Chapter 49: Lotus Sword Mansion Trial (1)

When Yuan Ji had entered into the layer of cloud canopy that was five miles up the steep cliff, his ascend had slowed down to a crawl and he was unable to use his lightless profound art.

It was because the winds on this level were howling fiercely and the pressure had suddenly increased three folds.

He was now relying on his profound strength as he gripped onto the steep cliff as he crawled vertical upward.

He took a quiet look down below and was quite startled to see that Ling Feiyang was still a good distance from him below.

"Why is she so slow?"

He had actually expected for her to catch up with him. It was because in terms of lightless profound art, profound strength and profound recovery, she was his superior.

Once a while, he would purposely slow down for her to catch up with him but Ling Feiyang would continue to stay the same distance away from him.

When he stopped all of a sudden, she would pause too to inhale deeply.

He thought weakly, "This is too fake and her playacting is too poor."

Eventually he had reached the very top of the steep mountain cliff and in front of him were two portals, one blue and one green.

"It takes me almost an hour to reach the very top…"

The green portal would lead him to the outside while the blue portal would lead him to the next level.

A burst of speeding light flew forth from the heavens toward him.

Yuan Ji caught hold of the speeding light and saw that it was a fifth rank profound pill and it was actually the Red Dragon Divine Pill."

He was secretly delighted.

To Yuan Ji, this reward was actually extremely good. It was because other than the Red Dragon Divine Pill that Shangguan Yan had given to him, he had never had a second fifth rank profound pill in his life before.

This was actually the second.

Soon after he had obtained his reward, Ling Feiyang had also stepped on the cliff.

There was a burst of speeding light that flew toward her and her reward was actually a third rank profound pill.

Yuan Ji was actually quite surprised to see that her reward for coming second place was actually so worthless. He had expected her to obtain something better.

Ling Feiyang smiled when she saw his expression.

"The first time reward is usually better. I've actually been here quite a few times already but I've never completed the full trial. This is your first time here?"

Yuan Ji slowly nodded. It was because he never had the opportunity to take the trials at the Lotus Sword Mansion.

"It's no wonder and moreover you got first place too. Therefore your reward is exceptional good. What did you get?"

"I've got a Red Dragon Divine Pill."

Ling Feiyang gasped softly, "This is really a good reward. You must be really delightful with your reward. This divine pill will be helpful to your cultivation."

As Yuan Ji was planning to give it to his Yan'Er, he merely smiled at her suggestion.

Ling Feiyang smiled before adding, "Your lightless profound art is actually quite startling. It should be ranked among the top five or top ten in the entire Desolate Celestial Fraternity. What is the name of your lightless profound art?"

Yuan Ji smiled weakly, "Hovering Leaf Maneuver. You will probably never hear of it before."

Ling Feiyang was forced to admit it. It was definitely not in the list of a hundred renowned lightless profound arts that she knew. "But it is actually better than most of the lightless profound arts that I know."

Actually Yuan Ji had concealed the best of his lightless profound art in front of her because he still did not trust her. When he was at the peaked golden supremacy level, he had already regarded his lightless profound art in the top five. Now that he was at the initial sacred saint level, his lightness profound art was even better than before.

But he did not want to compete with Ling Feiyang because he was actually keeping this as his secret trump card for running away from her.

He may not win her but he was actually quite confidence in his ability to outrun her.

He knew that Ling Feiyang was now secretly probing his secret skills. Actually he was also trying to observe her secret skills so that when they start to fight, he would have an advantage.

He merely replied her, "I am just the better one among all the protégés of my celestial clan. Most of them aren't that good. Matter of fact, they can't even get to the top 1000th ranking. Haha."

He was actually not lying to her.

Ling Feiyang was startled. It was because any profound arts should not have such a huge discrepancy. So she asked. "How did you train your lightless profound art to be better than the rest of your fellow protégés?"

Yuan Ji laughed sheepishly, "My old master used to tie me to a tree at the top of the cliff and kicked me down the steep cliffs to force me to climb up. If I can't climb up within three incense time, he will kick me down again. Each time, he will aim at my butt hard and kick me down."

Ling Feiyang was startled, "Your old master is so mean…"

Yuan Ji laughed. His old master training method was pretty unorthodox and that was why he had never used it on Shangguan Yan and Fairy Ye Chengxi.

He sighed softly in his heart.

He had really missed his funny old master after he had passed away. His training was extremely brutal under his old master because his old master had once said to him, "Our sect is a poor sect without any good cultivation methods and resources. Therefore as my leading core protégé and only personal protégé, I am going to torture you to no ends."

He really could not remember a single day when he was not injured or heavily bruised under his old master.

"Alright, let's go to the next level." He said as he forced out the past memories away before he walked toward the blue portal.

Ling Feiyang nodded gently as she followed him with a quiet smile.

Below the steep cliff, dozens of cultivators were struggling with the climb.

It was really not as easy to them as compared to Yuan Ji and Ling Feiyang. Even the golden celestials were struggling to ascend the steep cliff at the five mile mid-point.

It was even worst for the third and fourth realm cultivators.

All in all, half of them would eventually fail and fall down the steep mountains.

Their only consolation was that if they could climb past the half mile height and if they had fallen from the steep cliff, they would be sent back harmlessly to the entrance of the valley again.

Although many of the cultivators would fail on their first attempt or even multiple attempts, they were not disappointed as it was the experiences of the trial that counted.

Most of the better cultivators would take an average of three hours to complete the climb and they were mostly the golden celestials.

As for the lower realm level cultivators, it would take them an average of six hours to complete the climb and as long as twelve hours for the weakest.

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Yuan Ji and Ling Feiyang had now stepped into the blue portal to the second trial.

They had now emerged in a place with tall cliffs around them and in the horizon that was surrounded by the desolate mists was a tall iron pagoda.

"What is this trial?" Yuan Ji turned to ask Ling Feiyang curiously.

Ling Feiyang returned a weak smile, "I've no idea."

"It seems that the goal of this trial is for us to reach this iron pagoda." Yuan Ji quietly said.

Ling Feiyang nodded as she added, "Reaching that iron pagoda may only be the start. We may have to fight the desolate beasts on the way there first. So shall we wait for the rest…"

But Yuan Ji had already took a step forward as he smiled at her, "So are you afraid? If not, let's go."

Ling Feiyang flipped her fan to wave it as she returned a gentle smile, "You're really a dare devil. If you are not afraid, will I be afraid?"

As she watched his back, she was quietly thinking. "I wonder why I'm following his lead? He really gives me a familiar feeling like that Ji…Yuan."

"Hmm, Ji Yuan…Li Yuan?"

"Ji Yuan is a Sword Saint and this Li Yuan is also good with his sword…"

"What am I thinking? If he is Ji Yuan, he will be running away from me…"

"Why did he ask me about Xia Jiajia?"

"I really don't remember seeing Li Yuan a hundred years ago…"

All of a sudden she had a perplexed look. It was because someone with a handsome look like Li Yuan was too noticeable but she did not have any impression of him at all.

The number of golden celestials that she had encountered a hundred years ago in that small town could actually be counted with ten fingers and moreover, she had picked that small town for a reason.

As a matter of fact, the only golden celestials that she had recalled were only Ji Yuan and the three other beautiful bearded cultivators, Xue Qianxue and Xia Jiajia.

The reason why she was suddenly tailing Li Yuan was because she had a strange sense of familiarity about him that she could not put into words.

"Can it be that he has shaved off his beard?"

All of a sudden she had unfolded her fan and was clapping it with the hands before she lit a slow smile, "Ji Yuan is said to have gone on a cultivation retreat for his seventh realm breakthrough and this Li Yuan happens to be at the saint level. This is really such a coincidence."

"And I don't believe in coincidences. When there are too many coincidences, it is never a coincidental."

"Why are you still standing there for? Are you chickening it out?" Yuan Ji was frowning as he shouted to Ling Feiyang.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about something." Ling Feiyang returned a bashful smile.

"Well if you still not coming, I'm not waiting for you." Yuan Ji returned her an uninterested look before he turned his back on her again.