chapter 116 - 120

Chapter 116: Entering the Examination Area

The Red Peak Range had already become like a huge ceramic bowl.

Enveloping this giant mountainous range was a light barrier composed of three thousand four hundred and twenty edges that covered the sky, just like a giant, transparent cover. It encompassed the entire Red Peak Range inside.

To the west of the barrier, a massive, tall tower had already been constructed.

It looked just like a tall golden tower, and in front of the high tower was a massive plaza.

Two rows of soldiers wearing golden armor stood majestically on either side of the steps leading up to the high tower. Upon closer inspection, everyone of them was an Origin Qi Scholar.

At the top of the high tower was a large balcony. Inside sat the major figures of the Three-Mountain Range.

These people included the leader of the Flying Immortal Palace, Long Ziqing; the leader of Northface City, Yue Weixiong; the leader of the Flowing Cloud City, Nan Qiwei; as well as a host of other important officials. The Yu Clan of Wei River, the Liu Clan of North Forest, or the Qian Clan of Three Spears, as well as some other noble clans were also present. Of course, the local bigshots from the Su Clan and the Lin Clan, etc. were also present.

Regardless of whether they were high-ranking officials or from noble clans, they were all circling around a single person at this moment.

This was a middle-aged man with three black whiskers on his square, sharply-chiseled face. The first impression that he gave people was one of frankness and straightforwardness.

His name was Zhao Yu, one of the envoys from the Hidden Dragon Institute. He was the main examiner for this year's Hidden Dragon Institute's recruitment in the Three-Mountains Region, and he was one of the Hidden Dragon's Institutes eighteen Golden Girders.

Those designated as a Golden Girder were akin to stone pillars.

If he was a cornerstone of the Hidden Dragon Institute, he would also be a cornerstone of Long Sang Country. Although he didn't have an official rank, his status was respected. Even more so, he possessed great strength. To be able to become one of the Hidden Dragon Institute's Golden Girders meant that he had a cultivation base in the fourth realm, the Light-Shaking Realm.

In fact, only this kind of an individual could keep the public stage under control.

Every year, during the Hidden Dragon Institute's recruitment session, every great sect and noble family wanted their own seedlings to succeed in the examination and obtain this opportunity. Naturally, they would use any means possible to attempt to curry favor, including bribes.

If they had sent someone average, they probably wouldn't be able to keep the venue under control and wouldn't be able to withstand this kind of zeal.

Only people in the Light-Shaking Realm could give pause to these nobility. They would need to consider what kind of price was necessary to bribe such a person. Could they afford to pay it, and was it worth it?

Standing on the high tower, Zhao Yun solemnly gazed off into this distance. He was born with a dark face, so no matter what he always looked very serious.

The exam candidates from all kinds of places had gathered on the plaza below the high tower.

The exam candidates from Northface City had it slightly better. They had an advantage in terms of location and only needed to wake up on that morning. However, the exam candidates from other cities had arrived numerous days in advance. Some lived in the inns in the city, while some other groups simply set up beds on the ground and spent their nights on the plaza.

Even if was the height of midsummer, everyone had cultivated before and was not afraid of enduring such small hardships.

The clock on the high tower was stil keeping time.

Not much more time remained.

More and more exam candidates began gathering on the plaza. Very quickly, they broke through ten thousand. There were also receptionists who would check people in and introduce them, and everyone was making their own preparations.

The Three-Mountains Region had a total of fifteen cities. The number of students taken from each city was unequal, but they totaled a hundred. However, the number of people that were present exceeded ten thousand. It really was a one in a hundred chance of getting in.

Although Su Chen, Lin Jingxuan, etc. were all been considered seedlings, the individuals attending the examination were not just limited to people like them.

Large numbers of other exam candidates were also participating, all pursuing their own dreams without a second thought and relying on this battle to fight for their own fates in the future.

Just the Su Clan had submitted four names for attendance – Su Chen, Su Qian, Su Tong, and another person.

Yes, Su Qian had also come.

Even though he had lost to Su Chen, that did not mean that he had lost his right to participate in this competition. However, everyone knew that someone who couldn't even earn the top spot in their clan was merely attending as a formality even if they came.

But conversely, even if it was just a formality, they were unwilling to give up, and would definitely come!

As time went on, the people slowly began to appear.

A young exam official wearing a white robe moved closer to Zhao Yu and said, "Guru, it's about time, should we..."

Zhao Yu looked at the clock and said, "Let's extend the time a bit. There might be those who are arriving late."

The exam official understood Zhao Yu's temperament. He knew that Zhao Yu only looked like he was hard to convince, but in reality his heart was quite soft. Indeed, this time his kindness was once again manifested, and he pushed back the start of the examination a bit.

Although the Hidden Dragon Institute's recruitment was an extremely great matter and seen as important by everyone, amusingly there would always be people who were late despite its importance.

Zhao Yu graciously had intentionally given these people another opportunity.

Perhaps they would not be able to avoid a fate of failure and elimination in the end, but at least they would not have regrets.

A few stragglers came rushing onto the plaza one after the other.

"Wait for me!" A fatty yelled loudly from afar as he ran over.

Everyone glanced at him in their periphery.

The fatty was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. He finally arrived at the plaza, wiped away his sweat and asked, "It hasn't started yet, has it?"

A fellow exam candidate looked at him and said, "The time has already come, but count yourself lucky. The person overseeing the exam seems to have delayed the starting time of the exam."

"Thank goodness!" The fatty let out a sigh.

"Don't be too relieved yet. Do you see the table over there? Hurry over and report your own name and origin. Let them search you and leave behind anything that is not within regulations. Then, come back with a jade tablet, otherwise you won't be allowed to enter the examination grounds. Remember, once you obtain the jade tablet, you cannot leave the plaza again, and you cannot interact with anyone who is not an exam candidate, otherwise they will think you are cheating!"

The fatty seemed like he awoke from a dream. He hurriedly ran over and returned in an instant. He held a jade tablet in his hands.

He returned to that exam candidate's side and said, "I got it. Thanks for reminding me just then. Oh, right, I am called Wang Doushan. I come from the Flowing Cloud City."

"Wang Doushan1? An interesting name," the exam candidate laughed. He replied, "My name is Su Chen, from Northface City."

"Is that interesting? I also have a sister named Wang Douhua 2," Wang Doushan chuckled.

This guy's conversation ability was truly too bad. Su Chen could only laugh a bit.

After they spoke, the people on the tower finally spoke.

A white-clothed examiner stood out and began to speak. He didn't appear to use any sound-transmitting tools; his voice naturally reached everyone's ears.

"Everyone here should know the rules, right? The jade tablet is your key for entering and leaving the exam grounds and also your score booklet. Obtaining points is very easy. Killing a low-tier Vicious Beast is worth one point, mid-tier are worth three. If you defeat other exam candidates you can obtain points from their jade tablets, totaling one-third of the total points that they have. If the target doesn't have at least three points, they will at least lose one point. You can only steal from the same exam candidate three times, once every day. The exam will last for three days."

"Every region is evaluated independently. The victors with the highest number of points will be selected to go on in the next round of selection."

"If the exam candidate's jade tablet reaches zero points or they voluntarily shatter it, they will be transported out of the exam grounds, but they will also lose the right to enter the Hidden Dragon Institute."

"Finally, although the Institute has used many different methods to protect you, danger still exists. Every year during these kinds of exams, there are always injuries and even deaths; this is unavoidable. The human race requires courageous warriors. Those without courage are destined to have no right to become powerful Origin Qi Scholars. Thus, are you all ready?"

He was met with a swath of silence.

"Very good. Let's move out!" The white-clothed exam official waved his hand.

As the exam candidate motioned his hands, the plaza below him began to shine. Streak after streak of light began to shine through the cracks in the floorboards, sketching out a complicated pattern. Finally, it formed an exceptionally large Origin Energy Formation.

It turned out that this plaza was a giant Origin Energy Formation, similar to the one in the Red Peak Range.

As the formation was activated, the figures of the exam candidates began to blur. Finally, they disappeared, along with the plaza itself.

Replacing it was two giant screens of light that draped down over it.

One screen showed the layout and terrain of the Red Peak Range as well as the conditions of the various exam candidates. It was like live theater.

The other was densely packed with the names of the exam candidates. Every person's name was followed by the number three, representing three points that they were given from the very beginning. This was a leaderboard screen.

Whoosh!

The number behind one name became a four, and that person became the first name on the leaderboard on the screen.

Not long after entering, someone had already earned points.

1. His surname means King, and his actual name means Battling a Mountain. It's a name filled with fighting spirit, if you will.

2. Her name means King Fighting Artwork; not nearly as filled with fighting spirit.

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Page 2

Chapter 117: Cross-Region (1)

Su Chen's vision blurred. When he could see again, he found himself standing on an empty patch of grass.

A feeling of nausea rose up, making him want to feel like throwing up.

This kind of feeling was inevitable given that this was his first time experiencing spatial teleportation. The Whitetower Teleportation manual had said so. They were all spatial teleportation techniques, so they all had shared similarities. However, the Origin Energy Formation's teleportation distance and magnitude were much greater than Whitetower Teleportation.

He had yet to completely escape from his dizziness when Su Chen suddenly heard wind behind his back.

There's a person!

He had no time to use any Origin Skills. Purely based on instinct, Su Chen lowered his head and leapt forwards.

Bang!

The palm strike landed on Su Chen's back, but because Su Chen's reactions were quick and that person was weak, the palm strike's full power was not unleashed.

Su Chen used this momentum to fly forwards. He rolled when he landed on the ground to dodge any follow-up attacks that might be coming for him. At the same time, he picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it behind him without even standing up. His movements were fluid, displaying Su Chen's wealth of battle experience.

The stone, which had been infused with the power of the Flying Flower Hands, whistled loudly through the air. With a "bang!", it landed on the chest of the ambusher.

"Ah!" The ambusher let out a pained cry.

It wasn't until now that Su Chen was able to turn around and size up his opponent.

He saw the immature face of a youth, who was gazing at himself with shock and disbelief.

He had been the one who initiated the ambush, so how was he the one injured?

Having lost this opportunity, he would definitely be the unlucky one.

Su Chen picked up a nearby tree branch and tossed it towards the youth.

The Flying Flower Hands made it so that even leaves could harm people.

When Gu Qingluo wasn't an Origin Qi Scholar, she was already able to use leaves like secret weapons, not to mention Su Chen, who was already an Origin Qi Scholar.

The tree branch filled with Origin Power was much more powerful than the stone that he had hastily thrown out. It whistled through the air.

The youth raised his hands in panic to block it.

Unfortunately, although he had fighting spirit, he did not have the strength to fight for glory. He was still in the Body Tempering Realm. In the exam grounds, his only purpose was to give up points to solidify the foundations of others.

Bang!

The tree branch slammed into him, sending him flying. A simple attack rendered the youth unable to move.

Su Chen walked over to him slowly, picking up his jade tablet and, using the instructions that he had received earliier, took away one point before turning around and leaving.

However, he had not taken many steps when a wind suddenly arose at his back again.

This time, Su Chen had time to react, and he leisurely dodged it.

It was still the youth from earlier, only now he was holding a blade in his hand which slashed past Su Chen's body.

"Why are you still coming for me?" Su Chen knitted his eyebrows.

"Return my point to me!" the youth yelled crazily, unwilling to listen. He swung again and again with his blade.

Su Chen clasped his hands behind his back and activated the Snaking Mist Steps, dodging the swings easily. "You aren't my opponent, so don't waste any more of my time."

"Return it to me, or else I'll keep bothering you!" The youth yelled. "You already stole one of my points, so according to the rules you cannot steal from me a second time today."

"Idiot!" Su Chen's face revealed a trace of anger.

He didn't expect that the first opponent he would run into was such an idiot.

The youth swung out with his blade.

Su Chen didn't waste any more words with him. He sent energy into his hand and struck out, his palm like a blade.

The palm of flesh slammed into the steel blade, yet the blade was actually unable to chop through Su Chen's hand.

With the Thunder Blade and the Flowing Wind Body Technique, how could Su Chen be easily injured by a regular steel blade?

He then grabbed the youth and pulled him towards himself. Next, his hands latched onto the opponent's jade tablet like lightning.

With a bang, the jade tablet shattered.

The youth's figure instantly blurred, and finally he had disappeared without a trace.

Su Chen guessed that even if he wasn't the first exam candidate to leave the exam grounds, he was likely one of the first three.

However, he was also very clear that this exam candidate's luck was quite good to run into himself.

The exam official had already very clearly stated that injuries or deaths were possible during the Hidden Dragon Battle!

Su Chen didn't like killing people, but there were always individuals who did.

Su Chen did not consider these any more. Instead, he pulled out a map from his Origin Ring.

The map was a special map that had been given to them by the Hidden Dragon Institute. It was linked to the Origin Formation that had been set up here and could directly indicate one's location in the Red Peak Range.

Because the Three-Mountain Region had fifteen cities, the Red Peak Range had thus been divided into fifteen regions.

The regions were determined based on strength. Northface City was the thirteenth region, and in terms of strength it was the third to last in the entire Three-Mountain Region.

The Flowing Cloud City was ranked sixth, and its overall strength was clearly higher than Northface City. As such, they were also allocated three more spots than Northface City was.

All of the exam candidates were first placed into their own regions. That was to say that if Su Chen wanted to go to the Flowing Cloud City, the sixth region, he had to pass through a large number of other exam regions to arrive.

This mission of his really was quite burdensome and faraway.

However, the good news was that the exam official didn't say that one could only earn points in one's own region.

That was also to say that he could still earn points in other regions, which could save Su Chen quite a bit of time.

In fact, the only reason why the Hidden Dragon Institute accepted students by region was mostly to protect the weaker cities, giving them some opportunities. If this weren't the case, instead directly choosing those with the highest points, then places like Northface City might not even have one exam candidate enter the top one hundred.

Their politics needed to be fair, so because of this they had set such rules.

However, the divisions of the regions didn't prevent others from obtaining points from different regions, meaning that Su Chen could earn points even in other regions. However, the pressure of battle would likely be much greater. Thus, under normal circumstance, people from lower regions wouldn't go hunting in higher regions, while people from higher regions might go to lower regions to earn points. This was not anything new.

Su Chen did not have much room to make decisions. Thus, he put on his mask and began heading in the direction of the sixth region.

According to his original plan, Su Chen did not plan on doing battle before taking care of the Spirit Burying Terrace.

However, the situation was not in Su Chen's control. He didn't walk far when a lunkhead suddenly jumped out from a patch of grass nearby. He held a large broadsword in his hands and chopped down towards Su Chen. He was even yelling something as he slashed down.

Su Chen had just dodged it using the Snaking Mist Steps when the lunkhead began to spin around with the sword in his hands1. A surging sword wind rushed forwards, and its strength was not small. Evidently, it was a skill intended for battling multiple people.

Unfortunately, his speed was still too slow. Even though he had spun, he was still unable to even touch Su Chen's hair.

Once the opponent's sword stopped, Su Chen had already prepared seven or eight air tentacles that surged forwards together, binding him and preventing him from moving. He first took the lunkhead's points, then waved his hand, tossing the lunkhead back into the patch of grass, and left.

When the lunkhead had escaped from the tentacles and had stood up, Su Chen had long since disappeared.

He was stunned for a while. How come it seemed like the battle had ended before it had even begun?

He felt like he was trapped in a dream. Everything seemed surreal.

1. Reminds me of Garen from League of Legends.

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Page 3

Chapter 118: Cross-Region (2)

Bang!

After knocking over an exam participant and taking away his points, Bei Fulin directly shattered his opponents' jade tablet, ruining any remaining chances that that contender had remaining before returning to his hiding spot behind the tree.

It wasn't that he was particularly vicious. In fact, it was just because the location that he had discovered was too good.

His hiding spot was located along quite a long passageway, and the path was lined with thorny purple brambles, making it so that people could only travel through via this road. The large tree Bei Fujian was hiding behind was close to the mountain, and its foilage was lush. There was even a small crack between it and the mountain wall, making it extremely useful for concealing a person.

By borrowing the covertness of that spot, Bei Fulin had already ambushed three different people. Every time he ambushed them, he would shatter their jade tablet, then continue to watch attentively.

Bei Fulin felt secretly very happy.

Doing battle required intelligence. How to effectively use the terrain to one's advantage was one way to demonstrate that intelligence.

Even though he did not possess strength, Bei Fulin still believed that he could create his own heaven in the exam grounds. If his luck was good enough, he might even be able to enter the top one hundred.

As he thought, another person began to draw near to him.

Bei Fulin carefully hid in the crack behind the tree, waiting for the opportunity. As long as the other party took a few more steps, he would enter his optimal attack range. At that time, he could explode out, and the opponent would most likely panic. They would back up out of instinct, but Bei Fulin had prepared a follow-up move much earlier. His real killing blow lay in cutting off the opponent's path of retreat and then releasing a fatal blow.

Three steps before entering his optimal attack range, the other party suddenly stopped.

He seemed to have thought of something, then lowered his head and began to ponder something.

Dammit, walk faster. Bei Fulin cursed impatiently in his heart, but he could only wait. The current distance was still a little bit too far away, and he wasn't completely confident in his success if he were to force a move at this moment.

Just as Bei Fulin was growing anxious, the other person suddenly raised his head and glanced in Bei Fulin's direction, a strange smile apparent in his eyes.

He then flipped his hand, and a large fireball appeared.

When faced with the fireball, Bei Fulin only felt a chill run down his spine. He knew that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

He wanted to jump up and run, but he discovered that he actually had no place to run. This place was a good location to ambush someone, but it also contained a large drawback, which was that there was no path of retreat.

The other exam candidate's fireball had already slammed towards the tree.

Bang!

Following the giant explosion, Bei Fulin was thrown into the air as he yelled loudly. He landed directly on the purple brambles.

The sharp thorns pierced into his body. Close to a hundred small holes suddenly appeared on Bei Fulin's body.

Su Chen slowly walked over, retrieved his jade tablet and plundered points from it.

He actually gained two points.

Su Chen was slightly dazed. He laughed, "Not too shabby. You actually earned three points in such a short time. But remember next time, don't stay in one spot for too long."

"You... how did you discover me?" Bei Fulin squeezed out with great difficulty.

"There were purple brambles that were knocked over and the ground was covered in footprints resulting from forceful steps, implying that a battle had happened here before. That tree was the only place suitable for hiding a person..... I didn't need to know if you were there, I just needed to test it out with a fireball. However, most importantly... I have already encountered these kinds of ambushes many times already," Su Chen carelessly replied.

Bei Fulin was dazed when he heard this.

Su Chen tossed Bei Fulin away, then continued to press forwards.

His mood was quite terrible because he had truly already encountered too many situations like what had just happened during his journey.

Su Chen already understood what was going on.

To many exam candidates, even if they had no way of obtaining the precious Hidden Dragon Institute enrollment spots during this exam, if they could get a good ranking, they could also obtain better resources when entering other institutes – a large number of institutes were all waiting to snatch up talented individuals that had been eliminated by the Hidden Dragon Institute.

Under these kinds of circumstances, most of the exam candidates would act prudently. They did not randomly move around after entering the exam grounds. Instead, they would use any knowledge that they already had to conceal themselves and search for opportunities.

They were very clear about one thing. If their strength was insufficient, overly unrestrained actions would only result in them exiting the competition quickly.

And Su Chen's actions belonged to the type that were wild and unrestrained – confidently walking alone on a path, if we don't ambush you who will we ambush?

But goddammit, I'm really not trying to battle you, I just want to get to the Spirit Burying Terrace faster and take away the things that are inside.

Unfortunately, he could not say this to others, and it would be useless even if he did say it.

Thus, the entire way here, Su Chen had encountered ambush after ambush.

Gazing off into the mountainous distance, ten thousand exam candidates had been scattered just like a handful of sand, not even creating any splashes. Nothing could be seen. However, as long as you walked on the paths in the mountains, you would be ambushed from patches of grass, from behind boulders, from trees, or even from rivers and creeks by all kinds of people.

To obtain good results, all of the exam candidates had become like killers and resorted to tactics like sneak attacks, as if they were from assassin clans. Some had brilliant tactics, but there were also many with not-so-brilliant ones, and there definitely those who exercised their imagination and ability to fantasize quite often.

Of course, not everyone would do this.

There was a portion of exam candidates who stuck to their guns, bravely walking along those paths and facing any and all challenges.

This kind of person usually had two fates. Either they were eliminated early on, or those with greater strength would obtain large quantities of points.

However, because they were not allowed to use Origin Stones during the exam, even those who possessed great strength would also be defeated because of a lack of energy if they continued acting so aggressively.

Unfortunately, while others could rest, Su Chen had no other choice.

Tomorrow was the day that the Spirit Burying Terrace would open. If he couldn't make it there by that time, then there was no point to it all.

Thus, he could only continue pushing onwards aggressively.

Another thing to pay attention to was his jade tablet.

As he obtained more and more points, Su Chen's jade tablet began to glow, and a shapeless pulsation began to occur, allowing anyone who was nearby to sense it.

Su Chen realized that this was the special effect of the jade tablet. It used this kind of method to remind others that the owner was a target with many points.

Once a target possessed a large number of points, it often implied one thing: that person was strong.

This could scare a few into retreating, but it would also arouse the greed of opponents who were stronger. As long as they could defeat one person, they would gain a large number of points.

But one thing was for sure. Anyone who could reach the top one hundred in the rankings was definitely someone who had relied on swallowing pushovers.

Only by defeating real experts would one have the right to stand at the very top.

Of course, the pulses of the jade tablet could be concealed, but that required spending Origin Energy. This meant that the exam candidates needed to observe the situation to determine when it was necessary to conceal it and when it wasn't.

On the afternoon of the same day that he had entered the exam grounds, Su Chen walked out of the thirteenth region and into the twelfth.

What he didn't know was that not long after arriving in the twelfth region, a youth wearing a long sword had also arrived at the border of the thirteenth region.

He gazed at the boundary before letting out a cold harrumph. "Before, it was always exam candidates from higher regions who would come to lower-level regions to hunt for points. This time, I, Li Qingyun, will turn the tables on them and hunt down some exam candidates from larger cities."

As he spoke, he stepped into the twelfth region.

Not too far behind him, another youth walked over dressed in coarse, hemp clothes.

The youth's appearance was unremarkable. He had a pair of eyes that looked like they would never be fully awake no matter how much he slept.

Compared to Su Chen's hastiness or Li Qingyun's high spirits, this youth clearly was much more at ease.

After arriving at the boundary, the youth raised his head to look at the sky. He stared at it for a while, unmoving, before saying to himself, "Then it's decided."

He pointed at a nearby boulder and, using his finger as a pen, wrote down a row of words:

"I'm going to go play in some other regions. Bai Li."

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Page 4

Chapter 119: Cross-Region (3)

On top of the high tower, all the very important people were watching the examinations going on via the screen of light.

There was only one live broadcast screen, yet there were ten thousand exam competitors, so naturally not each one was shown. Most of the time, the screen was constantly searching for interesting battles for those important individuals to watch.

Right next to the screen with all the interesting battles was the screen with the leaderboard.

The numbers on the screen were constantly changing and jumping. Every so often, the ranks would be shuffled, and the ranks of the exam contenders were constantly shifting up and down.

But no matter how they changed, some peoples' positions did not change at all.

They remained at the very top!

The highest name on the rankings was Ji Hanyan. This name had a parentheses next to it which contained the words "Frostbird". Finally, there was an eye-catching number: 75.

The parenthese was the bloodline. Only those with inherited bloodlines had this symbol next to their name. The number represented the number of points they possessed.

In half a day, this Ji Hanyan person had actually obtained seventy or so points. This was a frightening pace. One had to know that, because the examination had just begun, each opponent would usually only equal one point. Seventy points meant that Ji Hanyan only needed half a day to take care of at least fifty or so opponents.

Even if she had fireballed each one of them, not many people would possess that much Origin Energy to do it.

Below Ji Hanyan's name was a large group of people who were constantly vying for a higher ranking. Almost all of those who had the highest rankings all had the bloodline symbol next to their names, and some bloodlines even appeared across multiple names.

Occasionally, some individuals without the bloodline symbol would appear, but they would quickly disappear again.

Regardless of whether it was Su Chen, Li Qingyun, Bai Li, or any other disciples in their clan, none of their names had ever reached the list of top a hundred.

"It seems like the situation will only develop to this point. Once again, the disciples of the noble clans are once again the most outstanding seedlings in the Hidden Dragon Battle. How boring," a member of a noble clan laughed as he sat on the tall tower.

"Is that surprising at all? If noble bloodline clans weren't stronger than some commoners without a bloodline, how could they be considered nobility?" a man to the side replied, unsurprised.

"Old Qi is right. This really is rather boring. If there were another Black Day Transformation, things would be a little more interesting," someone said.

Upon hearing the words "Black Day Transformation", many people suddenly began to whisper in each others' ears.

Someone said unhappily, "I think that for people like Long Pojun, one is already too many, yet you actually want it to happen again. What point is there in bringing up such things that only cause us to lose face?"

"Come, come, Old Liang, you know that Old Qi was only joking. Why so serious? Someone like Long Pojun doesn't appear even in a thousand years. How could there possibly be another one," someone said, attempting to reconcile the situation.

"Yes, yes, let's talk about something else. Of this year's top ten, we have Frostbird Ji Hanyan, Blood Demon Zhong Ding, Bewitching Butterfly Jin Ling'er, and Treebow Zhang Sheng'an. There's no suspense about these four, but the other six spots I am curious as to who will obtain those spots; it's still quite suspenseful."

"Charm Ape Wen Rushui comes from an illusion master clan, and she can probably obtain a spot."

"I don't think so. Although illusion-type bloodlines are powerful, they are not as useful on the battlefield and completely rely on the use of soul power. The recovery rate of soul power is much lower than Origin Energy, and she won't have enough to make it later on in the examination. Although Wen Rushui may be strong now, as time goes on she will definitely fall in the rankings. I favor Guan Shanying more."

"I think we can forget about Guan Shanying. As his name implied, he relied on the Ying Shanyi to obtain benefits, but in fact his strength is quite limited. He might be able to sneak some benefits by having affairs with women, but he definitely cannot tower amongst a group of strong men. I favor Sword Rhinoceros Zheng Kuang more. He is like an overlord with his spear – quite remarkable."

"He has enough strength, but he doesn't have much in the way of brains.

"Poisonous Centipede Kong Shen. His poison is very pervasive."

"Thunder Spirit Bai Ou..."

"Drought Dragon Jiang Chang..."

"Fat Crane..."

One name after another was brought up through the mouths of these noble clan members, as well as their thoughts and outlook on the current Hidden Dragon Battle.

————————————

"Whew!" Su Chen let out a long sigh.

The opponent he was currently facing was somewhat of a burden. Su Chen took had to expend quite some effort to defeat him.

However, this was not the crux of the issue.

The crux of the issue was that, as he had battled, his expenditure of Origin Energy had greatly increased. He had only passed through two regions and it was enough for Su Chen to feel quite exhausted. However, he still had to pass through five more regions!

When he thought about that, Su Chen felt his head begin to hurt.

His mission was more difficult than he had anticipated.

While his opponent was still disoriented, Su Chen took his points and hid him in a nearby patch of grass so that he wouldn't be taken advantage of by anyone else passing by.

Having finished this matter, Su Chen turned around, preparing to leave.

He hadn't taken many steps when he suddenly felt that something was off.

Su Chen rapidly turned around, and an iron blade had already appeared in his hand.

Not faraway from him, a youth dressed in an azure robe stood there, a longsword on his back. Although it was just a normal longsword, its shape was quite strange. The body of the blade seemed to be much longer and thinner than most, and it was slightly arced. This kind of blade was not good for brute force encounters, so the opponent's sword path must have been one of speed and agility.

At this moment, the youth's arms were crossed as he said arrogantly, "Don't worry, I'm not so lowly as to sneak attack you. It seems like you also have some guts, so after I defeat you in a bit, I won't shatter your jade tablet."

Unexpectedly, Su Chen gazed at him for a few moments before suddenly saying, "Li Qingyun?"

The azure-robed youth was clearly a bit stunned. "You recognize me?"

Su Chen nodded his head sincerely.

Of course he recognized Li Qingyun.

Li Qingyun and Su Chen were both considered geniuses back then, but their eventual fates were completely opposite.

Su Chen had suffered a calamity at the hands of an old beggar, while Li Qingyun had encountered a stroke of good luck in the same year. He had caught the eye of Willow Sword He Changsheng and was accepted as a disciple, who passed on the Dancing Wind Willow Sword and the Concealed Stab to him. The Dancing Wind Willow Sword was graceful and agile, and it moved in a strange way. The Concealed Stab was extremely domineering and was a one-hit kill. They were all techniques that were quite famous. As long as Li Qingyun had two-tenths of the strength of He Changsheng, Su Chen was not confident that he could win.

Li Qingyun finally realized something. "You are from Northface City?"

Su Chen nodded his head.

"I never expected that there would be another exam candidate from Northface City that would come to the twelfth region," Li Qingyun laughed.

"It's probably not just me and you," Su Chen shook his head and said.

Li Qingyun was stunned for a moment before he suddenly seemed to realize something. He turned his head around and said, "Who is it, come out!"

"Senior Brother Li, your reactions are a bit slower than that Demon Face," a voice laughed. It came from atop a faraway tree.

A young man had already appeared on top of the tree. It was precisely the unassuming youth dressed in coarse clothing, Bai Li.

"So it's you." Upon seeing that it was Bai Li, Li Qingyun harrumphed, "I should have known it was you. In the entire thirteenth region, those who dare to charge into higher-ranked regions probably are few in number. Where are Lin Shuyue and Lin Jingxuan?"

"Shuyue is still in the thirteenth region, while Lin Jingxuan seems to have run to the fifteenth region," Bai Li replied.

Li Qingyun snorted, "Hmph, useless trash."

If going from lower regions to higher regions was bravery, then going from higher regions to lower regions was essentially bullying the weak. People who truly possessed strength scorned and disdained doing things like that.

However, Lin Jingxuan had truly been misunderstood in this matter.

That was because sending him to the fifteenth region was Su Chen's intentions. He wanted to preserve Lin Jingxuan as his last resort. If the matter of the Spirit Burying Terrace prevented him from accumulating enough points, he needed Lin Jingxuan to help him supplement.

After cursing out Lin Jingxuan, Li Qingyun said, "I never expected that the three of us from the thirteenth region actually have gathered together in the twelfth region. That is quite interesting."

"That doesn't really count as a coincidence," Bai Li laughed as he scratched his head. "To pass through the twelfth region from the thirteenth, this is the closest road. If we came from the same road, we will more than likely run into each other."

Li Qingyun harrumphed, "I don't need you to analyze things so thoroughly. Since we've run into each other, then let's fight."

As he spoke, he began drawing the longsword on his back.

Bai Li continued to smile, but now his smile contained traces of caution and seriousness.

"Why not switch up the manner of competition?" Su Chen suddenly said.

The two of them looked at him simultaneously.

Su Chen said, "Since fate has allowed us to meet here, then perhaps there was a particular intention behind it. Look, we have all chosen to do battle in a place that is not our own region, and we all are headed towards higher-ranked regions. Why is that? Because we are not willing to fall behind, right? We all want to prove ourselves, but not in such a small, lacking city like Northface. Rather, we wish to do it in a much larger scope."

These words moved their hearts.

If what Su Chen said wasn't true, then why would they have come to this place?

Su Chen continued. "Since that's the case, why bother fighting each other? Since fate allowed us to meet here, then perhaps we are supposed to know that there is no need to fight amongst ourselves. Yes, we do need to fight for a spot to enter the Hidden Dragon Institute, but the spots might not necessarily be determined by who defeats their opponents. We are competing with the entire Three-Mountain Range, and we are facing countless other opponents. There is no reason we cannot compete in other things."

Li Qingyun harrumphed, "You're just saying that whoever earns the most points win? That's not very novel."

"No, I'm saying that we should compete in who can make it the furthest and to the highest region." Su Chen revealed a mysterious smile, and he pointed down the path as he said, "Follow this path all the way down. If you're a man, sweep through the entire exam grounds!"

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Page 5

Chapter 120: Cross-Region (4)

If you're a man, sweep through the entire exam grounds!"

This sentence completely shocked Li Qingyun and Bai Li.

The two of them gazed at Su Chen like they were gazing at a strange creature.

What kind of person could say these kinds of words?

What kind of sky-high arrogance was needed to make this kind of decision?

This was the same as battling all the way to the first region!

Everyone knew what kind of people existed inside the first region. They were the strongest batch of seedlings in the entire Three-Mountain Range. There, clan geniuses were worth a fart, and many members of noble bloodline clans existed. Any one of them could be an expert with an inherited bloodline, and even those with mixed bloodlines had to make way for them.

Li Qingyun and Bai Li's supposed fighting for the glory of the lower regions was merely

They had never considered fighting through the entire competition grounds from the very beginning.

Upon seeing their appearance, Su Chen coldly laughed, "What, you don't dare to do it?"

"It's not that we don't dare, it's that we cannot do it," Li Qingyun grumbled. Although he was usually quite full of himself, even he didn't dare to boast concerning this matter.

"If you don't try, how do you know you can't?" Su Chen countered. "Anyways, as long as one tries, even if one fails there will be no regrets. Thus, regardless of whether or not you choose to go, I have already made my decision to fight all the way down this path. Either I will fall while advancing, or I will walk all the way to the end. Thus, I'm sorry, but I don't want to fight you."

As he spoke, he turned around and left.

After talking for quite a while, the last sentence that he had uttered was sincere.

Are you kidding me? Battling to this point was already extremely tiring, and I still need to battle the two of you?"

When battling these two individuals, even if he won, he would pay a heavy price. Most likely, he would even have to use almost all of his trump cards.

Su Chen was unwilling to use his trump cards so early. Thus, he could only use his mouth to defuse the situation, not his fists.

If it were a stranger, someone that Su Chen didn't recognize, no matter how much he spoke it wouldn't be useful. Since these two people had just run into the twelfth region from the thirteenth, what Su Chen had just said was indeed quite effective.

As long as he was able to focus their attention on a common enemy, his plan could succeed.

If he was lucky, not only could he avoid this battle, but he could have two extra helpers to help him distribute the pressure.

Indeed, at this moment the two of them looked at each other. It was still Li Qingyun who darkly laughed, "Interesting. This Demon Face does have quite the appeal. What do you think, Bai Li? Interested?"

Bai Li glanced at Sui Chen. He suddenly yelled, "Hey, if I participate, can you take off your mask and let us see who you are?"

Su Chen turned his head around. He looked at Bai Li, and then he looked at Li Qingyun.

Li Qingyun's face was similarly filled with expectation.

He thought for a moment, the nodded his head. "As long as you can keep up with my footsteps, the next time we meet I will take off my mask."

As he spoke, he turned around and left.

"As long as you can keep up with my footsteps... what great arrogance," Li Qingyun harrumphed, watching Su Chen's departing figure.

However, he could not deny that at least in terms of lofty aspirations, he was superior to himself by quite a bit.

Even though that was the case, the proud and arrogant Li Qingyun was unwilling to lower his head. He looked at Bai Li and said, "Let's go, and see who can make it farther."

Bai Li giggled. "I'll go this way. I'll see you later."

With a somersault, he had already disappeared in a patch of grass.

——————————

Having avoided his battle with Li Qingyun and Bai Li, Su Chen had avoided a quite possibly vicious battle, saving him quite a bit of energy.

But more importantly, with the two of them splitting the pressure for him, the path forwards for him had become more uncomplicated.

Very quickly, Su Chen walked out of the twelfth region and entered the eleventh.

Anything below the tenth region was considered a low-tier region, and there wasn't any great discrepancy in terms of talent. Thus, even in the eleventh region Su Chen didn't encounter any decent opponents. When he did run into battles, he just used a fireball and air tentacles to quickly and efficiently deal with his opponent.

At the moment, he controlled seven Origin Skills. In terms of quantity, this was already quite good for an Origin Qi Scholar near the edge of Qi Drawing, but the quality of the skills was still lacking. He lacked attacks that could shake the Universe with one blow, ones that possessed powerful killing propensity.

However, most of the people attending the exam were still in Body Tempering. Even the most outstanding exam candidates were usually quite new to the Qi Drawing Realm, so their strength was not very high. It was already quite impressive for these exam candidates to possess even just two or three Origin Skills.

Apart from this, Su Chen had another formidable quality, which was that his cultivation base had already reached the fifth layer of Qi Drawing.

Although cultivation base did not directly represent combat prowess, the comprehensive benefits that the increase in cultivation had given him still existed. Just his Origin Energy amount was already much more powerful than most people.

The first layer of Qi Drawing was at ten Yellow Stars, while the fifth layer of Qi Drawing was at fifty.

That was also to say that Su Chen possessed Origin Energy equal to five times that of a normal, first-layer exam candidate. In the entire exam grounds, there was probably not a single person who was more powerful than him in this aspect.

By relying on this quality, as long as Su Chen didn't meet any seedlings from those regions, he could basically sweep the floor with the candidates in these lower regions.

His luck was qutie good. He didn't run into any seedlings from the eleventh or twelfth regions, and the two seedlings from his own region had been tricked into advancing into the higher regions with him. Thus, he walked into the eleventh region without incident.

But once he got to the tenth region, Su Chen finally encountered some trouble.

He ran into a youth with black skin.

When he fought, he was like a ferocious hyena, attacking with his hands and feet and even biting. Fighting him was like fighting a rascal.

However, it seemed as if this battle tactic was quite useful. Every one of his attacks were filled with decay and expiration. Even the secret tool that he used was a damned rock powder pouch – the damned Hidden Dragon Institute actually allowed this kind of tool to be brought in.

Su Chen was completely covered in filth, but in the end the youth had been restricted by his air tentacles and Soul Eye before sending a fireball into the ground right in front of him.

The youth was knocked over onto the ground. He wore an expression of disbelief as he loudly yelled, "You definitely aren't from the tenth region."

"Oh? You're that sure?" Su Chen asked.

"Of course, I have already fought all of the people in the tenth region before. The number of people that can beat me can be counted on one hand, and I recognize them all!"

Su Chen laughed, "I felt like you were a seedling, no wonder fighting you took so much effort. Do you fight often? You used the rock powder pouch quite harmfully, and you were even willing to go for the balls. You use all these different tactics?"

The youth replied, "If you fought with others every day since your youth in order to not go hungry, you would also know how to do this."

"What?" Su Chen was slightly stunned into silence.

Although Su Chen had guessed that his opponent grew up on the streets, upon hearing these words Su Chen couldn't help but sigh.

No wonder his opponent had so much experience, yet lacked any powerful skills.

It was a miracle for this kind of person to have even become an Origin Qi Scholar in the first place.

"Hey, tell me, what region are you from?" the youth was still yelling.

"Why are you asking me this? You want to come fight me again?"

"Of course!" the youth loudly yelled. "I will not let anyone who has defeated me before go. I must definitely win against them. Tell me your name; one day or another, I will come find you to do battle again. However, if I win, you must give me an Origin Skill!"

Su Chen was speechless. "You can't possibly have obtained all your Origin Skills in this way?"

"If I didn't, where else would they have come from?"

Su Chen was dazed for a moment before finally nodding, "Okay, my name is Su Chen, and I'm from the thirteenth region."

"I am called Cloud Leopard!"

"Cloud Leopard1? Is your surname Yun, or..."

The youth shook his head. "Orphans don't need a surname. I chose this name myself."

"So that's how it is." Su Chen understood.

Without question, Cloud Leopard was a kid who had fought his way to this point from the streets of a market city. He had never received any official instruction, but he had depended entirely on his iron will to arrive at his current position.

This must not have been easy.

At that moment, Su Chen was suddenly reminded of himself.

In those past years, the experiences that he had experienced were very similar to those of the youth in front of him.

Upon thinking to this point, he suddenly pulled something out of his ring and said to Cloud Lepoard, "This is for you."

"What is this?" Cloud Leopard took it and looked at it. His face revealed a shocked expression. "Origin Skill?"

It was the Thunder Blade manual that Su Chen had obtained from Bai Fan back then.

Cloud Leopard held the Thunder Blade and gazed at Su Chen with excitement. "Why did you give it to me?"

Su Chen shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted to give it to you. It's not like it's particularly valuable. After all, I already learned the Origin Skill on it, so if you like it it's yours."

To him, this was as a matter as easy as lifting his hand. If he wanted to do it, he could do it. There was nothing to hesitate about.

Cloud Demon, however, gazed at him excitedly.

He stood up and retreated a few steps, as if he were worried that Su Chen would go back on his word. Then, he actually ran away in the blink of an eye.

Su Chen couldn't understand this response for some time. Shouldn't you at least say thanks?

However, he did not have any particular motive in giving away that gift, so he didn't mind not receiving any thanks. He just shook his head and laughed a bit before turning around and leaving.

He hadn't walked far when he heard the strange movement behind him.

He turned around to look and saw Cloud Leopard standing far off in the distance.

He yelled at Su Chen loudly, "I'll remember you."

"... Is this your way of thanking me?" Su Chen was speechless.

Cloud Leopard once again turned around and left.

This time, he did not reappear.

1. His actual name is Yun Diao. This is a relatively strange name, but because it is a self-chosen name I felt it would be more accurate to translate according to its meaning, since it's not an official name of sorts. That is also why Su Chen asks him if his surname is Yun.

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