Chapter 19 (2/2)

“G-greetings… Immortals.” The three princes felt their knees giving way. The sudden appearance of so many Immortals made them feel so uncomfortable that they could barely speak.

A disciple, a girl, covered her mouth as she suppressed a laugh. She whispered to a Senior Brother beside her, “The three men are so silly. They addressed us as Immortals.”

Dusk was nearing as another couple of hours passed. The setting sun cast a golden luster upon the clouds that looked as if they were burning brightly in gold. The 14 other groups, too, have arrived. What was formerly a thronging mob of 300 aspirants was nothing more than a crowd of a little more than 100 now.

All of a sudden, two bolts of sword radiance fell from the sky and landed in front of everybody and transformed into two men, one in green and another in white. Everyone was shocked by their sudden appearance, “Y-you! Why are you both here!”

The two men roared in laughter, “Hahaha! Congratulations to you all. You have passed the test. The rest who failed are now on their way down the mountain.

Only now did everyone understood as they felt relieved and thankful that they have not made the decision to follow these two men earlier. It was a test to lead them astray. Those that followed them were immediately eliminated from the test. It was as Xiao Chen had said before, the road in pursuit of immortality was tough, and only failure would wait for those who lacked the needful resolve and will. The Three Pure Sect did not require anyone whose heart would waver; hence the test was set by Xingzhen Zi, the Second Elder of the sect.

The three princes could feel cold sweat running down their backs. Xiao Chen smiled thinly; he had long seen through the ruse. Outer Disciples would hardly possess the powers of Lv 5 Qi Refining Realm. He looked around and found both Xiao Wan’er and Xiao Han.

There was but only one person who was sulking despite the reverie around him: Mo Yu. His lackeys numbered 29 when the test began, but now, there were only a little more than ten left. Despite being fully informed about what might come during the test, he could only watch as his flock was led astray into ruin lest he disobeyed his orders.

“Well then. We will now announce the final score for your performances in this test.” The two men in green and white announced.

Mo Yu broke into a vicious smile. Despite losing more than ten men, his group still has close to one thousand Octarine Cores. He was definitively certain that he would gain the first place.

Each Core would represent one point. It was beyond any doubt that Mo Yu’s group managed to gain the most points. The score was divided equally to all members of his group, including those who were eliminated, all of whom received 30-plus points. The group with the lowest score was expectedly Xiao Chen’s group who managed only a measly 200 points. But due to their relatively low number, each of them received close to 50 points.

Hence, the groups with the least members would look to benefit greatly compared to larger groups.

The man in green laughed and continued, “All right. Next, we have the group who has achieved the highest place in this test, Senior Sister Luo’s group! Some applause, everyone!” The two began to clap their hands.

But no one else responded. All was quiet across the entire square save for the lone and ludicrous clappings by the two men that slowly faded as even their smiles slowly froze. Everyone was motionless, gaping with disbelief.

Cued by the silence, Mo Yu’s angry voice tore through the square, “Have you lost your mind? My group has 900 points and they have only 200. Why is it that they are the highest placed group?”

Surprised by the sudden outburst of rage, the man in green hardly dared to answer. His companion, the man in white, replied weakly, “Please be calm, Senior Brother Mo. It was a sudden amendment of the rules by the elders three days ago, that the highest placed team will be decided based on the average points of a group’s members.”

“Why did you not inform me of this earlier!”

“I did try to… But you were not listening, Senior Brother…”

“Wretched fool! Go to hell!”

Without so much as a look at the bickering two, the three princes erupted into a euphoria of joy. Their group had achieved the highest place; even if all of them failed to be selected by the Elders themselves, Luo Shangyan would still be able to name one of them to become an Inner Disciple.

Excited and agitated murmurings and chatters could be heard throughout the square. A voice came suddenly, cutting through the air like a blade, “Are these the ones who have passed the test?”

Everything fell into silence. They could hear only the light pattern of footsteps approaching before a young man in his early 20s, dressed fully in white, appeared. Over his back, he carried two Immortal’s swords, one red and one white. With eyes as clear as dew and a cheerful face as bright as the sun, the young man radiated strongly with the auric presence of an Immortal.

With a gift of keeping everyone silence with ease, none of the current disciples of the Three Pure Sect dared utter a word before him. Not even Mo Yu dared to squeak. Tame and docile like a lamb, he gasped, “Perfected Immortal Yu.”

The young man smiled gently, his demeanor graceful like the fleeting breeze, and answered, “Don’t, I deserve not this title. Just call me Senior Brother Yu.” He walked to the steps of the square and looked at the remaining aspirants, nodding approvingly.

Xiao Chen’s eyes narrowed as he studied the stranger. Who was this man? Why did he look so familiar to him? He seemed to remember the two swords from his past, yet he knew not when or how.

At this moment, a hushed voice nearby asked, “Who is that person, Senior Brother?”

Another disciple, the senior brother of the one who had asked, motioned for him to be silent. Carefully, he said, “An Immortal had come from the Violet Manor a while ago. This man might be one of his disciples. He may look young, but his powers are well above our Elders.”

“Ah… So, he is one of the Immortals from the Violet Manor…” The younger disciple stuttered with surprise and amazement.

Xiao Chen kept his head down as he raked his memories for any recollection of the young man. But everything was sketchy; some were clear as day and some were chaotic until he finally remembered. “Brother Yifeng?” Xiao Chen gasped.

It was a faint but accidental spasm that escaped his lips. But it did not go unnoticed by the young man in the chilly silence in the square. He came slowly over. Everyone held their breaths as they watched him stop in front of Xiao Chen.

“Are you… are you Lil Chen?” The young man asked suddenly.