Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 59: Thirty Breaths

contemporary romance

Chapter 59: Thirty Breaths

Although Wu Liangyu and Zhao Xinyu were both at the peak of the Sea of Qi stage, the pressure Wu Liangyu gave off was much more impressive.

While operating the jade slip in his hand, Wu Liangyu said, “You are the first to participate in the examination this time. The rules are the same. Three consecutive battles, and between each battle, you are allowed to rest for the time it takes for one incense stick to burn. You can also choose to not rest, and directly continue.”

A ray of light spread out from the jade slip in his hands. From the sea of clouds ahead, small tufts of white clouds rose up, quickly condensing into a white humanoid shape which stood there silently.

Zhao Xinyu had clearly already experienced this before, and he walked up to the white figure, squaring off against it with a composed expression. His talent for fighting was really poor, and his comprehension was average. He was the kind of person who hadn’t encountered any kind of special, big opportunities, and was trapped at the Sea of Qi realm. More than a decade slipped away, and he still hadn’t passed the examination.

This year, Zhao Xinyu had finally broken through to the peak of the Sea of Qi stage and had also stumbled upon some good opportunities, so he had some confidence for this time’s Mountain Entry Examination.

In fact, the Mountain Entry Examination wasn’t all that difficult, and it was extremely rare for those who had slowly made their way to the peak of the Sea of Qi stage to not be able to pass the examination.

Zhao Xinyu’s hands blurred as he made a series of hand seals, and in a flash, he had conjured a Fierce Incantation from the Shangqing Profound Laws. The orb of light from the Fierce Incantation warped and oscillated as it shot through the air at high speed, exploding on the white humanoid figure.

A transparent light barrier appeared around the white humanoid figure’s body, blocking the Fierce Incantation. A white longsword appeared in its hand, gleaming with a cold light. The white humanoid figure brandished the longsword and stabbed it directly towards Zhao Xinyu.

Zhao Xinyu wasn’t flustered by this in the slightest. He knew that although the barrier of light covering the white humanoid figure was strong, it wouldn’t last very long. From his storage pouch, he pulled out an exquisitely designed parasol. When he opened it up, the parasol cast out a light barrier, preventing the white humanoid figure’s sword light from advancing any further.

“A defense-type Spirit Tool!”

“This Zhao Xinyu has been in the Outer Region for more than a decade. I guess he actually had some family savings in store!”

“That parasol must be worth at least 200 spirit stones!”

There were some disciples who turned red-eyed upon seeing the parasol, their eyes filled with envy. Defense-type Spirit Tools were generally more expensive than attack-type Spirit Tools, and were easily priced at hundreds of spirit stones! With this parasol in hand, this examination would be a piece of cake for Zhao Xinyu.

No one knew where Zhao Xinyu managed to acquire this expensive defense-type Spirit Tool, but it definitely couldn’t have been saved up through the 24 spirit stones that a Sea of Qi stage could earn annually from the sect. It could only be considered his own good fortune to have found this Spirit Tool. After all, each person had their own destiny.

There were also some disciples whose expressions were indifferent upon seeing this, slightly looking down upon Zhao Xinyu.

Zhao Xinyu waited for the barrier of light surrounding the white humanoid figure to disappear, then used a Shangqing Slaughter Incantation. It crashed into the white humanoid figure, destroying it. With this, he passed the first battle.

Wu Liangyu looked at the parasol, but didn’t say anything about it. He only asked, “Do you need to take a break?”

Zhao Xinyu replied, “No need, Senior Martial Brother.”

Wu Liangyu nodded, then activated the jade slip in his hands. The sea of clouds gave rise to another white humanoid figure, which gave off a slightly stronger aura.

With that parasol Spirit Tool protecting him, that white humanoid figure simply couldn’t break through Zhao Xinyu’s defenses. It could only wait in despair as its own barrier of light wore off, and Zhao Xinyu smashed it back into mist.

Zhao Xuan watched for a while, and gradually found a pattern. The white humanoid figures started off with an extremely strong barrier of light, but the strength of that barrier gradually weakened over time until it was practically gone. He couldn’t tell exactly how much destructive power it had, since the white humanoid figure hadn’t been able to break through the defenses of that parasol Spirit Tool.

After Zhao Xinyu consecutively defeated three white humanoid figures, a somewhat pleased expression arose on his face.

The disciple who was in charge of keeping record, Zhou Chao, took out the record jade slip and announced, “Courtyard 1678, Zhou Xinyu, passed. A quarter of an hour elapsed.”

Two hours was approximately equivalent to the time it took 4 incense sticks to burn, so the time it took for one incense stick to burn was about 30 minutes. For the sake of being meticulous, Zhou Chao recorded the time as a quarter of an hour. The grade that Zhou Xinyu received was already pretty good.

Zhao Xuan sat among the spectators, watching one person after the other participating in the exam. Each person had their own methods, and he gradually felt more and more discouraged. Those that had passed the examination in an extremely short time were those that had a powerful cultivation method or a Spirit Tool of some sort.

There were even people who would take out a longsword Spirit Tool, which were worth well over a hundred spirit stones, and the moment the white humanoid figure appeared, they would send out a sword light that would directly break through its barrier of light, immediately returning the white humanoid figure to mist. To these kinds of people, this examination was clearly just a formality.

Those few disciples that didn’t pass the examination were pretty much all like him, without any background or resources, and Spirit Tools were just a mere fantasy to them. The attack power of the first two white humanoid figures weren’t that strong, and it was possible to just wait until the barrier of light faded away, so they could manage. By the time they got to the third one, they would be able to persevere for a few breaths of time, but then they would inevitably accumulate injuries and be defeated.

.

The only thing that Zhao Xuan could rely on at this point were the three free cultivation methods that he received upon entering the Outer Region. However, he lacked foresight at the time, and only chose the first levels of three different cultivation methods. He only managed to cultivate those cultivation methods to the rank corresponding to the Cleansed Meridians stage. As for the following levels corresponding to the Sea of Qi stage, he hadn’t been able to buy them due to a lack of spirit stones.

He only managed to get one cultivation method to the Sea of Qi stage, and that was the Shangqing Profound Laws. The attacking techniques in that cultivation method were extremely limited, and there were only the Shangqing Seal and the Shangqing Incantation. After all, the Shangqing Profound Laws were mainly for cultivating qi, so it wasn’t a technique focused on offense in the first place.

Zhao Xuan was aware of his own circumstances. As he watched everyone participate in the examination one after the other, the stormy emotions that had been brewing within him gradually simmered into despair. In his mind’s eye, he could already see himself getting sent flying by the white humanoid figure.

“Courtyard 3763, Xu Disheng.” Wu Liangyu announced in a weary tone. After a day’s time, there were still a little over 10 people out of the initial 100 examinees who hadn’t taken the examination yet. From having proctored for an entire day, he was already tired. After all, there was no day or night cycle in this sea of clouds; it was only an endless expanse of white.

When Zhao Xuan heard the proctor’s words, he saw a handsome youth in a light green Daoist robe stride forward and stand in front of the crowd. The youth’s cultivation realm was about the same as his own, somewhere at the early Sea of Qi stage. The standard issue Daoist Robe Spirit Tool that he was wearing indicated his Rank 6 Spiritual Root aptitude, which made Zhao Xuan look upon him with envy.

However, Zhao Xuan noticed that the youth’s Daoist Robe was different in some ways from ordinary. It didn’t have any obvious differences, just that there were thin black stripes stretching along it, which were practically invisible unless paid close attention to.

From the sea of clouds in front of the handsome youth, a white humanoid figure condensed into being.

Zhao Xuan watched closely, wanting to see what kind of method this person would use to pass the examination. Would he take out a Spirit Tool and steamroll through it, or would he overpower it with a powerful, almighty cultivation method?

What Zhao Xuan saw next left him completely dumbfounded.

The youth casually sent forth a Shangqing Fierce Incantation. The white humanoid figure’s barrier of light appeared, and the Fierce Incantation blew up on it.

This move was the same as the one that the first examinee, Zhao Xinyu, had used at the start, and there were many other disciples who used it as well. Their goal was to draw out the white humanoid figure’s barrier of light, and then they would find a way to endure the white humanoid figure’s attack while waiting for the barrier to disappear. They would then destroy the white humanoid figure and return it to mist, passing the examination.

But when that Fierce Incantation came in contact with the barrier, it was completely unlike how the crowd imagined it would turn out. Rather than the profound qi dissipating after drawing out the white humanoid figure’s barrier of light, it emitted a sizzling sound that sounded like something was corroding away at it.

After a short period of time, a hole was eroded in the barrier of light. The profound qi from the Fierce Incantation rushed in towards the white humanoid figure’s body, engulfing it and eventually corroding it back into a ball of mist, which dissipated back into the atmosphere.

“Such power?!”

“Is that even the Shangqing Fierce Incantation?”

“I figured it out. That’s the Corrosion Incantation. I’ve seen it before in the Cultivation Method Pavilion. This youth already cultivated it to the Sea of Qi level, so this kind of power isn’t out of the question.”

Zhao Xuan was stunned. Hearing the explanation of some of the others around him, he immediately regretted picking 3 attack-type cultivation methods that were all at the Cleansed Meridians level, resulting in an extremely limited degree of power.

For the other two white humanoid figures, the youth followed the same pattern, simply corroding them into nothingness with the Shangqing Fierce Incantation.

An astounded look appeared on Zhou Chao’s face. The proctor stared at the handsome youth and announced, “Courtyard 3763, Xu Disheng, passed. Time elapsed… 30 breaths.”

That purple-robed Deacon had been resting cross-legged on the giant ship the whole time. When he heard what Zhou Chao said, he opened his eyes. He looked at Xu Disheng, an unfathomable look crossing his gaze.

Zhao Xuan once again rubbed the 15 spirit stones hidden in his bosom, and could only smile bitterly. Of the remaining examinees, there was only himself left. He was just about to go up and fight against those white humanoid figures, but now, he could only feel that he had overestimated himself.

Zhao Xuan had already completely lost confidence in himself. With the Cleansed Meridian stage attack-type cultivation methods he had, how could he block the white humanoid figure’s attack when it still had its barrier up?

He looked over at the glum expressions of the dozen or so people who had failed the examination. All of them were more or less the same as himself, using Cleansed Meridians stage cultivation methods. They managed to get past the first two battles, but they were defeated by the third white humanoid figure.

Zhao Xuan thought of his parents in Yan Zhou, and firmed up his resolve. He muttered to himself, “So what if I get a bit injured while blocking the third figure’s attack? I refuse to believe that I won’t last until its barrier breaks!”

Hearing Wu Liangyu call his name, he walked to the center of the sea of clouds, lost in thought. He pulled out the Martial Treasure longsword that he had received when he entered the sect 9 years ago, and prepared to face the examination before him.

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