By the time Long Chen and Guo Ran arrived, there was already a sea of people watching. Two figures were fiercely fighting within a large mountain pass. Wild gales and dust filled the air around them for hundreds of meters.
This entire region was packed with people that were excitedly watching those two people fight, their eyes filled with respect.
"So its Qi Xin and Lei Qianshang!" exclaimed Guo Ran.
Long Chen was startled. So it was actually a battle between monster-class experts. No wonder there would be such terrifying waves.
"That blue-haired fellow who is extremely tall and muscular is Lei Qianshang. As for his opponent that is wearing the light blue headband and who looks like a scholar, he's Qi Xin," explained Guo Ran quietly.
Long Chen examined Lei Qianshang. He was tall and sturdy. His bare arms were as thick as a normal person's calves and his muscles bulged. He looked just like a human-shaped Magical Beast.
His hair was a surprisingly strange light blue color. Whenever his fists struck, a faint thunder sound would boom out.
Against him was a man wearing long robes and a Confucian hat on his head, the spitting image of a scholar. His face was grave and stern. In front of Lei Qianshang's tempest-like torrent of fists, he was as calm as ever, receiving every single one with his bare palms.
Furthermore, Long Chen noticed that Qi Xin's palms were emitting strange fluctuations. Each blow could cause slight ripples to appear in the air that blocked the majority of Lei Qianshang's force.
Their fierce battle caused the land to shake and wind to howl. Just the gales that spread out from their battle were painful for people to endure.
"Look, that's the ice beauty Ye Zhiqiu." Guo Ran suddenly drew Long Chen's attention.
Long Chen turned to look and saw a tall woman wearing snow-white robes. Her long hair danced, and she looked like a fairy who had descended onto the world, an existence people wouldn't dare blaspheme against.
At her side were quite a few young men and women, but they all maintained a certain distance from her. Many men were looking at her adoringly.
In many people's eyes, Ye Zhiqiu was an ice goddess, pure, holy, and grand.
Looking at Ye Zhiqiu, Long Chen had no choice but to admit that this ice beauty was truly beautiful, especially with that arrogant temperament that made her seem like some goddess sculptures that others worshipped. That was a calm kind of beauty which would cause others to forget everything else.
Long Chen had been stealthily staring at her when she suddenly turned to glance back at him.
When the two of their eyes met, Long Chen was startled. He nodded slightly in greeting, but what caused him to be speechless was that Ye Zhiqiu simply icily glanced at him for a moment before turning back to watch the fight without giving him any recognition.
This child really doesn't have any manners. But that's ok, this big brother will help her out, Long Chen bitterly laughed inside. Being despised by others was uncomfortable.
"Oh, Yue Zifeng is also here!" exclaimed Guo Ran suddenly.
Long Chen followed Guo Ran's gaze to see a man in blue battle robes, a sword on his back.
"So he's a sword cultivator!"
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"Yue Zifeng started training in the way of the sword starting at the age of three. His comprehension skill in the Sword Dao is extremely high, but as a person, he is prideful and doesn't like to battle others. And so, all those people who challenged him were all killed by him. He once said that fighting is sacred, and only battles that risk one's life are true battles. All other battles are just blasphemy against fighting in his opinion," explained Guo Ran.
Long Chen looked at the distant Yue Zifeng and nodded. "This is definitely an extremely frightening person."
He could sense that Yue Zifeng was just like a sheathed sword. Once drawn out of the scabbard, his qi could slash apart the heavens. That was the specific imposingness of a sword cultivator. It was no wonder that at such a young age, Yue Zifeng had already completely controlled his aura so that not even the slightest bit of it leaked out. He obviously possessed extremely firm willpower.
Such a person was not like ordinary disciples. People like him had their own beliefs and convictions. That belief could be in their fists, their weapons, or even their physical bodies.
Such people had already escaped the bindings of life and death. And so when they fought, the strength they could release was extremely terrifying.
BOOM! Space suddenly shook, and everyone let out startled cries and retreated. A terrifying wave of qi crashed into them, and some of them who hadn't retreated fast enough were miserably sent flying.
When the qi wave passed and the dust settled, a huge crater appeared before them. The two figures, which had been fiercely fighting, were now on opposite sides looking back on each other.
"How powerful, how terrifying!"
"Both their combat strengths are limitless! It's inconceivable! They truly are monster-class geniuses."
"Most importantly, look. Despite that fierce battle, their auras haven't changed in the slightest!"
Everyone was discussing their fight, most of them filled with awe and also excitement. To be able to see a monster-class battle was definitely greatly beneficial to them.
"What do you think?" asked Guo Ran.
"Definitely very powerful. But the two of them have only been testing each other the entire time and have yet to use their true power. And so there really wasn't much to see," said Long Chen.
Although the two of them seemed to be using their full strength to fight, Long Chen could tell that most of their power had been reserved. It had mostly just been probing blows.
Which monster-class genius didn't have their own special moves? As long as they weren't an idiot, they naturally wouldn't reveal that for everyone to see.
"There's actually something pretty interesting about both of them. They're both pursuing Tang Wan-er," Guo Ran laughed mysteriously.
"There was actually such a thing?"
"Hehe, who do you think I am? I'm the know-it-all of the monastery. Although my actual strength isn't that high, don't look down on my other abilities.
"Qi Xin seemed to have learned of Tang Wan-er's existence extremely early and released word long ago that Tang Wan-er was not to marry anyone else.
"As for this Lei Qianshang, half a year ago he publicly declared that whoever dared to fight over Tang Wan-er with him would have their head crushed by him.
"Counting the time, the Lei family should have gathered information of Tang Wan-er before Lei Qianshang made that declaration," laughed Guo Ran.
"That is a bit interesting. Looks like that Xuantian Monastery will be pretty lively in the future," Long Chen also couldn't help but laugh.
After Long Chen finished speaking, an uproar exploded. That was because a beautiful maiden had walked into the mountain pass. Her figure was lithe and graceful. She had light dimples whenever she smiled, letting other people feel like they were being cleansed by a spring breeze and as if even their bones would turn limp in her presence.
Most charming of all were her pair of soul-stealing eyes. Anyone who her gaze swept over would feel their heart jump wildly.
"Tang Wan-er has arrived," exclaimed Guo Ran.
She was Tang Wan-er? She really was beautiful, and it was no wonder the two of them were fighting over her affections. Long Chen nodded inside.
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She was different from Ye Zhiqiu in that her beauty was one that made people like her more, rather than push them away.
But for some unknown reason, Long Chen felt that she was somewhat familiar. But he had never seen her before. Was it simply that he was missing Chu Yao and Meng Qi too much?
"Ah, the two of you have finished so fast! I still didn't get to see anything good. How about you two start up again?" Tang Wan-er's voice was melodic like silver bells, causing anyone who heard her voice to feel extremely comfortable. But after she said that, Lei Qianshang and Qi Xin both began acting a bit unnatural.
Qi Xin smiled slightly. "Junior sister Wan-er has misunderstood. This is the first time brother Lei and I have met, and due to how talented we both are, our hands got itchy. But it seems that has caused sister Wan-er to form some ridicule of us." Qi Xin's voice was soft, not fast or slow without the slightest anger, causing others who heard it to feel comfortable. That scholarly impression of his grew even greater.
"Right, it was like that. Our hands were just a bit itchy for action," confirmed Lei Qianshang hastily. His voice was loud and resonant like a large bell.
Long Chen laughed at this interesting play. The two of her suitors truly were two exact opposites.
Tang Wan-er smiled slightly and didn't argue against their lie. Glancing at the surrounding people, she said, "I'm still lacking some people by my side. Anyone who wants to join me should take advantage of this moment. But I don't want anyone repulsive. Anyone who thinks they are a genius can come."
As soon as Tang Wan-er's words fell, countless people's eyes brightened and rushed over to Tang Wan-er.
"Miss Tang, pick me! My combat ability is extremely great, and I'll even risk death for you!"
"Pick me, I'll be your loyal servant!"
Before that person even finished speaking, he was trampled on by countless others. This scene was incredibly chaotic.
Not everyone rushed to Tang Wan-er. Quite a few people split up to go over to Ye Zhiqiu, Yue Zifeng, Lei Qianshang, and Qi Xin.
Now that all five of the top geniuses had gathered, many people wanted to test their luck and see if they could attract any of their attention. Otherwise, going at it alone would definitely make it difficult to grow within the monastery.
However, the other four had all already had their factions being filled. After all, one couldn't have an unlimited number of members in a faction. According to the monastery's rules, a faction could at most contain one hundred members.
But they were all extremely smart people. Until the final moment, they would still leave a couple of spots up for grabs.
If they ended up encountering a disciple with exceptional skills, they could add that person to their faction and strengthen their troops. So each person they added had to be chosen carefully.
That was because even before entering the monastery, many of their positions had already been taken up. There was no way around it, as their own families or clans had already set those up. They didn't dare not listen to those orders.
The remaining small portion of spots required them to keep their eyes open to select the best members. It was just like Tang Wan-er said: those who were repulsive couldn't be chosen.
Monster-class experts were not called that for nothing. Their vision was extremely sharp. Just a glance could allow them to understand a person's strength. After just testing them a bit, they could easily determine their value and pick the best members at a fast speed.
"How come you aren't going?" Long Chen couldn't help but curiously ask Guo Ran when he saw he was just standing there.
"Brother Long, what do you think of me being your follower?" asked Guo Ran suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Long Chen was stunned.
"As in I'll be your junior brother from now on and muddy along with you."
"Ah, no. I don't even know who I'll be joining, so if you follow me, wouldn't you suffer greatly?" Long Chen shook his head.
"Boss, listen to me. If I go over now, I won't have the slightest chance. But if I make you my boss, with your strength, they'll immediately rope you in and you can also bring me along," implored Guo Ran.
"Even that is a thing?" Long Chen looked at Guo Ran with shock. Was this what 'buy one get one free' meant?
"Boss, trust me, with your strength, although you might not be a match for those monsters, you are definitely a strong expert. Any faction will have their peak experts as their main pillars. So boss, you definitely have to bring me with you." ReAd lat𝙚st chapters at n0v(𝒆)lbin.co/m Only
Long Chen shook his head. He wasn't even planning on joining any faction. It would be most freeing to be on his own. He was just about to decline when he sensed something was going on around him. That was because all those noisy disciples around him had gone silent. A voice rang out.
"Do you want to join my faction?"