"Corrupt Devils!"
This unfamiliar term was something Long Chen had never heard of. But he could clearly sense the extremely ancient, sinister aura coming from those caves.
The majority of the crowd had also never heard of that term. From their blank expressions, he could tell this was a kind of secret. Updated from n0vđť’†lbIn.(c)o/m
But when he looked at Tang Wan-er, he saw her expression hadn't changed. It seemed she had long since known what a 'Corrupt Devil' was.
"The Corrupt Devils I speak of aren't what you imagine. They are not the goblins and ghosts from your childhood myths and stories. They are Corrupt Devil cultivators.
"And this trial will be to defeat those cultivators. Chop off their heads and you will pass," explained Tu Fang.
Everyone let out startled cries as they all looked towards the stone wall.
"Yes. Each of those caves contains a Corrupt Devil cultivator. We term them Corrupt cultivators.
"Their cultivation methods are completely different from ours. They are extremely sinister and ruthless. They are even more berserk than Magical Beasts. You can still choose to give up now, so think about it carefully," said Tu Fang.
The entire crowd was silent. Currently there were only just over three thousand of them that had made it to this point. But what Elder Tu Fang was talking about was too shocking. Their hearts pounded nervously.
"What kind of joke is this? Let them come! We're all geniuses; do you think we'll be scared away by just words? Hmph, if the rest of you don't dare, then let me, Li Changfeng, take the lead!"
One man ran out of the crowd arrogantly. Blood Qi surged from him as he held a longsword. He was an expert.
"Think about it properly. This isn't an ordinary trial, but a life and death battle. The slightest carelessness will cause you to lose your life," warned Tu Fang.
"Don't worry Elder, disciple understands," replied that person.
Tu Fang sighed somewhat helplessly. Why did every year always start with this kind of opening? Was that the will of the heavens?
"If you want to take the lead, then come. Choose a cave according to your power level. If you feel like you cannot win, you can immediately flee from the cave and save your life." Tu Fang gave one final warning to everyone.
Long Chen was slightly startled. Looking at the stone pillars in front of those Elders, he saw they were all emitting a faint light that completely lit up the entire stone wall. Did that light have some kind of purpose?
"Many thanks Elder for your concern. Disciple will go now."
That person confidently smiled and turned to glance back at everyone, sneering, "This junior is attached to Lei Qianshang. With how grand and powerful boss Lei, as boss Lei's subordinate, I pledge my absolutely loyalty to what will be the most powerful faction!
"With honor right before me, junior won't be courteous and take the first spot! But this glory isn't mine, but my most respected boss Lei Qianshang's!"
That person arrogantly laughed and ran over to the mountain cliff.
Long Chen was a bit dumbstruck. This kind of advertising was a bit much, wasn't it? As for Lei Qianshang, he nodded appreciatively. With such an intelligent disciple beneath, what couldn't he accomplish?
"I wonder what level he'll choose."
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"Looking at how boasting he was, he'll probably choose the inner disciple level."
"Probably. Otherwise, wouldn't all his boasting have just been crap? That really would be just giving himself a slap in the face."
Just as people were guessing he would choose an inner disciple level cave, he had already run over to the cliff. The large set of stairs was there.
When he arrived at those stairs, one of the Elders asked, "Which cave do you want to go to?"
"The one at the most right side on the lowest level." That person immediately replied without even thinking about it.
Displeasure rang out amongst the crowd. According to the cultivation world's standards, the upper left side was most powerful while the lower right side was the weakest. By choosing the most right cave on the lowest level, he had chosen the absolute weakest cave.
He had acted so grandly like an expert at the beginning, but now he choose the simplest trial.
"That bastard is too shameless! He actually picked the most advantageous spot and didn't even try to hide it!"
Everyone knew that this fellow was definitely relying on his smarts. He had made the first move in order to get an advantage.
"This fellow is so shameless; he really is just like you. Could it be that he is your long lost brother?" Tang Wan-er laughed.
Long Chen didn't get angry, shaking his head, "I definitely don't have such a fool brother. Looking at his face, I'm thinking he'll soon want to repent and turn over a new leaf"
"AHH!"
A miserable scream rang out from the cave. That person had only just entered before letting out that miserable scream, bringing with it a rain of blood that shot out of the cave.
Long Chen frowned slightly. He took a step forward, blocking Tang Wan-er's line of sight to that cave.
The entire crowd let out startled exclamations. There were also some people who directly vomited. That person was now torn in two and completely mutilated. That scene was absolutely terrifying.
Previously he had been so lively and arrogant; now in the blink of an eye, he was a dead man. Furthermore, he had been killed with such a cruel and disgusting manner, horrifying everyone.
"Long Chen, let me see. I'll have to face this kind of reality sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner." Tang Wan-er felt some warmth, knowing that Long Chen was looking after her by blocking her line of sight.
Long Chen nodded, as she was absolutely correct. How could you possibly not run into dead people on the path of cultivation? If she couldn't even get past this, then she might as well give up cultivation.
But letting a fairy-like woman face such a cruel scene really was somewhat unacceptable. However, in the end, Long Chen still moved away.
Seeing that completely mutilated figure, Tang Wan-er shook, her face becoming white as paper. She felt her stomach heaving.
Just at that moment, a hand silently braced her shoulder and a gentle spiritual qi was sent into her body. That noxious feeling was immediately suppressed.
Long Chen had already been anticipating her reaction, and so that was why he had been prepared to help her. It wasn't the act of vomiting that would affect her, but if she really did vomit at this sight, it would affect her confidence.
"Thank you. I'm fine now." Tang Wan-er gratefully looked at Long Chen. If it weren't for his assistance, she really would have lost control and vomited.
Everyone's expressions were all pained. Even people like Lei Qianshang were slightly pale. It wasn't that none of them had seen death, but they had never seen such cruel death.
Seeing that everyone had already seen their fill of it, Long Chen extended a hand and shot out a ball of flame that landed on the corpse. That high temperature immediately burnt the corpse into ashes, causing everyone to let out a breath of relief. The pressure really was too great when seeing that corpse.
Tu Fang glanced at Long Chen and nodded in praise. Long Chen was definitely the smart one. He knew how to balance the terror and pressure people were feeling.
"And that is why humans are stupid. They don't even know how stupid they are, not knowing what respect is."
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Tu Fang icily looked at everyone, gloomily saying, "Did you carefully listen to what I said before? Did you think I was just joking?"
As he spoke, Tu Fang's expression became incredibly gloomy. Light shot from his eyes and a terrifying pressure shot out. He was truly infuriated.
"Are you all idiots? Didn't I just tell you? This isn't an ordinary trial, but a life and death battle that will cause you to lose your life at the slightest carelessness!
"If you know it relates to your life and death, why are you so careless? Before entering the cave, why wouldn't you release your aura and take out your weapons? Why weren't you completely focused and on guard?
"You didn't even know what your enemy was, but you still walked in so brazenly? Was that to show off? To make you look brave?
"Haha, not bad, definitely not bad. This interpretation of how to be a fool really is excellent. You're definitely a group of 'geniuses'."
Tu Fang icily looked over them, his expression become more and more ugly. Originally he had thought with this many geniuses, the monastery would finally begin to soar.
But a genius might be a genius, but their heads were too stupid. If it weren't for the monastery's rules, he really would have desired to slap a few to death as a wake-up call.
He had repeatedly urged them to be careful, even telling them how terrifying Corrupt cultivators were. Unfortunately some fellows had taken his words to be nonsense. He really had wasted his time.
He really did need to give them a proper wake-up call. This trial was no game. If a monster-class genius ended up being negligent and dying here, he really would be angered to death.
"Hmph, don't think yourselves to be so smart. The trial this year isn't the same as before. Don't think that just because you got some information about the previous years that you are completely prepared.
"In the past few years, the great wars between the Righteous and Corrupted paths have taken the lives of countless geniuses. The puppets within those caves were once living people just like you!
"That's right, the Corrupt cultivators in the caves aren't actually alive. They are all corpses that have been carefully selected to fight with people of your cultivation base.
"Their soul have been sealed, leaving behind only an instinctual fighting consciousness. So within them is only a desire to brutally massacre others. If you guys want to die, find somewhere alone to resolve that. Don't die here and ruin the mood," Tu Fang scolded them, irritated that they had not met his expectations.
Tu Fang hadn't had the heart to see that previous person die tragically and had even given him an extra warning. Unfortunately, that kind of person would never listen no matter how many times he was warned.
So now his cruel death had become an example for them. Everyone was woken up, so at least his death had served some purpose.
"Okay, I've already explained everything. You guys can make your own decisions. Again, if you want to back out now, you still can."
The entire crowd was silent. That person had been a peak Blood Condensation expert. But in his carelessness, he had been immediately killed. That was absolutely terrifying.
That was especially true to these geniuses who had never seen such a scene before. It was already not bad for them to not be crying for their mothers at this point.
Everyone was now looking at each other hesitantly, not wanting to stand out. They all wanted to wait a while and see.
"Boss, I'm going to go test it."
Suddenly Guo Ran walked out.
Both Long Chen and Tang Wan-er were given a fright. Both of them were experts and could clearly sense Guo Ran's strength wasn't outstanding. At best he was only average amongst the crowd.
"You have to think this through," Long Chen solemnly warned. This was no joke.
Guo Ran was extremely solemn. "I know. This is the greatest obstacle in my life. No one can help me but myself. Whether I am a dragon or just a serpent will be seen with just this one move. I'll bet on myself."
Guo Ran was no longer his smiling self. Instead he was completely determined. This was a hurdle in his life that he couldn't avoid. He had to face it head on.
Seeing how worried Long Chen was, Guo Ran smiled slightly. "Don't worry boss. I, Guo Ran, won't die so easily. I'm still thinking of muddling my way with you."
"Good brother. I'm cheering for you." Long Chen clapped Guo Ran on the shoulders. The current Guo Ran was much manlier.
He could tell that although Guo Ran might appear slippery on the outside, he had his own pride inside. What he had resolved to do, no one else could change.
In front of everyone's astonished gazes, Guo Ran walked up to the stage.
"Second one on the lower right."