Chapter 683: Chapter 682: Selecting Ghost Guards
The reason Shi Xiaole decided to disguise himself as Zong Yue was not only because the latter is a third-generation Devil, but also because Zong Yue practices the Illusion Martial Way.
Just by appearance alone, Shi Xiaole didn’t believe he could deceive Zong Xingnan.
Of course, there is still one problem, he hasn’t practiced the latter’s martial arts.
Although he managed to extract Zong Yue’s life information, Zong Yue had mental restrictions widely known in the Martial World (Chapter 344), which prevented his martial arts knowledge from being coerced out, leaving no opportunity for Shi Xiaole to learn from.
"I will take it step by step."
After calming down, Shi Xiaole continued to practice the Dragon Gate Divine Skill and Divine Wind Movement. To avoid alerting Zong Xingnan, this process was purely through comprehension without the use of Vigorous Air.
Half a month later.
The progress with the Dragon Gate Divine Skill was minimal, but a breakthrough was made with the Divine Wind Movement. Built on the Wind God Leg and Wind Sword Way, Shi Xiaole’s training went swimmingly, closely approaching the Great Achievement stage.
"Yue, let me see you walk."
Zong Xingnan suddenly instructed from outside the yard.
Shi Xiaole walked as instructed, striding like a dragon and stalking like a tiger, full of masculine charm.
This was the result of Zong Xingnan’s daily training. Fortunately, Shi Xiaole had a strong ability to mimic, added to his own actions that were better than Zong Yue’s, accomplishing the effect he wanted seemed easy enough.
Nodding his head, Zong Xingnan said, "Speak in the voice I taught you."
Previously, Shi Xiaole had been using Zong Yue’s voice. At this instruction, he resumed his own vocal intonation and remarked, "Grandpa."
"Good!"
Zong Xingnan laughed heartily, clearly satisfied, "Yue, with your look, there’s a great chance of you becoming the Ghost Guard for the young lady. In order to attract the young lady, you must be extraordinary in every way."
"I’m not worried about your martial arts. Now even your demeanor and voice are so captivating, I don’t think my training has been in vain."
Shi Xiaole furrowed his brows silently.
What does it mean to attract the young lady? His intuition told him there was more to Zong Xingnan’s words. But since the elder didn’t provide further explanation, it wasn’t his place to ask.
Soon after, the elderly and young packed up their belongings, opened the courtyard door, and left Mingyuan Town.
...
In a secluded misty area, there were various pavilions and towers, with high and curled-up eaves, embellished beams and painted structures, the grandeur couldn’t be more evident.
Nobody from the Martial World would ever imagine that this was the legendary headquarters of the Ghost Lethal Sect’s Left Sect.
Shi Xiaole, who had just arrived, was equally astonished.
"Yue, make a good impression!"
Those from the Ghost Lethal Sect participating in the selection of the Ghost Guards were obliged to avoid relatives; hence until the selection day, Zong Xingnan couldn’t accompany Shi Xiaole.
"Rest assured, Grandpa, I won’t let you down."
Shi Xiaole thumped his chest but didn’t seem to have any intention of letting out a sigh of relief.
Although there was no need for meticulous camouflage for the time being, when the selection came, if he used skills from another sect, it would undoubtedly raise doubts in Zong Xingnan’s mind. Fortunately, he already had a coping strategy and was not flustered.
Other than Shi Xiaole, many other youths gradually arrived, all prominent, with an extraordinary demeanour.
The Ghost Lethal Sect has countless branches, each having been established for many years, and naturally, many talented individuals were born. Only the strongest among these talents, after rigorous selection, earned the right to come here and participate in the selection of the Ghost Guards.
This was just the branches; the true hot candidates for Ghost Guards were the talents from the headquarters of the Ghost Lethal Sect. They had enjoyed premium resources from a young age and held an unquestionable advantage provided they had the same talent.
Two days away from the selection, Shi Xiaole was arranged to stay in a large room shared by ten people.
For one reason or another, there was a stone stele erected in the front courtyard of the large room. The surface of the stele was filled with array formations. When Shi Xiaole stepped in, he found several prominent figures of the Devil Path standing in front of it.
"Devil Wave Fist!"
A young man in a black robe threw a punch at the stele, causing it to light up in red before quickly dimming.
"Twice Tier Earth Immortal, not bad."
Someone commented indifferently.
The Array System stele had a dozen colors, such as red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, respectively corresponding to Once-Tier Earth Immortal, Twice-Tier Earth Immortal, and so on. Red represented Once-Tier Earth Immortal.
A smirk appeared on the young man in the black robe as he snorted.
He had only entered the Divine Border Realm seven years ago, and to be able to exhibit Once Tier Earth Immortal-level attack power was extremely formidable. Didn’t they see the three people who had tested earlier were unremarkable?
"Fu Ying, show these ignorant people your strength."
As they spoke, two more people entered the courtyard. They passed by Shi Xiaole without even lifting their gaze, as if they hadn’t noticed him at all.
The one speaking was a young man with a long face on the left side. He casually flicked his finger.
The stele lit up in red.
"Another Once Tier Earth Immortal?"
The courtyard was filled with whispers.
Those participating in the selection of the Ghost Guards were all under seventy years old, and would not have been in the Divine Barrier Realm for long. To exhibit the power of a Once Tier Earth Immortal meant their combat power at this stage far surpassed the average Earth Immortal—limitless potential lay in their future.
A youth named Fu Ying, with phoenix eyes, suddenly had a strange glow in his eyes, which then became two beams of light striking the stele.
The stele suddenly turned bright red, and then quickly turned to orange.
"What, an Earth Immortal of the Twice Tier?"
The martial prodigies of the Devil Path in front of the stele were stunned, their faces changing rapidly.
Although the first tier and the second tier only sound one grade apart, the span of power in between was at least sixty years.
Even if an Earth Immortal, who mastered secondary martial arts and first-class intermediate martial art, practiced for sixty years, his power would undoubtedly greatly exceed that of his past, no matter how slow the progress.
This Fu Ying possesses the strength to crush everyone here. No, he might even impress everyone in this selection.
Holding twice-tier strength before the age of seventy, that is a real prodigy, and there would not be many in the whole Martial World.
"I just came to make an appearance."
Without stopping his steps, Fu Ying left everyone with an unfathomable impression.
A long-faced youth was enjoying the expressions of the people present, laughed heartily, and then walked into a room.
Shi Xiaole shifted his gaze away.
He realized that his understanding of the Devil Path was too limited, or perhaps, the Martial World’s understanding of the Devil Path was too limited.
All along, the Divine Strategy Academy has ranked various genius lists, but most of them are limited to the Righteous Path, and occasionally there are famous Devil Path geniuses on the list.
However, it cannot be denied that a significant number of Devil Path geniuses have never appeared in the world, making it impossible for outsiders to understand their innate talent and strength.
After all, no matter how powerful the intelligence of the Divine Strategy Academy is, it is impossible to investigate all martial talents in Martial World, especially the Devil Path that lurks in the dark.
In another yard.
Gasps of admiration echoed constantly.
A young girl with brown hair gently extended her arm, and the stone wall directly jumped from red to orange.
"This Mo Wan, I heard she’s only sixty-six, and comes from an entry-level power. How could she have cultivated to this extent?"
Others found it hard to believe.
An entry-level power would not be weak anywhere, but compared to Mo Wan’s strength, their foundation could only be described as ’just’. This woman, she might rank high even within the Ghost Lethal Sect’s headquarters, right?
Among the Devil Path prodigies present, some had tested their attack power, others hadn’t. Within the next two days, some conflicts and even severe duels had erupted between certain prodigies.
The high-ranking members of the Ghost Lethal Sect turned a blind eye to these occurrences. They only treated the severely injured prodigies and sent them away from the headquarters.
Within the premise of not violating the regulations, the Devil Path didn’t mind youngsters flaunting their strength. But you should have the abilities to back it up. If you lose both your strength and your fight, then sorry, you can only blame yourself for being useless.
During this period, Shi Xiaole also gave a test. He didn’t dare to use the Wind Sword Way, and only used fifty percent of his Vigorous Air. The attack he unleashed was at the first-tier level, which drew much attention.
Soon, two days passed in a flash.
Early in the morning of the third day, the audience was filled around the massive competition platform in the center of the Ghost Lethal Sect’s headquarters. Seventy percent of them were young people, while the rest were elders and managers.
The selection of the Ghost Guards was a major event for the Left Sect of the Ghost Lethal Sect, conducted once every fifty years. Therefore, except for those secluded in closed-door training, those in positions, or those on excursions, almost everyone would come to watch.
"Congratulations, Miss. I heard that this year’s candidates are of high quality and surpass the past ones."
Two women were sitting on the East side of the competition platform.
The one speaking was a flowery middle-aged woman, ordinary in appearance but full of charm. The "Miss" she was referring to was an exceptionally beautiful young woman, dressed in a lake-green gown, surpassing the beauty of hundreds of flowers.
If Ren Mengzhen is alluring beauty, Ji Morou is elegant beauty, Qiu Yuchu is sexy beauty, then this woman in front of her is a fantastical beauty, so beautiful it feels unreal, like a celestial moon, giving people a feeling of unreachable distance.
One of the world’s ten great beauties, "Ice Heart Ghost Fox" Yun Chuoxi.
Yun Chuoxi is probably the least popular among the world’s ten great beauties, just hearing her name makes it hard to associate beauty and elegance with her.
But those who have truly seen her would know that her elegance cannot be expressed with words or paintings, one pair of eyes is even insufficient, you can only desire to stare at her from all angles.
"I’m not asking for too much, just as good as the geniuses of the Right Sect."
Yun Chuoxi spoke as cold as her nickname.
The flowery woman laughed bitterly at her words.
The Left Sect and Right Sect have been in a conflict for many years. On the surface, they seemed neither superior nor inferior to each other. But in recent years, signs of decay have shown, especially in the younger generation. Their level was a notch lower compared to the Right Sect.
That’s why the Left Sect had become more and more aggressive. The longer the delay, the lower their chances of winning.
But how easy would it be to catch up with the Right Sect’s geniuses? Not to mention the Young Master of the Right Sect, even the top five geniuses of the Right Sect are said to be qualified to leave their names in the first few rows in front of the Ten Thousand Forms Stele.
Just before dawn, all the geniuses, either from the branches or from the headquarters, gathered at the venue.
Looking around, Shi Xiaole saw ten fighting stages had already been set up on the competition platform. When the competition starts, everyone would contend for a stage. Whoever can stand on it until the end will become one of the ten Ghost Guards.
The rules were simple, but many aspects were tested, such as insight, analysis, offensive and defensive strategies, etc. Of course, the most important was their strength.
As the hourglass emptied, an Elder from the headquarters stood up and roared: "The competition begins!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Without any etiquette or propriety, all the participating geniuses rushed towards the ten stages at that instant, instantly throwing the venue into chaos.
