Chapter 553 - 335: Seeking Help
Chapter 553: Chapter 335: Seeking Help
Chu Nanguai walked through the air and landed on the massive gate tower. Looking down at those who had passed the first trial, he announced, "The second trial begins now. Those who can walk from here to the mountain’s peak may advance to the next round."
As he spoke, he pointed down at the enormous gate beneath his feet, which was forged from an unknown material.
The crowd froze. During registration, they had passed through this very gate to reach the palaces at the summit and hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the White Jade Steps leading straight up the mountain. A moment later, most of them breathed a sigh of relief. The second trial, thankfully, wasn’t a massive battle royale.
Enough people had died in the first round. For many, three days wasn’t nearly enough to heal their injuries. If this were another free-for-all, many would have chosen to forfeit. Huo Xiaochen also let out a breath of relief. He had guessed right; the second trial wasn’t another battle royale. This meant Xu Yang and his group posed no immediate threat to him.
Xu Yang and his companions, however, felt a surge of disappointment. It seemed they wouldn’t get the chance to slaughter Huo Xiaochen here.
"Consider yourself lucky," Gu Qingfeng scoffed coldly.
Huo Xiaochen said nothing, merely clenching his fists in secret, his expression dark.
"Now, take out your jade tokens. When your name is called, step forward in order," Chu Nanguai’s voice rang out again. Following that, over a dozen Celestial Strategy Academy students walked out from behind the massive gate tower.
In the next moment, everyone watched as the four large characters for "Celestial Strategy Academy" on the plaque emitted a radiant glow. The mysterious runes on the gate tower subsequently lit up, and the Power of Heaven and Earth swarmed toward it. Instantly, the entire gate seemed to come alive, exuding a tyrannical pressure as vast as a mountain. Light flowed across its surface, causing the White Jade Steps behind it to gleam with a blinding radiance.
"This trial must be testing Heart Spirit Cultivation," Gu Qingfeng said.
Xu Yang nodded. He could feel the majestic pressure emanating from the gate too. It seemed to pierce straight into the Heart Spirit, and circulating Gang Yuan to resist it was useless.
"I’m afraid many will be eliminated in this trial," Sun Tao said, his expression grave. Even he felt a bit of pressure from the gate’s aura.
Soon, the first batch of called names stepped forward and walked toward the gate—ten people in total. However, two of them hadn’t even come within ten feet of the gate before their bodies began to tremble, struggling just to lift their feet.
"Eliminated!"
Chu Nanguai’s indifferent voice echoed. Two Celestial Strategy Academy students stepped up and led the pair out of the pressure’s range.
The remaining eight continued forward. Another person, upon reaching the threshold, was flattened to the ground by the heavy pressure, unable to enter the gate. One managed to grit his teeth and push through into the gate, only to be blasted back out by a surge of pressure moments later. He spat large mouthfuls of blood, rolling on the ground and wailing as he clutched his head.
"His Heart Spirit is injured."
Chu Nanguai’s apathetic gaze swept over the crowd. "If you feel you cannot endure it, do not force yourselves. The pressure behind the gate is even greater than outside. If simply gritting your teeth was enough, what need would we have for geniuses?"
The mention of injuring the Heart Spirit caused many faces to pale drastically. Injuries to the Heart Spirit were the hardest to heal. Once damaged, a person’s Cultivation might stagnate for the rest of their life.
"Only six out of ten made it inside. This is too hard."
"And that’s just getting inside! We have to walk all the way to the peak to pass. Who knows how difficult the rest of the climb will be?"
Many expressions grew solemn. Heart Spirit Cultivation was not the same as Combat Power; very few dared to claim their Heart Spirit Cultivation was superior to others’.
Soon, the second batch walked toward the gate. Perhaps due to Chu Nanguai’s warning, no one ended up spitting blood this time, but only five successfully made it through the entrance. Of course, this didn’t prove much. The Heart Spirits of those in each batch varied, so the number of successful entrants would naturally fluctuate.
"Those who can’t even enter the gate have basically failed to comprehend even the lowest level of Martial Dao Imagery. Anyone who has comprehended Martial Dao Imagery can enter with ease."
As batch after batch entered the gate, the crowd managed to deduce a pattern. Experts who had grasped Martial Dao Imagery generally possessed robust Heart Spirit Cultivation. For them, ascending to the peak would not be difficult.
"Ah..."
"You can do that?"
A sudden wave of exclamations broke out. Xu Yang and his group looked up to see a person who was on the verge of elimination, his body swaying under the gate’s pressure. However, his companion manifested his Martial Dao Imagery and enveloped him with it, helping him withstand the suppression and successfully guiding him through the gate.
"Dean Chu, doesn’t that count as cheating?" one of the eliminated candidates asked indignantly. If they had known they could use Martial Dao Imagery to help resist the pressure, they might have passed too.
Chu Nanguai chuckled. "It does not. If you have the ability to find a genius who has comprehended Martial Dao Imagery to carry you through, I can give you another chance. The same goes for everyone else."
The crowd wondered if Chu Nanguai was simply in a good mood today, actually giving the eliminated candidates a second chance.
"Are you serious, Dean Chu?" The man looked incredulous.
"Why would I, Chu Nanguai, joke with a junior like you?" Chu Nanguai smiled. "How about this? Let’s skip the name-calling order. Everyone may enter freely, and we will verify the Waist Tokens once you reach the top of the mountain."
As soon as those words were spoken, the eliminated crowd erupted in excitement, entirely missing the teasing smirk on Chu Nanguai’s face. An extra chance was too important to them; nobody had the presence of mind to observe his expression. Besides, even if they had noticed, what could they do? Given Chu Nanguai’s status, he couldn’t possibly go back on his word.
"Ten spirit coins, guaranteed escort to the peak!" Sun Tao shouted. He had learned this trick from Zhang Hong.
"Ten spirit coins is too much! Can you go lower?" someone yelled.
Ten spirit coins was not a small sum. It was enough to buy ten stalks of low-grade Spirit Medicine, an amount not everyone could casually produce.
"If you don’t even have ten spirit coins, you’d better just accept your elimination."
While some found it expensive, others did not. Two or three people immediately sprinted toward Sun Tao, terrified of being beaten to the punch. There were very few geniuses who had comprehended Martial Dao Imagery—a hundred at most. Meanwhile, at least four million people were bound to fail this trial. It was the textbook definition of high demand and low supply.
Soon, other geniuses with Martial Dao Imagery followed Sun Tao’s example, charging spirit coins to escort people through.
"Rest assured, Miss Ye. With me here, you will definitely pass this trial," Wu Xiuyuan said with a smile.
Ye Qiuling revealed a soft smile and gracefully cupped her hands. "I thank you, Brother Wu."
"Brother Wu, please lend me a hand as well," Zhang Hanzhou hurriedly cupped his hands. He felt that without someone’s help, he wouldn’t be able to withstand the gate’s pressure.
"The pressure is not weak. I can only protect Miss Ye, my apologies," Wu Xiuyuan shook his head. He still had a few sect members of his own to look after. Shielding Ye Qiuling was already his limit; he couldn’t abandon his peers to help an outsider pass.
"Go find Xu Yang and Sun Tao," Ye Qiuling reminded him. "As fellow sect members, they won’t just stand by and watch."
Zhang Hanzhou’s eyes lit up, and he hastily turned and left.
"Junior Brother Xu, ten spirit coins is a sizable amount. Aren’t you going to earn some?" Sun Tao looked at Xu Yang curiously. He had already taken in two people, earning twenty spirit coins in total, but Xu Yang didn’t seem to have any intention of offering paid escorts.
Xu Yang smiled. "No rush."
Sun Tao was taken aback. He was just about to speak when he saw Zhang Hanzhou pushing his way through the crowd.
"Junior Brother Sun, Junior Brother Xu, I’m not confident I can withstand this trial. I beg the two of you to lend me a hand." Zhang Hanzhou bowed his head, his tone earnest.
Xu Yang was instantly amused. "Senior Brother Zhang, didn’t you form an alliance with Wu Xiuyuan? Is he not helping you?"
Zhang Hanzhou’s face flashed with embarrassment. "We have too many people; he can’t help all of us."
"I’ve already taken their spirit coins, so I can’t help you," Sun Tao said, pointing at the two who had paid him.
Zhang Hanzhou could only look pitifully at Xu Yang. "Junior Brother Xu, please, for the sake of our sect, help me pass this trial."
"Aren’t you afraid of being targeted by geniuses with Root Bone Perfection now, Senior Brother Zhang?" Xu Yang asked with a smile.
Back when Bai Shaoling had tried to rally the Purple Sun Sect disciples into an alliance, Zhang Hanzhou had used the excuse that Huo Xiaochen was targeting Xu Yang to force Xu Yang into voluntarily withdrawing, ultimately causing the alliance to fall apart. Hearing Xu Yang bring this up, even someone as thick-skinned as Zhang Hanzhou couldn’t help but flush a bright red.
"Junior Brother Xu, I was blind back then. Please be the bigger person and forgive my past transgressions," Zhang Hanzhou cupped his hands, refusing to give up despite Xu Yang’s mockery. For a person like him, as long as he could successfully achieve Secondary Dragon Ascension, what was a little lost face? If Xu Yang was willing, he would even gladly accept a slap to the face.
"I’m not a petty person." Xu Yang smiled. "But you and I have no friendship to speak of, Senior Brother Zhang, so I can’t help you for nothing. Senior Brother Sun and the others are charging spirit coins to escort people. If you can pay me, I can certainly carry you through this trial."
The smile on Zhang Hanzhou’s face froze. If he had spirit coins, he wouldn’t be standing here humbling himself. Forget ten spirit coins—he didn’t even have a single one on him.
"Junior Brother Xu, we’re fellow sect members! If you help me this time, I will remember your kindness," Zhang Hanzhou pleaded.
Xu Yang sneered, "Before my rise to power, you never remembered we were fellow sect members. You were practically begging Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu to kill me."
Zhang Hanzhou’s face burned crimson with deep regret. But who could have predicted that Xu Yang would turn the tables against all odds and beat Lin Jingyu to death? Since Xu Yang wasn’t buying the fellow sect member act, Zhang Hanzhou had no choice but to slink away in disgrace.
"Ten spirit coins! Are there any other experts willing to take people?"
At this point, all the geniuses who had grasped Martial Dao Imagery already had clients, yet many were still left without an escort, forcing them to shout out over the crowd.
"Twenty spirit coins each, limited to two people! First come, first served!" Xu Yang yelled.
Sun Tao was dumbfounded. So that was why Xu Yang had waited until now—to hike up the price! Suddenly, he felt a twinge of regret for taking clients so early.
"Twenty spirit coins? You might as well rob us!"
"You’ve got a lot of nerve asking for that much!"
The staggering price of twenty spirit coins immediately sparked widespread outrage. Xu Yang didn’t say a word, merely standing in the crowd with a calm smile. A few breaths later, two young men—who clearly looked like wealthy heirs—squeezed through and, without a second thought, shoved the spirit coins into his hands.
"Brother Xu, we leave ourselves in your care," the two smiled and cupped their hands.
Those who had been complaining moments ago promptly shut their mouths. Even if they were willing to part with twenty spirit coins now, it was useless—Xu Yang had already found his clients.
"Easy enough. If I can’t get you to the peak, I won’t take a single coin." Xu Yang pocketed the forty spirit coins.