Chapter 465: Chapter 465: Memorial Stele
Hou Fei’s fists became a blur in front of him. Surges of immense Profound Power carved openings ahead, reducing the resistance to his advance.
But it was useless!
No matter how hard Hou Fei tried, Ye Xuan’s expression remained completely calm.
What made everyone’s hair stand on end was that Ye Xuan didn’t even use his hands to tear through the pressure in the Realm of Gale Light. Instead, he just lowered his head and sped forward, as if the barrier in front of him didn’t exist at all.
This was simply beyond everyone’s imagination.
"What the hell? Why does it seem like this kid is under no pressure at all in the Realm of Gale Light?"
"Look at his expression. It’s like he’s taking a stroll in a park. How is this possible?"
"Could it be that the resistance in the Realm of Gale Light has no effect on him? Or is his Profound Power simply unaffected by its pressure?"
"That’s impossible, right? In terms of cultivation, I’m also a Tier Five First Layer Martial Sect, not much weaker than him. But every step I take is a struggle. This Ye Xuan is making it look way too easy!"
"Is he even a Martial Artist? I feel like he’s a Demon Beast in human form!"
Seeing Ye Xuan’s reckless, seemingly oblivious charge, everyone—the senior students, the new students, and the Martial Artists from Gale Light City—was dumbfounded, their eyes wide with disbelief.
’What an incredible Xuan Ye. I wonder what kind of Body Refining Technique he cultivates to be able to tear through the power of the Realm of Gale Light so easily. It’s terrifyingly impressive.’
Only a few of the top-tier experts watching could faintly grasp a clue. It wasn’t that Xuan Ye’s Profound Power was immune to the Realm of Gale Light’s pressure. Rather, his physical strength was so terrifying that even without using Profound Power, he could easily smash through it.
This level of strength was completely beyond the scope of a Tier Five Martial Sect; even some Tier Six Martial Venerables might not possess it.
POP!
Ye Xuan moved through the Realm of Gale Light as if it were empty. Countless multicolored bands of light flickered around him, yet not a single one could even touch the corner of his robes.
In just a few moments, Ye Xuan had forced a human-shaped tunnel through the gel-like Realm of Gale Light, crossing the one-thousand-meter distance.
WHOOSH!
Dusting off the corners of his robes, Ye Xuan stood on the other side of the Realm of Gale Light, looking completely relaxed and nonchalant.
ROAR!
In an instant, a tremendous roar erupted from the entire crowd.
Everyone stared at this scene in shock. More than an incense stick’s worth of time had passed since the competition began.
The first batch of contestants had been in the longest, while Ye Xuan’s, the last batch, had been in for the least amount of time.
But the result was...
Not a single person from the first group had yet passed through the Realm of Gale Light. And yet Ye Xuan, who had entered last, was the first one to clear it. The stark contrast left everyone utterly speechless.
’They had all passed the first trial, so could the gap between them really be this massive?’
Many people found this hard to accept.
Only the senior students stared intently at Ye Xuan, their eyes filled with shock and awe.
In the eyes of others, the gap between one genius and another might not seem large.
But they, the senior students of Gale Light Academy, understood deeply that sometimes, there are levels even among geniuses.
Forget about candidates like Ye Xuan who hadn’t even joined Gale Light Academy yet; even among the enrolled students, there was a distinction between geniuses and mediocrities.
Take that senior student from before. When he had enrolled, he had only lasted a little over two hours in the first trial with his Tier Five First Layer strength.
Meanwhile, his friend of the same age lasted for five hours.
Two years later, he had only become a Tier Five Third Layer Martial Sect and was an outer court student of the academy.
His friend, however, had become a Tier Six Second Layer inner court student. The difference between them was like heaven and earth.
Not long after Ye Xuan passed through the Realm of Gale Light...
SWOOSH!
A figure shot past, and Hou Fei also quickly passed through the Realm of Gale Light. The moment he emerged, his eyes locked onto Ye Xuan.
’He truly hadn’t expected to lose to Ye Xuan again in this second trial. He could attribute his loss in the last trial to not knowing how long Ye Xuan had held on, which made him relax and not use his full strength. But in this trial, he had clearly started first, yet he had to watch helplessly as Ye Xuan swiftly overtook him. The feeling was a devastating blow.’
"Damn it."
Hou Fei clenched his fists, his eyes filled with unwillingness to concede defeat.
After Ye Xuan and Hou Fei passed the trial, other students gradually began to pass through the Realm of Gale Light as well.
The third person to pass was, surprisingly, Xia Qixi.
She looked at her own hands in disbelief.
’Inside the Realm of Gale Light, everyone else’s Profound Power was severely suppressed, but I was astonished to find that my own could still circulate slowly. Not only that, but besides my Profound Power, the pressure my body experienced in the Realm of Gale Light wasn’t very strong either.’
’The Dragon Essence Shocking Skill... it’s the Dragon Essence Shocking Skill my grandfather gave me!’ Xia Qixi murmured to herself. Previously, she hadn’t dared to expose the Dragon Essence Shocking Skill, so her speed hadn’t been particularly fast. Otherwise, her completion time would have been much shorter.
’My Profound Power is fine because of the Dragon Essence Shocking Skill... but why isn’t the Realm of Gale Light putting much pressure on my body, either?’
Xia Qixi’s bright, large eyes flickered with a trace of confusion.
Ye Xuan, Hou Fei, and Xia Qixi formed the first wave of finishers.
"It seems there are quite a few geniuses in this batch." The elder, Qingfeng, smiled faintly upon seeing this.
It was the excited smile of someone who had discovered promising new talent.
After Xia Qixi passed, Xiao Ping, Yun Aoxue, and others followed close behind, passing through the Realm of Gale Light one by one.
When the final hour was up, a little over three hundred students had successfully passed through the Realm of Gale Light. The remaining two thousand six hundred-plus people were all eliminated.
"In this second trial, the Realm of Gale Light, the number of people who have passed is three hundred and seventy-six. Congratulations, everyone. Now, please take a short rest. In one hour, we will begin the third and final trial."
PHEW!
The contestants who had passed the second trial all let out a long breath and collapsed to the ground. A glimmer of relief showed on their faces as they hurriedly began to regulate their breathing and recover.
Meanwhile, the contestants who had failed looked dejected.
「One hour later.」
"Now, will all contestants who passed the trial please follow me."
Qingfeng’s loud shout startled all the contestants who were sitting cross-legged, catching their breath.
Everyone followed Qingfeng toward the back of the training grounds.
Behind the training grounds was a black mountain peak. This was the rear mountain of Gale Light Academy. As soon as the group entered, a towering black stone stele appeared before them.
This black stele was a full hundred meters tall and nearly a thousand meters wide. On its surface were tens of thousands of names, large and small, carved at various depths and heights.
At first glance, the sight was utterly stunning.
"Everyone, this third trial is the Memorial Stele trial."
Qingfeng stood before the black stele and said to the crowd in a cold voice, "For every recruitment exam at our Gale Light Academy, the final round is always this Memorial Stele trial."
"This trial has no rules. Your test is simply to leave your name on this Memorial Stele."
"See that wavy line on the stele? That is the ten-meter line. This trial has no fixed elimination rate. Each of you has one chance. As long as you can leave your name above that ten-meter line, you will become a part of Gale Light Academy."
"In other words, even if all three hundred and seventy-six of you manage to leave your names above the ten-meter line, then all of you will join Gale Light Academy. But by the same token, if not a single one of you can leave a name, then we will not recruit anyone from this year’s exam."
"However, in the process of leaving your name, you are forbidden from using any weapons. You must use only your finger."
"Now, you have an incense stick’s worth of time to sense the stele’s aura. After that time is up, the trial will begin. The order will be based on the results of the second trial. The last contestant to exit the Realm of Gale Light will be the first to be tested."
After saying this, Qingfeng stood quietly to the side.
’Leave a name on the Memorial Stele?’
Everyone tilted their heads back to look at the massive black stele in the distance.
"A height of ten meters? That shouldn’t be too hard."
"Any Tier Four Celestial Martial Artist could reach a height of ten meters with a full-strength leap. As for leaving a name on the stone, that’s even simpler. I bet even a Tier Two Martial Artist has the strength for that, right?"
"It’s probably not that simple. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be the third trial."
"Yeah, everyone should be careful. But no matter what, according to past precedent, Gale Light Academy has never recruited fewer than a hundred people in a single year. The largest batch even reached three hundred. So the pass rate for this round shouldn’t be low."
"That’s right. Didn’t you hear the senior students talking? Our batch this year is ridiculously strong. In the second round, Xuan Ye’s six hours even broke Gale Light Academy’s record for the past several years. So the number of people passing the exam this year should be high too."
"Out of three hundred and seventy-six people, I estimate at least two hundred-some will make it. It might even get close to the three-hundred mark."
"So you’re saying eighty percent of us can get into Gale Light Academy?"
"It’s very likely. And if I’m not mistaken, the higher you go on this Memorial Stele, the harder it gets. So to be safe, we just need to carve our names right after we cross the line."
"Haha, good idea."
"The highest name is over seventy meters up. I refuse to believe I can’t even leave my name at the ten-meter mark."
Many contestants were discussing among themselves, their faces showing a hint of nervousness.
Qingfeng had just said this was the final round of the Gale Light Academy entrance exam. As long as they passed, they would become students of the most powerful academy on the Dream Realm Plain—Gale Light Academy. How could they not be nervous?
This final trial would determine their future fate and prospects.
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