Absolute Resonance

the options on the table.
I will not stop you,” she confirmed with a smile.

“I,” she emphasized, “will not stop you.

“But can you pull it out from the wall?”

They stopped short at that question.

Was it so hard to remove a blade from a wall?

“Like I said, this blade possesses sentience far beyond other gold-eye treasured artifacts, and it has King Qi lingering on it.
Moreover, it has been joined to the treasure vault for a long time now.
It will not be easy to remove.

“If you are interested in it, you may try, of course.
Whoever pulls it out can select it.”

“Well, I'll give it a try, then,” Gong Shenjun said with a broad smile.
No one raised any objection.
He had been the one to raise the idea first, so it only seemed fair that he got to go first.

Li Luo bit the inner wall of his cheek.
Of course he was tempted by the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade as well.
Still, he felt like these waters were too deep for him.
If even Gong Shenjun failed, how could he possibly succeed? Rumble!

While Li Luo was lost in his own thoughts, Gong Shenjun had already gotten down to action.
He was rapidly bringing his resonant power to bear, summoning all of his heavenly pearls.

With a deft rotation of the wrist, he cleared all of the dust from the hilt, leaving its original, burnished gold color exposed.

Gong Shenjun laid his palm carefully on the hilt and hesitated.
He could feel a strong resistance from the weapon.
He wrapped his fingers deliberately and slowly around it.

The shriek of metal rang out shrilly in the air.

Gong Shenjun's face was grim as he pressed on.
His scaled-dragon power coated his arm, and his veins bulged.

His heavenly pearls started to settle on his hand, studding it like stars.

Everyone could feel the incredible power in his right hand.

One punch from this arm would split rivers and mountains alike.

How could it possibly not pluck the sword out? 

BOOM!

Gong Shenjun gave a tremendous yank, his resonant power roaring out like a fired engine.
A terrific wind started to blow and the entire hall began to shake.

His robust resonant power came again and again in steady waves, turning his entire body into a scaled-dragon, starting from his arm.
And yet the hilt in the wall did not budge at all, no matter how much power he used.

Clearly, the walls of this vault were also built of some special material and reinforced with runes.
Otherwise, it would not have withstood Gong Shenjun's strength.

It was a riveting sight, and also sort of discouraging.

BOOM!

One final, superb blast of power, and the residual power echoed off the walls, ricocheting towards the other students.
Vice Principal Su Xin negated it with a simple lift of her hand.

Gong Shenjun's hair and clothes were in disarray.
He panted heavily as he let his resonant power fade back away.

He rearranged his clothing more properly, and gave a rueful laugh.
“No wonder the Vice Principal let us try it.
I have overestimated myself.

“What can I say now?” he said, spreading his hands and giving up gracefully.
Vice Principal Su Xin nodded kindly to him, and Duze Honglian looked at him admiringly.

In the ensuing silence, it was Li Luo who spoke up hesitantly.

“Well…
you can say something like ‘sorry? I've interrupted the treasure selection’?”