Breaking Through

However, this was ultimately within the Azure Cloud Sect. They probably wouldn't dare go too far. Thinking this, Luo Zheng walked toward Mo Can.

Mo Can lay on the ground, his face deathly pale as he panted heavily. He said to Luo Zheng, "Brother Luo Zheng, keep running. I don't think I can get back up. What a shame. Normally, someone in the Bone Refining Realm only needs to run ten li. If I could just hold on for another one or two li, I'd be able to pass the Sea Trials..."

"I'm sorry. I dragged you into this." Luo Zheng's face was full of guilt. Indeed, someone had been looking for trouble with him, and Mo Can had been caught in the crossfire.

Mo Can waved his hand, his face filled with sorrow. "Forget it. This is my fate. Ever since I was born, I've been beset by misfortune. I've gotten used to it over the years..."

Mo Can seemed to have more behind his words. He had probably endured quite a few hardships in the past.

"Stand up!" Luo Zheng said sternly.

Mo Can shook his head and forced a bitter smile. "I can't get up."

"You haven't tried. How do you know you can't stand? We cultivate the martial path precisely to squeeze out the limits of our bodies. Who can reach the peak through a life of comfort?" Luo Zheng raised his voice.

Luo Zheng's words struck home, one after another.

Cultivating the martial path was never for glory, wealth, or illustrious power. It was for the ultimate strength of the martial path. This road was covered in thorns and destined to be extraordinarily difficult! That was why the most important thing was to surpass oneself and force oneself beyond one's limits.

Hearing Luo Zheng's words, Mo Can pondered for a while. The face that always wore a smile became unusually solemn.

Then he nodded. "You're right. If I give up this easily, I'm afraid I won't be able to enter the Azure Cloud Sect next time, or the time after that! I have to seize this opportunity. Only by entering the Azure Cloud Sect will I, Mo Can, have any hope of turning my fortunes around and making something of myself!" With that, Mo Can clenched his teeth and rose from the ground. Although his steps staggered, he ultimately steadied himself and slowly moved forward along the road.

There was only one li left ahead. The road was flat, but to Mo Can, it was as difficult as climbing a mountain of blades.

Luo Zheng slowed his pace and followed behind Mo Can, constantly encouraging him.

Mo Can had suffered internal injuries, and his stamina had been completely exhausted. He was practically on the verge of collapse, holding himself up entirely through sheer willpower.

Several times, Mo Can nearly fell. He bit his teeth until they drew blood, but in the end, he pulled through.

"Keep going! I can see the stone stele ahead!" Luo Zheng said. Not far in front of them stood a stone stele, with two large characters engraved on it.

Ten Li.

Ten li was the goal for those in the Bone Refining Realm. Once they crossed that distance, the jade pendant would change color.

Luo Zheng saw several cultivators in the Bone Refining Realm leave after crossing that mark. They had already passed the examination.

Hearing Luo Zheng, Mo Can's spirits lifted. From somewhere, a surge of strength emerged from his body, which had seemed to be running on its last flicker of oil. He actually broke into a small run.

When Mo Can crossed the Ten Li Stele, the jade pendant on his chest finally turned red. He had passed the Sea Trials!

He could hold on no longer and collapsed with a thud, sprawled on the ground. He couldn't even move a finger, but he still said to Luo Zheng, "Brother Luo Zheng, thank you..."

Luo Zheng nodded at him. Just then, a Flying Carriage flew over from the sky, and two examiners from the Azure Cloud Sect jumped down from it.

They glanced at Mo Can's jade pendant and announced that he had passed the examination. They then carried Mo Can onto the Flying Carriage. After taking a look at Luo Zheng, they quickly departed. The two examiners were somewhat bewildered as well.

Strictly speaking, everyone participating in the Sea Trials was a competitor, because there were still trials to come.

Who would be willing to help a competitor? This kid was quite the oddity.

Luo Zheng naturally had no idea what those examiners were thinking. Seeing that Mo Can had passed the examination, he felt a wave of relief.

Then he stepped forward as well, crossing the stele.

The moment he crossed it, his body sank, and he suddenly felt the pressure double.

"Two thousand jin of pressure..."

It turned out that the pressure on this road doubled every ten li. Luo Zheng took several steps to adjust, then moved his hands and feet. Two thousand jin of pressure still affected him to some extent, slowing his movements by more than half.

However, his physique was far beyond ordinary. Running ten li under this pressure would not be a problem.

Since he had slowed down to accompany Mo Can, he had wasted quite a bit of time. The Bone Refining Realm cultivators had passed the Sea Trials at the ten-li mark, while the Viscera Refining Realm cultivators had long since run ahead. Luo Zheng was the only one left on the road.

Maintaining an even pace, Luo Zheng jogged onward like a solitary traveler on the road.

After three li, Luo Zheng began to breathe slightly harder.

After five li, his breathing grew louder.

After eight li, his breath had become somewhat ragged. However, the goal was in sight. It looked as though he would pass the Sea Trials with ease.

But when Luo Zheng reached the nine-li mark, he saw four people standing ahead.

One of them was the burly man who had slammed his shoulder into Luo Zheng and Mo Can. The other three were unfamiliar faces, but judging by the aura they exuded, all three were undoubtedly in the Marrow Refining Realm.

After what had happened earlier, Luo Zheng naturally understood that these people would not let him pass so easily.

When he was still one zhang away from the four, a scholarly young man stepped forward and made a gesture forbidding passage. "Your Sea Trials end here. Don't go any farther."

They had not attacked him outright, which surprised Luo Zheng slightly. He pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Why do they end here? Who exactly sent you?"

The scholar smiled. "I have no need to answer that. You only need to know that this is your end."

All four of them were in the Marrow Refining Realm. Stopping a cultivator in the Viscera Refining Realm was far too easy.

A frustrated expression appeared on Luo Zheng's face. He muttered, "But I haven't passed the Sea Trials yet. What am I supposed to do?"

"That's your problem." After the scholar spoke, a trace of mockery appeared on all four faces. This kid was actually still thinking about the Sea Trials. He could keep dreaming.

At that moment, Luo Zheng suddenly looked toward the sky behind the four men and cried out, "Ah! The examiner is coming in a Flying Carriage!"

The Azure Cloud Sect's examiners still held some authority over them, and all four instinctively turned their heads.

In that instant, Luo Zheng suddenly broke into a sprint, charging forward.

The strength in his entire body erupted without warning. Like an arrow loosed from its string, he surpassed all four men almost instantly and shot ahead.

The four men turned around and saw nothing but empty sky. There was no Flying Carriage or examiner anywhere.

Realizing they had been tricked, the four immediately flew into a rage.

"You little cheat!"

"Hmph! You think you can outrun us?"

"Catch him! Break both his legs first and see where he can run then!"

Luo Zheng paid no attention to the voices behind him. With a faint smile on his face, he drove all his strength to the limit and ran wildly.

A li was only five hundred meters. At Luo Zheng's full speed, five hundred meters took only a few breaths.

Luo Zheng was extremely fast, but the four pursuing him were not slow either. The scholar seemed to cultivate some unknown technique. Cyan light flickered around him, and wind and thunder seemed to gather beneath his feet. He was even three parts faster than Luo Zheng and rapidly closed in on his back.

"A mere Viscera Refining Realm cultivator dares to play tricks on us? Before absolute strength, your little cleverness isn't worth shit! Azure Nether Luo Smoke Palm! Die!" The man pounced behind Luo Zheng. Cyan light flashed in his hand, and he struck out with his palm, landing squarely on Luo Zheng's back.

A full-force strike from someone in the Marrow Refining Realm was extraordinary.

That palm carried not only tremendous force but also strands of cyan smoke that were driven into Luo Zheng's body. The smoke was highly poisonous. Even an elephant would drop dead instantly after inhaling a breath of this Azure Nether Luo Smoke, let alone having it directly struck into its body.

"Heh, he won't make it two steps before he hits the ground!" The scholar was extremely pleased after landing his palm.

Unfortunately, the scene he imagined did not appear.

"W-What? How is this possible..."

The scholar's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

He had put all his strength into that palm. With the power of the Marrow Refining Realm, he could have smashed Luo Zheng's internal organs into minced meat, to say nothing of the lethal Azure Nether Luo Smoke contained within the strike.

Yet Luo Zheng acted as though nothing had happened. He continued sprinting forward, even using the force of that palm to increase his speed by another two parts.

What kind of monster is this kid?

The four men stared at one another, their faces filled with nothing but shock.

At that moment, Luo Zheng felt incredible.

Ever since Xie Lang's true fire had tempered his body, his physical strength had surged.

If cultivators in the Bone Refining Realm or Viscera Refining Realm hammered at him now, they probably wouldn't be able to produce even the slightest Warm Current.

Only attacks from cultivators in the Marrow Refining Realm were effective.

The palm just now had sent a Warm Current surging through him, cleansing his internal organs and making his breathing incomparably smooth, as though he had eaten an immortal pill.

As for the poisonous energy contained in that palm, it had not harmed him in the slightest. His body was like a Mysterious Artifact, naturally impervious to every poison. Who had ever heard of a Mysterious Artifact fearing poison?

The opportunity was rare. Knowing that the four Marrow Refining Realm cultivators behind him could hammer at him and help cleanse his internal organs, he even wanted to stop and let them beat him thoroughly before doing anything else.

However, Luo Zheng had already spotted the stone stele ahead. This should be the goal for the Viscera Refining Realm. As long as he crossed it, he would pass the Sea Trials.

I should turn the jade pendant red and pass the Sea Trials first, before anything unexpected happens. Luo Zheng abandoned the thought of stopping to be beaten and charged straight toward the stele.

Although the four men behind Luo Zheng pursued fiercely, he was only several zhang from the stele. He arrived almost in an instant, leaving them able only to watch helplessly as Luo Zheng crossed it...