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The little martial uncle who ruled Artifact Refining Peak stiffened at the corners of his mouth, and even his neatly hanging hair bristled. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"By heaven and earth, Little Martial Uncle, I've told you eight hundred times right by your ear!"

"Then you must have said it while I was refining artifacts! Little Lu Qiao, you've become crafty too!"

The young Lu Qiao: Aaaah! If he spoke to Little Martial Uncle again today, he was a dog!!!

Having successfully angered his adorable little martial nephew into leaving, the little martial uncle was still somewhat afraid Zhao Qi would come looking for trouble afterward. So, for once, he left Artifact Refining Peak and prepared to go watch the excitement by the Shadow Wall. He had just pondered it carefully. He had not exchanged that many artifacts—he had merely swapped out those defensive artifacts. Yet the artifacts he put in were only stronger, not weaker. One of them might have been low-grade as well, but that was only because its materials were nothing special. With a little further improvement, it would be no problem using it all the way into the Nascent Soul Realm.

At that thought, the little martial uncle could not help grinning. He wondered which lucky fellow had gotten it. He had even given that unfinished artifact a fine-sounding name: Calm the Storm.

And its function was exactly what its name implied. It could gather all the wind within a one-kilometer radius. Once it had stored enough, it could convert that wind into Wind Blades. Since it had yet to be improved, its offensive capabilities were rather single-minded, and its energy-storage speed was difficult to control. In other words, when it attacked people, it did not distinguish friend from foe—it went after whoever it caught.

Ah, at that thought, the little martial uncle stroked his beloved robe. There was no small share of Calm the Storm's contribution to this robe becoming so tattered.

Meanwhile, within the Mountain Examination area, Chen Zui had accidentally begun charging Calm the Storm. The more he danced, the more energized he became. No matter who tried to persuade him, it was no use. Clearly, he had a streak of stubborn single-mindedness in him.

Bian Chunchou said, "I can't do this anymore. I can't persuade him in the slightest. Let whatever happens happen. Where did he get so much bullheaded strength? Why was he competing with an artifact over who was better?!"

Recently, Wen Xu had been marveling every day at the diversity of cultivators. Compared to this, when he had studied back in Jade Isle Commandery, he had truly been a frog at the bottom of a well. Just as he was about to offer his friend a few comforting words, he heard several strange noises. He knew no martial arts, but a cultivator's instincts told him that he should immediately lie flat!

So he grabbed Bian Chunchou and rolled across the ground. The next instant, a Wind Blade shot swiftly over their heads.

"Fuck, what is that?!"

"Move!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, why are there more?! Help! We're going to be pierced into sieves! Chen Zui-Zui-Zui-Zui-Zui—"

Chen Zui quickly heard his own name being shouted with an echo, but distant water could not quench nearby thirst. The two could only pray for their own good fortune. Bian Chunchou had originally thought, My cultivation is a little higher than Wen Xu-Xu's, so I should—

Fine. He only needed to do his best to protect himself. Wen Xu-Xu's ears were more reliable than his own eyes.

But in truth, Wen Xu had not heard them. Rather... he had felt them. The sensation came with extraordinary timing. It had not even reached his brain before his body relied on that feeling to evade the Wind Blades.

Just as people were born knowing how to breathe, he seemed to have been born knowing how to evade attacks from the wind.

Wen Xu carefully analyzed himself, and then... the Wind Blades' attacks grew denser and denser. He was only at the second level of the Qi Refining Realm. If this continued, he feared he would be worn to death by sheer exhaustion.

What should they do? Where exactly were these Wind Blades coming from?

While Wen Xu and Bian Chunchou dodged the Wind Blades in a sorry state, there was not a single attack around scruffy big dog Chen Zui. By now, however, he had stopped his elementary-schooler contest of stubbornness with the artifact. It was not because he was tired, but because he had noticed that the two deadweights were nearly unable to hold on.

"You two are really kind of weak."

Chen Zui returned to defend them in time. Both had only suffered superficial scrapes and no serious injuries. Coincidentally, after Chen Zui stopped competing with the artifact, both the density and power of the Wind Blades dropped sharply.

What did that mean? It meant—

"That's the artifact's method of attack! Wen Xu-Xu, Chen Zui-Zui, we've struck it rich!"

Bian Chunchou no longer felt tired. He immediately scrambled up from the ground. Those Wind Blades had come from all directions just now, and with his cultivation, it was difficult for him to determine the artifact's location. But Chen Zui-Zui... "Can you sense where the artifact is?"

"Huh?" Chen Zui scratched his head. "Not really. It's hidden very well, but I can try again."

The result of trying again was that Wen Xu and Bian Chunchou gained fresh wounds, while their stamina plummeted. Yet they still could not determine the artifact's location. Time waited for no one, so should they stubbornly lock horns with this artifact, or set off to search for other artifacts instead?

None of the three really wanted to leave, though their reasons for not wanting to leave were quite different.

And just then, Chen Zui spoke. "Someone's coming. One of them may be evenly matched with me in cultivation."

"May be?"

"Of course. At the same cultivation level, I'd say I can fight better than other people."

Wen Xu immediately asked, "Who are the other two Qi Refining Realm level six participants in this Mountain Examination?"

"One is called Li Zishen. They say he comes from an Aristocratic Clan of cultivators specializing in planting. The other is called Xia Ying, supposedly the niece of Langyuan City's lord." Chen Zui had clearly investigated who his main competitors were.

As the saying went, what you hoped for never came true, while what you feared always did. Xia Ying had no grudge against them, so perhaps they could still reason with her. But Li Zishen was said to be rather small-minded. If Wen Xu had not appeared out of nowhere, he should have been first in the Preliminary Trial. Now that they had run into each other, with artifacts to fight over as well, there would likely be a fierce battle.

Li Zishen indeed did not disappoint them. In fact, he had deliberately inquired about the direction Wen Xu's group had gone and pursued them. Outside, it would not have been convenient for him to make a move, lest others think him petty and intolerant of others. But within the Mountain Examination, competing for artifacts and clashing over them was the most normal thing in the world. No one would criticize him for it.

Besides, he was at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm, while his other three companions were all at the fourth and fifth levels. No matter how one counted it, they were certain to win. They had even obtained an offensive artifact. There was no reason for him not to come reclaim his lost face.

So what if Wen Xu was first in the Preliminary Trial? He had merely stumbled into some luck.

"Will you leave on your own, or shall we send you on your way?"