After Su Rou and the others left, the great hall returned to silence.
After a long time, hurried footsteps were finally heard from outside the hall, and a disciple ran in at top speed.
This person was Duan Yuxuan. However, his current condition was vastly different compared to before he entered the underground palace.
His hair was messy, sweat drenched his entire head, and he was panting heavily. He ran madly toward the high platform.
“Haha, first place is mine in the end. Yang Tianyu, you snot-nosed brat, you think you can compete with me?”
“Why do you think I was willing to be patient and stay in the outer court for six full years? Let me tell you now, my goal has been these damn things from the very beginning.”
While running, Duan Yuxuan cheered in excitement. As if possessed by a demon, his gaze remained fixed on the high platform, to the point that he unconsciously ignored the carcasses of the Fierce Beasts scattered across the hall.
“Whoosh.” He leaped and landed firmly on the high platform.
However, as he lowered his head with a wide smile, his expression instantly changed as if struck by lightning in broad daylight; he was completely dumbfounded.
Because there was absolutely nothing on the high platform; not even a single hair could be seen.
“Damn it, what happened?”
After quite a while, he finally recovered from his shock. It was only then that he realized blood was splattered everywhere beneath the platform. The corpses of forty Fierce Beasts were scattered all over the hall.
Moreover, the state of death of each Fierce Beast was extremely terrifying and incredibly bloody.
This sight scared him half to death, so much so that he collapsed onto his buttocks on the platform with a ‘thud’. When he turned around, he finally realized that the giant doors marking the passage of the exam were still not open.
“What exactly happened?” Duan Yuxuan felt confused and didn’t know what to do; his mind was instantly thrown into chaos.
“Tap tap tap…” Right at that moment, Yang Tianyu also came running over. But just as he arrived at the hall’s entrance, his footsteps immediately halted.
Seeing the scene inside the hall, then staring at Duan Yuxuan on the high platform, he was stunned in disbelief: “D-did you do this?”
Duan Yuxuan let out a hollow laugh, then said bitterly, “If I said it wasn’t me, would you believe it?”
“Of course I’d believe it, you couldn’t possibly be this strong.” Yang Tianyu gave him a brief glance, then entered the hall to examine the corpses of the Fierce Beasts. “My God, there’s actually a Rank 4 Fierce Beast here too. Whose doing is this exactly?”
The two observed for quite a long time, but they still couldn’t find an answer. They couldn’t imagine who in this outer court could possess such terrifying strength.
In the end, they even started to suspect that this was a trap set by the elders, and that an elder was the one who had pocketed the first-place reward.
However, when the army of third-level Lingwu disciples arrived, a dramatic scene unfolded.
Everyone assumed that Yang Tianyu and Duan Yuxuan were the ones who killed the Fierce Beasts. As for the first-place reward, they figured it had been divided equally between the two of them.
But the funniest thing was, faced with the crowd’s admiring gazes, Yang Tianyu and Duan Yuxuan actually didn’t deny it, so without any clear reason, the two of them inexplicably became the first-place winners.
The giant doors opened, accompanied by cheers from behind. Everyone was overjoyed, because by stepping out of those doors, they officially became inner court disciples and welcomed a new life.
But as people were cheering in excitement, a teenager stepping out of the underground palace caught their attention.
The teenager was not wearing a single thread; he was crying while cursing furiously, “Which bastard is so shameless? Not only did they hit me from behind, they also stripped off all my clothes! What kind of person is this perverted?”
Seeing this scene, everyone was astonished. Only Chu Feng smiled faintly. He glanced at his clothes, which were still perfectly intact, and quietly walked away from the crowd.
The inner court exam had ended. Out of the tens of thousands who took the exam, only two thousand successfully passed, but even that was not a small number.
Only by entering the inner court were they officially considered disciples of the Azure Dragon Sect, and at the same time, they could enjoy special treatment.
To welcome the new inner court disciples, the elders specially held a celebration party.
The full moon hung high in the night sky. Inside the inner court, songs and dances intertwined, pushing the joyous atmosphere to its peak.
However, Chu Feng did not attend the celebration. Instead, he stayed inside his new residence, bare-chested, examining his wounds.
The wounds were in the process of healing, and the process was extremely fast. If it continued like this, his wounds would be completely healed in just a few days. This extraordinary recovery ability was none other than a gift from the divine lightning.
“What exactly are you? Why did you choose me?”
This wasn’t the first time Chu Feng had asked this; he had asked repeatedly, but had never received an answer.
He still remembered that night five years ago. The sky above the Azure Province was enveloped by the nine-colored divine lightning.
The sky was as bright as day, lightning danced like dragons, thunder roared in the heavens, and the earth constantly shook. Everyone thought the end of the world had arrived; amidst the panic, chaos broke out everywhere.
Yet, Chu Feng, who was only ten years old at the time, unconsciously ran out of his house and went to an empty wasteland.
Even up to this day, he still didn’t know why he did that. It felt as if a magical power was pulling him to that place.
And then, he was possessed by the divine lightning.
No one saw the incident, but he knew for certain that what resided within his Dantian was the nine-colored divine lightning that had shocked the entire continent.
Although the divine lightning had bestowed him with an extremely strong physique, Chu Feng could never understand why such a formidable thing was willing to reside inside his body.
“Never mind, since you don’t want to answer, I won’t ask anymore either. In any case, we are now one entity.”
Chu Feng smiled with relief. A blessing is not a disaster, and a disaster cannot be avoided. If this divine lightning really had ill intentions toward him, with his current strength, he absolutely wouldn’t be able to resist it.
Moreover, so far, this divine lightning had only brought him benefits. Therefore, he decided not to overthink it any further.
Chu Feng put his clothes back on, then directed his gaze toward a book resting at the head of his bed. On the book were written the words “Three Thunder Styles”.
Picking up the book, Chu Feng began to flip through its pages. This was his first time coming into contact with a Martial Skill, and his heart felt slightly excited.
“Rank 4 Martial Skill, Three Thunder Styles, created by Daoist Azure Dragon.”
“If cultivated to the perfection stage, its movements are as fast as lightning and as powerful as thunder, equivalent to a Rank 5 Martial Skill.”
Reading the brief introduction that consisted of only a few lines, Chu Feng took a deep breath. With surprise, he exclaimed, “It turns out this is a Martial Skill created by the sect founder!”
Daoist Azure Dragon was the founder of the Azure Dragon Sect. A thousand years ago, he roamed the continent unrivaled, possessing the ability to fly through the skies and burrow into the earth, as well as move mountains and fill oceans. He was a true martial cultivation expert.
In that era, the Azure Dragon Sect led by Daoist Azure Dragon was recognized as the number one sect in the Nine Provinces Continent.
The only power capable of rivaling the Azure Dragon Sect was the current ruler of the Nine Provinces Continent, the Jiang Dynasty.
However, that golden age did not last long. After Daoist Azure Dragon passed away, the Azure Dragon Sect gradually began to decline, and was soon ousted from the ranks of the top-tier sects in the Nine Provinces Continent.
Now, even within the Azure Province region, they were merely considered a second-rate sect. However, this only served to highlight just how incredibly powerful Daoist Azure Dragon’s individual strength was.
And a Martial Skill created by him was definitely a masterpiece among Martial Skills, a rare stroke of luck that could not be sought.
Amidst his excitement, Chu Feng hurried to read its cultivation method, swearing to master these Three Thunder Styles.
Staying awake the whole night, Chu Feng finally comprehended the cultivation method for the Three Thunder Styles.
The first style forms the shape, the second style forms the intent, and the third style can transform into lightning. Overall, the cultivation difficulty of the Three Thunder Styles was extremely high. However, Chu Feng still wanted to try it.
After washing up, Chu Feng didn’t feel sleepy at all, so he went to the Martial Skill Pavilion in the inner court.
First, the Martial Skill Pavilion had facilities for practicing Martial Skills. Second, because the Three Thunder Styles could not be exposed, he needed to train in another Martial Skill to deceive people’s eyes.
“It’s so crowded.” Upon stepping into the Martial Skill Pavilion, his vision immediately broadened. The incredibly spacious hall of the Martial Skill Pavilion was actually already packed with people.
But this was completely normal. After all, over two thousand disciples had joined the inner court yesterday, and the thing they wanted to do most right now was practice Martial Skills.
The Martial Skill Pavilion consisted of six floors. The first floor stored Rank 1 Martial Skills, the second floor was for Rank 2, and the third floor was for Rank 3. As for the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, they were all places to practice Martial Skills.
Chu Feng continued upward. He found the first floor was already tightly packed, the second floor was slightly better, while the number of people on the third floor was already very sparse.
All of this was to be expected. Although different ranks of Martial Skills yielded different levels of power, the difficulty of practicing them also differed.
Therefore, many people would start from the basics; first practicing a Rank 1 Martial Skill, then after reaching the perfection stage, they would choose a Rank 2, and ultimately practice a Rank 3.
However, Chu Feng’s goal was very clear. Even though it would only be used for self-defense, he still wanted to choose the strongest one.
“Young man, I advise you not to be too ambitious; the Martial Skills here are not suitable for you.” But just as Chu Feng stepped onto the third floor, an aged voice echoed in his ears.
