“What exactly is it?” someone asked curiously.
“Could it be that Elder Su Rou is going to offer herself?” There were even some shameless individuals who started having wild fantasies.
Although Su Rou was an elder, she was only 20 years old. Compared to the conservative old men in the sect, she was much more approachable. It was precisely because of this that many people spoke without hesitation in front of her.
In response to everyone’s guesses, Su Rou only smiled charmingly. She stretched out her five slender fingers and said, “Five stalks of Immortal Spirit Grass.”
“What? Five stalks of Immortal Spirit Grass?”
“I didn’t hear wrong, right? It’s actually Immortal Spirit Grass, and five stalks at that?” As soon as these words were spoken, the great hall immediately fell into chaos; no one could remain calm.
Immortal Spirit Grass was extremely precious. Even the Chu Family could only subsidize each person with one stalk every year.
And for ordinary people, Immortal Spirit Grass was a priceless treasure; they hadn’t even seen one before.
Now the Azure Dragon Sect unexpectedly brought out five stalks. This temptation was incredibly huge for the outer court disciples.
However, for the vast majority of people, they could only imagine it, because they were well aware that the Immortal Spirit Grass was not their fortune to claim.
But for the disciples who were indeed targeting first place, each of them was eager to give it a try and became even more fired up.
Seeing the disciples’ spirits so high, Su Rou nodded in satisfaction, then waved her beautiful hand.
From behind her, a rumbling sound echoed, and the giant doors that were several zhang high slowly began to open.
“What are you waiting for? Do you not want to pass the exam?” Seeing the disciples frozen stiff, Su Rou smiled sweetly.
“Charge~~~~”
Instantly, cheers continuously echoed. Tens of thousands of outer court disciples, like wild horses breaking free from their reins, rushed in through those giant doors.
Chu Feng followed the flow of the crowd, continuing to step forward, and finally entered a deep stone cave.
This stone cave was very spacious, but it was so dark that visibility was extremely low. Everyone knew that lurking dangers could strike at any moment.
“Advance! For the rank four Martial Skill, for the five immortal grasses, advance~~~”
However, there were always people who valued treasure over their own lives. Even knowing there was danger, they still led at the very front without looking back, and the number of such people was not small.
“Swish swish swish”
However, after only advancing a hundred meters, a series of wind-piercing sounds echoed from the front. Countless silver needles were shot from the cave walls, darting towards the crowd like a torrential rainstorm.
“Ah~~~~~~”
“Uwaa~~~~”
In an instant, various screams echoed everywhere. The disciples running at the front were caught off guard, and more than half of them immediately collapsed.
Even so, people continued to advance as before without retreating a single bit, desperately running towards the depths of the cave.
Because they knew that although these silver needles were formidable, they would not be fatal. After all, this was merely a trap; for those at the third level of the Lingwu realm, as long as they were more careful, those needles could be completely avoided.
And as they stepped further inside, the volume of silver needles became increasingly dense, constantly attacking and overwhelming people.
In this kind of situation, the distance within the crowd quickly widened. Those running at the very front were no longer the ones just trying their luck, but experts on the level of Yang Tianyu and Duan Yuxuan.
It had to be admitted, Yang Tianyu, Duan Yuxuan, and the others were indeed extraordinary.
Others walking amidst the storm of silver needles had to move with extreme vigilance.
But for them, it was like walking on flat ground. How did it look like they were breaking through a trap formation? It truly looked like a few people having a foot race.
Chu Feng continued to follow behind them, trailing from within the army of third-level Lingwu realm cultivators. He did this for two reasons.
First, he didn’t want to be the center of attention.
Second, his situation was very special; he didn’t want to expose his strength too early.
Therefore, he was waiting for a momentum, a moment when no one could see him, but where he could surpass everyone.
“Duan Yuxuan, your age is in vain. It turns out you can’t even outrun a child like me. Don’t you feel ashamed?”
“Hmph, snot-nosed brat. In the path of martial cultivation, age doesn’t matter, only strength. If you want to boast, beat me first before talking.”
After sprinting for some time, only two figures remained at the very front, namely Duan Yuxuan and Yang Tianyu.
Both of them were at the fourth level of the Lingwu realm; one had extraordinary talent, and the other was highly experienced. They were evenly matched, and the scent of competition between them was increasingly heating up.
Because they knew that their biggest competitor was each other. As long as they could surpass their opponent, the first place reward would be theirs.
“Whoosh~” Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from the front.
Looking ahead, both of them were equally startled and subconsciously slowed their pace, because a very thick fog had appeared in front of them.
This stone cave was basically already dim, and coupled with this thick fog, visibility became even lower. This greatly increased the difficulty of dodging the traps; even for the two of them, they had to face it with great caution.
“A great opportunity.”
But just as everyone became hesitant and fell back, Chu Feng instead smiled happily. He took large strides forward, and with only a ‘swoosh’ sound, his entire body was like an arrow released from a bow, darting forward at rapid speed.
“Whoosh.”
At this moment, Duan Yuxuan was concentrating on dodging the silver needles, but a black shadow flashed past him like lightning. Before he could even react, that person had vanished without a trace.
“Was that a hallucination?”
This occurrence left Duan Yuxuan extremely shocked. Initially, he thought it was Yang Tianyu, but after realizing that Yang Tianyu was still not far from his position, he became confused.
After successfully shaking everyone off, Chu Feng no longer had any worries, and he pushed his speed to the absolute limit.
Despite running for a long time, he did not feel fatigued in the slightest. The spiritual energy within his body seemed endless, continuously overflowing from within his Dantian.
Not only that, his speed, strength, hearing, and vision also far surpassed those at the same cultivation level, and at the very least, they were already much stronger compared to Duan Yuxuan and Yang Tianyu.
Seeing these changes, Chu Feng didn’t feel too surprised, because this was where his uniqueness lay.
He had already experienced this uniqueness five years ago. And now that this uniqueness had returned, it gave him an unmatched sense of confidence; because in front of him, there would no longer be anyone who dared to call themselves a genius.
Continuing to sprint swiftly, Chu Feng finally managed to pass the trap formation, exiting the deep and dimly lit stone cave, and arriving in a spacious great hall.
At the end of the great hall, there was a high stone platform. On top of it lay several items that were none other than the rank four Martial Skill and five stalks of Immortal Spirit Grass.
Seeing those items, Chu Feng was a little excited, but he didn’t rush to step forward. Instead, he stared toward several stone doors located on both sides of the great hall.
“Could the legendary Fierce Beasts be behind there?” The corners of Chu Feng’s mouth formed an enthusiastic curve.
He knew the exam had only just begun. What he would soon face was a terrifying creature that was extremely bloodthirsty and ruthless, known as a Fierce Beast.
“Elder Su Rou, come here and take a look, this is too shocking.”
“For all the years I’ve guarded this place, this is the first time I’ve seen a disciple who could clear the obstacle course at this kind of speed.”
In a secret stone chamber within the underground palace, an old elder was staring at a tray of scattered gravel, his eyes filled with shock.
That was no ordinary gravel, but a trap control mechanism inside the underground palace; only when the traps were triggered would the stones be scattered.
And right now, all the stones on the tray were scattered, proving one thing: someone had already successfully passed the trap formation.
In the exams of previous years, the fastest person to clear the obstacle course took an hour, but now, only half an hour had passed.
This unexpected event attracted everyone’s attention. Over a dozen elders in the stone chamber gathered around, all feeling equally shocked.
“It seems that among the outer court disciples this time, there’s quite an interesting character.”
Su Rou also walked over. She looked at the scattered stones, then nodded in satisfaction. “If that’s the case, we can’t let him pass so easily. Let me add a little entertainment for him.”
As she spoke, she shifted her gaze above the gravel, where three round stones were embedded in the stone wall.
Suddenly, she smiled slyly and slapped the three stones consecutively, “Smack, smack, smack”.
“Don’t touch those!” Seeing this action, the elders present were all startled.
Unfortunately, it was already too late; by now, the three stones had already been pressed by Su Rou.
“What’s wrong? Weren’t you the ones who told me that these stones could release Fierce Beasts?” Seeing the panicked expressions on the elders’ faces, Su Rou realized something was wrong.
“These three stones can indeed release Fierce Beasts, but they must not be pressed at the same time.”
“If pressed simultaneously, it will release all the captured Fierce Beasts.”
“That means thirty Rank 2 Fierce Beasts, nine Rank 3 Fierce Beasts, and one Rank 4 Fierce Beast.” As he said this, Elder Li’s face turned deathly pale, and even his voice was trembling.
Having guarded this place for many years, he thoroughly understood the Fierce Beasts.
Those creatures were terrifying savage monsters, far stronger than martial cultivators of an equivalent level.
Right now, with the release of so many Fierce Beasts at once, a massacre would be unavoidable.
Thinking that tens of thousands of disciples in the underground palace would soon be slaughtered by Fierce Beasts, he truly couldn’t bear to imagine it any further.
“Why didn’t you warn me earlier?”
At this exact second, Su Rou’s face also turned pale. Her slender body leaped up, transforming into a fierce gust of wind. Along with the opening of the stone door, she had already darted out, vanishing without a trace.
“Elder Li, what should we do?” Everyone’s gazes were now fixed on the old elder.
“What else can we do? Hurry up and go save them!” Elder Li shouted angrily before finally rushing out.
