Passing Three Trials in a Row

The guardian puppet of the fourth trial had become a mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm puppet. Both its strength and speed had undergone a qualitative improvement.

Of course, that was only relative. Compared to Lu Ming, it was still far too weak.

He was still knocked flat without the slightest suspense.

"What the hell? That approach speed, that pinning strength... How could such a formidable existence be in the last three groups?"

"I think I've seen him before. I remember now. At the Mission Hall last time, he accepted a third-level mission while only at the early Zhen Qi Realm. It was targeting the bandit Lan Wuying."

"Lan Wuying? Didn't they say his Master, Xiao Zan, had appeared too? I can't believe he actually made it back."

"Yeah, and he's already reached the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm."

Because they had reached the fourth trial, the rules had changed to first come, first examined. As a result, there were many spectators behind and beside Lu Ming.

Some of them had clearly recognized Lu Ming.

"Look at the swordsman. He didn't even draw his sword, yet he easily took down the puppet. Isn't that way too monstrous?"

Before long, they saw Zhu Ningyun's performance as well, and a wave of startled cries rang out.

And so, as time passed, Lu Ming and Zhu Ningyun advanced all the way like a hot knife through bamboo, arriving at the sixth trial.

This was a watershed, because the guardian puppets of this trial possessed the strength of peak mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm Martial Artists.

And there were two of them.

Thus, the number of people who reached this point had decreased drastically.

The passage entrances had also become five, further scrambling the people who entered.

Fortunately, many Steward Disciples continuously recorded the information and sent it to the elders, allowing the trials to proceed smoothly.

"Seventh person of the sixth group, Chu Yunxiao!"

Lu Ming encountered an acquaintance here. Back then, Chu Yunxiao had only been at the early Zhen Qi Realm, but now he had already reached the mid-stage.

Moreover, judging by his appearance, he had been in the mid-stage for some time, and his aura was exceptionally steady.

He slowly walked out with a long sword in hand, then held his breath and focused his mind.

Crack!

Sensing someone's appearance, the eyes of the two puppets lit up at once. They closed in from the left and right.

Chu Yunxiao moved as well. He suddenly sprang into the air, then drew his sword midair and shot out a startling sword light toward one of the puppets.

"That's Chasing Stars and Seizing the Moon from the Flying Star Sword Technique!"

Someone immediately recognized the sword move he had used.

With a bang, the sword light struck the chest of the puppet closing in from the right, knocking it back several steps.

Taking advantage of this opening, Chu Yunxiao flashed toward the puppet charging from the left. Using his long sword in tandem with his fists, he knocked it down.

Then he turned to face the other puppet as it charged again, and quickly beat that one to the ground as well.

Just like that, the two puppets possessing peak mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm strength were defeated one by one.

His strength was clearly extraordinary.

"Passed!"

The elder in charge nodded at him and let him proceed to the next trial before calling the next person.

After calling more than twenty people in succession, he finally called Lu Ming.

"Sixty-ninth person of the tenth group!"

"The tenth group?"

Hearing the elder's voice, everyone could not help staring blankly.

"I didn't hear wrong, did I? The tenth group has more than nine hundred people. Most of them only entered the inner sect recently. How could he have made it here?"

"Look, he's at the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm."

Lu Ming walked out, and everyone saw his cultivation realm.

"I see. Then it isn't strange. But why did he cultivate so quickly?"

"He probably took some kind of pill. After all, some people will stop at nothing to pursue a faster cultivation speed, even at the cost of their potential."

"Let's wait and see."

Lu Ming turned a deaf ear to the discussion. He walked forward, nodded to the elder in charge, then suddenly flashed forward, arriving before a puppet with the latecomer overtaking the early bird, and slapped it to the ground.

Then he instantly used Whirlwind Sweeping Leaves Leg, turning into a blurred afterimage and reaching the other puppet in the blink of an eye.

His kick struck it squarely in the chest and sent it flying.

He dealt with them smoothly. The entire process flowed like running water, effortless and unrestrained to the extreme.

Hiss!

Seeing Lu Ming's sequence of moves, everyone was left dumbfounded.

"My goodness, that was so easy. It certainly doesn't look like he raised his strength by taking pills."

"Good, passed!"

At first, the outer-sect elder in charge had made the same guess as the others, assuming Lu Ming had taken some kind of pill to raise his cultivation.

Now he could confirm it. He absolutely had not.

"Next, ninety-second person of the tenth group, Zhu Ningyun!"

"Huh? She's Zhu Ningyun?"

"Yeah. I'd heard of her long ago, but I've never actually seen her."

Compared to Lu Ming, the crowd clearly had far fewer doubts about Zhu Ningyun. Who could blame them? She was simply too famous.

"The four hundred and fifty-sixth. Good, go inside and wait."

The moment Lu Ming stepped into the seventh trial, an elder at the entrance began counting.

It turned out that after reaching this trial, they had to wait until everyone behind them had finished being examined and no one else entered before the trial could begin.

Being the four hundred and fifty-sixth meant that four hundred and fifty-five people had already reached this place before him.

They still needed to be further filtered down to three hundred.

Lu Ming walked inside and saw that the top ten figures of the inner sect were also waiting there.

His arrival did not attract much attention. After all, there were quite a few mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm cultivators here.

There were even several early-stage Zhen Qi Realm cultivators present, and they drew far more attention than he did.

Li Biehe, however, paid particular attention to him.

The moment he saw Lu Ming appear, his brows furrowed. "I didn't expect this fellow to be fairly strong. He actually made it to the seventh trial."

"Hmph, the puppets in this trial are at the late-stage Zhen Qi Realm. This is as far as he'll go."

"No, that won't do. If he doesn't pass, how can I encounter him in the arena battle and openly beat him until his arms and legs are broken?"

His thoughts churned endlessly.

Lu Ming naturally had no idea what others were thinking, nor did he know about Li Biehe's inner conflict. But even if he had known, he would not have cared, because it was still unknown who would beat whom.

At present, he was reminiscing with Chu Yunxiao.

"I didn't expect that after not seeing you for so long, you'd already reached the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm."

Looking Lu Ming over, Chu Yunxiao's eyes held astonishment. During this period, he had been devoting himself to breaking through his realm and practicing martial arts, rarely leaving the house.

Thus, he did not know what had happened with Lu Ming.

He had inexplicably received two additional rewards, though, which faintly made him feel that they were related to the person before him.

Now that he saw Lu Ming's cultivation speed, he was even more certain.

After all, although he did not know exactly how long Lu Ming had been cultivating, he knew that it had definitely been a very short time.

Otherwise, he would not have brought Lu Ming into the sect.

"You're not doing too badly yourself."

Lu Ming smiled and chatted with him about their recent circumstances.

Before long, Zhu Ningyun also entered the seventh trial.

Her arrival drew far more attention. Although she did not often show herself in the inner sect, many of those ranked near the top had seen her before.

Zhu Ningyun ignored everyone's gazes. After finding Lu Ming, she walked over to him.

Lu Ming naturally introduced Chu Yunxiao and Zhu Ningyun to each other.

Chu Yunxiao had naturally heard of Zhu Ningyun. In fact, he was the one who had told Lu Ming about her existence.

He had simply never had the chance to meet her. This time, he finally did.

He had not expected that she and Lu Ming already knew each other, and that their relationship seemed quite good.

It was somewhat unbelievable.

As for Li Biehe, when he saw Zhu Ningyun take the initiative to seek out Lu Ming, jealousy flared in his eyes like flames. "Damn it! You'd better be crippled by the puppets in the seventh trial and fail to pass. Otherwise, I'll definitely make you understand pain in the arena battle!"

His fists clenched tightly, leaving the people beside him baffled.

Before long, another short while passed. News came from outside that no one else was entering.

Thus, the seventh trial began. There were a total of four hundred and seventy-eight people, and another one hundred and seventy-eight had to be eliminated before the preliminary selection would end.