Longzang

Chapter 59 A Small Test for the Sect

The path to immortality knows no days or months. On this day, Wei Yuan finally perfected his physical training, his strength skyrocketed, and he faced the sect's minor examination. This examination was only for Wei Yuan's cohort and was a temporary test. It wasn't very important, and the rewards were rather ordinary, only useful to Wei Yuan and a few others.

However, in recent years, the reformist faction has become increasingly active. Besides centralized instruction, they are also planning a unified apprenticeship system. This involves reclaiming the power of individual hall masters to choose their own disciples, with the Taichu Palace centrally recruiting disciples through a unified examination within the Immortal Sect. Successful candidates will then be reassigned. Each hall will only be able to select disciples from those recruited by the palace. Naturally, True Lords will still retain a certain number of independent appointments, but these will be strictly limited.

The Zhigu faction's backlash was naturally fierce, and the conflict between the two factions intensified. Against this backdrop, the comparison between Wei Yuan and Bao Yun, who were among the first batch of disciples to receive intensive instruction, and the Zhigu faction's disciples became extremely important. After all, the most convincing way to determine which faction was superior was through the disciples who had been trained for three years.

Therefore, the True Lords proposed to elevate the importance of this minor examination and divide it into two parts. The first part was still a battle between the two factions, with rankings determined through a tournament. The second part was a battle against selected alien races.

After three years of study, a small portion of the disciples have already established their Dao foundation, while the majority of the rest are in the stage of near-complete body forging, awaiting only an opportunity to solidify their Dao foundation. According to the tradition of the Taichu Palace, the Dao foundation stage signifies officially embarking on the path of immortality and becoming qualified to conquer other races.

The first day of the preliminary exams was filled with exciting battles between the two sides.

Xiao Yu mastered the Immortal Sword Great Sun, the culmination of the Great Sun Sword Manual. For hundreds of years, countless people have practiced this technique, but only one in a thousand has ultimately mastered the Immortal Sword Great Sun. With the Immortal Sword in hand, Xiao Yu naturally became a force to be reckoned with.

Bao Yun has achieved great success in refining her spirit, and is only one step away from reaching the Dao Foundation stage. Although she is not yet at the Dao Foundation stage, her Dao techniques are incredibly powerful, and she possesses numerous treasures, making her completely armed to the teeth. With every move she makes, several gods and demons appear above her head in turn, vying to lend her a helping hand. As a result, she is rampaging through all directions, leaving many Dao Foundation stage cultivators from the Zhigu Sect humiliated.

Compared to Bao Yun and Xiao Yu, Cui Yu was slightly inferior, but the Cui family had a profound foundation and possessed as many treasures as Bao Yun. He was also blessed with a celestial sword by his ancestor, making his combat prowess only slightly inferior to the two. In the end, he single-handedly defeated four members of the Zhi Gu Sect who had received such blessings, which was quite a glorious feat.

Wei Yuan's muscles and bones were now fully formed, his body as smooth as jade, making him incredibly durable and resistant to blows. Even if he were to encounter Xu Du's magical weapon again, Wei Yuan would only suffer minor cuts and bruises, and would no longer be pierced through the body. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but Wei Yuan's first opponent in the preliminary exam was Xu Du.

When enemies meet, their eyes naturally blaze with hatred. Leaving aside Wei Yuan, Xu Du has been constantly targeted by Xu Henshui lately, subjected to countless underhanded tactics, and subjected to a barrage of insults from the Xu family elders every few days. Furthermore, Xu Henshui has stolen half of his cultivation resources. Xu Du's parents, after much inquiry, learned that it was because of the incident where Xu Henshui injured Wei Yuan; after being severely humiliated by Zhang Sheng, he turned his attention to Xu Du.

Unfortunately, Xu Henshui was exceptionally talented and the direct grandson of the patriarch, so Xu Du could only endure whatever he did. As for the theory, Xu Henshui only appeared weak and vulnerable when facing Zhang Shengji and Liu Li. None of the younger generation of the Xu family could withstand ten moves from him; most of them were finished with a single slap.

If Xu Du felt jealousy and resentment back then, now that they've encountered Wei Yuan again, all they feel is hatred.

The sect's preliminary exams forbade the use of magical artifacts; only Dao Foundation and Dao Techniques could be used to attack. At the start, Xu Du's hands shone brightly as he unleashed several Dao Techniques towards Wei Yuan. Then, Wei Yuan burst forth from the Dao Techniques, his large hand grabbing almost Xu Du's head. Xu Du was startled and immediately retreated. After all, he had cultivated his Dao Foundation for some time, making his movements swift, while Wei Yuan's speed and agility were currently quite average, making it impossible for him to catch up.

Although Wei Yuan couldn't catch up with Xu Du, Xu Du's Daoist techniques couldn't harm Wei Yuan either. In the blink of an eye, Xu Du's Daoist power was exhausted, and in great alarm, he could only flee around the arena. However, Wei Yuan's physical body was abnormal, and his stamina was at least eight or nine times that of disciples of the same realm in the Mingwang Palace, and only ten times that of Xu Du. Therefore, he pursued relentlessly and didn't know what fatigue was.

Xu Du was chased by Wei Yuan so hard he had to burrow underground and run hundreds of laps, eventually vomiting as he ran. Wei Yuan nearly caught him several times, but always missed, only able to sigh and shout in frustration as he chased after him. Xu Du always felt Wei Yuan's voice was right behind him, so he didn't dare turn his head. Finally, exhausted, he collapsed to the ground, where Wei Yuan gently stepped on him. Wei Yuan was afraid that stepping too hard would make him vomit again.

After defeating Xu Du, Wei Yuan's next opponent also fell in the same way. However, this time Wei Yuan pursued quietly, without shouting or trying to scare his opponent. The man had no idea whether Wei Yuan was near or far, and could only run wildly until he was exhausted. But Wei Yuan's match took too long, and by the time his second opponent was finished, the Zhi Gu School had already been defeated.

Originally, everyone agreed that each person would fight four, but Wei Yuan fought two less, and Bao Yun fought for him. After the competition ended, Wei Yuan learned that Xu Du had also received a blessing from the ancestral master, but everyone had forgotten what that blessing was.

In the second battle against the alien race, the Taichu Palace chose the mountain people.

As the mountain dweller, who was two zhang tall, entered the arena, Wei Yuan suddenly remembered a question from the written examination. Only then did he understand why a battle with over eight thousand elite armored soldiers against the mountain dwellers, resulting in the beheading of two hundred and seventy-three, was considered a great victory.

The mountain dweller in front of Wei Yuan was dressed in animal skin and held a tree trunk in his hand; Wei Yuan was only slightly taller than him, barely reaching his knees. The mountain dweller looked down at Wei Yuan, let out a deafening roar, and swung the tree trunk down at Wei Yuan's head!

Wei Yuan dodged to the side, the tree trunk slamming into the ground, the flying pebbles hitting him with a series of loud thuds, causing him considerable pain. The mountain dweller, enraged by his missed attack, bent down and swept the tree trunk low to the ground towards Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan still chose his twelve-foot-long spear as his weapon. Originally a Dao Foundation stage artifact, Wei Yuan, not yet having reached the Dao Foundation stage, could only use it as an ordinary spear. Seeing the tree trunk sweeping towards him with overwhelming force, Wei Yuan raised his spear, surprisingly choosing to block it head-on!

With a muffled thud, wood chips flew everywhere, and the tree trunk snapped in two under the impact of the enormous force. Wei Yuan was knocked back several feet, his feet sinking deep into the ground, carving two deep furrows.

Wei Yuan's face flushed crimson, a metallic taste rising in his throat, his muscles bulging and twitching. Though brutal, he had withstood the mountain dweller's full-force attack head-on!

The mountain dweller was also suffering; he shook the tree trunk several times before finally having to switch it to his other hand.

Wei Yuan had caught his breath and strode forward, thrusting his spear towards the mountain dweller's knee. Without thinking, the mountain dweller raised his foot to stomp on it, but Wei Yuan planted the spear firmly on the ground! The mountain dweller stomped down, letting out a scream as the spear tip pierced his foot and emerged from the instep.

At the foot of the mountain dweller, Wei Yuan, with one hand supporting his spear and the other bent at the elbow, braced himself against the foot of the mountain dweller, and miraculously withstood another full-force stomp. This was the second time Wei Yuan had directly confronted the mountain dweller in terms of strength.

The mountain dweller cried out in pain and lifted his foot. Wei Yuan seized the opportunity to withdraw his spear, and like a galloping horse, he passed between the mountain dweller's legs. With a slash of his spear, he opened a large gash on the inside of the mountain dweller's thigh.

The mountain dweller, wounded in succession, roared in fury and crouched down, trying to grab Wei Yuan. But Wei Yuan was exceptionally agile, having already circled behind the mountain dweller. Taking advantage of the mountain dweller's crouching posture, he pointed his spear upwards and thrust it with all his might into the mountain dweller's groin!
The mountain dweller's painful roar echoed throughout the examination hall, causing the male students watching, whether they were traditionalists or innovators, to instinctively tense up.

The battle that followed was straightforward. Wei Yuan swung his spear and smashed the mountain dweller's ankle. As the dweller fell to the ground, he pierced the dweller's throat with a single thrust. It must be said that the mountain dweller's body was incredibly strong. At this moment, Wei Yuan swung his spear, capable of smashing boulders with a single blow, but it took him several strikes to finally break the dweller's ankle, causing blood to seep from the corner of Wei Yuan's mouth.

After killing the mountain people, Wei Yuan's tense heart relaxed, and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Only then did he realize that every part of his body ached, and his vision went black. Fortunately, the Taoist priest in charge of the exam gave him a pill in time, so Wei Yuan did not faint.

Although the battle was short, it was extremely intense. Countless tiny wounds appeared inside Wei Yuan's body. If it weren't for the medicinal power of the pills keeping him afloat, he would have spat out a mouthful of blood long ago.

(End of this chapter)