fairy family

Chapter 188 Brutal Elimination, Two Beauties Come to the Door

As a column of smoke rose above Yu Que's head, other equally captivating columns of smoke also began to rise from other parts of the secret realm.

The candidates in the same predicament as Yu Que all had changing expressions, and they cursed under their breath.

Such a column of smoke would undoubtedly reveal their location and attract a large number of enemies.

Clearly, the Dao Palace does not intend for them to complete this martial arts exam comfortably.

Meanwhile, on the cloud ship outside the secret realm.

Chief Examiner Yuan Wu smiled slightly and said in a low voice:

"Indeed, the quality of this year's candidates is significantly higher than in previous years."

Before a single day has even passed, so many people have already accumulated a great deal of merit.

With a flick of his sleeve, the illusion above the cloud ship shifted, revealing all the examinees with plumes of smoke rising above their heads to the passengers on the cloud ship.

Yu Que was one of them.

In an instant, they attracted the attention of the examiners and Taoist immortals, compared to the other candidates.

And in the secret realm.

After Yu Que's expression changed a few times, he simply used his magic to add a few talismans to his body before continuing to wander through the secret realm, searching for evil spirits and suppressing and subduing them one by one.

After killing two more ghosts, the smoke above his head became even thicker, attracting even more people.

Even though Yu Que tried his best to ignore the various candidates hiding nearby, he still felt uneasy.

In particular, he also had to devote some of his energy to guarding against the examinees, lest someone suddenly attack him.

"What is the purpose of these smoke columns? Is it merely to highlight our achievements and increase the difficulty of the martial arts exam?"

Yu Que pondered to himself, and several conjectures emerged.

at this time.

Perhaps someone had been following him for dozens of miles, and seeing that he did not attack anyone else, and that his methods of subduing demons and ghosts were those of a Refiner, the other party finally couldn't help but make a move.

"Fellow Daoist, your results are so good, why don't you withdraw first?"

A cold laugh suddenly rang out from Yu Que's left, carrying a chilling aura.

Yu Que slightly raised his eyelids, but instead of facing to the left, he swayed and suddenly avoided his right rear.

A streak of dark light flew from his right rear. If he had been on guard against the other direction, he might have been hit squarely.

It turned out that there was not just one person who attacked Yu Que, but two examinees who surrounded him and used a feint attack.

Seeing that his attack had no effect, the examinee who had unleashed the black light changed his expression slightly, quickly withdrew the steel nail, and then fled into the distance without pausing for a moment.

Yu Que's expression remained calm; instead of being annoyed, he even smiled slightly.

“Perfect, let’s use you as an experiment to see what the purpose of these smoke columns is.”

He also waved his sleeve, and the White Ridge Sword immediately flew out, heading towards the fleeing examinee.

The other person felt a chill down his back and hurriedly cried out, "Brother Li, save me!"

While calling for help, the other party tried to block Yu Que's flying sword by having his dark steel nail strike it.

However, when the two magical artifacts collided, with just a clang, the opponent's steel nail was knocked away, and Yu Que's flying sword twisted slightly before continuing to stab at the opponent.

With a soft thud, the examinee who had launched the sneak attack was frozen in place before he could even utter a cry of surprise.

The protective aura around him shattered layer by layer, and the White Spine Sword pierced through his chest, penetrating his lung and pinning him to the ground.

One examinee fell to the ground, and another examinee who wanted to help him popped up. He had only gone halfway when he saw his teammate's miserable state. His expression changed drastically, and he immediately wanted to turn back.

But a soft laugh rang in the other person's ear: "Too late."

Yu Que appeared behind the other party. He raised his palm and seemingly lightly struck, shattering the layers of spiritual light on the other party's body. Then, he struck the other party's shoulder, causing the entire shoulder to slump and the face to become distorted.

At this moment, his aura as an eighth-rank immortal appeared in the eyes of the people around him, immediately causing a stir.

"Hiss, such a young person, yet his cultivation is already at the eighth rank of the Rampaging God!"

"Hurry up and leave, lest you die here."

In an instant, most of the remaining candidates who were still watching the remaining candidates left.

The remaining people also hurriedly distanced themselves from Yu Que.

They all looked at Yu Que with great fear, wanting to know the fate of the two audacious examinees.

Yu Que was also very curious.

Although the martial arts exam carries a significant risk of death, he wanted to know whether the killing of each other by the candidates would affect their scores, and whether the Dao Palace would allow the candidates to kill each other.

So he stopped attacking, put away the White Ridge Sword, and wanted to see how the two examinees would fare.

His eyes flickered: "Even if these two die, it has nothing to do with me. After all, they attacked first, and I only attacked each of them once without pursuing them."

The two examinees struggled to rummage through their pockets for medicine, hoping to heal themselves.

However, both of these guys were only at the ninth rank in cultivation, especially the guy who was personally hit by Yu Que, whose spine was shattered.

Fortunately, Yu Que reduced his strength, which prevented the boy from breaking his spine and dying on the spot.

The two candidates' faces grew increasingly ashen, their eyes filled with despair, knowing they were about to die.

After a long while, a ripple suddenly appeared in the sky above the secret realm, and two waterfalls cascaded down, sweeping up the two examinees and lifting them into the sky.

When the two examinees disappeared, the plume of smoke above Yu Que's head suddenly shot up and grew larger, as if he had suddenly subdued four or five ferocious beasts.

Yu Que seemed lost in thought, a hint of joy in his eyes:

"I see. Eliminating other candidates also earns corresponding merit. And as long as one is not killed instantly and is critically injured, the loser will leave the secret realm."

Clang!
He twitched his fingers slightly, and the white-spine sword trembled, immediately pointing towards the surrounding examinees along with his gaze.

The other candidates' expressions changed drastically; they too realized that there was yet another way to accumulate "merit."

Without a word, Yu Que's figure flashed and suddenly appeared in front of the examinee with the most powerful aura nearby.

"Brother Dao, stop! I truly meant no harm."

The other person's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly spoke up, saying, "I am also an eighth-rank immortal. You and I can join forces to eliminate the others first..."

Yu Que heard this, but remained unmoved.

His voice, along with a flash of sword light, appeared before his opponent:

"Those eliminated by this sect are the eighth-rank immortals."

A flash of inspiration, a chilling glint in the air.

Amidst the clash of several spells, the opponent's figure suddenly collapsed to the ground, pinned to the spot by the White Ridge Sword like a dead dog, glaring at Yu Que with resentment and hatred.

Although this candidate was about to be eliminated, he still gritted his teeth and shouted, "I am a member of the Shi family. What is your name?!"

Yu Que noticed the hatred in the other's eyes. He frowned slightly, his finger, poised to recall the White Ridge Sword, paused, then coldly continued its slash. Sensing the killing intent, the Shi family examinee's expression changed again, and he hurriedly cried out, "Fellow Daoist, spare me! Examiner, save me!"

Before the person could even breathe their last, a surge of water erupted from the top of the secret realm, sweeping them away.

Seeing this, Yu Que refrained from killing him.

He glanced at the billowing smoke above his head and realized that it had grown much larger than the two people he had just eliminated, which meant that he had killed seven ferocious beasts in one go.

A conjecture arose in his mind:

"It seems that eliminating the most outstanding candidates accumulates more merit."

However, Yu Que quickly revised this conjecture.

He saw off five more examinees in one go, and discovered that one of them, a ninth-rank examinee, had accumulated more merit for him than the eighth-rank examinee from the Shi family, reaching a level comparable to eight ferocious beasts.

After careful examination, he discovered that the amount of merit accumulated by the other candidates was also related to the ferocious beasts they subdued and the candidates they eliminated.

Regardless of this discovery, it won't affect the overall situation.

In any case, the appearance of the smoke column indicates that the exam will become increasingly dangerous and intense as it progresses.

The only remaining question is whether the merits accumulated before being eliminated midway through the exam will still be useful, or whether they will be included in the exam results.

This left some test takers in a dilemma, unsure whether to join the fray or choose to keep a low profile and hide before the smoke rises overhead, remaining hidden until the exam ends.

Fortunately, there's nothing to worry about.

He wielded the White Ridge Sword and walked slowly through the secret realm. The plumes of smoke above his head were thick and powerful, making it impossible for him to keep a low profile.

………………

Outside, on a cloud boat.

One after another, the examinees fell into the Nine Dragons Waterfall, screaming in agony, which prompted the immortals on the boat to save their lives.

In just half a day, the once empty deck became full again, with several thousand more people, all looking miserable.

In addition, some candidates were completely unharmed, but were still thrown out of the examination room.

These people were dressed in fine clothes, and some were holding talismans, some were holding magical implements, and some were even holding a precious talisman.

One of them, his face contorted with resentment, immediately shouted at Yuan Wu, "May I ask, Examiner Yuan, we did not ask for help, so why were we sent out?!"

Upon hearing this, the chief examiner, Yuan Wu, didn't even glance at him, and said impatiently:

"Noisy!
"You useless fool who relies on external things, refusing to heed my words, yet you dare to question me!"

He slapped back, and a palm three zhang in size landed on the man.

The opponent hurriedly used the talisman in his hand to defend, but the talisman only lasted for a moment before its magic power was exhausted, and it turned into ashes with a "poof".

The candidate holding the talisman couldn't hold on any longer and was slammed onto the deck, bleeding from all seven orifices.

The man was not dead, but as he looked at the dissipating talisman in his hand, his eyes were filled with despair, and he was utterly heartbroken.

It turned out that before everyone entered the examination room, the chief examiner Yuan Wu had mentioned that any external objects above the eighth rank were only for saving one's life and should not be used for the examination.

Those who possessed talismans or other magical artifacts of mid-grade 8th rank or higher during magical duels were immediately eliminated, and their scores were fixed from that point on.

After silencing the few noisy examinees, Chief Examiner Yuan Wu looked up and focused his gaze on the most powerful individuals in the secret realm.

One of them was dressed in a white robe, with a calm and composed expression. Behind him followed two alluring figures.

Chief Examiner Yuan Wu's gaze seemed thoughtful:
"Is Xie Baiyu the one? He truly has an elegant demeanor and is born with the potential to become a Daoist. Even when he takes an exam, he can bring his beautiful companion with him."

If I'm not mistaken, this year's true teachings will fall to this person.

His gaze also swept over the other people.

There were some missing, and another person was driving a bronze chariot, recklessly rampaging through the secret realm.

However, Yuan Wu's gaze did not linger on any of them.

However, the way this person looked at Xie Baiyu was not one of admiration or fear, but rather one of pity.

Or to be more precise, his gaze toward Xie Baiyu, Yu Que, and the other four references to the Heavenly Temple Daoist lineage was more or less filled with pity.

........................

In the secret realm.

With his formidable magical power, Yu Que was also unrestrained. Any examinee he captured, regardless of their name, would inevitably be sent out of the secret realm.

Until two candidates, their faces filled with panic, suddenly cried out, "We are members of the Huang family, fellow Daoist, please show mercy!"

Seeing that Yu Que had eliminated ten people by himself, the two of them didn't even want to run anymore, and their faces showed a lot of despair.

Upon hearing this, Yu Que suddenly stopped, pondered for a moment, and then asked:

"Could it be the Huang family, one of the nine families on the mountain?"

The two candidates nodded quickly, and then, to their delight, they heard Yu Que say:

"In that case, you should all pay close attention to this exam and strive to achieve a good ranking."

After saying this, Yu Que drifted away without eliminating the two players from the competition.

This left the two Huang family candidates quite bewildered.

Although the exam had only been going on for less than two days, they had already heard of Yu Que's reputation as a ruthless lone wolf.

When candidates encounter this fiend, no matter how much they bring up their family background or their lineage, it's all in vain.

"Is this person destined to join my Huang family?"

The two candidates, their faces flushed, took deep breaths and immediately wanted to catch up and try to ride on Yu Que's fame.

However, Yu Que went further and further away, and it was not something the two of them could easily catch up with.

With no one to rely on, the Huang family examinees could only cry out from afar:

"Fellow Daoist, be careful! I've heard that the two beauties of the Snake Clan are looking for you!"

"There weren't just two of them; they brought in helpers!"

Yu Que frowned slightly upon hearing these words from behind.

After walking several miles, he suddenly stopped.

Because right in front of him, there were already one large and two small plumes of smoke rushing straight towards him.

Even the two smaller plumes of smoke, judging by their size, must have eliminated dozens of candidates.

Yu Que sneered inwardly: "Are you snake people really looking for me?"

He didn't give way, but stood there calmly, waiting for the other party to come to him.

(End of this chapter)