Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua dispersed the light surrounding her body and once again became an old lady in her eighties or nineties.
“There are many extraordinarily powerful savage beasts in Omen Ridge. Some of them are so powerful that even I must flee when I encounter them.” She said to the 10 young students on the Lion-vulture.
“The farther you get, the stronger the savage beasts become. If you enter Omen Ridge for practice in the future, please remember to not go too far. There are many forbidden zones.”
The Lion-vulture flapped its wings and continued its flight towards Chikong Secret Mansion.
After half a day they arrived at a wasteland.
It was said that this place was turned into a barren wasteland during the war between the Human Army and the Four-winged Earth Dragon.
Below them there was an enormous canyon, a thousand meters long and 200 meters wide. The bottomless canyon plummeted straight down and made the earth seem as though it had a mouth which could devour everything in the world.
Standing beside the canyon looking down into the darkness they could only see wisps of black miasma wafting up.
There were narrow stone ladders carved into the edge of the canyon which led straight down to the darkness.
It was said that Chikong Secret Mansion could be found there, where the Four-winged Earth Dragon had once lived.
When Deputy Headmaster led the 10 students from Western Campus to the canyon, the students from the other three campuses had already arrived.
Deputy Headmaster of Eastern Campus sneered and said, “Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua, you are very late. We have been waiting for a long time!”
Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua hobbled with her wooden wand and replied, “We met a Profound Dragon on our way here, so it took us a little longer.”
“According to our old rules, the order of entering the middle-level heritage is dependant on the order of arrival. So you will be the fourth to enter,” said Deputy Headmaster of Eastern Campus.
“No problem!” Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua replied.
The students from Eastern Campus were the first to arrive, so the 10th student of Eastern Campus would be the first to enter.
That student was Dugu Lin.
Dugu Lin stepped onto the stone ladders, performed a technique and dashed into the canyon.
Three minutes later Dugu Lin could not be seen from the edge of the canyon.
Next, the 10th student of Nothern Campus entered the canyon and rushed into the depths below.
Then the 10th student of Southern Campus entered.
After the 10th student of Southern Campus disappeared underground, the 10th student of Western Campus, Zi Qian, started to walk forward.
The students who participated in the Intermediate Relic Exploration Test must enter into the cavern one by one. The students of the lower rankings would enter first followed by the students of the higher rankings.
This prevented the students from killing each other.
The students of the lower realm could go deep into Chikong Secret Mansion or hide somewhere after entering.
If the students of the higher realms entered first they would wait at the entrance and kill all the students of the lower realms that came in after them.
Standing among the students from Eastern Campus, Xun Guihai stared at Zhang Ruochen coldly. He didn’t even try to hide his hatred and anger. He thought to himself, “Zhang Ruochen, it doesn’t really matter whether you are engaged to Commandery Princess Yanchen or not. If you die here, she will be mine.”
He glanced at Guo Haidong, the fifth student of Eastern Campus who was standing beside him. He murmured, “Guo Haidong, you will enter Chikong Secret Mansion before Zhang Ruochen, so you can wait for him in the cavern. Once he enters the Mansion, you must kill him at any cost.”
Guo Haidong accepted Xun Guihai’s five drops of Half-Saint’s Essence and agreed to kill Zhang Ruochen for him.
Guo Haidong smiled confidently and replied, “My elder brother Xun, I am the 874th master on the Profound Board. I can kill him without even breaking a sweat.”
Xun Guihai said seriously, “Don’t underestimate the enemy. Zhang Ruochen’s realm may be lower than yours, but his Sword Comprehension has already achieved the Peak of the Sword Following the Heart. If you find yourself to be inferior to him, just stall for time. Lang Xin will be there very soon. Then you can both attack him from either side and he will have no escape!”
Xun Guihai glanced at Lang Xin beside him.
Lang Xin nodded and said, “Zhang Ruochen dares to steal elder brother Xun’s woman, he has obviously set himself against the whole Eastern Campus.”
Lang Xin was fourth of Eastern Campus and ranked 580th on the Profound Board.
Staring at the students from Eastern Campus, Duanmu Xingling squinted her eyes and reminded Zhang Ruochen. “You must be careful of Guo Haidong and Lang Xin from Eastern Campus after entering Chikong Secret Mansion. They are both Warriors of the Division Profound. One of them enters the Mansion before you, while the other one enters behind you. If they attack you together, you will find it hard to even run away.”
Zhang Ruochen looked over following Duanmu Xingling’s eyes, saw the two young students beside Xun Guihai and memorized their faces. He said, “Entering Chikong Secret Mansion can be very dangerous. Senior sister apprentice Duanmu, you must be careful as well.”
Guo Haidong, who was the fifth of Eastern Campus, started to walk towards the canyon. Before entering he glanced at Zhang Ruochen and sneered cruelly.
Shortly after, the fifth students from Nothern Campus and Southern Campus also entered the canyon one by one. Finally, it was Zhang Ruochen’s turn.
He felt a little dizzy when he approached the edge of the canyon. That was a sign of being poisoned.
It was the miasma. Fortunately, he took the Anti-Poison Pearl with him which blocked most of the miasma. Otherwise, one breath of it might cause him to faint.
Zhang Ruochen transferred his Pure Jade Genuine Qi and started to circulate it through his Meridians. Doing so purified the poison in his body and he recovered immediately.
He then performed Shadow of the Royal Wind Dragon and dashed towards the cavern as fast as he could.
He only had three minutes to get as far away as he could, then Lang Xin, the fourth student of Eastern Campus, would enter the cavern and chase after him.
If the fifth student of Eastern Campus, Guo Haidong, really was waiting for him in the cavern he had to defeat him in under three minutes. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to face converging attacks from two Warriors of the Division Profound.
Although Zhang Ruochen was confident he could defeat them, he couldn’t ensure that they didn’t have any hidden weapons with them.
Things could get very complicated in Chikong Secret Mansion because there were no rules.
The canyon was so deep that Zhang Ruochen still hadn’t reached the bottom after dashing for over a thousand meters.
The cavern was pitch black.
Zhang Ruochen looked up. The canyon was thousands of meters deep and the entrance looked as small as the eye of a needle, glowing with white light. It was like a small white crack in the dark night sky.
He felt as though he had been devoured by the earth and would never see the sun again.
If he had had a weaker mind, he would have felt very frightened and may have even passed out.
He looked down. A splash of maroon and a wave of heat appeared in the depths of the cavern.
It would be very tormenting indeed for the devils and heretics if they were really being kept here.
He transferred the Genuine Qi to his eyes and kept looking down into the cavern. The air grew ever warmer and the rocks were burning hot.
Fortunately, he had already bought an Icy Spirit. With it around his neck, he didn’t feel warm at all. On the contrary, he felt rather cool.
Zhang Ruochen had no idea how deep he had gone. Finally, he reached the bottom and stood before a giant stone gate.
The stone gate was 130 meters high and 27 meters wide. The dark steel inlaid on the surface formed the shape of a dragon.
Nobody knew how heavy it was, but the giant gate stood open two meters.
He placed his hand on the gate, transferred all of his Genuine Qi and pushed as hard as he could.
But the gate didn’t budge.
“The gate is too heavy! Perhaps only a master of the Heaven Realm can open it.”
He stared in front of the two-meter opening and contemplated what to do next.
“Time and Space Domain!”
He released the Time and Space Domain which covered over 640 square meters around him. By using the power of the Time and Space Domain he would be able to detect if Guo Haidong was hiding behind the stone gate.
He soon sensed his presence in the Time and Space Domain.
Zhang Ruochen pulled the Snow Dragon Sword out and walked towards the stone gate.
“Boom!”
The moment he stepped inside a red spear stabbed at his back with a wave of fire.
But he was ready for it. He jumped off the ground and avoided the attack easily.
He jumped five meters in the air and thrust his sword towards Guo Haidong’s neck.
Guo Haidong felt a coldness on his neck, his attack failed and he withdrew his spear quickly. He stepped back as fast as he could and narrowly escaped.
Guo Haidong was a little shocked. “How could Zhang Ruochen possibly know I was hiding behind the stone gate?” He thought to himself.
Zhang Ruochen put his Snow Dragon Sword back in its sheath, glanced at Guo Haidong and said, “That was a warning. I won’t hold back if you attempt to kill me again!”
Holding his lance, Guo Haidong calmed down. He recalled what Xun Guihai had told him. If he was no match for Zhang Ruochen then he should stall for time and wait for Lang Xin. With their combined power they would surely kill Zhang Ruochen.
Guo Haidong smiled slightly, bowed his hands and said, “You are indeed the No.1 freshman. I admire your martial cultivation. I was merely trying to test your cultivation, not kill you.”
Of course, Zhang Ruochen could tell Guo Haidong’s true intentions. He replied, “If you still want to kill me, I can promise that you won’t leave Chikong Secret Mansion alive.”
Seeing Zhang Ruochen’s demeanor, he stopped smiling. Although he was afraid of Zhang Ruochen’s sword technique, he also had a trump card. Even if he could not defeat Zhang Ruochen by himself, as long as he could stall for time he would kill Zhang Ruochen eventually.
…