Chapter 464: Chapter 464: Hou Fei’s Provocation
At the same time, the Profound Power inside the contestant’s body instantly solidified like cement, becoming incredibly heavy and impossible to circulate.
"What’s happening? Break!"
He roared, trying desperately to move forward, but before he could even take half a step, a seven-colored band of light swept right over him.
VMM!
A white glow suddenly flared up on his body, and he vanished from the Gale Light Realm.
The next moment—
THUD!
The man fell heavily onto the open ground outside the Gale Light Realm. For a moment, he was still dazed.
"Those who have failed, please exit the open area."
Qingfeng’s cold voice drifted over.
"I failed?"
The man’s face was filled with astonishment. He had no idea what had just happened.
Inside the Gale Light Realm, many of the Martial Artists who entered were encountering the same problem.
First, the pressure inside the Gale Light Realm was immense. They could barely take a step, and just moving forward was a difficult task.
Second, their Profound Power was severely restricted, making it nearly impossible to circulate.
But those two points were nothing.
The critical part was that ethereal, seven-colored bands of light flickered everywhere within the Gale Light Realm. If one swept over them, they would be eliminated.
"Damn it! Move!"
Inside the gel-like Gale Light Realm, Martial Artists roared in anger. They slammed their fists into the empty air, and many even drew their weapons, trying to cleave a path forward.
It had to be said, this method was quite effective. It saved a lot of effort compared to just trying to charge ahead, but their steps remained heavy.
Viewed from the outside, the Martial Artists in the Gale Light Realm looked like turtles weighed down by heavy shells, each moving slowly as if wading through a swamp.
A contestant in his early twenties suddenly caught a flash of rainbow light from the corner of his left eye.
"Not good! Move!"
He roared and forcefully shuffled his body forward half a meter, narrowly dodging the seven-colored band of light.
He gasped for breath, his face flushed crimson. He had used every last ounce of his strength, and sweat poured down his body like rain, leaving him utterly exhausted.
He looked ahead and smiled wryly.
Of the thousand-meter course, he had only covered a few dozen meters.
However...
He was one of the lucky ones.
Not far from him, another contestant wasn’t as fortunate. Despite giving it his all, he was still hit by a seven-colored band of light and instantly teleported out of the Gale Light Realm.
Failure!
THUD! THUD! THUD!...
Outside the Gale Light Realm, contestant after contestant fell to the ground, eliminated.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...
Inside the Gale Light Realm, contestant after contestant frantically unleashed their strongest techniques, struggling to advance.
"This second round of the assessment is way too hard, isn’t it?"
"At this rate, how many people will actually pass?"
"So this is the Gale Light Realm assessment? It’s terrifying!"
The parents and Martial Artists watching from outside the Gale Light Realm all muttered to themselves, completely dumbfounded.
The senior students also felt a lingering fear, thankful that they hadn’t faced such an insanely difficult test during their own assessments.
Less than half an incense stick’s worth of time had passed, yet nearly a thousand people were already eliminated. Meanwhile, the person furthest ahead had only advanced about two hundred meters along the thousand-meter course.
A thousand people eliminated in just one-fifth of the total distance. Such an elimination rate was simply insane.
Just then...
"Alright. An incense stick’s time has passed. The contestants who took between two and four hours to complete the first round may now enter the Gale Light Realm."
Qingfeng’s resonant voice once again echoed through the area.
The contestants who had yet to enter the Gale Light Realm had already been terrified by the tragic sight. Now, hearing Qingfeng’s voice, every one of them trembled.
"Young Master Ye, I’m heading in," Luo Cheng said, a hint of nervousness on his face.
How could he not be nervous? Just by looking at it, this second round was clearly much, much harder than the first.
"Don’t be nervous."
Ye Xuan clapped Luo Cheng on the shoulder and sent a quiet voice transmission. "Remember, if you can’t build up speed, just focus on moving slow and steady. Also, pay attention to the seven-colored bands of light that are initially about ten meters away from you."
"Finally, you should try to follow the paths others have already taken. The pressure should be a little weaker there."
Ye Xuan had noticed these clues after only a few casual glances and decided to give Luo Cheng some tips.
This was all he could do to help. Whether or not Luo Cheng could ultimately pass was all up to him.
Luo Cheng nodded and plunged into the Gale Light Realm.
VMM!
The moment he entered, his steps faltered. At the same time, the Profound Power in his body stagnated.
But he didn’t panic. He took a deep breath and, following Ye Xuan’s advice, focused all his attention on moving forward.
Initially, he hadn’t placed much hope in Ye Xuan’s tips.
But as he advanced, he was shocked to discover that Ye Xuan’s advice was nothing short of a stroke of genius.
Through observation, he was horrified to find that the seven-colored bands of light that were originally about ten meters away would almost always end up right next to him, regardless of which direction they were initially drifting.
Conversely, the bands that were only two or three meters away and seemed on the verge of hitting him would actually drift further and further away.
’Young Master Ye is fucking incredible! He even figured out the pattern of the seven-colored bands!’
Luo Cheng could barely contain his excitement.
Treading carefully as if on thin ice, he moved continuously forward through the Gale Light Realm, soon surpassing many of the Martial Artists who had entered in the first batch.
「In the blink of an eye, another fifteen minutes passed.」
"Now, will the final group of contestants please enter the Gale Light Realm."
Qingfeng announced, his voice booming.
SWISH!
The moment his voice fell, a figure shot like a streak of light into the Gale Light Realm.
After entering the Gale Light Realm, this figure didn’t struggle to move like the other Martial Artists. Instead, he advanced toward the finish line at an incredible speed.
"So fast."
"Who is that? He’s way too fast! He’s several times faster than the contestants before him."
"It’s Hou Fei! That’s Hou Fei!"
"So it’s him! How is he so fast? Terrifying, just terrifying!"
Many of the spectating Martial Artists and senior students stared wide-eyed, their faces etched with shock.
Hou Fei’s speed was simply astonishing. In the time between Qingfeng finishing his announcement and the crowd’s shocked gasps, in just three or four breaths’ time, Hou Fei had already dashed twenty to thirty meters.
Outside, any Tier One Samurai could achieve such a speed. But inside the Gale Light Realm, it was astounding.
What shocked everyone even more was when a seven-colored band of light suddenly appeared at Hou Fei’s side and swept toward him.
Hou Fei was on the verge of being hit, but at the critical moment, his body twisted sharply, and he instantly dodged the band of light.
"That Hou Fei must have known the band of light would appear there. Otherwise, there’s no way he could have dodged so quickly."
Countless Martial Artists were left stunned.
"Incredible. In just over forty-five minutes, Hou Fei has already figured out the pattern of the seven-colored bands. His powers of observation are extremely sharp."
Even the elder, Qingfeng, showed a flash of surprise and a hint of admiration in his eyes.
An assessment, by definition, must have a solution; it’s just that the Gale Light Realm’s trial was an extremely difficult one. The fact that Hou Fei could discern the pattern so quickly clearly made him one of the top contenders in this batch.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, after rapidly advancing several dozen more meters, Hou Fei suddenly turned his head.
His gaze landed directly on Ye Xuan, a clear look of provocation in his eyes.
He had narrowly lost to Ye Xuan in the first round, and his immense self-confidence made him very unhappy about it. His current performance in this second round had a single purpose: to challenge Ye Xuan and determine who was superior.
This move from Hou Fei immediately sent a jolt of excitement through the crowd.
"Look at Hou Fei! It seems like he wants to have a showdown with Ye Xuan."
"In the first round, Ye Xuan took first place with a time of six hours, but Hou Fei also managed a time of over five hours. It seems he isn’t happy about Ye Xuan placing above him."
"This is interesting. Very interesting."
"I wonder if Ye Xuan will accept the challenge."
The crowd buzzed with excited discussion.
Even the elder Qingfeng’s lips curved into a slight smile. He, too, was curious to see how Ye Xuan would perform in this second round.
’A challenge?’
Ye Xuan smiled faintly to himself.
’This Hou Fei certainly has talent. Even in a place like the Profound Domain, he probably wouldn’t remain obscure.’
’But for him to want to compete with me... that’s a bit too arrogant.’
As he thought this, Ye Xuan glanced over at the head examiner, Qingfeng.
’Since it’s come to this, I suppose I’ll reveal just a little of my talent.’
A faint smile played on Ye Xuan’s lips.
’I know that even though Crazy Battle was repelled before, a man with his personality would never let it go,’ Ye Xuan thought. ’The next time he shows up, he’ll almost certainly bring more experts from the Profound Mystery Sect.’
’Right now, I’m not strong enough to confront the Profound Mystery Sect. My only option is to rely on Gale Light Academy.’
’And to make Gale Light Academy act on my behalf, I have to display sufficient talent.’
SWISH!
With this thought, Ye Xuan shot into the Gale Light Realm.
POP!
Ye Xuan’s body plunged into the gel-like pressure, but his expression remained perfectly calm. His legs became a blur, kicking up afterimages as they moved across the ground.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Inside the crushingly oppressive Gale Light Realm, Ye Xuan was like a ship cutting through stormy waves, speeding across the surface.
He moved so fast that everyone’s pupils contracted in shock.
"So fast!"
Everyone stared, their eyes wide with disbelief.
In just a dozen breaths, Ye Xuan had already caught up to Hou Fei, who had entered a step ahead of him.
"No! Impossible!"
With disbelief in his eyes, Hou Fei let out a furious roar and charged forward frantically.
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