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Chapter 39: Test
Chapter 39: Test
Chapter 39: Test
Chapter 39: Test?
In the Nourishing Heart Hall, spiritual energy was abundant to the point of overflowing. Xu Disheng was seated in one of the end seats, peering curiously into a cup of clear jade-colored liquid. It was exuding a wonderful scent, dispelling spiritual energy into the air. Everyone else was virtually the same. They were all given a portion of the clear jade liquid, but each of the Daoist Lords portions were slightly larger.
At the highest status table at the feast, there was an entire vase of the exquisite liquid with a bunch of neatly arranged rare, exotic fruits surrounding it. There were only 6 people seated around this table, consisting of the 3 disciples from the Affairs Hall, Emperor Chu, and two Sea of Qi stage Daoist Lords from the Chu Clan.
Daoist Lord Shangyuan swirled his cup with a light laugh. “With just this one gulp, that’s three spirit stones gone.”
Daoist Lord Qingxin said, “Being in this Realm, even if you do have spirit stones, what’s the use?” He then turned and said to Xu Disheng, “Stop sniffing it and just drink it. Although there isn’t much of this fruit extract, it’ll be beneficial in stabilizing your cultivation at the Cleansed Meridians stage.”
Xu Disheng complied, picking up the bowl of exquisite liquid and downing it in one go, leaving behind a pleasant aftertaste in his mouth. After the fruit extract entered his stomach, it quickly turned into spiritual energy, which began to proliferate throughout his pores and meridians. Eventually, it blended and became one with his Shangqing Profound Qi. Although Xu Disheng didn’t feel his total amount of profound qi increase, he noticed that the Shangqing Profound Qi in his body had become more pure, which would make it easier for him to condense his Jianggong Sea of Qi later.
As he was taking in the minute changes to the profound qi in his pores and meridians, he heard Secret Realm Envoy Liu’s voice spread widely throughout the Nourishing Heart Hall from the honored seats on high. “Senior Martial Brother Chu, it’s about time to wrap up with the spiritual feast now. It’s time to get down to the main matter at hand. That way, I can also return to the sect earlier to perform my duties.”
Xu Disheng looked up at the honored seats and saw that the plate of fruits in front of Secret Realm Envoy Liu’s had only decreased in volume by a bit. He clearly only nibbled away a bit at delicacies. On the other hand, the two Affairs Hall disciples didn’t hold back. They had already almost finished off an entire plate of rare, exotic fruits and had clearly gone through several refills of their cups of exquisite jade-colored liquid.
Emperor Chu replied, “As you shall.” He called upon the servants to clear away the tables, making a space in the center of the hall about 15 meters in radius.
Secret Realm Envoy Liu lightly waved his hand and an ordinary-looking standing mirror about the height of an average human appeared out of thin air.
Xu Disheng noticed that the moment Secret Realm Envoy Liu waved his hand, he rubbed the simple, unadorned ring on his finger. This was most likely the Storage Spirit Tool that he had mentioned earlier.
Secret Realm Envoy Liu let out a stream of magic techniques from his hand, which entered the mirror. The standing mirror gradually began to exude light, and the surface of the mirror slowly started to undulate. Eventually, the entire mirror fluctuated and took shape in the form of a multicolored vortex that spun incessantly, letting out a halo of dappled light.
When he stopped the technique, Secret Realm Envoy Liu said, “You may enter at this time for the sect’s test. Zhou Xin, you’re in charge of recording the results of the first two tests. Liu Jiangwu, you’ll be in charge of recording the results for the last test.
“Yes, milord,” the two Affairs Hall disciples responded politely. Although Emperor Chu referred to those two as Junior Martial Brother, he was only giving them some face due to their position in the Affairs Hall. In front of their own superior, they had to be as well-behaved as little chicks.
For a moment, some people hesitated, others were anticipative, while some were nervous. No one wanted to be the first to walk into the multicolored vortex.
Emperor Chu’s brows furrowed, and just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, a young lady who was one of the 3 from the Chu Clan spoke up in a crisp tone. “Great-Grandpa, can Qing’er try the first test?”
Emperor Chu’s expression eased up a bit, and he nodded.
Secret Realm Envoy Liu’s eyes lit up with praise. “This girl is not bad.”
Chu Qing’er was about 16 or 17 years old. Robed in white, she made her way towards the colorful vortex. And then, after gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and walked in.
Now that someone took the lead, the other young men and women got up one by one and walked into the multicolored vortex. Xu Disheng was also among them. He watched the youth in front of him get swallowed up by the color vortex, and he followed closely behind. However, he didn’t close his eyes.
His vision became filled with kaleidoscopic light, and he felt his body become weightless, as if he were falling. When the light faded away, the scenery before his eyes became distinct as he felt solid ground beneath his feet.
A cold voice was transmitted directly into his mind. “If you enter the multicolored vortex in the Mirror World, you will complete the test and be allowed to advance to the next part.”
Around him was an ancient jungle with trees that towered to the sky, pervaded with the sound of birdsong and the abundance of life. Everything was realistic to the extreme, and Xu Disheng could even smell the distinct scent of petrichor and the faint fragrance of flowers. There was a wooden cabin in front of him. The door was open, and a strong qi aura was discernible from within.
Xu Disheng pondered for a moment, then walked directly towards the wooden cabin in front of him. He had heard Daoist Lord Qingxin say before that the sect’s entrance test consisted of three parts: temperament, comprehension, and aptitude. Although he didn’t know what relation the trees around him had to do with temperament, this obvious set-up was clearly telling him to go in.
As soon as he went into the wooden cabin, his pupils shrunk. Right before his eyes was a massive demon with a tiger’s head and a human body, sitting on a couch. His entire body was giving off an aura at the equivalent of a human’s Sea of Qi stage, and its cold-blooded eyes, characteristic of a predator, were staring straight at him.
Xu Disheng’s expression changed rapidly, and his thoughts raced. He didn’t have any time to react before the tiger-headed demon opened its bloody maw and spoke in human language. “Brat, do you see this door behind me? If you help me gather 100 Udumbara Flowers within 3 days, I’ll let you go through.”
When he slightly moved out of the way, there was a multicolored vortex on the wall behind him, slowly spinning as it emitted a prismatic halo. The tiger-headed demon’s build was too large, so even when it was sitting down, it was over 3 meters tall, completely obstructing the view of the vortex.
Xu Disheng had a thoughtful look in his eyes. He didn’t turn around to go and pick those so-called Udumbara Flowers, instead choosing to slowly take a step forward.
“ROOOAAAAARRRR!!!!!”
The tiger-headed demon opened its bloody maw wide and let out a deafening roar. Its two vertically-slitted pupils glowered at Xu Disheng as it let its Sea of Qi stage aura erupt outwards.
Xu Disheng felt a sense of mortal danger. If he made another step forward, he would definitely suffer the berserk onslaught of the tiger-headed demon. Since it was at the Sea of Qi stage, he definitely wouldn’t be able to block it.
He backed up, then turned around and left the wooden cabin. In the ancient, primordial jungle, there were many birds, and he would occasionally spot a rare bird species flying by, although its name was unknown to him.
There was only one type of flower. When he took a wide look, there were several dozen small, delicate flowers with pure white petals around the wooden cabin. They let out an exotic scent, and although they were several meters away from him, he could smell their faint but distinct fragrance.
He caressed one of the petals, pinching it between his fingers as he took a closer look. Aside from the fact that it continuously let out a floral fragrance, there was nothing that set it apart from an ordinary wildflower.
In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Xu Disheng had made a round about the area surrounding the wooden cabin, and there were already several dozen small flowers in his hand. It was rather strange that although he was holding that many small, delicate flowers in his hand, none of them fell apart nor wrinkled. They would all stick together, forming a cluster of white flowers.
Xu Disheng’s brows furrowed. He had already swept the entire area surrounding the wooden cabin, and there were only these several dozen flowers. It was not nearly enough to meet the requirement of 100 flowers. When he walked further outwards, there was a towering barrier made of qi, stretching boundlessly upwards. The jungle only continued up to the barrier, and there was nothing past it.
Xu Disheng reached out to touch the barrier, and it was like touching an invisible wall. It was impossible to take even a single step out of it.
As it turned out, this place was an enclosed environment, and the entire area of this space only encompassed a little over 30 meters in radius.