Over three hundred people filed into the Fish-Dragon Path one by one, entering at a not-so-rapid pace, about two breaths' time per person. As soon as someone entered, shouts, the sounds of colliding forces, and screams incessantly rang out immediately.
Ye Zhen was positioned in the middle. When he stepped onto the Fish-Dragon Path, he saw one of the servant disciples in front of him get swept out by an iron stake within the Fish-Dragon Path and fall into the pools on either side of the path.
Eliminated on the spot!
Whoosh!
An iron stake, seemingly forged from refined iron, suddenly extended from ahead and swept towards Ye Zhen. With a wrap of his arms and a light horizontal flip, Ye Zhen dodged the iron stake.
But at the same moment, two more stakes came cutting horizontally towards Ye Zhen, leaving him nowhere to hide.
Dodging the stake on the left, Ye Zhen gathered his Qi and energy, and fiercely launched a punch. His fist collided heavily with the stake on the right. The old copper-colored stake let out a mournful cry and withdrew sharply.
This was the Fish-Dragon Path of the Qiyun Sect, a corridor ten feet high and twenty feet wide with no end in sight. The pathway seemed to be wholly made of iron, yet moved by some unknown force, quite wondrous indeed.
As long as someone passed by, countless hidden iron stakes would continuously attack from all directions. One had to either surpass them or repel them.
Meanwhile, a tall servant disciple behind Ye Zhen, after passing the stakes that had attacked Ye Zhen, quickly caught up with eager steps, his eyes fiercely fixed on Ye Zhen.
"Ye Zhen, wait for me!" With a burst of speed, the servant disciple flew up and aimed a kick at Ye Zhen.
But Ye Zhen did not even turn his head. He coiled into a ball mid-air and dove, avoiding the iron column, and completely ignored the servant disciple behind him who had made a move against him.
Bang!
After Ye Zhen's dive, an iron stake swept diagonally towards where he had been. It had intended to attack Ye Zhen, but instead, the servant disciple who wanted to take Ye Zhen down for the bounty was struck squarely by the stake.
Moreover, with nowhere to find leverage in mid-air and unable to dodge, the servant disciple was directly swept out by the stake, causing a large splash below in the Fish-Dragon Path.
"Damn!"
Just by hearing the sound, Ye Zhen was filled with disdain. This guy was obviously blinded by greed for the Marrow Cleansing Pill, not considering the place and time before rushing to step on Ye Zhen for Ma Hun's reward.
Now, not only did he not manage to earn the reward, but he also missed his chance to advance as an Outer Disciple.
Ye Zhen realized that the Fish-Dragon Path was not too difficult for someone with sufficient strength. This was why Manager Zhao had such great confidence in him.
He carefully proceeded, navigating past stakes and occasionally taking them head-on. Along the way, he surpassed several other servant disciples. Unlike the fool who had tried to kick Ye Zhen for Ma Hun's reward, he saw no more such fools.
All along the path, the sounds of splashing water were incessant as people continuously failed the challenge and were sent flying into the water. By comparison, Ye Zhen's progress along the Fish-Dragon Path was relatively fast.
Ye Zhen suspected that even though his strength was only at the Early Stage of Third Stage Blood Training, because he had tempered his blood qi early on with the Mirage Dragon Pearl, making it unusually condensed, his true combat power should be close to or on par with that of Fourth Stage Blood Training.
Otherwise, Ye Zhen wouldn't have been able to defeat Ma Yuanwu, who was at the Peak of Third Stage Blood Training, with a single punch in a head-on confrontation. If combat power were a measure of cultivation, Ye Zhen might already qualify as an Outer Disciple.
Under such circumstances, Ye Zhen found navigating the Fish-Dragon Path quite easy.
"Shi Tianjia, this first place is mine, Feng Haoran's; don't even think about getting past. Try another move on me!" Near the end of the Fish-Dragon Path, an arrogantly faced Feng Haoran was locked in a fierce battle with a square-faced Shi Tianjia.
"Feel the might of my family's Killer Fist!"
"Hmph, my family's Green Cloud Nine Forms is not for show either!" shouted Shi Tianjia.
During their combat, Feng Haoran and Shi Tianjia each displayed their families' martial skills, which were several times more exquisite than the Bear King Mountain Carrying Fist passed down by the Qiyun Sect.
The two treated the iron stakes of the Fish-Dragon Path as if they were nothing, darting and dodging around as they attacked each other relentlessly, neither willing to let the other pass first. By the time Ye Zhen arrived nearby, the two had been fighting for a while and were both breathing heavily.
Watching the fight between Feng Haoran and Shi Tianjia, Ye Zhen was stunned. It was the first time he had seen martial skills other than the Bear King Mountain Carrying Fist, and at a glance, he found them incredibly sophisticated.
Feng Haoran, upon noticing Ye Zhen's arrival, let out a cold snort, "Perfect timing. After I deal with him, I'll have no problem taking you down and claiming the bounty on you. A Marrow Cleansing Pill is still extremely useful to me!"
"Heh, Brother Ye is really something," said Shi Tianjia at that moment, "Everyone sees you as an enemy, yet Brother Ye managed to arrive here completely unscathed; truly impressive!"
One remark from Feng Haoran made Ye Zhen feel dislike, while Shi Tianjia's words made him feel goodwill.
Seeing a hint of a smile on Ye Zhen's face, Shi Tianjia suddenly said, "Brother Ye, why don't we join forces..."
"Shameless!" Before Shi Tianjia could finish, Feng Haoran's expression changed dramatically, his attacks becoming more ferocious.
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhen's heart skipped a beat, but after brief thought, he figured out the tricky relationship involved and smiled, shaking his head to decline, "No rush, I'll wait for the two of you to determine the victor before I pass through."
Given the current situation, whether Feng Haoran or Shi Tianjia wins or loses, Ye Zhen's ranking would either be second or third, and there is no difference between the rewards for second and third place.
However, Feng Haoran's combat power is quite extraordinary, and with the inherited martial skills at his side, a moment of carelessness could result in Ye Zhen being knocked off the Fish-Dragon Path and losing the opportunity to become an outer disciple—now that would be a real loss.
Seeing Ye Zhen refuse, Shi Tianjia's eyebrows furrowed tightly. Feng Haoran clearly breathed a sigh of relief, for even with his arrogance, he would not possibly be able to defeat the combined attack of Ye Zhen and Shi Tianjia.
The longer the battle lasted, the more Shi Tianjia fell into the disadvantaged position, and in his urgency, he suddenly exclaimed, "Brother Ye, be careful!"
Shi Tianjia was slapped away by Feng Haoran. As his body floated like a willow seed, he took advantage of an iron column crashing down to turn around and seemed to involuntarily leap toward Ye Zhen's side, while Feng Haoran's palm struck directly at Shi Tianjia's back.
Just when Shi Tianjia was about to be squarely hit by Feng Haoran, the Shi Tianjia holding onto the iron column suddenly exerted force and leapt up high, flying over Ye Zhen's head.
In the blink of an eye, the situation drastically changed.
Just moments ago, Shi Tianjia and Feng Haoran had been fighting a life-and-death struggle. Shi Tianjia's leap suddenly put Ye Zhen in the line of fire, turning it into a head-on fight between Ye Zhen and Feng Haoran.
When the moment arrived, Ye Zhen naturally did not shrink back nor fear Feng Haoran. He met Feng Haoran head-on with "Old Bear Emerges from Cave."
Almost at the instant that Feng Haoran and Ye Zhen crossed palms, Shi Tianjia, who had just moved behind Ye Zhen, swiftly circled around him and attacked Feng Haoran.
"Feng Haoran, get down from here!"
Green Cloud Nine Forms!
In an instant, the scene shifted dramatically, or perhaps, under Shi Tianjia's ingenious planning, it became a two-on-one situation.
In the blink of an eye, Feng Haoran was against two!
"Despicable!"
"Hahaha, first place is mine, thanks for letting me have it, Brother Feng!" As Feng Haoran was about to be kicked off the Fish-Dragon Path by the joint strike of Shi Tianjia and Ye Zhen, Shi Tianjia laughed relaxedly.
Ye Zhen's eyebrows furrowed sharply, feeling a sudden unease in his heart; Shi Tianjia had even calculated against him.
"First place?" Feng Haoran's eyebrows lifted, and a proud smile curved his lips. His figure suddenly flickered, ignoring Ye Zhen's attack and striking directly at Shi Tianjia, who was sneaking up from the side.
Bang! Bang!
Two sounds of fists clashing resounded especially harshly within the desolate confines of the Fish-Dragon Path.
Feng Haoran's full-strength blow, aside from utterly dumbfounding the self-assured Shi Tianjia, also sent Shi Tianjia stumbling backward, almost falling off the Fish-Dragon Path.
Ye Zhen's iron fist met with no resistance as it slammed into the unguarded shoulder of Feng Haoran. Everything happened so quickly that Ye Zhen could only instinctively react—just pulling back some strength at the moment his fist collided with Feng Haoran.
But even a less forceful blow from Ye Zhen was powerful enough to break monuments and split rocks. Even though he pulled his punch, the unprotected Feng Haoran was still sent flying by Ye Zhen's strike, tumbling out of the Fish-Dragon Path.
The smug grin crept across Shi Tianjia's face as he steadied himself and saw Feng Haoran fall.
At that moment, Ye Zhen felt a sudden revulsion towards Shi Tianjia's upright face. Conversely, the image of Feng Haoran's proud demeanor seemed more agreeable to him.
Shi Tianjia's sudden burst upwards caught Ye Zhen off guard, aiming to take advantage of Ye Zhen's distraction and seize first place on the Fish-Dragon Path.
However, Shi Tianjia was some distance from Ye Zhen, and Ye Zhen was no pushover. In a few moves, he reached the end of the Fish-Dragon Path.
At the end of the Fish-Dragon Path stood a majestic door, above which were inscribed five large characters: "Fish-Dragon First Transformation!" These words spurred a sensation in Ye Zhen's heart. Could it be that there was more to the Fish-Dragon Path?
"Heh, congratulations Brother Ye on securing first place...."
The second person to reach the end of the Fish-Dragon Path was naturally Shi Tianjia, but his congratulations to Ye Zhen were obviously awkward.
"Good, very good. As long as you, surnamed Shi, did not take first place, I feel much better!" Feng Haoran, who had just clamored back up onto the Fish-Dragon Path, made his way past the final stretch and reached the endpoint nonchalantly.
"Brother Feng is truly fortunate, not falling into the water...."
"Ye Zhen, I, Feng Haoran, owe you a favor!"
Feng Haoran straightforwardly ignored Shi Tianjia and directly addressed Ye Zhen as he passed by. Clearly, Feng Haoran also realized that Ye Zhen had held back; otherwise, that punch would have sent him plunging into the water rather than letting him cling to the edge of the Fish-Dragon Path.
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PS: I'm in dire need of flowers, brothers, I'm asking for votes, for clicks, for favorites—begging for everything!