Bloodcolor Mountain

After the aristocratic clan disciples went up the mountain first, it was the turn of the more than one thousand trial disciples.

There were more than ten paths on the south side of Bloodcolor Mountain. All the trial disciples spread out and climbed up from those small paths.

Luo Zheng walked at the back of the group without saying a word. He felt a little uneasy in his heart, not because he feared Wang Hengzhi and the Wang Family, but because he couldn't understand why Wang Hengzhi was willing to put in so much effort to help Luo Peiran.

Although Luo Peiran had the entire Luo Family as support behind him, a family from Chongyang County was just a small ant in the Imperial City, nothing at all. It was impossible for Wang Hengzhi to value anything of Luo Peiran's.

Why exactly? Luo Zheng couldn't figure it out.

As he was thinking, he suddenly saw a colorful light band appear on the mountain path ahead. The light band flickered, dreamlike and illusory, like the gate to a fairyland.

"This is the outermost Illusion Array. Passing through this light band is the real start of the Bloodcolor Trials," a trial disciple said, then walked forward. His body then strangely merged into the light band. Seeing this scene, the other trial disciples also entered one after another.

Luo Zheng didn't hesitate. He stepped into the light band, and the surrounding scenery suddenly changed!

"This is the Illusion Array?"

From the outside, the entire Bloodcolor Mountain was completely blood-red and very monotonous. But after entering the Illusion Array, the scenery inside changed in an instant.

Whether it was the tall trees on the mountain or the low shrubs and forests, the colors became rich. Although everyone knew that these scenes were actually illusions, created by activating a large Illusion Array using Crimson Illusion Sand.

But when you touched those trees and forests with your hands, whether it was the feel or the smell, they were lifelike, no different from the real thing.

Luo Zheng had just taken two steps when he heard a wild beast howling, followed by intense fighting sounds. Someone not far away had encountered an Illusory Beast.

He lightened his steps and detoured into the woods, just in time to see three people surrounding and killing a Level 1 Demon Wolf Illusory Beast.

The strength of a Level 1 Illusory Beast was low. Whether it was power or attack power, it was only equivalent to the Bone Refining Realm. The strength of those three people was not bad either; they had all entered the Viscera Refining Realm. Under the combined attack of the three, they quickly killed that Demon Wolf Illusory Beast.

When the corpse of the Demon Wolf Illusory Beast fell to the ground, it transformed into little bits of colorful light, floating up and slowly disappearing into the air.

And on the ground, a Green Crystal Shard was left behind.

"Haha, this Green Crystal Shard is mine!" One person rushed over and grabbed the shard in his hand.

"Why should it be yours? I also contributed just now," another person was unwilling to give in.

"Since that's the case, then let's rely on our own strength. If you have the ability, come and snatch it!"

Just now, these three people were working together to surround and kill the demon beast, but now they were arguing over this one Green Crystal Shard.

Seeing this scene, Luo Zheng shook his head and continued to walk deeper into Bloodcolor Mountain. He walked and stopped along the way, feeling a bit depressed because he hadn't even encountered a single Level 1 Illusory Beast.

The strength of the Illusory Beasts on the first layer of Bloodcolor Mountain was the weakest, and most people could handle them. Therefore, most people were unwilling to enter the second layer to take risks, which resulted in a situation where there were too many monks and too little porridge. As soon as an Illusory Beast appeared, someone would immediately rush to kill it.

For the sake of Green Crystal Shards, many people had already started fighting each other.

One hundred Green Crystal Shards were needed to pass the assessment. At this rate, there wouldn't be enough time to accumulate this number. Instead of fighting with others here, it was better to challenge a higher difficulty. Luo Zheng simply walked towards the depths of Bloodcolor Mountain.

Not long after, he entered the second layer of the Bloodcolor Mountain illusion.

Compared to the first layer, there were far fewer people in the second layer's illusion. The Level 2 Illusory Beasts in the second layer had strength roughly equivalent to the Viscera Refining Realm, suitable for people with some strength to challenge.

Luo Zheng had just wandered around for two circles, passing through a lush forest, when he suddenly heard a sharp cry in his ear.

Luo Zheng looked up and saw a Bristle Demon Monkey hanging on a large tree. The monkey's eyes emitted a reddish glow, staring intently at Luo Zheng.

He had seen pictures of this kind of demon monkey in books. This Bristle Demon Monkey was a type of demon beast from the Western Regions Oasis. He didn't expect that this kind of demon beast would be conjured in this Illusion Array. The Azure Cloud Sect's foundation was indeed profound, having Illusion Array masters with such extensive knowledge.

The Bristle Demon Monkey screeched at Luo Zheng a few times, then its belly suddenly caved in deeply, and then instantly expanded. The long, hard bristles on its belly shot out towards Luo Zheng like steel needles in a rain.

Luo Zheng's reaction was also quick. Almost instantly, he sprinted forward, while simultaneously punching the tree. Using this force, he leaped two zhang high and reached out to grab the Bristle Demon Monkey.

The Bristle Demon Monkey was extremely agile. It swung around on the tree, skillfully avoiding Luo Zheng's grab, and leaped from one tree to another.

Seeing that the Bristle Demon Monkey was about to escape, Luo Zheng's competitive spirit was also aroused. He didn't believe he couldn't deal with a Level 2 Illusory Beast.

Then Luo Zheng followed behind the Bristle Demon Monkey, constantly chasing it. The Bristle Demon Monkey's attack power wasn't that strong. Its main attack method was the bristles on its body, which were as hard as steel needles. However, Luo Zheng's body was as hard as a Profound Artifact, so he could completely ignore the bristle attacks.

The key was that this demon monkey was too good at circling around, swinging back and forth in the forest, and it was also slippery. Several times Luo Zheng was about to catch the monkey, but the demon monkey would strangely roll and slip away from his hand again.

After chasing for a while, Luo Zheng saw the situation ahead clearly and rushed forward first, spreading his arms and forcefully smashing into a large tree in front of him!

"Fall down for me!"

The thick tree, under Luo Zheng's forceful smashing, immediately broke into two sections from the middle, and then collapsed to the ground with a crash.

At this time, the demon monkey leaped up. It was about to jump onto this tree, but Luo Zheng smashed the tree down first. Without the tree to leverage, the Bristle Demon Monkey could only obediently fall towards Luo Zheng.

Luo Zheng had a smile on his face. This time, it couldn't escape.

However, the moment the Bristle Demon Monkey approached Luo Zheng, its reddish eyes revealed a fierce look, emitting squeaking sounds. Immediately, its entire body turned red, and the bristles all over its body stood up even more.

Luo Zheng, who had noticed the abnormality, suddenly felt a sense of danger. While protecting his head with both hands, his feet kept retreating.

He hadn't even retreated two steps when the Bristle Demon Monkey's body suddenly doubled in size and rapidly expanded.

"Bang!"

The Bristle Demon Monkey's body suddenly exploded, emitting a violent blast. A large pit was blown out of that spot on the ground, and the bristles on its body scattered in all directions with the force of the explosion.

The bristle needles shot out by the Bristle Demon Monkey before its death were extremely powerful. Many bristles penetrated Luo Zheng's skin and were embedded in him.

"I didn't expect a Level 2 Illusory Beast to have such great power when fighting to the death," this power completely exceeded Luo Zheng's expectations. After clicking his tongue in wonder, he pulled out the bristle needles from his body one by one. If he hadn't run fast just now and been hit by the Bristle Demon Monkey's explosion at close range, he would probably have been injured.

Although the grading of Illusory Beasts was similar to that of humans, many Illusory Beasts could unleash innate powers that humans could hardly match when facing a survival crisis.

After dealing with the steel needles on his body, Luo Zheng walked towards the large pit. In the center of the pit, he found a Yellow Crystal Shard. Only thirty Yellow Crystal Shards were needed to pass the assessment, which was much fewer than the number of Green Crystal Shards required.

However, the demonic beasts they faced were also considerably stronger.

Just as Luo Zheng was about to put away the Yellow Crystal Shard, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Put down that shard and leave this place quickly!"

Hearing this, Luo Zheng frowned. He turned his head and saw three people. From their attire, Luo Zheng could tell that these three were Aristocratic Clan Disciples, possibly from the same family. Only Aristocratic Clan Disciples would dare to openly rob someone so rudely.

"I killed this Illusory Beast, so the shard naturally belongs to me. Why should I put it down?" Luo Zheng asked.

One of the Aristocratic Clan Disciples said, "Be smart and stop talking nonsense! If you anger our Fang Family, you won't even have a chance to regret it."

"My brother is right. Learn from the mistakes of others. Everyone who didn't listen to our Fang Family died miserably!" another Aristocratic Clan Disciple said.

"Hand over the shard, or die. Choose one!" the last Aristocratic Clan Disciple said.

Luo Zheng clutched the Yellow Crystal Shard in his hand, his face full of impatience. In fact, all the novelties he had seen since coming to the Imperial City had made him feel refreshed and happy, but these Aristocratic Clan Disciples left him speechless.

Putting aside the strength of these Aristocratic Clan Disciples, their arrogance was outrageous, reaching a level of blindness in Luo Zheng's opinion.

Perhaps the halo surrounding them since childhood made them forget that people feared their family, not them themselves.

So Luo Zheng put the shard into his pocket and prepared to leave without looking back. He couldn't be bothered to waste his breath on these guys.

But the three Aristocratic Clan Disciples obviously wouldn't let him go just like that. The three of them quickly rushed out, forming a triangle, and pounced towards Luo Zheng.

These three probably thought that since they were all in the Marrow Refining Realm, taking down Luo Zheng, who was in the Viscera Refining Realm, would be a simple matter.

But in Luo Zheng's eyes, the speed of these three was too slow. It was clear they had been raised on elixirs since childhood, lacking practical combat experience and training. Their movements had too many flaws.

At this moment, Luo Zheng had his back to the three. Just as the three pounced, he took a step back, easily avoiding their attacks. At the same time, with lightning speed, he circled behind them and grabbed the back of two of their necks with one hand.

"Let go of me! How dare you touch me! My Fang Family will grind your bones to dust!"

"Since I was a child, no one has ever dared to grab me like this! Even being cut into a thousand pieces wouldn't be enough to forgive you!"

The two of them looked panicked. They never expected to be so useless, completely unable to fight back against Luo Zheng. However, they did display the true nature of an Aristocratic Clan Disciple. Even with their necks grabbed, they could still spout such nonsensical threats, which could be considered a major instinct of theirs.

Hearing the words of these Aristocratic Clan Disciples, Luo Zheng sneered. He channeled strength into his arms and slammed the heads of the two together.

"Clang!"

Under such a violent impact, the two of them "died" on the spot. The two of them immediately began to disappear slowly, just like the demonic beast Luo Zheng had killed earlier, with a little bit of light enveloping them.

If they were outside the Bloodcolor Mountain Illusion Array, their heads would probably be like shattered watermelons right now, and they would definitely be dead.

Fortunately, this was the Bloodcolor Mountain Trials. Strictly speaking, everyone was an "illusion" relative to others, so they themselves were not harmed. Instead, they were enveloped by light, and once the people outside Bloodcolor Mountain transported them out, these two would be eliminated.

The original intention of the Azure Cloud Sect in designing the "Bloodcolor Trials" was actually this: the opponents in Bloodcolor Mountain were not only Illusory Beasts, but also other participants.

And the use of the Illusion Array effectively avoided death.

With two Aristocratic Clan Disciples eliminated, the remaining one still had a face full of fear. The arrogant and arrogant attitude from before had completely vanished. He took a few steps back, but his mouth was still muttering, "Our Fang Family... our Fang Family..."

"If you don't want to be eliminated, hand over all your Crystal Shards. No matter how powerful your Fang Family is, no matter how big their name, they can't save you now!" Luo Zheng said coldly, taking a step towards him.

The Fang Family Aristocratic Clan Disciple didn't say a word. After throwing out a handful of Crystal Shards, he turned and ran...

Luo Zheng shook his head helplessly. He didn't like to rob others, but there were always people who came looking for trouble.

He collected the Crystal Shards. Among them were twenty Green Crystal Shards and surprisingly seven Yellow Crystal Shards!

It seemed that robbing was indeed fast. Luo Zheng was even a little tempted. Compared to killing Illusory Beast after Illusory Beast, the efficiency of robbing was obviously much higher.

However, he quickly gave up on this idea. The ultimate goal of the Bloodcolor Trials was still the trials themselves.

While shortcuts could be taken, Luo Zheng would never give up the opportunity to train himself. Of course, if some ignorant guys came looking for him, he naturally wouldn't let them off.

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