After isolating Su Qiong and his group, Chao Liang and the others couldn’t be bothered to pay them any more attention. Everyone was taking delight in their misfortune, queueing up in an orderly fashion in front of the iron chain bridge to start their practice sessions.
"Tao Yang, just have Jiang Wen and Kong Yin keep an eye out, that’ll do. We can familiarize ourselves with it later on, just come with me, I need to tell you something!" Chao Liang spoke up.
Upon hearing this, Tao Yang immediately gave Jiang Wen and Kong Yin a couple of instructions to ensure everyone’s safety, then walked over to Chao Liang, "Boss, what is it?"
"From now on, don’t call me boss. If you don’t mind, just call me Brother Chao!" Chao Liang said indifferently.
"Sure, okay, Brother Chao!" Tao Yang responded, immediately feeling delighted inside. Chao Liang’s words meant he wasn’t considered an outsider!
"Let’s go over there!" Chao Liang said, heading towards a secluded spot away from the crowd.
"Brother Chao, what is it!" Tao Yang asked, his expression serious, recognizing Chao Liang’s caution.
"Listen, this matter concerns our prospects and future position at the academy. You know about the brothers from the Xiang Family of Zhongnan, right?" Chao Liang said slowly.
Tao Yang’s expression shook, "Brother Chao, are you talking about the brothers from the Xiang Family, the foremost Noble House of the Zhongnan Heavenly Vein?"
"Hmm!" Chao Liang nodded slightly.
"Come on, listen to what I’m about to say..."
Not far from the iron chain bridge’s stone platform, Su Qiong and his companions huddled together, their expressions as unpleasant as could be!
"Damn it, these bastards. With our current strength, if we don’t get familiar with the bridge today, we’ll definitely lose face tomorrow!" Zhou Siyu looked at the group practicing, his face filled with anger.
"Brother Zhan, how’s your injury, any better?" Jiang Shi asked.
"It’s about seventy to eighty percent healed, not a big issue!" Fan Zhan nodded.
"Fan Zhan, you have the highest Cultivation here. If you could get familiar with it in advance today, you’d have the best chance of passing. Getting through the first Fire Wall shouldn’t be a problem!" Su Qiong encouraged.
"Right, Brother Zhan, you have the best chance here, but these guys are hogging the iron chain bridge, and we have no opportunity. What should we do?" Zuo Zhengqing said, feeling a bit frustrated.
After glancing around, Su Qiong said softly, "Don’t panic. Let’s wait for them to finish practicing. We can sneak over here in the middle of the night to familiarize ourselves. They can’t possibly occupy it all night long!"
"Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Let’s come back tonight and sneak in some practice!" Everyone whispered in agreement, nodding their heads.
On the other side, Tao Yang was listening to Chao Liang’s words with his eyes wide open. It took him a while to digest them. "Chao... Brother Chao, are you serious?"
"Heh, do I look like I’m joking?" Chao Liang said calmly.
"Whew~"
Tao Yang took a deep breath, feeling the craziness of the idea, but at the same time, he was extremely excited.
"You don’t have to worry. For now, only the two of us know about this plan. After the assessment tomorrow, depending on the outcome, we will see if it’s feasible. Whether I can accomplish it is up to me.
If I can’t make it, pretend I never said anything. But if I succeed, be aware!
We will need your cooperation when the time comes. Understood?" Chao Liang whispered a reminder.
Tao Yang nodded earnestly, his eyes sparkling with excitement, "Brother Chao, I believe you can do it. Rest assured, when it’s time for me to cooperate, I definitely won’t drop the ball!"
"Good, that puts me at ease. If my plan fails, consider our previous conversation as if it never happened, and don’t ever bring it up in the future!" Chao Liang reminded again.
"Don’t worry, Brother Chao, I’m clear on that!" Tao Yang nodded.
"Let’s go, it’s getting late. Let’s go see how they’re doing with their practice. We should familiarize ourselves too!" Chao Liang said, walking over to where everyone else was.
Following behind, Tao Yang took a few deep breaths to calm the excitement trembling in his heart. Chao Liang’s plan was both crazy and thrilling!
The success or failure of this plan was entirely dependent on Chao Liang alone. In Tao Yang’s view, since Chao Liang dared to propose such a plan, he must be somewhat confident, and Tao Yang was full of anticipation!
"How are you all doing with the practice?" Chao Liang approached the group and inquired.
Actually, these people didn’t dare to venture too far, merely shuttling back and forth within the first twenty or thirty yards, for they certainly didn’t want to fall!
If they took a nasty tumble, they could forget about participating in tomorrow’s assessment.
"Boss, it’s about time, do you want to give it a try?" Kong Yin asked earnestly.
"Uh-huh!" Chao Liang nodded.
"Tao Yang, why don’t you go first? Just don’t go too far, and whatever you do, do not fall today!"
"Hehe, don’t worry, then I shall humbly make my attempt!" Tao Yang chuckled.
Amidst the cheering crowd, he soared onto the iron chain bridge, which was not very stable, swaying left and right under his feet.
Tao Yang summoned energy from his Dantian, stepped on the iron chains, and leaped up; his feet seemed to skim over the surface like one treading on water, speeding past.
In the blink of an eye, he had covered a distance of fifty yards. However, Tao Yang didn’t venture deeper and instead turned back, repeating the process a few times before returning to the stone platform.
"Brother Chao, I think I’m about done," Tao Yang said.
"Wow, Brother Yang made it look so easy getting that far. The boss must be even more amazing!" the crowd exclaimed in admiration.
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As everyone looked on expectantly, Chao Liang stepped onto the iron chain bridge. He didn’t run too far either, just about ten yards more than Tao Yang—today’s goal wasn’t to show off but to familiarize themselves with the bridge!
Chao Liang walked back and forth a few times too. Looking at the water beneath his feet, he couldn’t help but inwardly criticize—if he fell, it would certainly be trouble. Feeling nearly ready, he too made his way back.
"Those who haven’t adjusted yet, keep adjusting. Don’t waste your time; seize the moment before it gets dark. Got it?" he said, casting a casual glance in the direction of Su Qiong and the others.
Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly understood and expressed their comprehension, promptly resuming their adjustments.
Su Qiong and the others were unfazed, having long known that these people were intentionally setting them up. They simply sat down and started cultivating.
Soon, dusk fell, and the crowd around the iron chain bridge dispersed, settling down some distance away from the few on the opposite side.
"We’re done here. If you want to practice, hurry up—don’t say tomorrow that we didn’t give you a chance!" Kong Yin sneered from afar, then walked toward the distant crowd. Read new chapters at freewebnovel
Su Qiong and the others exchanged glances. Were these guys really being so benevolent?
"Let’s go. Since they’ve all gone far away, let’s check it out!" Zhou Siyu was eager to try.
Soon, they stood up and approached the iron chain bridge, only to be dumbstruck.
"Damn it, what’s the point of practicing like this? I knew these bastards wouldn’t be so kind!" Zuo Zhengqing cursed.
Fan Zhan and Jiang Shi were speechless and just shook their heads slightly. "Let’s just go with the flow tomorrow," they said.
Zhou Siyu looked up at the sky, then at the pitch-black water under the chain, feeling a chill running down his spine. No wonder they had stopped practicing—it was too dark to see anything, not even the moon, and everything was unclear.
If they fell, their fate would be uncertain, and with their skills, the likelihood of falling seemed even higher.
What’s more, nobody would come to their rescue. Those guys probably couldn’t wait for them to fall and die!
"Heh, braving the iron chain bridge in this gloom is practically suicide. I certainly wouldn’t dare!" Kong Yin scoffed.
The crowd laughed heartily at his words, all displaying an attitude of enjoying the entertainment.
"Heh, if they fall later, who among you will save them? Those two ladies don’t look bad; it could be a chance for a hero to save beauties!" one person teased suggestively.
"Save them? Why don’t you go? That’s a hundred meters down—who knows what could be in the water at night!" another person wrapped themselves in their clothes, shrinking their head down.
"Unless they’re fools, they surely wouldn’t take the risk!" Jiang Wen commented calmly.
Su Qiong sighed. "Let’s go. I miscalculated; we can’t take this risk. If we really fall, there’ll be no one to save us!"
Jiang Wen watched Su Qiong and the others walk away from the bridge with defeated expressions and snorted, "Heh, see? I told you so!"