Zhang Rongfang remained silent, gazing at the temple shrouded in mist before him.
"You!" Qing Su was immediately filled with anger and was about to step forward.
But Zhang Rongfang stopped him.
"What kind of test?"
A moment of silence fell over the temple.
"It's very simple," the first voice continued.
"The test consists of three steps."
"First, inside the temple, there is a Stone Censer. Eighteen sticks of incense are inserted into it."
"Our Golden Wing Tower prioritizes speed and agility. If you can extinguish all the incense sticks in one breath, you will pass."
Zhang Rongfang ignored the indignant Qing Su and stepped into the temple.
Passing through a rectangular stone gate, you enter a vast square overgrown with weeds and covered in moss.
The square was surrounded by collapsed temple buildings.
In the center stood a dark Incense Burner, more than three people tall. From a distance, one could see thick sticks of incense burning on it.
Apart from that, the surrounding area was completely empty, with no one in sight.
Zhang Rongfang squinted and counted; there were eighteen incense sticks in total, but unlike ordinary incense offerings...
All the incense sticks were of different heights; some were clustered together, while others were stuck on the edge of the Incense Burner, one here and one there.
If the incense sticks are neatly inserted together, even a skilled person can easily do it if they are accurate and fast enough.
But now, the incense sticks are crooked, uneven, and in different positions.
The difficulty suddenly increased significantly.
To extinguish all the incense sticks in a single breath. Qing Su felt a chill in her heart, but after a moment's thought, she knew she couldn't do it.
She is also at the Owl Rank, and her movement speed is not weak, but to do this, she must be extremely fast and accurate in her attacks, and she also needs to use tools.
The eighteen incense sticks glowed with eighteen dark red lights in the night.
Like the eyes of some eerie monster in the night, Hong Yan and chilling.
A gentle breeze blew by, and the incense sticks would occasionally glow and dim, making them appear even more unusual.
Zhang Rongfang slowly walked to the Incense Burner.
Trying to extinguish all the incense sticks in one breath is simply asking too much of anyone.
Whoosh! In a flash, he leaped up, tapping the outer wall of the Incense Burner with his hand, and used the momentum to climb onto the Incense Burner.
With a whoosh, his outer robe fell off and suddenly covered all the incense sticks.
One package, one tear, one slap with bare hands.
The leather part of the outer robe perfectly pulled out all the incense sticks, wrapped them up, and then Zhang Rongfang pressed them down with a palm.
All the incense sticks broke off completely, were wrapped inside the robe, and, without oxygen, gradually went out.
The whole process took exactly one breath.
"Is this alright?" Zhang Rongfang asked loudly.
The people deep inside the temple seemed to have no idea that he would use this trick to pass the test.
He paused for a moment, then spoke up.
"Although it deviates from our original intention, it is indeed considered that you have passed."
"So."
"The second test."
The voice continued.
"Inside the main hall of the temple, there is a Broken-Armed Buddha Statue. Please try to repair the broken arm within ten breaths. The broken arm and the adhesive are in the main hall. You need to find them as soon as possible and then find a way to restore it."
"Please don't blame us for coming up with this test."
My Golden Wing Tower specializes in intelligence gathering and assassination. What I just did was to test your speed and agility.
Now, it's time to test your intelligence-gathering abilities, and your ability to find alternative solutions when faced with difficulties.
Simply following the rules will not get you anywhere in the complexities of the outside world; only by breaking free from constraints can you accomplish what others deem impossible.
While explaining sincerely.
Zhang Rongfang and Qing Su had already walked up the stone steps and soon entered the main hall of the abandoned temple.
The main hall houses a Six-Armed Buddha Statue that is over five meters tall.
The Buddha has a serene expression, with eyes that seem to be smiling but are not. The whole figure is embedded in a round hole in the wall.
The walls surrounding the Buddha are also carved with rows and rows of small monks.
The monks all stood in neat rows, hands clasped in prayer, their expressions devout, like books displayed in a library.
On the left side of the main hall, the eaves have collapsed, and there are broken stones and tiles everywhere.
A beam of moonlight, like a stone pillar, was cast to the ground, becoming the only source of light for the entire hall.
To the right were dark stone walls and vines and tree roots. A rotten and dilapidated table stood there, with only two legs sticking up towards the sky.
As soon as Zhang Rongfang and his companion entered, they saw the six-armed Buddha statue.
Its arm was severed in three places, and its whereabouts are unknown.
How could one possibly find the severed arm and repair it within ten breaths?
This is simply impossible.
Zhang Rongfang looked around, his gaze sweeping across the dark hall.
It was so dark there that you couldn't see what was in the corners at all.
These three members of the White Eagle Lineage control half of the Golden Wing Tower's actual power in Tanyang.
In reality, the Golden Wing Tower does not have any actual headquarters.
Wherever there are people, that is the headquarters.
When these three join forces, they constitute half of Tanyang Branch.
Therefore, if he doesn't subdue these three, he won't be able to command their forces. In other words, he won't be able to control the branch.
"Shall we begin now?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Of course. You can start anytime," the voice replied.
Zhang Rongfang nodded and smiled slightly. He closed his eyes.
Thump.
The sound of his heartbeat flashed through his mind for a moment, forming a red waveform.
"My lord." Qing Su took a step forward, hesitating to speak.
Whoosh! In an instant, Zhang Rongfang's figure flashed, leaping high into the air like a large black bird.
With his robes billowing, he swooped down on the Buddha statue like a giant bat.
Bang!
The wall on the side of the Buddha statue's head was smashed, revealing a hole.
Shadow flashed by, leaving behind a winding line.
Behind the Buddha statue, three figures dressed in black robes and wearing black masks looked up in astonishment at the sky.
"I'm sorry, I can't fix the Buddha statue's arm."
Zhang Rongfang stepped on the wall with his toes and pounced on the three like an arrow, saying, "But I can deal with the person who raised the question."
Bang! The person directly in front of the three was caught off guard and hurriedly reached out to block.
His hands, clad in Steel Armguard, collided violently with Zhang Rongfang's Wish Wheel as it plummeted through the air.
In an instant, he was struck as if by lightning and staggered back more than ten steps.
Ouch! A mouthful of blood gushed from his mouth.
The man could no longer stand and knelt on one knee.
In the darkness, only a faint sliver of moonlight was reflected and illuminated by the Wish Wheel.
The other two instinctively gripped their knife hilts, ready to strike.
But unfortunately, it was all too late.
The strongest one was crushed in a single move.
The two stared in fear at the figure in the darkness, unsure of what to do.
They also obtained some intelligence about White Eagle. Judging from the battle record at Qinghe Temple, this person is clearly only at the Fourth Grade or Fifth Grade in strength!
How could this be?!
"Who exactly are you?!" The woman who had spoken earlier asked again, but this time, the mockery in her voice was completely gone.
All that remained was extreme tension and apprehension.
Zhang Rongfang mentioned the Wish Wheel.
Buzz.
The sharp Round Wheel began to spin at high speed.
Are you scared?
He asked softly.
In the darkness, both of them had tense muscles, and cold sweat kept seeping from their vests.
They didn't dare utter a sound.
"Perhaps you could try kneeling down and begging for my forgiveness."
"I don't believe it!! Just one person!!!" another person suddenly roared.
In the darkness, the twin swords suddenly shone with moonlight, transforming into two silver beams that slashed towards Zhang Rongfang.
Clang! Wish Wheel block the flash of the blade.
With a frenzied slashing of twin blades, Wuji unleashed his full range of thirty-six moves from the Autumn Wind Willow Swordplay, a style he was particularly skilled in.
The twin blades flashed like willow branches in the autumn wind—chaotic, gentle, yet deadly.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break through.
Zhang Rongfang simply moved the Wish Wheel casually, blocking all the attacks with one hand.
In the darkness, only a continuous series of clanging sounds rang out.
Tiny sparks occasionally ignited between the weapons.
"Kill!!"
Unwilling to accept defeat, Wuji combined the two swords into one and gripped them tightly with both hands.
The Breaking Limits move in the Autumn Wind Willow Swordplay, "Tangled Turmoil," suddenly explodes completely with a special breathing technique.
The silver blade light vanished abruptly at that moment.
The whistling sound in the air seemed to have completely disappeared, and only two deadly knife marks in the darkness fell silently and rapidly toward Zhang Rongfang's chest at an even faster speed than before.
Pfft!
In a split second, Zhang Rongfang smiled and took a step to the left, precisely avoiding the marks left by the two swords.
The blade was only a finger's width away from his neck and chest, but that finger's width felt like an insurmountable chasm.
"A good move. What a pity."
Laugh!!
Wish Wheel suddenly surge forward in the darkness, leaving a thin silver line in its wake.
A thin line traced across Wuji's chest.
Everything quieted down again.
"It's a pity." Zhang Rongfang slowly turned around. "I don't like it."
Wuji dropped the twin swords in his hands to the ground, staggered forward two steps, and knelt down.
He covered his chest with both hands, but he couldn't stop the gushing blood from flowing out.
"You're so cruel!!"
Wuji struggled to utter three words before collapsing to the ground.
In his final moments, all he saw was the last person, Red Haze, silently kneeling on the ground, bowing and submitting to that person.
Under the pale moonlight, the Silver Wish Wheel seemed to be dyed blood red for a moment.
"You see, I love reasoning with people the most," Zhang Rongfang with a smile, wiping the blood off the Wish Wheel.
"People always need to learn to grow. You also need to learn how to get along with someone like me, right?"
The first to respond Zhao Tianming, was pale, his eyes flashing with struggle and helplessness, but he quickly gave up.
"What you say is absolutely right, sir!"
Despite being Fifth Grade, he couldn't even withstand a single move in that instant.
He knew exactly what this meant.
It should be noted that two of his Fifth Grade were Breaking Limits achieved through the Golden Roc Secret Record.
Therefore, he is confident that even when facing opponents of a higher rank, he can dodge and avoid them using his movement skills.
But just now, Zhang Rongfang's speed was so fast that he didn't even have time to react.
They were only stunned for a moment, and then they exchanged a move.
An immense force pressed down like a tidal wave.
Zhao Tianming sensed it clearly; that was not Fifth Grade at all! He had only ever witnessed that level of power and speed from Seventh Grade experts in the past!
This guy, this new White Eagle, has probably fooled everyone from the very beginning! "From today onwards, I will take over all affairs and personnel of the Tanyang White Eagle Lineage," Zhang Rongfang said calmly.
"Is everything alright?"
"Your subordinate greets Your Excellency!"
Red Haze immediately responded loudly.
Zhao Tianming remained silent for a moment, then finally lowered his head and knelt on the ground.
"Your subordinate greets Your Excellency."
Not far away, Qing Su found the small door she had circled around through, pushed it open, and saw this scene.
She covered her mouth in astonishment, staring in shock at the scene, not knowing what had just happened.
From the moment Zhang Rongfang broke through the wall to the moment it was completely over, it only took about half a minute.
In half a minute, it was all over.