” . . . . . .”
When these two people discovered that Ye Yuan broke through, their expressions were like they have seen a ghost.
At this moment, others also clearly noticed that Ye Yuan broke through to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm, and their eyes when looking at Ye Yuan became peculiar.
“Haha. What’s everyone looking at me for? I know I’m very handsome, but I don’t swing that way. So don’t look at me with that sort of expression, alright? Isn’t it just breaking through to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm? It’s not like it’s something major. All of you Senior Apprentice Brothers have a higher cultivation realm than me, so can everybody stop being so amazed?” Ye Yuan was not uncomfortable with the attention and just brushed it off casually.
Everybody was collectively made speechless. Was this fellow here to posture?
Breaking through to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm was the first threshold on the Martial Path. Who among them would not exercise extreme caution, spending large amounts of time to accumulate before breaking through?
But Ye Yuan only used a few days before crossing it. Now, he assumed a manner like it was too easy. He was really asking for a beating!
“Isn’t it just breaking through to Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm? What’s there to be surprised about? No matter how he jumps around, isn’t it just Black Rank? Even if he reached the Black Rank, he is still just trash.”
The discussion was broken by an arrogant voice filled with condescension.
“It’s Senior Apprentice Brother Lin Tiancheng. He is currently a student in the Earth Rank most likely to advance to the Heaven Rank! I didn’t expect him to also participate in this advancement test. Looks like he is almost certain that he can advance to Heaven Rank this time.” Very quickly, someone recognized the owner of the voice.
Lin Tiancheng slowly walked with his hands behind his back in front of Ye Yuan, bringing with him an overbearing pressure and asked, “You are Ye Yuan?”
Ye Yuan was not the slightest bit uncomfortable facing Lin Tiancheng’s pressure and said calmly, “I don’t know if the Ye Yuan you are talking about is me, but I am indeed called Ye Yuan.”
“Humph! What a glib tongue! These few days, all I’ve been hearing are all sorts of clamoring about you. Today, I want to see if you really are as incredible as they say,” Lin Tiancheng said with a face full of disdain.
“Is that so? I’m actually so famous now? To think that even Senior Apprentice Brother Lin hear my name all the time. However, I think it’s my first time hearing of Senior Apprentice Brother Lin today. I wonder if . . . Senior Apprentice Brother Lin can advance to Heaven Rank today. This Junior Apprentice Brother, I, wish that Senior Apprentice Brother Lin won’t stumble and fail.”
Ye Yuan still had an exaggerated expression, but the words that came out of his mouth made everyone break into a sweat.
This fellow seemed to be cursing Lin Tiancheng to fail . . .
However, these words really struck Lin Tiancheng’s soft spot . . .
Chapter 40
Translator: celefoata_ Editor: RegiusProfessor
When people said that Lin Tiancheng was one of the strongest people in the Earth Rank, they were not talking about how talented he was.
In reality, this was already Lin Tiancheng’s fourth time participating in the advancement test.
Those in the same batch as him, even some students who were in the recent batch, many of them had already advanced to the Heaven Rank. He was the strongest among the remaining few who had yet to advance.
This was Lin Tiancheng’s greatest shame. Hence, it was a taboo for others to mention this in front of him. Low ranking students would take special care to avoid it.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, Ye Yuan’s words struck Ling Tiancheng’s soft spot.
Lin Tiancheng’s face visibly changed color. Glaring fiercely at Ye Yuan, he said, “You have guts! To actually talk like this to your senior apprentice brother! I think you are courting death!”
As he said this, Lin Tiancheng gathered his essence energy and smacked a palm towards Ye Yuan.
Smash!
Ye Yuan stood there without moving, but Lin Tiancheng flew backward instead.
Rolling on the ground, Lin Tiancheng barely managed to stabilize his body, looking extremely ragged.
“Which bastard ambushed me?!” Lin Tiancheng bellowed angrily.
The moment he said this, Lin Tiancheng saw that the surrounding people looked at him with odd expressions and was not sure what it meant.
“Lin Tiancheng, you got the nerve to actually attack right in front of me?!” Huyan Yong’s icy voice sounded out, making Lin Tiancheng shudder involuntarily.
Facing Huyan Yong, how would Lin Tiancheng have the courage to resist?
He broke into a cold sweat. To actually scold Teacher Huyan a bastard, isn’t that courting death? Huyan Yong was the person hosting the test. If he was to secretly play some tricks, wouldn’t he have to return in defeat?
If Huyan Yong bore a grudge, then he can forget about advancing ranks for life.
“S-sorry Teacher Huyan. I-I didn’t know it was you,” Lin Tiancheng hurriedly apologized.
Huyan Yong was expressionless as he said, “The Illusionary Spirit Tower is the place for advancement tests. You actually dared to take action without my permission? If you affect the other students’ test, can you handle the responsibility?”
“Teacher Huyan, I . . . He. . . ridiculed me with words on purpose to agitate me into making a move!” Lin Tiancheng did not dare to offend Huyan Yong, so he naturally pushed the blame to Ye Yuan.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Lin, you can’t slander good people. I was clearly wishing you success in your test, but I don’t know how I provoked you to actually attack me. Could it be that Senior Apprentice Brother Lin came here to participate in the Illusionary Spirit Tower’s test, but don’t want to advance?” Ye Yuan gave a perplexed face.
Just now, Ye Yuan indeed told Lin Tiancheng to take care not to stumble and fail. It was impossible to find a problem with those words. Except, looking at that exaggerated expression, nobody would believe that he was wishing Lin Tiancheng well.
The pitiful Lin Tiancheng still did not know that Ye Yuan came today to join the test today because Huyan Yong personally invited him.
Without mentioning the fact that the matter was stirred up by Lin Tiancheng, even if he was in the right, it was impossible for Huyan Yong to stand on his side.
“I already saw what happened just now. From the start until the end, it was you who was doing all the mocking. Do you think that I, this examiner, am so easy to be deceived?” Huyan Yong’s voice became increasingly colder.
“N-n-no, I . . .”
“Stay here and don’t move! Considering that it was your first infraction, I will overlook it. But, if you violate the rules again, I will revoke your assessment rights!”
Lin Tiancheng did not dare to talk back anymore and quietly went to wait by the side.
After waiting for a while, students came one by one. After around 50 people were gathered, Huyan Yong once again appeared in front of everyone.
“Now that everyone is present, in a while, I will open up the restrictions. The Illusionary Spirit Tower will automatically send you to the test site corresponding to your cultivation! Many of you had undergone the advancement test before, but it’s the first time for a few of you, so I will briefly go through.”
Huyan Yong briefly summarized the important points about the Illusionary Spirit Tower.
Actually, he was explaining especially for Ye Yuan and Lu-er. In this batch, apart from Ye Yuan and Lu-er, everybody else had participated in the advancement test before.
Forgetting about Lu-er, Ye Yuan by right should have gone through the entrance test in the Illusionary Spirit Tower before. But his predecessor was just too weak, and it was impossible for him to have passed the test in the Illusionary Spirit Tower. Thus, Ye Hang pulled a lot of strings back then before managing to shove Ye Yu
an in here. Therefore, he had never even gone to the Illusionary Spirit Tower before.
Feeling the layers of restrictions on the Illusionary Spirit Tower, Ye Yuan praised and commented, “So it’s a 32 restrictions Spirit Artifact. Tranquil Cloud Sect does indeed have some means.”
A 32 restrictions Spirit Artifact naturally was not much in Ye Yuan’s eyes. However, even though this Spirit Artifact’s rank was not high, it had some unique features, making it suitable to being used for the students’ advancement testing.
This Illusionary Spirit Tower seemed to have been specially developed by the Tranquil Cloud Sect for assessing student into ranks. There are a total of five regions, namely, Entry Advancement, Yellow Rank Advancement, Black Rank Advancement, Earth Rank Advancement, and Heaven Rank Advancement.
The first four regions corresponded to the four student rankings in the Dan Wu Academy. Passing the Entry Advancement allows one to advance to the Yellow Rank. Passing the Yellow Rank Advancement allowed one to advance to the Black Rank, and so on. 1
Lastly, the Heaven Rank Advancement was what the Tranquil Cloud Sect used to determine if Heaven rank students were qualified to enter the sect. It was a test for becoming outer-sect disciples.
Clearly, the difficulty of the five tests increased progressively. By the time it was the Black Rank Advancement test, the difficulty was already rather over the top.
In reality, Lin Tiancheng’s talent was not bad. It was just that the Earth Rank Advancement test was truly too outrageous. That was why he failed repeatedly. There were many students like him among the Earth Rank students.
As for the Heaven Rank Advancement test . . .
“I really hope that one of you will be qualified to participate in that test during your student life here in the Dan Wu Academy,” Huyan Yong told the students.
Huyan Yong’s words did not stir too much of a reaction from everyone. Clearly, they all knew just how terrifying the test was.
What Huyan Yong said was ‘qualified,’ and not to ‘pass.’ That is to say that none of the people here would even get the chance to attempt the test before they graduate from the Dan Wu Academy at twenty.
One could only imagine the difficulty of that test!
Most of the students here today were participating in the Black Rank Advancement test, aka, the test for a Black Rank to advance to the Earth Rank. A minority was participating in the Yellow Rank Advancement test and the Earth Rank Advancement test. Lu-er was the only person participating in the Entry Advancement test.
“The first time you enter the Illusionary Spirit Tower, you can take part in multiple rank advancement tests; all the way until you get killed, or voluntarily withdraw. After passing a test, you will automatically be sent to the next test. There, you can make a decision if you want to undergo the next test or not. At that point, the Illusionary Spirit Tower will record the rank advancement test you are killed at. The next time you enter the Illusionary Spirit Tower, you will start anew from that rank. Alright, now enter the Illusionary Spirit Tower!” Clearly, Huyan Yong’s last few sentences were meant for Ye Yuan.
Huyan Yong then walked in front of the Illusionary Spirit Tower’s gate and gestured his hand up in a half arc in front of him. Faint black essence energy was shot into the Illusionary Spirit Tower.
Following that, the Illusionary Spirit Tower’s gate slowly opened.
The students participating in the test entered in an orderly manner. The moment they entered the gate, they vanished. It was clear that they were sent away by the Illusionary Spirit Tower.
When it was Lin Tiancheng’s turn to go in, he shot a fierce glare at Ye Yuan. “If you can’t advance to the Earth Rank, you will forever be trash! You are considered lucky today with Teacher Huyan helping you. In the future, don’t let me see you in the academy; otherwise, you are dead!”
After threating Ye Yuan, Lin Tiancheng stepped forward and vanished instantly.
Ye Yuan gave a laugh and did not take Lin Tiancheng’s warning to heart. He turned to Lu-er and said, “Lu-er, let’s go in too.”
Chapter 41
Translator: celefoata_ Editor: RegiusProfessor
Ye Yuan felt his vision went blurry, and then he realized he was transported to a dazzling multi-colored dream world.
This was evidently an independent space.
It looks like every layer of this Illusionary Spirit Tower was split into many independent spaces. Each student was in a different space.
However, this sort of method did not count as mystical in the Divine Realm. But it was already very impressive for a tiny sect in the Lower Realms to be able to use this sort of method to groom students.
Ye Yuan was at a lost. There was nothing in this empty space. So how could the test take place?
At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded out.
“Welcome to the Illusionary Spirit Tower. This is your first time coming to the Illusionary Spirit Tower. You will undergo the Entry Advancement test shortly. I am your guide during this test.”
Ye Yuan did not make a fuss over it as he knew that it was definitely the Illusionary Spirit Tower’s artifact spirit.
However, what made Ye Yuan surprised was that he was actually sent to the Entry Advancement test.
It looks like the Illusionary Spirit Tower will automatically send first-time students to the Entry Advancement test. As a result, Ye Yuan and Lu-er were now standing on the same starting line.
“What am I supposed to do now?” Ye Yuan asked.
The artifact spirit seemed to hesitate for a moment, being somewhat surprised at Ye Yuan’s composure.
As the artifact spirit was in charge of the advancement test, it had directed countless of students before. This was its first time meeting a student as composed as Ye Yuan.
“Right now, just sit down and meditate. I will bring you to the test. Later, don’t attempt to resist whatever that happens. Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself,” said the artifact spirit.
Ye Yuan did not say a word, and he just sat down and meditated right away.
He was a little curious, however, at just how the artifact spirit would conduct the test.
A moment later, Ye Yuan felt his body starting to feel light. Falling into a trance, he entered an empty training room.
Seeing this situation, the corner of Ye Yuan’s mouth curled into a smile.
So that’s how it is. This Illusionary Spirit Tower’s artifact spirit is actually a Dream Tapir. The Tranquil Cloud Sect indeed have some impressive methods. A 32 restrictions Spirit Artifact . . . It looks like it should be the lowest ranking Gray Dream Tapir. Conducting tests in a dream world were both safe and fair. It seemed the person who created the Illusionary Spirit Tower was quite brilliant.
Dream tapirs were bizarre lifeforms which were intricately tied with dream worlds. They have their own consciousness, yet they do not have a fixed shape. They could silently enter the dream world of humans and even demonic beasts, strengthening themselves within the dream.
Ye Yuan knew that the highest ranking White Dream Tapir existed in the Divine Realm. It possessed incredibly powerful abilities and could even compete with Divine Kings. Their abilities all had to do with dream worlds, making it impossible to guard against.
This artifact spirit that Ye Yuan met was most likely the lowest ranking Gray Dream Tapir.
They were willing to become the Illusionary Spirit Tower’s artifact spirit, most likely because they wanted to borrow the students’ dream worlds to strengthen themselves.
Otherwise, even the lowest ranking Gray Dream Tapir was not something that a tiny sect like the Tranquil Cloud Sect could capture.
One has to know that the State of Qin was not the only country with the Dan Wu Academy. There were similarly also Dan Wu Academies in other countries under the jurisdiction of the Tranquil Cloud Sect. Their assessment of students was definitely also through the support of the Illusionary Spirit Tower.
Such a large-scale capturing of Gray Dream Tapirs would inevitab
ly incur the vengeance of the Dream Tapir tribe. Unless these Gray Dream Tapirs willingly became artifact spirits.
Ye Yuan knew that right now, he was already in the dream world.
Most likely, that independent space just now was meant as the medium whereby the Dream Tapir would cast its Nightmare Skill, bringing students into the dream world.
While Ye Yuan was expressing his surprise at this methods, he also checked out his strength at the same time.
To perfectly project my strength in reality inside this dream world . . . The Dream Tapir tribe’s abilities are truly great! This way, there would be no possibility of any trickery. Ye Yuan sighed in admiration.
Suddenly, a middle-aged brawny-looking man appeared in front of Ye Yuan. He knew that this brawny-looking man was an illusion created by the Gray Dream Tapir. Within the dream world, Dream Tapirs could take the form of anything.
“Now, I am responsible for your advancement test. The test is about to begin. You can choose your weapon now,” the Dream Tapir said.
“Choose a weapon? Uh . . . Then I choose a sword.” Ye Yuan gave an indifferent look. Clearly, he was not even the slightest bit worried about the Entry Advancement test.
The Dream Tapir felt that Ye Yuan’s attitude was highly unusual. When the other students entered the dream world, they would often ask questions non-stop and did not know what was going on.
When Ye Yuan entered, the Dream Tapir noticed that he was not surprised at all. That expression on his face clearly showed that he knew that he was in the dream world.
Ye Yuan knew about Dream Tapirs, but this did not mean that others knew about Dream Tapirs too. In reality, Dream Tapirs were part of an extremely mysterious tribe, because they did not possess a fixed shape.
Even when in a dream, it was impossible to discover its existence unless the Dream Tapir let you discover it. That was because it could very well be a little mouse in your dream world or maybe even a stalk of grass.
The Dream Tapir naturally would not tell the students its identity. It would only inform them that it was the Illusionary Spirit Tower’s guide for the test.
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