Chapter 1145: Chapter 1143: Passing the Sixth Challenge_1
"At such a young age, my cousin has already become a Martial Emperor of the Void Origin Realm, which is rare even in our Ling Family. If he can recognize his shortcomings and focus on overcoming them, he will certainly make rapid and vigorous progress in no time."
Ling Jianming’s face was the picture of honesty, humility, and heartfelt concern as he said, "Cousin, you don’t need to worry about anything else. The first time I tested, I also did not perform well and was even laughed at by others."
"Who would dare to laugh at Brother Jianming now?"
Ling Jianhua snorted coldly.
Ling Zimo said, "I think we might as well forget it. Even if we have to test, it doesn’t have to be right now. After all, there are too many people."
Their one-upmanship left Ling Jianxia red-faced with anger.
Because of his status, he had already accepted Shi Xiaole as one of his own and naturally could not let his cousin suffer a loss. Thus, he reached out and pulled Shi Xiaole aside, whispering, "Cousin, don’t bother with them."
A hint of disappointment flickered in Ling Jianming’s eyes. In a flash of thoughts, he saw Shi Xiaole looking at the Hundred Refinement Forest and speaking lightly, "What Brother Jianming said makes sense. It’s time for me to have a look."
In fact, without the incitement of others, Shi Xiaole also wanted to enter the Hundred Refinement Forest, not for anything else, but simply because it was created by Ling Yujie, and that was enough for him.
"Brother..."
Ling Jianxia wanted to stop him, but by then, Shi Xiaole had already stepped forward. To interfere any further would be to lose face for the other.
"Little brother, could you perhaps hide your skills a bit, and not show too much? If word gets to the ears of Ling Wenyu’s lineage, I’m afraid it might be detrimental to you."
Ling Zixin hastily transmitted her voice to Shi Xiaole.
Shi Xiaole’s battle with the Extreme Slaughter Blade Demon would eventually reach the Ling Family. Ling Zixin only hoped that before it did, she could arrange a meeting between Shi Xiaole and their grandfather, and then have him leave the Ling Family immediately.
The incident where Aunt Yu Ji was in danger had not been fully investigated even now, but there were still some leads.
"Thank you for the reminder. I am aware."
Shi Xiaole did not turn back; in a moment, his figure vanished from everyone’s sight.
The first challenge of the Hundred Refinement Forest was a densely overgrown jungle.
The moment he entered, a cold light exploded from a distance. Immediately after, bunches of sharp arrows shot toward Shi Xiaole with the speed and power of thunder, apparently reaching the level of a second-tier Earthly Realm Martial Emperor.
And to pass through this dense barrage of arrows would be impossible for an ordinary second-tier Earthly Realm Martial Emperor, likely requiring strength close to that of a first-tier Earthly Realm level.
"An attack simulated by an array system."
Shi Xiaole stepped forward.
With his skills, he didn’t even need to exert his strength; he could break the array system directly. Yet, he chose not to do so. With his flying skill applied, Shi Xiaole moved like a streak of blue lightning, astonishingly fast, and blinked through the arrow shower to enter the second challenge.
A red light illuminated inside the Hundred Refinement Forest.
"What?"
The Ling Family experts lingering around the perimeter began to shout in turmoil.
It was just a single breath’s time, yes, only one breath, and the red light had lit up. What on earth was going on?
In their memory, only those three experts who had cleared the challenges could pass the first challenge in one breath. Of course, they might not even need a single breath, but they didn’t bother to compete for pace and used one breath instead.
But aside from those three, since Ling Yujie created the Hundred Refinement Forest, who could be so fast?
"It must be fake, right?"
Ling Jianhua was in total shock, disbelieving. He turned to Ling Jianming and, seeing his smile freeze on his lips, was even more shaken.
For young people like Ling Zishuang from Ling Wenyu’s lineage, they were too stunned to react, almost as if their eyes were deceiving them.
Ling Zixin sighed in lament.
This younger brother, why couldn’t he just keep a low profile? Oh well, as long as they were inside the Lingtian Mansion, at least there would be their father and others to deter certain individuals from stepping out of line.
Shi Xiaole was unaware of Ling Zixin’s thoughts, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t care. A joke, indeed; if he truly feared the Ling Family, he wouldn’t have come at this time; he would at least wait until he became a Forbidden Martial Emperor before coming.
Since he had come, he wouldn’t demean himself, being timid and overly cautious, which would only hinder his path in the Sword Dao and become his Heart Sword demon.
The second challenge of the Hundred Refinement Forest.
The ground throughout was floating up and down, with sharp light spikes suddenly bursting out from the ground, unpredictable and relentless. As expected, these light spikes were at the level of a first-tier Earthly Realm, and to pass through them, one would need strength close to that of a Heaven Realm Martial Emperor.
Still without drawing his sword, relying solely on his flying skill and reflexes, Shi Xiaole easily made his way through.
This challenge took him twenty-five breaths.
Hiss!
Gasps of astonishment could be heard from outside the forest.
The Ling Family experts were almost dumbfounded.
"This, this..."
Ling Jianxia’s mind was completely frozen, his thoughts blank, and he nudged his sister Ling Zimo beside him, only to find her just as stunned. It was then he realized that this was not a dream, but something that was truly happening.
Ling Jianming clenched his fists within his sleeves, unable to maintain his smile anymore.
Passing the first challenge in one breath, he could still convince himself that Shi Xiaole had used some kind of secret technique. After all, with appropriate stimulation, certain individuals with exceptional Flying Skill could truly surpass their limits.
But the second challenge was not something one could clear by relying solely on Flying Skill. If one did not follow the rules of the array system and avoid all light spikes, no matter how fast you were, it was useless.
At this moment, even some eyes secretly observing the Hundred Refinement Forest were narrowing intensely.
The third challenge.
The attack was no longer in the form of swords and light stabs, but rather wind and rain.
Wind is formless and omnipresent, while rain is persistent and unrelentingly gentle—it may seem to lack intimidation, but it is precisely the most difficult thing to deal with.
Shi Xiaole could no longer break through by dodging; he brought the middle and index finger of his left hand together, transforming them into a sword finger to tear through the vast expanse of wind and rain.
Though they only possessed the killing power of the top Earthly Realm, their advantage lay in their sheer number. Over time, even a second-rate Heaven Realm Martial Emperor would find it hard to withstand them.
Without solving the Array System, Shi Xiaole could only clash head-on, consuming the Array System’s energy. Of course, even in clashing, the difference was significant.
When most people could make one move, Shi Xiaole could execute five, six, and towards the end, his sword speed even surpassed the attack generation speed of the Array System, turning the space of wind and rain into an ocean of Sword Qi.
This was an Array System created by Ling Yujie. Within his capabilities, Shi Xiaole inexplicably did not want anyone else to take the top record.
Five hundred breaths.
That was the time it took Shi Xiaole to break through the first three barriers.
Ling Jianming’s face turned extremely gloomy, as if water was about to drip from it. The entire perimeter of the Hundred Refinement Forest was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The fourth barrier.
Lightning, hail, and mudslides emerged as part of the challenge, through which Shi Xiaole took six hundred and thirty breaths to break.
At the fifth barrier, he took one thousand one hundred breaths.
In the sixth barrier, what attacked the challengers was no longer natural phenomena, but top-level Heavenly Realm Humanoid Light Shadows that emerged in hundreds and hundreds.
Shi Xiaole drew out the Cleansing Evil Sword, weaving through the crowd, where his sword light went, swathes of light shadows shattered. With his strength at that moment, an ordinary top-level Heaven Realm Martial Emperor couldn’t block even a casual strike from his sword.
Two thousand breaths.
Three thousand breaths.
Ling Jianhua, Ling Zishuang, and others were so nervous their palms were sweating, staring fixedly at the Hundred Refinement Forest, wishing the next moment they would see Shi Xiaole emerge.
Each breath was an unbearable torment for them.
"Three thousand two hundred breaths."
Ling Jianxia’s muscles tensed up, counting down almost breath by breath. He hoped that Brother Shi could hold on a little longer, just a little longer.
What was usually a blink of an eye now seemed unbearably slow.
Ling Zimo murmured to himself or perhaps intentionally explained for Shi Xiaole, "Brother Shi entered the sixth barrier too quickly earlier, and now he’s been in there for two thousand one hundred breaths, much longer than Brother Jianming!"
At these words, everyone was at a loss for words.
"Hmph, that’s simply because he was foolish. How do you know that Brother Jianming wasn’t deliberately conserving his strength in the first five barriers?"
Ling Zishuang immediately retorted, as if she had found a loophole, firmly declaring, "It must be so! Shi was showing off in the first five barriers, using all his strength. I bet that in the sixth barrier, he’s deliberately dragging out time, afraid to face the Array System’s Light Shadows head-on."
"You’re talking nonsense!"
Ling Jianxia couldn’t help but bellow in anger.
Just as the two were about to start arguing again, suddenly a high-ranking expert of the Ling Family exclaimed, "This is impossible, it can’t be!"
Before the voice died away, a blue light that changed the color of the void suddenly burst forth from the Hundred Refinement Forest, soaring into the sky above the Lingtian Mansion. At that moment, countless people within the mansion felt the disturbance and looked up.
"The blue light, it comes from the Hundred Refinement Forest, my Ling Family has a new unparalleled expert who’s broken through the sixth barrier!"
"For thousands of years, this is the twelfth person, hahaha, Heaven blesses the Ling Family!"
"Who could it be, the Inheriting Heaven Sword Emperor, or the Chaos Sky Sword Emperor?"
The buzzing sound of discussion rose in every corner of the Lingtian Mansion. The uninformed were excited and curious, some in the know laughed heartily, but some, with grim faces, were saturated with a deep sense of shock.
Outside the Hundred Refinement Forest.
"No, this can’t be true!"
Ling Jianhua’s eyes widened, his expression akin to having seen a ghost. The blue light in the void was so dazzling that he felt his own eyes were about to go blind.
Breaking through the sixth barrier!
In the entire Ling Family, only eleven people had ever achieved this, and each was a revered elder with a great reputation. The youngest among them, the Falling Sky Sword Emperor, was over a thousand years old.
Yet now, someone under a hundred years old had achieved par with the predecessors, how could he accept this? Most fatally, this person came from Ling Wenlong’s lineage, which was hostile to his own!
Different from the young people of Ling Wenyu’s lineage who were grieving, Ling Jianxia, after the initial shock, laughed unrestrainedly, unabashedly declaring, "This is the true number one genius of the Ling Family. Who can compare to Brother Shi?!"
The seventh barrier.
The Array System Light Shadow that appeared reached the Forbidden level.
Shi Xiaole clashed with it head-on, fighting continuously and being forced back repeatedly. Yet, he felt that the Array System Light Shadow was, after all, just an Array System Light Shadow; none of its aspects could compare with the Forbidden Martial Emperors he had seen.
"Aside from Vigorous Air and mental strength, whether it’s martial arts, Heart Sword, or martial level, I am inferior to the Forbidden Martial Emperor. My journey is still long, but all obstacles will eventually be overcome."
As if crossing through time, Shi Xiaole saw a graceful figure, waving her bare hands, laying down one intricate Array after another, benefiting the Ling Family for a millennium.
She seemed to glance over her shoulder, a composed smile on her lips, anticipating Shi Xiaole’s next success.
"I will come again, and soon."
Shi Xiaole sheathed his sword.
The next moment, he was expelled from the Array.
