Something Strange

Before the stone mirror, the three watched the images and began to talk.

"There seem to be a few promising seedlings this time!"

Elder Wan was the first to speak.

"Indeed, but in my eyes, Senior's descendant is the true dragon. The others are at most flood dragons in the shallows!"

Tian Yuanzi spoke with a genial smile.

Elder Wan glanced at Tian Yuanzi and thought, You really know how to play along, lad!

Then he began laughing as well. "Indeed, Senior's descendant has astonishing fortune and stands head and shoulders above the rest. One look tells you he is a true dragon, a son of heaven, with extraordinary prospects."

"Senior's descendant will surely take first place in this entrance examination!"

Ye Chen glanced at the two, the corner of his mouth twitching.

These two old fellows were each more extravagant with their flattery than the last.

They had no shame left.

They were telling bald-faced lies with their eyes wide open.

Although Ye Tian was strong, there were limits to his strength.

Several young geniuses had also reached the Origin Core realm.

Most importantly, every one of them possessed a special constitution.

As everyone knew, those with special constitutions all belonged among the ranks of geniuses.

Yet Ye Tian had none.

The immortal Qi he had transferred to Ye Tian had merely improved his constitution, making cultivation easier for him.

So, compared to those people, Ye Tian could only be considered average, or even a cut below them.

What was this talk of a true dragon?

"How about this? Shall we make a bet?"

Elder Wan's mind worked devilishly fast.

"On what?"

Tian Yuanzi asked curiously.

"On who reaches the finish line first!"

"All right, I'll bet on Senior's descendant!"

Tian Yuanzi answered before he could.

Elder Wan: ...

His aged face immediately darkened, and even his eyebrows showed signs of turning black.

That brat Tian Yuanzi had no martial virtue!

It had clearly been his brilliant idea, and he had been planning to bet on Senior's descendant.

Tian Yuanzi glanced at Elder Wan's darkened face and sneered.

He had seen at a glance that this old fellow wanted to use this to curry favor with Ye Chen.

"My dear older brother, you're still so naive!"

"Forget it, then. No bet!"

After thinking it over, Elder Wan decided against it.

Seeing this, Ye Chen could not help laughing.

Elder Wan really was rather amusing, like the Old Imp in a classic martial arts novel he had read in his previous life.

In the blink of an eye, half a day passed.

The results of the first examination were out.

Sure enough, first place went not to Ye Tian, but to a genius from a Lineage in Holy City.

Ye Tian ranked fourth.

He was incredibly excited. This was a result he would never even have dared dream of before.

But when he thought of the tragic scenes in the secret realm, he felt a little unable to bear it.

The entire secret realm was like a meat grinder. Most of those who entered had died.

Only a small portion had reached the finish line.

Still, casualties among cultivators were inevitable.

No one paid attention to the dead. Everyone looked only at those who had successfully reached the finish line.

After composing himself, he looked toward the sacred mountain ahead again.

Yes, that was the place he had always dreamed of reaching.

And he would definitely set foot there.

Soon, the second examination began.

The second examination tested comprehension.

Everyone was pulled into a space.

Countless points of light flowed through the space.

Some of those lights blazed like fire, while others were dim and lusterless, and they came in different colors.

They formed a bewildering jumble.

All these points of light contained powerful martial techniques, though their grades varied.

Each participant had only one chance to seize a point of light.

Comprehending even the rudiments of the martial technique within the light counted as passing, and the time limit was also half a day.

Once the participants understood the rules, their eyes shone with a frightening brightness.

The value of martial techniques went without saying. High-grade martial techniques could even allow someone to kill enemies above their realm.

Everyone wanted to choose the highest-grade martial technique.

And those techniques, needless to say, were within the brightest lights.

At once, countless people reached for those brightest points of light.

Ye Tian kept feeling that something was wrong, so he chose to hold his position.

Sure enough, the instant most of them touched the lights, they were burned into corpses or torn apart by a force.

"This..."

Everyone stared in horror at the corpses and shredded flesh littering the ground.

Yet a moment later, the crowd began stirring again.

Seeing people step forward to seize the brightest lights, others who were confident in themselves also began competing for them.

Watching this, Ye Tian only felt something strange in his heart.

It was as though something was luring everyone forward to their deaths.

Still, he shook his head, not bothering to think about it any further.

The pressing task was to strive to pass the second examination as quickly as possible.

He chose a point of light that was not particularly bright.

Since few people were competing for it, and his own strength was formidable, he soon secured it.

Then he began comprehending it.

Around him, the fighting grew fiercer and fiercer. Countless people died on the spot, their corpses mingling with blood and shredded flesh, and the entire space was filled with a nauseating stench of blood.

The stone mirror showed only the outer sect plaza, so what happened within the secret realm and the space could not be seen at all.

Besides, Ye Chen could not be bothered to look with his divine sense, so he did not know what was happening during the examination.

He was, however, somewhat puzzled.

The casualty rate in the first examination had indeed been a little high.

Over a million people had entered, but only half remained when they came out.

Before long, the second examination ended as well.

This time, the casualty rate was even higher.

Only a few tens of thousands appeared.

The others had presumably all died within that space.

Realizing something was wrong, Ye Chen spread out his divine sense.

When he tried to probe the secret realm and the trial space, an invisible force blocked him in both cases.

This force was so powerful that even an ordinary Quasi-Emperor would be unable to extend their divine sense inside.

But Ye Chen was no ordinary Quasi-Emperor.

With a gentle thrust, his divine sense pierced through as easily as a needle piercing a thin membrane.

Severed limbs and mangled remains filled his sight. Countless pieces of flesh writhed on the ground, as though trying to merge with it.

The stench of blood in the air was so thick it was almost turning into mist.

His brows knitted tightly, and he withdrew his divine sense without betraying anything.

Outside, most people had also noticed that something was wrong.

Over the course of two examinations, nearly a million people had died inside.

In the past, although the Heavenly Origin Holy Land's examinations had the highest casualties among all the holy lands, the numbers had still been within reasonable bounds compared to how many people it admitted to take the examinations.

But this time, far too many had died.

Still, no one dared say much.

A holy land was called a holy land because it was sacred ground, and no one dared challenge its majesty.

Elder Wan's expression was also extremely grave as he looked at Tian Yuanzi. "Brother, this... why are the casualties so high?"

"Casualties are inevitable when taking an examination."

"If they wish to enter a holy land, they must naturally be prepared to make sacrifices!"

"There are too many participants this time, so some must be weeded out. The difficulty was therefore increased!"

Tian Yuanzi spoke indifferently, his tone devoid of any emotion.

"Uh..."

"Alas!"

Elder Wan wanted to say more, but when he recalled that both his and Tian Yuanzi's cultivation journeys had likewise been nine deaths and one chance at life, he said no more.

Cultivation had never been a life of peaceful days. It was a struggle against heaven, against earth, and against other people!

Ye Chen looked at Tian Yuanzi, a trace of amusement in his eyes.

Meanwhile, on the outer sect plaza, the third and final examination began.

Ye Tian stood among the crowd, his heart surging.

As long as he passed this round, he could truly enter the holy land.

There was hope of avenging his parents and the villagers!