King of Ten Thousand Years

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: First in the Trial

"Your heart has already lost."

Qi Hong’s heart trembled. The youth in his vision seemed to have transformed into a demon that could see right through him.

He suddenly understood what a terrible mistake he had made.

He had utterly despised an opponent who was so terrifying he could be called a formidable rival.

His greater mistake was losing his composure in front of such an opponent.

’No! I still have a chance! In a head-on fight, I’m stronger than him!’

With a savage expression, Qi Hong raised his Treasure Saber once more.

"Heh."

Luo Tian chuckled but didn’t move any closer.

"What are you laughing at?"

Qi Hong roared, sensing that something was wrong.

WHOOSH! SPLAT!

From behind, the putrid, fishy wind assaulted him again.

ROAR! SPLAT!

The Mire Beast King’s eyes were crimson as it came roaring, spitting a large glob of muddy fluid at Qi Hong.

"Damn it!"

Qi Hong’s expression changed drastically. He had no choice but to turn and slash with his saber to counter the Mire Beast King’s attack.

Luo Tian seized the opportunity to close in, unleashing his Sword Pointing once more.

He possessed Spiritual Sense, allowing him to control every stir of wind and blade of grass within a thirty-meter radius. Whenever the Mire Beast King attacked, Luo Tian could predict it and evade in advance.

But Qi Hong couldn’t. He didn’t have eyes in the back of his head and had to be constantly on guard.

Therefore, it was no exaggeration to say that Luo Tian was in a two-on-one fight.

Qi Hong had to guard against the Mire Beast King’s attacks while also facing Luo Tian’s sharp Sword Pointing.

Qi Hong was so miserable he wanted to cry but couldn’t. The Mire Beast King was clearly supposed to be on his side, but now it had become Luo Tian’s accomplice.

SHING! BAM! SPLAT!

After ten moves, Qi Hong was covered in injuries. Some were from Luo Tian’s Sword Pointing, while others were from being splashed by the muddy fluid.

His condition continued to deteriorate.

"I’ll take an arm!"

The sharp sword gleam that condensed on Luo Tian’s fingertip flickered with a cold, blue light, like a flash of lightning streaking through the void.

AH! SQUELCH!

Unable to dodge in time, Qi Hong’s left arm was pierced, and blood sprayed out.

SHLICK!

With a wave of his Sword Pointing, Luo Tian sliced off Qi Hong’s left arm, which tumbled four meters away.

"Ahhh...!"

Qi Hong howled, enduring the excruciating pain.

He was the Young Master of the Qi Family, the top genius of the assessment, the man who was supposed to marry Liu Ziyan in the future.

Losing an arm would have a huge impact on his Martial Arts path, and Liu Ziyan would never be interested in a cripple.

’No! I can have my father get me a Bone Healing and Flesh Regeneration Pill to reattach this arm!’

A severed arm could be healed by a Bone Healing and Flesh Regeneration Pill, provided too much time hadn’t passed.

But just then.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

The Mire Beast King spat out several globs of muddy fluid, one of which landed on the severed arm.

In the blink of an eye, the flesh on the arm rotted and dissolved, leaving only a decaying piece of bone.

"No...!"

Qi Hong collapsed to his knees, screaming wretchedly. His entire world was falling apart.

Luo Tian froze, stunned.

"CAW CAW CAW! How were this god’s methods? Are you so impressed you’re ready to undo my seal?"

The Crow flew over smugly, trying to take credit.

"Ugly Bird! Get back here!"

Luo Tian scowled.

This incident had gotten a little out of hand.

He suspected that this Crow was the one controlling and influencing the Mire Beast King.

Otherwise, how could the tragic fates of Lin Yun and Qi Hong be so ’coincidental’?

"You dare call this god ’Ugly Bird’..."

The Crow was furious and once again let out a series of harsh, grating squawks.

SWOOSH!

But in the next moment, an invisible force surged from the Celestial Book in Luo Tian’s mind.

FWOOSH!

The Crow turned into a cloud of black mist and shot into Luo Tian’s body, vanishing without a trace.

...

「Lingyun Martial Mansion.」

At the other end of the dense forest, at the finish line of the trial.

The middle-aged chief examiner and a few teachers in charge of the assessment were waiting quietly.

Just then, a series of shrill screams echoed from the dense forest, an unending cacophony of bloodcurdling cries.

"This commotion... something’s wrong!"

The assessment supervisors all sensed that something was amiss.

The Mire Beasts placed in the forest were slow and not very lethal. The muddy fluid they sprayed was only about as painful as being scalded by boiling water.

The Wu Mansion’s original intention for the assessment was not to have too many casualties.

But now, the wails and screams from the forest indicated that something had gone terribly wrong in the assessment, and there might be major casualties.

"You lot, go in and take a look."

The middle-aged chief examiner ordered a few people to go in, his expression grim.

He vaguely realized that the chaos in this assessment might be related to Liu Ziyan.

The enmity between Liu Ziyan and Luo Tian had become an open secret after the gathering at the Full Moon Tower.

"This is bad! The Mire Beast King has gone berserk and is out of control!"

"Hurry and save them!"

The teachers who entered the forest quickly got to work, trying to restore order to the examination grounds.

Amid the chaos, a figure finally emerged from the dense forest.

"Someone made it through!"

"Who’s going to be first?"

"It has to be Qi Hong, right? With his cultivation at the Peak of Meridian Opening Fifth Layer, he has a good chance of entering one of the Three Great Holy Mansions."

The assessing teachers present all fixed their gazes on the treeline.

The middle-aged chief examiner also stared intently.

WHOOSH!

Just then, a handsome youth in green robes leaped calmly out of the dense forest.

"It’s him!"

The expressions on the faces of the middle-aged chief examiner and the other supervisors were a sight to behold.

The supervisors’ mouths were hanging so wide open you could’ve fit an apple inside.

They all remembered Luo Tian.

In the first trial, Luo Tian had nearly been classified as having an inferior Martial Spirit Vein.

These examiners and supervisors had all witnessed Liu Ziyan’s deliberate harassment and suppression of Luo Tian.

However, Liu Ziyan was the Pavilion Master’s Disciple, so they had all turned a blind eye.

But the outcome was so dramatic.

This young man, despite being targeted and suppressed by Liu Ziyan, had actually walked out completely unscathed.

That’s right. Luo Tian didn’t have a single scratch on him. His expression was relaxed and carefree, as if he had just returned from a stroll through a garden.

What was even more terrifying was that...

He had taken first place in the practical test!

"First place, Luo Tian!"

The teacher in charge of recording suppressed the storm of shock in his heart.

First place wasn’t Qi Hong, nor Mu Yuyan, nor any of the other disciples from the County City’s Noble Families.

The final winner was actually a commoner candidate!

WHOOSH!

Right after Luo Tian, a beautiful young woman in red robes reached the finish line.

’First place was actually taken by that guy.’

Mu Yuyan gently bit her lip, a trace of annoyance flashing in her beautiful eyes.

But beyond her annoyance, she couldn’t help but size up Luo Tian with a completely new perspective.

In the forest, she had secretly watched Luo Tian’s clash with Qi Hong, Lin Yun, and the dozen or so others.

The scene at the time had left Mu Yuyan utterly dumbfounded, and she had been unable to calm herself for a long time.

After Mu Yuyan,

The third to arrive was still not Qi Hong, but Chen Haofei.

"Brother Luo, you’re alright? And you even took first place."

Chen Haofei was utterly astonished.

After entering the forest, he had wanted to help Luo Tian but was blocked by people from the Qi and Liu Families.

"Heh, just luck. I have the Mire Beast King’s rampage to thank for letting me get off easy."

Luo Tian said with a humble expression.

At this moment, more students began to trickle out of the forest, each one complaining bitterly.

"AWOOOO...!"

Miserable cries were heard as a few injured students were carried out.

One of the youths had all his clothes corroded away, leaving him completely naked, his body covered in red, swollen scars from the corrosion.

"How awful. I think that’s Gao Xuan from Hongguang City."

Someone quickly recognized him.

’Damn it!’

Gao Xuan was so furious he could have gone mad. He wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole.

’It’s too humiliating!’

Last time at Black Demon Ridge, he’d been stripped naked in the wilderness.

But this time, he was exposed in front of everyone, losing all face. It was enough to leave a psychological scar.

But Gao Xuan wasn’t the most miserable one.

"Ugh... My family jewels... they’re gone..."

Lin Yun was carried out, clutching his crotch, his face ashen. He looked as if he had lost all will to live.

Everyone looked.

The area around Lin Yun’s crotch had been corroded by the muddy fluid, leaving nothing behind.

Gasp!

A shiver went through the hearts of all the examiners and students, and they all inexplicably felt their crotches tighten.

This was simply too tragic!

Seeing Lin Yun’s fate, most of Gao Xuan’s psychological trauma dissipated.

After a little while longer,

Qi Hong, missing an arm, walked out of the dense forest.

"Luo Tian..."

Qi Hong’s face was filled with hatred, his eyes practically splitting with rage, as if he wanted to devour Luo Tian’s flesh and blood.

Scene after scene was too horrible to watch.

Inevitably, the examiners all wore strange expressions as they looked at the completely unharmed, leisurely-looking Luo Tian.

This... was simply too bizarre!

These examiners could roughly guess that Liu Ziyan, Qi Hong, and the others had originally planned to target Luo Tian.

But what was the result?

The "victim," Luo Tian, hadn’t lost a single hair, while the so-called "assailants" were each more miserable than the last.

"What is all this chaos?"

An authoritative voice suddenly resounded through the area.

SWOOSH!

No one knew when, but a wide-robed elder had appeared behind the examiners.

The wide-robed elder exuded a majestic aura as heavy as a mountain, making it difficult for even the teachers at the Eighth and Ninth Layers of Meridian Opening to breathe.

’What a terrifying aura!’

Luo Tian’s heart tensed. His Spiritual Sense detected what felt like an endless, deep-sea vortex within the wide-robed elder’s body.

This was clearly... a Spirit Sea Realm expert!

Under the pressure of a Spirit Sea Realm expert, the breathing of the many youths became labored, and they couldn’t even lift their heads.

"Vice Manor Master!"

The teachers present all bowed respectfully.

The middle-aged chief examiner sighed internally. The chaos in the assessment had finally alarmed the higher-ups.

Because the Mire Beast King had lost control, many disciples from Noble Families were injured in this assessment, which would put the Wu Mansion under immense pressure.

He didn’t dare hide anything and recounted the course of events from a neutral perspective.

"This is absolute nonsense! Bring Liu Ziyan to me!"

After understanding the cause of the incident, the Vice Manor Master was utterly enraged.