clear goals, Sam is trying his best to achieve them.
The eight candidates don't know that Sam is using them as a whetstone for grinding his mental strength and prowess.
They are ecstatic when they found that Sam's spiritual sense became passive and when they found out that their attacks are having some effects, they became even more excited.
As time slowly passed and another day went by, the candidates are still having a great time as they saw a small amount of hope.
Because as they attacked, they felt like Sam's spiritual sense is not covering a larger area as before. Even though the change is small they believed it is due to Sam taking damage from their attacks and felt like their moves are working which made them try harder.
The next day, their attacks grew even more aggressive as the area of influence under Sam is becoming less and less.
The next day, which is also the sixth day, they could feel Sam's spiritual sense surrounded by their and when they saw Sam's frown, they felt like they are about to win and they pressed forward.
But there came a surprise which they never anticipated.
On the seventh day, when there are only a few hours left, one of the eight candidates felt as if there is a needle poking on his consciousness and then only he noticed that Sam's spiritual sense is not dormant anymore and when he observed closely he noticed that although Sam's spiritual sense is covering a small area, it is extremely concentrated and in fact, it is too concentrated that is very small.
But there is something about that made him afraid and he knew what it is soon enough.
There was a sudden surge of pain in the brain and he lost his footing.
He fell on his back as he held his head which is throbbing in pain with his jaws clenched and veins popped on his forehead.
He started rolling on the floor to control the pain.
Many people in the room failed to make sense of the situation including the people who are trying to fight off Sam, but they didn't realize that they don't have the luxury to ponder things.
Sam's attacks began and soon the remaining seven candidates fell on the floor one by one and the thunder prison became Sam's.
He made an imprint which took him around half-a-day and then only he opened his eyes.
When he saw the surroundings, he noticed that everyone is done with their things and the saber is already obtained by someone.
By the look of things, it is Arman who got it which is not exactly unexpected.