Chapter 39

39

The purpose of this seal was to prevent candidates from being shameless. If they placed the jade pendants into their inter-spacial bags and refused to take them out no matter how badly their opponents beat them up, then this part of the exam would have lost its meaning. After all, candidates were forbidden from killing each other.

The fat man who had lost a lot of face from before was currently squatting in a corner and crying his eyes out. He was precisely one of those poor souls who had already lost his jade pendant......in addition, perhaps it was because he didn't have much experience, but he had also managed to get lost in the forest.

He lost his jade pendant and then got lost in the forest. The chances of him passing this part of the assessment was basically next to none. After losing all of his hope, he could only rely on sobbing to vent out his extreme depression.

When the red-haired examiner who had been monitoring that area saw this scene, he felt completely helpless. It was truly the first time he had ever seen a candidate like this.

Although the examiner felt some sympathy for this guy, he still found someone to send that fat man out of the assessment zone. For that fat man, his path to being an inner-sect disciple ended here. If he was lucky enough, perhaps he would still become one of Liu Guang Sect's outer-sect disciples.

One shichen1 passed very quickly. Those black-clothed cultivators were all very energetic as they hopefully looked toward the red-haired buff man.

The examiner laughed before waving his hand. "Go ahead. Give those little rascals a lesson. Let them thoroughly understand the teachings of their future senior-apprentice brothers and sisters!"

"Understood!" All of the black-clothed cultivators responded in an excited tone before they began rushing toward that forest filled with prey.

Almost all of those black-clothed cultivators began following the trails left by the exam candidates. However, one cultivator didn't leave.

The red-haired examiner stared at the stationary black-clothed cultivator in astonishment. He was extremely familiar with these disciples, to the point where he could distinguish them based on their aura alone. "HongYun, what are you doing? Don't you want to find that kid and take revenge?"

Qilian HongYun could only smile bitterly. "Martial Uncle Ye Gui, my leg is still numb......"

This time, the red-haired buff man was truly surprised. He walked over and gave Qilian HongYun a push. This resulted in the younger man immediately sitting down. Previously, it hadn't been easy for him to maintain his facade. Thankfully, he could finally rest now.

Ye Gui inserted his spiritual energy into Qilian HongYun's leg before circulating it. Immediately, he revealed a shocked expression as he said, "That kid isn't someone normal. His lightning spiritual energy actually integrated itself into your blood before following your bloodstream and flowing throughout your whole body."

Qilian HongYun suddenly saw the light and immediately understood. "I thought it was strange! At first only my ankle was numb, but now my whole leg is completely numb."

Ye Gui was extremely puzzled. Lightning spiritual attacks were indeed very strong, and it was normal for them to cause numbness after a person was hit. However, he had never heard of someone being able to integrate lightning spiritual energy into a person's blood. After thinking about it, though, there were thousands of strange and different martial art techniques in the world. In addition, each one of them had different side-effects. If he hadn't heard of it before, it may be because he didn't have enough worldly experience. Thus, what was he doing being so puzzled over this?

Ye Gui held Qilian HongYun's ankle before injecting fire spiritual energy into the other's leg in an unsophisticated manner. His powerful spiritual energy began forcing away the lightning spiritual energy contained in Qilian HongYun's blood bit by bit. This was so painful for Qilian HongYun, he couldn't help but screaming. However, Ye Gui didn't pull back until the very last drop of lightning spiritual energy was expelled from the younger man's blood.

"Martial Uncle......I haven't offended you lately, have I?" Qilian HongYun practically had tears streaming down his face. Although Ye Gui's method was very effective, it hurt like hell alright!!

Ye Gui snorted coldly. "You actually have the nerve to say that? You fell into a kid's trap, and he hasn't even entered the Sect yet. I think, instead of calling you Qilian HongYun, we should call you Loser Qilian from now on."

Qilian HongYun looked wronged. "How would I know that kid was so powerful? Really, Martial Uncle, I still have no idea how he found me." When he got to this topic, his face looked completely serious. "I could tell from the speed he used to make his move that he found me way before I got near to him. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have been able to react in time."

"You mean, your concealing skills aren't good enough and thus you got discovered ahead of time?" Ye Gui smiled grimly.

A gloomy cloud floated over Qilian HongYun's head as he found a corner to draw some circles in the ground. No matter what he said now, he had already fallen into that kid's trap. It didn't matter how it had happened, but the fact that he had fallen into the trap was indisputable.

"After this examination, go to the Practice Hall and stay there for half a year!" Ye Gui said, looking as if he was hating iron for not becoming steel.

"Nooo! Martial Uncle!!! Don't be like this!!!" Qilian HongYun immediately began crying as he threw himself forward in an attempt to hug Ye Gui's leg. Unfortunately, the older man had long been prepared. After a body flicker, that very leg Qilian HongYun had wanted to hug had already kicked the younger man flying.

Ye Gui's black leopard roared once before revealing a very human-like expression, one that looked as if he was enjoying Qilian HongYun's misfortune. In his heart, the leopard thought: this kid should have long been sent to the Practice Hall! After the last time where he had cut off the nicest fur on the end of his tail, Owner should have already made him go!

"Why are you still here?" Ye Gui gave Qilian HongYun a glare. "That kid is with his younger brother. Since you're suppressing your cultivation level to the Qi Condensation Stage, you might not be able to defeat them!"

When he saw how his Martial Uncle had once again mentioned the kid that made him lose face, Qilian HongYun immediately rolled his sleeves up for battle as he became more spirited. "Don't worry, Martial Uncle. I'll make sure to finish that kid off this time!" After he said that, however, his tone immediately changed. "Martial Uncle, if I finish that kid off, please don't make me go to the Practice Hall......"

Ye Gui sneered. "Go and finish him off before trying to discuss that with me. If you don't manage to take revenge, then the time you have to spend in the Practice Hall will double!"

Qilian HongYun's eyes brightened before he immediately said with a spirited voice, "Don't worry, Martial Uncle! I'll make sure to properly give that kid a lesson about what it means to respect your elders. He even dared to harm his senior-apprentice brother, he truly needs to be thoroughly educated!"

After he finished talking, with a body flicker, Qilian HongYun charged into the woods and disappeared.

"Roar!" The black leopard howled in dissatisfaction. Originally, he had been looking forward to that guy suffering in the Practice Hall. Why did his Owner let him off so easily?

Ye Gui smiled slightly before patting the black leopard's head. "Old pal, don't worry. That kid isn't someone who could be easily pushed around. This time, I'm afraid Qilian's gonna end up kicking an iron plate."

The black leopard's eyes swirled before he understood Ye Gui's meaning. Immediately, his mood improved. He stuck out his tongue to lick Ye Gui's hand before he left to find the mountain's little leopard sister......

Ye Gui didn't plan to continue staying there either, thus, his figure quickly disappeared. This time, he had to pick out a few good seedlings from this year's candidates. After all, his Master had the intentions of accepting one last disciple this year.

The battles in the forest continued. The weaker the candidate, the more they wanted to get three jade pendants before rushing toward Liu Guang Sect at their fastest speed. This wasn't completely because of the benefits they would get if they were first. More importantly, they didn't have the confidence to steal jade pendants from those super geniuses or their future senior-apprentice brothers and sisters.

In addition, if they were too slow, there was a great possibility of being targeted by those senior-apprentice brothers and sisters. If they managed to lose their own jade pendant, then trying to find six red pendants would almost be impossible.

The candidates with the seventh and eighth layer of Qi Condensation Stage had similar strength. Even if they prepared an ambush in advance, the result of their battles would be hard to predict.

Some people who were quite quick managed to get three more red pendants and thus started rushing toward Liu Guang Sect. However, what they did not know was that while they were fighting it out with opponents that were similar in strength to them, someone else was already waiting for them as they blocked their path.

Although there were many different ways of getting to Liu Guang Sect, no matter which path one chose, they all had to pass through the west river valley. This river valley was long and narrow. If one wanted to pass through it, it would be quite easy for other people to discover them.

Wei Qing was quietly guarding this place. He was standing on a mountain peak on one side of the river valley. At his current position, it was easy for him to view the whole river valley. Wei Qing's expression was grave and stern, and it also emitted an arrogant air that seemed to come from the bottom of his heart. One reason for his arrogance was his genuine dragon blood, however, a bigger reason was because he had faith in his abilities.

On the surface, he was a cultivator who had cultivated the whole Qi Condensation Stage. However, in reality, he had already possessed this cultivation level since last year. The grand Liang imperial family's growth relied on his huge cultivation family. Thus, with Wei Qing's identity, he naturally didn't lack pellet medicine that would help him build his Foundation.

Unfortunately, Liu Guang Sect only gave Qi Condensation Stage cultivators a chance of entering the Qilin Tower. This was why Wei Qing forcibly suppressed his cultivation for a whole year.

He was determined to win this year's top place for the inner-sect disciple exam! Wei Qing believed that with his strength, this would be absolutely no problem.

"Hm? Someone came?" Wei Qing couldn't help but lightly frown when he caught sight of that sneaky figure near the river valley. He remembered this person, back then, this guy had been standing beside Hu YuTian.

Hu YuTian and Xiahou Lian had long been people he included in his list of opponents. Since this person was Hu YuTian's, he definitely couldn't let him pass.

Lightly leaping up, Wei Qing fell down like a hawk with a prey in sight. That sneaky person had extremely keen senses and suddenly lifted his head. Unexpectedly, he discovered Wei Qing in advance before his complexion changed dramatically. He immediately began to flee, his speed completely astonishing.

Wei Qing was indifferent to this. He only lifted his hand before a white light shot out from his finger. Naturally, that light was directed at that sneaky guy's back.

The sneaky guy felt something was wrong, as if he was about to face a huge crisis. Completely unable to care about how ugly his actions were, the guy rolled on the ground, managing to dodge that white ray of light. That light hit the ground, followed by a huge exploding sound and a cloud of smoke. When the smoke finally dissipated, a huge hole was in the place of the flat ground from before.

The sneaky guy lay on the ground in a daze. The corners of his mouth kept twitching. If an attack that powerful had managed to hit him, he was would have already died.

He indignantly glared at Wei Qing. This guy actually didn't care about Liu Guang Sect's rules and thus tried to kill him??!!

Wei Qing coldly said, "Take out all of your jade pendants."

The sneaky guy yelled in an angered tone, "You actually dared to go against Liu Guang Sect's rules?!"

Wei Qing's expression didn't change. "If I wanted you to die, you would already be dead by now."

The sneaky man was immediately stunned. Don't tell him, this Wei Qing actually knew he would be able to dodge his attack?

"Give up your jade pendants. Don't waste my time." Wei Qing's cold and severe gaze was locked on the sneaky man. It made him feel extremely pressured.

The sneaky man was angered, but he didn't dare say anything. Although Wei Qing wouldn't go against Liu Guang Sect's rules, it didn't mean he couldn't torture him until he gave up his jade pendants.

If he was injured, it would be even harder for him to find other jade pendants. Thus, with no other choices, the sneaky man was only capable of handing Wei Qing his jade pendants.

Wei Qing glanced at the four red pendants he had obtained before a trace of ridicule appeared on his face. The sneaky man knew that Wei Qing was mocking him for not having the abilities to obtain a green pendant. However, the martial arts he cultivated wasn't one that was good for fighting face-to-face with an enemy. In addition, although those senior-apprentice brothers and sisters had suppressed their cultivation to the Qi Condensation Stage, their spiritual sense was still incomparably keen. Wanting to steal something from them was practically a joke.

1. Shichen is equal to two modern hours.↩