by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
To them, the outer disciples were meaningless. In the future, they would easily be able to gather more people. They only wanted powerful people. Only then could they have superiority during the struggles in the monastery.
As for Yue Zifeng and Ye Zhiqiu’s factions, their passing rate was actually not bad. They had around a seventy percent pass rate. But they also had fewer inner disciples. They had seven and eight inner disciples respectively. The rest were all naturally outer disciples.
Tang Wan-er’s side might have had the highest passing rate, but her whole force’s strength was also the lowest since she only had three inner disciples
“I’m going to go.”
Tang Wan-er’s beautiful gaze fell upon the mountain cliff. She had already walked out.
Chapter 166 Core Disciple Trial
Tang Wan-er’s actions immediately drew everyone’s attention. Even those excited disciples that had passed also calmed down to watch.
The core disciple trials were about to begin.
Everyone stopped to watch Tang Wan-er.
“An unmatched goddess whose magnificence outshines her peers; goddess Wan-er will easily pass!”
Tang Wan-er had only just arrived in front of the stone wall when a thunderous roar came from behind her.
She turned to see that at some point, a flag had appeared in Long Chen’s hands. He was waving it around, leading everyone to cheer his slogan.
Looking at his smile, Tang Wan-er relaxed greatly. That smile easily warmed her heart comfortably.
Although this fellow liked to do wacky things, Tang Wan-er knew that in this case he was helping her relieve some of the pressure.
Waving to them, she walked atop the steps, respectfully arriving at Elder Tu Fang. “Sorry to trouble Elder. Core disciple trial, middle row, third on the right.”
Tu Fang nodded. He amicably smiled, “Use your full strength without holding anything back. If there are problems, you can always retreat.”
To a monster-class genius, even Tu Fang would be much more prudent. If such a disciple died here, that would be a huge blow to the monastery.
“Many thanks for your concern, Elder. Wan-er understands,” she nodded.
Tu Fang waved his hand, and Tang Wan-er directly floated up the three thousand meter to the stone wall, arriving at a certain cave.
Taking a slight breath, wind blades suddenly exploded out around her body. That terrifying wind energy whistled through the air sharply.
Everyone held their breath. A monster-class expert had exploded out with her full force. Would she manage to pass?
Long Chen was also slightly nervous inside. Tang Wan-er was incredibly powerful, the most talented of everyone here with what he sensed to be a gold grade Spirit Root.
But her heart was perhaps the most lacking amongst them all. She had too many emotions and so, was too unstable. And that was why Long Chen could only do his best to relax her in hopes she would be able to use more of her strength.
After summoning her wind blades, two large longswords appeared in her hands as well. Runes appeared that had an aura which shook the air as she slowly walked into the cave.
BOOM!
As soon as she entered, people heard an immense explosion. The cave shook and qi waves spat out of the opening.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!
The explosions continued and the entire mountain was constantly shaking now. Everyone was tightly clenching fists nervously. No one wished to see a fairy meet a miserable end.
After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Long Chen relaxed. At the same time, Tu Fang and the other Elders also let out a breath of air, the tension on their faces disappearing.
Seeing everyone behind him was still nervous, he smiled, “Don’t worry everyone. Sister Wan-er can definitely pass!”
He knew that to Tang Wan-er, it was the start of the battle that was the most dangerous. If she managed to survive that, she would have conquered the fear in her heart, allowing her to display even more terrifying power.
That was why Long Chen had relaxed. If she was still fine after this much time, then that meant passing the trial was now only a matter of time for her.
Although she was also a woman, Tang Wan-er’s nature was completely different from Meng Qi and Chu Yao. They were gentle on the outside but hard on the inside.
As for Tang Wan-er, she displayed a hard exterior of power, concealing her fragile heart. After Long Chen pointed that out, she had also realized her problem.
In the beginning, she had said it would have been better to see other people go to test out the core disciple trial first. If others succeeded, she would also feel more assured of her own success.
But now she had chosen to be the first to take the core disciple trial. That was to overcome the obstacles in her heart. She would use this battle to completely mature herself.
Of the people present, only Long Chen knew Tang Wan-er’s intentions. She wanted to defeat her own weakness to become a true expert.
Since Tang Wan-er had still managed to stay alive after this much time, other people also relaxed slightly. As for the other monster-class experts, since they saw she was able to endure, that meant they were able to as well. That was the benefit of going after.
The four of them all walked up. As he passed by Long Chen, Lei Qianshang icily said, “Brat, you wouldn’t have any thoughts of selecting the inner disciple trial right? If you were thinking of that, I think it’d be easier if you just smashed your head in against the cliff.”
Long Chen glanced at him. “What does my choice have to do with you? It’s not your concern. Furthermore, you ended up growing into a giant gorilla. If you don’t die, then why should I?”
Lei Qianshang was about to retort when Qi Xin interrupted, “Don’t bother with people like him. It’s beneath our dignity.”
Only then did Lei Qianshang coldly snort and turn away, walking to the stone wall.
As for Ye Zhiqiu, she nodded to him as she walked back. Closely behind her was Yue Zifeng.
The four of them all went up, causing an uproar. Everyone was incredibly excited. All the monster-class experts were about to take the trial; just how many of them would pass?
The four of them selected their own caves and were sent up. In reality, the power of the enemies within the caves on the same level were randomly distributed. It was impossible to tell which cave would have weaker opponents. That would rely on luck.
All four of their powerful auras exploded out when they arrived in front of their caves. Bringing out their strongest techniques, they entered their caves.
As expected, as soon as the four entered, explosions immediately rang out. Qi waves surged and intense booming rumbled. It was obvious just how fierce the battle was inside. Unfortunately, no one outside could see inside.
Long Chen thought about that for a moment and then also walked up to the stone wall, stopping before the stairs.
“Long Chen, which level are you thinking of choosing?” Tu Fang asked Long Chen.
“Any cave on the top level,” said Long Chen indifferently. Since all of the caves of the same level followed the same standards, there was no need for him to make a specific choice.
He had settled on choosing the core disciple trial. That was because he saw that the core disciple trials were completely isolated, and the fight could not be seen by others. That way there was no chance he would expose himself.
“Ok, you guys randomly pick one.” Tu Fang turned to the Elders behind him.
One of them smiled and told Long Chen, “Excellent, it’s been many years since I’ve seen a fellow as interesting as you. Then I’ll just randomly pick one.”
That person patted the stone pillar before him, and gentle energy brought Long Chen floating before one of the caves on the highest level.
“Good luck, young man,” smiled that Elder.
In the beginning, Tu Fang hadn’t really cared about it, but he suddenly thought of something and his expression changed slightly.
Hesitating for a moment, Tu Fang was just about to say something when his gaze fell on Long Chen. Was this the fate of Divergents? How did he randomly end up in that place?
Of the people present, only Tu Fang knew a bit about what was inside that cave. It was impossible for anyone to have intentionally sent him there. In other words, that was just Long Chen’s bad luck?
Standing in front of the cave, Long Chen could only see that the inside of the cave was pitch-black. His FengFu Star’s spiritual qi began to circulate, and his Spiritual Strength also spread out as he walked into the cave.
“What, he won’t even release his aura?! Does he want to die?!”
People couldn’t help but let out startled cries. They had all seen Long Chen boost morale and calmly conduct everyone, his mannerisms far from ordinary. No one had thought he was such an idiot.
But they didn’t know that Long Chen’s energy was all condensed within his FengFu Star. There was no need for his aura to explode out like others. Others would need to do that in order to employ their greatest strength.
But Long Chen could draw out energy from his FengFu Star with just a thought. That was much faster than a Dantian.
As his Spiritual Strength spread and he explored the cave, he realized the cave was extremely deep. Despite entering dozens of meters, he still didn’t meet an enemy. That was definitely puzzling to him.
Other people had immediately been attacked the moment they entered their caves. Then did that mean the enemy in this cave liked to act grandly and was waiting for Long Chen to find him?
Not daring to be the slightest bit overconfident, he carefully walked forward. All of his nerves were stretched to the limit, ready to react to the slightest thing in the fastest time.
By the time he had walked in over a hundred meters, the path before him had become wider. At this time, his vision had adjusted a bit, and he could see that he was in a large lounge. This lounge had a diameter of over three hundred meters and was also over thirty meters high. It was extremely spacious.
“Jiejiejiejie….” A strange laughter rang out like the howl of a malicious spirit. It was a sound that would cause people to feel numb and as if knives were being stabbed into their ears.
Long Chen was startled and hastily looked forward to see that there was someone at the center of this lounge. That person was wearing robes, his head was lowered and his long hair fell down, making it impossible to see his face.
That voice had seemed to come from it, but he wasn’t sure. This lounge was so large that there were countless echoes coming from all over.
“Hey, since you know how to laugh, do you also know how to talk?” Long Chen guardedly asked from a distance.
He didn’t dare walk up to it. If it was just a bait to attract his attention, then it would be troublesome when the real attacker launched a sneak attack on him.
“Hehe, after a thousand years, I can finally smell the scent of life again. It’s so nostalgic…”
That person’s voice was incredibly painful to listen to, like scraping iron. He slowly raised his head, and Long Chen saw that it was a man in his thirties.
His face was pitch-black as if it had been burned. His eye sockets were completely empty of anything, and his cheeks had already withered. A steel needle had been inserted into the center of his eyebrows.
That needle was around the width of a finger and over a foot long, going through his skull. Long Chen’s heart shook; as expected, it was just a corpse.
That was just a puppet shell without the slightest bit of life. But from inside that corpse came an exceptionally strange energy fluctuation.
“Spiritual Strength; you’re a spiritual body?” Long Chen let out a startled cry. Wasn’t that kind of energy Spiritual Strength? But that Spiritual Strength was shockingly powerful!
“I wouldn’t have expected you to know so much. That group of bastards sealed my soul in here, wanting to enslave me and have me become a testing instrument.
“Hehe, am I, Gui Sha, someone so easy to subdue? Little fellow, I’ll give you two choices now. You can die, or surrender.
“Don’t even think of escaping. Let alone you who is only in the Blood Condensation realm, even those Elders outside would die after arriving here,” said Gui Sha sinisterly.
Long Chen’s heart quivered. This turn of events was far from reassuring. Raising his longsword, it whistled as it slashed down on that corpse.
Chapter 167 Corrupt Path's Old Demon
In response to Long Chen’s direct slash at him, that person merely snorted coldly. A withered, black hand directly grabbed onto Long Chen’s blade.
A metallic ringing filled the air when the two collided. That blade in his hands shook and a powerful force knocked him flying.
“Hmph, you’re far from capable enough to put on such an act in front of me.”
That person suddenly moved, disappearing like a specter. By the time he once more appeared, he was already blocking the exit.
“How fast!” Long Chen was alarmed. As soon as he had encountered this strange person he had felt that something was wrong. He constantly felt a chilling sensation that told him he was a threat to his life.
He had been planning on borrowing his counterforce to quickly flee from here. Unfortunately, his ploy had been seen through.
“Although this corpse is too weak, with my Spiritual Strength controlling it, it’s not something an amateur like you can defeat.
“Little fellow, I’ll still give you those two options again. Either die or surrender,” he icily said.
Long Chen’s heart pounded loudly. This corpse contained an old monster’s spirit. What kind of crap was this trial?
And what bastard had dug this cave so deep that there wasn’t even a chance to flee?
“If you want me, Long Chen, to surrender, you’ll have to show me you have the skill.” Long Chen icily snorted. Since he couldn’t flee, he could only face it head-on. The divine ring appeared in his Dantian as his FengFu Star circulated. Terrifying pressure began to soar.
“Oh, somewhat interesting.” That person was actually a bit intrigued by Long Chen’s aura. But there was no surprise in his voice; clearly everything was completely under his control.
“Parting Wind Slash!”
Long Chen’s sword slashed down, but that corpse’s claw-like hand directly punched away the sword tip.
He was horrified to see that his Earth class Battle Skill was so easily blocked. It was unable to even slightly wound that person.
“Breaking Wind Fist!”
Long Chen once more shouted. Light appeared over his fist as he sent a punch smashing into that person.
Previously, in the fight for the Profound Spirit Fruit, his heavy spear had already been broken. Without a heavy weapon, most of his Battle Skills were unable to display their full strength. It was better for him to give up on using a weapon and fight with his fists.
BOOM!
Long Chen’s punch landed squarely on that withered corpse’s arm. That fist could easily destroy a boulder, but it was unable to break that arm. At the same time, his own power rebounded and forced him back several steps, turning his own arm slightly numb.
“What a hard body!” Long Chen was horrified. This corpse was incredibly powerful. If he had been alive, he would definitely have been a terrifying expert.
“Little kid, are you still unconvinced? Hmph, then I’ll let you see just how minuscule you are to me.” That person snorted, and his body suddenly moved. A pair of black hands appeared in front of Long Chen in just an instant.
Long Chen hastily punched out to block it. Although he managed to block it, his body was still forced back again.
“Your physical body is not bad.” His withered claws then began to continuously attack Long Chen, his speed like a wild tempest.
BANG, BANG, BANG! Long Chen was unable to even see the movements of his claws. He could only rely on his intuition to block as best as he could, filled with horror.
Just wha
t level of expert was this old ghost? It was clear that only his soul still remained, and he was simply possessing this corpse. However, he possessed such mighty strength.
Long Chen could clearly sense that this soul was relying on Spiritual Strength to control the corpse. But even so, he was completely dominating him.
Furthermore, Long Chen had no idea what was going on with that corpse. No matter how he struck it, he was unable to break it at all.
Although he knew that the core disciple trial was difficult, he was sure it was not supposed to have reached this level! This was essentially impossible to overcome!
There was not even the slightest chance of him beating this old monster. Even if he used his full strength, there would not be the slightest hope. Something wrong had definitely occurred somewhere.
The only lucky thing about this was that the old monster didn’t want to kill him. He wasn’t attacking him with his full strength and was even mostly avoiding his vitals.
BANG!
A kick landed on Long Chen’s stomach, sending him flying into the wall behind him. Only then did they stop.
“Hehe, kid, you’re not bad. I’ve decided to take you as an apprentice. Hurry up and kowtow to your master.”
That person walked up to Long Chen. His dead face was right in front of Long Chen, making him appear even more sinister.
“Do you think someone like you is capable of being my master?” Long Chen icily laughed, blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth.
After that tempest of attacks, Long Chen’s body was covered in bruises. That corpse was too strange. Its hardness was even greater than any of his weapons.
“Bastard, who do you think I, Gui Sha, am? Three thousand years ago I swept across the land, striking fear in the hearts of anyone who heard my name. For me to take a fancy to you is a blessing for you,” raged Gui Sha.
“Then you mean, you’re very amazing?” asked Long Chen.
“Of course, I’m extremely amazing,” said Gui Sha proudly.
