He is not only confident in setting a record, he is confident that the record will be very high. This is even though he didn't finish comprehending all his spells.
Actually, he didn't gain complete mastery in most of his spells. The only spell he gained complete mastery of is the Dust Cleaning spell used to clean surfaces of dust.
That spell was too easy to cast and to learn. He completed mastery of it in less than 12 hours. As for the other spells, he rotated all of them and ensured that he had practiced them to a certain level so that he wouldn't fail to cast them when he needed them.
He put all of them through the phantoms for a while. So all of them have an average mastery of 20%.
He couldn't gain more mastery because the three wood spells were very difficult. He estimated that if he wanted to gain complete mastery in all three spells, he would need at least one month.
He didn't have one month of time to practice. So instead of focusing on just the three wood element spells, he decided to spread out his time on all thirteen spells.
Despite this, he is still very confident of setting a new record. In fact, he is so confident that he intends to take the most difficult test to use to set his record.
The main sources of his record are the breakthrough he made in his cultivation and the around effect of Mountain Karma.
His breakthrough in his cultivation was both in body refining and energy refining. So he improved in terms of his body, energy, and mind.
To be specific, he doubled the quality of his life force, the quality of his internal energy, the quantity of his internal energy, the power of his mind, and the mental energy capacity of his mind.
State of Existence: Second Mortal Coil (First Transformation of the Body Refining and First Transformation of Energy Refining)
1. Mountain Karma: Level 3 (251,637,923/1,000,000,000)
2. Mountain Foundation: Level 2 (54,439/10,000,000)
Power (Body Refining) = 10 (Body) × 3 (Life Force) × 3 (Mountain Karma) = 90.
Power (Energy Refining) = 10 (Spell) × 3 (Internal Energy QLTY) × 3 (Mountain Karma) = 90.
Mind: 2 >>> 3. Mental Energy: 100 > > > 200.
Internal Energy (Quantity): 100 > > > 200. Internal Energy (Quality): 2 > > > 3.
Body: 10. Life Energy: 100 >>> 200. Life Force: 2 > > > 3.
When he looks at his information in his system, he only gains more confidence.
The progress he made in the merits for Mountain Karma and Mountain Foundation has been disappointing. He only improved from 249,782,194 to 251,637,923 for Mountain Karma.
That's an improvement of 1,855,729 in one year. It is so disappointing that at this rate, it will take 403 years before he reaches level 4 of the Mountain Karma divine ability.
The progress of Mountain Foundation hasn't been good either. He improved from 52,927 to 54,439 in the nearly ten months since he awakened it.
That's an improvement of 1,512. At the current rate, it will take him about 6,500 years to reach level 3 and gain another phantom.
It could be longer if his progress slows down. But he doesn't want to imagine that possibility at all. He isn't sure that he or Lady Vena would still be alive after 6,500 years.
But apart from his underperforming merits, his cultivation has made good progress. Now, both his body and mind have the same power output.
What's even better is that its power output is similar to that of a cultivator at the eighth transformation of the second mortal. This is why he is confident in passing and setting up a new record in the most difficult challenge.
He didn't pick the most difficult challenge because he is proud and wants to show off. He wants that a little, but the main reason he is picking the most difficult test is because it is difficult for everyone else too.
Because the challenge is difficult, if he manages to set a high record on it now, it will take a long time before someone else can threaten it.
That way, he won't have to worry about someone breaking his record soon, and he won't have to try and create a new record for a long time. He will be able to enjoy the best accommodation for months, not just one month.
As he was thinking to himself, the lecture hall appeared in front of him. He reached it earlier than he normally does because he has the energy shield and was able to push the flying board to 80% of its top speed.
It is only 80% because he hasn't mastered the energy shield spell completely and because he is at the second transformation.
Other cultivators at the second transformation can only enjoy 30% of the flying artifact's top speed even if they have mastered the energy shield spell and can use it to prevent themselves from falling off the flying board due to air resistance.
So compared to other cultivators, he is doing well for himself. Even compared to his previous self, who was at the first transformation and didn't have the energy shield spell, he is doing well too.
He could use up to 20% of the flying board's top speed before. But now he can use 80%. That's an improvement of 4 times, which directly translates to him arriving in one quarter of the time it normally takes him.
As he alighted, he saw a crowd of people around the lecture. The number of people was higher than they usually were, so it drew his attention.
After hearing what they were talking about, he was able to come to the conclusion that there was a crowd because the new disciples were running out of time to set a record in thr performance tests. It was also why there was an atmosphere of urgency in the crowd.