Chapter 15-Luo Shangyan

In fact, this cave was also a dreamland, but it was equipped with Qimen Dunjia Formation. As long as one broke the formation, he could be teleported to the other end.

It was dark inside the cave, but there was a dim light from the formation. The path was constantly changing. Sometimes sharp stones fell from above, and sometimes a stone wall might suddenly appear to block one's way. The most dangerous situation was that the ground would suddenly become a bottomless abyss.

Many people went round and round and then showed up in a dead-end which indicated that he was eliminated. Some people were scared and lost their bearings. When they reached the place where they set off, they were angry and kept cursing.

However, Xiao Chen was an expert at formation, and this complex and dangerous Qimen Dunjia Formation was just a children's maze game to him. He turned three steps into two steps, moved horizontally and then jumped vertically, and casually broke through this formidable Qimen Dunjia Formation of the Three Pure Sect.

A vast scene suddenly came to Xiao Chen's sight. It was a green valley with folds of flowers, dancing butterflies, and running streams. Beyond the valley stood many mountains.

The bright lights made him narrow his eyes. He took a deep breath and instantly felt refreshed. A voice resounded from his left, "Haha! Junior brother, I'm faster! You will pour and clean the chamber pot for me in the following three months!"

"Nah! I am the winner!" Another voice rose on Xiao Chen's right.

Two rows of sword radiance fell on the ground at the same time. When they noticed Xiao Chen, they stared agape at him. "You! How can you be faster than us? When did you get here?! Have you cheated?"

Xiao Chen pointed backward and said with an innocent face, "I just got here."

The two disciples looked at each other for a long time as if they had lost their souls. This had broken the record of the Three Pure Sect in hundreds of years. It even took Senior Brother Mo Yu, who had the best talent in the sect, 30 minutes to get here.

After a long time, the two disciples came to their senses and then almost bent their knees. They both said loudly, "Master! Please accept our highest respect!"

At this point, in the small pavilion on the top of the Lingtai Mountain, the Second Elder laughed with the astrolabe in his hand, "Hahaha! This is what a disciple of a Cultivators' sect should look like! It seems that I, Xingzhen Zi, am going to have a successor! Hahahaha! This kid is mine. None of you can take him from me!"

The Forth Elder immediately said, "Bullsh*t! You already have so many disciples. Don't you worry that they might revolt?"

The Fifth Elder stroked his beard and frowned, saying, "What's the background of this kid? Can he be a spy sent by the Skygale Sect or Cold-billow Sword Sect?"

The Second Elder, Xingzhen Zi, laughed in tears and said, "He ain't no spy. He's the fourth young master of the Xiao Family. Sect Leader went to the Cloud Province to visit the Xiao Family and asked their chieftain to conduct an investigation on that Soul-consuming Evil Flower."

The Third Elder, Bai Ying, sighed and said, "It seems that I haven't had a Core Disciple yet..."

The Second Elder laughed harder upon hearing this. He then said, "Third Junior Sister, you haven't even reached the Core Forming Realm. Who wants to follow you?"

Bai Ying stood up with her hands on her back and said with a slight smile, "You're talking as if you could defeat me."

The Second Elder blushed upon hearing this. Although he was at the Core Forming Realm, he was not confident enough to defeat his junior sister who was only at the Foundation Building Realm. He waved his hand and said, "Come on. You said that you won't have a male disciple."

"Things change. You should continue to chatter. I'm leaving." She then walked out. The Second Elder shouted, "Hey! Don't cheat, junior sister! You can't interfere with the test!"

"Who said that I'll go intervene?" As her voice fell, she disappeared in the clouds with sword radiance.

The Forth Elder stroked his beard and said, "Brother Xingzhen, don't count your chickens before they hatch. Did you forget that he failed the second round?"

The Second Elder glanced at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Do you still remember the Inner Demon that our master used to talk about? I think that this kid carries too many burdens. If he falls into the swamp of his burdens, there will be an Inner Demon in him. Then, he is very likely to fall into the Devil's Practice..."

"Humph! Stop it! Don't you think that I'll give this kid to you just because you said so..."

At this moment, a stern-looking old man came to their back and said, "What are you talking about?"

The three elders immediately stood up and said respectfully, "Senior brother, greetings."

This man was the First Elder of the Three Pure Sect and was in charge of penalties. When the Sect Leader was absent, he made the calls in the sect. He looked at the mirror and then looked at the Second Elder, saying, "A senior from the Violet Manor just arrived."

"What!?"

The three elders trembled and looked nervous and scared. Xingzhen Zi said hurriedly, "Does he come here for that incident in the sky 16 years ago?"

The First Elder nodded and said, "Yes. You come with me."

...

Down the mountain, the third round finished. There were 2,000 participants before, but only less than 300 remained. The crowd was not that noisy now.

Xiao Chen came out first and scored 30 points. Xiao Han came out in 30 minutes and scored 20 points. He was injured, and it seemed that he broke out of the formation by force. Xiao Wan'er came out in an hour and scored a dozen points.

The rest of the participants narrowly passed and scored few points. Xiao Chen now ranked the first and was way ahead of the others. It was a pity that he failed last round, otherwise, his score would have been perfect.

Dusk was falling. A disciple stepped forth and glanced at Xiao Chen. He said, "You have passed three rounds. The following round was dangerous, so the Pro-disciples of the five elders will lead you."

The crowd cheered upon hearing this. They had a tough day, so they were overjoyed to know that Pro-disciples would lead them through the final round.

Before long, a row of sword radiance came from the top of the mountain and then turned into a handsome young man. His eyebrows looked like swords and his eyes shone like stars. His body glowed a faint white radiance as if he had been an Immortal from heaven. Many participants were stunned upon seeing him.

A dozen disciples on the ground greeted him respectfully, "Senior Brother Mo!"

This person was exactly the Core Disciple of the First Elder, Mo Yu. He scanned the crowd with his eyes and nodded casually.

A dozen people followed on their swords. There were men and women, and they were all in the flower of their youth. Cheng Ying, who picked Xiao Chen and the other three people, was also here. The ordinary Inner Disciples saluted to the comers.

The comers all landed on the ground and stood in a line. A teal-clothed miss was the last one that arrived. She looked the youngest among them, only about 18 years old. Those Inner Disciples called her "senior sister", but their voice did not sound respectful, instead, they were sarcastic. Especially those Pro-disciples, some of them even snorted and said something unbearable.

However, the teal-clothed miss just frowned and pretended to ignore their words. The sadness among her brows was deep and hard to erase.

Xiao Chen's heart shook when he saw her. He knew how this felt. Back in the Xiao Family, he was a young master, but some servants could even humiliate him in his face.

At this moment, someone nearby asked in a low voice, "Who is that senior sister?" "Why does she look gaunt?"

"She's Luo Shangyan, the sole disciple of the Sect Leader."

"Wow! The True Disciple of the Sect Leader! She must be something!"

"Humph! She's not. She's nothing but a lose... Never mind."

Xiao Chen's heart shook again. "Luo Shangyan?"

A moment later, an ordinary Inner Disciple stepped forth and said, "Everybody, quiet. The following round will take you three days. You will be divided into 15 groups led by 15 senior brothers and sisters. Remember, your results not only matter to you but also to your group leaders because it would somehow decide if they can be sent to the Violet Manor in the future. So, please do your best. The group which finishes in the first place can have a privilege, which is to let the group leader pick one person to directly become an Inner Disciple."

As his voice fell, another disciple said, "Let me introduce the senior brothers and sisters." He then walked to the group of the 15 people and started to introduce them one after another. "This is Wen Qingyu, Senior Sister Wen of the Forth Elder. She's now at Lv 6 Qi Refining Realm..."

"This is Cheng Ying, Senior Brother Cheng of the Third Elder. He's now at Lv 6 Qi Refining Realm..."

Finally, he walked in front of Mo Yu and saluted with a smile before introducing. "This is the Core Disciple of the First Elder, Mo Yu, Senior Brother Mo. He's now at Lv 9 Qi Refining Realm!"

As his voice fell, the crowd exclaimed, while as Mo Yu smiled as if he was already used to this. Luo Shangyan seemed to have been forgotten by that disciple as he stood still, pointed at her and said, "She's the True Disciple of the Sect Leader, Luo Shangyan. She's at Lv 4 Qi Refining Realm."

"What? How can the Sect Leader's disciple be only at Lv 4 Qi Refining Realm?"

The crowd started to chatter. Even some ordinary Inner Disciples were higher than Lv 4 Qi Refining Realm. Luo Shangyan looked at the ground and said nothing, while the other disciples, such as Wen Qingyu, just smiled coldly.

An ordinary Inner Disciple raised his hand and said, "Okay, everybody quiet. Now, please walk to the senior brothers and sisters you want to follow..."

Before his voice fell, most of the crowd rushed to Mo Yu. Mo Yu was already used to this and started to pick participants with high scores.

Some knew that their scores were too low to stay in Mo Yu's group, so they walked back toward Wen Qingyu, Cheng Ying, and the others. As for Luo Shangyan, no one went to her side. Although she was the Sect Leader's disciple, nobody wanted to follow a Lv 4 Qi Refining Realm disciple since this round decided if they could join the sect."

Xiao Wan'er walked forth too. Cheng Ying saw her and smiled, saying, "Junior Sister Xiao, you're here."

Xiao Wan'er also smiled gently and said, "Senior Brother Cheng Ying..." She then lowered her head and walked to Mo Yu. Cheng Ying's smile froze slowly.

Xiao Wan'er clenched her fists as she took her steps forward. She gnashed her teeth, turned around, walked back, and then said with a sweet smile, "I think I'll still follow Senior Brother Cheng Ying's lead!" She then waved to Xiao Chen and Xiao Han, saying, "What are you doing there!?"

"Good. Good..." Cheng Ying smiled gently.

Xiao Han shook his head and walked to her, while Xiao Chen stood still. Mo Yu looked at him and said, "That junior brother over there, come to me."

Everyone looked at Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen looked at Mo Yu and said, "I'm sorry." He then walked to Luo Shangyan and said with a smile, "Senior Sister Luo, nice to meet you. My name is Xiao Chen!"