ASER - Chapter 161
Chapter 161: She Has Arrived
What everyone saw seemed to be far away on the horizon. However, as Teacher Green Pepper pointed, the swirling clouds and mist dispersed, revealing the distance. It wasn't far at all; it was right before their eyes.
Only two or three hundred meters away, the colossal Thousand-Hand Guanyin Pagoda was right beside them!!!
Everyone stood up in unison, shocked. The audience was also somewhat bewildered.
So, had the fourth pagoda space of the Nurturing Pool already shifted outside the Guanyin Pagoda?
Inside, outside, inside, outside... it was never actually stated that the fifth pagoda level would be inside, was it?
"The Buddha said: Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. The phenomenal and the intrinsic space cannot be considered separately. It is infinitely variable, yet simple and pure. It is we humans who overthink things."
An audience member with some understanding of Buddhism sighed with emotion, and everyone had a slight epiphany.
But for the young examinees, their most direct feeling was—are we taking the test now or not? How will we be tested?
Before they could ask, after the clouds and mist dispersed, dense golden patterns climbed up the surface of the colossal Thousand-Hand Guanyin from its lotus pedestal base, like liquid gold, releasing a powerful and ancient energy... It was awakening, releasing, transforming.
Indeed, wherever the liquid gold climbed, the outer shell underwent a massive change.
It cracked open, sprouting myriad roots that delved deep into the water... Upwards, the pagoda's body, majestic and robust, split with tree-like patterns, and dense tree trunks climbed and grew.
From tender to robust, from robust to formidable and grand, from... standing firm in the vast sea, towering in space, reaching the zenith of the sky.
"My heavens!!!"
"The Guanyin Pagoda is growing!"
"It's... turning into a tree???"
In just over a dozen breaths, the perfectly fine Thousand-Hand Guanyin Pagoda transformed into an ancient, towering tree two thousand zhang high, piercing the sky and clouds.
And all the swirling mist turned into a supporting layer of clouds.
Was that enough?
Not enough.
While everyone's hearts still trembled at its majesty, its thousand hands moved.
The thousand hands moved, afterimages like flowing light, Buddhist mirrors revolved, revealing myriad transformations...
What is perceived as an image arises from the mind, enters the heavenly eye; when the heavenly eye is born, the ancient Jianmu Tree naturally arises.
When the Jianmu Tree is born, it gathers the spiritual wisdom of heaven and earth, attracting a thousand birds to pay homage!
One hand changed, then two hands changed, and then... from the halo of light they transformed into, a silvery-blue bird's beak broke through the light, followed by gleaming golden feathers. Its wings spread, revealing revolving spiritual pattern vortexes on them, and behind it, nine tail feathers that stirred a windstorm emerged.
One, two, a hundred, a thousand.
A thousand birds came to pay homage, circling the ancient Jianmu Tree, their cries incessant.
At that moment, the many examinees on the water surface below all heard an ancient voice from within the Jianmu Tree.
"Three hundred years ago, spiritual energy had not yet vanished, but a great catastrophe came. The final recruitment assessment that my Lushan Academy was supposed to conduct during that era was this Ten-Thousand-Year Covenant of the Jianmu Tree. Unfortunately, it was cut short!"
"Now, three hundred years have passed, spiritual energy has revived, the Guanyin Pagoda has transformed into the Jianmu Tree, and its thousand hands have become a thousand birds, creating this realm for climbing."
"Gentlemen, this vast sea area has its airspace sealed. Please step onto the wood and rise against the wind. If you possess extraordinary talent, you can draw the spiritual Thousand Birds into your body and ride the wind... Upwards, ever upwards, through the seven heavenly discs of the Jianmu Tree, break through each layer, and an unparalleled future awaits you!"
The voice was vast and heroic, and then... terrifying halos of formation compasses were released from within the Jianmu Tree.
The Seven Heavenly Discs of the Jianmu Tree!
And the first disc was five hundred meters above everyone's heads.
From the first to the seventh disc, the heights were 500, 1500, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, and 6666 meters respectively.
500 meters didn't seem high, but everyone, still on the water surface, felt a powerful pressure from above.
Suppressive force.
What kind of suppression was this?
Song Ling looked at the others' expressions, seemingly lost in thought. "Is it very uncomfortable?"
"Yes, you don't feel it?"
"It seems... I don't."
Cheng Zhang had an epiphany. "Damn, this can't be a suppression targeting aptitude, can it! Holy crap!"
Two curses in one sentence showed the turmoil in his heart.
Soon, others discovered that the better one's aptitude, the less they felt this suppression.
Yuan Shu: "I feel like I can't even lift my head now. Am I useless? I have a feeling this fifth stage will eliminate a lot of people."
"Definitely."
Zhou Xiuhe rolled her eyes. "What's wrong? Did you plan to show off your dominance in the Lushan trials? It's already quite an achievement to reach this stage. Even if you're eliminated, your score is there. Being pre-recruited by the three famous schools, that was our initial goal."
Under normal circumstances, the three famous schools would only recruit through the college entrance exams half a year later. But if they were recruited in advance, they would inevitably follow an elite training path. What a huge advantage this would be in the early stages of spiritual energy revival!
The most important nodes of their golden evolutionary curve could also receive more resources ahead of time.
This was their original intention. To really compare themselves with natural prodigies like Dantai Sheng was practically a dream.
Song Ling watched the others eager to try, frowned, and reminded them in a low voice, "According to the nurturing sequence: skin, flesh, blood, organs, bones, marrow, tendons, and nerve lines. If it's too late anyway, you can spend time conquering the height of the Jianmu Tree. But if you're already at a node, for example, transitioning from skin, flesh, blood, and organs to bones, it's best to spend some time on it and try to climb after breaking through the node."
"I think this kind of climbing isn't about getting higher just because you start early. Ultimately, it still depends on your own aptitude and condition."
She said this for her own people to hear. Her style had always been concise and to the point, and she knew her people were familiar with her style and would naturally listen. However, Guang Yunlou, not far away, heard it and found it somewhat grating, sneering, "You only say that because your aptitude is good. If one's aptitude is poor, wouldn't starting later mean climbing even slower and getting a worse score?"
Song Ling didn't even know who this was. She never paid attention to others, just glanced at him, and couldn't be bothered to reply before entering the water and quickly disappearing.
However... Guang Yunlou probably didn't know how peculiar the Danzhou group was.
Internally, they fought like cats and dogs. Externally, if someone attacked Chen A'Diao, they would silently munch on melon seeds and watch the show, perhaps even waving little flags to cheer. But if someone attacked Song Ling...
Well, you probably don't know that ever since the start of the semester, in Class 01 of Danzhou Academy, no matter who Song Ling knocked out, that person couldn't bring themselves to be angry with her, and even wished for her attention.
You don't understand the significance of the class beauty.
They were just that sycophantic, don't ask why.
Including Yuan Shu, Zhongchuan Mingxiu, and... everyone except Ming Zeye, who had a girlfriend.
Yuan Shu: "Who's this?"
Zhongchuan Mingxiu: "Don't know. Seems like someone who was briefly third or fourth but quickly disappeared."
Zhou Xiuhe: "Why did he suddenly interrupt?"
Ming Zeye: "If he didn't interrupt, how would you ask who he is?"
Rao Xueya: "If we ask, did he gain anything? We're just ordinary nobodies, we can't generate gold coins."
Yuan Shu: "Then he definitely gained something."
So, Guang Yunlou had poked a hornet's nest. A group of people, each with a venomous remark.
Actually, if it weren't for Wen Shaoyao, a rather delicate-looking girl who never argued with others, standing beside Guang Yunlou, they could have been even more venomous.
Guang Yunlou was furious. He couldn't afford to offend those from the capital, but could he possibly be afraid of these people from the south?
Wen Shaoyao pressed her forehead, suddenly saying in a low voice, "Can you quiet down a bit?"
Guang Yunlou belatedly realized she was talking to him. His face instantly turned ashen, and he said resentfully, "Wen Shaoyao, what are you saying? I get it, you're afraid of that Chen A'Diao? She can barely protect herself now, having offended so many people... What's a mere Song Ling? I didn't expect you to be so..."
The harsh words were yet to be spoken.
A flash of sword light.
Swish, swish, sword shadows passed, and his tongue and limbs were gone.
Then, he stared wide-eyed, spitting blood, looking at the tall man wiping his sword with his sleeve, and also at the gentle woman sitting cross-legged beside him, sighing.
Wen Shaoyao sighed, "Although I knew long ago that under heavy pressure, people's hearts become unbalanced, and jealousy and resentment are original sins, you couldn't even withstand this aptitude stage. I've given you many chances, but you've been insolent every time. If others hadn't let it slide, the two of us would have long been implicated because of you."
The tall man, Yan Fengbai, wiped his sword, looking down at this once close teammate, and said faintly.
"Noisy."
Wen Shaoyao looked up at Yuan Shu and the others, apologizing, "Sorry to have offended you all."
Everyone judged the speed at which Yan Fengbai had just drawn his sword under the suppression. It didn't seem very fast; Tuoba could also do it. It was just very sudden.
The trio that had always wisely protected themselves suddenly... Had Yan Fengbai decisively eliminated Guang Yunlou?
Crippling someone a few days ago was one thing, but crippling them now basically meant their score for all five stages would be zero.
Why?
"Aren't you afraid he'll retaliate later?" Rao Xueya asked curiously.
Wen Shaoyao smiled gently. "It's precisely because we're afraid that we crippled him in advance. These past few days, he expressed jealousy towards others, but in reality, it wasn't because he was inferior to them, but because among the three of us, only he was inferior. So, the ones he truly loathed were the two of us."
"Since that's the case, such a person naturally cannot be kept."
So she and Yan Fengbai had coldly watched this person act out, waiting until the last day to deal with him.
Holy crap, two ruthless people!
They might be big shots, can't afford to offend, can't afford to offend!
Yuan Shu immediately said, "Actually, we only disliked him. We still like the two of you very much."
Rao Xueya: "That's right! If you two weren't here, we would have beaten him to death just now!"
Yuan Shu: "Exactly! We would have burned incense on his grave a thousand times over! It was only out of respect for you two that we spared his dog life!"
Wen Shaoyao: "You all don't need to be like this. In truth, we two humble individuals prefer peace. After all, being ordinary and unremarkable, we can't withstand much turmoil."
The moment she mentioned "ordinary and unremarkable," the people from Class 01 exploded as if a chicken coop had been poked. A flock of chicks collectively chirped, "Yes, yes, yes, peace is paramount! We won't cause trouble, and you don't cause trouble for us either."
Wen Shaoyao: "?"
Others: "..."
Is there something seriously wrong with everyone from Danzhou?
Anyway, while other examinees were shocked by the fifth stage exam, this group from Danzhou was already shocked by the other examinees, looking terrified of being knocked out... This sneaky and timid demeanor made people from other southern prefectures quite disdainful, but they also silently distanced themselves from Wen Shaoyao and Yan Fengbai.
It was just that Chen A'Diao's repeated mentions of "big fish" or the like had left too deep an impression.
Yin Canghe sneered inwardly, "I'll bet you a coffin, that Yan Fengbai is definitely a big fish. You two, don't stray too far from me. Let's stick together."
Xiao Du: "With the Danzhou people, maybe. With you, forget it."
Xu Ye: "No."
Yin Canghe: Xu Ye, you rejected me again!!
Xu Ye ignored him, merely glanced at Yan Fengbai and Wen Shaoyao thoughtfully, but said nothing and directly entered the water.
However, Song Ling was right. Although the Jianmu Tree had appeared and the Thousand Birds had transformed, the clever prodigies decisively entered the water. They wanted to seize the last moments to improve.
Moreover, Tian Zhongxiang remembered Song Ling patting her shoulder before entering the water. She realized something and looked down into the water.
It seemed the water flow was a bit different from before?
Right, the Jianmu Tree had taken root underwater. Did this affect the Nurturing Pool?
But she couldn't say it outright because she couldn't transmit her voice, so she could only use gestures to remind them to seize the opportunity.
Because those who seized the opportunity first would have an advantage, Song Ling had no intention of informing everyone.
So...
"A'Diao hasn't really been attacked, has she? I'll go find her. She's our pillar of support."
"Huh? Oh right, if A'Diao isn't here, won't we be bullied to death by others when we climb?"
"She's so fierce, she can definitely protect us."
"Let's go, let's go, find our Diao Diao pillar!"
The entire group of drama queens from Danzhou ran off.
Outside the examination hall, Jiang Zhou began to boast about how deep the bonds were between the students of his academy, how they were united as one, and how well he had taught them, and so on. In contrast, Qingzhou Academy was full of internal strife. Look at Yin Canghe, carving people's names on coffin lids every day. See, now no one is willing to team up with him...
Your academy's atmosphere is too poor! My Danzhou is still awesome!
But there were too many shrewd people outside the examination hall. How could they not see why Song Ling, who usually disliked physical contact, suddenly patted Tian Zhongxiang and then sank down facing the Jianmu Tree?
She was reminding her.
"This Lushan Academy has made a grand move. I'm afraid they planted the Jianmu Tree seed in this Thousand-Hand Guanyin Pagoda long ago, just waiting for it to encounter water in the fifth stage and sprout."
"The so-called Jianmu Tree is one of the three great primordial plant spirit species, the best at absorbing spiritual energy. The older it is, the more terrifying. This Lushan Academy is terrifying! They even sealed the airspace. Are they trying to prevent those evil spirits from causing trouble?"
"It seems so. Not a single evil spirit has come to cause trouble during the Lushan trials?"
"Impressive! Look at the standard of their exam, tsk tsk tsk, awesome! The three famous schools should refer to this for next year's college entrance exams."
The principals of the three famous schools were cued by Jiang Zhou, who was talking nonsense, and they were furious.
Damn!
They couldn't even produce a Thousand-Hand Guanyin Pagoda even if they emptied their coffers, let alone this thousand-year-old Jianmu Tree seed.
That dog Jiang Zhou, he probably wants the three of us to be dismissed by the Academy Alliance so he can rise, bah!
And since someone mentioned evil spirits... Above the sea, the Thousand-Hand Guanyin was originally vast. After the Jianmu Tree grew, some shadows tried to attack the protective barrier and sneak in. Were they trying to attack the examinees?
No, they wanted to steal the benefits.
But after they entered the water, a group of ghostly fiends swam freely, gradually approaching the oval-shaped protective space at the bottom. However, when they were still a hundred meters away, the leading evil spirit suddenly saw a swordsman in a green robe sitting cross-legged, suspended in the deep sea at the bottom of the protective barrier.
He opened his eyes. He had a small tiger-like mustache, but his appearance was resolute and cold, his pair of deep blue pupils like ice and flying frost.
With that one look, the sword was drawn.
"Wicked creature, you dare to defile the affairs of my Lushan Academy? Die!"
One sword strike, and waves of sword feathers rose from the deep sea.
With a hum, these evil spirits, which even Star Realm masters would likely have to flee from, were instantly annihilated, turning into bubbles in the sea.
In that instant, the principals of the three famous universities, with their profound cultivation, all sensed it. But they exchanged glances and sighed faintly: One sword to extinguish ten thousand evils, terrifying indeed.
Grandmaster? Half-step Grandmaster? Anyway, perhaps it was a revived powerhouse from three hundred years ago.
Such a powerhouse was far more terrifying than the cultivators who had piled up resources in the present day.
However, what they didn't know was that after this awesome big shot drew his sword and was sheathing it, he seemed to sense something and looked up.
Previously, under his gaze, almost all of the 15 spatial points in the Nurturing Pool above were occupied. Although he didn't know who was inside, he could confirm that they were all the top talents of this assessment. Especially one spatial point; that girl had left when the Jianmu Tree took root underwater.
Very perceptive. She should be deep within the roots of the Jianmu Tree now.
Three minutes ago, within a certain spatial point, A'Diao was indeed working hard to build the bridge, but her expression wasn't good because the bone marrow she had captured earlier was almost gone.
She had originally thought it would be enough, because it was just a small bridge. How much Grandmaster-level bone marrow had it consumed already? But she seemed to have underestimated the terror of her foundation—it devoured bone marrow like a Taotie.
Now, only one-fifth of the construction progress remained.
It was estimated to be completed in another half a day.
After all, all beginnings are difficult. The speed was much faster now than before.
But the bone marrow was insufficient.
I'm using this to build a bridge, not for you to eat!!
A'Diao was furious, but she couldn't control it. She could only continuously replenish the bone marrow. Her aptitude was definitely improving, as her foundation was being repaired. But if the bridge wasn't built, her spirituality wouldn't awaken. How would she take the fifth stage exam?
She had already seen the content of the assessment through Zhao Ritian's eyes.
Birds!
She needed to attract those birds!
When A'Diao was anxious, she suddenly saw dense specks of light in the water?
Huh?
"I'm afraid the Jianmu Tree, having taken root in the water, has released more bone marrow. Could this Jianmu Tree have been nurtured from the corpses of primordial era masters? That's why its roots can release so much bone marrow."
A'Diao looked at the depleted reward time, decisively left the spatial point, and quickly headed towards the base of the Jianmu Tree's roots.
When that master looked up, she was indeed already at the bottom of the Jianmu Tree. It was unknown if she was the fastest, but when she arrived, she didn't see anyone else in the depths of these massive roots. All she could see were dense specks of light, most concentrated at the bottom. They were being released, with some drifting out into the vast waters of the Nurturing Pool.
A'Diao wanted to get closer to the Jianmu Tree's roots but was blocked by a terrifying suppressive force.
So strong!!
A'Diao had just touched it... and her bones and flesh were still twisted and crushed.
So terrifying!
A'Diao shivered in fear and immediately retreated, but she coveted the large amount of bone marrow in front of her.
Actually, she could cultivate outside as well. The amount of bone marrow outside was already several times higher than yesterday's. But A'Diao calculated the deficit for her foundation bridge and then considered the final time limit for today's assessment. She knew this was very dangerous.
She had to seek victory amidst danger.
She had to rise in the fifth stage, otherwise, the Qu family, the Baili family, the imperial family... she couldn't afford to offend any of them.
Others had bloodlines, she didn't!
Others had naturally complete foundations, she didn't. She had to mend hers herself!
Wasn't she aggrieved? She was!
But was she an ordinary person?
No, her natural talent was already monstrous.
Since she was a monster, she should do what monsters do!!
Gritting her teeth, she protected her brain domain with mental threads, then wrapped her heart and other vital organs with her tendons, and then plunged headfirst into the densest area.
Crack!
Flesh and bones crushed...
A bloody, mangled figure actually passed through that terrifying suppression line, braving the dreadful pressure and rushing towards the bottom of the Jianmu Tree.
During this process, her consciousness was somewhat chaotic, but her will remained firm.
Whatever she wanted, she had to get.
Bone marrow, she wanted it, so she had to obtain it.
Toilet suddenly fell silent.
No matter how much it despised this person's stinginess, wretchedness, and insidious scheming, there was one point that was undeniable.
She worked very hard, always striving upwards.
Only because she didn't want to be an ant trampled underfoot.
And at this moment... Toilet also saw that a part of her solid mental sphere had melted again, falling into her mental sea, rapidly dissolving and turning into undulating waves.
Not long after A'Diao disappeared at the roots of the Jianmu Tree, dark figures, undoubtedly examinees, also swam down and gathered around the circumference of the Jianmu Tree's roots.
They all saw the dense specks of bone marrow and all tried to enter... Terrifying!
After nearly being crushed, they all retreated.
Including Song Ling, who knew just by testing with her finger that this was not an area she could handle.
Then she would stay outside.
But as she looked at the vast root system of the Jianmu Tree, she only felt that the dark world inside, occupied by countless specks of bone marrow... perhaps someone was there.
Could anyone get in?
While Song Ling was speculating, in the outer area of the Jianmu Tree, a dark figure made an attempt and finally forced its way in...
So, there was more than one.
Perhaps, even more than two.
They had entered and all sensed that the area where A'Diao was located was a bit strange. Logically, they should have gone to take a look, but realizing that they were all ferocious big fish, meeting now would inevitably lead to injury, which wasn't worth it. It was better to wait until the sprint for the fifth stage for a king-to-king confrontation.
One of them coldly glanced into the depths of the Jianmu Tree and went to the other end.
But the screen didn't capture it, as if playing a game. It knew all the secrets but wouldn't let the eager audience see. It was like a mischievous child, waiting for all the secrets to explode.
Letting all the ferocious hidden ones reveal their fangs at the end and slaughter each other!
The specks of bone marrow were the final feast.
Three shichen (six hours) later, at dawn, as daylight broke, someone finally couldn't hold out any longer and began to climb.
At this time, Yuan Shu and the others had struggled up and down several times underwater, still unable to endure longer cultivation, and had probably hit a bottleneck.
Then let's start climbing.
Among the more than ten thousand people, a thousand started, and soon they spurred on the remaining five, six, seven, or eight thousand.
These were basically people ranked lower. They knew their limits and wouldn't compete for more bone marrow specks like the first or second tiers. Since time was already running short, the only thing they could leverage was time.
First level, start climbing!!!
Yuan Shu and the others, under pressure, leaped onto the branches of the Jianmu Tree trunk. It was fine at first, they could still hold on. At 300 meters, Yuan Shu collapsed, lying on a huge leaf in disbelief.
No way, no way, he couldn't even pass the first level? Holy crap!
However, he saw that some people who were usually on par with him had also collapsed, but they gritted their teeth, stood up again, and struggled to climb towards the 400-meter mark.
The audience watched, a little bewildered. Was it this difficult?
But fortunately, someone like Tuoba was much better, already close to five hundred meters.
That was a threshold.
He looked up and saw a circle of formation patterns, rippling like a mirror. It was the suppression of the first level.
Swish, Xiao Du and a few others went up.
Tuoba glanced, oh, they were all Forbidden Masters at the Dust-Leaving Realm.
So even if resources were piled up, most cultivation levels could explain everything.
He was still a little short of being a Forbidden Master, but... as a shield, one also needed the qualifications of a shield. Not just anyone could be Chen A'Diao's shield.
Tuoba smiled, took a breath, grabbed a vine, and leaped!
Buzz! His body passed through that barrier... landing on a hard leaf.
Thump! What terrifying suppression! Tuoba directly knelt.
Ahead, Tian Zhongxiang, who had just climbed up, was directly knelt before: "Aiya, Class Monitor, you mustn't."
Rao Xueya, who followed, "Ha, mustn't, mustn't, mustn't!"
Tuoba: "..."
Damn it! This little team of A'Diao's was indeed hiding their strength. How did they suddenly become so formidable? How did they improve their aptitude?!!
Originally, Rao Xueya and the others were still being cheeky, but when the suppressive force pressed down... they also knelt.
They knelt before Li Zhaowu and others who quickly swept past.
Li Zhaowu didn't dare to compare herself to A'Diao and Song Ling, but she was arrogant enough towards these people, rolling her eyes, "Such a grand gesture?"
Then she smiled and darted upwards, but as soon as she got up, her expression changed.
500-1500 meters, this was the second level they had to desperately conquer next.
So these eight or nine thousand people quickly gathered at heights below 1500 meters, all struggling to climb. Someone looked at the spiritual birds constantly circling in the sky.
"Why don't they come down? If they don't come down, how can we attract them?"
This was also what the audience was curious about.
Those birds weren't coming down.
The Lushan Academy teachers said aloofly, "Aptitude is too low. The spiritual Thousand Birds cannot sense spirituality, so naturally, they won't come down. However, even if there is spirituality, if you don't climb to a certain height, they won't pay attention to you."
"This kind of bird never bows its head to fly downwards."
Holy crap! Are they that arrogant?
Everyone was stunned. And at this moment, people from the third tier, like Xiao Du, had already emerged from the water.
Looking at the spiritual birds circling high above and the thousands of people climbing the tree trunks on the side, they leaped out.
Begin!
Swish! With a tap of their feet, provincial-level geniuses at the mid-stage of the Dust-Leaving Realm like Xiao Du used only a few moves to leverage themselves to a height of 500 meters, breaking through the first level.
Began to conquer the second level.
More and more cultivators emerged from the water. Now, nearly twelve thousand people were climbing.
Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.
Many audience members began to worry. Why hadn't they come out yet? What about those top prodigies?
How...
Swish!
Baili Xianyun and others leaped out of the water. At this moment, Xiao Du and his group were at a height of over 1200 meters.
But this height put immense pressure on them, and their climbing speed had slowed. They could only cling to vines and endure the constantly suppressing force.
Aptitude, their aptitude was being disdained.
They, who were once proud in their provinces, couldn't even reach the second level?
This Jianmu Tree climbing assessment was too difficult!
Suddenly, Baili Xianyun, Nangong Zhuolie, and others went up. They quickly passed the first level, and then... surpassed Xiao Du and his group, 1400 meters!
Xiao Du looked up and saw Baili Xianyun give him a cold glance, then flip upwards.
Second level, passed!
Xiao Du saw a layer of red light flash across this person's skin.
"Skin, flesh, blood, organs, fifth-tier nurturing. They've reached the first layer."
"So they can resist the suppression."
As expected of the prodigies from the capital, their aptitude was evident.
Xiao Du suddenly thought of his older brother and sister. He had always known that in terms of natural talent, he was far inferior to the two of them, merely having the advantage of age. But it was just as his cunning second sister had said.
—You must understand, this era is like the primordial one. For every golden prodigy born into the world in that primordial era, countless geniuses were suppressed into dust by those prodigies. Acknowledge your mediocrity, walk a more low-key and ordinary path, and do not try to compete with the heavens.
He lowered his head, thinking of how Xu Ye, who used to be like him, had suddenly erupted with true aptitude and risen through a counterattack. He suddenly believed those words.
Then let him be a bit more mediocre.
He grabbed a vine and slowly climbed upwards in the most unsightly posture, then watched Han Zhuo leap past him.
"Suddenly, it feels a bit cruel," an audience member said.
Indeed, the previous exams were chaotic, and scores could be hidden. Besides, it was just names listed, so the psychological pressure wasn't great. But this fifth stage was for real.
The previous ones were just data; now was the time for them to truly cash in on their aptitude.
"The prodigies have all gone up, so... the others should be about ready too."
"Look, the specks of bone marrow in the water are starting to decrease."
"It's not because they've decreased, it's because they've all been absorbed."
"Terrifying, the monsters below are all fighting for the specks of bone marrow!"
Hu Zhegu was also absorbing bone marrow specks underwater, but he soon noticed that these specks were surging towards certain places.
Who was it?
He had intended to go over and check the situation, but considering the danger posed by the other party, he decisively swam upwards.
The bone marrow specks were already at the edge; it was time to climb!
Splash!
Hu Zhegu and hundreds of others shot out of the water, standing on the stone platform. They were the top geniuses, and now they had all emerged. With a sweep of his gaze, Hu Zhegu saw Xia Sanlu and was about to greet him... but then he saw Baili Huayue and others following Xia Sanlu out of the water. Among them, Dantai Sheng glanced at them and raised his hand.
Xia Sanlu looked embarrassed and took out a compressed package. This was something he had kept in his clothes, which A'Diao hadn't snatched. This time, he opened the compressed package...
A large amount of venom was poured into the water.
Hu Zhegu: "!!!"
The other examinees were also shocked.
It wasn't just their group doing this. Qiao Liushui and He Sijian, who had recovered his body, also had venomous expressions, holding a vine-woven backpack and crushing a pile of poisonous plants into the pool.
While doing so, their faces were filled with perverted expressions.
Audience: "..."
The Nurturing Pool was quickly contaminated by the release of a large amount of toxins.
In no time, the other examinees also jumped out. They avoided the venom but clearly didn't dare to stay underwater for long.
In other words, Dantai Sheng was forcing them out.
Meeting the gazes of Dantai Sheng and the others, Xie San and his group said nothing but sneered inwardly.
They were hostile, it was self-evident.
Basically... everyone was out.
The audience counted and found that almost all thirteen thousand people were present, with only a few scattered individuals missing.
For example, Dantai Yu? For example, Chen A'Diao? For example...
Swish! Dantai Sheng leaped up effortlessly and climbed upwards at an ever-increasing speed.
Soon, the first level, the second level, the third level!!
He passed the third level, directly surpassing Baili Xianyun and the others. Hu Zhegu and his group chased from behind, also surpassing these people one by one.
The third level was now the domain of the prodigies, but there was a gap between prodigies. Hu Zhegu and his group were clearly superior to Baili Xianyun and hers.
And then... they knelt on the third-level platform!
Damn it!! Such terrifying suppression?
Han Zhuo was also on the third level. He felt immense pressure... Looking down, he saw Xu Ye coming up.
Underwater.
Song Ling saw the venom spreading, frowned, and muttered to herself: Everyone's learning from A'Diao, no creativity at all?
However, she glanced at the deep area of the Jianmu Tree, then turned and swam upwards.
But she was thinking: Was there a ripple inside just now? And why were all the bone marrow specks inside gone?
Who could absorb so many specks of light completely?
And at this moment, A'Diao, deep within the Jianmu Tree, opened her eyes and began the final connection of her foundation's linking point.
Success or failure depended on this step.
Song Ling and the others were the last batch to emerge from the water.
As far as her eyes could see, she could roughly identify the small groups these people belonged to.
Duanmu Qingyang, Xie San, and Zhao Foshou led a group of people.
Xiong Chumo and Shen Huajing were inseparable.
Fu Jiao was alone.
Mo Yuwo was by himself.
Qiao Liushui, He Sijian, and Nangong Liehe were together.
Shi Qing, Wanqi Jian'ai, and Cao Juanzhi had somehow gathered together.
Then there was the small group of grassroots individuals: Nie Yuanyuan, Liu Shiqi, Wen Shaoyao, Chu Daise, and Yan Fengbai, sticking together.
In comparison, Song Ling, who had emerged, was alone. She didn't care and began to climb.
Step by step, steadily, she quickly surpassed the first and second levels. On the third level, she leaped up and saw Hu Zhegu and a few others a bit higher. As she moved upwards, attempting to break through to the fourth level at over 3500 meters, a cold wind suddenly swept from behind.
Swish!
Song Ling dodged sideways, only to see Fu Jiao, who had caught up from behind, strike fiercely at the back of her head.
It missed. Song Ling looked around and saw Baili Huayue and others nearby, seemingly intending to encircle her. She immediately leaped onto a Jianmu Tree vine above and climbed upwards, but Fu Jiao saw this and immediately pursued.
Others were climbing, he was chasing?
Baili Huayue and the others were immediately left behind, and Song Ling's escape... was also seen by others.
Above, Xu Ye suddenly grabbed a vine and whipped it towards Fu Jiao.
Fu Jiao dodged, and Song Ling took the opportunity to leap to the other side, quickly reaching 3900 meters. Just as she was about to sprint for the fourth level, someone already on the fourth level... suddenly poked their head out from above and thrust a sword at her fiercely!
Song Ling, after all, had keen senses and dodged it at that moment, but the vine was also cut by Fu Jiao, who had caught up from behind.
Swish!
Song Ling fell from a height of a thousand zhang...
Xu Ye and the others behind were shocked; it was too late to save her. At 1500 meters, Xie San tried to throw out a vine to save her...
Song Ling reached out to grab the vine and caught it, but a dagger flew through the air... and directly severed it.
It was over.
She was about to fall into the deep sea.
Start over?
Anyway, at that moment, Mr. and Mrs. Song stood up in shock, exclaiming Song Ling's nickname. Jiang Zhou and the others were also startled.
At the very top, a man smiled coldly and opened his hands... just like Dantai Sheng, who was also on the fourth level, welcoming the Thousand Birds.
The fourth level, how many people were there now?
A total of four people.
Dantai Sheng, Cao Juanzhi, Ge Qian, Wanqi Jian'ai. These four were extremely fast. They had clearly started climbing later, but now they had caught up and were the first to reach the fourth level, opening their arms to welcome what was coming.
Dozens of spiritual Thousand Birds came whistling...
They welcomed the Thousand Birds and let Song Ling fall into the deep sea?
This could only mean they were extremely wary of Song Ling's mental body aptitude. Seeing her about to come up, they would rather not welcome the Thousand Birds first and instead knock her down!
At this moment, Song Ling's mentality was actually fine. If she fell, she fell. She would just climb again.
But she faintly sensed a strange movement. She couldn't help but turn around, just as she was falling towards the sea...
Suddenly, what did she see?
Beneath the sea, large swathes of dark threads climbed and permeated out, like spreading poison and the sinews of the dead.
But it had light.
Infinite black light, rolling waves, and...
Song Ling was startled. In this pitch-black sea area, it seemed as if a figure emerged from the rolling black threads underwater. A pale hand reached out of the water, seemingly towards her, yet also as if pointing at her...
Boom!!! The water surface roared upwards, and a large volume of water condensed into a slender, dark hand, about three to five meters long. It perfectly caught the falling Song Ling and sent her upwards in one breath... to over three thousand meters.
Song Ling grabbed a hanging vine, flipped herself up, and leaped onto a thick branch of the Jianmu Tree. Her heart pounded as she looked down.
She didn't see it, only the terrifying black hand dispersing. The people on the Jianmu Tree were all terrified... Splash!
The black hand dispersed, turning into a heavy downpour of darkness, pattering densely on the water surface. A few seconds before this, the spiritual Thousand Birds on the fourth-level platform had already burrowed into the bodies of Dantai Sheng and the others.
Buzz... Their bodies emitted golden light.
Swish!
All four of them mounted the Thousand Birds and were about to fly upwards when they suddenly saw such a terrifying change, and were all startled.
But Dantai Sheng was decisive and immediately flew upwards, intending to continue absorbing Thousand Birds.
Not enough, not enough. He should be the strongest genius.
How could three be enough!
He released his spirituality, and the other three were unwilling to fall behind... The nearby Thousand Birds became agitated, whistling...
Holy crap, such a big commotion?
At this moment, Xie San and the others, who were approaching the fourth level, were shocked. Was the gap between them really that big?
"That's not right, they seem to be..."
Thousand Birds plummeting!
The dozens of Thousand Birds originally gathered at the fourth level crazily plummeted from the high altitude of the fourth level.
What did the Lushan Academy teacher say before? The Thousand Birds would never bow their heads to fly downwards, but now... they were falling from the fourth level.
Below the fourth level, all the prodigies and ordinary geniuses who were striving hard hoped at that moment that the birds would stay for them, but they didn't.
They were like the worst kind of scumbag, never looking back.
Straight down...
The water surface?
What's wrong, you sky-flyer, you want to commit suicide by diving into the sea?
Only to see the dark waters of the sea surface... The fastest Thousand Bird dived extremely quickly, then hovered, extending its proud golden claw towards the water surface.
The moment it extended its claw, its flapping wings still rippled the water surface, but underwater, in the darkness... that same slender, pale hand abruptly emerged, like a female ghost, grabbing its bird claw from the darkness.
Splash.
She flipped up, stepping on its back...
Buzz! Bound! It was now under her control. Then it spun around... Splash!
Waves surged on the sea surface, followed by an explosive ascent, soaring upwards.
Soaring straight up, against the wind. As the wind came, the black water covering her transformed into myriad diluted dark threads, like the scattered black hair of a specter... Then, it revealed... You couldn't see her appearance clearly, only felt that she flew past you in an instant, a stroke from bottom to top like an ink wash painting, and then...
She casually broke off a slender branch from the Jianmu Tree with her palm, without even stripping the leaves, and whipped it upwards...
The unprepared Fu Jiao only felt a horrifying pain in his back. Before he could react... the terrifying branch had lashed open his back, bones and all.
Crack.
He slammed onto the trunk of the Jianmu Tree, his body went limp, and he plummeted downwards.
Hu Zhegu, who was nearby, turned green in the face watching this.
Too terrifying!
Was this person made of water?
Until she rode the bird and swept upwards... Dantai Sheng tried to control his Thousand Bird to ram her, but she had already dodged. Instead, with a tap of her foot, she leaped onto the back of the Thousand Bird Ge Qian was riding.
The speed was too fast; the entire process was so quick you couldn't see her appearance at all.
And now, their flying birds were all madly flying towards the fifth level... Above the fifth level, there was a layer of light source and a layer of white mist.
At this juncture, Ge Qian narrowed his eyes and swiftly drew his blade, thrusting at her.
It hit, but it was an afterimage.
The branch was flexible and strong, but after she brought her fingers together, swish... it pierced his throat.
Ge Qian was ruthless. He decisively retreated, ignoring the blood gushing from his throat, and counter-attacked with a stab towards her body. But she had already leaped up, delivered a spinning side kick, kicking him down, and then hooked her finger.
Two Thousand Birds merged...
The spiritual light on her body flared brightly. She looked up; the fifth-level formation patterns above were already releasing suppressive force...
While she was dealing with Ge Qian, Cao Juanzhi and Dantai Sheng disregarded everything else and absorbed more Thousand Birds, rushing upwards. Now, they had each assimilated 20 and 30 Thousand Birds respectively.
And the person below only had two or three?
The Thousand Bird beneath her was still very weak; it definitely couldn't catch up, chase...
Chase her ass! She directly leaped onto the backs of other flying Thousand Birds, forcibly turning into a series of leaping afterimages, using the backs of the Thousand Birds to ascend... Whoosh!
When she leaped onto the back of the Thousand Bird Cao Juanzhi was on, Cao Juanzhi was stunned and blurted out, "You are..."
Confused, he didn't know who this person was, but he vaguely felt he should recognize her.
Before he could get a clear look, he was kicked in the abdomen.
Bang!
Kicked down, then she flung the branch upwards...
Above, Dantai Sheng was just about to enter the fifth level. Then, right at the ceiling he was touching, a branch pierced the heart of his Thousand Bird.
The Thousand Bird shrieked, and Dantai Sheng fell downwards.
Then he watched her soar upwards, reaching out to touch the fifth-level suppression compass. Was she suppressed?
A circle of rippling light patterns descended upon her.
Vast, hazy white mist and water vapor swept over, like a downpour, and also like a water mirror. She passed through the water mirror, and the insidious black energy on her was finally cleansed. The scene all the audience saw was her, in one smooth motion, pulling down all those above, then alone, at the fastest speed, touching the fifth level, and then passing through it.
As if passing through a new world.
Everyone also thought they saw a new world.
A solitary world, the world of the strong.
There was a person. She needed to pass through hell, walk the Yellow Springs, her flesh and blood tempered by purgatory, her skin torn and then remolded. She crossed the underwater abyss, endured the crimson flames, and finally transformed into a beauty in the mortal world, one whom mortals found irresistibly alluring and gazed upon.
But this beauty, fallen into the mortal realm, was exceptionally cold and sharp, etched to the bone.
Pale, delicate, with refined bones that seemed to cascade, a texture like layers of jade piled up. Finally, a skin adorned like flowers and the moon, with embellished brows and eyes, specks of black, touches of crimson and kohl.
But her eyes were cold, and the curve of her tightly pressed lips always held a hint of mockery.
Cunning and mischievous, cold and sharp.
But she was very beautiful.
Three thousand minor worlds, resplendent and magnificent, could they be exchanged for a night of her favor?
Comments
Post a Comment