Chapter 77 - Leaking Copper Kettle Clepsydra

Translator: CKtalon  Editor: CKtalon

As I expected, he tore through 299 layers. The sloppy-looking man raised his eyebrows in satisfaction when he saw this. After Ji Yuantong struck out, he immediately made a deduction and increased the number of light barriers by 100! Everything was as he had expected. Ji Yuantong had only failed to strike the last layer. This precise control was something that a powerful Godfiend needed.

The sloppy man flicked his sleeve, and the last light barrier disappeared as well. He turned his head and walked back to his seat. At the same time, he smiled and said, “This Ji Yuantong is not bad, right?

A black-robed Godfiend beside him smiled and said, “Ji Yuantong’s Godfiend Body is comparable to Chu Yong, Yan Feng, and Dong Fang. His Arts realm is also on par with theirs, with them being at the Force realm. However, the power he unleashed is much stronger. Despite having the same kind of body, he can produce two times their strength. He is very suitable for being a strength-type.”

“Yes, demons generally have powerful bodies. However, Ji Yuantong should be able to crush demons of the same level with his strength.”

“One can be very powerful once they take the strength path to the end.”

The Godfiends were full of praises.

Although there were hundreds of people participating in the entrance examination every year, only twenty of them were admitted. Only a few were able to light up the eyes of the Marquis and Regis Godfiends.

They discovered Ji Yuantong at the preliminaries’ first segment.

…

Ji Yuantong calmly walked to the end of the line. Many geniuses looked at Ji Yuantong, each having their own thoughts.

Impressive. Although Chu Yong and Yan Feng’s attacks are very powerful—twice as powerful as mine—my saber artis much faster. This gave him the confidence to fight them head-on! However, Ji Yuantong is different. His attack power is four-fold mine. The difference is too great. Only by using the Power of the Soul can I defeat him.

By using the Power of the Soul, his strength would increase tremendously, making his attacks comparable to Ji Yuantong’s. His speed was also far superior to Ji Yuantong’s. When he had used the Power of the Soul against the second Firmament demon monarch—Poison Pool—he had easily widened the gap between them. The only flaw was that the Power of the Soul drained him too quickly.

Out of 311 geniuses, 12 of them managed to break through a hundred light barriers. I broke through 79, and am ranked 23rd. Yan Jin is 7th.

The other geniuses had their own plans. They knew their ranking.

Among geniuses, the strong became stronger. Those who were stunning in their youth could be nearly twice as strong as the other geniuses. A family clan would be willing to pay any price to forge them a strong Godfiend foundation! This could make them four times stronger than other geniuses.

Ordinary geniuses who failed the entrance examination couldn’t enter Archean Mountain. The stunning geniuses would become even stronger after they entered Archean Mountain thanks to their careful grooming.

The gap between them would grow bigger and bigger.

This was how powerful experts were. They would seize every chance to become stronger! In the end, they would have a chance of becoming a Marquis Godfiend or even a Regis Godfiend. If they were weak from a young age and were weak in every aspect… the difference in strength over time would be night and day.

The path Meng Chuan chose for himself was speed. He seized every single opportunity to make himself faster! He was so fast that even the equally stunning genius, Yan Jin, had headaches when fighting him.

…

The first segment of Archean Mountain’s preliminaries ended. Friends and relatives watching from afar had different moods, but they were all watching nervously. There were still other tests.

The cyan-clothed woman seated beside King East River rose to her feet.

She took a few steps forward and looked at the geniuses. She calmly said, “The first segment of the entrance examination was to test one’s attacking strength. There are 17 people who have failed to reach the minimum requirement. You don’t need to continue with the assessment. Just go to the side and watch the competition.”

As soon as she finished speaking, stewards led the eliminated geniuses to their friends and family.

“I’m a sharpshooter. My arrows are far inferior when it comes to close combat, but my arrows are even faster. I…” one of the youths shouted out unhappily.

Oh? 

The cyan-clothed woman frowned and took a look. The young man who wanted to continue speaking stopped. He immediately flew up and was thrown to where his family and friends were. The other geniuses who were eliminated didn’t dare utter a sound. However, there were quite a few who felt somewhat aggrieved. They were directly eliminated without even finishing the preliminaries.

“Archean Mountain naturally has its reasons for setting these rules,” said the cyan-clothed woman calmly. “One does need to consider various factors when killing enemies. However, if an attack is too weak and you are unable to kill a demon despite them standing still in front of you, what’s the point of admitting you? Breaking 20 light barriers is the lowest Archean Mountain can accept.

“Although sharpshooters—who are best at killing demons—shoot extremely fast arrows, arrows are much lighter than spears and hammers. They are generally less powerful. In the first assessment, only two archers were eliminated. The other sharpshooters have reached the minimum requirement. Among them, the strongest sharpshooter is called Zong Sha from the Desolate State. His arrow pierced through a total of 65 light barriers. The threat he poses towards demons is no less than Ji Yuantong.

“Now, the second assessment will begin—speed!” The cyan-clothed woman stared at the geniuses coldly. “After becoming a Godfiend, you will encounter life-and-death battles. When you are weak, you can rely on speed to flee. When you are powerful, you can rely on speed to slay demons. Speed is an extremely important aspect of Godfiends! If you are too slow—even if you are powerful—you will die once you fail to escape. Once you die, everything is for naught.

“Speed is almost equivalent to your lives.”

Whoosh!

The cyan-clothed woman waved her hand.

The air in the palace began to distort as the Heaven and Earth powers gathered. It formed a deep blue tunnel, shaped like an anaconda.

“This winding path is 1,500 feet long.” The cyan-clothed woman pointed to a large copper bucket not far away. “That’s the Leaking Copper Kettle Clepsydra. It measures time through the dripping of liquid. You need to cross through the entire path within 20 droplets. The shorter the time you take, the better. Anyone who exceeds 20 droplets will be eliminated! Remember, keep your weapons on you and no forbidden Godfiend spells. Begin!”

“First up, Dragoncloud State’s Wu Chang,” the goateed man immediately shouted.

Wu Chang carried his thick saber on his back. It weighed 29 kilograms. When moving, the weapon weight affected his speed. However, Archean Mountain’s rules forbade one from discarding their weapons.

Boom!

Wu Chang pushed his movement technique to the limits and transformed into a black shadow as he traveled down the tunnel. One moment, he was charging forward in a straight line, and the next moment, he was curving in an arc. Droplets fell from the Leaking Copper Kettle Clepsydra at very fast speeds.

Whoosh.

Wu Chang finally traversed the 1,500-foot curvy tunnel.

“19 droplets! Next Jiang State’s Zhang Ping!” the goateed man said.

Only then did the swarthy youth, Wu Chang, heave a sigh of relief. Speed was not his forte, so he had been afraid that he wouldn’t meet the minimum requirement.

One genius after another entered the winding tunnel.

Everyone was nervous.

The faster one was, the harder it was to increase one’s speed. Even if one’s body was several times more powerful than an average person’s, one’s speed could only increase by a few dozen percent. Some people had extreme explosive strength, but they were somewhat clumsy and slow.

The geniuses began to nervously calculate as they looked at the ancient Leaking Copper Kettle Clepsydra.

It was almost noon, but the sky was beginning to turn gloomy. As geniuses crossed the tunnel, snow began to fall.

“It’s Chu Yong turn.” Many people stared at Chu Yong.

Chu Yong was the most famous among the top 60 geniuses.

Chu Yong—who was dressed in a black robe—carried a large saber on his back. His entire body was covered by black water and lightning. When he transformed into a black stream of light and flew into the tunnel, his speed was clearly much faster than the others, causing many to be astonished.

Whoosh. The moment Chu Yong exited the tunnel, the goateed man immediately shouted, “12 droplets!”

Amongst the geniuses before Chu Yong, aside from a few that exceeded 20 droplets, most of their times were between 18 to 20 droplets. This was because if one didn’t have Godfiend bodies that excelled in speed, it would be very difficult for them to increase their speed. One genius—who cultivated the Lightning Divine Body—had attained the previous best time of 15 droplets. Chu Yong’s time, however, was 12 droplets.

He was 50% faster than those who passed with a time of 18 to 19 droplets. In a life-and-death battle, being slightly faster could determine one’s fate, let alone being 50% faster. Being 50% faster than his peers was in no way less difficult than achieving strength that was several-fold theirs.

Numerous geniuses appeared one after another. Yuan State’s Yan Feng took 13 droplets of time. This was an astonishing result.

“20 droplets. Next, Wu State’s Meng Chuan,” shouted the goateed man.