Ye Xiwen moved at incredible speed, his figure unrestrained and graceful, truly like a heavenly immortal taking strides. As he strolled through the courtyard with leisurely steps, he had already completely passed the third and fourth groups of Houtian Eighth Stage martial artists.
His speed grew faster and faster, leaving everyone else in the dust. Before long, he caught sight of the second group, where the Houtian Ninth Stage martial artists were gathered.
Just as those in the second group were running with their heads down, trying to catch up to the eleven people in the first group, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded behind them. Turning around, they saw Ye Xiwen charging straight toward them at an astonishing speed.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Xiwen's figure flashed through their midst like lightning and flint, leaving everyone staring dumbfounded.
These people were undoubtedly the cream of the crop. None of their movement techniques were poor, and quite a few had even cultivated intermediate movement techniques to the minor mastery realm. Yet before Ye Xiwen's lightning-fast speed, they were utterly eclipsed and simply no match for him.
Before they could make any move at all, Ye Xiwen had already overtaken them. Having successfully passed the second group, he began chasing after the first group, neither hurried nor slow, always keeping the rhythm firmly in his own hands.
Though this was clearly a test of movement techniques, no points were being counted. What was the rush?
By then, Ye Xiwen had reached the middle of the mountainside. The entire area was shrouded in clouds and mist. Even with Ye Xiwen's eyesight as a martial artist, he could not see farther than ten meters. One careless misstep, and he would fall. From this height, even a Houtian Ninth Stage expert would have no fate but to be smashed to pieces.
Most people would slow down here, but Ye Xiwen was not afraid. Though Heavenly Immortal Steps was exceptionally fast for traveling, as though a heavenly immortal wandered at dawn through Cangwu and reached the Northern Sea by dusk, it was even better at maneuvering within a small area. Ye Xiwen had already cultivated Heavenly Immortal Steps to major mastery, so there was no chance of him falling.
After several leaps, the bends along the mountain path had been thrown behind him, and he plunged straight out of the mist-wreathed mountainside.
At this point, the backs of the first group could already be vaguely seen. Running at the very back was none other than Zhang Yuntian, who had challenged Ye Xiwen earlier.
Ahead of him were Qian Wanru, Wu Hao, Zhang Wenxiao, Zhang Ziqiu, and Zhang Guoqi of the Yi Yuan Sect. They were almost running shoulder to shoulder, with no clear order between them. Zhang Yuntian, meanwhile, lagged several positions behind, his movements somewhat unsteady. Clearly, his earlier match with Ye Xiwen had affected him greatly.
Zhang Yuntian heard the footsteps behind him and turned around in puzzlement. The moment he saw Ye Xiwen, his face changed drastically. "It's actually you, Ye Xiwen!"
He had been watching Ye Xiwen all along. Yet after the race began, Ye Xiwen had dawdled around in the back for some unknown reason and quickly fallen far behind, disappearing from sight. Zhang Yuntian had stopped paying attention to him. Though he did not know why Ye Xiwen had done that, catching up was nothing but a fool's dream. Who here was simple? Every one of them was outstanding, especially these top disciples. Which of them did not possess one or two ultimate arts? After falling that far behind, catching up would be impossible unless everyone in front died.
Yet he had never expected Ye Xiwen to truly catch up.
How could this be? How could his movement technique be so formidable? As Ye Xiwen drew closer and closer, Zhang Yuntian was seized by terror, waves crashing through his heart. What had left the deepest impression on him was Ye Xiwen's saber technique. Ye Xiwen's saber technique was simply too terrifying—ruthless and decisive, dazzling beyond compare. Among the younger generation of saber-wielding martial artists Zhang Yuntian knew, no one could stand shoulder to shoulder with Ye Xiwen.
But he had never expected Ye Xiwen's movement technique to be this terrifying as well. Only one's own family knew its own affairs; Zhang Yuntian understood his own movement technique well. He had cultivated an intermediate movement technique to major mastery. Even disciples at the Houtian Ninth Stage Peak might not be better than him, unless they relied on the difference in their cultivation to widen the gap.
But what kind of speed was Ye Xiwen displaying? He was actually drawing closer and closer. His movement technique was certainly more profound than Zhang Yuntian's, perhaps even a high-grade movement technique. Yet Ye Xiwen had cultivated it to an extremely profound realm, or else it could not possibly unleash such power.
In the instant of his distraction, Ye Xiwen caught up to him. Before long, he had passed this entire group and rapidly chased toward the foremost part of the first group.
By then, they were nearing the mountaintop. Ye Xiwen could already see the figures of several of the strongest disciples. Running in first place was, unexpectedly, Ye Xiwen's elder brother, Ye Feng.
Ye Feng led the way alone, wind seeming to rise beneath his feet. His movement technique was extraordinarily profound. Close behind were two Zhang Family disciples, Zhang Jingxin and Zhang Wu, followed by another Yi Yuan Sect disciple, Zhang Yang. Last was another Zhang Family disciple, Zhang Yuelian.
Ye Feng took several quick strides and surged forward, becoming the first among the younger disciples to reach the mountaintop.
The four elders were already standing atop the mountain, waiting for the disciples to arrive. Nothing on their faces revealed who had won or lost in the contest between the four of them earlier.
Seeing that Ye Feng was the first to arrive, the fat and thin elders smiled, clearly quite satisfied. In contrast, the two Zhang Family elders' expressions darkened slightly.
Then, just as Ye Feng stepped in, the second person arrived. It was Zhang Jingxin of the Zhang Family, only half a position behind Ye Feng, almost evenly matched. Zhang Wu followed right after, rushing to the mountaintop half a position behind Zhang Jingxin.
Next, Zhang Yang of the Yi Yuan Sect also rushed to the summit. Among the foremost disciples of the first group, only Zhang Yuelian had yet to enter. She was only several positions away and was just about to rush in.
Suddenly, a figure flashed like a bolt of lightning, instantly overtaking Zhang Yuelian and stepping onto the mountaintop before her.
"It's actually you!"
"Third Brother, it's you! Wonderful!"
That person was Ye Xiwen, immediately drawing cries of surprise from many people. It was not that they had failed to notice Ye Xiwen. On the contrary, they had been paying attention to him all along. From Zhang Yuntian, they had learned of Ye Xiwen and knew that he was a formidable opponent. Ye Xiwen had fallen far too far behind earlier and had dawdled for quite some time before beginning to run. Yet he had unexpectedly become the fifth to arrive.
The Zhang Family disciples in particular looked rather grim. They all thought that if Ye Xiwen had not dawdled at the beginning, how could they have had any chance to show off? The top two places would likely have been swept up by the Yi Yuan Sect.
However, no one dwelled on it for long. They all sat down cross-legged to recover their true qi. After racing all the way up, their true qi had nearly been exhausted.
Everyone, keep it up! A week has passed, and not only have we failed to improve, we have actually dropped another rank. How depressing. Xiao Chen will continue working hard this week, so everyone must work hard too!
Before you continue