"Master, you are of the Original Infant Stage Level 5. How… how are you not able to win him?" One of the male disciples asked with a shocked and trembling voice.
Ye Gu Ming glanced at them and deeply replied, "When I was coming up the mountains, I witnessed him executing his skills. He was definitely not using it at full strength. Hence, if he really wanted to kill the both of you just now, even I cannot stop him."
What?
That frightening way he wielded the Buster Sword, he… he wasn’t using all his strength?
The two male disciples were surprised. A rumbling sound passed through their head upon realization. Cold sweat started to drip from their foreheads and their scalps started to feel numb.
Ye Gu Ming continued, "He possesses innate talent and strength. If he joins our Sky Incense Valley, after three years of training in the seas, we will have another ferocious general. I wanted to take advantage of this situation and allow him to directly take on the third stage. It’s a pity that he insisted on going with the second stage and now… We can only depend on his destiny."
Following, Ye Gu Ming looked upon the Blazing Inferno Spell which was split in half. He slightly squinted, "The four of you guard this area. I will go back and ask for another Spell from the Elder and report the situation to him at the same time!"
"Our respects, master!" The disciples said with utmost respect in unison.
Following that, they witnessed Ye Gu Ming transform into pieces of green willow leaves and disappeared from his spot.
At this time, the four of heaved a sigh of relief. Their expressions were filled with mixed feelings.
One of the Original Infant Stage men held out his fist and said apathetically, "Master was thinking for the future of Sky Incense Valley. That was the reason he put up with that scoundrel. I still extremely loathe him. If he joins the Sky Incense Valley, I will not be able to take it!"
"Rest assured. The second stage has got nothing to do with one’s strength. Also, we have been inspecting the valley area these past few days. That scoundrel will definitely not pass the second stage." Another male disciple replied in a deep voice.
"I hope so. Let’s see if he can still stay arrogant when the time comes!"
…
At the same time, Xu Que, Zeng Fan Rong and the others had already reached the Contest Area on the mountain top.
A large spell had been casted over this vast area and a protective water screen could be seen in front of them.
As soon as they landed, everyone hurriedly stepped over into the Spell area as if they could not bear to stay with Xu Que for a second longer.
Zeng Fan Rong had an awkward look as he clasped his hands and dryly laughed, "The few of them… Sigh, they are mere laughing stocks, Brother Hua."
"No worries, no worries!" Xu Que waved his hands without thinking too much about it.
Among the entire group of people, the only one worthy of being a friend was this chubby young man standing in front of him.
Although judging from appearances, he looked like he a spoilt brat and seemed rather naive, but his personality was not that bad.
"Oh yes, Brother Hua, why did you reject the offer by Ye Gu Ming? Although we don’t know what the third stage of this Contest Area holds, but this second stage’s difficulty is definitely not low." Zeng FanRong asked with a regretful look.
"Oh? Is this second stage really that hard? He said that it’s related to luck. Could it be that this stage wants us to pick a lottery or something?" Xu Que asked curiously.
Zeng Fan Rong shook his head, "The second stage instructed us to enter the mountain valley to search for a certain medicinal herb named the Star Miscanthus. It is an extremely rare plant species. After burning the medicine, bright spots akin to countless stars will appear. However, this medicine by itself doesn’t have much use. On the contrary, the Sky Incense Valley has an special prescription which can refine the Star Miscanthus into a pill which contains wood element spiritual Qi. Upon using it, one can train the wood element spiritual Qi to an extent, even if he doesn’t possess the wood core spiritual roots. Therefore, this second stage requires us to find the medicine within six hours. We have to get into groups with a limit of six per group. If one person in the group finds the Star Miscanthus, the entire group will pass!"
Star Miscanthus? Xu Que was astounded.
He remembered chancing upon the Star Miscanthus under the Medicine category in the system store. It was… cheap as hell!
"This Star Miscanthus is hard to find?" Xu Que asked with a weird look.
Zeng Fan Rong nodded, "It is extremely difficult to find. However, they can be found anywhere due to them being able to grow on any terrain or place. But this particular herb will never grow in a bunch. Rumor has it that there is only one within every thousand miles."
"Damn, such an emotionally solitary herb actually exists?" Xu Que became speechless all of a sudden.
But… It turned out that this second stage wasn’t a problem at all.
A while ago, he took the chance to check the system store. The Star Miscanthus herb was frighteningly cheap. It costed one act tough point for ten bunches!
"Brother Hua, how about this, we’ll go find the others and discuss. If the six of us form a group, the chance of us finding the Star Miscanthus will be much higher." Zeng Fan Rong suggested.
Xu Que waved his hand in rejection, "No need to. The both of us will be enough."
"Huh?" Zeng Fan Rong stared blankly.
Xu Que slightly smiled, "If Brother Zeng trusts me, you definitely will not regret."
"This…" Zeng Fan Rong hesitated.
If this stage was a group battle, he wouldn’t think twice about grouping with Xu Que alone. But since the task was to search for the medicinal herb, the more people, the higher their chance of finding it.
"Brother Zeng, you need not feel troubled. After all, this test depends on one’s fortune and luck. I personally am used to moving alone. I shall take my leave first. Oh yes, if you are interested, you can join my Heaven Explosion Faction." After finishing, Xu Que said his goodbyes and walked into the Spell area alone.
Left with a stumped expression, Zeng Fan Rong thought, "Heaven Explosion Faction? What a weird name and why haven’t I heard of it before?"
At that moment, Xu Que had already entered the protective screen and ended up behind the Spell.
One could describe what he saw as ‘a sea of people’.
The entire mountain top was filled with people ranging from Core Bearing Stage to Golden Core Stage cultivators. There was even a small fraction of Original Infant Stage Cultivators. All of them had rushed to partake in this Contest.
Xu Que was startled. Is the Sky Incense Valley really so popular? The number of people registering in this single Contest Area was almost as many as the total population of the entire Celestial Sect!
Amongst the crowd, several green robed cultivators could be seen issuing participating cultivators a wooden tablet each. Each tablet had a number carved on it, which was for the convenience of recording participants’ progress.
Xu Que looked and realized that there was a Registration Point just in front and he walked towards it.
The Registration Point was also filled with many people. The queue was very long and there were many surrounding cultivators trying to look for a group.
Xu Que thought for awhile and decided not to cut the queue. After all, he felt that he was a civilized and well-mannered individual. And so, he willingly joined the back of the queue.
Although there were many people in the queue, most of them were already in groups of six. Upon getting their wooden tablets, they left the queue in a hurry.
Before long, Xu Que had reached the front of the queue.
At this point, a few tall and sturdy figures abruptly appeared right beside Xu Que.
Before Xu Que could say anything, he heard a low pitched voice , "Lad, if you are smart, you will move away. If not, when we enter the mountain valley to find the medicine, I will make you suffer."
"Idiot, get lost!" Xu Que replied.
He glanced at the few of them and was too lazy to reason with them any further.
The opposition were around level 8 or 9 of the Golden Core Stage. Although there were six of them, Xu Que could crush them with his finger if he wanted to.
After hearing Xu Que’s reply, the six of them became furious. One of the burly men reprimanded, "I dare you to say it one more time!"
Oh yeah!
Xu Que was overjoyed. He actually managed to find someone who enjoyed being scolded? Alright, I shall oblige you.
"May your mum explode to death, your father is already dead. Get out of my way!" He rapidly let out a chain of insults.
"You shameful being, you’re itching to die!" The burly man refuted furiously, raised his fist and was about to fight.
However, he was held back by his group.
Many surrounding cultivators started to crowd around. Some were curious, some were here to witness others’ misfortune and some were here to join in the fun.
At the same time, a green-robed Original Infant Stage disciple hurriedly walked over and frowned, "No one is allowed to make a racket in this area. This is a warning. If there is a next time, all of you shall be disqualified."
After that, he fiercely stared at the burly man and Xu Que before slowly turning to leave.
The burly man stared coldly at Xu Que and revealed an eerie smile, "Lad, you are done! When we enter the mountain valley, no one will be able to protect you." Finishing his words, he ended by tauntingly patting Xu Que’s shoulder, and left.
"Argh!" Suddenly, Xu Que let out a piercing scream.
Under the eyes of everyone, like a kite with a broken string, Xu Que abruptly flew backwards and landed on an empty space. His palms were tightly gripped around his shoulders, which the burly man tapped. His face was pale and filled with various expressions of agony, grievance, anger, unwillingness, and… most of it was just grievance!
"Whoosh!" In a flash, the Original Infant stage disciple in green robes returned and appeared between Xu Que and the burly man. His face was utterly displeased and he asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"
Xu Que who was lying on the ground, raised his arm with "extreme difficulty", and shakingly pointed at the burly man with a dying expression. He angrily exclaimed, "This… this man is vicious. I didn’t let him cut the queue and… and I didn’t think that he would… mount a surprise attack on me!"
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