Chapter 76 - 76 The secret at the heart of the central mountain

The central region had turned completely silent after the king of the beasts had let out that screech earlier.

In the dark night, the only sound that could be heard in the central mountain amidst the eerie silence, was Shun Long's footsteps as he slowly climbed up. His aura was completely concealed by the 'Monarch's hourglass' as he walked towards the heart of the mountain.

The closer he approached towards the mountain's center, the thicker qi in the air around him was becoming.

Shun Long even felt that if he sat down cross-legged to cultivate here, he could probably breakthrough from the middle of rank 8 all the way to the early rank 9 of qi condensation in less than a day. 

However, as soon as this thought took form in his head, it was instantly extinguished. The central mountain was the territory of a peak rank 4 magic beast. If Shun Long cultivated here and failed to keep his aura suppressed, he would definitely expose himself and his plan would be ruined.

Meanwhile, as Shun Long was climbing up the central mountain, the outer region had turned into chaos as the disciples from the 4 sects were running around recklessly as they looked to leave the Demonic Mountain Region, causing countless fights with the magic beasts on their way.

Numerous disciples had fallen victims to the magic beasts in the process, as the outer region now completely resembled a battlefield. The dead bodies of the sect disciples were lying around everywhere and even more were piling up as time went by. After all the vast majority of the disciples participating in the sect exam were between the rank 7 in qi condensation to the early rank 1 in earth grade.

Even the disciples that were previously in the 'safe area' of the inner region like Yong Ru and the others had already left as they were heading back to the Demonic Mountain Region's entrance. 

Yong Ru who was now resting along with 3 other men and 2 women at the outer region, turned his head to look towards the inner region as he sighed and said to himself in a low voice

''I hope that brother Shun will be alright.''

One of the girls that were together with Yong Ru looked at him as she asked

''Senior brother Yong, are you talking about the person that you entered the safe area with?''

''Mhm'' Yong Ru nodded his head

One of the 3 men that was wearing the robes of the 'Iron-hardened sect' heard their conversation and butted in as he said

''Tsk, entering the inner region alone is tantamount to suicide. Even my elder brother died in there as he followed senior brother Da Chong. I heard that senior brother Da Chong and a few others barely managed to survive by the skin of their teeth after they entered the inner region, so that person who was arrogant enough to enter in there alone has probably already turned into magic beast food by now.''

Yong Ru's face was visibly angered but he knew that what this person said was the truth.

However, since Shun Long had saved his life back when they were at the outer region and even helped him get to the 'safe area', Yong Ru couldn't stay silent in front of this taunting. 

Snorting, he looked at the young man in brown robes as he said

''Do you really think that your senior brother Da Chong is the strongest person in this sect exam? I heard that Hui Ming from the 'Flying sword sect' only lost 3 people from his group inside the inner region as he came out safely.''

''So what, do you think that your friend is at the same level as senior brother Da Chong or Hui Ming? If that's the case and you are so confident in him making it out alive, then why didn't you wait for him to return to the 'safe area' and instead left with us?''

Yong Ru felt extremely ashamed and angry as he heard these words. He felt ashamed because that person was right, and yet he felt angry because this man had also just exposed him.

Indeed, he too believed that Shun Long would die inside the inner region, and that was the reason why he didn't wait for him to return to the safe area.

Although he knew that Shun Long was strong, Yong Ru still felt that Shun Long was quite a bit weaker than the 3 geniuses. And since the 3 geniuses were having problems in the inner region and Da Chong's group from the 'Iron-hardened sect' had almost faced destruction in there, how could one Shun Long possibly survive? 

As these people were arguing, Shun Long who was climbing up the central mountain at that time had almost reached the mid-way point already, as he had now completely retracted his aura, and even suppressed his own breathing.

A huge cave could be seen in front of him, with an entrance more than 9m(30ft) high.

Shun Long could feel a powerful dark aura, as well as wave after wave of pure qi coming from inside this cave.

This aura wasn't directly attacking him, and yet Shun Long now felt a heavy feeling in his chest as his steps halted right before the entrance. 

A feeling as if he was getting suffocated overcame him, and just as little Black who had noticed this came out from the 'Stone of Time', the 'Monarch's Hourglass' had started circulating by itself inside his body, instantly getting rid of this suppressing feeling. 

Shun Long breathed out in relief while he was shocked to find out that his body still wasn't emitting any of his aura. Presumably, as long as he didn't exert himself now, the 'Monarch's Hourglass' could stay active and keep suppressing this dark aura, without leaving behind the slightest trace. 

After entering the cave Shun Long's surroundings completely darkened as he walked deeper inside. It felt as if he was walking inside a giant tunnel that was completely devoid of light.

Thankfully he had little Black's soul sense, and after about a dozen minutes had passed, he could finally see some light in the distance.

Heading towards the origin of this light, Shun Long who had finally reached the end of the cave, saw a stupefying scene unfold in front of his eyes.