Zuo Qing woke up by the lakeside, feeling dazed for a moment before coming to his senses. Looking at everything around him, his expression became rather ugly.
He knew he had lost in this martial exam. He glanced at the list absentmindedly and saw that his name was ranked near the bottom. It was because he had only killed one demon. Furthermore, it was obvious that his rank would continue to plummet because he had already been eliminated, and it was only the first day of the martial exam.
Looking around, he did not see any familiar faces. Realizing that he was among the few who had been eliminated early, his expression grew even worse.
When he glanced at the top of the list, he discovered that the name there was the one he least wanted to see. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He shook his head in anguish, but then noticed a young man approaching from a distance.
"Senior Brother Wang."
Zuo Qing said in a dazed voice.
Senior Brother Wang looked at him and said with some sympathy, "Junior Brother Zuo, Sect Master has issued an order. You are to return to the mountain immediately and remain there for the next ten years. You are not allowed to leave unless you can step into Great Beyond Realm"
As he spoke, there was some sympathy in Senior Brother Wang's eyes. Given Zuo Qing's current cultivation realm and aptitude, it was simply impossible for him to reach the Great Beyond Realm within ten years. In other words, Zuo Qing, who stood before him, would be confined to the mountain for ten years, unable to leave.
To be honest, such a punishment was excessively severe for Zuo Qing. Hearing these words, Zuo Qing's expression became ugly to the extreme. He looked at the man before him in disbelief and muttered, "How could this be..."
He naturally knew that what happened in the microcosm could not be kept secret, but he did not expect things to escalate so quickly, and the Sect Master's reaction to be so intense as well.
Senior Brother Wang glanced at him without saying anything. He roughly knew the inside story. Losing face was not uncommon among foreign cultivators, but to lose face involving the Great Liang Dynasty was something that could not be tolerated.
Especially at the Myriad Willow Convention, where Zuo Qing pleaded for mercy from that young man. Such a thing was even more unacceptable.
"Junior Brother Zuo, focus on your cultivation after returning to the mountain. If you have the opportunity, seek revenge after ten years."
Senior Brother Wang gave him a deep look and then left without saying another word, leaving Zuo Qing standing there alone, feeling lost and dispirited.
In the distance, a few mocking laughs could be heard, making him feel even more hurt.
Even though it was already night, there were still many people by the lakeside. They were currently anxiously following the progress of the martial exam.
……
……
Chen Chao walked towards the distance, not choosing a more open area, but headed towards a denser part of the forest.
There were more demons among the mountains, but he felt completely safe.
As he entered the forest, it was as if he had returned to Tianqing County, walking through the mountainous forest in the dark nights, searching for the demons hidden on the mountain.
The sort of feeling was both dangerous and exhilarating.
Whether it was because his aura was too terrifying for the demons or there really were no demons in the vicinity, Chen Chao could not find a single one after searching the deep mountains for half the night. Seeing that it was already approaching the second half of the night, Chen Chao rubbed his neck before deciding not to continue forward. Instead, he began to dig a hole in a concealed thicket.
In the mountains, hiding in caves was the best choice, based on his years of experience.
However, Chen Chao soon stopped his actions because he heard some sounds—some footsteps that sounded out in the distance.
He frowned and quickly hid himself in the dug-out hole, quietly removing the dirt. He began adjusting his breathing and made his aura nearly undetectable.
The footsteps stopped not far away and a very low voice sounded, "What's going on? His aura is gone."
That person's voice sounded a little confused and puzzled, not understanding why such a thing would happen.
"Impossible, the secret art wouldn't fail. Concentrate and sense carefully, he probably found a place to hide."
Another person whispered, "There it is, the aura is very faint, he should be in the area. Let's search carefully. Maybe we can find him. He's hiding."
"Senior Brother, we'll probably be alerting him like this. What if he's watching us from the shadows? What should we do then?"
That voice sounded rather worried.
"I understand that, but we only have half the night. If daybreak comes, people will be looking at him and we won't be able to do anything."
The other voice was very angry.
"Why can't we pretend to accidentally run into him during the day? It would be very logical for us to defeat him then."
That voice was rather doubtful.
"We're not here to defeat him, we're here to kill him, don't you understand?"
That senior brother's voice had a hint of anger.
"He caused so much trouble at the lakeside, it was already humiliating enough. If we find him and kill him, although we can't acknowledge it, it will still restore our reputation. But damn it, where the hell is this guy!"
The figure walked through the forest, his aura surged within his sleeves. It was clearly the two who were prepared to strike at any moment.
Listening to their conversation, Chen Chao remained motionless. He did not even show any fluctuations in emotion, so they had no idea that Chen Chao was hiding right here at this moment. After searching for a while, they soon departed. It was just that when they left, they still held a lot of anger.
Chen Chao narrowed his eyes. Taking out the bamboo token, he was silent for a long time.
The bamboo token must have been tampered with by someone, allowing them to track him. Knowing this was one thing, but he couldn't discard this bamboo token, because if he did, it would mean that he could only be brought out by Wei Xu when the microcosm completely closed. Once he encountered something before that happened, he would no longer be able to leave this place.
In that case, he would likely die, especially if he encountered those powerful demons or those truly powerful young cultivators who wanted his life.
So he had no choice but to carry the bamboo token until he left.
But carrying the bamboo token meant that others would always know he was here and then find him.
The coldness in Chen Chao's eyes was hard to conceal.
He felt rather angry.
When he entered this microcosm, he had anticipated being targeted by people who would use special means against him. That was why he said those words to Wei Xu. But Wei Xu's answer did not seem too helpful now.
He said that this was a minor issue.
To a Nepenthe powerhouse, perhaps the troubles Chen Chao currently faced were indeed minor. But to Chen Chao, it was not the case.
He had fallen into an unsolvable predicament. Furthermore, he did not know if only a few people were involved or if all the young cultivators who entered this microcosm were participating.
Chen Chao had never provoked those two people earlier. He did not even know them.
There would still be many more of such people.
They might not appear during the day, but they would come searching for his trail at night. Some wanted to kill him, while others simply wanted to defeat him.
Chen Chao looked at the bamboo token in his hand. He could easily crush it right now and withdraw from the competition.
That way, he would not have to experience those dangers, but he also would not be in first place.
If Xie Nandu had not claimed the top spot in the previous literary exam, if she did not...
Chen Chao cussed under his breath and put the bamboo token back around his waist. He felt a sense of annoyance.
But more than anything, he felt helpless.
This was not Tianqing County, and he was not the most terrifying devil in the darkness.
He was just a youth, an insignificant ant in the eyes of important figures.
If someone wanted to crush him, they would swiftly trample him.
There was nothing wrong with being alive.
Chen Chao didn't sleep well tonight. He watched the stars all night long.
When dawn came, he climbed out of the hole and patted the dirt off his body. The black clothes he wore were the Left Guard's informal clothes. It was made of special material that could not be marked by ordinary water or fire, let alone get dirty.
As the soil fell, Chen Chao continued walking deeper into the mountains.
He knew he had been targeted, but he did not plan to expose himself to people's sight. Instead, he was going to a deeper place.
This was different from his initial choice back then.
He drew his saber for the first time.
That pitch-black broken saber shimmered with a special luster in his hands.
……
……
A new day began.
Those cultivators by the lake had returned here once more.
Although some cultivators did not leave last night, the majority of the cultivations still chose not to spend the night there.
Now, in the early morning, they came here again to check the leaderboard and naturally noticed the changes on the list.
"Senior Brother Song caught up!"
People soon noticed the changes on the leaderboard. That daoist cultivator called Song Changxi had closed the gap with Chen Chao after a night of killing several demons.
Although he was still in second place, if things continued at this rate, he would definitely have a chance to vie for first place.
"And Liang Zhao, he killed seven or eight demons too, including one extremely powerful one."
At this moment, Liang Zhao's name had several more blood marks behind it, with one mark being especially large. It was even larger than the blood marks behind Chen Chao and Song Changxi.
"Indeed, even if they can't catch up to that martial artist in terms of quantity, as long as the demons they kill have a sufficiently high cultivation realm, they can bridge the gap. That martial artist is only in the Divine Trove Realm, he won't stand a chance against demons in the Bitter Sea Realm."
Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, feeling that it made a lot of sense. Just as they said, Chen Chao was merely in Divine Trove Realm, how could he possibly slay demons in the Bitter Sea Realm?
The cultivators who were talking about this felt a sense of relief fill their hearts. They could not help but feel a little happy.
However, they soon noticed that the number of blood marks behind Chen Chao's name already began increasing at an alarming rate. It would grow by an additional blood mark virtually every once in a while. Although none of these marks were particularly large, the speed of growth was too fast. As they watched the blood marks behind Chen Chao's name continuously change, their hearts gradually sank.
Was this a warden of the Great Liang Dynasty?
Their previous optimism vanished completely at this moment. They knew that at this rate, unless Song Changxi those people killed a sufficiently high number of powerful demons, it would be impossible to compete with Chen Chao.
They were very worried.
The prominent figures on the pavilion were very worried too.
Especially Qingshan Sect's sect master.
Actually, no one wanted the first session of the reformed Myriad Willow Convention to be held in the Divine Capital. However, due to its critical importance, especially for the entire Myriad Willow Convention, after much negotiation and compromise among the various factions, it eventually landed in the Divine Capital.
But since this was a product of compromise from all parties, it did not mean they were willing to see the young cultivators of the Great Liang Dynasty shine in this Myriad Willow Convention. Xie Nandu had already won the literary exam, they would never allow a cultivator from the Great Liang Dynasty to win the martial exam.
This was their bottom line and also something they did not want to see happen.
Therefore, the youngsters of the Great Liang Dynasty must not win.
……
……
On the third day, the number of eliminated cultivators in the martial exam increased, and more cultivators appeared by the lakeside.
Those who were observant began to count and discovered that on this day, all the young cultivators from the Great Liang Dynasty who participated in the martial exam had been eliminated.
Except for Chen Chao.
Wang Kuan stood by the lakeside and was silent for a long time before walking towards the distance where Xie Nandu was waiting for him.
"Junior Sister... Xie."
Wang Kuan looked at Xie Nandu, his eyes filled with a special emotion—admiration.
Xie Nandu got straight to the point and asked, "How did Senior Brother lose?"
Wang Kuan pondered for a moment and replied, "I had just finished a fierce battle with a demon and was recovering when a foreign cultivator arrived from afar. I couldn't defeat him and had to concede."
He smiled, but there was a hint of bitterness in his smile. "Although it was a coincidence, there's nothing more to say."
How could someone like him not know that there was something fishy going on? But without evidence, even if he were to speak up, it would not cause much of a stir.
Xie Nandu nodded and walked over to Wei Xu.
Wei Xu had been standing by the lakeside for two days and appeared very calm at the moment.
When he saw Xie Nandu approaching, he shook his head and remained silent.
Xie Nandu said, "Something like this is very unfair."
Wei Xu calmly replied, "I am well aware, but I cannot change it."
Xie Nandu asked, "Even if it's Teacher, can't he do anything about it?"
Wei Xu nodded and smiled slightly.
Teacher did not appear here but asked him to preside over the Myriad Willow Convention. Could it be simply out of laziness?
It was probably not the case.
Xie Nandu said, "That's why the principles of the academy have never been principles. It's the fist that dictates."
Wei Xu looked at this little junior sister and said, "I hope that one day, Junior Sister will encounter only those who reason with you."
Xie Nandu did not speak.
But there were suddenly many cultivators by the lake.
They were the ones who had been forced to leave the microcosm.
They appeared by the lake. After a momentary confusion, they began to curse loudly, directing their curses at only one person.
Chen Chao.
The one who caused all these was naturally Chen Chao.
Soon, the news spread.
Chen Chao killed demons and beat people up in that microcosm, forcing all the cultivators he encountered to concede defeat.
One of them was even pursued by Chen Chao for as long as half a day.
"He's a madman, a complete and utter lunatic!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Xu said, "That young man is indeed quite interesting."
Xie Nandu frowned slightly and then smiled.
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