Capsizing in the Gutter, Watching from the Wall

The Sword Qi swept through everything in its path, shattering the two skeletons carrying the sedan chair into pieces.

The paper figures on the sedan chair naturally turned into ashes.

But amidst the flying ashes, another figure appeared on the street, and judging from his appearance, it was none other than the guy who had been riding in the sedan chair just now.

The man was frowning, staring intently across the street.

A woman dressed in white with a silver crown in her hair walked out slowly, brandishing her sword, and stood at the crossroads.

She stared coldly at the paper Immortal cultivator and spoke:

"This humble Zong Qingxue, has been waiting here for fellow Daoists of the Withered Bone Abbey Temple for quite some time."

Immortal cultivator Withered Bone Abbey Temple had grim expressions, realizing that their scheme to Li Mountain had been seen through by this woman.

However, after looking around, he saw that only Zong Qingxue had come out, and he chuckled, his voice like a snake's hiss:

"Ridiculous! You alone? You dare to ambush me?"

Click!

As soon as the words were spoken, a pile of white skeletons staggered out from all directions at the entrance of the market.

In an instant, the Yin Qi and corpse energy at the scene rose up.

The Immortal cultivator of the Withered Bone Abbey, seeing that they were being blocked, remained completely calm and simply decided to engage in a fierce battle with the woman surnamed Zong.

He then calmly added, "If Fellow Daoist Zong doesn't hurry, this market will be destroyed by the mob."

"What does it have to do with me!"

With a hissing sound.

The sword sliced through the air once more, lunging towards its opponent like a dragon.

On the other side.

Right there in the Lead Mountain Mine, the masters of the academy left, leaving behind a group of examinees.

The two envoys from the Immortal Sect had already briefly explained the rules:

"Zombie skeletons, also known as Unchanging Bone, often have bone in their throat area that is far superior to other parts of the body, making them extremely strong. Their Yin Qi does not dissipate, and they remain unchanged for hundreds of years."

You shall hunt these walking corpses here, using their Unchanging Bone as markers. Afterwards, rank them according to quantity and quality, and the top eighteen shall ascend the mountain.

After speaking, the two envoys from the immortal Immortal Sect sat cross-legged on the ground peacefully, ignoring everyone else and making no mention of time limits or anything like that.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Fang Shu and the others' expressions flickered. The moment the rules were finished being explained, some examinees rushed towards the dried-up skeletons in the mine.

Fang Shu walked among the crowd, neither too fast nor too slow.

He took the Long-Tongue Sword from his mouth, jumped down in front of a mummified corpse, and quickly broke its limbs and head to test its power. Then he searched around its neck.

These mummies were indeed different from living people; their blood was congealed, and their internal organs were no longer vital, except for their heads and necks. Furthermore, they contained "corpse poison."

Unfortunately, he did not find the so-called "Unchanging Bone" in the mummy's neck.

Realizing something, he immediately changed his target, switching to a mummified corpse with a strong aura of Yin Qi. He pounced on it and swiftly dealt with the corpse.

Only then did he pick out a piece of bone from the mummified corpse's throat, which was grayish-black in color, filled with Yin Qi, and as solid as steel.

Fang Shu looked around again and found that more or less, some other candidates had also taken out their Unchanging Bone and were examining them closely.

"It seems that not every mummified corpse possesses this 'Unchanging Bone' quality."

"Brother Zhao, how about we join forces? It's always better for two people to kill corpses than for one person to do it alone."

There were still whispers and murmurs in the room, and many people's faces showed interest.

Fang Shu heard this, but he merely shifted his gaze and immediately plunged into the depths of the mine to hunt zombies and skeletons alone.

He has his own natal insect embryo on his forehead, which can detect Yin Qi. In addition, he has Tagalong Insect and Breath-Holding Insect, which can help him find zombies and skeletons and suppress human energy, so he does not need to join forces with others.

On the contrary, if he joins forces with someone, he needs to be more cautious and wary of those behind him.

There were quite a few people in the room who made the same choice as Fang Shu.

Taking advantage of the abundance of zombies and skeletons on the surface of the mine, the lone wolves, like wolves among sheep, began a massacre.

Very quickly, in less than half an hour.

The zombies and skeletons that roamed the surface of Lead Mountain have been completely wiped out, leaving only broken bones.

The zombies and skeletons in Lead Mountain were clearly only used to gather Yin Qi and attract people, so they were nothing to the examinees at the third tribulation realm.

However, after the surface zombies and skeletons were cleared away, there were still many more zombies and skeletons in the densely packed mines beneath the surface.

Moreover, these zombies and skeletons are hidden deep underground, so they have a heavier Yin Qi, a higher probability of their Unchanging Bone, and are more ferocious.

With the opportunity to ascend the mountain and join the sect right before them, not a single candidate hesitated; they all chose to venture deep into the mines and hunt zombies and skeletons.

Once inside the mine, the environment is dark and the air is stuffy. There are even risks of poisonous miasma and cave-ins, which makes many Immortal cultivator feel uncomfortable and walk with trepidation.

However, none of these were problems for Fang Shu.

Once inside the mine, he sometimes relied on his natal insect embryo for guidance, and sometimes on his Tagalong Insect to scout ahead, reaping continuous rewards.

Very soon.

His satchel was completely filled; a rough estimate suggests there were at least thirty or forty Unchanging Bone inside.

Fang Shu simply rummaged through the mine and found a burlap sack, poured his own Unchanging Bone into it, carried it on his back with one hand, and continued walking through the mine.

As he collected more and more Unchanging Bone, the Yin Qi around him became increasingly dense and persistent, making it difficult even for the Breath-Holding Insect to contain it.

Each time you approach a zombie skeleton, the Yin Qi will startle it, sometimes even causing it to pounce out from a corner.

This caused Fang Shu some trouble, but it was only a minor one.

The real problem isn't actually these zombies and skeletons.

Suddenly.

A dark shadow swept past Fang Shu, but attracted by the Yin Qi emanating from Fang Shu, it immediately pounced on him like a dog that had caught a whiff of his scent.

Fang Shu noticed this and, without making a sound, led the other party around the mine, arriving at a location where they were unlikely to be ambushed.

Both sides stopped tacitly.

"Fellow Daoist, you have reaped great rewards. Why not share some with me to help me enter the sect?"

The man's face showed covetousness, and he immediately demanded it.

Facing the newcomer, Fang Shu smiled, threw the burlap sack on the ground, and without saying a word, flicked his Long-Tongue Sword and stabbed at the other party.

Its form was ghostly, and it charged towards the approaching person with devastating force.

"Enough talk, just do it!"

The newcomer's eyelids twitched, and a surge of blue light erupted from his body. His two sleeves flew out with a hissing sound, billowing like ribbons, to block Fang Shu's Long-Tongue Sword and also to obscure Fang Shu's vision.

The Tongue Sword and sleeves trembled, the fabric fluttering like falling leaves.

Within seven or eight breaths, a muffled groan suddenly rang out.

The man, his face contorted with rage, exclaimed, "Poisoned!? You despicable man, when did you poison me?"

"Trying to leave?" Taking advantage of his weakened Qi and Blood, Fang Shu, wanting to strike while he was ill, stabbed at the waist with a trembling Tongue Sword.

"For you!"

Left with no other choice, the man suddenly threw the Unchanging Bone in his hand at Fang Shu.

With a rip, the cloth strip tore, and the objects scattered.

Fang Shu slowly stopped, and the other party also slunk away into the mine, fleeing for their lives.

After confirming that the other party had left, Fang Shu let out a long breath, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"As expected of Immortal cultivator immortal who has participated in the Spring Examination and passed the first two rounds, their strength is completely different from that of Immortal cultivator in the wild."

He cautiously surveyed the caves to his left and right, noticing the faint, murky aura emanating from them. He then glanced at the Unchanging Bone on the ground and abandoned a certain thought that had been lingering in his mind.

The examinee who had just cut off his tail to save his life had obtained less than a third of the Unchanging Bone from his body.

Although he has only encountered this one so far, Fang Shu guesses that his gains are among the top of all the candidates, and it should be no problem for him to be admitted to the Immortal Sect.

Rather than trying to snatch the Unchanging Bone from others, he'd rather continue collecting it himself, as that would be less risky and prevent him from being caught off guard.

So, what happened next?

Fang Shu continued wandering around the Lead Mountain Mine, where he encountered ambushes and was even being watched by multiple people.

Fortunately, because he is cautious enough and his Law Power is not weak, no one has been able to force him to use his trump card or cut off his tail to survive.

As the number of zombies in the underground mine dwindled, the battles among the examinees in the tunnels became increasingly fierce.

Every so often, Fang Shu could sense the atmosphere of a fight breaking out.

Furthermore, he suspected that everyone's goal had unanimously shifted from hunting zombies and skeletons to hunting other examinees.

In particular, disputes and divisions have begun to emerge among the teams that were previously allied together.

For example, at this moment.

Fang Shu was pondering whether he should escape the mine and return to the surface to report back.

After all, so far, he had only seen one person whose concentration of Yin Qi was higher than his own, and his gains should be enough to get him into a sect.

"Snort!"

The sound of arguing came from ahead again:

"Fellow Daoist Qin, you are being far too arrogant. I was the one who discovered this zombie first."

"Hmm? You found it, so it's yours? You named it Yingying."

"Sister Qin, you have plenty of Unchanging Bone, why bother with one or two?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu immediately raised an eyebrow. He had just run into an acquaintance who was having a fight.

However, with the selection process underway, he had no interest in watching the spectacle.

But just then, a loud shout suddenly rang out from ahead:

"Someone's there!"

Fang Shu's heart tightened, thinking he had been discovered.

Qin Min, who was in the middle of it all, was instantly drawn to her teammates and looked around.

The result was that a flash of inspiration occurred among the members of her team.

With a soft "plop," she looked down at her feet in disbelief.

Suddenly, an iron object rose from the ground and, taking advantage of her momentary distraction, pierced right through the sole of her foot. At the same time, a numbing sensation quickly rose from the wound on her foot.

Not only that, but fragrant or cold winds immediately rushed towards her from three sides, as if to attack her and kill her on the ground.

This situation shocked and angered Qin Min. While dodging, she said incredulously:

"It's just an Unchanging Bone, why are you all so upset!"

Qi and Blood sway, spiritual light collides.

After ten breaths, the three who had joined forces seemed to have gained the upper hand, blocking Qin Min's retreat, before speaking:

"Hmph! Why would I? Who do you think you are!"

"Fellow Daoist Qin, you possess Spirit Root. Even if your grades are lacking, you still have your own path to immortality. We are different from you."

"Fellow Daoist, give up now. If you are willing to relinquish your wealth, we may spare your life. Otherwise, we already know all your tricks, how can you possibly escape with your life?"

Various words, some mocking and some manipulative, echoed from the shadows.

Fang Shu stopped and listened, his expression turning strange as he realized he had almost been fooled as well.

Immediately.

He silently mourned for Qin Min for a moment, then seized the excellent opportunity created by Qin Daoyou and, instead of taking a detour, rushed straight towards the nearby tunnel.

Fang Shu had already made up his mind to leave the dangerous mine immediately and return to the surface, lest things change if he delayed.

The men surrounding Qin Min were also taken aback.

"Who! Is someone really there?"

However, because Qin Min was in the net, even though they sensed the strong Yin Qi on Fang Shu's body, they all restrained themselves and did not chase after him, choosing to watch Fang Shu swagger away from them.

Sizzle!

Immediately afterwards, there was another sound of air being ripped apart, leaving the group even less time to pay attention to Fang Shu.

Fang Shu then calmly departed.

You want to kill me?

Inside the mine, Qin Min's Qi and Blood surged like fire and smoke, illuminating all around. Her body swelled up, transforming her into a small giant with a fierce aura.

The woman grinned maliciously, showing no fear of being surrounded and killed. She was arrogant and domineering, determined to kill all three in one fell swoop.

"You despicable scoundrels! You all deserve to die!"

Boom!

It was like a small-scale earthquake that erupted in the mine.

After a few dozen breaths...

Qin Min was successfully knocked to the ground.

Three figures, some standing and some leaning, coldly scrutinized the woman.

Her eyes widened, her whole body went numb, she kept spitting out blood, and even the tendons in her limbs were severed, her body was convulsing uncontrollably.