Chapter 225: Meeting Sun Ke Again
"She's an acquaintance of mine. She and I joined the Blaze Dragon Dao at the same time. It sounds like you know of her as well, Brother Su," Han Li replied with a nod.
Bai Suyuan's exceptional aptitude had seen her catch the eye of the dao lord with the Yun surname as soon as she joined the sect, but ever since then, she had kept quite a low profile, so there shouldn't have been that many people who knew of her.
"I took on a mission released by Dao Lord Yun some years ago, and I just so happened to meet her then. Apparently, she possesses the Moonlight Immortal Physique, and she's reached her current cultivation base after no more than a century of cultivation. I'm sure it won't be long before she forges a resounding reputation for herself in the entire sect," Su Tongxiao remarked.
"Bai Suyuan has been accepted as Dao Lord Yun's disciple, so that already makes her a direct disciple, right? In that case, why is she participating in this trial?" Han Li asked with a befuddled expression.
"She may already be a direct disciple, but the rules of the sect have to be followed. Prior to this, she's been in seclusion this entire time, but now that she's reached the Spatial Tempering Stage, she must also pass this trial in order to officially become a direct disciple," Su Tongxiao explained.
"I see," Han Li replied with a contemplative expression.
Right at this moment, a slightly portly young man strode into the Rising Sun Palace. He was wearing an inner court disciple robe, and he also seemed to have been one of the trial-takers.
Han Li took a casual glance at this newcomer, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
The newcomer was none other than Sun Ke, together with whom Han Li had traveled to the Ancient Cloud Continent. Somehow, he had managed to join the Blaze Dragon Dao and earned the right to participate in this trial during the few decades since then.
As soon as he stepped into the hall, all of the other disciples instantly turned to him as well.
He seemed to have been rather uncomfortable from all the scrutiny, and he paused momentarily in his footsteps before flashing everyone a smile.
All of the inner court disciples gazed upon Sun Ke with hints of derision in their eyes for a moment before quickly returning to their conversations, and Bai Suyuan was the only one who returned his smile.
Sun Ke didn't seem to have been surprised by this rather frosty reception, and he made his way over to a corner of the main hall on his own, where he began to inspect his surroundings and all of the other disciples.
The disciples in the hall had split themselves up into three distinct circles, with the largest one containing eight or nine people, which was close to half of all of the disciples present. At the center of the circle was a handsome brocade-robed young man with a purple mark on his glabella that was giving off a purple glow, and his cultivation base was at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.
Standing nearby was a group of five or six people, gathered around another handsome young man with a slightly dark complexion.
However, his eyes were rather long and thin, and he was giving off a rather effeminate aura.
The dark-skinned young man was also at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and these two circles of disciples were the most relaxed of the bunch, chatting amicably with one another, seemingly without a care in the world.
The final circle was the one that Bai Suyuan was in. She was surrounded by several female cultivators who were also quite gorgeous, but paled in comparison to her stunning beauty.
Bai Suyuan's eyes were slightly downcast as she remained silent, and her entire body was giving off a faint white glow, giving her the appearance of a silently blooming snow lotus flower.
In contrast with her silence, the female cultivators around her were chatting quietly among themselves as they inspected their surroundings.
While conversing with those around them, both the brocade-robed young man and the dark-skinned young man were shooting occasional glances at Bai Suyuan with a hint of lust and desire in their eyes.
As for the rest of the disciples, they were all standing in silence around the hall like Sun Ke.
A short while later, the brocade-robed young man took one more glance at Bai Suyuan, then cleared his throat before approaching her.
"You must be Junior Martial Sister Bai Suyuan, right? My name is Qi Huanyu. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I've heard a lot about you, including the fact that you're a secret disciple of Dao Lord Yun's, but unfortunately, I never had the chance to meet you before this," Qi Huanyu said with a polite smile.
"You're far too kind, Senior Martial Brother Qi. As a descendant to Deputy Dao Lord Qi, your outstanding aptitude is known to everyone in the sect, and I've heard that you're the leading figure among all inner court disciples," Bai Suyuan replied with a faint smile.
Qi Huanyu faltered slightly upon hearing this. He was indeed quite a renowned figure, but no one had ever referred to him as the leading figure among all inner court disciples before. Could it be that this title had been bestowed upon him without his knowledge?
In any case, he was certainly more than happy to play along, and he made no effort to deny the title as he chuckled, "You're far too kind, Junior Martial Sister Bai. Such an arbitrary title is not one to be taken seriously. Given your exceptional aptitude, I'm sure it won't be long before you surpass me."
Right at this moment, the dark-skinned young man approached them with a cold sneer on his face as he scoffed, "Leading figure? When did you receive such a title, Qi Huanyu? How come I've never heard anyone mention it? Could it be that you gave yourself that title?"
A cold look appeared on Qi Huanyu's face as he glared at the dark-skinned young man, then turned back to Bai Suyuan as he introduced, "You've probably never heard of him, but his name is Tang Chuan, and he's also an inner court disciple."
The dark-skinned young man's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, yet before he could issue a retort, Bai Suyuan said, "How could I possibly not have heard of Senior Martial Brother Tang? Senior Martial Brother Tang is the only son to Elder Jing Ming of the Heavenly Pill Palace, and your mastery of the Profound Spirit Walking Arts is unmatched. Please teach me some time, Senior Martial Brother Tang."
There was a hint of seduction in Bai Suyuan's smile as she spoke, and the anger in Tang Chuan's heart at Qi Huanyu's snide remarks instantly faded as he hurriedly replied, "You're far too kind, Junior Martial Sister Bai. Truth be told, I've only just begun to make my initial forays into the Profound Spirit Walking Arts, and..."
Qi Huanyu was very displeased to have been suddenly shut out of the conversation, and he sneered, "It would be an extremely unwise use of your time to learn a cultivation art as mediocre as the Profound Spirit Walking Arts, Junior Martial Sister Bai."
"How dare you look down on the Profound Spirit Walking Arts! I'm going to make you eat your words!"
Tang Chuan immediately flared up with rage as wisps of black mist rose up from his body alongside a layer of faint black light.
Qi Huanyu was completely unfazed, and the mark on his glabella began to glow with purple radiance.
The disciples around them also began to glower at one another, and all of a sudden, the atmosphere in the hall had become extremely tense.
A faint smile appeared on Bai Suyuan's face, and she took a couple of steps backward in a subtle manner, opening up some space for Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan.
All of a sudden, an authoritative voice rang out within the hall. "Insolence! You're here to participate in a trial, not to fight among yourselves!"
At the same time, a burst of invisible pressure descended upon the entire palace, and everyone in the two opposing groups, including Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan, were instantly rooted to the spot. Even Bai Suyuan was somewhat affected, and a faint unnatural flush had appeared on her face.
The burst of pressure only encompassed the palace for an instant before fading, and everyone was able to move as normal again.
However, the tense atmosphere in the hall had completely faded due to this intervention.
The square-faced young man by the name of Fang Yu appeared amid a flash of white light, and he was making no effort to disguise his Grand Ascension Stage aura, causing the surrounding air to buzz and tremble incessantly.
He swept his gaze over Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan, then gave Bai Suyuan a meaningful look before withdrawing his gaze.
Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan exchanged a final cold glare, then turned and went their separate ways.
Bai Suyuan had also backed away to the side with her head slightly lowered.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, we can commence the trial. Before we begin, I'm going to tell you what you need to do during the trial. I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. I am not exaggerating when I say that successful completion of the trial is a matter of life or death for all of you!" Fang Yu declared, administering no further punishment to Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan.
Sun Ke and everyone else who was standing around the hall also gathered around Fang Yu to hear what he had to say.
"You will be undertaking your trial in the Profound Ice Mountain Range. I'll take you to the outskirts of the mountain range, and in order to complete the trial, you're required to venture into the mountain range and slay a Body Integration Stage Dark Snow Bear. You can choose to work with others or slay the bear yourself..."
……
Meanwhile, in the side hall, Han Li was watching everything unfolding in the main hall with a hint of exasperation in his eyes.
Even after so many years, Bai Suyuan was still just as mischievous as ever.
He also noticed that she seemed to have begun using the same cultivation art as Dao Lord Yun. The seductive techniques that she had just displayed were extremely advanced, and the two young men had completely fallen prey to them without their detection.
Thinking back, even with his enormous spiritual sense, he had almost fallen for Dao Lord Yun's seduction, so it was no surprise that those two prodigies had fallen prey to Bai Suyuan's allure.
Just like the inner court disciples, he was also listening carefully as Fang Yu introduced the content of the trial.
"The Profound Ice Mountain Range, eh? That's not far away," Su Tongxiao murmured to himself.
Han Li nodded in response.
At this point, he had already somewhat familiarized himself with the geography of the Ancient Cloud Continent, and indeed, the Profound Ice Mountain Range wasn't very far away, situated northward of the Bell Toll Mountain Range.
Furthermore, the Profound Ice Mountain Range wasn't particularly large. There were supposed to have been many demon beasts lurking within it, but even so, it shouldn't have been very difficult for a pair of True Immortals like them to protect these inner sect disciples.
All of a sudden, Han Li raised his head and cast his gaze toward the entrance of the side hall.
Almost at the exact same moment, two figures appeared there amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
One of them was a purple-robed middle-aged man with a square face and a pair of bright eyes under a set of thin eyebrows. He had an elegant and refined demeanor, but still cut an authoritative figure.
Beside him was an incredibly seductive young woman in a white robe, and it was none other than Dao Lord Yun, Bai Suyuan's mistress.
The two of them were giving off enormous auras, with the purple-robed middle-aged man's aura slightly superior to that of Dao Lord Yun.
"Dao Lord Ouyang! Dao Lord Yun!" Su Tongxiao hurriedly rose to his feet before cupping hi fist in a salute.
Han Li also hurriedly stood up before extending a salute of his own.
"You two are the ones assigned with protecting the trial-takers in secret, is that correct?" Dao Lord Ouyang asked.
"That's right," Han Li and Su Tongxiao replied in unison.
"I'm sure you've already been made aware of the contents of the trial. During this trial, your mission will be to deal with any unforeseen mishaps that may arise. Aside from that, these disciples are to take on the perils that arise under normal circumstances on their own, and if they're unable to do so, then it's fine to allow them to perish during the trial.
“The sect has no need for incompetent disciples, so if they can't even survive a trial like this, then it would be better for them to die within the sect than elsewhere," Dao Lord Ouyang said in an implacable voice.
Su Tongxiao hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Dao Lord Ouyang, would you be able to elaborate on what you mean by perils that arise under normal circumstances?"
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