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The little martial uncle who ran rampant across Artifact Refining Peak stiffened at the corners of his mouth, and even his normally smooth hair stood on end. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Heaven and earth bear witness, 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 devious too!"

Teenage Lu Qiao: Aaaaaah! If he spoke to Little Martial Uncle again today, he'd be a dog!!!

Having successfully chased off his adorable little martial nephew, Little Martial Uncle was still somewhat afraid that Zhao Qi would come looking to settle accounts later. So, for once, he left Artifact Refining Peak and prepared to go watch the excitement by the Shadow Wall. He had just thought it over carefully. He had not traded away that many magical artifacts—only the defensive ones. Yet the artifacts he had traded in were no weaker, only stronger. One of them was indeed low-grade, but that was merely because its materials were not particularly outstanding. With a little further improvement, it would have no problem being used even in the Nascent Soul Realm.

At this thought, Little Martial Uncle could not help but grin. He wondered which lucky fellow had gotten it. He had even given that unfinished artifact a fine name: Calm the Storm.

And its effect was exactly what the name implied. It could gather all the wind within a one-kilometer radius. Once enough had been stored, it could convert it into Wind Blades. Since it had not yet been improved, its attacks were rather one-dimensional, and its energy-storage rate was not very controllable. In other words, when it attacked people, it did not distinguish friend from foe—it struck whoever it caught.

Ah, at that thought, Little Martial Uncle stroked his beloved robe. The reason this robe had become so tattered and ragged was largely thanks to that "Calm the Storm."

Meanwhile, within the Mountain Examination grounds, Chen Zui had stumbled into charging up Calm the Storm by accident. And the more he danced, the more vigorously he went at it. No one could persuade him to stop. Clearly, he had a one-track mind.

Bian Chunchou said, "I can't do this anymore. I can't persuade him one bit. Whatever—let him do whatever he wants! Where does he get all that bull strength? Why is he competing with a magical artifact?!"

Recently, Wen Xu had been marveling every day at the sheer variety of cultivators. Compared to this, when he had studied in Jade Isle Commandery before, he truly had been a frog at the bottom of a well. He was just about to say a few comforting words to his friend when he heard several unusual sounds. He did not know any martial arts, but a cultivator's instincts told him that he should lie flat immediately!

So he dragged Bian Chunchou into a roll on the spot. The next instant, a Wind Blade streaked past right above their heads.

"Fuck, what is that?!"

"Get down!"

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck, why are there more?! Help! We're going to be poked into sieves! Chen Zuiiiii—"

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

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

But in truth, Wen Xu had not heard them. Rather... he had felt them. The feeling came with extraordinary timing. It had not even reached his brain before his body, guided by that sensation, had already dodged the Wind Blade.

Just as people were born knowing how to breathe, it seemed that he too had 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 they would be worn to death.

What should they do? Where in the world were these Wind Blades coming from?

While Wen Xu and Bian Chunchou dodged the Wind Blades in utter disarray, the scruffy big dog Chen Zui had not a single attack around him. But by now, he had stopped his elementary-schooler contest of stubbornly battling the magical artifact. It was not because he was tired, but because he noticed that the two burdens were about to reach their limit.

"You two are really kind of weak."

Chen Zui returned to defend them in time. Both of them had only suffered superficial scrapes and were not seriously injured. And coincidentally, after Chen Zui stopped competing with the magical artifact, the density and strength of the Wind Blades both dropped sharply.

What did that mean? It meant—

"That's the artifact's method of attack! Wen Xu, Chen 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 pinpoint the artifact's location. But Chen 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 injuries, while their stamina plummeted. Yet they still could not determine the artifact's location. Time waited for no one, so should they stubbornly keep fighting this artifact, or set out to find other artifacts?

None of the three really wanted to leave, though their reasons for not wanting to leave were all 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. With the same cultivation, I'd say I can fight better than other people."

Wen Xu immediately asked, "The other two at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm in this Mountain Examination—who are they?"

"One is called Li Zishen. I heard he comes from a family of cultivators who grow spiritual plants. The other is Xia Ying, supposedly the niece of Langyuan City's city lord." Chen Zui had clearly looked into who his major competitors were.

As the saying went, what was good never came true, while what was bad always did. Xia Ying had no grudge against them, so perhaps they could still reason with her. But Li Zishen was said to be narrow-minded. If Wen Xu had not appeared out of nowhere, Li Zishen should have been first in the preliminary trial. Now that they had run into each other, with magical artifacts at stake as well, there would likely be a fierce battle.

Li Zishen truly did not disappoint them. In fact, he had specifically asked around about the direction Wen Xu's group had taken and pursued them. Outside, he could not make a move, lest others think him petty and unable to tolerate others. But within the Mountain Examination, competing for magical artifacts and getting into disputes was perfectly normal. 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 calculated it, they were bound to win. They had also obtained an offensive magical artifact, so 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 enjoyed a bit of good luck.

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