[Chapter 25]
After the landowning households went up the mountain, it was the turn of the one thousand or so trial disciples.
There were more than ten paths to the south of Blood Red Mountain. All the trial disciples spread out and climbed up those paths.
Luo Zheng walked at the back of the group without saying a word. He felt a little uneasy. It wasn't that he was afraid of Wang Hengzhi and the Wang family, but he couldn't figure out why Wang Hengzhi was willing to help Luo Peiran.
Although Luo Peiran had the support of the Luo family behind him, a family in Chongyang County was like an ant in the imperial capital. They were nothing. Wang Hengzhi would not be interested in anything from Luo Peiran.
What was the reason? Luo Zheng couldn't figure it out.
Just as he was thinking, he suddenly saw a colorful belt of light appear on the mountain path ahead. The belt of light was erratic, like a dream or a fantasy, like the gate to a fairyland.
"This is the outermost illusory array. After passing through this belt of light, the real Trial of Blood Red will begin." After a trial disciple finished speaking, he walked forward. Then his body strangely disappeared into the belt of light. Seeing this, the other trial disciples followed suit.
Luo Zheng didn't hesitate. He stepped into the belt of light, and the surrounding scenery suddenly changed!
"This is the illusory array?"
From the outside, the entire Blood Red Mountain was blood-red. It was very monotonous. But after entering the illusory array, the scenery inside instantly changed.
Whether it was the tall trees on the mountain or the short bushes, the colors became rich. Although everyone knew that these scenes were actually illusions created by the large illusory array activated by the red fantasy gravel.
But when you touched the trees and bushes, whether it was the touch or the smell, they were vivid and lifelike, no different from the real thing.
Luo Zheng had just taken two steps when he heard the howl of a wild beast. Then he heard the sound of fierce fighting. Not far away, someone had encountered an illusory beast.
He lightened his footsteps and walked into the forest. He saw three people besieging a level one illusory beast.
A level one illusory beast's strength was low. Whether it was strength or attack, it was only equivalent to the Bone Refining Stage. The three people's strength wasn't bad either. They had all stepped into the Viscera Refining Stage. Under the siege of the three people, the illusory beast was quickly killed.
When the illusory beast's body fell to the ground, it turned into a colorful light. It floated up and slowly disappeared in the air.
And a green crystal fragment was left on the ground.
"Haha, this Green Crystal Shard is mine!" Someone rushed over and grabbed the shard in his hand.
"Why should I give it to you? I also helped just now. "The other person was not willing to back down.
"In that case, we'll depend on our strength, if you can take it!"
Just a moment ago, the three of them were working together to kill the Demonic Beasts. Now, they were arguing over a single piece of green crystal.
.'s level one illusory beast was the weakest level one illusory beast.......... illusory beast illusory beast.....
The first level of the Blood Red Mountain had the weakest phantasmal beasts, so most people could handle them. Therefore, most people were not willing to take the risk of entering the second level. As a result, there were too many monks and too little porridge. As soon as a phantasmal beast appeared, there would be people rushing to kill it.
For the sake of the Green Crystal Fragments, many people had already started fighting with each other.
........................
. Soon. He stepped into the second illusory realm of the Blood Red Mountain.
Compared to the first illusory realm, the second illusory realm had fewer people. The second illusory beast was equivalent to the Viscera Refining Stage. It was suitable for people with some strength to challenge.
Luo Zheng had just wandered around twice when he passed by a lush forest. Suddenly, he heard a sharp cry in his ear.
Luo Zheng looked up and saw a Maned Demon Monkey hanging from a big tree. The Demon Monkey's eyes glowed red as it stared at Luo Zheng.
He had seen pictures of this kind of monstrous monkey in books. This kind of monstrous monkey was a kind of monstrous beast in the oasis of the Western Regions. He did not expect that in this illusion array, this kind of monstrous beast would be illusory. The background of the Blue Cloud Sect was really deep. They actually had such a wide range of illusionary array masters.
The Maned Demon Monkey let out a few strange cries at Luo Zheng. Suddenly, its belly caved in and expanded. The long and hard manes on its belly were like steel needles. They rained down on Luo Zheng.
Luo Zheng's reaction wasn't slow either. He sprinted forward almost instantaneously. At the same time, he punched a tree and used the force to leap twenty feet into the air. He reached out his hand to grab the monkey demon.
The Maned Demon Monkey was extremely nimble. It swung around the tree and nimbly avoided Luo Zheng's grab. It then jumped from tree to tree.
Seeing that the Maned Demon Monkey was about to escape, Luo Zheng's competitive spirit was aroused. He didn't believe that he couldn't deal with a Level Two Phantom Beast.
Then, Luo Zheng followed the Maned Demon Monkey. The Maned Demon Monkey's attack power wasn't that strong. Its main attack was its mane, which was as hard as steel needles. However, Luo Zheng's body was as hard as a Xuan Weapon. He could completely ignore the mane's attack.
The key point was that this Demon Monkey was too good at circling around. It moved around in the forest and was very slippery. There were a few times when Luo Zheng wanted to catch the monkey, but the Demon Monkey strangely rolled away and slipped away from his hands.
After chasing like this for a while, Luo Zheng saw the situation in front of him clearly. He took the lead and rushed forward. He spread out his arms and hit a big tree in front of him!
"Fall for me!"
The big tree, which was as thick as a person's arm, suddenly broke into two from the middle under Luo Zheng's fierce hit. Then, it collapsed to the ground with a loud crash.
At this moment, the Demon Monkey jumped up. It was about to jump onto the tree, but Luo Zheng smashed the tree first. The Maned Demon Monkey had no tree to rely on and could only fall towards Luo Zheng obediently.
Luo Zheng had a smile on his face. This time, he couldn't escape anymore.
However, the moment the Maned Demon Monkey got close to Luo Zheng, its red eyes revealed a hint of ruthlessness. It let out a squeaking sound. Then, its whole body turned red and the mane all over its body stood up.
Luo Zheng, who discovered the abnormality, suddenly felt a sense of danger. He used his hands to protect his head, but his feet kept retreating.
Before he could take two steps back, the Maned Demon Monkey's body suddenly doubled in size and rapidly expanded.
"Bang!"
The Maned Demon Monkey's body suddenly exploded, making a violent explosion sound. A huge pit was formed in the ground, and the mane on its body borrowed the force of the explosion to scatter in all directions.
The Maned Demon Monkey's mane needles were extremely powerful. Many mane needles penetrated Luo Zheng's skin and nailed to his body.
"I didn't expect a Level Two Phantom Beast to be so powerful when it goes all out." This power was completely out of Luo Zheng's expectations. He clicked his tongue in wonder and pulled out the mane needles on his body one by one. If he hadn't run fast enough, he would have been injured by the Maned Demon Monkey's explosion at close range.
Although the classification of Phantom Beasts was similar to that of humans, many Phantom Beasts could explode with innate power that humans couldn't compare to when faced with a survival crisis.
After dealing with the steel needles on his body, Luo Zheng walked towards the huge pit and found a yellow crystal fragment in the middle of the pit. Only thirty yellow crystal fragments were needed to pass the assessment. Compared to green crystal fragments, the number needed was much less.
It was just that the Phantom Beasts he faced were relatively more powerful.
Just as Luo Zheng was about to put away the yellow crystal fragment, a voice suddenly sounded.
"Put down the fragment and get out of here quickly!"
Hearing this, Luo Zheng frowned. He turned around and saw three people. Judging by their attire, Luo Zheng judged that these three people were nobles. They might even be from the same family. Only nobles would dare to rob in such an unreasonable way.
"This is the Phantom Beast I killed. The fragment naturally belongs to me. Why should I put it down?" Luo Zheng asked.
One of the nobles said, "Be sensible and don't talk nonsense! If you anger our Fang family, you won't have the chance to regret it. "
"My brother is right. Learn from the mistakes of others. Those who don't listen to our Fang family will all die miserably!" Another nobles said.
"Hand over the fragment or die. Choose one!" The last nobles said.
Luo Zheng held the yellow crystal fragment in his hand. His face showed no signs of impatience. In fact, the various novelties he saw in the Imperial Capital made him feel relaxed and happy. Only these nobles made him speechless.
Not to mention the strength of these nobles, the degree of their arrogance was outrageous. In Luo Zheng's view, this kind of arrogance had reached the level of blindness.
Perhaps it was the halo that surrounded them since they were young that made them forget that it was their family that was feared by others, not by them.
Therefore, Luo Zheng put the fragment in his pocket and prepared to leave without looking back. He didn't want to waste his breath on these guys.
However, the three nobles obviously wouldn't let him go. They quickly rushed out and formed a triangle, pouncing on Luo Zheng.
These three probably thought that since they were in the Marrow Refining Realm, it would be a simple matter for them to eat Luo Zheng, who was in the Viscera Refining Realm.
However, in Luo Zheng's view, these three were too slow. At a glance, he could tell that they had been trained with medicinal pills since childhood. They lacked actual combat and tempering. The flaws in their movements were too big.
At this moment, Luo Zheng's back was facing the three of them. Just as the three of them pounced on him, he took a step back and easily avoided their attacks. At the same time, he circled around them at lightning speed and reached out to grab the back of their necks.
"Let go of me. If you dare touch me, the Fang family will turn your bones to dust!"
"Since childhood, no one has dared to grab me like this. I won't forgive you even if I cut you to pieces!"
The two were flustered. They didn't think that they would be so weak. In front of Luo Zheng, they didn't even have the strength to fight back. However, they still displayed the true colors of nobles. Even if they were grabbed by the neck, they could still spit out such a mess of vicious words. This could be considered one of their great instincts.
Hearing these nobles' words, Luo Zheng sneered. He gathered strength in his arms and fiercely slammed the two's heads together.
"Clang!"
Under such a violent collision, the two of them "died". Just like the demon beast that Luo Zheng had just killed, their bodies slowly disappeared, and little bits of light wrapped around them.
If they were outside of the Blood Red Mountain's illusory formation, their heads would've been smashed like watermelons. They would've died for sure.
Fortunately, this was the Blood Red Mountain Trial. Strictly speaking, everyone was an "illusion" compared to others. Therefore, they weren't injured. Instead, they were wrapped in light. When the people outside of the Blood Red Mountain transported them out, these two would be considered eliminated.
The Blue Cloud Sect's original intention in designing the "Blood Red Mountain Trial" was actually this. The opponents in the Blood Red Mountain were not only illusory beasts, but also opponents.
Using the illusory formation, they could effectively avoid death.
After the two nobles were eliminated, the remaining one's face was still full of fear. His previous rampant and arrogant attitude had been swept away. He took a few steps back, but his mouth was still muttering: "Our Fang family … Our Fang family …"
"If you don't want to be eliminated, then hand over all the crystal fragments. No matter how powerful your Fang family is, no matter how big your reputation is, it can't save you now!" Luo Zheng said coldly and took a step towards him.
That nobles from the Fang family didn't say anything. After throwing out a handful of crystal fragments, he ran away …
Luo Zheng shook his head helplessly. He was too lazy to rob others, but there were a lot of people who wanted to come to his door.
He collected the crystal fragments. Among them, there were twenty green crystal fragments and seven yellow crystal fragments!
It seemed that the robbery came quickly. Luo Zheng was a little tempted. Compared to killing one illusory beast at a time, the efficiency of robbing was obviously much higher.
However, he quickly gave up this plan. The ultimate goal of the Blood Red Mountain Trial was still to train.
Although there were shortcuts to take, Luo Zheng would never give up the opportunity to train himself. Of course, if some ignorant guys came to find him, he naturally wouldn't let them go.