Mystic Water Spirit Body

Feng Ran spotted the flying sword, and his pupils shrank.

To control a flying object, one needed to be at least at the fourth level of Qi Gathering!

How was that possible? He had never heard of any new disciple reaching the fourth level of Qi Gathering this year besides the three Spirit Body cultivators.

Shocked as he was, Feng Ran reacted quickly, immediately raising his long sword to block.

However, Chen Xuan's flying sword came too fast and too fiercely.

"Clang!"

With a sharp ring, Feng Ran's long sword barely blocked the flying sword's thrust, but the enormous force attached to it numbed his arm and sent him staggering backward against his will.

Seizing the fleeting opportunity, Chen Xuan unleashed Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms. The clouds around them instantly transformed into several tough ribbons, darting out like spirit snakes from their lairs. Before Feng Ran could regain his footing, they wrapped him up like a mummy.

"Ugh...!"

Feng Ran managed only a muffled groan before he could no longer move. His eyes were filled with disbelief and unwillingness. He had never expected to lose so quickly, subdued in a single exchange.

Chen Xuan wasted no time. He quickly went over to Feng Ran, found his Storage Bag, took out all the tokens inside and put them away, then stuffed the Storage Bag back into Feng Ran's arms.

The whole process took only a few short breaths.

After succeeding, Chen Xuan noticed that the pillar of light above Feng Ran's head had disappeared.

Hmm?

Chen Xuan was puzzled for a moment.

Then he understood. The pillars of light probably weren't locked onto everyone.

And with the more than two hundred tokens in Feng Ran's Storage Bag, Chen Xuan immediately guessed that the pillars of light might be tracking disciples who held a large number of tokens.

Chen Xuan's eyes lit up. If that was really the case, it could hardly be better news.

Right after that, Chen Xuan swept his gaze around and locked onto the nearest pillar of light. He used Flowing Cloud Moon-Stepping, his figure darting away like the wind before quickly vanishing among the trees.

Outside, at the plaza.

The disciples watching Chen Xuan's screen fell silent.

They had indeed realized over the past few days that Chen Xuan was formidable. They just hadn't expected him to be this formidable.

It was also the first time they had seen Chen Xuan control a flying sword.

Only now did they learn that he had already reached the fourth level of Qi Gathering.

And he might be the only one at the fourth level of Qi Gathering besides the three Spirit Body cultivators.

"Why do I get the feeling... that if those three fought him one-on-one, they might not be able to beat Li Feiyu?"

Someone suddenly spoke.

Ever since Chen Xuan had made up a name, these victims of his had actually believed it.

Silence fell all around. Well, they couldn't deny it—they were starting to think the same thing.

Inside the secret realm.

After Chen Xuan had gone far away, the clouds dissipated.

Feng Ran sat on the ground, still a little dazed.

He'd been hearing for days about someone who liked ambushing disciples and tying them up like dumplings, but he'd never taken the rumors seriously.

Now that he'd run into him, he was completely dumbfounded.

Feng Ran looked at his Storage Bag. Not a single token had been left for him.

It hurt!

Those were more than two hundred tokens—over two thousand Contribution Points!

"Damn, what a bastard... Li Feiyu, you bastard... Wait, where's Yellow Maple Valley? Is there a valley like that in the sect?"

Feng Ran got to his feet, grumbling. Then, as he kept cursing, he suddenly froze.

He'd never heard of Yellow Maple Valley.

But maybe that was just because he hadn't heard of it.

After all, he'd only joined the sect three months ago, and he'd spent those three months cultivating. Otherwise, he wouldn't have reached the third level of Qi Gathering by now.

So it was normal for there to be places in the sect he hadn't heard of.

Feng Ran stopped dwelling on it, swept his gaze around, picked out a pillar of light, and headed after it.

There were still three days left in the trial.

Though he'd lost all his tokens, he couldn't just give up—not if he wanted tokens or a good trial ranking. So he had no choice but to take other people's.

At the plaza outside, the other newly admitted disciples also had no idea that Yellow Maple Valley didn't exist at all.

After all, they'd only joined the sect three months ago. They all thought it was normal not to have heard of a place.

Most of them knew only the Cloud Sea Nine Heavens by now.

That meant Divine Firmament, Azure Firmament, Jade Firmament, Cinnabar Firmament, Radiant Firmament, Jasper Firmament, Gem Firmament, Purple Firmament, and Grand Firmament.

The Cloud Sea Nine Heavens could also be called the Cloud Sea Nine Peaks. They were the nine main branches of the Cloud Sea Sect and its core.

Places like halls and valleys all belonged under the Cloud Sea Nine Heavens.

Outside the great hall.

The three elders watched this scene.

"This kid really is interesting."

Elder Zhang said with a smile.

"Junior Brother, you can't compete with me for him."

Elder Xie hurriedly replied.

"Senior Brother, don't worry. I won't go back on my word."

Elder Zhang smiled and shook his head.

Inside the secret realm.

Chen Xuan's actions became much easier after that.

During the first few days, he'd had to find ways to track people down. Now, whenever he went looking, he found someone right away—and they all had plenty of tokens.

Once he found someone, he struck cleanly and decisively.

Flying sword attack, seize the chance to wrap them up like a mummy, take their tokens, and leave.

That was the whole routine.

He could take down almost one person every hour.

The only reason it took an hour was that he had to travel between targets.

At the fourth level of Qi Gathering, going without sleep for a few days was no big deal.

Chen Xuan planned to spend these final three days looking for people nonstop.

In the blink of an eye, it was the tenth day.

The trial would end tomorrow at the hour of the Snake. Once the time came, they would be teleported out.

Chen Xuan also stepped up the pace of his hunts.

At that moment, Chen Xuan was pursuing a pillar of light.

The pillar seemed to notice him chasing it. Instead of fleeing, its bearer charged toward him.

A smile spread across Chen Xuan's face. Good. He liked fellow disciples who didn't run and came straight at him.

Before long, they met.

At first sight, Chen Xuan recognized him.

Shen Xinghe, one of the three Spirit Body cultivators.

He possessed the Mystic Water Spirit Body, a Spirit Body particularly well suited to the Cloud Sea Sect.

When Shen Xinghe saw Chen Xuan, he said nothing and immediately sent his flying sword shooting toward him.

Chen Xuan responded by urging the Floating Cloud Sword to meet it.

The two flying swords clashed in midair, ringing with a crisp metallic impact.

Shen Xinghe was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected his opponent to be at the fourth level of Qi Gathering too.

But this wasn't the time to be surprised. Shen Xinghe grew serious.

Chen Xuan controlled his flying sword to engage Shen Xinghe while he turned his thoughts and unleashed Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms.

Clouds billowed all around them, swiftly condensing into several long cloud-swords that attacked Shen Xinghe from different directions.

Shen Xinghe reacted quickly and immediately used his own Dao Technique to defend.

Clouds billowed around him as well, condensing into one cloud-sword after another in an attempt to fend off the incoming blades.

"Your Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms is impressive," Shen Xinghe said gravely.

He could feel how solid and keen the long swords formed from his opponent's clouds were.

He possessed the Mystic Water Spirit Body, which enhanced the power of Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms.

Yet even so, he was only managing to fight Chen Xuan to a draw.

"Likewise."

Chen Xuan replied briefly, never slowing his hands.

He controlled the cloud-swords, constantly changing their angles of attack, while the Floating Cloud Sword pressed from the front, putting Shen Xinghe under immense pressure.

Though Shen Xinghe's Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms was powerful, he began to struggle against Chen Xuan's continuous attacks with his mastery-level Flowing Cloud Myriad Forms, and fell into a disadvantage.