Chapter 19: Brave Little Hai You Can Do This (2/2)

Previously, when he chose to depart from the Peach Blossom Village early, it was all because of the word judgement. Although his early departure caused him to lose his chance to acquire a better overall score, but by being the first to depart, there might be extra rewards for him.

After weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, Hai Yunfan finally made a judgement, and in the beginning of the Frozen Wind Valley, he found out that he had made a correct judgement.

And that reward was very simple: unlimited stamina throughout the rest of the trials in the Immortal Path. He also had a bonus, a seventh-rate magical tool, the Weakening Scarecrow which could significantly decrease the enemy’s strength and could be used three times.

The Frozen Wind Valley was really tough to pa.s.s through. Not only was it similar to the Golden Bridge which rejected those with inadequate talent, it was also filled with illusions that could easily confuse the partic.i.p.ants perceptions, just like the Cloud Wave Map. The partic.i.p.ants would encounter a variety of situations, with some that should be tactically avoided, and some that should be faced head on.

This was a trial that tests numerous facets, so the partic.i.p.ants must have a well-rounded abilities. Anyone who lacked an ability was likely to be stopped in their tracks halfway. However, the most important ability for the Frozen Wind Valley... as it turned out, was the ability to make a judgement.

Not going forward when one should go forward, not retreating when one should retreat, or only using 40-50% of one’s skill when one should use 100%; those things were not going to get the partic.i.p.ants anywhere in the Immortal Path. As it happened, Hai Yunfan’s best trait was his judgement, and combined with some luck… he pa.s.sed through challenges in the Frozen Wind Valley one after another, without even resorting to using the Weakening Scarecrow.

Of course, not using the bonus reward here had its purpose… Although a monster almost cornered him into a hopeless situation on one situation, Hai Yunfan still preserved his Weakening Scarecrow.

Because if one wanted to pa.s.s the last hurdle of the trial, the precious bonus reward from the Peach Blossom Village must be kept until then. Other partic.i.p.ants might not necessarily know this, but Hai Yunfan knew that whether it was the Frozen Wind Valley or the Red Ridge Mountains... in the end, there would be a fierce and powerful monster awaiting for them. But exactly how formidable was that monster?

To the point where n.o.body had ever defeated it in hundreds of years.

Fortunately, in this Immortal Path, the Spirit Sword Sect had placed the Peach Blossom Village after the Cloud Wave Map. Through the quest rewards, the strength of the partic.i.p.ants was enhanced. For example, if he used this Weakening Scarecrow on the last monster three consecutive times… perhaps it could weaken the monster enough for him to overcome it.

Thinking of this, Hai Yunfan entered the last valley of the Frozen Wind Valley. The path was winding, but Hai Yunfan stayed patient and vigilant until he came across a corner and finally saw the monster guarding the path.

Looking at the scene, Hai Yunfan frowned and fell into a deep thought.

“Strange, what breed is this thirty-three meters tall elephant-like monster which has icicles covering its whole body?” Hai Yunfan was quite knowledgeable, so he was quite familiar with the records of “The Monsters of Blue River”, a monster guide widely circulated in the Immortal Cultivation World, which has an extensive catalogue of category 2 monsters. But at this time, he couldn’t remember ever seeing this particular breed.

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“To be honest, I always suspected that the ancestors of our sect had made an accidental mistake.”

On the cloud above, the older disciple in black and white clothes started to spread a gossip.

The younger disciple curiously asked, “What mistake?”

“I suspect that when they designed the Immortal Path, they accidentally put the wrong word on the rules of the last stage; the monster guarding the path should have been a category 2 ninth rank, but it became category 3 ninth rank. It’s just a one letter difference, no, it’s just one stroke short!” [3]

Hearing the words category 3 ninth rank, the younger disciple couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, “Category 3 monster? Even if it’s only ninth rank, doesn’t it have almost the same strength as a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage?”

The older disciple corrected his mistake, “That is only true for a run of the mill cultivator. For our Spirit Sword Sect’s cultivator, we only need to reach the cultivation the first or second level of the Qi Cultivation Stage and we will be able to deal with that category 3 monster.”

The younger disciple somewhat feebly said, “If that’s the case, how can you let a group of people that haven’t started cultivating deal with it? Even if they possess their family’s magical treasures, it’s still going to be very hard.”

The senior brother threw his hands up in the air. “Who knows? That’s the reason why no one was able to pa.s.s through the Immortal Path in hundreds of years: this category 3 monster. Although the difference in the category is only one, but the difficulty goes up to ten times, and category 3 ninth rank is just the minimum; it isn’t unusual to meet an eighth or even seventh rank. This time, Hai Yunfan is quite lucky for encountering a ninth rank… That’s why I said Hai Yunfan still have around twenty percent chance of success. Everyone else has zero chance.”

While they were talking, great changes occurred in the animated clouds; the older disciple caught this change from the corner of his eyes, and he suddenly became enraptured.

“Oh, it has begun!”

The younger disciple hastily s.h.i.+fted his attention to observe the cloud as well. “Ah, yes, what a decisive reaction, immediately using the Weakening Scarecrow three times in a row!”

The older disciple nodded. “It’s the right decision, although it’s only a seventh rank magical tool, and only works on category 2 monsters or below in theory, but if it’s only category 3 ninth rank, it’s possible to drop its level by using it three times in a row.”

The younger disciple still had some concerns. “But even if it’s downgraded, it would still be category 2 first or second rank; even hundreds of elite soldiers from the mortal world wouldn’t be able to do anything against it…”

The older disciple said, “Rest a.s.sured, this lad named Hai Yunfan is definitely hiding his trump card.”

The younger disciple continued to worry. “Even if he possesses magical treasures, it would still be useless. For someone who haven’t cultivated before, the more advance the tool is, the harder it is to display its efficacy. For example, those smuggled rank sixth or seventh magical treasures, in those young masters’ hands, they were even worse than a rank ninth magical tool…” [4]

The older disciple conceded the younger disciple’s point. “Yes, it’s just a humiliation for our sect’s cultivators… However, this Hai Yunfan is certainly not on the same level as those group of trash. Look.”

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Hai Yunfan was indeed not on the same level as Xie Qianlong and his ilk.

Because at least Xie Qianlong and company possessed magical treasures that were given to them by their family, while Hai Yunfan didn’t have one.

The status of a prince of the Grand Cloud Empire was prominent, but it was only prominent amidst the mortal world. It was true that the royal family of the Grand Cloud Empire was on good terms with many Immortal Cultivation Sects, but not good enough to the point that they could exchange the magical tools of Immortals with mortal resources… Or, perhaps, they could, but definitely not with magical treasures.

Of course, a thousand-year empire could definitely find some magical treasures, but it would be of no use in the hands of someone who had not cultivated before. Except for some legendary magical treasures that were comparable to Immortal Tools, only magical tools that have practical purposes could be used by mortals. However, magical tools could not be taken up on the Spirit Sword Mountain; the Golden Bridge would have rejected them all first.

Hai Yunfan wasn’t a beater like w.a.n.g Lu. He couldn’t find the loopholes in the Immortal Path, and along the way, he did not rely on magical treasures nor did he cheat. He only came this far by relying on continuous effort.

But would continuous effort create miracles?

Hai Yunfan really hoped so.

Because if there weren’t any miracles, then he would definitely be screwed.

Hai Yunfan wasn’t a cultivator, so he had no way to accurately measure the rank of the monster; however, after using the Weakening Scarecrow three times in a row, the giant creature in front of him shrunk from the height of more or less thirty-three meters to twenty-three. Judging from this, he concluded that his fate had improved from getting crushed into meat paste to getting crushed into minced meat…

Although his life was on the line here, and although a hundred lives weren’t enough to deal with this monster, Hai Yunfan still took out his sword, which was his family’s heirloom, and bravely pointed it against the opponent.

[1] See chapter 18.

[2] Chinese idiom, literally means, “ninety li is merely a half of a hundred li journey”

[3] 2 in Chinese is 二, and 3 is 三, only one stroke different.

[4] (Immortal tool > Magical treasure > magical tool)