by Mars Gravity
The Profound Assessment Stone instantly revealed a light.
“Age sixteen, Nascent Profound Realm level ten, qualified.”
As the elderly man shouted out this result, a large burst of exclaim instantly sounded from the surroundings. Lines of gazes that contained amazement many times more intense than earlier focused onto Yun Che’s body. Ao Yan’s result from earlier was already enough to make everyone exclaim and envious, yet the youth that came right after, possessed a profound strength that was actually one rank higher than Ao Yan. And their difference was even more than that; his age was actually even younger than Ao Yan by one year. If Yun Che had also reached seventeen years of age, his advantage over this Ao Yan would certainly not be just one simple level.
The expression on Ao Yan’s face, who was extremely pleased with himself while standing on the side, immediately froze. His two eyes stared firmly at the Profound Assessment Stone’s result, and he simply did not dare to believe his own eyes. Immediately, his face started to gradually turn hot…. Just a moment ago, he had arrogantly declared that the number one seat of this group would definitely be his; but right after, someone who was even younger than him, immediately overtook him. The words he spoke earlier, was as if he had slapped his own face.
“Haha, to only be half a step away from the True Profound Realm at the mere age of sixteen, very good!” The elderly man slowly nodded as he revealed a heartfelt smile of approval on his face: “You are the most outstanding of all the examinees I’ve received today. If you can retain your aptitude, perhaps with only two years of time, you would be able to enter the Middle Palace. Work hard.”
Yun Che nodded, and walked into the group who passed with an extremely calm demeanor. Yet innumerable gazes still continued to follow him, and whispers continuously resounded from the surroundings.
“Who is this person? He is certainly also a son of some great family, right?”
“Do you even need to ask! People from large sects would never enter the Profound Palace, and other than those large sects, the only ones who could bring up this kind of super genius would be those great families with extremely abundant heritage and resources…. This instructor said that it is possible for him to enter the Middle Palace in just two years. That is honestly enviable to the point of wanting to die.”
“This big brother here, you are really too amazing. You are only sixteen, yet you had already almost reached the True Profound Realm! I… I wonder what big brother’s name is?”
Right after Yun Che stood in the group, the fifteen year-old youth who was the first one that passed the examination had already approached and looked at him with a face brimming with admiration. When the elderly man had shouted out Yun Che’s name earlier, he did not hear it clearly.
Yun Che remembered that this fifteen year old youth was named Yun Xiaofan, who had the same surname as him, Yun. His gaze was also very pure and he looked to be very simple. He smiled and said: “My name is Yun Che. As I remember, your name is Yun Xiaofan, right?”
“Right right!” Seeing that Yun Che had actually remembered his name, Yun Xiaofan’s face was full of excitement as he spoke with a tone of pleasant surprise: “Ah? Your last name is also Yun? How coincidental!”
“It is fate.” Yun Che said while smiling, and had a very good impression toward this Yun Xiaofan.
“Hehe,” He had originally thought that someone with such a frightening result would be an arrogant and aloof person. He didn’t expect him to be so amiable. The inside of Yun Xiaofan’s heart was also very warm; his nervousness lessened quite a bit, and the reverence in his gaze had instead increased by a little bit more: “Big brother Yun, where are you from? Since you are so incredible, you are surely the son of some extremely great family, right?”
Yun Che shook his head while smiling: “I am not some son of a great family, and is just an ordinary person. Oh right, I come from Floating Cloud City?”
“Eh, Floating Cloud City?” Yun Xiaofan froze and then thought hard for a while, to then reveal an embarrassed expression: “I am still young and have very little experience. It seems that I haven’t even heard of this city’s name before.”
“Hmph! It’s merely a small city in the north that’s not even much larger than a town. There aren’t even a few who are aware of that kind of place where even birds would not poop on; and people who doesn’t know of it, are more so innumerable.”
A cynical voice came from their side. Ao Yan looked at Yun Che with a sidelong glance. After hearing Yun Che say that he wasn’t some great family’s son but an ordinary person, and even came from Blue Wind Empire’s so-called smallest city, disdain immediately budded in his heart. He said while coldly snorting: “Yun Che, don’t think that you are great just because your profound strength rank is higher than mine. Profound Strength does not represent combat strength; only profound practitioners with strong profound arts and profound skills are worthy to be called true profound practitioners. But unfortunately, that is impossible for a profound practitioner like you who comes from a small place to understand. Although your profound strength is one rank higher than mine, but let alone one rank; even if it’s three ranks higher, it would still be impossible for you to be my match.”
Chapter 127: Feng Yue
Facing Ao Yan’s provocation and contempt, Yun Che only indifferently glanced at him once before retracting his gaze. He had somewhat paid a little attention to him before, but now, he directly disregarded him to the extreme; let alone respond, he didn’t even bother to look at him again. For someone who was as insolent, arrogant and supercilious as this, whose IQ may even a bit on the low end, the evaluation Yun Che gave was only one word: “Trash”. He was unqualified to be his friend, and even more unqualified to be his enemy. He reckoned that his decent profound strength, was also forcefully piled up using his family’s resources.
Seeing that Yun Che didn’t give any sort of response, Ao Yan thought that he was obviously too afraid to the point of not even daring to reply. With a sneer, he turned his head away.
“To, to go this far!” Yun Xiaofan’s face was brimming with anger, and he muttered in displeasure: “He’s obviously inferior than Big Brother Yun, yet actually spoke these kind of words. How awfully shameless.”
“What did you say?” Even though Yun Xiaofan deliberately lowered his voice, the place where Ao Yan stood was close enough to hear everything. His eyes squinted as his gaze filled with maliciousness: “Repeat that for me.”
“I…” Yun Xiaofan’s body unconsciously shrunk as his complexion turned slightly pale. He knew of Ao Yan’s background, and he himself had only come from an ordinary family. How could he, a youth who came here alone to chase his dream, while burdened with the hopes of his entire family, possibly dare to make enemies with someone of great influence right after entering the Blue Wind Profound Palace.
Then again, this was after all, the examination grounds of Blue Wind Profound Palace. Ao Yan also did not dare to blatantly stir up trouble here either, so he turned his head away with a cold snort. But the sneer in his eyes proved that he had already marked this grudge in his heart.
Only then did Yun Xiaofan finally breath out a secret sigh of relief, as his expression started to become uneasy. Yun Che glanced at Yun Xiaofan’s somewhat plain attire, and said: “Xiaofan, you’re afraid of this Ao Yan?”
“I…” Yun Xiaofan hesitated for a second, but still nodded in the end: “I am not some scaredy cat, but, but hearing that he is the second heir in line of the influential Ao Tian Family in the western Enormous Desert City, and the fact that his profound strength is so much more superior than mine, I probably won’t be able to stay in the Blue Wind Profound Palace anymore if I were to offend him. Being able to enter the Blue Moon Profound Palace is me and my family’s greatest dream. I don’t want to let this kind of possibility happen.”
“Be at ease.” Yun Che shook his head while smiling: “The identity of a great family’s heir indeed sounds quite great, but this place is the Blue Wind Prof
ound Palace; his identity isn’t worth a single cent here, and he could at most oppress you a little using his profound strength. If you don’t wish to be bullied, then you need to train even harder. This Ao Yan can coincidentally become one of your motivations for cultivating. Moreover, this Ao Yan can only bath in limelight right now; in the future he’s destined to be unsuccessful. In just a few years, you ought be able to surpass him, so there’s no need to be afraid of him at all.”
Yun Che’s words made Yun Xiaofan feel extremely satisfied in his heart. In addition to his reverence toward him, there now also existed a hint of gratitude. His expression became relaxed as he fiercely nodded: “Big Brother Yun, you are right. I won’t be afraid of him… I’ve decided, my first goal in this Blue Wind Profound Palace is precisely to surpass this Ao Yan, hehe!”
After another long period of time, the profound strength assessment of Yun Che’s group was finally over. Within the one hundred and twenty young profound practitioners who took the examination, only twenty-nine passed in the end; it was even less than one-fourth. The young profound practitioners who had been brushed away all had very decent profound strength and talent, and came here carrying a fluke mentality. But in the end, they only could sadly leave before the overly high standards of the Blue Wind Profound Palace.
What came next, was the second stage of the examination: Combat Strength Assessment.
The elderly man glanced at the number of people who passed the first round of examination, and spoke with an expressionless face: “It should also be clear to you that this first round of examination can’t even be considered an examination. It was merely to weed out those people who had obviously not reached the standard, yet still wanted to muddle through. The Combat Assessment of the second round, is the real examination.”
“The level of profound strength does not represent the level of combat strength. What we Blue Moon Profound Palace need, are the most outstanding of profound practitioners throughout the empire. Not only must an excellent profound practitioner possess profound strength of a high enough rank, what’s even more important is their ability to to fully utilize their profound strength! Not only can a true genius easily prevail over an opponent of the same rank, it is also possible to challenge someone that’s two ranks, or even four ranks higher! Yet for someone who only possesses profound strength but do not know how to apply it, one will only remain a piece of trash in the end, no matter how high their rank may be. This second round of examination is to test your ability in handling your profound strength. This strength, will directly display your talent of handling profound energy; and this talent, will determine how high of a height a profound practitioner can reach in the future!”
“Don’t think that everything is already well just from passing the Profound Strength Assessment. Within the twenty-nine of you, at most half would be able to pass this Combat Strength Assessment. If you want to stay in the Blue Moon Profound Palace, then display your profound strength to the best of your abilities… The second round of examination, starts now!”
The words of the elderly man dressed in black attire made most people present gulp down their saliva in secret as their expressions became nervous once more… After the first round, only twenty nine people were left; and the in second round, at least half of the twenty nine would also fail. This was really a little too cruel.
“The examination’s content is very simple. Every one of you will exchange seven blows with one of your future senior brothers. Victory or defeat does not matter in this exchange of blows, and it’s impossible for you to win anyways. What we wish to see is the extent of your ability to unleash profound strength in a real battle. I’ll be watching from the side and will also make the final decision. Those who pass, will become our Blue Moon Profound Palace’s disciple. Those who fail, will have to leave. Feng Yue, it’s your time to enter the stage.”
As the elderly man was speaking, a slightly pale faced man who appeared to be eighteen or nineteen walked out with a smile on his face. He stopped before the elderly man, and slightly nodded at him: “Don’t worry Instructor Qi, leave it to me.”
The moment he appeared, the Outer Palace disciples who were spectating for fun immediately let out a burst of exclamation: “Look! This group’s opponent is actually Senior Brother Feng Yue of the Middle Palace!”
“Hah? That Feng Yue of the Middle Palace? I heard that out of more than a thousand groups of examination in these few days, there weren’t even ten who had a Middle Palace disciple as their opponent. This group is really unlucky. Even though this is only a combat assessment, and it’s impossible to win no matter if the opponent is a Middle Palace disciple nor a Outer Palace disciple, the pressure still ought to be far greater when encountering a Middle Palace disciple. Also, Senior Brother Feng Yue was rumored to be very heavy handed; the people in this group will surely suffer.”
The sound of discussions that came from far away made the examinees of this group tremble with fear… All of them basically knew that the contents of the second examination would be to exchange moves with one of the stronger Outer Palace disciples. But they had never imagined that the opponent they had to face against, would actually be a disciple of the Middle Palace!
Even though this Feng Yue was a third-rate disciple in the Middle Palace, he still belonged to the Middle Palace!
“Feng Yue, nineteen years old, True Profound Realm level three. I hope to receive a lot of advice from all of you Junior brothers.” Feng Yue stood before everyone with a smile on his face. That arrogant expression and gaze looked as if an emperor was surveying his peasants.
After hearing the few words “True Profound Realm level three”, the hearts of many winced. Especially the few young profound practitioners who were younger and relatively lower in profound energy; they tightly clenched both fists and were so anxious that they perspired profusely from their heads filled with sweat.
Yet when Ao Yan, who stood at the forefront of the line, saw that the opponent was Feng Yue, his eyes suddenly brightened by quite a lot. The corner of his mouth curled up as he silently gave Feng Yue a signal with his eyes.
“Now, let the second round of examination officially begin. Whoever I call, come up and exchange seven moves with Feng Yue.” The elderly man who had been referred to as Instructor Qi by Feng Yue, spoke: “Number one, Li Mo”
The person whose name had been called, walked out of the line and stood before Feng Yun. Even though he tried to maintain his calm, it was still difficult to conceal the nervousness between his eyebrows. After all, to fight a Middle Palace disciple before even officially entering the Blue Wind Profound Palace was something that he wouldn’t even dare to imagine.
“Senior Brother Feng Yue, I hope that you’ll… be lenient.” Li Mo bowed toward Feng Yue.
“ No need for superfluous nonsense, let’s start already!” Feng Yun said aloofly.
Li Mo took a deep breath. His expression calmed and a longsword was already grasped in his hands. With a low shout, he suddenly thrusted out.
“Dispel the Cloud to See the Sun!”
When facing against a formidable opponent of the True Profound Realm during this Combat Strength Assessment, Li Mo didn’t dare to hold back in the slightest. His first move, was already one of the strongest sword skills from his family. This sword move carried quite a remarkable power and headed directly for Feng Yue, as a continuous aura of profound energy wavered on the sword’s body.
Feng Yue’s movements were simple and crude. He took a step forward and swung out a fist.
Poof!!
The continuous uninterrupted of the sword was instantly broken apart as Feng Yue’s fist directly struck at Li Mo’s chest. Under the strong profound strength of the True Profound Realm, Li Mo flew backwards like a stringless kite and violently crashed onto the ground with a ghastly face; but his right hand…. still firmly grasped the sword.
“First move.” Feng Yue extended his finger toward Li Mo as his face revealed a trace of a contemptuous sneer.
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br /> The first person’s first round made everyone’s hearts fiercely jump. They had originally thought that this was an exchange of pointers to test one’s combat strength, and Feng Yue ought to prioritize in defending to let the examinee display their strength to their greatest. But no one had ever thought, that this Feng Yue would actually directly counter attack in such a ruthless and heavy-handed manner!
Instructor Qi’s brows also creased a little, yet not a word was said. Feng Yue directly attacking in a heavy-handed manner, was indeed a bit too much. After all, this wasn’t an actual battle and he was only an assessor. The opponent’s level of profound strength was far below his, so how could the young profound practitioners who had not even entered the Palace endure his counter attack? However, Instructor Qi thought again; for those who passed the first examination, not a single one of them would be unremarkable in talent without arrogance in their hearts. Encountering this kind of setback could extinguish their arrogant air to a certain extent, which meant that it was also something good for them. Moreover, he understood Feng Yue all too well. This kind of event was just a common occurrence; even if he were to seriously injure his opponent later on, he would still not be surprised.
Chapter 128: Are you sure?
Li Mo’s fight with Feng Yue could only be described as “pitiful beyond words”.
While exchanging pointers in seven moves, Li Mo consecutively used seven types of sword techniques consecutively, then fell seven times consecutively. The sword in his hands still did not touch even the tip of Feng Yue’s shirt. Feng Yue’s profound energy was seven whole levels above Li Mo’s, and they even had a realm’s gap between them. It was as if he forgot, or rather, he didn’t care that this was an assessment of strength while crushing his opponent as he wished with his profound strength throughout the process. There was even a sliver of a smile on his face, as if he enjoyed this feeling of trampling on others without restrain.