Chapter 14 (1/2)

When Xiao Chen reached halfway, he used his Divine Sense to sweep backward and noticed that Xiao Wan’er dared not to step on the chain. He shook his head and sighed. He went back, held her slim waist with his arm, and then smoothly went to the other end.

“How can he do this?! This is cheating! His score must be deducted!” The crowd clamored again.

The disciple on the ground coughed and said, “They are a group, so this is not cheating.”

A moment later, Xiao Chen landed on the opposite cliff. Xiao Han looked at them coldly and said, “You’re so slow. I thought that you fell off.”

Xiao Chen smiled gently and put Xiao Wan’er down. She blushed and lowered her head, saying, “Cousin Xiao Chen, thank you…”

She had never expected that she had to ask a favor from a man who she used to look down on.

Four hours later, every participant had reached to the other cliff. Without a doubt, Xiao Chen and the other two people scored 10 points each. Xiao Chen looked down to the abyss and whispered to himself, “I hope that Ghoulish Woman fell off and additionally, that disciple failed to catch her…”

Just as his voice fell, a voice as crisp as a silver bell rose behind him. “Xiao Chen! Are you talking about me again?”

Xiao Chen was startled upon hearing this. He then turned around and forced a smile, saying, “Hi! Miss Shangguan, long time no see!”

Shangguan Yan giggled and her eyes twinkled, saying, “Don’t be so courteous. We will soon be fellow brothers and sisters. Rest assured, I, your senior sister, will be on your back.”

“Fellow brothers and sisters…” Xiao Chen felt as if a dark cloud had been moving toward him.

The Shangguan Family was also a martial arts family and as famous as the Xiao Family. However, hundreds of years ago, an expert from south-west taught the Shangguan Family some notorious Poisonous Witchcraft.

Shangguan Fei, Shangguan Yan’s father, and Xiao Chen’s father were most intimate friends. But when Xiao Chen was young, Shangguan Yan summoned a black centipede to bite him, and this childhood shadow had followed Xiao Chen until now.

At this moment, in a small pavilion on the top of the Lingtai Mountain, four people sat on futons. A big mirror at the center of them was presenting live about the situation down the mountain.

One of them was a young woman in white, and she was the one who flew into this pavilion before. She was Bai Ying, the Third Elder. Beside her was the Second Elder, who held an astrolabe in his hand. The other two were the Forth Elder and the Fifth Elder.

The Second Elder stroked his beard and said, “Alas, it seems that the participants this time are mediocre as well…”

The Third Elder, Bai Ying, said casually, “Don’t hurry. This is just the first round. Besides, some of them looked like they’ve practiced martial arts. At least they’re above the Body Refining Realm.”

“I agree, but it eventually depends on how many Spiritual Meridians they have…”

…

Half an hour later, other two disciples arrived in front of the crowd. One of them carried a bundle of bamboo slips. He opened it and said, “Okay, now comes the second round. The subject of the second round is… Hum? zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting?” He rubbed his eyes at the end of the announcement to make sure that he had not read it wrong.

“What?! What are you doing? Zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting? What’s next round about? The Four Books and Five Classics?” The crowd booed.

The disciple glared at the junior brother beside him and said, “Idiot! Have you taken the wrong slips?”

The junior brother said with a bitter face, “No… It seems that the Second Elder added this round to make the test more difficult and to enhance the average cultural quality of the disciples…”

Xiao Han and Xiao Waner frowned tightly, while Xiao Chen remained silent and smiled. He was exactly expert at this subject. Since young, he had practiced calligraphy and painting with his mother and learned to play chess from his grandpa. As for the zither, which ranked the top of the four arts, he could claim that he was the best zither player in this world, second to none.

Back then, Ling Yin, who was known as the Immortal Miaoyin, personally taught him zither techniques. In those days, Ling Yin played the flute and Xiao Chen played the zither by her side, and they had suppressed countless monsters and demons in this way.

When the crowd was about to fall into chaos, a disciple stepped forth and said with a cough, “Everyone, relax. This subject is not about its literal meaning. It’s about four dreamlands. Even if you can’t do zither, chess, calligraphy, or painting, you may be able to do them in dreamlands. Everyone gets to choose a dreamland. Let this round begin now.”

After finishing his words, he waved his arm backward as the clouds and fog dispersed, revealing four caves. Each cave was covered by a formation. A Jade Zither was on the first curtain; a chess board was on the second; a calligraphy paper was on the third, and a magnificent landscape painting was on the forth. In this painting, numerous mountains pierced through the clouds, and all kinds of rare animals whistled in the woods. It looked so lively as if it had been alive.

Everyone chose a dreamland that they were familiar with. Xiao Wan’er clenched her fists and hesitated for a long time before she entered the painting dreamland. Xiao Han kicked a stone which then bounced here and there and finally stopped in front of the calligraphy dreamland. He shook his head and entered the calligraphy dreamland.

Xiao Chen played the zither the best among the other three arts; hence he entered the zither dreamland. As soon as he stepped into the curtain, the surroundings suddenly changed. He was on the edge of a cliff, and cold smoke suffused around him as if it had been a fairyland. Countless isles and palaces were floating in the air as cranes flew by from time to time. Also, numerous rare birds and animals rambled in the mountains down below.