That upper house disciple appeared to be masculine and also around fifteen or sixteen years old; despite this, he seemed to be as strong as a grizzly bear. His kick landed very hard on the back of Zhong Yue's knee, and its strength was so strong that it could smash rocks into pieces and break trees in half.
Boom!
A loud sound followed, and Zhong Yue's body swayed. He was almost brought to his knees. At the same time, the force from the two totem pillars also pressed him down harder, causing him to bear even more pressure!
"Tian? Tian Feng Clan? Could it be the old examiner of the Cloudless Hall?"
Zhong Yue figured it out with lightning speed. Tian Feng Clan held significant clout in the Swords Gate, and that old examiner was the one who was in charge of the Cloudless Hall in the outer house. This meant that Tian Feng Clan could unscrupulously provide benefits to the Tian Feng Clan's disciples under the table.
But now, due to the incidents that happened during the examination, Zhuo Xiangsheng realized that he had to be the one in charge of Cloudless Hall to provide a fair environment for the peasant disciples. Therefore, he challenged the old examiner from Tian Feng Clan and took over the Cloudless Hall.
This incident only happened because of Zhong Yue, causing the Tian Feng Clan to lose their power over the Cloudless Hall. It was natural that Tian Feng Clan would retaliate!
"Huh? My totem pillars are carved with the totem of the mountain tortoise; they would weight a mountain once cast, and you can still stand under the pressure?"
The upper house disciple kicked again, and after seeing Zhong Yue was still able to stand, he praised him in shock, "No wonder you could pass the test with sheer strength. But you are asking for more suffering by resisting. You should just obediently kneel down outside of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion and in front of the upper house disciples for a couple of hours. After this, my Tian Feng Clan will generously forgive you for what you did."
Hu!
Another kick landed on Zhong Yue, and the upper house disciple laughed, "You just had to resist didn't you?! I'm afraid that you might have to suffer even more then!"
Zhong Yue's legs bent even more after the kicks, and the pressure from the totem pillars placed an even greater burden on him!
"You must be wondering why there aren't any Qi Practitioners that are willing to teach you in these past few days eh?"
Kick after kick landed behind Zhong Yue's knee and an ever-increasing number of disciples surrounded them without any sign of interfering.
"This is because after our Tian Feng Clan lost Cloudless Hall, the other Qi Practitioners were afraid that it would offend our clan if they were to take you in. And because of that, I'm afraid that there will no longer be any Qi Practitioners to teach you."
Dong!
Zhong Yue was forced to kneel on one leg with his hands supporting him on the ground, trying as hard as he could to not kneel on both legs. On his forehead, veins were seen bursting out because of the immense strength he used to resist.
"You will not be taught or guided by anyone in the Swords Gate! As a result, your path ends here, and I wouldn't even think of becoming a Qi Practitioner anymore!"
The upper house disciple landed another hard kick on Zhong Yue's right knee and said, "Our Tian Feng Clan did not let out any words in this matter, it is that they're afraid of taking you in. This is because our Tian Feng Clan are one of the top ten clans in the Great Wilderness! Even without us uttering a word, you will never have any chance of success in anything after offending us! Today, all you have to do is kneel down here for a few hours, and if you are smart enough, you should leave Swords Gate."
Outside of the pavilion, the other upper disciples looked at the situation and shook their heads. A female disciple shook her head and said, "The Tian Feng Clan is one of the top ten clans in the Great Wilderness, offending the Tian Feng Clan and causing them to lose their power on Cloudless Hall… There might not be any more room for him in the entire Great Wilderness, not to mention in the Swords Gate…"
"What happened?" asked by someone who had no clue of what happened previously.
"They said that a few days before, Junior Martial Uncle Zuo and Senior Martial Uncle Tian fought because of this Zhong Shan Clan's junior martial brother. Junior martial uncle severely injured senior martial uncle and wrested away control of Cloudless Hall. The Tian Feng Clan lost control over Cloudless Hall, and the clan elders were displeased, they pressured Junior Martial Uncle Zuo, but things didn't end up well."
"I see, Junior Martial Uncle Zuo is the rising young Qi Practitioner within Swords Gate, there are a lot of elders backing him. The Tian Feng Clan couldn't do anything to him, but the Zhong Shan Clan junior martial brother is only a peasant, being in the middle of this issue will only find him in deep trouble..."
"Not only deep trouble, look, the Senior Martial Uncle Tian of the Cloudless Hall is here too, coming in the name of imparting his teachings, but he is most probably here only to see how the Zhong Shan Clan member will end up."
Zhong Yue groaned silently and looked toward the pavilion, only to see that old examiner from Cloudless Hall sitting in one of the training room staring at him emotionlessly.
Booom——
Zhong Yue felt as if something exploded in his mind! Shame, anger and an unyielding will all gushed out in his heart.
"Tian Feng Clan…"
Suddenly, a cracking sound emanated from his body and his bones vibrated incessantly. In between his eyebrows, a massive wave of psyche could be seen surging out. It formed a pair of dragon claws and a dragon's body that was replete with hard and sharp scales.
"Roar——"
A dragon's roar could then be heard, and the roar became louder and louder. The cacophony threatened to shatter everything around it. As the roar became deafeningly loud, the dragon formed from Zhong Yue's psyche became even more corporeal and detailed. Zhong Yue also got up bit by bit while resisting the immense pressure coming from the two mountain tortoise totem pillars.
The situation looked as if there really were a Jiao Dragon swimming in the air around his body with its scales standing angrily.
The Tian Feng Clan upper house disciple received a shock, and he quickly murmured. The carvings on his two mountain tortoise totem pillars soon became even clearer, and waves could be seen being emitted from the pillars, forming a mountain that looked like a tortoise, slamming onto Zhong Yue heavily!
The power and potential of the two pillars had been fully exploited by the upper house disciple as he tried his utmost to crush Zhong Yue!
"TIAN FENG CLAN!!!"
Zhong Yue shouted angrily as he gradually stood up straight despite the pressure cast on him. As he stood up slowly, a ferocious aura that seemed like it could shatter the heavens rose from the back of Zhong Yue. It was the Jiao Dragon's head, the final and the most crucial part of the dragon! The dragon raised its head slowly, and its eyes reflected an immense fire while its claws grabbed onto Zhong Yue's shoulders.
Zhong Yue withstood the pressure and stood up. His pair of straw shoes was pulverized into pieces, and without any sign, he raised his leg and stomped hard on the ground. The earthshaking stomp caused the earth to tremble, and the two totem pillars were launched into the skies. As soon as they were in the air, the carvings on the pillars got destroyed.
The Tian Feng Clan upper house disciples groaned, and a crackling sound could be heard from the pillars. After that, the pillars shattered into pieces by Zhong Yue's dragon-like strength after they failed to suppress him.
"What the hell is this bullshitting Tian Feng Clan. Who do you think you are?!"
Zhong Yue then delivered a kick to the shocked and stunned upper house disciple. Zhong Yue's legs were surrounded by the Jiao Dragon's body formed from his highly condensed psyche, causing his legs to look extremely strong and sturdy. It contained an explosive force beyond imagination!
The upper house disciple stood very close to Zhong Yue in order to reach him; hence, when Zhong Yue shattered the shackle of the totem and delivered a kick, the disciple did not even have a chance to evade!
The power contained within the kick was incredibly strong, so much stronger than the minion class Mantis Demons. It felt as if it could smash everything in its path to pieces!
Following the kick was a loud explosion, and the upper house disciple was kicked into the air and knocked onto the windows of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion, shattering the windows to pieces!
The development of the situation did not stop there! The disciple then continued flying toward the old examiner from the Cloudless Hall and landed on his knees in front of him. Not only that, the ground around him became soaked with his blood that was flowing out from his knees.
In the training room where the old examiner sat, the old examiner and the other disciples from the Tian Feng Clan could not help but look blankly at the crazily sudden reversal of the situation.
Those other disciples who stood outside of the pavilion were also stunned by the scene. In their expectations, Zhong Yue should have been humiliated and made to kneel in front of the pavilion for a couple of hours before fleeing away from Swords Gate devoid of all dignity.
After all, Zhong Yue had only recently managed to enter the upper house, and that Tian Feng Clan's upper house disciple had already been here for a very long time; his strength must surely be much stronger than Zhong Yue's.
Besides, Zhong Yue had nothing with him, and the upper house disciple had not one, but two mountain tortoise totem pillars to lock Zhong Yue down.
However, the situation still careened out of their expectations; not only did the upper house disciple fail at what he intended to do, his pillars were also destroyed, and he suffered substantial injuries from Zhong Yue's powerful kick!
Zhong Yue pulled back his legs, shook away the dust on his beast fur jacket and cast his gaze toward the training room in the pavilion, only to find the old examiner staring back at him with a dark and gloomy expression.
The disciple who was kneeling in front of the examiner was so embarrassed and livid. He tried to get up but to no avail. He only managed to let out a pained groan as he knelt back down.
The kick delivered by Zhong Yue was so strong that even though his strength was a cut above Zhong Yue, he still suffered heavy injuries to his knees after being crushed by Zhong Yue.
"You are asking for it!"
A sharp sword with beautiful engravings that was on the waist of the angry upper house disciple suddenly flew up—it was his soul weapon!
Without any hesitation, the upper house disciple manipulated his soul weapon and attacked Zhong Yue. While the sword traveled halfway in the air, it split into thousands of swords that shone with a blinding white radiance as they rained down onto Zhong Yue.
The sword rain was obviously a type of sword array technique, perhaps one of the more advanced offensive methods of Swords Gate. From Zhong Yue's point of view, he could only see a huge wave of blinding white rays shooting toward him!
This was where the advantage of having access to a sect's heritage revealed itself. Although Zhong Yue had achieved the same level of the upper house disciple, he still lacked the proper techniques to retaliate appropriately. Without knowing such techniques, the methods he had to deal with others were severely limited.
The [Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art] and the [Jiao Dragon Winding Body Totem Art] were both mere cultivation and physique-refining arts. Without a combat skill to efficiently channel that power, Zhong Yue wasn't able to unleash his strengths to the highest degree.
The heavy sword rain got dangerously close to Zhong Yue in the blink of an eye. However, under the amplification of the Jiao Dragon's power, Zhong Yue easily evaded and distanced himself from the upper house disciple.
The sword rain continued its pursuit, and it rained down at a speed even faster than before. With the swords' sharpness, they could easily pierce one's body even if the latter were as tough as steel.
"That's enough! You have crossed my line!"
Zhong Yue clenched his teeth and shouted. His soul then manipulated a pebble slab under his feet and hurled it fiercely toward the upper house disciple kneeling in the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion.
Hu-hu-hu—
Zhong Yue did not stop after hurling a pebble slab; he instead continued launching pebble slabs in the same direction over and over again. All of this happened in a very short amount time, and a shower of pebble slabs was soon flying at lightning speed toward the pavilion.
The upper house disciple was stunned, and he quickly collected his thoughts. He summoned back his soul weapon and commanded the sword rain. He redirected it toward the direction of the waves of pebble slabs and sliced them to pieces. All of a sudden, the scene was filled with the dust and debris that was left over of the diced pebbles.
"Useless piece of garbage! You can't even deal with a brat who had just entered the upper house!"
The old examiner was incensed as he withdrew his hands into his sleeves. He secretly flicked his finger causing the soul weapon of the upper house disciple to suddenly shoot out at a speed Zhong Yue had never seen before. He hid his despicable action so well that no one noticed it, not even Zhong Yue himself!
What? How could it be so fast? Zhong Yue thought in his heart as the sword, which was only a step away from piercing his head, flew closer and closer. All the while, he was helpless to do anything in time at all!