Trial Micro-Realm

"It's Gu Xuantian! The one by the flood dragon is Gu Xuantian!"

"The one beside him is Su Xinyue, right? The Su family's favored daughter of heaven."

"And this one—he has heaven-grade aptitude too, but I seem to have heard that he came from the mortal world."

"God, why do they have spirit beast mounts?"

"What nonsense? They have masters."

Lu Qing remained calm.

He had already endured the hardships of two years spent traveling here. Seeing such scenes now, he could only say it was nothing much. At most, he sighed that those with patrons and backing truly were different.

"Lu Qing, you're here."

After that group passed by, Li Jiuming spotted him as well and called out in delight.

"Brother Li, these are?"

Lu Qing looked at the people behind Li Jiuming—one man and two women.

"Hehe, Lu Qing, these are the new friends I told you about before."

Li Jiuming chuckled, then introduced both sides.

"A pleasure to meet you."

After they exchanged names, the young man named Lin Zixuan spoke. "Brother Lu, do you know Bai Yunqing?"

Li Jiuming's expression abruptly changed. "Lin Zixuan, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Before Lu Qing could say anything—

"I only wanted to ask. Why is Brother Li reacting so strongly?"

Lu Qing said, "I don't."

"The assessment has begun, so I won't chat any longer."

With that, Lu Qing turned and left.

Li Jiuming's face alternated between green and white. He looked coldly at Lin Zixuan. "Hmph. Why are you in such a hurry? My fellow disciple is devoted only to cultivation. He won't agree to you."

After he finished speaking, only Lin Zixuan and the two girls beside him remained.

"What was that? What kind of people are they? Brother Lin, let's go."

"Exactly. They don't know what's good for them. Why bother trying to recruit them?"

Lin Zixuan was somewhat regretful. "They both have high-grade aptitude. Bringing them into the fold would have brought plenty of benefits. But if they refuse, there are naturally others."

After Lu Qing left, he paid no mind to what happened behind him.

To him, this could only be considered unpleasant. He was not angry, though. He had already clearly heard that Lin Zixuan had someone behind him as well, and it was impossible for Li Jiuming at his side not to know.

Rather than scheming against one another with them, he preferred to crush people through sheer strength.

"Brother Lu, I'm truly sorry. I really didn't expect him to say something like that."

Everyone in the Outer Academy had heard of Bai Yunqing. What truly mattered was Yan Langyu behind him.

Li Jiuming caught up to him and spoke with deep apology.

"Oh, I know." Lu Qing nodded without saying anything else.

Li Jiuming looked embarrassed.

He knew that what little friendship he had shared with Brother Lu had already been worn away.

Just then, an elder in purple robes appeared.

"For this entry assessment, the place being opened is a Trial Micro-Realm."

"The assessment will use a points system. Of the things you obtain inside, thirty percent must be handed over to the Dao Academy, while seventy percent will be yours to keep..."

The rules were not lengthy.

"Doesn't that mean the more precious the item, the more points it earns?"

"There are demon beasts inside as well. There aren't many, but I've already separated off a portion of the Spirit Sword Art. It will be more than suitable as an ordinary means of attack."

Lu Qing understood why the assessment was not centered on hunting demon beasts.

The main reason was that only a month had passed. It was impossible for every disciple with middle- or low-grade aptitude to have entered the Qi Nourishment Realm.

Lu Qing sensed that most of those around him were at the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm, or lingering at the first level of the Qi Nourishment Realm.

The exceptional ones were the group leading the way ahead.

"It was an arena before, but now it has been changed to a micro-realm. It is probably to give us a greater chance to show what we can do."

Lu Qing pondered this.

At that moment, an enormous water gate appeared before them, with surging torrents pouring down from the heavens.

"Go in. The micro-realm will close in seven days."

The purple-robed elder tossed out those words. The water gate opened, and a powerful suction force pulled everyone inside.

From the corner of his eye, Lu Qing saw that the majestic mounts of those favored children of heaven were all left where they were.

"So they can't go in."

At that moment, his mind buzzed.

An ominous configuration appeared.

Lu Qing focused his gaze.

[Greatly Ominous Hexagram: After landing, travel southwest. Encounter a fifth-grade spirit herb and pick it. Be killed by a Foundation Establishment guardian demon beast. Greatly ominous.]

[Ominous Hexagram: After landing, travel northeast. Encounter a miasma swamp. Your foundation will be destroyed. Ominous.]

[Calming Hexagram: After landing, immediately travel north. No danger. Calming.]

Lu Qing did not hesitate. Hesitating for even a second would mean not valuing his own life.

After landing, he saw no one else. A trace of chill swept over him.

He frowned and looked up at the sky. Two suns hung in the firmament, yet their light held no warmth.

The fleeting coldness Lu Qing had felt earlier had come from above his head.

"This micro-realm..."

Lu Qing recalled what the jade slip had said. This was a newly acquired micro-realm. The dangers within had not been cleared out by the senior disciples before them, and its exact circumstances would depend on their own exploration.

The Foundation Establishment demon beast in the Ominous Hexagram would be a crushing blow across realms for disciples like them.

But in the eyes of those elders, it probably would not seem like much of a problem. As long as they did not pick the herb, no one would die.

That greedy and overconfident people died was hardly unreasonable.

Lu Qing merely glanced at the sky before swiftly heading north.

He had landed in a patch of grass. On one side was a gloomy forest, and on the other ran a small stream.

North. His mind stirred slightly. Fortunately, cultivating the Profound Heaven Origin Scripture had greatly tempered his mind. With all his senses enhanced, he would not mistake the northern direction.

He immediately chose to leave.

Not a single word in the Calming Hexagram could be overlooked.

The grass beside the stream behind him swayed softly in the wind. A triangular head emerged amid the dark green leaves, ferocious and terrifying, while the sunlight grew ever colder.

Lu Qing did not know what happened after he left that place.

But what the Calming Hexagram showed could not be wrong.

Only after the forest and stream on either side of him had disappeared behind him—

Lu Qing's mind suddenly cleared. This showed that the Calming Hexagram had been fulfilled.

At that moment, a thought stirred in his mind.

He found that no ominous configuration had appeared.

"Looks like this time, even if I turn back, I won't encounter any danger?"

He turned around and discovered that the gloomy forest and small stream behind him were no longer in sight.

Hiss.

He threw that thought aside.

"Of the four directions, choose west."

Lu Qing looked around at where he was now. The wilderness stretched wide and boundless, as though any direction would do.

Since he had entered, he naturally hoped to gain something.

Leaving everything else aside, even if he ranked near the bottom in this minor tournament, he would still receive spirit stones as a reward.

Lu Qing even wondered whether this Dao Academy was truly willing to spend so many resources cultivating its disciples.

Lu Qing instinctively circulated his cultivation technique. This simplest layer of aura concealment could not fool those of higher realms, but it was still effective.

Lu Qing was now at the third level of the Qi Nourishment Realm. So long as he did not encounter those monstrous talents from the Inner Academy, he felt that he would not end up at the bottom.