Chapter 217: Level 1
Chapter 217
Seeing the newcomer, the crowd stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Mr. Ge!"
Ge Ye’s eyes swept over the crowd as he spoke slowly, "You can fight all you want later! For now, listen to me explain the rules here."
Xu Zheng glanced at the red-clothed girl, then at Shen Daoxing, and snorted, flicking his sleeves. "I’ll spare your lives for now."
Ge Ye looked at the crowd, his calm eyes radiating an unstated authority.
"Listen carefully. This is the Huangliang Tomb. It has nine floors, each with a major trial. You must ascend from the bottom floor, one by one, until you can go no higher."
"These nine floors are fraught with peril. One wrong step can lead to a cascade of errors. If you make a mistake, at best you’ll be teleported out of the tomb; at worst, you’ll die on the spot."
As Ge Ye spoke, the expressions of the crowd grew solemn.
Ge Ye continued, "If, by the end, any of you manage to reach the sixth floor, you will receive an Immortal Divine Soldier left behind by the Huangliang Immortal."
An Immortal Divine Soldier!
The crowd was shocked. An Immortal Divine Soldier was a true Divine Soldier!
To this day, there were over twenty-some Divine Soldiers known in the East Continent. Although they were all called Divine Soldiers, they were ultimately mortal objects. Aside from the first and second, whose origins were unknown, it was likely that no other Divine Soldier could compare to an Immortal Divine Soldier.
Ge Ye spoke again. "Should any of you reach the 7th Floor, you will receive an Immortal Technique."
An Immortal Technique!
The crowd was stunned once more. ’A technique left behind by an Immortal... that has to be a Celestial Tier, high-grade Cultivation Technique at the very least!’
Ge Ye spoke a third time. "Should any of you reach the eighth floor, you may choose one of the Five Paths of Huangliang—the Sword and Saber Dao, the Path of Array, the Path of Talisman and Seal, the Alchemy Dao, or the Path of Celestial Secret—and receive the Immortal’s inheritance for your chosen Daoist Technique."
The inheritance of an Immortal’s Daoist Technique!
Everyone was even more astounded. Although it wasn’t the inheritance for all five paths, receiving just one was still the path of an Immortal. One’s future would be limitless, and it wouldn’t even be impossible to become an Immortal.
After saying all this, Ge Ye fell silent.
Someone in the crowd couldn’t help but ask, "Mr. Ge, what if someone reaches the 9th Floor?"
"The 9th Floor?"
Ge Ye’s gaze swept over the crowd again, but he didn’t answer right away. After a moment of silence, he said slowly, "If someone reaches the 9th Floor, not only will they receive the Huangliang Immortal’s inheritance for all Five Paths of Huangliang, but this entire tomb will also be theirs."
All five inheritances! The entire tomb!
The crowd gasped.
Ge Ye looked up and around. "But obviously, in the thousands of years until now, not a single genius from any land has managed to reach the 9th Floor."
"Alright, enough nonsense. Let’s begin!"
As he spoke, Ge Ye waved his elegant sleeves. A brilliant light flashed before Shen Daoxing’s eyes, blinding him completely. That strange sensation washed over him again, and by the time the surrounding scenery reappeared...
...Shen Daoxing found himself in a lush, verdant mountain forest.
Shen Daoxing glanced around and saw that there was no one else in sight.
’It’s clear Mr. Ge helped me on purpose, scattering everyone to prevent the Xu Family from making a move on me.’
But this also meant he was separated from the red-clothed girl.
’However, the red-clothed girl is Dugu Sheng, a one-of-a-kind genius who will become famous across the continents in the future. She definitely won’t die here.’
Shen Daoxing walked deeper into the mountain forest, looking around, wondering what trial the first floor had in store for them.
Yet, he walked for a very long time without encountering a single soul.
’The Huangliang Tomb didn’t look that big from the outside, but the inside is a whole different world.’
"AH!"
Suddenly, a woman’s scream rang out from nearby.
The voice sounded very familiar to Shen Daoxing, and he hurried toward it.
On top of a small mound, a blue-eyed, white-browed Spirit Tiger with upturned eyes roared and pounced menacingly.
Below the tiger were two people: a pretty young woman and an old man with a full head of white hair. They were none other than Shen Yuerou and Shen Changqing.
Their clothes were tattered and they were covered in injuries, looking as if they had been in the mountain forest for a long time.
"Yuerou, Clan Leader, what are you doing here?"
Surprised, Shen Daoxing immediately raised the Great Ming Demon Sparrow and unleashed a Sword Slash.
"PSH!"
The blue-eyed, white-browed Spirit Tiger was instantly split in two.
Shen Yuerou froze for a moment. When she turned and saw Shen Daoxing, her face lit up with joy. "Xing!"
"Yuerou, Clan Leader, what are you doing here?"
Shen Daoxing walked forward, his expression full of doubt.
Shen Yuerou shook her head in a daze. "That day, after we separated from you, Grandpa and I traveled west. We eventually left the Martial Kingdom and walked for a very, very long time. We don’t know when we got trapped in this place."
Shen Yuerou excitedly threw her arms around Shen Daoxing. "This is wonderful, Xing! I can’t believe I get to see you again. This is just so wonderful."
As she spoke, Shen Yuerou looked up at Shen Daoxing with deep affection, tears welling in her eyes. "Let’s never be separated again, okay? This place is terrifying!"
But just then...
...Shen Yuerou’s appearance abruptly changed. She suddenly transformed into a Cannibal Flower with a gaping, bloody maw. It opened its gory mouth, lunged forward, and clamped down on Shen Daoxing’s head.
But its bite closed on empty air.
Shen Daoxing was no longer there.
As it turned out, Shen Daoxing had long since sensed that something was wrong. The Yuerou he knew would never deliberately show her vulnerable side to him; she would only ever support him silently from the background.
Without hesitation, Shen Daoxing raised the Great Ming Demon Sparrow and struck, unleashing a torrent of roiling Demon Fire.
The Cannibal Flower was split in two, then completely incinerated by the Great Ming Demon Sparrow’s Demon Fire.
"CRACK! CRACK!"
It sounded like something was shattering.
The scene before Shen Daoxing’s eyes shattered and fell away like broken glass.
Shen Daoxing now saw a massive green stalk erupting from the ground, soaring high into the clouds.
On both sides of this massive stalk, rows of Cannibal Flowers had their gaping, bloody maws clamped tightly around young Cultivators, chewing on them endlessly.
The young Cultivators lay peacefully inside, showing no intention of struggling.
After Shen Daoxing broke through the illusion, the Cannibal Flowers instantly noticed him as an anomaly.
They all turned, opened their hideous, bloody maws, and smashed down toward him with a BOOM.
Shen Daoxing pushed off lightly with his feet, shot into the air, and dodged the attacks of two Cannibal Flowers in quick succession.
Just as he was about to land, Shen Daoxing saw countless roots writhing on the ground below, surging toward him like a dense tide of snakes to entangle him.
If Shen Daoxing landed, he would inevitably be surrounded and trapped by the countless roots, eventually becoming food for the Cannibal Flowers.
Shen Daoxing swung the Great Ming Demon Sparrow downward. With a clear CLANG, it struck the ground, and he vaulted high into the air once more.
Then, Shen Daoxing tapped his feet consecutively on the heads of the relentlessly attacking Cannibal Flowers, his body soaring ever higher.
Finally, he reached the very top. He raised the Great Ming Demon Sparrow high, and a roiling tide of Demon Fire surged forth.
"Break!"
Shen Daoxing brought his sword down.
The slash tore through heaven and earth.
It was as if it would cleave the world in two.