Chapter 722 - 804 Assessment Competition Begins
Chen Mo’s reputation in the Shenxiao Sect is now immense, even surpassing Zhao Fujin.
But his reputation is mixed, with both praise and criticism.
All of it brought by others.
For instance, becoming the direct disciple of Zuoqiu Yiren, one of the duo known as the Autumn Yi Immortals.
And being close to Zhao Fujin, one of the sixty-four direct disciples possessing an Immortal Body, and being her Dao Companion.
Since Zuoqiu Yiren and Zhao Fujin already have a wide reputation, being associated with them makes it hard for him not to be famous.
Moreover, he is surrounded by many beautiful confidantes, which arouses envy.
Thus, people say he’s just a pretty face.
That he merely got lucky.
Merely a charmer of women with no other skills — comments like these emerged.
On the positive side, Chen Mo, despite being a Blue Body, was able to defeat the Golden Core Realm’s Feng Hao in one fell swoop, and his rapid breakthrough in a short time has made him an object of admiration and surprise for many; most importantly, he hails from the Land of Punishment.
Such a background achieving this level of success is truly astonishing.
After years of calm, the buzz around Chen Mo was starting to die down.
But with Chen Mo signing up for the examination competition and breaking through to the Golden Core Realm, countless disciples instantly became excited.
It’s known that to sign up for the examination competition, the requirement is to reach the Golden Core Realm.
And now that he successfully registered, what else could he be if not in the Golden Core Realm?
With an ordinary constitution, in less than five years after joining the Shenxiao Sect, he broke through to the Golden Core Realm at such a speed, even the Orange Bodies in the sect can’t match.
The name Chen Mo once again became the talk of the Shenxiao Sect, and from new Outer Sect disciples to Inner Sect Elders, none hadn’t heard of Chen Mo.
With the news spreading, Chen Mo simply went to the Elder in the Inner Sect responsible for transitions from Outer to Inner Sect, becoming an Inner Sect disciple of Shenxiao Sect.
In this way, he could rightfully move between the Inner and Outer Sects, and as for resources, he was deducted thirty years’ worth of cultivation resources, so even as an Inner Sect disciple, he didn’t receive any.
However, he didn’t mind this at all; just the dense True Qi on Merak Peak alone was comparable to that.
After showing up outside, Chen Mo returned to Merak Peak and started dual cultivating again.
Although the Immortal Drunk had already been consumed, Chen Mo’s system still contained a portion of Spirit Marrow Liquid.
After nearly a month of dual cultivation.
The two girls arduously pushed their realms to Foundation Establishment Perfection.
Though beneficial, it was extremely exhausting.
After all, even a Golden Core Realm expert couldn’t endure several months of continuous dual cultivation.
So, with about a week left before the examination competition, Chen Mo and the two girls slept in separate rooms, eating some nourishing food daily to strive for peak physical condition before the competition.
Soon, the day of the examination competition arrived.
At the summit, towering hundred-zhang trees stood; the scenery was beautiful, and some flocks of low-tier demon beasts flew past, these were demon beasts owned by Shenxiao Sect and wouldn’t harm its disciples.
At the mountain peak, amidst swirling mists, a thousand-zhang giant blue stone platform floated midair, looking like a fairyland, it’s breathtakingly beautiful.
At this time, beams of light appeared one after another on the thousand-zhang platform, and with each appearance of a light beam, figures appeared on the platform.
In no more than half an hour, the platform, originally sparsely populated, instantly became lively.
And these people were precisely the competitors in this examination competition, with no spectators present.
In one corner of the platform, two more light beams suddenly emerged.
As the intense light in front gradually weakened, Chen Mo slowly opened his eyes, then looked around in slight surprise.
Figures were everywhere on the platform, but these people were all cautiously watching the surroundings, most appearing unfamiliar with the place.
Chen Mo only remembered that on the day of the examination competition, after he walked out of Merak Peak, and after reporting everywhere, the jade token given by the sect suddenly shot a golden light, enveloping him, landing him here.
"Junior brother, this should be the core area of the Profound Spirit Mirror, the competition credentials issued by the Sect are likely made by merging some origins of the Profound Spirit Mirror, allowing us to be directly sent here," said Wang Chen.
No mistake, the figure next to Chen Mo was Wang Chen.
He too met the qualifications to compete, and also signed up, encouraged by Zuoqiu Yiren for them to go together.
"It’s Senior Brother Xuan Cheng!"
"And Senior Brother Liu Ruoyun, too."
"Senior Brother Qi is also here."
"Senior Sister Ice Spirit..."
Just as Chen Mo was about to continue chatting with Wang Chen, a sudden uproar arose from the crowd.
Chen Mo glanced in the direction the crowd was looking and saw several handsome men and beautiful women standing in the middle of the platform, exuding extraordinary auras and looking difficult to deal with at a glance.
Among these people, except for the ones called Ice Spirit and Qi Shan, who were chatting enthusiastically, Xuan Cheng and Liu Ruoyun stood quietly with their eyes closed, waiting for the examination competition to start.
"It’s a pity for Senior Brother Xuan Cheng; if he hadn’t been injured by the evil Dao, he would have long become a direct disciple of the sect," Wang Chen said, sighing as he looked at the black-robed, broad-sword-wielding man in the middle of the platform.
"Oh, what exactly happened that time?" Chen Mo had only heard a brief account of Xuan Cheng’s story from Nangong Yue earlier, and due to intimate distraction with Nangong Yue, he later forgot about Xuan Cheng’s matter. Now hearing Wang Chen mention it again, he couldn’t help but want to know more.
Wang Chen patted Chen Mo’s shoulder, putting on an elder’s demeanor, and said, "Consider it a favor for being Auntie’s direct disciple that I tell you. Thirty years ago, the evil Dao, allied with demon beasts, invaded a small area of Central Province, annihilating several small countries. After the sect learned of this, it dispatched thousands of elite disciples and over a dozen Inner Sect Elders to eradicate them but unexpectedly stepped into a trap set by the evil Dao and a formation laid out by the evil Dao.
Those evil Dao destroyed kingdoms only as a distraction; their real aim was these disciples of the Sect. They intended to sacrifice these disciples’ lives as an offering to the Evil Immortal to obtain the power granted by the Evil Immortal. But at the crucial moment, the formation was broken by Long Xiaoyao, and thus Long Xiaoyao made great contributions to the sect.
Before the formation was broken, Xuan Cheng had much of his origin extracted by the formation, damaging his foundation, and his right arm was cut off by an evil cultivator."
Upon hearing Wang Chen’s narration, Chen Mo glanced at Xuan Cheng’s right arm.
"It has long since grown back," Wang Chen assumed Chen Mo was puzzled about why Xuan Cheng’s right arm remained, so he rolled his eyes at him.
Chen Mo nodded, then glanced at the people on the platform, murmuring, "Out of over 8,000 contestants, only twenty can receive a Spiritual Power Infusion; this competition is truly fierce."