True Martial World - Chapter 967: Abnormal Eyes

The feeling of estrangement was a result of the complete destruction of Song Wuchen's mental imprints in the Demon Defying Bead. Now with the Demon Defying Bead in hand, Song Wuchen probed it with his perception. The Demon Defying Bead was not his, so he spent a very long time trying to figure out what had happened. The twelve energy nodes had completely shattered!

This…

Song Wuchen was astounded. Every energy node had traces of the energy being destroyed remaining. He had a feeling that it was destroyed by mortal means, but who could have the ability to destroy his energy nodes?

Song Wuchen was incensed. He would definitely make the person pay a heavy price if he knew who had done it!

"Could it be Tian Xun? Or is it Mi Liu?"

Song Wuchen's initial suspects were not the warriors that had participated in the assessment, he suspected his fellow martial brothers. Under Felicitous Rain Lord, it was not uncommon for the in-name disciples to have their own conflicts.

It was possible that someone knew that he would be presiding over the assessment and that he wanted to demonstrate his prowess, so the person deliberately sabotaged him?

But on further thought, Felicitous Rain Lord was watching. Who had the ability to pull wool over the Felicitous Rain Lord's eyes and tamper with the assessment?

Was it really a participant that did it?

Song Wuchen found it unbelievable. A group of disciples who were mostly at the Heaven Ascension realm, and some at the Dao Manifestation realm, were just riff-raff. None of them had that sort of ability!

At that moment, many people were in flurries of discussion as they talked about the assessment.

Song Wuchen sat on a seat of honor in the towering tree's hall, but he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

He had previously made a boast, but the outcome was disastrous. His face had figuratively swollen.

He cast his eyes across all the disciples that cleared the level before his gaze landed on Yi Yun.

"Could it be him? He is only at the Heaven Ascension perfection realm, so how was he able to crack my array!?"

At that moment, Yi Yun was freely floating mid-air as he quietly regulated his breathing. The cracking of the array did not consume too much of Yi Yun's energy, as all he needed to do was find the energy nodes and sever them.

After severing the energy nodes, Yi Yun leisurely cleared the remaining eight palatial halls. By the time he came out, most of the participants had already come out. Yi Yun did not stand out when he appeared in the raining beams of light.

Although he was keeping a low profile, there were people who paid him special attention.

"Are you Yi Yun?"

Two stout males appeared in front of Yi Yun.

Yi Yun snapped out of his meditation and opened his eyes.

The two of them had beast fur covering them. It was not uncommon to have half-beast appearances amongst members of the Fey race.

"I'm Black Tiger, and he's my brother, Bear Two!" One of the men said. Kid Tiger was his nickname in the tribe, and it naturally didn't sound as imposing as Black Tiger when it was said in a formal setting.

Yi Yun's eyebrows pricked up. The two had released their aura and they had surging killing intent. They were definitely not here to greet him.

"Rumors say that you are the number one genius of the Luo clan, but it seems that your speed at clearing the array wasn't that fast either!"

Black Tiger's first words had an aggressive tone.

He and Bear Two were amongst the first few to clear the Nine Palatial Array, so he was obviously feeling very confident.

Although people later believed that something had gone wrong with the Nine Palatial Array, there were no problems with the first few levels after all. By being the first few to come out of the array, it was also a proof of their strength. This made Bear Two and Black Tiger turn smug.

"I heard that you defeated Chi Zhuiyun?" Bear Two said with a low, muffled voice. "Chi Zhuiyun is called the number one genius of the Oracle Fey Kingdom, but it's only a title. Don't think that you have swept through the Oracle Fey Kingdom by simply defeating Chi Zhuiyun!"

Yi Yun was amused when he heard Bear Two's words. He knew that many geniuses were proud and they also felt proud of their family clans or factions. They were naturally indignant about the claim that the Oracle Fey Kingdom had been swept clean by Yi Yun alone.

If he had not cracked the Nine Palatial Array, it might have been a problem for the duo to even come out of it. However, the world was large, so there was bound to be people that had an exaggerated opinion of their own abilities. And such kind of people could even be the majority.

"The assessment has only just begun. We will have a chance to compete with you." Black Tiger declared his challenge against Yi Yun before he turned and walked away.

…

Simultaneously, on a floating island outside the royal capital, Felicitous Rain Lord was paying attention to the entire situation. He gave a rare chuckle.

"That young guy is rather interesting!"

As the owner of the Demon Defying Bead, Felicitous Rain Lord naturally saw the entire process of Yi Yun cracking the array.

"Divine Lord, what method did Yi Yun use to crack the array?" Fairy Ningshuang had also seen the entire process. It was true that Song Wuchen's control of the Demon Defying Bead was inadequate, but the energy nodes were still situated in really hidden spots. However, the twelve energy nodes were still found by Yi Yun and they were all destroyed.

This act astonished Fairy Ningshuang greatly. Even Dao Manifestation perfection realm geniuses had no chance of cracking it, let alone a Heaven Ascension realm warrior.

"That child might have some special talent. I can sense that he has very keen senses when it comes to the perception of energy! In Wuchen's array, due to some imperfect initializations, there were residual energy trajectories. Yi Yun followed these energy trajectories precisely and he finally reached the energy nodes."

With Felicitous Rain Lord's cultivation level, he could easily sense the distribution of the energy nodes and the energy trajectories. As such, he understood how Yi Yun had cracked the array.

"For him to have such keen perception of energy, could he be born with abnormal eyes?"

In a martial world, some people possessed special physical traits, such as abnormal eyes. They could see laws and the trajectories of energy.

People who possessed such special traits were extremely few in number, with very few historical records describing them. Even well-read people did not understand much about these people who were born with extraordinary physical traits.

Furthermore, people with extraordinary traits did not necessarily have martial talent. People who could see flow trajectories of energy might not be able to absorb the energy. Their ability to learn and perceive was not necessarily high. These factors caused the extremely few number of people to eventually be lost in the crowd, and vanish in the vestiges of time.

And those with impressive talent and possessing extraordinary traits were truly the blessed children of the heavens. They were particularly rare.

"Divine Lord, if Yi Yun really was born with an abnormal trait, he is truly an extremely rare prodigy considering his martial talent."

"It's still too early to say. The way he cracked the array is but a trick after all, and it was not done with his own strength and interpretive perception. I want to see what his limit is, and what his understanding of the Dao is."

As Felicitous Rain Lord spoke, Shui Ningshuang could clearly see the look of anticipation in his eyes. It was truly not easy to make Felicitous Rain Lord, who had extremely high standards, reveal such an expression. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

…

At the moment, in the towering tree's main hall.

"Young Master Wuchen, what do we do now?" The Oracle Fey Kingdom king asked a probing question.

He could tell that the assessment had fallen into disarray. Song Wuchen had suffered quite a setback.

Supposedly, the assessment after this demanded a small group of people, with a test of Dao Domain for example. It would require each person to showcase their Dao Domain one after another. But now, with nearly ten thousand people present, no one knew how long it would take if they all lined up.

True Martial World - Chapter 966: Hidden Geniuses

Feng Zheng and Feng Qi had seen Song Wuchen's Nine Palatial Array. It was absolutely impossible to clear it in such a short period of time!

However, the other members of the audience did not care about this.

"Someone cleared! He cleared it so fast!"

"What a genius!"

People shouted excitedly. However, as these people were shouting, there were even more people who were dumbfounded. They looked at the long-haired youth that had suddenly appeared, and the first thing on their minds was — who the heck is he?

There were many geniuses in the alliance, but not every one of them were known by everyone like Yi Yun or Chi Zhuiyun.

Nearly no one knew who the person that had appeared was.

"Hmph! You don't know him? I'm not afraid to tell you that he is my sworn brother! At a young age, he showed unparalleled talent. Later on, he went deep into the mountains and became the disciple of an erudite master. He remained unseen for years, and his strength is definitely top in the Oracle Fey Kingdom. It's beyond your imaginations!"

At that moment, a youth jumped out and said those words. He looked like he was a strutting rooster after a victory.

Everyone looked at the fellow who came out to posture in a daze.

Now, who was this guy?

The guy was wearing a tiny hat and his clothes were beast hides. There was a family clan emblem that no one knew about on his clothes. It was obvious that he came from some tiny tribal clan from some nook and cranny.

How could such a person like that know a 'top' genius of the Oracle Fey Kingdom?

Everyone found it unbelievable.

However, it was not uncommon for some peerless geniuses to have friends at the grassroots level in his youth. It was common to have legends of how a peerless hero would stand up for his friends that were being bullied in his youth.

But at that moment, another beam of light flashed and another person who cleared the assessment appeared!

The person looked even more handsome. He was dressed in white robes and he held a fan in his hand. He was even slowly flapping his fan. Although he had cleared the Nine Palatial Array, he looked energetic and clear-minded. He did not look drained at all, and he gave off an impressive vibe.

"Another passed, and it was done so easily."

"It is another unfamiliar face. However, it seems like he's also from the Oracle Fey Kingdom. I never knew that we had so many hidden geniuses in the Oracle Fey Kingdom!"

"Indeed. It seems like these people had remained hidden and do not like to compete for fame and wealth. But now, with Felicitous Rain Lord taking in a disciple, it's truly a rare opportunity, so all of them are beginning to make their appearances."

A few scions argued and at that moment, they saw another few beams of light flash. Three consecutive people appeared in Brocade Spring Court after having cleared the array!

This…

Everyone faltered in shock.

There were really too many hidden geniuses.

However, it was apparent that these people were not from the Oracle Fey Kingdom, so it was expected. The other factions in the alliance were bound to have hidden geniuses as well.

But following that…

Sha! Sha! Sha!

Beams of light flashed one after another like it was raining. In the blink of an eye, there were more than twenty geniuses!

Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw this scene. Who knew that there were so many geniuses in the world. They were truly frogs in the well to believe that the world only had geniuses like Yi Yun, Chi Zhuiyun, and Luo Huo'er. From the looks of it, they were short-sighted. Each era has men of talent, leading in what they did for hundreds of years.

"Hahaha! It's Kid Tiger of my Black Tiger Tribal Clan! That kid has extraordinary talent. He could lift a 500-kilogram rock at the age of three. Today, he has indeed given me a big and pleasant surprise. There is hope for the rise of my Black Tiger Tribal Clan!" A stout old man said with a mighty roar.

He looked extremely excited. As for the ’Kid Tiger’ he was referring to, it was a person with a silly look. The fur had yet to shed from his body, making him look like a beast-man. As for being able to lift five hundred kilograms at the age of three… that training method sure was simple…

This guy… was also some hidden genius?

Many people looked each other in the eyes. They were somewhat dumbfounded. One really couldn't judge a book by its cover.

"Congratulations as well. My White Bear Tribal Clan's Bear Two has succeeded as well. When the younger generation grows up, as fellow tribal brothers, we will march forward hand in hand!" Another stout elder said.

The Bear Two he mentioned was covered in yellow fur, making him have a brotherly resemblance of the person known as 'Kid Tiger'.

A white bear and a black tiger. What the hell? Can you tribal clans name your people in a better manner?

In fact, the White Bear and Black Tiger tribal clans were not completely unknown. They were considered to be two of the bigger tribal clans in the wild tribal clans of the Oracle Fey Kingdom. However, they were incomparable to the large family clans. Everyone believed that people from Fey tribal clans would never be able to catch up to people from large family clans that were situated in the capital. But now, from the looks of it, these tribal clans were not to be underestimated. The probability of them producing geniuses was low, but they had the numbers, so it was also possible for a talent to rise up from a tribal clan.

And following that, beams of light began bursting out one after another. Every light beam revealed a young person who had cleared the array. One after another, they appeared like mushrooms appearing after a rain. There were so many people that it was easy to lose count.

"One, two, three, four… a hundred and eighty-one, a hundred and eighty-two… " Someone casually counted as he stared with widened eyes.

Wasn't the difficulty of the assessment said to be very high? Wasn't it previously said that the first round of assessments would eliminate 99%? Why did so many people manage to clear the array?

"Two hundred and thirty-six, two hundred and thirty-seven… "

The headcount was still rising. As people were counting on one side, there would be people descending on the other side like rustling leaves. Those counting failed to keep up with the number of people descending.

Soon, the headcount broke three hundred!

People were astonished. But at that moment, many people felt that something was amiss.

It was said that it would take three days for the first person to clear the assessment, but there were more than three hundred people clearing it in eight hours?

However, there were people immersed in the joy of clearing the assessment, especially the trial-takers themselves. There were relatives and friends who excitedly spoke amongst themselves.

"Brother Bai, you passed as well!"

"Hahaha, same to you. Congratulations Brother Yuchi. The last time I met you, I knew that you aren't ordinary."

"Eh, isn't that Brother Li? It looks like he cleared it as well. Let's go and congratulate him."

There were no end to such dialogs.

At the moment, the headcount had already exceeded eight hundred!

There was no decrease in the number of beams of light that descended from the Demon Defying Bead. Instead, they were increasing in number to the point of the beams of light forming a contiguous beam that was so blinding that people could not open their eyes.

"What's going on?"

In the hall in the towering tree, many members of the upper echelon were agape. Even if the assessment relaxed in its difficulty, there was no way that everyone would be able to clear the array together, right?

Furthermore, they even saw some wondrous existences amongst the participants who cleared the assessment. The Kid Tiger and Bear Two from before could be ignored, because they saw a ten year old girl. She had two tiny hair stumps on her head and she had shimmering eyes. She looked extremely innocent, with her only missing a cotton candy in her hand to perfect her look.

Although they guessed that the assessment would adjust its difficulty according to the trial-taker's age, it was completely unacceptable that such a harmless young girl could clear the first round.

This was definitely not what a normal assessment should look like.

Many people could not help but look at Song Wuchen. He was the examiner of the first round, and the entire Nine Palatial Array was created by him. They realized that Song Wuchen's face seemed to have grown moss. It could not be any greener.

Because at that moment, there was already more than two thousand people that had cleared the Nine Palatial Array.

Actually, he knew that there was a problem when the first person came out of the Nine Palatial Array in eight hours.

When his mental imprints collapsed, he was unable to probe the situation inside the Demon Defying Bead. Now, he knew that his mental imprints had not collapsed because it was too tough on him to control the Demon Defying Bead. Instead, something strange had happened to the connection between the array formation and the Demon Defying Bead. This resulted in the collapse of his mental imprints that were not stable to begin with.

What the hell happened?

At that moment, Song Wuchen was like a burning chicken. He wished that he could charge up and block the Demon Defying Bead!

If a few hundred people appeared, he could have brushed the matter aside and increased the difficulty of the next round.

But now, with the numbers quickly approaching four thousand, half of the participants had already cleared the first level. There was bound to be more later.

How could he brush this aside? Felicitous Rain Lord was still watching!

"Damn it! What's going on!"

Song Wuchen clenched his teeth. He had tested his Nine Palatial Array several times!

It was true that he could not control the Demon Defying Bead, but as long as the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead were interfaced, there would not be any problems even if he ignored it. How could the present situation happen?

Song Wuchen did not think of the possibility that the interface was destroyed by someone. He did not believe that anyone had the ability to do so.

"Hmm… Young Master Wuchen… " The Oracle Fey Kingdom king spoke in a probing manner, "There's already more than seven thousand people… Uh… it's over eight thousand. Do you think that we should end the first round of assessment and quickly begin the second round?"

The number of people that participated in the Divine Lord's disciple recruitment numbered about nine thousand people. And previously, Song Wuchen had said that more than 99% would be eliminated and that it would take the first person three days to clear it. He even said that there would be only about ten people who would clear the trial after four or five days, but now, after eight hours, there were already over eight thousand people. Was this still an elimination?

Even if there was, it would probably number in the dozens. How unlucky would they be to be eliminated?

Although the Oracle Fey Kingdom king knew that Song Wuchen was like a volcano ready to explode, he could not help but speak up. This couldn't go on any longer. The people below were already creating a din. Even the silliest person could tell that something was amiss. There was talk going around.

"I know!" Song Wuchen said through clenched teeth.

He had failed miserably during the first round of assessment, so what else could he say!?

"Demon Defying Bead, come!"

At that moment, Song Wuchen managed to barely summon the Demon Defying Bead back using a pathetic new imprint that he placed on it.

With the Demon Defying Bead in hand, he felt the coldness of the Demon Defying Bead. Song Wuchen's face turned extremely surly.

Previously, while presiding over the assessment, he had even fantasized of the tiny hope that his master would give the Demon Defying Bead to him after the assessment. He was adept at array formations, so the Demon Defying Bead would greatly benefit him.

But now, Song Wuchen could only feel a limitless estrangement from the bead in his hand.

True Martial World - Chapter 965: Something’s not right

"Ka-cha!"

Yi Yun had completely destroyed the twelfth energy node in the Nine Palatial Array.

As a result, although the Nine Palatial Array was still in its original state, its strength was greatly reduced without the Demon Defying Bead's support.

And at that moment, Song Wuchen, who was sitting in a palatial hall in the towering tree, felt that something was amiss.

"The Demon Defying Bead… "

Song Wuchen looked at the Demon Defying Bead and he felt troubled.

Song Wuchen had previously claimed that the Demon Defying Bead was a treasure bestowed unto him by the Felicitous Rain Lord. It gave others the impression that the Demon Defying Bead had been given to him. But in fact, Song Wuchen was just an in-name disciple, so how could a treasure at the Divine Lord level be really given to him? It was just lent to him.

The Demon Defying Bead had mental imprints in it that belonged to the Felicitous Rain Lord. In order to control the Demon Defying Bead, Song Wuchen had recently infused his own mental imprints into the Demon Defying Bead. It was not very stable, and his control of the Demon Defying Bead was extremely weak.

With Yi Yun severing the energy nodes between the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead, his mental imprints had suddenly collapsed. This left him momentarily baffled. He obviously refused to believe that an examinee would deliberately destroy his mental imprint. He believed that it was a result of him being able to barely control the Demon Defying Bead.

"Young Master Wuchen, what's the matter?" The Oracle Fey Kingdom's king asked as he noticed that something was amiss with Song Wuchen's expression.

"Nothing much," Song Wuchen said as he waved his hands. "Just a tiny mental imprint in the Demon Defying Bead was weakened. In a while, I'll place a few more mental imprints, so I can have more control over the assessment."

How was it possible for Song Wuchen to tell others that his mental imprints had collapsed? He had done it at such a large scale, so if there were suddenly any problems, wouldn't he be embarrassing himself?

"I see. Young Master Wuchen has been controlling a treasure at the Divine Lord level, so it's only normal for the mental imprint to weaken after a period of time." The Oracle Fey Kingdom king said with a smile. He knew how to read the cues from the countenance of others.

Placing additional mental imprints in the Demon Defying Bead was not an easy task. Song Wuchen began to producing dozens of seals, but only a tiny number of his mental imprints managed to seep into the bead.

And at that moment, the difficulty of the Nine Palatial Array had turned nearly trivial. With about nine thousand people attempting to crack an array formation that was created by a Dao Manifestation realm warrior, there was already not enough strength for the array formation to hold itself together!

Instantly, all the participants in the assessment felt energized. They gathered all their energy and began forging ahead. Many people even began running.

One palatial hall after another was left behind them.

"So it's a psychological battle. The beginning is very difficult, but once it's cleared, the later stages become trivial."

A participant was very pleased with his performance.

"I made my first public appearance after intense training, but Master said that I'm too weak and that Chi Zhuiyun is many times stronger than me. He thought that I would suffer a setback if I were to be eliminated in the beginning. Ha! I already said that it was impossible for me to be eliminated in the beginning. I really should let Master have a look at this. I’m already at the eighth hall. I'm indeed a genius. The trial is very easy!" A young man confidently muttered to himself.

In the vast world, there were all sorts of people. Although Chi Zhuiyun was publicly considered to be the number one genius of the Oracle Fey Kingdom, it did not mean that every young warrior was convinced of his strength. There were always people who believed that they were the strongest and that they would be able to trample on Chi Zhuiyun once they made their public appearance. Now, with the ease of clearing the array increasing, they were convinced of their viewpoints.

Soon, quite a number of people had reached the ninth palatial hall.

They initially believed that as the last hall of the Nine Palatial Halls, there would be some difficulty to it, but they were surprised to find that the ninth hall was the easiest!

...

At that moment, the Oracle Fey Kingdom king was eating spirit fruits outside the Nine Palatial Array as he looked at Song Wuchen.

"Young Master Wuchen, there's no need to rush the mental imprints. The assessment has only gone on for eight hours." The Oracle Fey Kingdom king said deliberately when he noticed that Song Wuchen was struggling to condense mental imprints.

"It's fine." Song Wuchen frowned. After his mental imprint had collapsed, he did not know what was happening inside the Demon Defying Bead either. However, he believed that the Nine Palatial Array was interfaced with the Demon Defying Bead, so even if certain nodes were not stable, the twelve nodes combined would reduce any possibility of error. It was likely that the assessment would continue on as expected.

"In a while, when a new mental imprint is established, I'll definitely increase the difficulty greatly and make those fellows suffer." Song Wuchen secretly thought to himself as he wished to vent the anger in his heart.

He knew that Felicitous Rain Lord was most likely watching the in-name disciple recruitment with his perception. As the owner of the Demon Defying Bead, Felicitous Rain Lord definitely knew about the mental imprint collapsing in the Demon Defying Bead.

This would affect Felicitous Rain Lord's impression of him!

As an in-name disciple for so many years, he had always been yearning to be promoted to a personal disciple. If he failed to run the assessment properly, how could he be promoted to a personal disciple?

Song Wuchen took a deep breath and said, "Eight hours isn't too short either. It's better that I recreate imprints. The first assessment would last about three to five days. I cannot let the assessment period exceed my control."

"Hahaha, Young Master Wuchen is truly a serious person. By saying that, I'm truly worried, afraid that my Oracle Fey Kingdom's disciples will have terrible results!" The Oracle Fey Kingdom king joked. And at that moment, the hovering Demon Defying Bead suddenly emitted a faint beam of light.

"Oh? What happened?"

In Brocade Spring Court, many people saw this scene.

"Could it be that someone has cleared the array?"

"How can that be possible!? Didn't you hear what Young Master Wuchen said? It's extremely difficult to clear the Nine Palatial Array and it would take at least three days before the first participant would clear it!"

"It might be Yi Yun or Chi Zhuiyun since it might be possible for them to clear it ahead of time… " A disciple whispered.

And at that moment, Feng Zheng and Feng Qi were in the crowd as well. Upon hearing that person's statement, they sneered, "Chi Zhuiyun? Yi Yun? Hmph, with their strength, they are only relatively stronger in the alliance. Amongst Master's disciples, they are nothing at all! They are facing an increased difficulty in the Nine Palatial Array. It would be Senior Brother going easy on them if they can successfully clear it in five days. Clear it ahead of time? Stop dreaming!" noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Feng Zheng and Feng Qi detested Yi Yun and Chi Zhuiyun to begin with. Upon hearing someone tout the two of them, they could not help but pass off snide remarks.

When the people around them heard this, they were stunned. So it turned out that Yi Yun and Chi Zhuiyun were facing higher difficulties?

Before they could say anything, the flickering light from the Demon Defying Bead suddenly grew more intense.

"Oh? That is… " Feng Zheng and Feng Qi were puzzled as well. They did not notice that up in the hall in the towering tree, there was an extremely ugly expression on Song Wuchen's face.

Swish!

A beam of light burst down from the Demon Defying Bead as a figure appeared!

The person wore a long robe and he held a three-foot-long sword. His black hair was fluttering in the beam of light, making him look distinguished.

The first person to clear the Demon Defying Bead had appeared!

Feng Zheng and Feng Qi were immediately left dumbfounded. It had only been eight hours, so how could that be possible!?

True Martial World - Chapter 964: Destroying Energy Nodes

"Isn't this assessment too difficult? That was just the first level, I've only cleared one palatial hall and I'm already overwhelmed. Could there be nine palatial halls… ?"

Many of the participants were not stupid. By connecting the dots, the Nine Palatial Array's name easily told them that the palatial halls were connected one after another.

The difficulty of their assessment was naturally easier than Yi Yun's, but it was still not easy to pass.

This was an array formation created by Song Wuchen after all. So how could he let all these people easily clear his array?

"The difficulty is too high. Few will definitely pass it. It was said that this array formation was created by Song Wuchen himself. An array formation that tests nine thousand people while being powered by one person is still able to eliminate so many people. Is this the strength of an in-name disciple of a Divine Lord… ?"

Many people had such thoughts in mind and they felt disheartened. The gap between them was too large.

If a Divine Lord's in-name disciple was so powerful, they could forget about becoming a Divine Lord's in-name disciple.

The nine thousand participants were struggling through each palatial palace.

The weaker ones were even stuck in the first palatial hall, with no means of escaping.

The stronger ones had already reached the fourth or fifth palatial hall. Although their energies were greatly drained, they were still struggling to forge ahead.

All of them realized that it was not possible to finish the Nine Palatial Array in a short period of time. They even had to rest midway so they could recover their energy before continuing.

In that case, it was impossible to finish it in less than three or four days.

People like Chi Zhuiyun and Tianya Haoyue were stronger, but as they were given special treatment by Song Wuchen, they had only reached the third palatial hall. They were not the fastest.

By then, it was nearing dusk outside the Nine Palatial Array. As the sun slowly set, it dyed the sky red, making the surroundings more beautiful and gorgeous.

The palace maids of the Oracle Fey Kingdom were serving exquisite fruits and wine to the Oracle Fey Kingdom's king, Song Wuchen, Tian Xun and others.

These fruits were supreme-grade spirit fruits grown in Brocade Spring Court. They were sweet and delicious, and they were abundant in energy, allowing them to benefit one's cultivation level.

As for the wine, it was brewed from spirit fruits and had a bold flavor, and it could be described as ambrosia.

Song Wuchen plucked a grape as he watched the Demon Defying Bead float mid-air while it enveloped Brocade Spring Court. He began to savor the fruit's flesh that melted the moment it entered his mouth.

Such an assessment gave him a feeling that he was twiddling talented peers around his fingers.

He reveled in such a feeling and he was very pleased with the effects of the Nine Palatial Array.

"Young Master Wuchen, the first round of assessment has already lasted for six hours. How long more will it take?" The Oracle Fey Kingdom's king asked.

"At least three days. If the first person to clear the assessment does it in three days, that person will be extremely talented."

By saying it in this manner, although it seemed like he was praising the talent of the person that was going to exit the array formation at that time, he was actually praising himself.

"Hahaha, Young Master Wuchen is truly a master of arrays. This Nine Palatial Array is truly exquisite." The Oracle Fey Kingdom's king complimented. He was hoping that as Song Wuchen presided over the assessment, he would spare the disciples of the Oracle Fey Kingdom.

Song Wuchen smiled slightly as he calmly accepted the compliments. He said nonchalantly, "Let's hope that I wasn't being too harsh. I was originally planning that it would be best if about ten to twenty people are able to clear this round of assessment. If I had set the difficulty to be higher, it wouldn't look too good if only seven or eight people came out."

"Seven or eight people… " The Oracle Fey Kingdom king gave a dry laugh. If there were so few people, the only people from the Oracle Fey Kingdom that could have any hope were Chi Zhuiyun and Demon Girl. Even Demon Girl might be eliminated.

...

At that moment, in the Nine Palatial Array.

Yi Yun was strolling through the void and in his energy vision, he could clearly see the energy flow between the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead.

The Demon Defying Bead was a Divine Lord level treasure after all. With Song Wuchen's cultivation level, he was definitely finding it tough to power the Demon Defying Bead even if he could!

Just like a five or six-year-old child using a hammer as a weapon, although they would be more powerful than a child's fists, it would be extremely demanding when lifting the hammer. If they were not careful, they might even hurt themselves.

Now, Song Wuchen was in such a state. Therefore, the interface between the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead was not considered to be perfect. There were several flaws and rough edges!

Yi Yun could clearly discern these with his energy vision.

At the moment, Yi Yun had already traversed through the spatial corridor. He did not even take a step through the second door to the palatial hall.

"Oh? There is an energy node here!"

Yi Yun's figure shuttled through the spatial turbulence and suddenly, he came to a stop in front of the void. The void seemed to be normal, but Yi Yun knew that there was a secret behind it.

"Whew!"

Yi Yun moved his hands like lightning.

With an explosive crack, the void was ripped open by Yi Yun. The energy node, that wasn't very stable to begin with, immediately tore apart!

"The fourth point." Yi Yun muttered to himself.

He had previously estimated that there were twelve points that connected the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead. When the connections were mostly severed, the Nine Palatial Array would lose most of its power.

This was analogous to two armies fighting at a fortress on top of a cliff. The fortress was impregnable, but if the cliff was destroyed, the fortress on the cliff would be taken down automatically.

"Here, the fifth point!"

Yi Yun took action once again.

"Boom!"

The fifth energy node shattered as the Nine Palatial Array's energy weakened once more.

Following that —

The sixth point! The seventh point!

Yi Yun was destroying an energy node every fifteen minutes, quickly severing the connection between the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead.

And this led to the Nine Palatial Array becoming weaker.

Not only was the Nine Palatial Array facing Yi Yun becoming weaker, the nine thousand participants immediately faced such a situation as the energy nodes were shattered!

"Oh? Why does the assessment suddenly feel easier?"

A participant, who had struggled to complete the third palatial hall while feeling exhausted to the point of giving up, suddenly realized that the difficulty of the array formation was decreasing.

This made him catch his breath and revive hope in him. "Is this my imagination?"

He found it quite incredulous until he somehow cleared the fourth hall in a baffling manner. Even he did not know what had happened.

"So that's the case. It was only difficult in the beginning. As long as I survived the first few, it will become easier later on!"

There were many people like this disciple who suddenly realized the drop in difficulty.

"It's becoming easier. The difficulty of the fifth hall was already halved, but the sixth hall is actually easier than the fifth?"

"I feel like I'm about to clear it. Haha, I shouldn't have sold myself short in the past. I'm indeed a genius. Even if I can't compare with a crazy existence like Yi Yun, I'm at least someone in the alliance!" Another participant that was disheartened to the point of giving up regained his confidence.

True Martial World - Chapter 963: Nine Palatial Array

Yi Yun arrived in front of the large door and he looked up. On the door, there were runes of all shapes and sizes. Instantly, the runes flew off the bronze door like a flock of birds and swarmed Yi Yun.

The runes did not take on the shape of Ancient Fey or anything similar. They maintained their most primitive forms as they surrounded Yi Yun, like they wanted to tear Yi Yun to pieces.

"These are all runic patterns and they combine together into something like a maze. But as long as the flaws in it can be discovered, it can slowly be cracked open."

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun gently tapped the runic patterns as ripples began appearing. Yi Yun was searching for a way to crack the array formation.

With Yi Yun's taps, the flying runic patterns came to a stop, and after five minutes, the core rune was destroyed by Yi Yun, shattering the entire array formation.

"Rumble!"

The bronze door opened, giving him access, but Yi Yun frowned slightly.

The assessment was part of Felicitous Rain Lord's in-name disciple recruitment. From the beginning, Yi Yun did not care about the spot of an in-name disciple. If he could only become an in-name disciple of a Divine Lord, he would rather stay in the Luo clan.

But now, the difficulty of the assessment was so high?

This was just the first obstacle in the first assessment. It did not pose any problems for him, but many others would probably be eliminated immediately.

As Yi Yun had such thoughts in mind, he walked into the palatial hall behind the bronze door.

Upon entering the palatial hall, all sorts of chaotic scenes inundated his mind.

An illusion array!

Yi Yun was very familiar with such scenes.

An illusion array not only resulted in simple confusion, it could also kill people, trap them to their deaths, or even completely wear down a warrior's will. The terrifying highlight of an illusion array was that even if one struggled to snap out of the illusions or realize that one was stuck in an illusion array, they would still not be able to avoid the effects, eventually failing to extricate themselves from the situation. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

As for Yi Yun, this problem obviously did not exist. He immediately produced his Sword of the Will from his soul sea.

Kacha! The world in front of him shattered completely. Before the illusions even appeared, they were already diced into fragments.

Having cultivated in the Primordial Space for eighteen years, Yi Yun's mental mind had already undergone a transformation. His will had evolved, producing a Sword of the Will. It was not difficult for him to crack an illusion array at all.

However, this was only for Yi Yun. Through that attack, Yi Yun managed to probe the strength of the illusion array as well. He knew very well that if it were any other person, even if it were warriors at Nongyue or Ye Yi's level, they would probably spend quite a bit of time in it.

The difficulty of the assessment was higher than he expected.

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun walked out of the palace, and after that, it was a void of nothingness. Immediately following that, the space around him began to cave in towards him. Soon, it formed a long corridor, and at the end of the corridor, there was another large bronze door!

It was almost an identical scene, and Yi Yun immediately understood what had happened.

Demon Defying Bead, Nine Palatial Array!

He must have finished one of the palatial halls, and if he wasn't wrong, there were nine such palatial halls, thus giving it its name.

To complete the array, he needed to go through all nine palatial halls.

Previously, Song Wuchen had mentioned that he himself created the Nine Palatial Array.

Song Wuchen was using an array that he created to test all of the elites present!

If the Nine Palatial Array truly had nine palatial halls, Yi Yun felt that he would be silly to really trudge through each level.

They were both members of the younger generation and Song Wuchen was only an in-name disciple of Felicitous Rain Lord, one that Yi Yun wouldn't have troubles becoming. Did the other nine thousand people, including himself, have to clear level after level of the array formation of Song Wuchen’s own creation, according to his wishes?

Yi Yun did not like being staged unless it was an elder of his.

Then, was it possible to crack the Nine Palatial Array in one fell swoop instead of clearing one palatial hall after another?

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun arrived in front of the second palatial hall's door.

The runes on the door were even stronger and more complex than the first.

"Oh? This difficulty… "

Yi Yun's eyebrows pricked up. He reckoned that the second palatial hall's difficulty was 30% higher than the first!

If this trend persisted, the third palatial hall would have its difficulty rise by another 30%, and by the ninth palatial hall, the difficulty would have increased multifold.

Then, it would not be easy to crack the array formation of the nine palatial halls, even for Yi Yun.

Even if he could crack it, it would consume a great deal of energy, time and stamina.

"Finishing the nine palatial halls will probably take a day or two. To think that the first assessment by Song Wuchen would last so long, and that's for me. If the others are experiencing the same difficulty, the number of people that can clear this level will probably be countable with one's fingers, ignoring the time and effort to do so."

"Could it be that the others are experiencing a difficulty different from mine, or does Song Wuchen plan on using one round of assessment to select the in-name disciple?"

As Yi Yun pondered over the matter, he frowned.

He did not wish to waste one or two days of energy and effort to crack Song Wuchen's array formation.

Song Wuchen was just at the Dao Manifestation realm. How profound could an array formation, that he created, be?

Yi Yun had seen the Pure Yang Sword Palace's array formations, the God Advent Tower's array formations, as well as the world created by the long-haired man in the Fey God Stone.

There were so many profound array formations, Dao patterns, and laws that Yi Yun did not have the time to ponder over, so how could it be possible for him to willingly waste time researching Song Wuchen's array formation? Furthermore, if he expended his stamina and became Felicitous Rain Lord's in-name disciple, it would affect his performance when he challenged the right to be Felicitous Rain Lord's personal disciple.

It was best to crack the array formation once and for all!

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun was in no hurry to enter the second palatial hall. He began to follow the path towards the second door.

On careful thought, with about nine thousand people undertaking the assessment, even if a large number of them were trying to fish in troubled waters, or they were riff-raff that lacked any true strength, the number was still a force to be reckoned with. There were also people like Chi Zhuiyun and Tianya Haoyue. How could Song Wuchen alone, with his Dao Manifestation realm cultivation level, be able to use an array formation to maintain an assessment for nine thousand people?

Even if Song Wuchen was an array formation master, due to the limitations of his cultivation level and nine thousand people trying to simultaneously crack his array, it would have cracked with a simple prod from everyone! For it not to crack, then it could only be the…

Demon Defying Bead!

Yi Yun finally understood the situation. The Demon Defying Bead was a treasure bestowed to Song Wuchen by Felicitous Rain Lord. Yi Yun was able to use the God Advent Tower to withstand Daoist You Ming's strike, so it was not surprising that Song Wuchen could use the Demon Defying Bead to test nine thousand people with an array formation simultaneously.

"I just need to sever the connection between the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead."

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun closed his eyes and he activated his energy vision.

Instantly, the runic patterns around him disappeared. In Yi Yun's vision, there were only the flow trajectories of Origins energy. He began to search the chaotic energy for the energy nodes between the Nine Palatial Array and the Demon Defying Bead...

True Martial World - Chapter 962: Demon Defying Bead

Without testing actual combat, what other advantages did Yi Yun have?

Bloodline? Perception?

Yi Yun's bloodline was just too weak. It was a known fact. Although Yi Yun had absorbed an Ancient Fey bone, he was still incomparable to other elites of the Fey race.

In terms of perception, it was apparent that Yi Yun didn’t have a great advantage.

The rules that Song Wuchen set made several members of the Luo clan unhappy. Elder Shi and Elder Duanmu were also discontented with the rules. It was too disadvantageous for Yi Yun.

Yi Yun looked calm and he remained silent. Chi Zhuiyun glanced at Yi Yun. Yi Yun was an opponent worthy of his respect, so although he wanted to beat Yi Yun, he did not want to beat him in such a manner.

"Then, how does Young Master Wuchen plan on beginning the test? The number of examinees in Brocade Spring Court seem to be far too many." The king of the Oracle Fey Kingdom said.

There was no lower threshold for the assessment, so there were too many riff-raff that came to Brocade Spring Court. It would be extremely troublesome to test each and every one of them.

Song Wuchen gave a nonchalant smile, as though he had everything under his control.

"It's simple. The first round will eliminate more than 99%! If there are people who wish to fish in troubled waters, then they are just too naive."

As Song Wuchen spoke, his body began to hover mid-air. With a swipe of his interspatial ring, a black and white bead flew out of it.

The bead began to rapidly expand in size mid-air. It resembled the eye of an Ancient Fey.

"This is a Demon Defying Bead, a piece of treasure bestowed unto me by my master. The Demon Defying Bead is a supreme-grade array bead, allowing it to contain an array formation. Furthermore, the array formation's powers are extensive. All of you will enter the Demon Defying Bead's array formation, with the array formation that was created by me personally. Those who can eventually walk out of the Demon Defying Bead will pass, or they will be eliminated!"

Song Wuchen's voice echoed throughout the area. The Nine Palatial Array in the Demon Defying Bead was an array formation attainment that he was proud of as it was mostly created by himself.

As examiner, Song Wuchen obviously would show off his Nine Palatial Array.

"The first test is to crack the array?"

The people could tell what Song Wuchen meant.

"Crack the array?" Song Wuchen had a smile on his lips. Many warriors had their domains of expertise. Some of them would be in the Desolate Heaven technique, while others in the refinement of items, but for Song Wuchen, it was his array formation.

He was an array formation master, and with his cultivation level being at the late stages of the Dao Manifestation realm, how could it possibly be so easy to crack an array formation that he set?

"It's not cracking the array. It would be pretty impressive just to exit it. The less time it takes, the better the result."

As Song Wuchen spoke, the Demon Defying Bead began to slowly descend, encompassing everyone within it.

"An array formation that can eliminate 99% of people. Young Master Wuchen's means are indeed impressive." The Oracle Fey Kingdom king said with a laugh.

He naturally had to compliment Song Wuchen, who was one of the top disciples of Felicitous Rain Lord as well as one of the examiners.

"Your Majesty, I said above 99%. There are about nine thousand people participating in the assessment, so eliminating 99% would still leave behind eighty to ninety people. That's way too many. I believe leaving about a dozen or so after the first round would be sufficient." Song Wuchen said nonchalantly.

Everyone was secretly horrified when they heard this. To reduce nearly ten thousand people to about a dozen was quite a ruthless elimination rate.

"To leave about ten people behind, 60% difficulty should be enough." Song Wuchen said as he waved his hand once again, causing the array bead to envelop the examinees completely.

If 60% difficulty could eliminate so many people, wouldn't that mean that few could clear its 100% difficulty?

Song Wuchen's words made quite a number of people give him a sidelong glance.

Song Wuchen was very pleased with this effect. He knew that by being an examiner, it was also an opportunity for him to showcase himself in front of Felicitous Rain Lord.

In the test, the standard that he set was a manifestation of his strength!

Song Wuchen liked the feeling of being in complete control of an array that determined the fates of almost ten thousand people.

With a Divine Lord-level treasure, the Demon Defying Bead, in his hand, he could achieve perfect control over any one of the thousands of people.

Of course, that included Yi Yun.

Song Wuchen's perception interfaced with the Demon Defying Bead and his focus landed on Yi Yun. A teasing smile suffused across his lips.

"Yi Yun, since you are so highly valued by Martial Aunt Ningshuang, you obviously can't have such a simple difficulty. I'll add something in for you."

Song Wuchen knew very well that Shui Ningshuang's voice transmission, which requested him to put more focus on Yi Yun before the assessment began, meant that Felicitous Rain Lord had already decided to take Yi Yun in as an in-name disciple already.

Since there was no way of stopping Yi Yun from becoming an in-name disciple, it was meaningless regardless of the methods he employed to asses Yi Yun.

Although it was an unchangeable fact, Song Wuchen wanted to haze Yi Yun.

Song Wuchen's choice of adding something for Yi Yun's assessment could not escape the eyes of Fairy Ningshuang, but it did not matter as Fairy Ningshuang had informed him to 'focus' on Yi Yun. If Yi Yun's results were terrible during the assessment, Song Wuchen could explain it away as him thinking that Yi Yun was extremely gifted and that Yi Yun could go above and beyond the requirements of the assessment, but who knew that Yi Yun could not stand up to the examination.

In that case, even if Yi Yun became an in-name disciple, he would not be able to threaten Song Wuchen's position as the top in-name disciple.

"Yi Yun, since you are the focus of attention, enjoy the additional augmentation of the Demon Defying Bead. As for Chi Zhuiyun, you are slightly weaker, so I'll give you 100% difficulty, so that you'll have a fun time." Song Wuchen muttered to himself as he produced a few incantation seals without leaving a trace.

He looked forward to Yi Yun's ending in dismay, to the point of him not being able to exit the array bead.

Many members of the audience did not know that there was a difference in the difficulties in the Demon Defying Bead's array formation. Song Wuchen was eager to know what Yi Yun’s Luo clan worshipers would think when they saw their idol have such terrible results.

...

At that moment, in the pavilion in the middle of a lake on a floating island.

Shui Ningshuang and Felicitous Rain Lord were still playing their Go game. When she placed a piece, her wrist trembled slightly. "Song Wuchen is a bit too much. Although I informed him to focus on Yi Yun, isn't this difficulty a bit too high?"

Felicitous Rain Lord smiled and said, "It's alright. It's good to have a bit more difficulty. Let's see if that child, Yi Yun, can give me a pleasant surprise."

"Oh? Do you think that even at such a difficulty, Yi Yun will still be able to exit it?"

"According to Yi Yun's cultivation level, it will be very difficult for him to do so, but... If everything is done according to conventional thinking, then there is no meaning for him to be specially nurtured… " Felicitous Rain Lord said casually before placing another piece down.

Shui Ningshuang's eyebrows pricked up slightly. This was Felicitous Rain Lord, who had extremely high standards!

Even at such a difficulty, which most mighty figures would find it demanding for a junior, Felicitous Rain Lord treated it as a standard for the assessment.

Even the three criteria set for Yi Yun previously to become a personal disciple was Felicitous Rain Lord's original intentions. It was a rigid criteria that had no room for contest!

Since she couldn't do anything about it, all she could do was wish Yi Yun the best of luck.

As Felicitous Rain Lord and Shui Ningshuang were conversing, Yi Yun had arrived at an alternate spatial-temporal dimension.

Without a doubt, this was the interior world of the Demon Defying Bead. When it came to treasures at the Divine Lord level, their internal spaces could be expanded into worlds of themselves. Back then, the God Advent Tower had similar effects as well.

As Yi Yun had such a thought, the space around him began to cave in towards him. Soon, it formed a long corridor, and at the end of the corridor, there was a large bronze door!

True Martial World - Chapter 961: No test of actual combat

"Song Wuchen? Tian Xun? Letting in-name disciples test us?"

Outside Brocade Spring Court, a few young geniuses were displeased hearing this. Felicitous Rain Lord's absence was understandable, but who the hell were Song Wuchen and Tian Xun? Weren't they also juniors from the younger generation? At best, they would be an entire realm higher than them, yet, they had the qualifications to test them?

"I would like to see what sort of tests would one need to take to become Felicitous Rain Lord's in-name disciple."

Many young geniuses were discontented regarding this matter. As they conversed with each other, they walked through Brocade Spring Court's gates.

The Brocade Spring Court covered an area of a hundred square kilometers, and it was like a spirit forest. There were all sorts of spirit trees, assorted flowers, and treasured materials, each numerous in number.

And the number of people that came for this grand event was estimated to be seventy to eighty thousand people. Most of the people were only there to join in the bustle, and quite a number of people were elders that were there to watch the performances of their juniors.

However, even after taking these people out, the number of people who had decided to participate in the in-name disciple assessment was still way too many, a number close to ten thousand people.

"Why are there so many people?"

Upon seeing the crowd, Yi Yun was quite taken aback. He even saw a little girl that did not look like she was twenty years of age. Certain members of the Fey race had slower growth by nature, just like Dong'er. They would still look like a ten-year-old in their teens.

Even such a young girl wanted to become an in-name disciple of Felicitous Rain Lord?

"The in-name disciple assessment does not even have an initial threshold from the beginning, so it's obvious that there would be many participants. Many people are only here to join in the bustle or using it as an experience or trial as part of their martial path. They have no chance of becoming Felicitous Rain Lord's in-name disciple. The number of people that are of true worth can be counted with one's fingers."

The ones that could really be considered as geniuses in the alliance were not commonplace after all, so it was obvious that it should not have reached such massive numbers.

Just as Yi Yun walked into Brocade Spring Court, a faint perceptive sense brushed past the Purple Crystal, causing the Purple Crystal to palpitate slightly.

Yi Yun was slightly surprised, but he did not know what had just happened.

"Ningshuang, is he the Yi Yun you mentioned?"

At that moment, on a floating island above the Oracle Fey Kingdom, there was a pavilion sitting on top of a deep blue lake.

An azure-clothed white-haired middle-aged man sat in front of a stone table, and he was playing Go with a woman.

The white-haired man had a pair of purplish-red-colored eyes. In his pupils, it reflected a universe. It was a world with stars that were born and destroyed in that universe.

The man was Felicitous Rain Lord, who had obtained the Divine Lord Royal Seal in the past tens of thousands of years!

And the woman he was facing was Shui Ningshuang, a person who he had once saved and has always followed him by his side.

Felicitous Rain Lord did not attend the Brocade Spring Court's event, but with his perception, a simple sweep of it allowed him to know everything at his fingertips.

"Yes, it's him. A year ago, Chi Zhuiyun went to the Luo clan and he challenged everyone, but he was trounced by Yi Yun. In terms of combat strength, that child should be the strongest person in the alliance."

"Combat strength is not everything." The white-haired man said leisurely.

He did not care about the title of being first in the alliance.

The alliance was only the coalition of six factions. And among the six factions, there was not a single faction with a Divine Lord. Every hundred years, an alliance would give birth to the strongest person amongst the younger generation, and this so-called strongest person did not really have any weight to it.

"However, that Yi Yun is indeed interesting. Even if he's not qualified to cultivate the 'Ten Thousand Fey Divine Canon', I can still nurture him well." Felicitous Rain Lord said as he lightly placed down a piece.

Shui Ningshuang was somewhat astonished for she never expected that Felicitous Rain Lord, who always appeared to be indifferent to things around him, had such a high opinion of Yi Yun.

She got up and said, "Then, I shall take my leave first."

The event still needed Shui Ningshuang to preside over it personally.

"There's no need for that. Just stay here and watch it with me." Felicitous Rain Lord said nonchalantly as Shui Ningshuang was taken aback, before she sat back down.

...

At that moment, Brocade Spring Court was already extremely crowded. People darted through the spiritual plantation, waiting for the start of the event.

In the middle of Brocade Spring Court, there was a towering tree. It was slightly more than five kilometers high, as its crown pierced through the clouds. And its trunk had the circumference of the combined arm span of a hundred people.

It was rumored that the gigantic tree was planted at the founding of the Oracle Fey Kingdom, so it had already been growing for 80 million years.

Around the towering tree, there were floating houses. Song Wuchen, Tian Xun, and the Oracle Fey Kingdom's king and ministers, as well as members of the upper echelons of various major factions, such as Elder Duanmu and Elder Shi, were sitting in the floating houses, overlooking the tens of thousands of warriors beneath them.

At that moment, Song Wuchen had the pleasurable feeling that he had control over tens of thousands of warriors. After all, many of the rules for the test were decided by Song Wuchen.

"I believe it's about time with most of the people being here." The king of the Oracle Fey Kingdom said.

Song Wuchen looked at the tens of thousands of warriors and he wrapped up his thoughts. He said with a gentle smile, "If that's the case, let's begin."

As he said that, Song Wuchen stood up and he went next to a railing beside the floating hall.

"Silence!"

Song Wuchen's voice wasn't loud, but it immediately spread through the entire Brocade Spring Court.

The warriors, who came to participate in the in-name disciple selection, immediately looked up at him.

"Who is that?"

People had never seen the young and elegant man, but they could guess his identity.

"Everyone, I'm Song Wuchen. I'm here on behalf of my master to preside over the selection of in-name disciples."

As Song Wuchen spoke, he scanned the warriors beneath him. Other than most of the people that were here just for an experience, with no hopes of becoming Felicitous Rain Lord's disciple, there was a small group of people in front of the crowd that made him take a few additional glances. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Amongst them was Yi Yun, Chi Zhuiyun, and Tianya Haoyue — the cream of the crop of the alliance!

Other than these geniuses from various factions that everyone was familiar with, there were two unfamiliar faces.

One of them was thin and had pale skin, giving him a sinister look. Another one was short and fat, but he looked harmless in nature.

Very few knew who the two were.

When Song Wuchen saw Yi Yun, his good mood turned for the worse.

Just a while ago, he had received Shui Ningshuang's long-distance voice transmission to focus his assessment on Yi Yun. Yi Yun was apparently highly valued by Shui Ningshuang, so how could Song Wuchen feel happy about that? He began to feel a threat from Yi Yun.

If Yi Yun became an in-name disciple, it was likely that Yi Yun would slowly threaten his position.

"For the assessment, the proportion for actual combat will be tiny. There will not be any one-versus-one duels!"

Song Wuchen's first sentence caught many people by surprise. To warriors, the most intuitive method of comparing strength was one's combat strength, but Song Wuchen said that there would not be any duels.

Many people immediately looked at Yi Yun.

They knew that Yi Yun was best at actual combat!

Yi Yun's Dao Domain was very weak, or at least a year ago, he did not have a Dao Domain. Yet, Yi Yun was able to defeat Chi Zhuiyun without a Dao Domain, relying on his terrifying combat strength.