Chapter 151: The Youth Who Renders People Speechless

Zuo Qing woke up by the lakeside, feeling dazed for a moment before coming to his senses. Looking at everything around him, his expression became rather ugly.

He knew he had lost in this martial exam. He glanced at the list absentmindedly and saw that his name was ranked near the bottom. It was because he had only killed one demon. Furthermore, it was obvious that his rank would continue to plummet because he had already been eliminated, and it was only the first day of the martial exam.

Looking around, he did not see any familiar faces. Realizing that he was among the few who had been eliminated early, his expression grew even worse.

When he glanced at the top of the list, he discovered that the name there was the one he least wanted to see. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He shook his head in anguish, but then noticed a young man approaching from a distance.

"Senior Brother Wang."

Zuo Qing said in a dazed voice.

Senior Brother Wang looked at him and said with some sympathy, "Junior Brother Zuo, Sect Master has issued an order. You are to return to the mountain immediately and remain there for the next ten years. You are not allowed to leave unless you can step into Great Beyond Realm"

As he spoke, there was some sympathy in Senior Brother Wang's eyes. Given Zuo Qing's current cultivation realm and aptitude, it was simply impossible for him to reach the Great Beyond Realm within ten years. In other words, Zuo Qing, who stood before him, would be confined to the mountain for ten years, unable to leave.

To be honest, such a punishment was excessively severe for Zuo Qing. Hearing these words, Zuo Qing's expression became ugly to the extreme. He looked at the man before him in disbelief and muttered, "How could this be..."

He naturally knew that what happened in the microcosm could not be kept secret, but he did not expect things to escalate so quickly, and the Sect Master's reaction to be so intense as well.

Senior Brother Wang glanced at him without saying anything. He roughly knew the inside story. Losing face was not uncommon among foreign cultivators, but to lose face involving the Great Liang Dynasty was something that could not be tolerated.

Especially at the Myriad Willow Convention, where Zuo Qing pleaded for mercy from that young man. Such a thing was even more unacceptable.

"Junior Brother Zuo, focus on your cultivation after returning to the mountain. If you have the opportunity, seek revenge after ten years."

Senior Brother Wang gave him a deep look and then left without saying another word, leaving Zuo Qing standing there alone, feeling lost and dispirited.

In the distance, a few mocking laughs could be heard, making him feel even more hurt.

Even though it was already night, there were still many people by the lakeside. They were currently anxiously following the progress of the martial exam.

......

......

Chen Chao walked towards the distance, not choosing a more open area, but headed towards a denser part of the forest.

There were more demons among the mountains, but he felt completely safe.

As he entered the forest, it was as if he had returned to Tianqing County, walking through the mountainous forest in the dark nights, searching for the demons hidden on the mountain.

The sort of feeling was both dangerous and exhilarating.

Whether it was because his aura was too terrifying for the demons or there really were no demons in the vicinity, Chen Chao could not find a single one after searching the deep mountains for half the night. Seeing that it was already approaching the second half of the night, Chen Chao rubbed his neck before deciding not to continue forward. Instead, he began to dig a hole in a concealed thicket.

In the mountains, hiding in caves was the best choice, based on his years of experience.

However, Chen Chao soon stopped his actions because he heard some sounds—some footsteps that sounded out in the distance.

He frowned and quickly hid himself in the dug-out hole, quietly removing the dirt. He began adjusting his breathing and made his aura nearly undetectable.

The footsteps stopped not far away and a very low voice sounded, "What's going on? His aura is gone."

That person's voice sounded a little confused and puzzled, not understanding why such a thing would happen.

"Impossible, the secret art wouldn't fail. Concentrate and sense carefully, he probably found a place to hide."

Another person whispered, "There it is, the aura is very faint, he should be in the area. Let's search carefully. Maybe we can find him. He's hiding."

"Senior Brother, we'll probably be alerting him like this. What if he's watching us from the shadows? What should we do then?"

That voice sounded rather worried.

"I understand that, but we only have half the night. If daybreak comes, people will be looking at him and we won't be able to do anything."

The other voice was very angry.

"Why can't we pretend to accidentally run into him during the day? It would be very logical for us to defeat him then."

That voice was rather doubtful.

"We're not here to defeat him, we're here to kill him, don't you understand?"

That senior brother's voice had a hint of anger.

"He caused so much trouble at the lakeside, it was already humiliating enough. If we find him and kill him, although we can't acknowledge it, it will still restore our reputation. But damn it, where the hell is this guy!"

The figure walked through the forest, his aura surged within his sleeves. It was clearly the two who were prepared to strike at any moment.

Listening to their conversation, Chen Chao remained motionless. He did not even show any fluctuations in emotion, so they had no idea that Chen Chao was hiding right here at this moment. After searching for a while, they soon departed. It was just that when they left, they still held a lot of anger.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes. Taking out the bamboo token, he was silent for a long time.

The bamboo token must have been tampered with by someone, allowing them to track him. Knowing this was one thing, but he couldn't discard this bamboo token, because if he did, it would mean that he could only be brought out by Wei Xu when the microcosm completely closed. Once he encountered something before that happened, he would no longer be able to leave this place.

Their previous optimism vanished completely at this moment. They knew that at this rate, unless Song Changxi those people killed a sufficiently high number of powerful demons, it would be impossible to compete with Chen Chao.

They were very worried.

The prominent figures on the pavilion were very worried too.

Especially Qingshan Sect's sect master.

Actually, no one wanted the first session of the reformed Myriad Willow Convention to be held in the Divine Capital. However, due to its critical importance, especially for the entire Myriad Willow Convention, after much negotiation and compromise among the various factions, it eventually landed in the Divine Capital.

But since this was a product of compromise from all parties, it did not mean they were willing to see the young cultivators of the Great Liang Dynasty shine in this Myriad Willow Convention. Xie Nandu had already won the literary exam, they would never allow a cultivator from the Great Liang Dynasty to win the martial exam.

This was their bottom line and also something they did not want to see happen.

Therefore, the youngsters of the Great Liang Dynasty must not win.

......

......

On the third day, the number of eliminated cultivators in the martial exam increased, and more cultivators appeared by the lakeside.

Those who were observant began to count and discovered that on this day, all the young cultivators from the Great Liang Dynasty who participated in the martial exam had been eliminated.

Except for Chen Chao.

Wang Kuan stood by the lakeside and was silent for a long time before walking towards the distance where Xie Nandu was waiting for him.

"Junior Sister... Xie."

Wang Kuan looked at Xie Nandu, his eyes filled with a special emotion—admiration.

Xie Nandu got straight to the point and asked, "How did Senior Brother lose?"

Wang Kuan pondered for a moment and replied, "I had just finished a fierce battle with a demon and was recovering when a foreign cultivator arrived from afar. I couldn't defeat him and had to concede."

He smiled, but there was a hint of bitterness in his smile. "Although it was a coincidence, there's nothing more to say."

How could someone like him not know that there was something fishy going on? But without evidence, even if he were to speak up, it would not cause much of a stir.

Xie Nandu nodded and walked over to Wei Xu.

Wei Xu had been standing by the lakeside for two days and appeared very calm at the moment.

When he saw Xie Nandu approaching, he shook his head and remained silent.

Xie Nandu said, "Something like this is very unfair."

Wei Xu calmly replied, "I am well aware, but I cannot change it."

Xie Nandu asked, "Even if it's Teacher, can't he do anything about it?"

Wei Xu nodded and smiled slightly.

Teacher did not appear here but asked him to preside over the Myriad Willow Convention. Could it be simply out of laziness?

It was probably not the case.

Xie Nandu said, "That's why the principles of the academy have never been principles. It's the fist that dictates."

Wei Xu looked at this little junior sister and said, "I hope that one day, Junior Sister will encounter only those who reason with you."

Xie Nandu did not speak.

But there were suddenly many cultivators by the lake.

They were the ones who had been forced to leave the microcosm.

They appeared by the lake. After a momentary confusion, they began to curse loudly, directing their curses at only one person.

Chen Chao.

The one who caused all these was naturally Chen Chao.

Soon, the news spread.

Chen Chao killed demons and beat people up in that microcosm, forcing all the cultivators he encountered to concede defeat.

One of them was even pursued by Chen Chao for as long as half a day.

"He's a madman, a complete and utter lunatic!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Xu said, "That young man is indeed quite interesting."

Xie Nandu frowned slightly and then smiled.