"Now begins the second trial. Sorry for the trouble, junior brothers—join me in activating the Illusion Array."
No sooner had Elder Jingyun finished speaking than the four Bodhi Temple elders—Jing Fa, Jing Shan, Jing Shui, and Jing Kong—walked out from the Warrior Monk Institute's main hall.
"We obey Senior Brother Jingyun's command."
The four elders, together with Elder Jingyun, struck out in unison and activated the Illusion Array.
Brilliant multicolored light surged from the gray bricks of the courtyard before the Warrior Monk Institute's hall.
In mere moments, it enveloped the entire courtyard.
"Break free from the illusion. The first two hundred to enter the main hall may join our Warrior Monk Institute."
As Elder Jingyun's words fell, Jiang Chuan felt the world spin around him.
The next instant, Jing Hui, the Warrior Monk Institute, and everything else vanished without a trace, replaced by a dense forest.
All Jiang Chuan could see were towering ancient trees.
Their bark twisted like coiling dragons, while their branches stretched toward the sky and blotted out the blazing sun.
It gave off a desolate, primordial feeling.
"A familiar scene. Since it's Snatching Life from the Tiger's Jaws, taking one of the top three should be as certain as nails driven into a board." Jiang Chuan's thoughts churned.
"ROAR!!!"
"Help! Can anyone save me?!"
Along with a deafening roar, frantic cries reached Jiang Chuan's ears.
Jiang Chuan immediately sprinted toward the sound.
Before long, a tiger demon nearly five meters long appeared in his sight. Its body was snow-white, streaked with golden patterns.
On an ancient tree before the fierce tiger, a middle-aged man in blue cloth garments clung to a branch and cried out for help without pause.
When he saw Jiang Chuan approach, the man shouted in delighted surprise, "Little Master! Little Master! Save me!"
"I'm a wealthy merchant from the city. If you save me, I can give you mountains of gold and silver. I can even marry my beautiful daughter to you."
Jiang Chuan: "..."
Could you make it any faker?
Even if this was an illusion, couldn't they at least put in a little more effort?!
A wealthy merchant had come to this godforsaken wilderness alone? He should at least have brought some guards, right?
And what wealthy merchant wore plain cloth?
If he had truly saved someone like this in the Qingyuan Realm,
forget mountains of gold and silver—Jiang Chuan figured he would be lucky to get even a single silver ingot.
"ROAR!!!"
The tiger demon roared and turned to look at Jiang Chuan.
"Little monk, are you going to save him?"
Jiang Chuan pressed his palms together. "Amitabha! Saving one life is worth building a seven-tiered pagoda. This little monk naturally must save this benefactor."
"Saving one life is worth building a seven-tiered pagoda."
The tiger demon's thick tail slammed into the ground with a bang.
"Little monk, answer me this: does the life of us demons count as a life?"
"Of course it does." Jiang Chuan answered without hesitation.
"If I don't eat people, I'll starve to death. If you save him, then I must die."
The tiger demon fixed Jiang Chuan with an unblinking stare. "Then why save him and not me? Is it because I'm not human? Or because a demon's life does not count as a life? Or are you saying that the compassion of your Buddhist sect is nothing but false compassion?!!"
The tiger demon's voice grew louder and louder, until his final words boomed like great bells and massive cauldrons.
"Tiger Benefactor, you really do have quite a lot of questions."
Jiang Chuan looked at the tiger demon with a smile, then gripped the hilt of the precept saber at his waist.
"But answering questions isn't what this little monk is good at."
"Then what are you good at?" the tiger demon asked.
"This little monk is good at solving the demons and devils that create problems."
The precept saber in Jiang Chuan's hand suddenly left its sheath.
He drove the Demon Slaying Saber to its utmost limit, and the bright, snowy blade of the precept saber turned blood-red.
The blood-red blade seemed to have gathered all the killing intent of the Infernal Purgatory, incomparably grim and cold!
As Jiang Chuan swung it, the blood-red precept saber descended toward the tiger demon like a streak of bloody lightning.
"This slash!"
The tiger demon's eyes widened like bronze bells.
Jiang Chuan's slash had far exceeded his expectations.
Comprehending Golden Wind's great-completion saber intent of the Demon Slaying Saber had further deepened Jiang Chuan's understanding of the technique. He was now only one step away from great completion.
Jiang Chuan was confident that if he struck with all his strength, a single slash would be enough to kill a third-realm demon beast!
This was also the source of his confidence in claiming one of the top three spots!
Splurt!
Fresh blood sprayed through the air as the tiger demon's enormous five-meter body was cleaved directly in two by Jiang Chuan.
At the same time, outside the Warrior Monk Institute's Illusion Array.
Elder Jingyun looked at the brilliant multicolored bubble above Jiang Chuan's head.
Upon closer inspection, Jiang Chuan was confronting the tiger demon within the bubble.
"This little fellow—is he the disciple you think so highly of, Senior Brother Jingyun?"
Elder Jing Fa, bare-chested and barefoot, with a string of jade prayer beads in hand, asked Elder Jingyun.
Elder Jingyun nodded. "Jiang Chuan's aptitude is excellent. He could master the Arhat Subduing Tiger Fist after seeing it three times. I believe he has a strong chance of entering Arhat Hall in the future."
"He could master the Arhat Subduing Tiger Fist after seeing it three times?"
Surprise appeared on Elder Jing Fa's face. "To think he possesses such aptitude. No wonder he has earned Senior Brother Jingyun's esteem. However, this little fellow's luck is rather poor. Snatching Life from the Tiger's Jaws could rank among the top three of all the illusions."
Grim, icy killing intent surged out like a tidal wave, like winter winds howling in every direction, cutting Elder Jing Fa off mid-sentence.
"This is?!"
Elder Jing Fa's heart jolted, and he uttered five words in disbelief: "The Demon Slaying Saber?!"
"It's the Demon Slaying Saber! And it's a Demon Slaying Saber approaching great completion!"
"To cultivate the Demon Slaying Saber to such a realm at such an age—the younger generation is truly formidable! Truly formidable!"
Elders Jing Shan, Jing Shui, Jing Kong, and the others all exclaimed in amazement.
At this moment, a towering wave also surged through Elder Jingyun's heart.
"Jiang Chuan took the 'Wish-Fulfilling Heart Sutra' from the Scripture Repository. How did he learn the Demon Slaying Saber? Could it be..."
He had secretly learned it!
At that thought, Elder Jingyun's gaze turned cold.
"Secretly learning divine abilities and cultivation arts is a grave crime. If Jiang Chuan's Demon Slaying Saber was truly learned in secret, then as an elder of the Warrior Monk Institute, I must punish him severely!"
The instant he killed the tiger demon, everything before Jiang Chuan vanished.
Then, the multicolored courtyard shrouded by the Illusion Array appeared before his eyes once more.
"Half real, half illusion—a dream of Nanke."
After glancing at the multicolored bubble above Jing Hui's head, Jiang Chuan walked toward the main hall.
Within the bubble, Jing Hui carried medicinal herbs on his back as a group of monkey demons chased him. Then his foot slipped, and he rolled down the mountain like a snowball.
He was battered until his face was bruised and swollen, utterly bedraggled.
"What a pity I didn't bring a recording stone. Otherwise, with just this one piece of leverage, I could hold the future closed-door disciple of an Arhat Hall elder, the cultivator of the Star Nirvana Sutra, and the strongest contender for Buddha Son in the palm of my hand for the rest of his life."
As he thought, Jiang Chuan passed through row after row of people, left the Illusion Array, and arrived before the Warrior Monk Institute's main hall.
When he entered the ancient and solemn Warrior Monk Institute hall and saw that it was completely empty, Jiang Chuan was immediately overjoyed.
At that moment, only one thought remained in his mind.
"Not top three—first place!"
Before you continue